What time is it?

The past 10 days we have been in Cambridge Ontario.
We are taking a class about entering a new culture.
We have talked about a lot of things. We talked about being settled, becoming unsettled, going through stages of acclimation and settling again.
We have talked about how you feel moving into a new culture.
We have talked about how you feel coming home again. Your culture changes overseas.
We have talked about needing to say goodbyes.
So where does that leave us now? What time is it?

We should be on the ground in Malawi in less then 3 months. That is fast.
We are here in Ontario for 4 more days and spending the weekend with my sister north of Chicago.
We will be home in our house only 13-15 days before we close and head to Charlotte for  more training. After that we have 5 weeks of basically doing some reading and planning and spending time with our kids and say good byes to those we wont see for a long time.

It's been a thoughtful time the past week +. We have been busy getting through our home and preparing it for sale. I have been trying to figure out what  to do with the rest of the stuff in our home. So much food, and now the remaining "stuff" that got tossed in closets has to be cleared out. What I have realized is that I have worked hard on getting physically ready to leave, I have done the required things for training, spiritually and mentally. I have a few books left to work through but it's coming. Mostly I am realizing that I have prepared physically to leave and to arrive in Malawi, but I have only prepared spiritually and emotionally to arrive in Malawi and have not gotten ready to leave emotionally. I have only thought about missing my children and precious grand baby. I haven't really thought that much about leaving familiar people/church/food/life.

I am guessing I have to figure out how to say goodbye and get my feelings of grief about what I am leaving behind processed so I will be ready to engage in my new home and culture.

Convenience

So we have an over range microwave. Not an uncommon thing however the one we have had for what seems like a few short years has been twitchy for a while. Google sources would indicate that it has to do with moisture from boiling pots on the stove getting into the controls and sensors. My husband had dismantled it and cleaned the sensors in the past and it magically came back to life.
Not so this time.
Not an uncommon thing as it seems that appliances of the more recent years don't last as long as they used to. We talked about what/how to replace it and I was pretty adamant we do it that day. I found one at Lowes for an incredibly good price which was nice.
Now it really did need to be replaced and needed to be done quickly. We are preparing to sell our home and I am not thinking it will sell well with a dead microwave about the stove. But did it really need to be done at that moment?
While waiting for the clerk to find and pull my new microwave from the warehouse a lady came in and sat down and said, how long would you be able to do without your fridge. Seems they had ordered a fridge and it was supposed to be delivered that day and they got a call that it would be another 2 weeks. The question made me think.

When we go to Africa our kitchen will not have appliances like the first picture, I am thankful that my kitchen will likely have better walls then the second though likely small appliances like these and probably older.
I know from experience electricity in Malawi will be less then reliable. There will probably be regular enough electricity to keep the food in a refrigerator cool enough to be safe. I will probably have a microwave that is low powered but will cook oatmeal for me in the morning. I will have to bake cookies a few at a time in a small apartment size stove. I would never consider this adequate here. But I feel fortunate that our electricity is likely to be off only short periods of time that we will have a kitchen with a solid floor and running water that is relatively safe. We will have to filter our drinking and cooking water but no real concerns about showering etc.
So why do I find it so hard to live with less then ultimate convenience here?
I may never understand that, but I certainly find myself pretty shallow some days. This past Friday I read a couple of articles or essays written by Hudson Taylor. He set aside his feather bed and began to lead a simpler life immeadiatly when he felt called to China. He also began to exercise more and to pursue anything he could find to make him more ready for ministry in China.
So I think about this and wonder what else I should be doing to be more ready for our time in Malawi. I read and study, and we continue to eliminate belongings however it seems small compared to the great sacrifices pioneer missionaries made, heading to the field with belongings packed in a casket, being fairly certain they would not see their families again. I am as certain as is humanly possible that I will see my family again. I will be able to see pictures of our beautiful granddaughter as she grows and to hear her gurgles and first words via video
So this has more questions then answers. Things to ponder. Things to consider as we continue on our journey and know we will live a simpler life soon.

Packing up the Dreams God's Planted

The above is a line from the Micheal W. Smith hit "Friends". Probably dates me a bit but it seems fitting.
I have had a huge break from writing my blogs and it seems time to get back to it.
So much of our life right know consists of packing up our life here in Bismarck. This has been and continues to be a challenge for us as we are both "keepers" by nature and I am a collector.
Saw a note on facebook today that suggested everyone will have a box of cords and cables by age 35 that they are unsure of the origin of but are saving because the might need them someday. I guess we are past someday and we are also well past 35 and all those cables really do have to go now. So we had the great American Garage Sale and now we pack stuff in boxes and haul to a local independent thrift store which does some good work in our area. Those boxes contain dreams from days past. However with each box we get closer to our dream for our future.

We are taking a class right now called "Perspectives of the Modern Christian Movement". If you want to be motivated toward world missions or just learn more about rational and calling for/to missions this would be a great course for you to take. It's available online and it will challenge you. We have looked at verses that show God's plan to bless and redeem the whole world from Genesis and on through the old testament, we have looked at God's desire to be glorified by people from every tongue, tribe and nation, and the variety of worship styles and ways that different cultures will use to glorify God and how that is part of his desire. For me the content of this class has helped cement my understanding of missions and my calling,
So soon, it gets sooner every day we will be packing up those future dreams and taking them with us to Blantyre Malawi.
Our schedule the next couple of months is pretty hectic. We are finalizing preparation of our home for sale, a market analysis is in progress, and it will go on the market next week.
Wed. June 6th is Ted's official retirement date.
We have a weekend trip to Ted's home town, Langdon, or the Langdon area next weekend. Then midway through the next week we leave to go visiting and head to Toronto to take a class called IMPACT which is designed to teach us how to enter a new culture well. We will visit some again on the way back and have a couple weeks at home before we fly to Charlotte, NC for our final required SIM training. That is done August 1 but we plan to spend extra time at the headquarters of SIM to get some computer training on how to use their software.
At that point we should be ready to embark to Malawi. Our actual departure date will depend on the processing or our Temporary Employment Permits. Those being acquired will be the green light to travel.
If you have time to pray for our diligence and perseverance and for the processing of our paper work by the Malawi Government we greatly covet that.

World View

What is a world view and why does it matter?
World view from my understanding is the lens through which you look at the world. Might be overly simplified but it works for my purposes.
I first encountered the idea of world view over 30 years ago at a weekend conf. for Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship. A young woman I didn't know other then by reputation gave a short workshop on world view called "Breaking Your Candy Bar in the right places" It was really about making sure you really looked at life through a Christian world view. She used a Hershey's bar for the illustration.
One long half would be your Christianity the other long half all the things your life is made up of.
At that time for most of us it was school, work, recreation that were the big ones. Now it would be family, vocation, recreation, and stewardship in a broad sense.  We can break our candy bar down the middle and have our Christianity be one part of who we are but our day to day life be separate from that, or break it into short chunks where or Christianity influences all of our day to day life.

Currently I am reading the book "When Helping Hurts"written by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett. It is about poverty alleviation and why it sometimes hurts more then it helps. It has a lot to do with fixing broken people and their broken view of the world and enabling them to become the people God made them to be.

When we go to Malawi we will be going to a very materially poor country. I want to make sure any thing I do to help people is really helpful. It has become apparent that no matter what I offer to someone it is important to transparently communicate the role of God and Christ in all provision and all aspects of life and to teach them that they are fearfully and wonderfully made by an all powerful and loving God.

On a completely different note it seems my knee replacement is completely successful. I am able to use the new knee more each day and my range of motion continues to improve.

The Bee's Knees!

I am really not a bee, but I have major issues with my knees.
Tomorrow I will have a total knee replacement surgery on my left knee.

This is what it will look like.
I have prayed.
I have asked many others to pray.
I have visited with both the orthopedist and the Orthopedic PA and I believe that this is the best decision.
After years of favoring my left knee, my right knee is beginning to show problems as well.  It seems that in view of our plans to transition to Malawi Africa it is best to be sure I am leaving for the field in the best possible physical condition. So this is the plan.
In the midst of other preparations this has been a big decision and distraction. Considering my person will change forever tomorrow I feel calm today.
There are many things that Ted and I need to do but we are hoping this is not the one thing that determines our departure time.
I am going to be reading and listening to lessons and working on sedentary tasks for a few weeks but I am feeling good about most things.
Hopefully in a few weeks I will back at my house!

Packing up the Dreams

   Over the years we have been in Bismarck I have taught Sunday School, Directed Vacation Bible School, been a youth leader, lead assorted bible studies, lead a 4-H club, and probably more. For each of these activities I have some quantity of odds and ends to support that activity
   I have also become a collector of various items. There was the beanie baby craze I bought into pretty heavily, did a lot of sewing and crafting over the years and have acquired a lot of random items for those pursuits. Of late most notably I have collected vast quantities of yarn and knitting needles. I have always liked house plants and with time and resources have collected many houseplant. Also I like to cook so I have collected many cook books and more then a few kitchen gadgets.
   Over the past 20 years I have gained and lost quite a lot of weight as well. I have clothes, esp. favorite items in various sizes stashed around the house.
   Oh yes and then there is the most odd item of all. I have a large collection of Trivial Pursuit games. In recent years there have been a lot of specialty collectors versions that I have not acquired, however before I made a conscious decision that this was getting out of hand and I wanted to serve in Africa more then I wanted to have the largest known collection of Trivial Pursuit games in the world I was closing in on a complete set, Master games, specialty question decks, era's in time, I even have a set of special metal with gold trim pies and pieces and a trivial pursuit carrying case.
   Now it is time to pack up, consolidate, gift, sell, etc most of my earthly belongings. Seems like every item has a memory attached to it. Also nearly every item requires a decision. For me it is easy to attach a lot greater value to many of these items then they deserve and to blow this process into the realm of a moral decision of what the absolute best and perfect placement of every object is.
   George Carlin has a monologue about stuff. I have to get past attachment to my stuff, because that's all it really is piles of stuff, no more no less. It doesn't have special intrinsic value because it is my particular stuff and I collected it. It's just stuff and those to skeins of chunky avocado green acrylic yarn are ugly no matter who they belong to.

God's Handiwork

This past week God has painter our trees with frost and made our world sparkle with beauty.

    The day after I took photos the sun came out and everything sparkled like diamonds. It makes our world look like a scene from C.S. Lewis "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" When Lucy first stumbles in to Narnia. This picture is not as bright but it reflects my thoughts.

     It has been a long week for me. My knees have been troubling me and they have just been more troublesome this week. I have been in 3 dr. offices and have cried a bit. As in my previous post my heart and I want to be in Africa and there is still much to do. Sore knees and surgery do not fit into that time frame very well. But I have scheduled knee replacement surgery on Feb. 21. I see God's handiwork in this too.

   It is often hard to get to a referral and hard to get into see specialists. I made a stop at the walk in clinic and was given a referral. When the orthopedics office called the next day I was able to get an appointment the next day and was able to get this all scheduled and cared for in one appointment. Not sure that is heard of in today's world very often. I had however asked a lot of people to pray with me about my knees. 

     So I got my right knee injected and now it is feeling better. My Grace Point Grub meal ministry need to go on while I am not available. I  have been talking to people and it seems to be coming together for the 3 weeks I am not available. Another example of God's Handiwork.

   So we are going forward.

    This is the luggage of a young couple we met at SIMgo mostly ready for their transition to Niger West Africa. It was a mind numbing thought to me to narrow our stuff down to this small quantity and reality is we don't have 3 young children and one more coming in 6 months. 

    I have been cleaning and clearing things but it's a daunting task. I took this photo as a reminder of our goal. I am hoping to see God's handiwork as we clean out and prepare our home as well.