One Step at a Time

So, we’ve been back now for just over 3 months.  For those of you who don’t know, Candace and I spent from Aug. – Dec. in Sierra Leone (check out our journey at www.hewitts.wordpress.com).  Right around 1 year ago, Candace and I applied to go to Freetown with Word Made Flesh.  When I look at the past year, all the crazy ups and downs, from CO to TN to Sierra Leone then back, it all happened so fast that part of me starts to question whether any of it was really real.

One year ago I was an engineer and Candace was a special education assistant and life was ‘good,’ at least on the outside.  Good money, comfortable life, nice apartment, good church, etc.  We were truly on our way towards the ‘American dream’, the road commonly travelled.  But, like so many others, we felt life was empty and purposeless.  We decided to ask God what was out there that we were missing.  He began to open our eyes and we decided to follow him down that road, the road less travelled, which eventually took us to Sierra Leone.

Now, here we are, we’re back, but don’t really feel like we have gone very far.  We haven’t found any answers, just more questions.  However, life is brighter, more meaningful; we see the bigger picture.  We see God’s heart for this world.  Right now I am a substitute teacher, baseball coach, math tutor, janitor, and anything else that I can find to help pay the bills.  This week I’ve been getting up at 4:30 A.M. to go clean toilets for a bunch of government offices…..but I’m happy, so much happier than when I was drawing a fat paycheck for sitting at a desk all day as an engineer.  No regrets.  I’ve realized that this road may not be pretty or easy, but it’s good.   What is it about this world that makes security and comfort and money SEEM so important?  It has really boggled my mind lately, trying to understand why these things seem as though life is dependent upon them, and prevent us from stepping off the path of control and security. It took us so long to trust and believe that God had something better.

Anyways, something tells me that, even though we’ve taken a few steps down the road less travelled, we’re not too far from where we started.  And that the other road will continue to call out, and look apppealing. However, I have to think back, and remember that it is along this road that I’ve encountered God -  not in the megachurches or the shopping malls or the 3-story houses, but in Kroo Bay, in the streets of Freetown and CO Springs, in the poor and marginalized.  And because of that, there’s no turning back.