The first blog from Africa! What a journey that has found our family here…in Swaziland! After 2 days of long travel, we are now in our home for the next 3 months. Accomodations are simple but good. We have two bedrooms, that are adjoined by french doors, to call “our own”; a shared sitting area, shared eating area and shared kitchen. The biggest plus…FREE internet and (believe it or not) there is a TV in the common area with satellite dish. Honestly, I’m not sure I am happy about that! I’m sure it will come in handy some days to get the kids out from underfoot!
Eric has had his first experience driving in Africa…quite exhilerating for all of us! We drive on the left side of the road here…which is quite strange. Throw in the cattle, goats, potholes, kids and trucks passing by along the way and it is not an experience for the faint of heart. Yet, we all lived to tell about it.
The life we have chosen for our family is kind of like that, really. Driving on the wrong side of the road. For quite a while we have been moving in the opposite direction of what we had been used to. We liked to joke over the past year and a half that we were “downwardly mobile”. We are learning to do alot more, with alot less. Already, we are re-thinking many things that used to not even cross my mind:
*are these dirty clothes really dirty…or can we get by on one more wear?
*don’t throw it away…anything…ever…until we are certain we don’t need to use it again!
*only drink water when you are thirsty…
*hunger is relative…
*finding (only) 2 frogs and 1 cockroach in the house is good! again…all relative!
Most of what we have experienced over the past 72 hours has been like driving on the wrong side of the road. Since when has being wrong felt so right?!
That is what I am learning to love most about the Gospel of Jesus Christ…the upside-down, inside out, not what it appears to be nature of it all. We are living in certainly one of the most impoverished and desperate corners of the world. Yet, we are surrounded by treasures beyond belief! We know very little about what the future holds for us here. Yet, we are filled with a peace that really does pass all understanding. We feel a bit overwhelmed and under-qualified for the scope of work there is for us to do here. Yet, we know that we are right where the FATHER wants us to be. We are under-qualified…but He is not. He is rich in mercy, abounding in love, slow to anger and full of good gifts for His children. So, even if we are driving on the wrong side of the road, we are never alone. We are never alone. Never. Alone. I kind of like it on this side of the road.
