Friday morning, I set out on adventure by myself. Caught the 7 am bus to Mbale. Took a boda to the taxi park. Piled in 4 deep into the backseat of a car taxi, then headed up the mountain to Sipi Falls. Once in the town of Sipi, I was let out on the side of the road to find my lodging. When I walked into the gates of the Sipi River Lodge, I saw this:

I got settled in. Had lunch, and then promptly took a nap. I rested up just long enough to take my first hike to watch the sunset.

It’s hard not to feel abundantly blessed in moments like this. And small. I felt incredibly small set against the backdrop of God’s ever so detailed workmanship of the earth.

I spent the second day hiking to the three falls in the area.

 When you’re hiking by yourself you have a chance to clear your head. To think through things. And I did – working through things back in Kampala. Things at home. Past relationships. World problems. And how I just started my 6th month here.

That evening, I made it up to the main cliff to catch the sunset again.

And it was as if God waited for me to get to a point of praise and contentment for my alone time that he started bringing people around. While waiting for the sun to set, I met a group who had just gotten in town from Kampala. They shared their beer with me – and we watched the sun set together.

The next day I took a coffee tour with some girls I had met back at the lodge – and we ended up all taking public transportation back to Kampala together.

I think back to when I was very clearly in the Frustration/Rage stage of being here (there are 4 stages: honeymoon. frustration/rage. understanding. acclimation.) – as indicated by any email you may have received from me between the months of March and the beginning of April, and also seen here: The Ramblings of a Lonely Missionary. In that blog I mentioned how I was struggling with the fact that people back home wouldn’t know me during 2013, and the people here would only know me in 2013. And all I can do is laugh. Laugh at my honesty in that moment. Because now, all these “new” people are making my world smaller. Making my journey here more interesting.

And, it’s pretty awesome to be able to share a beer and a mountain top sunset with strangers.

Thanks for encouraging (and tolerating) me during the tough days. For your excitement for me in the good days. And for your constant flow of love and sweet words everyday. Couldn’t do this without you.

adventurously yours, Amanda