The journey of a thousand miles

If there is anything that I have learnt from this heart and soul journey it is that the journey can take longer than expected, is often confronting and always stretches you beyond the borders of your expectations. 

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. 

Four years ago, falling into the world of blogging was that first faltering step. I didn't really know what I was doing then. Driven along by some deep need to liberate the incessant deliberations of my soul, I began to tap out a story that has evolved slowly over time. Writing is good like that, kind to your emerging self. Life pushes on, but writing, writing waits for you, allows you to go back, make changes and if necessary begin again. A fresh page, waiting for you, allowing soul stirrings to be crafted into radiant beams of hope. 

Writing hasn't always been a clear cut process. There are times I have sat in front of the keyboard with stirrings so deep, and no words forthcoming, no words to appropriately clothe the pressings against my soul. In those moments, I would wait. I learnt to be still, to close my eyes to the world and listen to heart whispers from within. Embracing the Selah moment allowed small miracles to occur, wondrous moments of contemplation rose slowly from the vortex of feelings and emotions bubbling inside, releasing itself in a string of beautiful delightful words. And oh how I love words! 

Writing has been a therapeutic process, both healing and purifying. It has been health to my heart and soul. When Life is measured by deadlines, it has been a soft place to fall. It has consented to the fierce scribblings of hope across my existence, permitted the deep etching of purpose upon barren terrain and opened up a whole new world of possibilities. It has carefully carved out a space between now and then, between that which is not yet and that which is to come. Writing has given permission to a faltering voice. Hopeless life fragments have been wound in glorious threads of grace, and into a wholly intentional, holy purposeful plan. 

The unfolding of that plan came slowly. Sometimes there are seasons of waiting, sometimes the seasons are drawn out and it seems that little growth occurs, the faith seed taking longer than anticipated. 

After my first trip to Africa momentum suddenly stalled, direction evaporated and for three and a half long years it all went quiet. I wasn't sure what the next step was or how to take it. There was so much in my heart that I longed to do. I went back to life, to my quiet unassuming mother-teacher life and I thought that was it. I had done my African soiree and had my fill of adventure. In those three and a half years I waited for some sort of epiphany. Direction was not forthcoming.

I waited expectantly and then despondently. I kept writing, gleaning and growing. I sifted my heart and evaluated my soul. I waited for the faith seed to take root. I worked hard at being a loving mother and dedicated teacher. I wondered about the threads of the story, my story, and couldn't see them coming together. I endured the hanging threads and persevered as they continued to dangle tauntingly. 

Then, as abruptly as it stopped, the faith seed sprang to life wrapping those dangling threads securely around the hold on my heart. I cannot really explain what it was that got the ball rolling again, only that it did. They say timing is everything, perhaps they are right! It took just one image to begin the next step, one picture posted on Instagram that made me search out a website. When the right opportunity presented itself there was a quickening that couldn't be stuffed down by the voice of reason. That voice, the faith voice, knows things you can never work out in this lifetime. When you learn to trust it, it takes you places you could never imagine on your own. 

I looked at the image on the screen and googled the website. Hope Global was looking for volunteers, their mission - to restore hope and justice to countries affected by war, genocide and poverty. 2014 would mark twenty years after the Rwandan genocide and they were taking a team in to mark the occasion. I sat there with expectation rising, the application form before me ... and began typing.


My bags are packed, the ticket is perched patiently on my suitcase. 
Today I take the next step in the journey of a thousand miles.

Now that you know

 There's a saying I heard as a child, 'A rolling stone gathers no moss', I used to think about that, how once the ball is rolling it is rather hard to stop. Was that a good thing, or a bad thing?

Life feels like that sometimes, it gathers momentum and some things go well and other things fall flat. Originally the saying was meant to encourage desirable stability. Now a-days it refers to objectionable stagnation. Which is the better choice? 

Desirable stability has been important to me in my single parenting life, it has been an anchor through heartache and pain. The same job for 15 years has helped me focus, and well ... feel safe. I like feeling safe! And the truth is it has been a safe haven. I've evolved in that time, grown and changed in the safety of a loving community of kind and compassionate human beings. My heart has gone deeper, my mind expanded more fully, and my soul has grasped further reach. Teaching is one of the rare opportunities to purposely engage with the nurturing of life on a daily basis. You can't help but be changed by that. I can't imagine doing anything else. But, sometimes that very anchor can now feel restrictive, limiting to purpose and potential. What once felt safe, can now feel contained. How do I stop the stagnation of my soul? 

How do I keep living this blessed life but continue to lift the lid on possibilities and keep thinking outside of the box? What do you do with that restlessness in your soul that stirs purpose and passion on a regular basis, especially when you now know that the world so desperately needs you to do something? Is my living safe, or living small minded stopping me from moving forward? Am I living in objectionable stagnation?

I have thought at times, that the opening of my eyes and the inclination of my ears might be enough, that my just being aware of human suffering might leave me somehow a more open and compassionate human being. I have wondered if that is it, the thing I need to learn for the life I need to live, here on my side of the world ... to live more open-hearted and a more willing life right where I am ... Is that enough? 

I struggle with this notion of living sensibly and safe or throwing caution to the wind and chasing ambitious pursuits, but how can I when responsibility weighs heavy and answers do not come rushing in? The niggling in my soul nudges me daily, pressing hard on the inside of my ribcage. 

Where would it take me if I let it roam free?

As I near the end of Dellaire's book, his words hit their mark 236 pages in, 'now that you know of the terrible reality in which these children exist, you can never un-know it. You are involved now, and once you are involved it is impossible for you to remain aloof, impassive, detached or uninterested'. 

Aahh!! ... so much to say, please come back tomorrow. x

The Thread around my heart

Africa, you are still on my mind and in my heart.

Somehow, you got under my skin and found a place to stay. I can't explain what it is that makes my heart yearn so. Perhaps, it is your wide open spaces, alive with hope and purpose. Maybe, it is the distant drumming I hear from my heart, my heart beating and fully alive with expectancy. It seems that one trip was not enough. Was that only the taste of what is to come?

I feel the stirrings again, the soul itching for more. With every opened email via African missions; Compassion, Mission Travel and Hope Global, a quickening rises up, an excitement begins to bubble within. As I stretch out my existence and count the days of the life I have been given, I feel a growing sense of another time and space pulling upon me. Perhaps it is in all the years of waiting, and knowing that a dream would one day become alive inside of me - a dream way beyond myself, a dream belonging to another place, a different realm that continues to knead me. For this dream seems to exist despite me. Despite everything that stands in the way, despite what could keep me hemmed in,
it presses me still.

I marvel at this dream, planted in such frail and uncertain humanity. I am learning that the making sense of a life comes not from the searching out of purpose, but rather lies in the simple act of obedience - hard obedience. Purpose is found in that. Walking that narrow path when you don't feel like it. Smiling when you would rather cry. Waiting when you'd rather go. Listening when you'd rather speak, loving when it isn't easy. 

My mind is limited to what I know, see and feel, and the questions are many! Yet, I am sure of its purpose, aware of its origins and draw steadfastly upon a grace and mercy beyond all earthly comprehension. I learnt to trust so very long ago, and it is this thought that completely ruptures any arguments now. When life hit me square in the face and crumbled around me, scattering in heartbreaking directions, I watched the pieces carefully picked up and lovingly rearranged - still purposed, still planned. 

I marvel at how good can come from pain and suffering, for it surely does. It defies logic, but that is the point I think! "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:9.

I realise that the journey has bought me to this place, my surrender, for my mamas heart beats wildly. My misgivings are many, my uncertainties real. But, how can I turn away?, How can I close my eyes when they have been opened to truth?

I cannot.

I know there is more, because my heart will not be still. Letting go is not easy, but I am learning that trust is a spirited journey. My trust in the ONE who holds it all in his hands is sure. I trust in the ONE who saw fit to tie this thread around my heart, and continues to weave a design I have yet to see. Africa, I hear you.

I am ready.

It won't be long now.

Heart and Soul Pursuits

Something to think about!

Who would have thought!! ... such profound wisdom from this modern day physicist of quantum mechanics, and here is another one.

'Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.'

I'm making some big decisions right now, planning out how this next year will look and I want it to count. 

This next quote by Mr Einstein got me thinking, a lot! (I didn't know he was such a whizz at delivering such beautiful pearls of wisdom.) I want to be on of those people who do something to make the world a better place. I want to do something that will leave a mark upon eternity, something that reaches into tomorrow and changes today.

'The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.'

As we step out, there are always the voices that tell us we don't have what it takes, that we are not bold enough, smart enough or brave enough. Perhaps we find ourselves sitting on the fence of life, I know I have. But, one way or another we have to eventually decide how life looks and what our role will be. We either end up fence sitting and dreaming our life away or step over into that something unknown but incredibly wonderful. As for me, I am stepping over into that unknown and wonderful thing that beckons me forward. Scary, Yes! ... but mediocrity only sucks the life out of us. Safe and easy will be my undoing. Time to be bold and brave!

'Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.'

'Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.'

Albert Einstein

(Thank you Albert Einstein, such great truths from a magnificent mind.)

A Word of Hope

"May none of us be content with the safety of our children alone but instead grow in the understanding that all the children of this earth are our charge. Let none of us believe that our role is inconsequential." – Lisa Bevere.

The lost and at risk children of this world are not only the countless orphans around the world living in poverty but also the abandoned, rejected and hurting children in our schools, churches and neighbourhoods. Whether we feel the call to tend these concerns in the uttermost regions of the earth or in our own backyard, children everywhere are in need of love, acceptance and hope. There are children who are not only geographically displaced but also those who are spiritually, physically and emotionally displaced in our immediate world. I have had the privilege of bringing hope to abandoned and displaced children in Uganda but am also very aware of the hope needed for the children in our society who have reason to feel utter hopelessness due to situations and circumstances beyond their control. My personal circumstances included. I have learnt that through the broken strings of my own humanity that I have a story and a message of hope, as do you. Each of us has a voice that can ignite and illuminate a resounding sound of unquestionable significance in the life of another. We have an irreversible, substantial and momentous role to play for this coming generation. 

* I believe that broken hearts can mend and that what was once lost can still be found.

* I believe that within every young person is limitless possibilities and unequivocal potential.

* I believe that an extraordinary and exceptional future lies in the hearts and minds of our children.

* I believe that our ultimate, defining and momentous dreams should exist beyond the restraints of humanity.

What if 

 fear didn’t intimidate you!

What if 

you took the limits off!

What if 

 you freed a dream, 

could ignite passion, 

inspire expectancy 

or illuminate destiny!

Would you?

May we never underestimate the power of a kind word in the life of a young person. Let our words be generous, liberal, considerate, benevolent and magnanimous. May we offer words straight from the heart  - words that bring healing and hope. Perhaps your words will heal brokenness, water a hibernating seed deep within, spark significance, unleash freedom and deposit everlasting hope. 

For all the sons and daughters.

Living in the light of eternity

Living in the light of eternity is my intentional decision to consistently live life with eternal perspective. While my spirit is tentatively housed to this earth through my human frailness, I am by no means held captive by this worlds frailties. I choose to not live bound by earths stratosphere, its galactic complexities or global extremities. I am not constrained by this worlds existential expectations or errant illusions. Rather I am intrinsically aware of a higher calling ... a song of divine destiny that sings to my soul, it has awakened the sleeping recesses of my mind and refuses to allow me to ever again be numbed by the hollow, superficial or vain. I cannot extinguish the vibrancy and rhapsody that play so consistently from deep within and wish not to relinquish its endearing hold. I am encapsulated within His divine love, my spirit is forever uninhibited. I only have this time, this moment, this life to fulfill destiny and enter the radiant and glorious halls of my heavenly home. I am forever aligned with divine purpose.


Comprehending that we have been purposed for this earth with such eternal significance is far beyond our human understanding, reasoning or our intellectual capacities. We who have been created by intelligent design - unique and individual - are necessary, vital and essential to an almighty plan. Our lives have been delicately and intricately woven into the pages of a divine history, all part of an omnipotent plan beyond our imaginings. Let us therefore dare to forge ahead through the pages of tomorrow and its imaginings and lay claim to our heavenly heritage. Dare to dream of what might be truly possible.


So take your heart, your soul and your imagination right out there and don't stop ... just keep on going.

Ephesians 3:20 - He is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine, all because of his power that is at work within us.

© copyright k.weight 2010