dirt road.

the other day...
I was thinking about living life in another country.
and I realized something.

for a very long time,
maybe age f i f t e e n,
when I understood God's call to ministry on my life
maybe before that but I'm not sure,
I have had this vision.

dirt roads.
people buzzing about.
I have a satchel on, pants, t-shirt, sandals.
my hair is long and down, bleached by the sun.
I think it's my first day or week maybe, in this place.
I'm walking down the dirt road,
people are riding by on their bicycles with strange stuff hanging off of them. someone is walking next to me. a dark, tall figure.
dark as in I can't make out any part of them.
they are with me but I'm not sure who it is.
we live there. at least for a time.
my eyes are wide and I look like I'm LOVING it.
I'm excited to experience this new life. this other figure stands in front of us. they keep turning around talking to us and showing us things.
guiding us down this road, through markets and shops.
it looks a bit like the street scene from the animated movie, Aladdin.
I am bewildered.

this vision, may not be a real vision, one from the Lord...
it may very well be something I dreamed up and have had that snapshot in my mind ever since.
whether divine or not,
my heart for adventure, experience, culture and ultimately the Gospel, is REAL.
it is DIVINE.
that I know full well.
and this heart burns. it aches.
every time I feel like that time in my life is over or that call was just me wanting to be zealous,
He awakens me.
He breathes into me the life for which He made me.
and it is all that He always said it would be.
I must wait for the adventure though.
for the:
experience
traveling
goats milk
cement bricks
chicken embryo dinner
corn shucking
and
black beans with every meal.
someday it won't be a week long thing.

I think someday...
I'll wake up & find I'm walking the dirt roads
that I've pictured for years.
I saw the man in my vision on
the overloaded bicycle today down at the market.
I was led through the busy streets of who-knows-where yesterday
by the guide while the dark figure accompanied me.
what a glorious day that will be.

we all have roads that we'll walk down,
live on, and drive on in this life.
I guess mine will be unpaved.
I'm alright with that.