6 months...

We have now been in Lubumbashi for 6 months.  I will honestly say that time goes slower for me here.  That doesn't mean I don't have a huge list of things that await my attention, but it just feels slower.  And while some days the slowness can be hard, on other days I cherish the slow pace of life and the time it affords me with my children.  I am trying to relish in this stage of life with small children, and even though it can be exhausting, I am incredibly thankful to God for my three sweet blessings.

When I look back over our time here, it has been interesting to see how we have acclamated to life.  In our first month, I felt like we were excited to be here, willing to take on anything.  There was often no electricity at night, so dinner was spent by candlelight.  Finding pajamas and brushing teeth...done by candlelight.  We had no internet at the house either.  It was fun at first and felt like an adventure.  We tried some new foods from the grocery store, I learned how to start a generator, and evenings were spent watching "Psych" episodes on our laptop.  We couldn't believe we were here!

The next few months brought another move to a new house and learning all it's ins and outs.  We suddenly became employers as we now had a guard, a gardener, and a househelper.  We were thrilled to be living next door to the other MAF family, the Birkemo's.  Talia started a new school.  We started driving.  Sam started flying solo.  So many new things!!  And, the frustrations with life began.  While I don't think we have experienced major culture shock, we have had days here and there of struggling through the day to day tasks and becoming weary.  It became so tiring doing the nightly routine in the dark with 3 kids...baths, pjs, brushing teeth, etc.  And then, I was tired of practically having a heart attack every time I opened a cupboard and a lizard or cockroach would go scurrying by...not to mention all the bugs that were living in my flour and rice.  I was tired of not having the option of easy meals (like McDonalds or Papa Murphy's) on nights I felt too exhausted to cook.  I was tired of restarting the washer 4 times because dirty brown water continued to flow into it.  I was tired of all the plotting to avoid police hassling (that continues to happen)  anytime I wanted to leave our house...not to mention trying not to get hit by the crazy taxi busses!  The day to day stuff aside, I was also dealing with the emotions of seeing poverty and feeling so guilty for what I have.  There were days of feeling like this country is hopeless.  Plus, on top of all that, everything is in French...and my French is sub-par (I have a terrible American accent too), so I continued to struggle through that on a daily basis.  I had days where I asked God what my purpose was here.  I had days of extreme loneliness and my heart ached for my family and friends.  I had days where I wanted to just lay in my bed all day with a pan of brownies, watch all my chickflicks and just wallow in a "poor me" attitude.  IT WAS HARD!!

BUT, month 6 has brought a change.  I feel settled finally.  While my heart still aches for all those I love back home, it is a hurt that I feel like I can handle now.  God has also blessed me with a great friend, Terra Birkemo, who I can confide in, laugh with, complain too and she's a great exercise partner!  And while I still long for electricity on a regular basis at night, I don't always notice the lack of it.  It seems normal now.   As for my purpose, Sam and I talked about that.  It's easy as an MAF wife, to feel separated from the work of the ministry.  Sam flies out to all these villages, meets all these people,  delivers medicines, etc.  I am not really involved in any of that.  I see his pictures and we look at the map, but that's about it.  Once we talked, Sam encouraged me in my role to communicate with all those back home.  I can be the liaison, try to keep up with people's lives, direct our family in prayer for those back home, and try to just keep in general contact.  I thought that was a great idea and a good role for me!  Not to mention trying to love those around me whether it be my own family, our friends, our workers, etc. 

I have come to a place of thankfulness.  I am thankful for this experience of life here because even though it's hard, it's rich.  God is opening up my eyes and helping me get past myself.  Things that I loathe doing (like driving) are bringing about new perspecitves and new opportunities.  If I did not drive each day, then I would not pass by the hundreds of children going to school or returning home.  I would have missed seeing many of them holding hands, laughing, and I could have missed the urging in my heart to pray for them.  Almost every day I pray for these children...that they would come to know Christ as their savior, that they would rise up and change what has been handed down to them, and know that they can make better choices than those who have come before them.  Their smiles move my heart. 

While I still have times of setbacks, days of ungratefulness, and temptations of wanting to jump on the next flight out of here, these 6 months have been worth the difficulties.  This experience is incredible for our family and I pray that God will use us to show His love to those around us and forever change us to look a little more like Him.