But today 24 is a huge number. It is the number of days till I feel the gravitational pull from the tarmac of Dallas, TX, and begin the journey to the place that my heart equates with "home".
The dark continent. Deepest darkest Africa.
Just the thought of being there makes my soul yearn....yet there is also a pulling back from that yearning.
As the plane hits the tarmac in Africa, and the pilot slams on the brakes....the piece of my heart that dwells there slams back into my chest. I feel a wholeness I never quite feel anywhere else on the planet. I step off the plane and breath deeply the rugged, dirty, and pungent smells of a continent that is still yet untamed. I close my eyes and memories of the happiest days of my life come flooding back and the desire to make a thousand more surges through me.
These feelings will last as I spend time with my family and meet the people that they hold dear. They will pierce my soul as I worship among African believers and make new friends that I may only see on the other side of heaven. And they will make me tear up in awe as I try to capture a glimpse of his majestic creatures through the viewfinder. But I am whole for a short time...till once again I take my last breath of African night air, till the wheels once again come off the ground, the earth fades beneath and Africa once again claims from within me what is rightfully hers. My tears will flow as they are now, and my soul will long for the day when upon His return I can be with all I love, in one place at one time.
24 days and counting........
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