Life Lessons

   All
laundry is done by hand here.  It’s
just how it goes… and I actually don’t mind it at all (which is funny since
doing laundry at home with the nice easy machine has always been one of my
least favorite tasks).  I was
talking with some of the girls on my team as I was washing about how I think
the rest of my life a “hand wash only” tag wouldn’t seem as daunting as it
might have before.  I don’t think I
have ever honored the request of such a tag in my life, before I wouldn’t even
know where to begin.  But now… a
whole load of laundry could easily be taken care of with a bucket or two, water
and soap. 

            Living
in a different culture surrounded by different people than you ever knew
before… there are life lessons to be learned.  Some are as simple as knowing how to effectively hand wash
laundry but some are much bigger than that.

            My
team is moving again.  We found out
on Wednesday night and by the time Thursday was here the plans were
finalized.  We are leaving on
Tuesday as a team for a vacation… SAFARI and a trip to Nairobi and to the
beach… and I don’t think we will be returning back to the base here in Mbita
before moving back to Uganda.  True
Vine Ministries has welcomed us to come and stay for the last three weeks of
our time here in Africa. 

            Our
team has already moved once pretty suddenly and at different points two people
have had to leave with very little time to take it all in.  All of these changes have been for the
best and I must say that I have been really learning from these sudden
goodbyes.  Sometimes it is easy to
say, “oh I will get to that later”, but what happens when all of those ‘laters’
have to be taken care of with in a few days or else they wont happen at all?
That time that I wanted to spend with so and so becomes rushed or doesn’t
happen at all or that trip to go see such and such just cant be squeezed in… I
want to take this lesson home with me and become much more keen on doing those
‘laters’ now.

            I
know that sudden changes are apart of life… and that is ok with me. I just want
to make sure that my ‘I really want to do that but I’ll get to it later’ list
doesn’t grow and grow waiting until a sudden change comes to push me to get to
them.  I want to be a person who is
very present in the moment I am in and does the things that God puts on my
heart in a timely manner so that I am not left with regrets with each change
through out my life. 

            In
this time of leaving I don’t feel like I have too much to do or anything like
that.  I feel like I should have
maybe sat down by the lake for a few more sunsets or sat to watch the monkeys
play outside the dinning hall a few more times, there are one or two people I
wish I would have spent more time with, or a couple of pictures I wish I would
have taken earlier, but for the most part I am ready. 

            It
may be an early goodbye from this lovely place but I know for certain that this
move is for the best.  Things have
been very ‘complicated’ here with the organization we are working with and our
host Paul is resigning to move his family into a healthier living situation and
ministry situation.  As a team we
are all very happy for Paul and his family and we are excited to get to spend
some more time serving alongside the people we know and trust at True
Vine. 

            Please
be praying for Paul and his family and for our team as we walk through this
(hopefully last big) transition before coming back to the states in May.