Oh the Places We Go

Lately I feel like I am living out the Dr. Seuss book, Oh the Places You’ll Go. Today’s segment:

“And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.”

There are days when things go really well. Days when I am greeted by so many people walking through the market, that I feel like I belong. When I find every single thing on my shopping list. When dinner tastes so good that it’s worth the 4 hours it took to prepare. When the power is on and there is water and the laundry got dry on the line. Days like last week when I had a great conversation with Doto about pregnancy and I understood the whole conversation. 

But there are days in between those, when things don’t go like you planned. Days when the hardware store doesn’t have that part you need. Or they have it, but it breaks, because everything is so cheaply made. Days when the fundi doesn’t show up or does something wrong. When the guy knocking at your gate is talking so fast you have no idea what he is saying. When you are tired and sick, and wish there was somewhere to get take out. Days like today, when the power has been out for 39 hours which means this is no scheduled outtage. There is some problem somewhere waiting to be fixed, and there is no way to predict how long it will be out. Days like today, when despite your best efforts to do everything “by the book” you discover that the book was just for looks. You find yourself sitting in an immigration officer’s office as he threatens to kick you out of the country. 

Some of it, you get used to. Even a schedule/list person like myself stops planning, because the day you planned to do laundry, the power will be out, or there will be no water, or it will rain and you can’t dry the clothes. You get used to not planning. You stop asking “why?” because even if someone knew the answer it would probably just frustrate you. So much of it has already become “normal”. But, some of it never will. Some of it will always leave us on the edge of our seat wondering what’s next and can we handle it. Some of it will make us angry at a government that seems to have little interest in the welfare of it’s people and drive us to work harder to help those people. Some of it will simply leave us in tears as we thank God that He is in control and ask Him to fix the things that we can’t. 

As this place continues to become our home, I can assure you not one prayer is wasted on us. We daily find ourselves looking for the wisdom and discernment to function in such a different culture and the compassion to love the people who we now call neighbors.