Crying out to our Father

If I said that the last few weeks have been only a little bit busy that would be a major underestimate. At the beginning of June, I prayed to my Father that He would give me an adventure in my last two months in Africa; that I would see more of Him. About two weeks later, I found out that I was being given the opportunity to go to Swaziland for three days. Of course, I jumped at the chance to go and see more of the beautiful continent that our amazing Father created. I had one day to work in the office and then I headed straight into the young leaders camp that happened over that weekend. The day after the camp finished, I headed straight to Oshoek to say my goodbyes to my community family, as it as the last time that I will see my family for a significant period of time.

Since returning home from those crazy two weeks, I have been busy in the office catching up on work and starting to say 'see you later'  to the individuals that have played such an important part of my life over the last year and will continue to. I also had to the chance to go back to where my other community family lives in Siyathuthuka and say 'see you later' to the kids and families that have become so dear to me. It is going to be a whirlwind until I get back to Canada, as I have more 'see you laters' to say in South Africa to my kids in the community and my family at the HUB and then I travel to Zambia to spend two weeks doing the same thing. It is going to be crazy but in the best way possible. 

I think that God has been teaching me a similar theme in the last few weeks and I think that throughout this year, God has been revealing this to me more and more. He revealed it to me when one of the most vulnerable girls in the world chose to share her story with me; of all people, He revealed it to me when I was walking the 2 1/2 hour walk uphill in Swaziland, and He's been revealing it to me as I say my 'see you laters' to my family and plan for my return to Canada. It's taken me a while - I can be quite stubborn- but I've come to realize how much I need God. It can be challenging to live in community and be 'on' the whole time but it is during those times that God has revealed to me how much I need to depend on Him for everything. I can't get through the challenging things alone. God has to be there; walking with me; holding me and He has to be there to catch me when I fall.  I have to invite Him into my life, even the challenging parts. I've realized that I no longer want to do life on my own. I want God to be in the good, the bad and the challenging. He is the rock upon which I stand. I think that before I came to Africa, I was a Christian and I loved God, but I don't know if I realized how much I needed God and how much I wanted Him and what that meant to me.  I knew that I had a relationship with God and I wanted to go deeper, but I think that I still tried to do things on my own. Throughout this year, I've deepened my relationship with my Father and I want Him. I don't just want Him; I need Him and I long to know more about Him and His plans for my life. It's a learning process, as I learn more about God and His heart and some days its easier to trust God's plan then others, but I know that this a journey. I'm never going to be perfect. God doesn't want the perfect Celine. He wants me even with all my imperfections; serving Him and following the call that He has placed on my life wherever that may take me. I willing to follow! 

*If you would like to know more about my time in Swaziland, the young leaders camp, my time in Oshoek, or my time in Siyathuthuka please don't hesitate to send me an email as I would be happy to share more about what I've been learning and what my Father has been revealing to me.