Sights and Sounds

I can’t sleep. I never have trouble sleeping, but tonight, I can’t get there. My whole body is tired, from my eyeballs to my toes, but something in me is restless.

On Wednesday, after worship, I went into the dark auditorium and just sat for a while. I’ve spent so many nights alone in that room, just me and God. He’s spoken so much to me in there. I sat in a pew, and looked, and listened, and prayed.

Every time I get ready to leave for a long time, I do two things. First, I appreciate the city more. I realize just how much I love Spokane and the familiarity of it all. Also, the last few days before I take off, I spend more time in the auditorium. Often in the dark or by myself, sometimes in the catwalks or on the stage or on the lift or wherever. Just sitting. Wondering. Listening to the rain beat on the roof. Praying. Waiting for God. I did this on Wednesday. He reminded me of a lot of things, but mostly the things he spoke before I went to Germany: He is God all the time, and in every place. Not just in Spokane.

Today, I was having a picnic with a friend of mine, and just laid in the grass and listened. Everything was at peace. The sprinklers were sprinkling in the distance; the warm wind blowing over my face. And I looked up at the huge trees. The wind through the leaves is a great sound, especially trees as big and old as these. I sat and listened. And then I thought, “I wonder what Africa sounds like.”

In less than 36 hours, Sarah and I will be trekking westward to Seattle, and a short 24 hours after that, we’ll be boarding a plane. Soon, I will find out what Africa sounds like; what it looks like; what it smells like. I don’t doubt that I will fall in love with a city there, just like I have with this one. I will come to love these people with different skin and languages and customs as my own. And God will be in it.

[And if you’d like to read Sarah’s blog too, it’s www.smarken.blogspot.com]

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