Finding Faith in the Battle

The word is officially in...Lake Malawi is AWESOME! Chad's mom was here for a brief 5-day visit so we managed to make it to the Lake for an afternoon. It's about 2 hours away, not too bad for a day trip. We weren't sure what it would be like, and I was afraid to get my hopes up too much. But I was speechless to think that we're so close to such a relaxing, wonderful place! There is a hotel right on the beach, and they charge to swim in their pool but use of the beach is free. The sand is soft, the surf was impressive and gave Chad a good hour on an ocean kyak trying to ride the waves, they let us use the beach chairs and umbrellas to lounge under, and they brought us freshly brewed coffee. I can not tell you how good it felt to relax and sip coffee in the sun, watching the kids play on the beach! It helps me handle the ups and downs of life just to know there IS a place we can get away to if we need. So if anyone wants to come visit... =)

I've picked up a few pointers since we've been here. I'm not sure this will be of help to anyone else, but let me share anyway... 1. Tins of baking powder and bags of flour actually CAN get used up! I never knew that. When we left the US, I think I gave my mom the same tin of baking powder I bought 10 years ago when I got married and thought any respectable home owned the stuff. But when making rolls, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, cakes, cookies and tortillas from scratch, you actually use it!!! 2. I love debit cards. Really love them. And I miss them. I am not sure I will ever get used to using only cash. Especially when the biggest bill is worth $3.25. That means my shopping trip today, which came to 9000 Kwacha, ($60) was paid with 18 bills. We have to use fanny packs to carry a week’s worth of money, because it won’t fit in a wallet! 3. Always have at least a week’s worth of money in above-mentioned fanny pack, because you never know when you’ll be able to access th...

Relative deprivation: the term used for how all of us feel like we’ve got less than other people. Well, I’m having the opposite problem. I’m doggy-paddling to keep my head above the relative-wealth pool I’m in now! Our crates arrived last week, so all Friday and Saturday we unloaded them and carried in boxes, bags, and garbage cans full of our stuff. Our house-helper, gardener, and night guard were all here to help carry things in. As we opened the first crate, we realized it must have been dropped at some point. The book case came out in pieces. The desk was splintered in several places. Plastic containers were shattered, and the freezer door was dented so badly the seal is compromised. Our missionary friends were all so sorry for us, seeing our broken things come out one by one. I didn’t shed a tear. I was too caught up in the knowledge that our 3 Malawian helpers were carrying in more stuff than they will ever own, combined. Every load of laundry Musa helps fold makes me aware that ...