Too Busy To Worry

My apologies for the lack of posts in the past few weeks.  It wasn't because there wasn't anything going on here-- in fact, quite the opposite!  We'd finish each day and just collapse into bed so it could start again the next day.

I've been meditating on the passage from Matthew 6 and particularly this verse: "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Indeed it does!  For the first time in my life, I have actually realized that I am too busy to worry.  Over the course of the last few weeks, I have come to expect that each "tomorrow" will be a challenge.  Not only does worry not accomplish anything positive, but I'm stealing the energy God has given me to deal with each "today."  I'm a natural worrier, so this is a big lesson that God has been teaching me!

Anyway, here's the brief version of the past few weeks to get you caught up:
Oct 9 (when I last posted)-19-- we moved from the guesthouse into the Langs' home.  We stayed there with them and helped them with a number of home-improvement projects such as putting screens on their front and back security doors to keep mosquitoes and flies out.  We (as in both families together) got into routines of cooking, cleaning, securing the house, talking with various fundis ("experts" in various things like plumbing, carpentry, electricity, etc.) to arrange improvements and repairs.  Oh, and many of us got sick with a nasty virus during this stretch, so were out of commission for 2-4 days at a time.  Thankfully Jamie didn't get it and was able to continue preparing food for the gang!

Oct 20-- our friend Jeremy was airlifted from Mpanda to Nairobi for emergency medical treatment.  He had been very sick for the 20 hours or so leading up to his med-evacuation.  Jamie and Lily (their youngest) went with him.

Oct 20-26-- We stayed in Mpanda at the Lang's house with Junio and Annabelle (their two oldest kids).  We had our moments of frustration during this time for sure-- like that Saturday when we had a crew working on the perimeter wall, a crew working on installing 2 western toilets, and the plumber who was overseeing the toilets and also working on other plumbing jobs.  Tim left at several points to get additional plumbing supplies in town and to work on negotiations for our new house.  We somehow kept all this organized along with managing the usual househelper and keeping the kiddos fed and entertained.... I didn't think I'd make it through that day!  But we did.  (ok, so I did break down at least twice during the day, but was better each time after a good cry...)  The downside to having the toilets installed to replace the squatty potties was that the cement needed 4 days to dry and we'd need to use the outhouse during that time!  Bummer!  (btw, it is probably the nicest outhouse I've ever used, but it's still inconvenient to make potty runs outside, especially with three kiddos and when mosquitoes are out late at night!)

Oct 26-- Jamie and Lily returned to Mpanda by a small chartered AIM flight. 

Oct 27-- We woke up to chaos-- the guard outside had chased off three (or more?) thieves.  One had distracted him by throwing rocks at the gate while others hopped over the wall and took some plastic chairs that were outside.  They got away.  We heard later that it was probably young troublemakers who had "hit the neighborhood" and stolen several things from other yards as well.  It took us some time to review our security plan and make sure we were as safe as possible.

Oct 31-- We finished moving things into our new house and spent the first night there.

Since then we have been settling in, unpacking, having fundis come to work on electricity, plumbing, blender repair (a priority so I can have my morning kefir shakes!!), and other various things.  I have been training a new househelper who may or may not work out for us... it depends on how this week (her second week) goes!  We'll just have to wait and see.  But for now things are starting to slow down and we're able to get back into some routines.  Routines keep me sane, after all and bring a much-welcomed structure to my schedule.

Speaking of structure, time to get back to homeschool with Micaiah. :)

-JLR

The Journey from Mbeya to Mpanda

It took us two days to drive from Mbeya to Mpanda with the Lang family.  The first day was Mbeya to Sumbawanga and took about 7 hours and 45 minutes.  But considering the number of potty stops we made, we're estimating driving time was more like 7 hours.  The second day was Sumbawanga to Mpanda and took us about 5 hours total.  Once we (and the big truck!) arrived, then it was time to unload everything and get some sleep. 

Tim and the truck after day 1 of driving.  We don't have pictures of post day 2 of driving that are accessible at the moment, so just imagine double the mud/dirt. 

 

This is the trailer that the Langs were pulling.  It had a number of our suitcases and action packers as well as a bunch of their stuff.  We also had a big Fuso truck (a lorry) that was carrying most of the Lang's furniture as well as our mattresses and large appliances.  But for some reason I didn't take pictures of that... sorry.

 X-- GIRAFFE CROSSING--X  Part of the road from Sumbawanga to Mpanda goes through Katavi National Park.  We were bummed to not see much wildlife until we came across this big group (herd? flock? troop?) of giraffes.  We had to wait until they moved out of the way.  There were also zebras and monkeys in this stretch of road. 

 The Langs were in front and waited for this lone giraffe to leave the road before we went on. :)

 The giraffes continued to watch us as we passed.  You can see a few zebra rear-ends in the back right of the picture, too.

 As we were leaving the park, there is a bridge that crosses over this river.  We said, 

"look, Micaiah, at the hippos!"  

"I don't see any hippos, Mama.  All I see is a bunch of big rocks... WAIT, those ARE hippos!!!!"

Indeed they were hippos!  Lots of them.  We were quite safe on the bridge, but what a sight!!

Now we're in Mpanda looking for a house and just itching to get all unpacked.  We don't have a lot of furniture already, so once we know where we'll be living we'll still have to have that made.  But in the meantime, we've been staying in a nice guesthouse (despite the loud music next door!) and will be moving in with the Langs in a day or two.  They're house is starting to come together and all their un-packing is going well.  We're thankful to have friends here who have made the long journey with us and will continue to journey with us in the coming years as we serve together in Mpanda.

-JLR

Rivervalley Campsite

We stayed at Rivervalley Campsite for about two weeks while we took a Swahili Refresher course.  One of the downfalls of our time there was bad internet connection, so there is a lot to post now.  But I think the pictures tell the stories better than I can...

Micaiah turned 6 1/2!!! I know, I know... it isn't THAT big of a deal except that it was also the 6 month mark since she had her ears pierced, which meant that she could now wear dangly earrings!  We celebrated by letting her wear a pair of my earrings as a special treat. :)

This is a sausage tree.  I was thankful to know enough Swahili to talk with the ladies who wash the laundry at Rivervalley.  They warned us to walk quickly under the tree so we didn't get hit by falling "sausages"!

This is what they look like on the ground-- Micaiah could hardly lift it!

This is Tim and I in class with our teacher, Kiobya.  There was another student (Simon) with us for the majority of our two week refresher course.

This is Micaiah in her Swahili class. :)  She did informal Swahili with one of the caregivers the first week, then the second week she joined some of the other kids (and their tutor!) in a class with a teacher, Joyce.  As you can see, they may have had a bit more fun than us-- they even got to play hangman!

This is Micaiah's class. Laura (the tutor), Luke, Micaiah, Nikki, and Joyce (the Swahili teacher).

This is Joyce (Micaiah's Swahili teacher).

This is Micaiah with Polly.  Polly is the laziest guard-dog known to man. :)

 Micaiah had an accident while we were at Rivervalley.  It gave us a good scare, actually.  She was hopping around on these stumps when she changed directions and slipped and hit her head on one of them.  She had a big bump on her head and-- more frightening-- the symptoms of a concussion.  She was threw up several times, was really sleepy, had somewhat blurry vision, some slurred speech, etc.  But thankfully we were able to get some good medical advice and didn't need to use our emergency evacuation plan!  Micaiah woke up in the morning as if nothing had happened.  Praise God for His protection and for healing our little girl!

This is Harold.  Harold is a very large tortoise that was found at Rivervalley.  The kids were given the big responsibility of taking him food every day-- a job that they loved and took very seriously. 

 These are the three very responsible tortoise-feeders. :)

 

This is Laura.  Laura came to Tanzania to help another family with their homeschool/lessons while the parents were in language school.  Laura (and the other family) graciously agreed to let Micaiah join them for school time and helped supervise Micaiah's modified homeschool assignments while we were in Iringa.  We enjoyed many laughs with Laura and these two especially became very close!  There were some very tearful goodbyes when we left.

Tim on the zipline at a nearby campsite!!! After a decent hike to this part of the river, we enjoyed going across and back on this awesome contraption.  So much better than a bridge!

Micaiah and I went together.  Safety first.  She's quite adventurous and thought this was as good as or better than the roller coasters she went on this summer at Six Flags. :)

Don't worry, this is just a posed picture.  I put her out over the air, but she was only a foot or so from the platform. :)

We really enjoyed our time in Iringa.  It was good to see our friends Will and Amanda again and to get to know their daughter Carrie as well.  It's nice to visit places that we have already been and share those memories together as a family.

-JLR

Ready to Go?

Surely I must be forgetting something.

We have our bags packed and are working on weighing them so they are just under our 50 pound allotment.  We're making sure they're labeled and that there are extra zip ties inside just in case they get search and need to be re-sealed.

But I must be forgetting something.

We leave tomorrow (lord-willing!!) and will spend today saying goodbye to family.  We spent a good portion of this past week traveling around and saying goodbyes to friends, but we're thankful to have almost all of our closest family here in town to visit and to say goodbye tomorrow.

But I still can't shake this nagging feeling that I'm forgetting something.

Our goal was to have some well-protected margin in our last two weeks here in St Louis.  We packed for 4-5 days straight and got a majority of it all done.  These past few days have just been finalizing the details, packing our hand baggage, etc.  It feels strange to have leftover time.  I think they call it "margin," but it's such a new concept to a type A person like me that it feels odd-- like I'm always forgetting something!  Once I'm able to shake this feeling, I'm confident that I will like this approach much better than the rush-around-like-a-chicken-with-my-head-cut-off approach... yeah, that wasn't working for me. :)

But what am I forgetting??

-JLR

Building a RAFT

If you've been around the world of missions for long, you've probably heard the term RAFT in connection with healthy transitions.  We first heard this term in our orientation and were really able to understand it more in reading Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds by David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken, published by Intercultural Press. The book is an amazing resource if you have TCKs and haven't already read and memorized everything in it!

We've been using the RAFT model during this transition.  RAFT stands for:

Reconciliation

Affirmation

Farewells

Think Destination

I can summarize on my own, but since my own copy of TCK is currently packed in a box in our garage awaiting our journey back to Missouri, I will instead point to this great blog from another Member Care worker in Japan who summarizes each step very well.  

As we've been working through RAFT for this transition, I was most confused by the "Think Destination" step.  I understand that we're leaving Canada and that we need to tie up loose ends here.  But it's hard to think about whether we're preparing ourselves for Missouri or for Tanzania.  Will our RAFT last through 3 (or so) months of transitions?  Or do we build two (or more!) different RAFTs?  We've done a bit of both, but I expect that may be more confusing than it needs to be.  Surely this isn't an uncommon thing, so if anyone has any ideas, we're very open to them!  

Maybe I need to develop a HOUSE-BOAT model...

-JLR

Joy

That little three-letter word has cropped up a lot this past week.... 

A few weeks back I started a new (to me) Beth Moore Bible study called Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit.  The whole point of it is that the fruit of the spirit is from God and not from ourselves.  I can't try harder to achieve them unless by that I mean that I'm seeking more intimacy with God so that the spirit is uninhibited in my life.  This week we're talking about JOY.  I'm a melancholy person by nature and I tend to be more sad than happy.  I bristle at those who are "happy-clappy" as Tim and I like to call it.  Not that being happy-clappy is bad, but it's just foreign to me.  What I'm learning now is that joy is different.  It is not about putting on a smiling face and jumping up and down... it's about being lifted from the inside!  As I sat in thankfulness for my salvation and for all of the things I enjoy about God-- His faithfulness, His persistence, His pursuit of me, His generosity, His tenderness, and intimate connection with Him-- I was overwhelmed by this lightness that overcame me!  And then I read this line:

"Lord Jesus, teach us to enjoy YOU and revel in your great salvation even when difficulty surrounds us."

I know difficulty.  I know stress and transition and fear... but do I know JOY in those times?  The answer is often no, unfortunately.  But I have hope that maybe this time it will be different.  Maybe this time I will be walking so closely to God that our transitions will not be something to endure but a time of overflowing JOY in my life, family, and ministry... at least that's what I'm praying for.

In other news, Micaiah packed up her clothes today.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that we don't leave for another 13 days, so she'll have to unpack tomorrow to find something to wear... time to go look through our Third Culture Kids book (again!!) and figure out how to help her build a R.A.F.T.... (don't know what I'm talking about??  stay tuned to a future day's blog about the R.A.F.T. model of healthy transitions!)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law. --Galatians 5:22-23

-JLR

14 Days To Go

Today was a bit better emotionally.  Still many tears, but there were lots of practical things to keep my hands busy.  That gives my mind (and my tear-ful eyes!) a bit of a break from thinking too much.  As we're now in the final two weeks (!!!), we will start packing things up bit by bit until we've pulled all of our personal stuff out of this place and it becomes merely a guesthouse.  I'm kicking myself that I didn't take more pictures of the inside the way we had it set up.   

We spent some time packing up Micaiah's room this afternoon.  Her attitude was beyond amazing.  There were things that she definitely wanted to keep, but so many others that she was willing to let go.  I kept hearing her say, "I think my friend, ______, would really like this... it would help them remember me."  Oh sweet girl!  Like anyone could ever forget you! 

And yet, I think that's my fear, too.  Being forgotten.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Funny how something as "simple" as an international move brings such deep fears to the surface. 

We also watched Les Miserables this evening.  I've known the general outline of the story, but had never read the book or watched the movie.  (I know!  Shame on me, right?)  I was stunned by the depth of the characters and humbled by the example of mercy.  And the story so naturally translates to spiritual truths...I've been bought at a very high price... do I pour that love onto others as well?  Or do I judge them with the law?  Does the fruit of the spirit in me show that I am a changed woman?  Such good questions to think about. 

-JLR