I think in my daydreams of old—especially in my pre-Christian days—I always figured I’d have kids by the time I was 24 and would eventually be teaching them great things like riding a bike and playing catch. (Baseball training will begin at birth, naturally.)
But God has different plans, so the first kids I got to teach how to ride a bike were a handful of rambunctious 12 year olds in the middle-of-nowhere, Sudan. The boys have been basically begging me to teach them, so I finally broke down the other day and took Babiano (of split-open-head fame), Odume and Otaban down to the valley to let them give it a go. The whole way down I just prayed that God would please, please, please spare my bike. I mean, it’s His and all, and I know that. But there’s a reason you don’t teach kids to ride on precious TREK mountain bikes, you know?
Anyway, it took a while to get them going, but finally I got to have that precious moment of letting go of Odume and watching him wobble off happily, then topple off awkwardly but with a ginorous grin that I wouldn’t have traded for twelve precious TREK mountain bikes. Seeing them so happy made it one of my best days here in Lopit. I really, really am enjoying these boys and my neighbors.
I find I keep telling people about the latest “one of the best days I’ve had here in Lopit.” Praise God for giving me so much joy in the relationships I’ve made here! Just yesterday I was walking down the road in Loki, with a lot on my mind, just sort of stepping back and watching life there, and I thought to myself, “This is better than ___.” I could put just about anything in there. And that’s definitely God’s doing.
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