The norm...

Happy weekend! I hope you're doing well in the land of baseball (Go Cardinals!) and fuel and cold weather. 

This has been a pretty normal week around here, but I thought I'd give you an idea of what a normal week looks like.
Monday began with our first day back to school after midterm holiday. Needless to say, it was not easy waking up at 5:30, but we made it to school on time. I have to admit, though, it was good to see my students. Although I'd seen a lot of them over the break, I was glad to be around my kids again.  They're fun people, and I love them a lot. Monday night Aly and I went to the ABC Lions basketball game.  This was pretty terrific. Basketball here is just really fun.  The players aren't 10 feet tall, the electricity goes out in the middle of the game, the students/fans dance and sing rather than yell, and the players actually seem to enjoy the game! It's pretty crazy. There's just a purity to the game that I enjoy- it seems to be missing in the States.  On top of that, the guys played a great game! Our friend Andrew was in for the whole game, and Zach got to play for a bit as well! We were proud. =) We're pretty loyal fans.

Tuesday I'm not real certain what we did. All I remember is that it was hot. Real hot. Not much of a breeze, no air conditioning, no fans in my classroom and only 1 in my house... yeah. I probably suffocated. (We're gladly accepting monetary donations to enable us to buy more fans!)

Wednesday we got to hear an excellent speaker at staff Bible Study. His name is Dr. Krammendan (maybe?) and he's affectionately known around ABC as "Uncle Krabby". We got to hear him in chapel last week and again Wednesday night, and both were a treat.  Wednesday he spoke on James 1, with special emphasis on "counting it all pure joy" when we suffer, enduring trials and temptations.  Now, I know you guys aren't guilty of this, but I'm sure there are folks in the world that believe missionaries have some sort of special power that enables them to do this more than other people. Well, that's false. Things are tough in Malawi right now. I can't remember the last time we went more than like 8 hours without a power outage. I see fuel lines everywhere, and most of the people in them won't actually get fuel. The heat is becoming oppressive, the economy is suffering, and water is really hard to come by, even on campus. And I have the ability and privilege to consider these things and rejoice in them. Wednesday was a hard day for me, and the sermon that night was needed more than I can say.  God was faithful in gently correcting me and providing a way for me to rejoice and worship even in the midst of some tough lessons I am still learning.

Thursday was another lovely school day, and then we went shopping again with Owen. It was an adventure, as always, and then we came back to watch the guys play in the basketball playoffs. Which they dominated. Seriously. Again, I was proud of our boys. Our team is legit. :) Go Lions!

Friday consisted of school, praise team practice, playing with the kitten which will soon be mine, and hanging out with some college folks around here. Aly and I decided to take this week off of potluck, so instead we made spaghetti and watched some of the ABC girls' basketball game, which was quite entertaining.  Then we played cards with some folks until we were too tired to function...at like 10:30. haha
So there's a somewhat typical week in my life here!
And for real...fans are expensive. Holla if you wanna donate to the cause! ;)
Also, a shout out to Liz Anne Oates, whose incredible card was delivered to me Wednesday, just when I really needed a pick-me-up.  You win, friend. Thanks for being amazing!

A tale with a tail...

This is simply an anecdote from last week.  I'm in the mood to write.  Accept it. 

So, last Friday night a bunch of folks were over at Mista Owen's house watching Kung Fu Panda. (See? It's already a great story.) Well, because Owen is amazing, we were all in the kitchen drinking coffee and chatting after the movie. Aly and I had our backs to the fridge and the pantry, and everyone else was spread around the room.  As we're telling some sort of story, all of a sudden all eyes are wide and focused just behind us. Of course, we quickly run across the room as our friends proceed to tell us that a large rat just ran out from under the fridge and into the next room.  Eek! So Owen closed the door real quick with a promise that he'd scope it out and put an end to that problem in the next couple days.
So, Monday rolls around and we're back at Owen's with the guys grabbing a snack after their midterms and just hanging out.  An important aspect of Owen's house is that the refrigerator has alphabet magnets! So Aly and I were (of course) writing notes all over the fridge and spelling everyone's names and such.  We then decided to leave a note reminding everyone about Chicondi's doctor appointment the next day, as they seemed quite prone to forget.  All of a sudden, as I'm writing a real note and Aly's spelling it out w/ alphabet magnets, she lets out a really excellent scream and disappears into the next room before I even have time to inquire as to the cause.  Not to worry- the cause made itself known. I looked down and behold! our friend the rat!  Apparently the lil guy came stumbling out from under the fridge onto Aly's foot and the rest is history.  I'm pretty sure she gave him a heart attack, b/c he couldn't even walk.  He kept falling over in his attempt to move out of harm's way. Poor lil fella. Unfortunately, the guys in the house aren't too keen on rats, so eventually the intruder was shoved out the door.  I saved him from a cruel and painful death at the teeth of the neighbor's dog and then Owen got the gardener to take him away and hopefully speedily end his misery, rather than letting him continue to suffer pitifully from an Aly-induced heart attack.
And that, is my tale with a tail... a long pinkish one... hehehe!

Oh, Happiness!

I've tried to write this blog post three times. It's been a crazy week here in Malawi, what with fuel shortages worse than ever before, water and electricity becoming scarce, and even a lack of Coca Cola at times! But in the midst of all the crazy, Aly and I managed to have the greatest week ever.  See, last week was midterm holiday for the academy, and quite contrary to our usual ideal, Aly and I resolved to spend as little time as possible in our house.  We just figured it was time for us to get outside the box (box...quad...get it? hahahaha) and explore a little.
The first step of this process involved going to chapel with the college students every day. Little did we know Monday was a public holiday so we were up before allllllll the other folks on campus. BUT! we did manage to go the rest of the week, and it was a huge blessing. We had some really incredible times worshiping with students and listening to them share testimonies or hearing the speakers for the week.
Another significant detail is that it was midterms for the college kids, which is more like finals in the states. We'd actually planned to go to some classes this week, but there were none since the students were taking tests.  This was a disturbing realization at first, because our plans to stay out of the house seemed to be falling apart, but we soon realized our goal was still achievable with the help of a few friends.  But before I go on, I should tell you about Mista Owen. Owen teaches reception at ABCCA (that's the 4-year old class) and he's quite a fun guy. He's from Zimbabwe and has been living in Lilongwe and working at ABC for like 8 years...he knows Chichewa and we're pretty certain he knows 80% of the city.  This week his roommates on campus were all gone, so he opened up their house on campus as a (mostly) quiet place for some guys to study or just a fun place to hang out during the day.  Somehow, we managed to get in on this, and the rest is history, I guess. We spent a lot of time at his house this week, mostly b/c he has comfy couches. Seriously, they're amazing. In the course of the week he introduced us to tons of college students here and showed us some new sights in the neighborhood and allowed us to invade his house any time we wanted.  This greatly helped us in our goal of staying out of the box/quad.
I don't know how to explain the extent that this week changed my mindset and view of being here in Malawi.  I've been new places and met more people and learned more of the language.  But most of all I'm finally able to be happy here.  I think I've expressed before the difficulties that I've had just adjusting to the "grown up" world. All of the teachers on campus are several years older than us, and Aly and I still have a college mindset in a lot of ways.  Being able to spend time with college students, help them study for finals, memorize outlines with them, eat lunch with them, watch movies and have mini dance parties...sigh...it was a taste of normalcy.  Finally, I feel like I belong here. I've known all along that I was here for a purpose, and I'm still discovering what that is, but with the friendship of people like Owen, Andrew, Zach, Ndaba, (boli boli... mbuga)...i dunno...I just feel like I have the support and the comfort I was missing before. I've laughed more this week than I have in months. I still miss home, but I'm beginning to identify this place as a sort of home as well.  There are people I love here, and people I can't imaging leaving behind. I've played basketball and gone swimming and played on the playground and taken walks and just enjoyed my life. I let go of the insecurities and allowed myself to learn new things and laugh at myself and be laughed at. I've accepted that I will never ever ever under any circumstances be able to blend in here.  But I am okay with that.  Who needs to blend in? Why not embrace the opportunities that come with standing out? Especially if you're surrounded by friends...

Probably the main reason I've tried to write this so many times is that I can't really find words to express what a blessing this week has been for me.  God is so patient. I've been so stubborn and independent lately, and He has been so merciful.  Instead of scorn, I received blessing upon blessing, each one undeserved.  I can't explain to you what changes have occurred in me. I can't fully express my gratitude to God for providing me with such an incredible week when I needed it most. When I am faithless, He is faithful. His mercies are new every morning, and I intend to declare that as often and as loudly as possible. :) He is good.   And so, although I have to admit I am not overly excited about returning to my teacher position tomorrow, I will choose to wake up and say "Good morning, Holy Spirit" and continue my day in light of the grace I have been shown.  As always, thanks for your prayers, and please don't stop. I truly need every bit of it, and I'm so thankful to receive messages or comments you send.
Oh, happiness! There's grace enough for us and the whole human race!

The Catch Up Game

Hey guys! I know it's been two weeks. My most sincere apologies. Life is a lil crazy here. I don't even know where to start, but I'll try to fill you in on a little of what's gone on since I last took time to sit down and write.

First off, Aly got proposed to by the vegetable guy. She responded by asking him for a mop. Just enjoy that. Go read her blog for more detail. It's pretty excellent.

Much more exciting news- MY roommate, the beautiful and sweet Amber Cockrell is going to marry Andrew Harper. He proposed, and she (having gotten to know him a little better than Aly knows the vegetable guy) said yes. We are pretty ecstatic about that.  We were in on the secret- Andrew's a good man and gave us a little heads up so we could be excited with Ammie even from Africa. This paragraph has lots of capital A's.  Anywho, this gives us reason to come home this summer and be all up in that July wedding. Seriously- SO excited!  I love my roomie and she's as happy as can be, and that makes my heart happy too.

As for school, I finally sufficiently caught up on lesson plans and grading, which was fortunate. I got crazy behind somehow and life just is that much harder when there's the added stress of feeling like the grading and planning will never be done. BUT we did have a super exciting thing happen! Last Friday was Reading Day!  This is a fantastic day that a previous headmaster began at ABC.  School only lasts til noon for everyone, and all the students and teachers dress up as a book character!  I was a pirate. Smee, to be specific. It was a bit of a last-minute decision for me, but it worked out well, and my giant fake mustache was a hit with the little kids especially. Facebook has pictures if you're curious to see what this day looked like.  You really should go see.  It was absolutely fantastic.

Last week was a pretty fantabulous week. It just was. I managed to get out of the house more, which was really good for me.  I felt caught up on school stuff for the most part, and so I could really just enjoy myself a little bit more.  And thankfully we have this whole next week off, which makes life even more wonderful. But I'm getting ahead of myself... Last week. First off, Aly and I wandered around for a bit on Monday evening and somehow managed to find ourselves on the merry go round on the playground.  One of our friends, a college student at ABC, found us and laughed at us for a bit, and then invited us to dinner in the college cafeteria.  We accepted the invitation to hang out for a bit and even stood in line and got food for a couple of the guys (they wanted us to have the full experience...) and had a grand time.  We then discovered a beastie in the bushes next to our house. But that's another story for another day (that involves some running and squealing in the dark b/c we're scaredy cats).

Now for the best story, I need to take you back to the Saturday of last week.  Aly and I managed to stay in bed til like 10:30, but I had to be at the chapel around 11, so when we both got up I made a stop in the spare bathroom  on my way to the kitchen, and upon entering, found a dead mouse in the toilet. Seriously. IN the toilet. Drowned, apparently.  Pics of this are also on facebook. Go enjoy.  I posted the pic and a "please come take this away" plea on facebook and 3 of the college guys we know here came and took care of it.  Again, ask Aly for more on this story. I was at the chapel when that part happened. But I encountered the guys later and we had them and a few of the singles on campus over for pizza that night. So many fun times! They laughed at us a lot, and we laughed with them, and it was all really excellent. Here's the very important part of all of this:  I mentioned the mouse problem to the Trumbles on campus, and they have sweet lil baby kittens (only like 3 weeks old!) and offered one to us!  I have to wait til it gets bigger, and then I have to pick a quiet kitty, if possible, but under those conditions (and a few more) the girls have agreed to let me keep a kitty here!! yay!!!  I'll post pics of my kitty as soon as I actually have it.

Okay...well...that will have to do. More to come soon. I'll have plenty of time off next week, so I'll try to update you again on what's happening here.  Miss you guys, and am so thankful for your prayers. I feel them and need them.  Just ask Lisa Rector about it. God is good.

What if your blessings come through raindrops?

Today it rained. And that is a beautiful, glorious thing.  I feel it, I see it, I smell it, I hear it...I avoided tasting it b/c it just seemed like a bad idea. But believe you me, I am soaking it in and loving every second of it.  The weather is a good 20 to 30 degrees cooler all of a sudden, the thunder drowns out the construction next door, and I am happier than I thought possible at this moment in time.
With the craziness that was last week and the stress I already feel beginning this week, I really can say that His blessings have come through raindrops. Never in my life have I been happier to see, smell, feel, and hear a rainstorm.  I know that sounds dramatic, but it's really a fantastic reminder of His love for me, and assurance of His presence and provision even in the dry times, whether spiritual or physical. And I needed that more than I can tell you.

P.S. Go listen to the song if you don't know it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mmgV6mPvb0