So many gifts.

One of my favorite scenes in Lord of the Rings is when the sun shines on the fallen head of a statue of the King. For a moment the loss and pain of Sam and Frodo are lifted as they watch the King be crowned again.
Sitting here thinking about the gifts that God has given me this week makes me feel like that. Taking a moment to think about our Heavenly Father, is like being warmed by the summer sun on a cold day. We have had an exhausting and challenging week. Posting on here about the infertility that we are struggling with is one of the biggest steps I have taken in a long time. When I put that post up my heart was pounding, and my palms were sweaty. I was scared, but I also felt liberated. Like this darkness that has been shadowing my soul can no longer stick me in a corner and intimidate me by myself. Like one of my friends said, this way I can have more people praying for us.
Anyway, as a reminder Monday is for listing gifts that God has given this week so here goes:

#15 A new church to attend, we think that we may finally have found a place that feels right.
#16 A fantastic public pool, and it costs less than a dollar!!
#17 The long weekend! We are going to Swakopmund with the Wrights and Marye. I cannot even express how much I am looking forward to this long weekend. We plan on going sand boarding, braaing, I plan on jogging on the beach (Hasselhof style), and there will be a boat load of relaxing. We found a missionary guest house that has a pretty good deal!
#18 Birthday cake!
#19 The Gym. One of our closest friends, and a dear supporter, has decided to pay for us to have gym memberships for a while year. How cool is that?
#20 This one may sound weird, but today I am thankful for Abraham and Sarah. I was reading about the long road that they were on before God blessed them with a child. It gave me hope, and reminded me that God always has a plan.

If you are reading this, and you have a blog, join the thanksgiving and list some things that God has given you this week!

Project 52 “The view from here”

Wednesday’s adventure.

You know those days. The days where you should have just stayed in bed. Yesterday was such a grand adventure for us.
I had terrible nightmares all night. Ones where David was dead.
I woke up with a fat swollen eye, thanks to a recurring sty. Adam picked me up for school while David stayed in town to do some business. When I got to school I had forgotten my keys and the internet device. So no getting into the office and no internet. The teachers loved me for that.
While I was teaching my eye started to throb, itch and run. It made the hour seem really long.
So far the day wasn’t going too bad, it was just inconvenient. By three pm, we were heading home and I was exhausted from not sleeping the previous night thanks to dead husband dreams. I decided not to go to my work-out class, but to go to a movie instead. We needed the relaxation time. 
So when we are about ready to leave we hear a loud banging on our front door. It scared the daylights out of me. We have a gate that locks and a barbed wire fence. There is no way anyone could get to our front door. We cautiously looked out the window and saw our neighbor’s, who is also our landlord’s daughter, dog stuck between our gate and door.
There is no way this dog made it into our yard without help. The entire fence is made of barbed wire. There is no hole in the wall, or under the fence. It is still a mystery how it got into our yard. We spent half an hour trying to get a hold of either our landlord, or her daughter. Edda finally answered and said that we could just leave him in our yard until she got home, but to be careful because he likes to get out and run in the street. So we tied a rope onto his leash, and David backed the car out while I held onto him. Then we closed the gate while David went back in and untied the rope so he could run free in our yard. Then David slowly inched the gate open to squeeze out, and the dog pushed him out of the way (almost running his face into the barbed wire) and shot into the street. I jumped and tried to catch him, and David took off after him. It was too late, he was in the street and under a car before we could do anything.
It was a sickening thud.
The lady jumped out of her car, (which is now badly damaged) and started apologizing profusely. The dog was yelping and crying, when David tried to pick him up he tried to bite David. The dog did not seem too badly injured as he jumped up and took off AGAIN! This time he ran straight for out landlord’s house and squeezed under her gate.
Her granddaughter came out, and I has to warn her that the dog was hurt and bleeding all over. (It looked like his hind leg was badly hurt and bleeding).
The little girl said that she would go get her grandmother and disappeared into the house. Cue the rain!  It started to POUR! We waited for 15 minutes for anyone to come out of the house when the landlord’s son drove up, we told him what happened and he told us they have a problem with the dog, and that there was nothing else we could do.
So off we go on our “relaxing date in the middle of a crazy week.” Ha!
When we got in the car I felt like my purse was missing, but thought I probably left it in the house so we left without it.
We made it to the movie in time, halfway through the bulb in their projector burned out. We listened to quite a big part of the movie 😉
When we left at nine, the parking lot was deserted, and it was raining softly. We could tell when we got to our car that something was amiss. The alarm was not responding. We got in and David turned the key.
Nothing.
The car was dead. Super dead. Deader than a doorknob.
We had left the lights on.
We spent about 20 minutes walking around asking the few people who were still at the mall if anyone could give us a jump, but of course no one had jumper cables.
We ended up calling Jodie and Patrick, Patrick came out with his car and jumper cables.
We would be home in no time!
The guys hooked up the cables and David turned the keys and….
Nothing. Nothing but a sickening clicking.
Cue the rain! This time the Heavens opened up with a new kind of fury. It was raining so hard the parking lot was flooding, and lightning was flashing all around us. They tried everything. But our car just would not start.
By this time we are the only people in the parking lot so we were able to push it the wrong way on a one way street. I tried to be the “key turner” while the boys pushed. Then we swapped. I jumped out to help push, so Patrick who knew the trick could be the “key turner.”
I stepped into water up past my ankles, with the flood gates still dumping on us. We pushed and pushed and the car just gave a few weak coughs. This went on for a while. Until we were soaked and shivering. (Patrick then noticed he had an umbrella!!)
At this point it was getting close to 10pm, we thanked Patrick and told him he could go home, nothing was helping!!
We then called Adam, who had been at home looking for a towing company.
Note that we could not just leave the car in the lot, Namibia is not the safest country. We could not afford to buy a new car if this one is stolen or damaged.
Adam informed us that there was no towing company to be found, and that he was on his way. (We later found out that he had been throwing up when we called. The Wrights are still struggling with this bug that is going around).
Adam made it, and we tried to jump our car with his, but again nothing. It was still raining though!
We decided to try and have him tow us home. The boys got the cars hooked up, and then David walked around to me with something wet and limp in his hands. MY PURSE!
I had put it down on the winch when we were trying to contain the dog, and left it there! It stayed on for the ride to the mall, was not taken by anyone even though it sat in the parking lot for several hours, and had enjoyed us pushing it around in the rain. It was sopping wet. How funny is that?!
I am not usually such a scatter brain.
So there we went, hooked up to Adam’s car. It was pretty tense, as we did not have power steering, or power brakes, or any kind of lights. We set off in the dark and rain. Our biggest fear was running into the back of Adam. We stayed under 20km an hour, and there were only a few jerks.
I am pretty impressed by how well Adam and David did.
We finally got home, and after pushing that monster of a car up hill into the drive way we were able to get out of the rain!
But wait!
The rain had flooded our living room!
We stepped into the living room puddle, in our soaking wet clothes.
Hilarious.
When I started squeegeeing the floor I noticed a spider nest on the curtain with eggs in it!
We finally got to bed past 11pm, cold, wet and with the sound of crunching spider eggs in our ears.

I think next time I want to skip my work-out class I will remember what happens to people who skip their work-outs! Today we also learned what it means to say “When it rains, it pours!”

I will update on how the dog is doing when we find out. This morning there was no movement on their side.

So…

A few months ago I did a guest spot on a friend’s blog. I think it is time to open up on here, so I can have a place to write about what is going on here. And so that maybe someone would be able to find some comfort in knowing that they are not alone. 
http://transatlanticblonde.blogspot.com/2011/01/infertility-is-universal.html

Critter of the week…

It’s Monday again!

Monday means that it is time for a “one thousand gifts” post. Last week I posted six things that I am thankful for, that means I am 994 short of my 1000! 🙂
This morning we woke up to one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen. The sky was awash with fluffy golden clouds, and a bright vivid rainbow framed it all. As we pulled into the school yard is started raining softly. It was a prefect!
We spent time today at school working on the discipline policy. I think I have mentioned before that working with our kids is not all hugs and smiles. Some of our kids come from homes where there is no form of discipline. Some come from homes where there is constant discipline (including beatings). We are working on a policy that will make sure our discipline is tempered by love. It was a great reminder of why we are here, and that we are working towards changing the whole community by bringing hope to the children.

7. The fluffy golden clouds.
8. Hugs from the kids on a Monday morning.
9. Being able to get up at 5:30 for a workout.
10. Internet access at school 🙂
11. Being able to teach Art class.
12.Sweet morning kisses from Mr. Echols.
13. Kids who bring umbrellas to school, and then they give it to the teacher so we can stay outside for playground duty without getting wet!
14. Sharing breakfast with Miss Puper every morning.

What are some gifts that God has given you?

Home.

This afternoon we were able to Skype into the Sunday morning service in Highbee MO. Southern Randolph Christian Chapel was our church home while we were in college. I cannot describe what I felt when we got to see the congregation on the computer screen this morning. It was incredibly encouraging and absolutely wonderful to see the faces of some of the people who are cheering for us, and who have been behind us from the start. It was also difficult to see the place that we used to call home, knowing that it will be years before we get to be there again. Most days we are so busy we lose sight of how long it took to get here, but seeing the church this morning reminded us of the team we have behind us, and the years we spent preparing for the ministry here. 
Thank you SRCC for who you all are to us!!!

Random

Sometimes it seem like life is so random. When I look around me and see all the pain that people experience, I am overwhelmed by the hurt that is on this planet. This week a friend passed away unexpectedly, another friend said goodbye to her twin babies, not to mention the horror that the kids have to endure in Katutura. Sometimes I just have to run away. To find a place where I can breath again. The pain that is suffered here is too much some days. There are times when I can’t let myself dwell on what people are feeling. I found a blog today, a blog about a lady my age who found a bump on her arm a while ago, she died of cancer this morning. I had tears in my eyes as I though about the hurt and loss that her family must be feeling this morning. It is easy to think that people go through life alone, and that perhaps we can just move along and not think about the holes in the people around us. I think this morning that we are more connected than we think. Take time this week to help someone bear the burden that they are carrying. Cry with someone. The truth is that we life in a place where bad things happen without reason. Today you can be fine, tomorrow your life can be ripped apart by the death of your loved ones, the loss of your job, and countless other things. I know that Romans says that all things work together for the good of those who love Him, but I do not think that it means we will be without pain and struggles. Life someone up, take time to make eye contact and smile, greet people, and above all remember that they were created by God, that He loves them so much that He would die for them, and that His heart is broken for the pain and loss experienced here on this blue rock we call home.

Sunny Saturday.

It has been a wet and rainy two months here in Namibia. Every night we have listened to the rain sifting onto our tin roof, and every morning we have smelled the freshly washed earth. Namibia is the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The rain has been a huge blessing! There is one bothersome side-effect to all this rain, it is difficult to get out clothes to dry. Our house has looked comical at times, with wet clothes carefully draped over all the furniture! Today we woke up to a hot and sunny Saturday. The sun is out and there is not a cloud in sight! We had originally planned to go on a hike today, but since David is still getting over the bug he has been fighting for the last two weeks we have decided to stay home and get some chores done. I think all over Namibia today you will hear people washing their clothes, and the smell of detergent should fill the air by lunch time, and next week everyone will be wearing fresh dry clothes, and not mildewy damp ones. We may oven go to the pool 🙂

One Thousand Gifts.

On my way to listing a thousand gifts that God has given me.

1. Grace
2. Sunny days, and thunder storms.
3. The love of my handsome husband.
4. Every single one of my grade 2 kids.
5. A romantic Valentine’s day dinner.
6. My new running shoes!