Satisfaction

I've been running into all sort of friends and family members since I've been home from Africa.  Saw some at a local festival.  Saw them at church.  Saw them at family get-togethers.  And the question is always the same.

"Sooooooooo....how was Africa?"

I honestly think I'm a little baffled by the question sometimes, not because it's necessarily a bad question, but more because sometimes I don't know just how much of an honest answer to give.   

Do I say, "Well, it was a really great trip.  Can't wait to go back"?

Do I say, "Oh, the safari was fantastic and the children are wonderful.  Just so adorable!"?

Do I say, "It was the trip of a lifetime and I'm so thankful I was able to go"?

Those are all good and sufficient answers I suppose on some level, but I always feel this need to pull people in close (I never actually do) and look them right in the eye and really tell how Africa was.

I want to tell them about the overwhelming sense of satisfaction I feel when I think about my time there.  Not in a that-was-a-great-meal-I'm-so-satisfied kind of way, but a deep-in-your-gut, terribly profound sense of joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment.  I want to tell them what a rich and rewarding experience it was to not only labor alongside the Kenyans, but to play alongside the Kenyans, to see their country, to see their animals, to see their cities, to love on their children.  I want to tell people how fulfilling it felt to do something, to physically get work done and fall into bed at night and to feel like you had been productive.  In times past when I had been doing ministry overseas, the focus was so much on evangelism, which is great and has a place in God's plan, but this time around I just loved the fact that I worked.  That I was literally being the hands and feet of Jesus in practical day-to-day ways.

I miss Kenya on a frequent basis.  I do things like watch Invictus or flip through my photos or try to catch the latest online news out of Africa, just to momentarily have the satisfaction of feeling like I'm maintaining some kind of connection.  Maybe it's time to start planning the return trip?  Who wants to go?  :)