Home Sweet Home

We're back! Kelsi and I arrived late Tuesday night, feeling like we woke up from a dream. We had to ask each other, "Did that really happen?"

Here is a quick summary of our trip to London:

Our first day in London, we walked everywhere. We felt pretty good after our overnight flight, but I needed a steady flow of caffeine running through my veins. Thankfully, London has more than enough Starbucks to keep the most avid coffee drinker happy!

We started off in Trafalgar Square, and from there we walked to Buckingham Palace (and fought for a view of the changing of the guards), St. James Park, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Eye, Shakespeare's Globe, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and St. Paul's Cathedral. We topped it off with a delicious dinner and a bit of shopping at an outdoor market. We had a wonderful day walking and sightseeing, and we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit our pillows.

Our next days were spent visiting museums, walking through parks, and going to the theater. Seeing the Phantom of the Opera and looking at paintings by Monet, Leonardo da Vinci, and Van Gogh were huge highlights! It was amazing to see the famous landmarks on our first days in London, but in my opinion, it was equally fun to walk through the parks and visit the less famous sights. London is so beautiful, and I am so grateful we had an opportunity to explore for a few days.

London and Lusaka are pretty much opposites. Any sense of culture shock we have had in America has been diminished greatly by our stopover journey. We were both amazed at the clean, extravagant city with more white people than we had seen in months. We felt different in other ways, too. Although we have both hardly cared about our appearance the past few months (ask us about our permantly dirt-stained feet), we found ourselves feeling self-conscious around the fashionable men, women, and even children.

Speaking of the children, we couldn't help but compare our kids in Africa to the ones in London. Our kids explore the streets alone; some of the children in London were attached to leashes. Our kids wear the same stained, ripped shirt for days; the children in London looked straight out of a magazine.

London and Lusaka represent two opposite ends of the spectrum, and occasionally harsh thoughts popped into my head: "You don't even know what how good you have it! Don't you realize how they live in Africa??" However, I must admit that throughout my life, I have been much closer to the London end of the spectrum myself.

Why do some have so much and others have so little? This is a question that continues to be posed throughout history. It doesn't seem fair that some live in plenty and others in want. However, one of the most important lessons that I learned during our time in Africa is that money truly doesn't bring happiness. Just watch our kids play at the seminary, and you will agree! True contentment does not increase with the amount of things that we possess. Take it from Paul, a man who lived in both situations: "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

So if we don't need "stuff," what do we really need? Just God. That is the only thing that will bring everlasting happiness and joy. "Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal" (Matt. 6:19). Another verse that I will continue to remind myself of is Hebrews 13:5 - "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.'"

We have been blessed in America with material blessings. These are from God, and we should thank and praise him for what he's given us. However, I know that I personally struggle with getting distracted by "stuff" instead of living for eternity. My hope and prayer for the days, weeks, and years ahead is that even as I live in one of the richest countries in the world, I rely on God, storing up treasures in heaven instead of storing up treasures on earth.

We cannot even express how unbelievably grateful we are for the life-changing experience we had in Africa. We both pray that we can return someday and visit our friends there. Please continue to keep the Lutheran Church of Central Africa and the missionaries in your prayers that they may continue to spread the gospel throughout Zambia and Malawi.

Kelsi will post one more blog, and then we will be signing off. Thank you all for reading and following us on this adventure. We have appreciated your thoughts and prayers so much throughout the past few months!

God's blessings!