Musings from Graceland

TO WEEP FOR JOY

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how can i explain savannah
her beauty transcends words
still, i search for them
knowing that you, too,
have such places of the heart
that place where
once you pass into her
your first impulse
is to weep for joy
imagine yourself there
and you will know
my city
my home

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I've truly been missing Swaziland today. The deep yearning to be there...to be loving those precious "least of these" and encouraging and helping their caregivers and the other ministers and missionaries...has been so strong I've been a bit teary. Okay, to be honest, I've been more than a bit teary. This morning in the car, I wept before the Lord. Asking Him to both take me back there one day and give me the trusting patience to wait til that day arrives.

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So when I read the above poem that my friend Stacy wrote, it immediately touched my heart. When I journeyed back after being gone for 18 years, I remember standing in my room the first night in Africa and asking God, "what am I feeling?" Then I knew --- I was feeling at home. I remember the tears of joy I wept when we first drove into Swaziland and through the city of Mbabane where I had lived in the 1980's. I remember appreciating anew the wonder of the mountains and the beauty of the people who inhabited that place. I remember wanting to grab hold of every minute, every experience. And I remember not wanting to leave.

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Each day since my return I've missed Swaziland. Each day I pray for it. I pray for provision and protection. I pray for light to penetrate and overwhelm the dark places. And I pray that God will let me go there and live the rest of my life in that land.

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The land that makes me weep for joy.

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To read more of Stacy Wills' poetry and view her art, visit: http://amagicmomandhermandalas.blogspot.com/