Friday May 6, 2016
Try as we might, we didn’t find one single taco to help us
acknowledge yesterday’s Cinco de Mayo.
We have to daily count the cost of serving our Savior. Ministry is hard, y’all. We made it through only because our great faith assures us that there will be chips and salsa at THE banquet table in heaven.
Our "guy-on-the-ground" Solomon got a call today during a meeting that the neighbors still trying to stake a claim on a sliver of our property, were back and trying to beat our fence guys. Our rising blood pressures were assuaged with the laughter brought on at the report that our builders simply tied the guy up and continued with the fence work. It is not our way but we were entertained non-the-less. Lord knows I have thought that through in relation to a few situations here at home...Have mercy if I temporarily forget the laws of this land when frustration overcomes my better judgement.
Thursday should have been a meeting with the builder we’ve
had our eyes on and feel like God has confirmed many times over. The morning we landed in country we received
a text that his mother had fallen ill and he was headed to the UK. It felt like a missed opportunity, but there
were still people to see and progress to check out.
Toilets here, sinks there, drainage, meeting room size, church/school
kitchen. I have to admit every technical
drawing in my mind is over-layed with young faces, contagious laughter and a
hope and a future.
Friday morning was spent gathering a wealth of information from
the well company’s owner. Whatever
amount of disappointment about the first dry hole was tempered by the wide river of great advice he had for us.
We finally got our arms around a few of the kids at
Chayah. Three of the four secondary
students, Olivia, Edrine and Melissa and Jesca, Yoweri and Doreen who had
finished their primary exams.
We sat
casually outside the boys quarters and Edrine played the guitar and sang for
us. They explained the process of
beginning secondary school with 16 subjects the first year, eliminating some
each year based on test scores so that by the 5th year, they are
immersed in the three subjects where their performance is strongest. Not so much choice of study as aptitude will dictate the direction their education takes.
Janet and I caught up on some bookkeeping and we shared a
few minutes of grief with Auntie Jennifer (cook) over the death of one of our
dogs, Mist. Oh, she spoke loudly and
harshly to that animal, but she raised him and was very attached. I do think the chickens looked a little more
relaxed, but still.
Saturday we’ll head to the house early. With only two full days left, time is short
and so we’ll have to soak up as much as we can on this short trip. We’ll meet with the architect again tomorrow
afternoon, pick up some items we’ve ordered and have dinner with our local
board members tonight.
I write, but for sure the WWW has been less than WIDE this
trip and by the time this finds itself on the blog, it could be old news. We
have a new understanding of our dependency and desire to communicate with home. I
wish you were here. Wish you could see
the lush beauty that the rainy season brings the land around us…and hear the
laughter over stories from school.
I wish you could see the plots already planted on the hill
and see the chickens standing under the tree when the rain comes down. I wish you were here to pray away the
uncertainty when the inevitable comes and we wonder if we are able to complete
what God is doing here.
But mostly I just wish you were here to see and hear and
feel so that when we meet there would be someone else to share that knowing
with. There is nothing like it...