Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Always playing Catch-up (Malawi 2013)

It happened again; another calendar month with no post from me. It's not that I couldn't find the time, I just didn't "take" the time. November seemed busier than usual. Back on October 24th, Debbie and I joined a team of 8 and participated in a short-term missions trip to Malawi. The 2-week trip was busy and a little tiring, but I think rolling up your sleeves and helping is always the right thing to do. In my experience, you need not labor or brood over this stuff...let me reiterate: if it involves helping someone, it's ALWAYS the right thing to do. In other words, you need not pray and ask Jesus what he meant by "go ye into all the world"...duh !

A significant part of our trip was undeniably the children we met. Of the 15 million people in Malawi, almost half are children. By most of our measures, they don't seem to have very much, and it was heart-wrenching to hear them in the villages singing "my cup is full and running over". I felt a stark rebuke in my soul as I pondered how unappreciative and cynical I can be, while they sing from the depths of a thankful heart...

I was also a little moved, envious even, of the simplicity of the village life. The daily routines of providing for one's family, cooking the evening meal etc had a calmness about it that was strangely attractive...
The two weeks went by quickly. I think I'd rather a longer stay. With our tasks complete, we headed for home...
Homeward Bound
I think it's mostly our age, but we were a little "wiped" by the time we arrived home on November 7th. Debbie was much worse shape than me, with a nasty cough that refused to "get lost". Accordingly, the next couple of weeks were an exercise in recovery. However, things are looking up (just in time to get ready for the Christmas season). The last 3 weeks of November simply vaporized, and here we are. Overall, I'm very thankful. Sometimes you need to be removed from your comfort zone and afforded a little shock therapy in order to be able to refocus, re-zero, and re-calibrate. We met so many people who just "get it". They happily put others first, and it seems to be their "normal" just to give instead of receive. I think I read about that somewhere once...what book was it? oh yeah...The BIBLE !  :)
God help me to give away my life so that I might find it...something to ponder as Christmas approaches...

IVECO...

 This beauty has been roaming around Central Newfoundland lately. I just grabbed some photos of it for fun...

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