When you wake up and realize ...

Friends Ann, Lainey and Doug Williams

If you have been reading my blog for a while you have heard me say that living in Swaziland is complicated.  Every thing is hard, from the condition of the dirt roads that cause back and neck pain, having to travel to seven different government offices/police stations just to buy a trailer for the car or even finding sour cream for your favorite recipe.  I am not meaning to complain, it just is what it is, and to live successfully you must learn to go with the flow and learn to live with frustration and/or disappointment … and embrace the adventure!  If you don’t, you will be miserable.

Today I woke up and wondered where I was? I was in complete silence (no dogs, birds, tractors or people).  I slowly opened my eyes and discovered I was in a wonderfully soft bed in Indiana. I am in the US on an 18-day whirlwind trip to raise awareness and funds for Project Canaan and I am blessed to have Spencer with me as he is between school terms.

Last night we stayed with our dear friends Ann and Doug Williams and enjoyed a lovely dinner around a beautiful table with their friends and we were able to share about life in Swaziland – fun stories of what we have learned, difficult stories of child abuse, redemptive stories of the lame walking, the blind seeing and the deaf being healed.

I was asked what the hardest part of serving in Swaziland is, and I explained that it is having a foot in both worlds. Living in Swaziland full time, and visiting the US or Canada once or twice a year is like standing on a dock with one foot on the dock and one foot in a canoe in turbulent water. Some times it feels like Swaziland is the dock and the west is the canoe, and sometimes it feels like Swaziland is the canoe and the west is the dock.  It’s hard to explain. 

Once you get used to a way of living, a way of thinking, a way of being, then the “other way” seems odd/complicated/unstable/distressing.   When I share about the hard life for children, women and the poor in Swaziland it’s upsetting for western the listener to hear.  But then when I hear about opioid addiction, gun killing sprees and human trafficking in the US it is equally upsetting for me to hear.  Where is the dry dock? Where are we safe from turbulent water?

I hadn’t planned to make a “lesson” of this blog, but it seems obvious as I write this that our dry land or dry dock must be the Lord. There will always be turbulence in life, but if we keep our eyes on Him, we will be safe. Even if the boat flips over and we end up in the deep water, He is with us always and we can go to Him for shelter from any storm or uncertainty.

I look forward to the next 15-days of sharing God’s grace, His mercy and His love for His children all over the world, even through the darkness and pain, and I pray that people here who are being invited to the banquet will say “YES!” and not be too busy or distracted to join His work.

Live from Indiana … it’s Saturday morning.

Janine

Missing home already!