Wait-Where am I??

Today has been a strange day, and it's only noon. It's the kind of day that made me ask the question "where am I? Am I still in Malawi?". After the first year of living in Malawi, I got used to leaving my house with a very flexible attitude, never knowing what might happen that day and being prepared for anything. I always had extra food, money and clothes for Eli. I almost expected something to happen and was surprised if I returned home in a timely fashion having gotten all of my errands done.

I hate to admit it, but I think I left that flexible attitude in Malawi. Things in America run so smoothly. The traffic lights always work. If there is a parade, you will know about it ahead of time and drive around it on side streets. ATMs always have money in them and the electricity rarely goes out. If there is a problem with anything, you can bet that someone is working on it and it will be fixed, fast. Things just don't get in your way. You make your list in the morning and by nap time, everything gets done. It's magical!

This morning, my car died at the bank. I couldn't get a hold of Dan and my phone was dying. The car thing got figured out with the help of a wonderful friend and neighbor and I was able to use her phone to communicate with Dan and others. When I finally got home, I wanted to do a load of laundry. When I opened the basement door, a big fat black bird was staring me in the eyes threatening to invade my house. Thankfully I slammed the door before it was able to peck my eyes out.

These things rarely happened to me in Malawi, well except for the bird...remember the bat? Still, it felt frustrating to finally have an open day to get things done, but not being able to do anything because of circumstances. It is a good reminder that we really are not in control of our lives. We have NO idea what the Lord might bring us each day, and we should be ready for anything without complaint. It's easier to do this in Malawi, because anyone in their right mind cannot expect things to go smoothly. In America, I am fooled by all the details magically working out according to plan. Whether in America or Malawi, I want to be flexible. I want to have a steady heart that is not swayed by things outside of my control. Perhaps today was especially hard because of hormones...but that's for another blog post.