Home again

After the whirlwind known as the last month, I am glad to be home in Kijabe.

Between my brother’s wedding and planning and carrying out the LIMBS Training in Nairobi, I was exhausted. Last week, I was running nonstop from 7:30am until 10pm Sunday through Friday managing logistics during this long awaited training. Seriously! I even forgot to tell my parents that my childhood friend from Rwanda was coming to visit me before attending an educational conference in Kijabe. Normally, I would not be able to keep my mouth shut because of my excitement; but not this time. In fact, my head was still spinning when I arrived (via driver) at the airport to pick up Katharina.

We spent Saturday through Sunday watching a family’s kiddos while their parents attended a missionary marriage retreat. Now, before you say poor thing, hear me out. This distraction was exactly what I needed after a LONG HARD week. I was able to cook some great meals (involving LOTS of stress reducing chopping), laugh at the cheesiness of a sci-fi movie with the older girls, and was encouraged by the youngest; a 7 year old, ’s enthusiasm to go with me to the local church’s praise team pre-church rehearsal (at 7:30 AM!).

On Sunday, Katharina and I moved 2 doors over to another missionaries house to watch their dog and housesit this week. Right now, RVA, the missionary school here in Kijabe, is on break and many families are taking this opportunity to take much needed vacations! This can cause a dilemma however, because many of the missionaries in Kijabe have animals and/or pets they have to find accommodations for while the family is away. Enter a single missionary female who loves animals and doesn’t mind house sitting for other missionaries. This is a win-win situation; especially since this young lady has only one bed in her house and has a friend visiting her! Therefore, I had the privilege to watch a VERY laidback dog in a BEAUTIFUL house with high speed internet for 5 days. The house help still came every day so I did not have to do dishes or clean the house.  It was an ideal place for me to get my head back on straight! Plus, I got to hike Mt Longonot on Monday with some friends and got to see at least three giraffe fairly close up!

I returned to my quaint little cabin today.

First, I want to tell you all the ways God has blessed me this month. One, God caused my flight to the USA at the beginning of March to be delay by 24hours and by doing so,  got me over jetlag very quickly! You see the international flights out of Nairobi are all late at night. Mine was scheduled for just after midnight. At first the plane was just delayed, but finally at 5:30 am, because of mechanical problems, the flight was postponed until the next night. Because I had been awake all night, I was ready to hit the sack and did so after getting something to eat at the hotel that the airline booked us into. So by the time we boarded the plane that night, I was pretty much on Eastern Time. I was even upgraded to main cabin extra for my flight from London to Raleigh, NC. Secondly, the place where the LIMBS team and I stayed during the training last week was wonderful and accommodating. The walk to the school hosting the training was short and my boss even complimented me on my choice of lodging for the team. Also, God arranged that one of my best friends growing up would come and arrive from Rwanda at the same time I was scheduled to travel from Nairobi back to Kijabe so I could pick her up from the airport and we could travel back together. Then, God provided the distraction I needed by watching kids (actually high schoolers and a first grader) and then spending a week house sitting for another family.

I am VERY blessed!

Now it might sound like the last month was not too bad, but with the blessings come the challenges. First, travelling to the USA and back in one week requires a lot of cultural adjustment; fast. Then, add to this the fact that even while I was setting up my brother’s wedding, I was still trying to iron out the details for the training at the end of March (last week). Then, after I returned to Kenya, the mother of my contact at KMTC (where the training was hosted) died suddenly. His substitute did not have contact information or details about one of the patients we were using for the training. During the training, public transport went on strike forcing half the attendees/participants at the training to walk across town to reach the school on foot. One of the demo patients and attendees couldn’t make it from Mombasa; 3 out of 4 of the attendees did not show up for their slanted training sessions. There were misunderstandings about transport between Nairobi and Kijabe during a scheduled team visit. Katharina’s flight from Rwanda was late arriving and even then the arrivals board said, “to be advised.” Meetings from the last week require a large amount of follow-up and drafting. And last but not least, I have been having mini anxiety attacks every evening.

Everything needs to be balanced. I know I have a lot of work and pressure on my during the next few weeks, but I also know that I need adequate rest.

Praises:

•  The Training went fairly well.
• Transport worked out in the long run
• I got to spend 4 days with a wonderful friend
• My cat was there to greet me when I returned to my little house (in fact he will not leave my side now)

Prayer Requests:

• My anxiety seems to be getting more cumbersome. Please pray for peace!
• What happens during the next 6 months will determine what happens with LIMBS in Kenya in the future.  Pray God’s will be done and that  I will be at peace with what He does.
• I have several conferences to attend during the next several months. Pray that the details will work out.