“The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” – Proverbs 16:9
I just got a text message from Jennifer which ended with “never easy is it?” This seems to be my life’s theme. I wrote back and told her that there used to be a joke (or maybe not so much of a joke!) on my floor at Children’s in St. Louis that no one ever wanted to work with me, or get report from me because anything that could go wrong always did...I also found this tshirt at our church’s rummage sale several years ago that has a picture of a cow that got stuck on the moon as he tried to jump over, the words read: “Nothing’s ever simple”…
I’m writing from Kampala, where I have been since late Sunday afternoon, in pursuit of some R&R.
Plan: Pack on Friday night in order to leave Saturday morning for what will be about 3 ½ weeks out of the district.
Steps: I left my house in COMPLETE disarray, with George babysitting the electrical guys who are literally hacking away at the cement walls in my house with a hammer in order to install wiring to connect the duplex to the grid. Exciting stuff, really it is, but I was quite bogged down for the last 48-72 hours in Bundibugyo with the mess of the process...the cement dust, the apparent lack of quality workmanship on the parts of the electrical guys (in the Lutjens house the motto for rehab is “quality not quantity”…somehow these guys don’t seem to share that value), the stress of mistrust – not wanting to leave a team of men I don’t know alone in my house while I am gone during the day...All of the above led to throwing A LOT of stuff in a big duffle bag on Saturday morning when the workers were several hours late because my ability to be discerning about what to bring/what not to bring was non-existent.
Plan: Drive with Anna and Scott to Kampala in the Zoolander on Saturday.
Steps: I arrived in Kampala via private hire on Sunday because the Zoolander is (surprise surprise) in need of emergent repairs involving the fuel injection mechanisms involving the fuel pump. Atwoki, mechanic who has worked on Mission vehicles for likely more than 20 years, came from Fort Portal to diagnose and then tow/drive the vehicle out to his shop in Fort.
Plan: Drive to Jinja on Thursday to meet up with the Myhre’s and Ashley and the Sudan team at the Sudan team retreat for a couple of nights on our way to Kenya for a Christian Medical and Dental Society conference.
Steps: Take a taxi out to the bypass road tomorrow to meet the Myhre’s in their truck to hitch a ride to Jinja because the Zoolander will not be fixed.
Plan: direct route to uninterrupted R&R
Steps: What seems like more than a few hooks thrown my way (I admit, I threw the pajamas I was holding in my hand, used a few choice expletives, and flopped down on my back on the bed in a moment of despair when Atwoki called this morning) but there was also a whisper reminding me that He is establishing my steps and therefore I will be just fine.
In the meantime, I sit here on the porch at the ARA, sipping a cold Coke, watching a very cute little 5 year old getting tennis lessons from a somehow tall and somehow black Ugandan tennis pro, listening to the British women next to me discussing their balloon color schemes and jazz band entertainment plan for their upcoming PTA Dinner Dance. Every once in a while I glance over at the pool wondering if it’s worth the effort to go and put my suit on to take a dip on this sweltering day as the sweat drips down my back. It’s a rough life ☺
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