they run into onto the campus every week, these thirty or forty something girls from who live in the village in the quarry called Sala Sala. today, they walk into the pool-some faces light up with excitement, while others with fear.
it is cold for dar es salaam, perhaps twenty-six degrees. (80 f) eight little girls are given swimsuits for the first time. they change, and laugh at how awkward they feel. their legs are showing, something not widely accepted in this culture. they shower off, and shiver, and, one by one, are coaxed into the pool.
it isn't too hard to convince them to get in. sure, it's cold, but kuogelea, to swim is not a chance you get everyday. so they attempt to enter gingerly, but most make quite a splash, and are surprised by their lack of grace, the freezing water, and the sensation of the clear blue on their dark brown skin.
...except gifti. she places one foot daintily in the water, shrieks, and looks at me, saying, "no ali...i'm scared! i'm scared!" she is laughing at first, but as she gets closer to the water, i see more and more terror in her sweet little face. i try to convince her, but even after plopping my own face in the water, she is not budging. she wraps herself in her towel and watches as her friends scream with delight and kick water everywhere.
after a few minutes, her friends exit the pool. gifti comes to the pool again. she is eyeing the water again. i know she wants in, so i steer her skinny body toward the pool ladder, and coax her in, step by step. it takes time, and promising ninashika wewe, i am holding you, but eventually, her body is all the way in the water. next, we count...moja...mbili...tatu...and dunk our faces in the water. pretty soon, gifti is kicking water everywhere, screaming at her friends to watch her count and plunk her cheeks into the clear blue. if you saw her, you wouldn't believe that this was the same girl who was near tears due to her terror of the pool. in fact, it was hard to get her out.
looking down into the depths of whatever lies ahead that i can't understand, and wondering if i can trust the One who is calling my name, inviting me into whatever this is.
His word promises this. in fact, it promises that you and i are chosen.
[God wasn't attracted to you and didn't choose you because you were big and important—the fact is, there was almost nothing to you. He did it out of sheer love, keeping the promise he made to your ancestors. God stepped in and mightily bought you back out of that world of slavery, freed you from the iron grip of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know this: God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon. He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments for a thousand generations. But he also pays back those who hate him, pays them the wages of death; he isn't slow to pay them off—those who hate him, he pays right on time.
-deuteronomy 7:6-8]
we can trust Him because He chooses us. we can trust Him because He loves us. why? because He does. why does He? because He does. it's simple and it doesn't make any sense. and sometimes, i'm not convinced. somedays, it takes more time and more conversation. but when i step in, plunge my body into the depths of this adventure, splash around in His plans for myself and the people around me- it leads to great worship and pure joy. it leads to communion. it leads to me soaking in all the good He has for me, and for those around me. because He loves and chooses regardless of me, in spite of evil, and because...He does.
