Back into the Swing of Things

Well, I'm back in Maputo after a great Christmas break. The big guy that controls the weather must really love me because it never even really got cold. My family totally spoiled me by decorating my apartment with my Christmas decorations and letting me have all the niece time I wanted. It was again hard to leave especially when my little two year old niece looks at me with those big blue eyes as I am saying good bye and pleads 'I come?'. But I still had to get on the plane and endure the three day trip back.

At least work missed me. There never seems to be a shortage of work for me to do here. We have also switched accounting systems which means that there is all the set up that needs to be done as well. But I have a fresh head upon my return and have decided that working evenings and weekends does not make for a healthy girl. So I just plug away and get done what I can. While home I made the big decision not to stay for another year. My heart is for working in the communities and this job has not permitted me to do that. So it's time to step out and see if something else comes along. So as of March 22 I'm officially unemployed and open for opportunities. I'm hoping to meet my parents and a team of people in Liberia to join their work at the Lord's Prayer Ministry until the middle of April and then I will returning home for a little while. I have been playing with ideas of returning to school buying a condo and settling down a bit. But then I hear stories of our work in Sudan and know that mass amount of work that needs to be done there and I want to go. So please pray for me as I try to figure out what God has for me next.

It's strange to entertain the idea of coming back to Canada again. I know that I have only been away for a year and a half officially but my heart has been in Africa since the first time I came here four years ago. So if I decided to come home I would have to put aside a big part of me for the time being. I know that I will never be an African and totally fit in here but I also no longer belong in Canada. When we are told in the Bible that we are just strangers in this land passing through and that our home is in heaven I have a better understanding of what that means. However, at the same time there is this desire to have somewhere to call home.

While I was in Canada I realized what a strange bunch of people we are. Everything is so neat and orderly that so little emotion or passion is expressed in order to keep everything in it's place. I have become accustomed to honking at people when they are in my way or just to let them know that I am there. So one unlucky guy pulled out in front of me and blocked my path so I honked at him. He was so shocked that someone was honking that he didn't know what to do so he honked back! I think it's so funny how we are so easily rattled when something out of the ordinary happens to us. Life here in Africa is so out of the ordinary that you never know what will happen in a day. Something that you have done the same ten times before (like filling out papers at the bank) will all of a sudden change for no reason and there is nothing you can do. I find that this gives you such a freedom. If you want to walk down the road singing or even if you want to do a little dance this is all acceptable here. Pretty much anything goes. This does have it's down falls as well but I do enjoy the freedom.

So please pray for me and I take yet another step into the unknown. I just hope and pray that no matter what I do next that somehow God will use this little insignificant clay pot to proclaim His Goodness and Glory.