Have you ever had an out-of-body experience? A moment when you’re in the middle of
something and suddenly it hits you, “Is this for real?”
I’ve often heard people talk about times in their lives when reality felt like a dream, but it
wasn’t until recently that I personally experienced this phenomenon. (Or at least in recent
memory.) It’s wild and can be quite jarring.
In the winter of 2023, I had the opportunity to visit Kenya for the first time. While there, I had so many out-of-body experiences. Believe it or not, these don’t typically happen during my daily routines of daycare drop-offs and Zoom meetings. However, in Kenya, I was overwhelmed by the number of times I felt as though I was looking down on myself from above.
Imagine…
You’re in a rural village hiding from the sun’s heat as you feel the sticky juice of a
recently cut mango dance down your arm.
The songs and dance of generations of churchgoers fills your soul as you sit on a creaking bench next to the only other person who looks like you out of 50+ people.
You stand over a kitchen counter covered in flour as you roll out chapati into something that resembles a circle as hot cooking oil makes your forehead start to sweat.
You’re in a classroom watching students dance a welcome as you’re surrounded by coworkers you just met for the first time and friends who made the journey with you across the globe.
You say, “See you soon. You are so loved,” to a student you just met a few days ago as they cry into your belly. You’re captivated by the slivers of space between poverty and wealth lining the streets through the capital city.
Experiences like these might cause you to think…
How did I get here?
What did I do to deserve to be here?
Was this God’s plan all along?
I am so grateful.
Those were the questions I was asking. As I continue to hold close these recent moments that happened an ocean away, I’m still wondering about the way they changed me.
So how did I get here?
God introduced me to the Canopy Life International story before it had a name or a building. All the way back in 2013, the idea of one day seriously partnering with Canopy Life (or at the time, the new idea Christi was forming) nuzzled into my brain only to expand into a reality almost a decade later in a way I could not have imagined…being a part of the staff.
What did I do to deserve to be here?
Literally, no clue. But it. is. awesome.
Was this God’s plan all along?
Again, I have no clue. But it truly felt like it! God has been laying the groundwork for me to experience Kenya and Canopy Life in all its fullness and beauty. I was captivated by the mission from afar all those years ago. I am in awe of the work God is doing for and through the next generation in Kenya through Canopy Life International. In hindsight, there have been small moments over this short history of my life that scream, “This way, Molly!” And now here I am. My experience visiting Kenya and working with Canopy Life has shifted my perspective literally and figuratively. My hope is that you will come to know the story God is writing in your life and humbly go where you are called. Because let me tell you, if it’s anything like what I experienced you will be changed.
I am so grateful.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20, NIV
