We Make Each Other Better

Long week friends and I am so glad it’s Friday…despite it being close to midnight.  Jimmy Fallon is on and I’m waiting for the Avett Brothers to come on.  Be still my heart.  I’ve also been thinking about our friends at Ngungwane this week.  Harper said just yesterday “Do you miss Swaziland?”  I told her I absolutely do and she confirmed she did as well.  Sigh.  I don’t know if I could think more about this trip.  Everything just replays over and over again.

On the second to last evening at the carepoint I had one of my favorite moments from the trip.  We had just arrived back at Ngungwane after a homevist with the sun just going down.  I swear there’s something different about the sun in Africa…it’s freakin’ gorgeous.  The weather had cooled a bit and the carepoint felt mellow and sweet.  Most of the kids had headed out on their walk home with the last few kids still hanging about.  The ladies, Swazi staff and our team were sitting around chatting.  It reminded me of when you have a big party and those closest to you usually hang around until after the party is over to talk and help you clean up.  I realized then this might be my favorite part of these trips…the after party.  I loved watching the ladies relax for a moment…no food to cook or pans to clean…mainly only their kiddos and grankids still around.  I love seeing them just be with one another and us.  I love us together and the moment felt simple and good.

I’ll probably re-visit our trip again and again because that’s what you do with good trips and good friends, but my friend Di text me the other day and asked what was the biggest thing I took away from our trip.  I thought only a few seconds because I already knew.  Relationships.  Period.  Relationships matter.  Relationships make you feel valued and loved and seen.  Relationships pour into your existence and your heart.  They make you feel apart of something…a sense of belonging.  And this is how I leave Swaziland feeling every time.  We fly over that ocean because it’s been far too long since we’ve seen our friends and we have the means to do so.

I have so many questions for God especially about why some people live certain lives with certain resources or lack of, but the truth is, we have the resources to make this trip happen and so we do.  If our friends in Swaziland had the means to make the trek to America to see us, I hope they would want to do so as well.  One of my favorite moments each day was greeting Lindiwe, Cindy, Constance, Phumzile and Constantine each morning.  We are all huggers now and their hugs are big and tight…my kind of hugs for sure.  I really love each one of these women.  Their love and dedication and kindness to their community and all the kids is absolutely staggering.  Insanely crazy beautiful.  The ministry at CHC is nothing without these women and their giant hearts.  We both come together and love on one another and He loves on us all.  We minister to each others hearts.  We champion for one another.  We cheer each other on.  We pray for one another.  We make each other better people.  We are in this together and need one another.  These trips rekindle our kinship for each other and remind me of how important relationships are.  We are brothers and sisters in Christ …definitely worth traveling the world to visit and be with.

There are still lots of our little friends who are still looking for a special friend sponsor.  GO HERE and choose “unsponsored” in the “status” bar, get in on this love action and then think about joining our trip next year.  You won’t regret it.

And lastly, we have our Ngungwane trip date on the books.  We will be leaving on Friday May 26th and landing back in the US on June 6th.  The trip is open to ladies and gents ages 12-years-old and up based on Children’s HopeChest.  If you are interested in joining us please email me or message me HERE.

Enjoy your weekend.

Happy Friday!

3 Comments

  1. Loved everything about this post. P.S. I LOVE the Avett Brothers!

  2. Suzanne says:

    Just checking in on you to make sure you and your sweet family are doing okay. Have not heard from you (via your awesome blog here) in a while. Happy Independence Day!

    • lkelley says:

      Hahahaha, yes, we are all alive and kicking. Just been a crazy a week. You are too kind to check in! Happy 4th.

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