Kindness

I've thought a lot about kindenss lately.
  
The other day I met a girl about my age at an outreach event in Koforidua. Her name is Deborah Mensah. I'm not even sure how we got talking but by the end of the conversation we were friends enough for her to invite me to stay at her house in Accra on Monday- since we were going to be there to pick something up and then we wouldn't have to get a hotel. I only trust a few people right away but I felt good about her. Long story short Lydia and I stayed in the Mensah home for a night and they were nothing but kind. They cooked for us, provided a bed and water, internet, payed for our taxi rides, and even gave us loads of African fabrics. Why? I don't know. They were just being kind I guess.

Its hard to believe that someone would do so much for you and expect nothing in return. It made me really rethink all of the times I have ever tried to be kind and expected nothing in return. Was I really just trying to be kind? I hope I was.

In a world run by money it's interesting to think that kindness is not a currency. You don't give it to someone as a loan. There are no deals or guarantees. The exchange is infinite.
You give kindness to someone and they may never give it back to you but then someone completely unrelated may give you more in return- and then you may never pay them back for that but just hope someone, somewhere else, does. It's a big circle.
It's still hard not to feel in debt but I guess that's because we always are. We are in debt to everyone, and anyone, who has ever been kind to anyone in this world and more importantly we are in debt to Christ- who has given endless kindness to everyone.

It's amazing when you find someone who knows this. Who is just kind to be kind. But nothing really goes unreturned anyway. Everything I have ever done kind has been given back to me times 10. I know Heavenly Father wil bless all of the people here in Ghana that have been so kind to me and my sister. He will give them what I can't in return. A thank you never feels like enough.

You'll never regret being kind to someone.
The old saying still goes, "what goes around comes around."

The Best Moments Are Never Captured by Cameras

Carrying a camera around to try to capture all of  the great moments is just too difficult.
A camera never captures a sunset quite right or the green of the jungle...and it certainly doesnt capture the feeling behind holding a child in your arms and feeling like for a moment you can forget all the sadness you've ever felt and hopefully they can too.
You can't capture the fact that ever step I take is to the beat of drums in the school yard or music playing down the street.
And it certaintly can never see just how bright one of the boy's smile is after he just scored a goal in soccer.
All of these moments are too beautiful to capture on film, they are never the same. These are the moments that make everything worth it, they happen spontaneously and unposed, they are the moments that you try to capture in your mind and keep in your heart forever.
So I may not have many amazing photos to show but just believe me, it's amazing here.