I hate snakes!

The next year may be the longest of my life.  I would like to pack up and move today, but alas, that is not the plan.  Spencer needs to finish his last year of high school.  Chloe needs to finish grade 9 and we have to build a house to live in on Project Canaan.  Plans are well underway and we will start construction when I get there in July.

But for now, let me give you a glimpse in to a day in the life of Janine's mind (a scary place to be at times). Yesterday our local Member of Parliament (in Swaziland) came by the farm with a list of children in our community in desperate need of help. Some were living alone, some with a grandmother, all had buried one or both parents due to HIV/AIDS.  There is very little that the farm team can do for those children because they have the HUGE task of developing the farm, but I realized again that if I were THERE I could go and visit these children, get to know them and see how we could assist them directly.  And then I could come back home and blog about it so that you too know what is happening and maybe could help.  Soon, that will happen - 355 days from now.

The next thing that happened in the sequence of my day was seeing the photo that I have posted on this blog.  It was on Peter Mulli's facebook page (Peter is the youngest brother of Charles Mulli and Peter is living at Project Canaan handling building construction).  YUK!  That snake photo reminded me of the harsh reality of where we are going to live.  THAT, my friends, is (or was) a python, and not a very big one either.  I am guessing that it had slid up that green water tank that is situated beside the Farm Managers Building.

Pythons, Cobras AND Spitting Cobras, Puff Adders, Black Mambas and Green Mambas are only a few of the creatures that we will be sharing land with.  We recently had a crocodile make its way to the farm and is now residing in the water by the fire pit.  The leopard had a baby last year (or cub or whatever you call it) and now there are two leopards living on the land.  So, what to do?  Well, we use common sense and don't walk through the thick brush (stay on the path).  We are having a "Crocodile Whisperer" come and remove our new friend (we would hate to lose a child at Litsemba as they walk past the pond to get to the event), and we cling to the knowledge that the leopards don't want to see us anymore than we want to see them.  Staying out of the thick brush should also eliminate bumping in to the wild pigs and warthogs that have lived there long before we bought the land.  It's about living in peace and harmony, with our human neighbors and the critters who live there.  This could be a great area of prayer for you, if you are a "pray-er".  Pray for protection of our family and the people we are serving with.

For those of you traveling with us this summer DON'T freak out.  The good news is that you are there during the dry season and the snakes are hibernating during that time.  Honest.  And our neighbor and friend, Prince Guduza, has never in his whole life seen someone get bit by a snake.  Of course I believe him ... don't you? 

Today I am pondering life in Africa while sitting in the safety of my home in Georgia. I think about the children who live with snakes and spiders every day, with no parents to teach them or console them if they are afraid.  Lord, go before us and make the way clear so that we may see your glory at every step.

Janine