Note: Original date of post - 06/27/2018
I have been wanting to write this post for a while but have been waiting until I could record a song that I wrote a long time ago to accompany it. I did so today in a very cursory fashion, rough and imperfect music from a rough and imperfect creature. I will talk about that more later. The picture above is of the Missouri River. The view is from our favorite location in Hermann, Missouri. Tracy and I have spent many content days and nights in this small town which is surrounded by hills and vineyards. We have gone there just to relax and also for quiet moments in which to make important life decisions (perhaps not the wisest with the afore mentioned vineyards, ever present and oft visited). The right side of the picture captures the bluff where the cottages of Hermann Hill bed and breakfast are located. They are most excellent and highly recommended. On the left is a road that leads to town, small and quaint. What I did not know when I took this picture and throughout all of the many hours spent enjoying this view is that the Missouri River is one of the longest rivers in the United States. It begins somewhere in southwest Montanta as the convergence of three smaller rivers and snakes its way east and south in a zig zag manner until it dumps into the Mississippi on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. I know, you are thinking, "That's neat. But I'm reading this to hear about you moving to Africa, not the boring old Missouri River." And you would not be wrong in feeling such a way. I will thus bridge the two matters.
On our last trip to Hermann (three years ago?), Tracy and I were in conversation with a recruiter from Serge, seeking a place to serve. We knew that we loved the organization but at that time there was really only one opportunity that they had for medical work in Africa, and it was a new team. For our first time out we did not want to be part of a start up. (The irony is not lost on me, just keep reading.) Our hearts had quickly adopted the idea of serving Christ through international missions, specifically using our experience in medicine. But our situation was not moving quickly toward that desire. In fact, things felt stagnant. As we looked from the deck of our cottage, out over the Missouri River bluff, talking (undoubtedly drinking Stone Hill wine because it's the best) and planning, Tracy noted the way that the water was moving. Not so much the water itself, but our perspective of the current. When you looked up river (left in the picture) the water seemed to be quite lazy, complacent even. But looking right, it appeared to ramp up its nautical units of measurement and moved away from us rapidly. In remembering this, and noting the miles and miles that the Missouri River actually travels just to reach Hermann, I am led to make an analogy about our journey into missions and also the perception of our friends and families. Just out of high school and after her time in YWAM, Tracy started her education in dietetics. Her express goal was to utilize her skills, knowledge and experience to feed and minister to malnourished individuals throughout the world. At the risk of saying just how many years have passed, every one like a bend in a winding river, I will throw out something like twenty years have passed since her heart was first bent toward missions. In looking at such a trail of years behind us, it feels like the current is taking its sweet time. Many of you have just recently heard of our journey to Kenya to join others in starting a (ahem) new team in a rural part of the country. For you, being downstream, it is all quite sudden. There is much to be said, as well, about the sovereignty and wisdom of God in leading our family the way that he has. I will leave such a topic for another time and put the other oar of this post in the water.
Several years ago I wrote a song in which the first line says, "This river bends in ways unforeseen." It is a song of looking back and forth between the twists of life that we did not plan and the hope of a solid, happy future. It has arisen in this time as one of the most poignant (probably kitsch and sappy) songs that I have written, matching circumstances and the current context of our lives. Here is a link for the song. https://soundcloud.com/derektaylor-4/this-river-bends Have a listen, share it or leave a remark if you wish. Above all, don't get your hopes up for a masterpiece.
Thank you for reading and listening. Peace.
-Derek
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