The Hills are Alive!

Whoa. Nuh-uh. No way.

Happy Sabbath!

...but we'll come back to that.

Look who's comin' up over the hill...Sabbath was beautiful. Look who's shinin' on my windowsill...I woke up to sunlight mingled with birdsongs streaming through my window and smiled.  I strolled over to breakfast, reveling in a weekend off-duty.
With the blue birds singin' and the blue bells ringin'...The church bells called me out of my reverie and I grabbed my Bible and keys to head to the sanctuary. It's Sabbath again! Another inspired sermon from Pastor Kent was immediately followed by a baptism.

Pastor Kent and baptizee

>>Coolest story: On Sunday, Brianna came to Pastor Kent to express her interest in baptism. Less than three hours later, sister Sabrina expressed the same interest.
"You must have been talking to your sister!"
"What? Brianna is thinking about being baptized, too?" I LOVE how the Spirit moves. Whoa.

As if that wasn't enough to make a Sabbath spectacular, all of the volunteers were invited to the Raymonds for a sushi dinner. "Interesting," as Violetta put it. My palate does not greet seaweed with open arms; maybe a limp handshake. I crashed on my bed in the sunshine with the cool breeze and dozed off, waiting for the phone call invitation for a hike.

Battling the winds atop the Ngongs

I climbed into the Crutcher's Land Rover for a trip to the Ngong Hills, a distant landmass that was until now unexplored by a Stotz. Strange, I thought. This is the first time I've been  in this vehicle since Cassie and I were picked up from the airport. One month and two days. Time has a very interesting way of both rushing and crawling by.
Whoa. Nuh-uh. No way.
Have I really been in Kenya for one month? 10% of my mission experience done? Seems I was just packing at home. Then again, packing seems like a distant memory. Wow. 31 days. Meetings and trips and classes and handshakes and jambos and smiles and tears and...I'm in KENYA.

As we crept up the rutted terrain, bouncing and jerking, I couldn't wipe the silly grin off my face. Beautiful. We crawled out of our vehicles, zipping up our jackets to shut out the wind. As we hiked up and over peak after peak (and Jessica's lowland blood dropped PO2 in the thin air at 7,000+ feet), I couldn't help but feel just like Maria von Trapp, hiking among those living hills, the wind singing a secret, sacred song (accented by Jessica's wheezing). I thought of throwing my arms wide and spinning in circles just like Julie Andrews, but then remembered she did so in privacy, and decided to preserve my dignity.

After some amazing Ethiopian food at Habesha's - everyone should try injera and shiro at least once - I sank back onto my pillow and considered life:
Whoa. Nuh-uh. No way.
God has blessed me so abundantly? Nuh-uh. No way is this my life. No way God loves me that much.
Oh yeah. Yes-huh. Yahweh loves ME.