White Out All Over The Place Some Random Spills of Travel and Existence

We Live Our Lives

“How we live our days is… how we live our lives.” – Annie Dillard

Do you remember the superhero called “The Flash”? He’s the guy that runs so fast you can hardly see him as he passes by. When he runs, it’s almost as if he doesn’t exist.

Well, that’s pretty much how the past few months of my life have been…a flash.

Part of me feels like the past months haven’t even happened. I’m struggling to remember anything, but let me attempt to share some of the moments that haven’t completely flashed away.

Since the motorcycle trip across East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and Uganda) I’ve been working non-stop. About two months ago, Invisible Children sent eight of our staff and eight of our students in the Scholarship Program to the US. All of the students that went have been featured in our different media (i.e. Rough Cut, The Rescue, Bracelet Videos, etc.) and are now in their early twenties. I still remember when I first met Jacob from IC’s first documentary. He was a quiet, shy and friendly little kid, but now he’s a young man full of confidence and a big smile on his face.

Most of my time after the motorcycle trip was spent preparing our Ugandan staff and students to spend three hard months touring different parts of the United States. The purpose of their touring is to spread awareness about the war-affected North and share their personal stories with people “face to face”. As mush as I (and a few others) prepped them for the diverse culture and drastic differences, I was more interested in how they’d deal with the difficulties of being treated like a “celebrity”.

Currently, all 16 are still in the US with only a month of the tour remaining and from what I’ve heard they’re all doing great. It’s hard for me to imagine being in their shoes and seeing the United States with a completely new perspective. I wish I could have followed the entire process and experience, capturing the “aha!” moments followed by the “break downs” and “is that even possible?” type questions.

On one of their first days in San Diego they were all taken to see Avatar in 3D. Yeah, I’m sure we’re thinking the same thing.

Rumor has it that some of them were dodging arrows and ducking under moving objects. This type of experience reminds me of our innocence when we were children and how “green” we were to the world.

Everything was fresh. New. Never been experienced or done before.

Well, now that I’ve been working with Invisible Children for almost five years things just aren’t as fresh anymore. The excitement of doing something that’s “never been done before” has worn off and I’m faced with the reality of what it truly means to live for the sake of others.

There have been many days that I’ve wanted to take the easy road and go home, but I’ll never be able to get God’s voice out of my head, “quit your job, go to Africa and I’ll take care of you.”

What in the world am I suppose to say to that?

No God it’s cool, I’ll just go home now because 5 years is enough sacrifice for what you’ve done for me. I can just go home and live comfortably and forget about Uganda and my new friends.

It’s in the difficult times, the “I want to go home” moments that I’ve really been sharpened by God.

Tested.

It’s through the testing of our faith that we build endurance.

I’m no longer feeling the excitement of doing the “impossible”, the “never been done before”.

My God given endurance has taken over and I know that he’ll take care of me.

“The grace that has been extended to you when you were at your lowest – extend it to others. In the same way that I heard your cry, go and hear the cry of others and act on their behalf.”

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Please know that without your prayers and support that I wouldn’t be able to live life outside the status quo. I’ve said it before, but I truly mean it each and every time I say it.

It’s taken me a while to write and for that I’m sorry. “The Flash” paid me a visit and I don’t think he’ll be getting in the way of me sending updates more frequently from now on.

Also, I know my blog sucks right now. It does. It sucks. But I’ve got Internet at my house now and I’ll be able to upload photos in the near future.

Nothing but love [God]

Jared

PS On Tuesday, I’ll be traveling to China to be with my parents and my brother’s family for just over a week. I’m thankful that though I’m far from family I’m blessed enough to be able to see them and spend quality time with them.