wanted to share with you the comic strip that validated my decision to go to africa. tanzania specifically.
to recap – i had been seeking some opportunity and change in my life. and volunteer vacations had been on my radar screen. i knew i had a strong urge to make a difference (a life long issue but had been strongly surfacing in the last year), and thought that might take care of it. but realizing that a few weeks was just not going to do it. so i had followed my intuition to explore a ‘what if’ i went on a volunteer trip for 3-4 months to do good work? where would i go, what would i choose to do in this what if exercise? what would i have to let go of, and do?
my prayers and meditation led to God’s tap on the shoulder – leading me to africa and then to a non profit in moshi tanzania – and i ‘felt’ in my heart and intuition that this was the place. but remember – i was in ‘what if’ mode at this particular time. but obviously getting closer to something else.
then. THEN, this cartoon appeared in the sunday tulsa world a few days later. validating all of the things that i had been feeling, the taps on the shoulder, the directions i had been led in the previous weeks. and in that moment, i knew without a doubt i was on the right track.
this is from the baby blues comic strip. typically, it deals with a couple with three young children, and their challenges and fun of raising a family, and how they have lost their ‘coupleness’ along the way. it’s cute, light hearted and there is usually something most every family can relate to. the usual kid squabbles, exhaustion, school homework, yada yada yada. and even in this one – it does BUT, what it did, out of ordinary was to throw in TANZANIA. i mean. really. what were the odds of africa, tanzania specifically being mentioned just days later? in a comic strip that never address anything more serious than diapers and school homework? they never even discussed what town they lived in!
it was the wild card. it caught my attention. it changed my world. goes to show you never know how where validation might come from. how God might choose to get your attention. i love that He has a great sense of humor, by the way. isn’t it great?
by the way. dar es salaam is considered the commercial capital of tanzania and the largest city in the country. however, dodoma is now considered as the capital as legislative offices have moved there. ha. a little tanzania lesson there for ya. and now you know just a little bit more…
