Unhindered

I think I mentioned at some point that I was doing a read through the Bible in 90 days plan...well, 90 days turned into...more than 90 days. I slacked off for a while (surprise) but I've picked back up in Chronicles and got to read the second account of the journey of the Arc of the Covenant to Jerusalem. So here's the story: David and his buddies are bringing the arc back home to rest with the Israelites, but they disobey the guidelines Moses set out for transporting it. As a result, the arc almost falls and this guy named Uzzah reaches out to steady it and when he touches it, God strikes him dead. No one was ever supposed to touch the arc- it was the physical representation of the presence of God, and therefore was most holy. So David panics a little bit at the realization of what he's bringing home and decides to leave the arc residing on the outskirts with this guy named Obed-edom for a while. Obed's family is blessed as a result, and David later decides to do things right and bring the arc into Jerusalem. This is a HUGE deal. There's a giant celebration and parade sort of deal with sacrifices being made, and music being played. And then there's David...

See, this is possibly my favorite story in the whole Bible. David himself just intrigues me on so many levels. I've often thought that if I have a son someday, I hope he'll be like David. Sure, the man made mistakes. Big ones. Ones that humanity wouldn't be prone to forgive. But even with all of that, David's considered a man after God's own heart. David LOVES the Lord. This love prompts him to do some things that seem unreasonable. I could cite them, but if you're curious just go check out 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles. His commitment to the God who chose him to be king is inspiring to me.
So, the arc is coming into the city and there's a giant celebratory parade, and David- David wears a simple linen robe, much like that of the priests. No kingly garments. No jewels and crowns and fancy robes for the occasion. See, David knows this isn't about him. David's not trying to be something special. He's not trying to take the spotlight. David's caught up in the pure ecstasy of what this means. The presence of GOD- YHWH- is coming to dwell with him. He's prepared himself for this- He knew it was coming. He took the time to think this out and realized he should humble himself in anticipation. But now- in the moment- he's overwhelmed! It's just too much! The joy is bigger than He imagined, the realization so much greater than he could have foreseen.  The Spirit of the Living God is with him, and he cannot contain his joy. 

"And David danced before the LORD with all his might."

Oh, that I would rejoice this greatly in the presence of my King- my Savior. Oh, that I would be completely unhindered in my worship- that I would encounter the reality of the Living God in my life and daily dance with all my might at his renewed mercies each morning. That I would put aside my mistakes, let go of my shame, and bask in His forgiveness and love. That I would worship freely in such a way that it makes little of me and much of my Lord, that I would be a living testament to the joy and freedom and life found in the Creator God.  

Cape Town Adventures

     I believe I mentioned in a previous post that Aly and I were planning to spend a week in Cape Town after Christmas.  Well, these plans certainly came to fruition and on December 27th our friend Michelle drove us to the airport and we began our journey!

    On our first flight, I managed to somehow secure an entire row to myself. There were three seats and I was the only one there. It was pretty excellent. Aside from that little blessing, there was also CHEESE on this flight. SA airlines apparently serve a meal on basically every flight. I wasn't overly hungry, but I decided to see what airline food was like in Africa, and was overjoyed to see a nice little block of cheese on my tray. Now, you can get cheese in Malawi, but generally it's quite expensive and relatively tasteless. I'm not sure how or why this is true, but it is. So- first thrill of our short venture back into the "Western world": Cheese!

     The rest of our day went very smoothly and we found ourselves being shuttled from the airport to our hotel by a wonderfully entertaining little bus company we stumbled upon and arrived at our hotel with no problems! We were pretty tired from a day of travel, so we basically stumbled into our 11th floor room of the Capetonian Hotel (google it, Dad...it was very safe!), turned the AC as cold as we could bear, and snuggled into bed. 

   Our hotel had a beautiful complementary breakfast each morning, and a shuttle every hour to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, which is the location of a GIGANTIC mall- two stories, various restaurants and a food court, several department stores, a grocery store, and 2 movie theatres. Needless to say, we took advantage of this and spent our first day shopping at the mall and at the surrounding shops that were a little more boutique-esque or incredibly touristy. We resolved not to buy anything that first day, but (I'm sure this will come as no surprise) our resolve was weakened by the discovery of a Build-A-Bear Workshop! So we made adorable little bears and gave them South Africa shirts, and they now enjoy a position of honor on our beds in Malawi. The other highlight of this day was the discovery of McDonalds and Subway in the mall. We ate at one of these two restaurants every day for the rest of the week. 

    We decided to do a bus tour of Cape Town that went through the city, up to Table Mountain, and down to the beach. This was an excellent choice.  Let me just say- Cape Town hit the geographical jackpot. It's incredible. The beauty is just beyond belief. Table mountain has recently been declared a natural wonder of the world, and it's majesty certainly proves that this position is merited. It's surrounded by other mountains as well, and the whole scene just takes your breath away. Additionally, the city has some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen! The water is clearest blue (and from what I understand, frigid!), and the beach has a combination of sands and rocks that seems perfect. Apparently all the South African celebrities hit up the clubs along the beachfront, as do various American and European stars. We just enjoyed the beauty from the bus. We took pictures, but I'm afraid they really don't even come close to the rapture of actually seeing this place in person. The tour also took us through some historic parts of town, such as the renowned District 6, which was actively involved in opposing apartheid and was later demolished by the government. Much of it is still in ruins, but what has been restored stands as a testimony to the strong will of the citizens of this area and the ruins remind us of the deathly and destructive nature of racism. 

    The other big event for us during the week was the opportunity to see Phantom of the Opera performed. It was absolutely fantastic. Many of the cast had studied in Cape Town, and most were South African.  They were fantastic. I told Aly that the Phantom was my first love, and always will be. I saw the play performed in Birmingham when I was in 6th grade, and have loved the story ever since. I still firmly believe that Christine made a mistake in choosing that pretty boy Raoul.  But I digress...  The point is- this was definitely a highlight of the week- I absolutely recommend it and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

    The rest of our week was spent in various ways- watching movies, shopping, wandering the streets. Aly got a haircut, we got our nails done, we bought some fun jewelry and clothes, and we enjoyed all of it. As a side note- we watched The Help while we were there, which was really interesting. Fantastic movie, for sure. It was strange sitting in a theater in Cape Town watching Jackson, MS on the screen. It was also interesting looking at the movie in light of apartheid and all that did to the country of SA.
    Overall, our trip was fantastic. We enjoyed our time there and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Simple comforts we would've taken for granted in the U.S. were all of a sudden luxuries. Air conditioning, drinkable tap water, no power outages, traffic lights, road signs, shopping malls, television, and fast food...ahh...such wonderful things! At the end of the week, though, we were glad to come home to Lilongwe.  It's nice to be with friends again, to speak at least a tiny bit of the language, and to enjoy the familiarity of our current home. Thanks very much to those of you who were praying for safety and who are still praying for us as we're here. We appreciate it and need it every day. Happiest of new years to you and yours, and thank you for sharing in this journey!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Yes, this is the 3rd blog post today. I'm just doing what I can to catch you all up.
Mom and Dad have been on me for weeks to get this thing updated, so I'm trying to do a decent job now that I'm finally obliging them.
Mom says that many of you have been wondering about my Christmas plans, so this is the Christmas post! yay!!

So, we got out of school one week ago- Friday the 16th. It was a splendid day. I spent most of it eating cookies and making cookies and listening to Christmas music with my classes. But I'm getting ahead of myself- to fully appreciate how wonderful this day was, you must know about the week leading up to it.
Michelle, our dear friend here, asked us at some point if we wanted to help her make cookies for all of the college students during finals week (same week as our last week of school). We, of course, responded with an enthusiastic yes. So on Sunday the 11th we started this quest. We made enough cookies to take to the cafeteria on Monday evening and give 2 cookies to every freshman. Monday afternoon we made enough cookies to give to all the sophomores and seniors on Tuesday evening. Tuesday afternoon we made cookies for the day scholars, and brought them to them at lunch on Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon we made cookies for all of the juniors to have on Thursday evening. On Thursday we made sugar cookies for Aly's class and for some of my students who were coming to help her class on Friday. The remainder we took to the cooks at the college and decorated with them. So, over the course of 5 days, we made roughly 700 cookies. It was...AMAZING. Granted, we didn't want to see or eat any more cookies for a good long time after that, but we had a really great time sitting at the college caf every evening and getting to know a lot more of the students. They loved the cookies, and several of them charmed us into giving them way more than their fair share, but we loved every second of it. Yay Christmas!

Since then, we've relaxed a lot. haha We used the first part of our break to simply enjoy the break! We've watched a whole season of Numbers, seen several Christmas movies, and spent time with friends who are still in the area. To our credit, we also cleaned most of our house at least once. :)

So, the plans for the future...well, Christmas eve (that's tomorrow!!!) we plan to spend the night with the Kyser family and get up on Christmas morning and take part in all their family's fun. They've got 3 kids whom we bought gifts for, and our family have sent some happies over for us too. Let me just say, I am thoroughly excited. Christmas evening we'll go to the McDonalds' house with the Kysers and enjoy a meal there. Sam McDonald is a good cook, and LeAnn is pretty amazing as well, and I am prepared to eat way too much. Just like home!

On the 27th, Aly and I are flying to Cape Town, South Africa and spending a week there. Our plans include sleeping, shopping, going to the movie theater, seeing Phantom of the Opera, and going to eat at McDonalds and Subway. I'm sure we'll do other amazing things- I hear Cape Town is breathtakingly beautiful- but right now the fast food is kinda all we can think about. You laugh, but I have missed turkey sandwiches more than I can say. mmmmm....  I'm hungry just thinking about it.

So there you have it! Christmas!
I do have to say, it's weird thinking about Christmas when it's 90 degrees outside and the decorations are pretty slim, but Aly and I have done our best to get in the spirit. Christmas earrings, Christmas t-shirts, Christmas music, Christmas shopping, Christmas decorations...we've got it all.
Of course, I miss my family a lot. I know I'll continue to miss them in the next two or three days as I hear about all the fun and start to see pictures online and all that stuff. I wish I could be home for all of that. But the simplicity here is refreshing, and I haven't once thought about material things I want for Christmas. I've never been able to say that before. I'm thankful for this new perspective, and I will never take Christmas with my family for granted again. This will just make time with them in the future that much sweeter. In the mean time, I hope you'll all give my mommy and daddy a hug from me, and remember as you enjoy Christmas with your loved ones what a truly huge gift that really is. Few Malawian families are intact, and few will actually have any sort of celebration or gift exchange on Christmas day. Remember why we celebrate, friends.
Remember the child in the manger who sought no gift. Remember the parents who were content in that little stable, who later became refugees with only what they could carry on a camel or donkey. This was the life of the Christ child. Thank him for that sacrifice, and consider sharing your wealth with someone who will be eating ngumbi for Christmas dinner- that is, flying termites they picked up off the ground- because they can't afford to buy food. I would absolutely love if you'd make a special donation this Christmas to an ABC student. Help them pay tuition so they can stay in school and change the future of their family and their nation. Tuition is roughly $2000 a year and we've lost several students already because they simply can't make ends meet here. YOU can change that. Consider the least of these...email me or go to the ABC website if you're willing to help meet the needs of my dear friends.  THAT would make my Christmas wonderful.

Catch-up post

First off,
Pepani!!! I am so very sorry for the delay in updates. I have many excuses, most of which are pretty valid, but...I'll spare you a lot of them. 

Let's just say 1. I haven't really had a whole lot to say lately, 2. Our generator has been broken, so power outages weren't fixable for the past 3 weeks or so, and 3. I really have been pretty stinkin busy!

I started writing an update a week or so ago, but the power went out in the middle of it and I never got back to finish it. Again, pepani! So sorry! But I will go ahead and post what I did get written, just so you can see a little bit of what was going on. Look under this post for that one. 

So, I'm not gonna go back and tell you a whole lot about the past month- you can refer to Aly's blog and the Kysers' blog for some things. Our lives aren't all that different, really.
The Inter-house swim gala was pretty insane. I screamed a lot and wore lots of green (my house color...think Harry Potter, except...not) and in the end Nyika (my house) won! Our students swam fast and had tons of spirit and I was incredibly proud of them. They're troopers. It was a LONG day.

Those were the biggest events- other than that, things were pretty normal around here. Time flowed steadily on, days passed, and I consistently forgot to blog. Eish!  We watched some more ABC basketball, got into volleyball, and continued getting to know our friends and made some new ones too!

All that to say, we successfully survived our first semester of teaching! Mostly...technically we have two weeks in the semester when we go back. But you get the point! I made it! I lived an entire semester as a junior high/highschool English teacher in Malawi! The fuel queues get longer every day, the power is out more and more often, the economy is worsening, shortages of other random things are increasing, the ants never go away, and I am simply learning to live in this beautiful place.

Or as Switchfoot would say- learning to breathe. 

oops

Well, I just realized how long it's been since I posted. I am quite sorry about that. My family keeps asking for a post, and I kept thinking it's only been a couple weeks, but really it's been a month. Eish! Sorry about that.
To be honest with you, the past month has been tough. I guess we just hit that point in our time here where things get hard. Or maybe I just got word out. Either way, it's mostly passed. So I'll try to hit some high points for you in the past weeks.
 1. International Day- This is a day where ABCCA celebrates its multiculturalism. It was the day after Thanksgiving. (I had to be in school on Thanksgiving. That was weird.) Everyone wears traditional clothes from their countries and we have a big parade of nations and then people do fun things and we have amazing food from all the moms of ABC and it's basically an insanely huge feast and celebration. Since I know you're wondering, I wore a baseball jersey provided by Clay Adkison. What could be more American than baseball? For those of you who know how I really feel about baseball and are laughing at this irony, thanks. Here's a couple pictures from International Day:





A bird! I ate that thing! mostly...






Burundi dancers! They're amazing.

And of course, Aly and I, looking very American.


(This is the end of this post. I apologize for the incompleteness. See the post above this one for more info about the rest of the semester.)

101 Days of Malawi Countdown

As of today, we've actually been here 103 days, I believe. But 101 sounds so much better. So it's time for another countdown. This one is entitled

Things I've seen (at least) 101 of in the past 101 days

1. Ants. Yep. You knew it had to be on the top of the list. But for real...I see at least 101 EVERY day, I think. At this point, we only kill them sometimes. And we only get them out of our food/drink sometimes. I'm told that this means we're moving up in the missionary rankings. Yep, there's rankings. You wish you were that cool.

2. Bicycles Carrying Really Weird Things. Chickens, a goat, 8 bags of groceries, 15 watermelons, 10 8-foot long poles, kittens, 3 other human beings, a bed frame, or any of several other sorts of unidentifiable bundles. Bicycles here are as common as vehicles on the streets, and they carry all the same things a pickup truck would back home. These men must have leg muscles of steel! I don't know how they do it! And it's not as if the roads or the sides of the roads are smooth! This amazes me. I'll have to get some pictures of this to prove it.

3. Bananas. We really like bananas. And there are tons of them here. On every street corner someone's selling bananas! That's convenient. 

4. Coke (and fanta). I refuse to capitalize fanta. It is an inferior beverage. But Coke is abundant here! Well, it usually is, anyway. Lately there's been a Coke shortage, along with everything else. But we still manage to find it pretty often. It's the popular soft drink here, and we are very grateful for this. It's found here most often in a glass bottle, and it's made with real sugar, so it's delicious! We did find a place down the street that sells it in cans, which is a special treat we reserve for desperate occasions. 

5. Lizards! There are all kinds of lizards here. Really cool ones! Some are just lil tiny guys that kinda blend in- we have them at home too. They're all over the dorms. I like those guys. They catch mosquitos and are just kinda cute. Especially the lil baby ones. Then there are some dark colored ones that are a little bigger and they're kinda annoying. Then there's the big ol guys that are grey and rough-looking, and they have super bright blue heads! It's so awesome!! When was the last time you saw any animal that was bright blue? I'm talking cerulean, here. And there are birds that color too. It might be my new favorite color. But I digress...Lizards! They're everywhere!

6. Flowers. Man, the flowers here are gorgeous! The trees are beautiful, and they all have bright pretty flowers! (Well, except for those annoying trees that have those big nasty green ball things that fall out on our house and squish under our feet and smell yucky. I've seen about a million and one of those.) We go around campus and collect flowers for bouquets all the time. They're just really nice. Once again, I'll have to post pictures to adequately demonstrate this. But believe me- Malawi's probably the most beautiful place I've ever been, and that's in part due to the pretty flowers everywhere. Can't wait til rainy season enhances that!

7. New Release Cassette Tapes. Okay, I have to admit, Aly was the one who actually saw this. I was absent on this occasion. However, I just want you to enjoy that. This isn't old 80s music on cassette tapes. This is the latest stuff to come out. I don't care who you are- that's impressive.

8. Jerrycans (and cars) in Fuel Lines. I've never seen so many jerrycans (or various other random plastic containers used to contain petrol) in my life! Every fuel line here has dozens and dozens of jerrycans at the front and dozens and dozens of cars lined up in every direction. It's really quite a sight to see. I wish you could all experience this and understand the desperation and resignation of the people here. A Malawian friend of mine recently said Lilongwe won't know how to have a social life anymore if the petrol queues are no longer necessary. Fuel lines are where you go to hang out! I sat in my first petrol queue last Sunday morning at 5 AM. It's an experience you all need. I know gas is expensive in the states, but...I don't think I'll be complaining about that when I return home. Over $8 a gallon and lines for hours just to get a few liters if you're lucky. And countless people are robbed while waiting in line. It's tough, folks. Count your blessings.

9. Stares. Apparently it's not impolite to stare in Malawi. And, I don't mean to startle you, but people in Malawi are mostly black. It's beautiful.  But see, in case you didn't realize...I'm white. (It's okay, sometimes I forget that too.) Very white. I practically glow in the dark. Oh, the stares! But I will say, as many stares as I've seen, there have been even more

10. Smiles. The people here are so friendly!  They smile at you and shout out "Muli bwanji!" or "Hallo!" from across the road, out the window, next door, wherever. It's incredible. It feels like the good ol South of the USA! Everyone's got a smile, a handshake, and a greeting for you, even if you are the awkward minority who stumbles over even the simplest response in Chichewa that you've been practicing for months. This is a special place, and I feel so blessed to be a part of it! Thanks to all of you reading for helping make this possible for me.

manna and meat

This has been a hard week.  I could list reason after reason after reason, and still there would be more. Difficulties seem to pile up here and some weeks it's just overwhelming and I don't know what to do anymore.  So the tears come and the praying continues and God patches up my stubborn heart that is so quick to doubt His plan and reminds me that He loves me dearly.  This has been a week of that. I complained and complained and whined and whined.  And I don't mean to say that things weren't hard- they were and still are. There are multiple factors that combine to make life difficult at this point.  But fyi- I'm in a third world country serving as a missionary.  Easy was never a guarantee. And that's okay.
Last night, after a week of harboring bitterness and anger towards people and institutions and myself, I finally let it all go. I was reading in Numbers about the people of Israel fussing in the wilderness about how sick they were of eating manna. Which- seriously- who wouldn't complain? Sure, it was a miracle from God that they had food to eat, but I can imagine manna got old pretty quick when it was all you were getting. I mean, who of you have eaten the same meal twice in this week, let alone every day for months? So I can see where these guys were coming from. So they tell Aaron and Moses they'd simply rather be back in Egypt stuffing themselves with fruits and veggies and meat! Mmmm...sounds delicious when all you've had is some sort of wafer for months. But wait a minute...Egypt. Weren't they oppressed there? Weren't they slaves? Weren't they dying? Yeah...not ideal. But they keep looking back. And that's what I've done this week. I've wished for a different time, a different place, different people, different circumstances. I've begged to return to a place where I'd be just as miserable, with a few conveniences that seem ideal but would truly only hold me captive and oppress me. God basically tells the Israelites he'll give them so much meat it's coming out their noses (seriously, that's what it says.)  He gives them what they want, knowing full well it will make them sick.  Because from day one, He's had only their best interest in mind.  NO, that doesn't mean their lives are easy! But God is with them.  He guides them through the hard times and hard places so that He can bring them to the place He has prepared for them.  He has great things for them! And the first great thing is that they get to be in relationship with the Almighty Creator God who has chosen them for Himself!  I think I'll probably get over the manna issue... I get Jesus!
This place is a blessing. This life is a blessing. These people constantly bless me. I am blessed!
No, it's not easy. No, it's not always fun. No, it's rarely convenient. But it's beautiful. It's wonderful. It's right. He brought me here for a reason, and this is part of the good He has prepared for me. And in the midst of it all- good or bad- I have Jesus. :)

So I now send you to this blog, not so that you'll feel sorry for all the poor folks in Africa and all the missionaries that got shipped over to help them. I send you to this post so that you may love and pray for us. So that you may know that blessings aren't always easy or obvious. So that you may be a part of praying God's healing into this land. It is a blog post from a family that lives next to the Kysers. They're not ABC folks, but their kids go to the Academy and they're able to give you a really great picture, through photos and words, of how things are in Lilongwe.  Pray for Malawi. And wherever you are, thank God that you have Jesus with you. Count those blessings (after all, you get to celebrate Thanksgiving soon...get a head start!)