Religion Like a Sunday Morning

I've officially been in Kenya for ONE whole week! Not sure if time is flying by or if it seems as though I've been here for months already, but regardless, I'm actually in AFRICA and I'm actually doing this internship right now. Which is crazy! Here is a photo of the yummy Sunday morning breakfast that I had. Last night I went to sleep at 11 or so and woke up around 3AM in hopes of watching the Miss Missouri final show. The video didn't work, at all, which was a disappointment. I followed though intense Facebook refreshing and friends who were at the pageant; congratulations to Miss City of Fountains Erin who is the new Miss MO! I stayed up until around 6AM and went to bed in hopes to get a few hours of sleep before breakfast. I forced myself to get up at 8:15 to go to breakfast so I wouldn't sleep the whole morning (there's always time for naps later!). Breakfast was good and reminded me of home - I could get used to the fruit with every meal!So, it is Sunday, and if I were home I would be going to church about this time. There are several Protestant and Catholic Churches in the area; however, we haven't met anyone that is allowed to take us outside of the compound to church. To make matters more difficult, Rico and I do not practice the same religion so we would need two different people to accompany us. I was happy to find a bible in the drawer in my room and I'm trying to find a 60-day plan that I can follow while I'm here! I hope to go to church here next Sunday and every Sunday after and I'll share my church experience with you all soon. On our ride into Mbita, we passed a shed that said "God Is Love" and it hit me for some reason on how universal God's love is. While some people may not practice Christianity, those of us who do can find a place to worship in nearly every city, in every country, on every continent (Antarctica may be stretching it just a bit). My point is God is here. And that was really comforting for me. Not that I expected God to just abandon me or the country of Kenya, I just haven't been outside our country to truly experience and know God was there, ya know? Knowing that there is a familiar place, God's house, here in Kenya relieves my worries and it's nice to know that thousands of miles from home, Catholicism is thriving and I can be a proud and practicing Catholic without worry of being ridiculed or harassed for my beliefs. So, my message for this morning is that God is everywhere and God will never leave you. I worked out yesterday (shocker right??) and was really sore, but God gave me the strength to do it all again today. The strength to leave home and come to this unknown place for an adventure of a lifetime. The strength to go to college hours from my best friend. The strength to apply for 50-some scholarships so that I can go to college debt free. I'm ready to take on the day (and this internship!) with God's help. When there's a will, there is a way. Have a great Sunday!PS Religion is a very interesting and complex topic. Outside my back door right now, I can hear the echoes of choirs singing songs and worshipping God, gods, or whatever they believe in. There's a mosque diagonally of the back side of campus and a neighborhood to the left of my house and they sing praises often. We can never tell if it's a recording or real people, but if it's real people, they can SING.