Last night for some reason it was lizard central in our room. I am not usually bothered by having one there because they eat the mosquitoes that can give me malaria. Three on the other hand was a bit much. One disappeared and we are not sure where it went. One Bariki got outside and one was left for me. I called him George, he was so smart that I felt like I was having a battle of whits against this lizard and losing.
At one end of our room is a window with curtains on it and that is Georges favorite place to hide. So as we laid on the bed I waited quietly for my opportunity to remove George for the night. Out from behind the curtain he would pop his little head. George received his education first hand not learning from his little reptilian friends. You see He has 3 and a half legs and a stub tail. These war wounds have trained him to be smarter then the average lizard. So as soon as I saw his head and his 2 front legs I jumped out of bed. He was like lightening as he turned tail well stub and hid again around the window.
So I laid back down and waited. Eventually out popped his head again and all I did was push my feet against the mattress and he was gone again. This I found fascinating and frankly very entertaining so I tried this three or four more times. Every time stating how smart George was.
But now it was time to up my game. So I got up and sat on the edge of the bed waiting. Out George came and I jumped up once again and once again like lightening he was gone. So I went over to the window to look for him. really where could he have gone. But he was like a magician, he was no where to be found. So I got a spoon and tried to run it all along the edges of the window slidy parts. But it was all done in vain.
So I waited again thinking if I was standing then I would be fast enough to knock him off the wall with the spoon and direct him outside. As we laughed I turned to Bariki to see if he was as entertains as I was. As my back was turned George came out of hiding again to eat a nearby fruit fly. Never going far enough away from his hiding spot to get caught by me. At this point I just started laughing. Thinking maybe I should just leave him alone for the night. But come on I was not going to be out smarted by this lizard. So again I opened all the curtains to look for his hiding spot. This time I used a flash light thinking it would scare him enough to come out. Spoon, flashlight and a laughing girl, not enough to catch George.
Anyway after about a half hour of laughter, feeling totally dumb against George and tired of looking for him I gave up. Decided that I would let him stay another night eating mosquitoes for me. It had nothing to do with the battle of whits that had just taken place. The one of which I apparently came unarmed and badly lost. It was out of the kindness of my heart that I ALLOWED George to stay in for the night. And I am pretty sure I will ALLOW him to stay tonight as well.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Prayer....
Prayer is a funny thing. I guess not prayer itself but what the enemy does to try to stop you from praying. Yesterday I decided to dedicate the day to prayer and fasting. It turned out to be mostly fasting.
The day started like this. I slept in. Then thought oh I should study Kiswahili just for a bit. Hey I have been studying maybe I will play the game on my phone just till 12:30 so only for like a half hour.
Go in room to pray, well it's only 12:47 I could play just a bit longer. NO, NO I want to pray. Maybe I would do better back outside. AH that's better. I think I will worship a bit first (not a bad thing by the way). 12:52 que phone. Christina is at a kids camp and wants me to come out with Beatrice while she teaches the kids. Sure that would be great. She calls back and it is all set up. Beatrice will pick me up at 1:45. It is now 1:06. Crap. Not literally more like oh crap I only have 40 minutes. Pee. Literally. Go get cloths from the line. Fold cloths talk to Bariki who encourages me to stay home. Telling me if i set aside a day for prayer I should follow through with my plan.
Good idea. 1:29 call Beartrice and Christina to tell them I have changed my mind. Change back into lounging cloths and finally settle down to pray. On the way back inside to pray I make the mistake of glancing in the mirror. "Man, my eyebrows are out of control!" "Is that a white hair in my eyebrow?" Wow I am either getting older or I am really stressed out. Probably both. hahahah." "That pimple is huge, but Bariki did not have to point it out yesterday, Uh I know it's huge."
Okay gotta pray, I'll sit down on the bed. I fold my hands and start to pr... "Uhm my hands look exactly like my mom's and mu aunt's." "I really gotta trim my nails." What's that red dot on my wrist?" "oh great now it's itchy." "I wonder how long it would take me to pull out all my leg hairs one by one?"
FOCUS!!! I'll sing a bit to get focused. 2:12 I am ready to pray now. 2:20 prayed and brushed my teeth. "There that feels better." Pray, pray, pray, please Lord help me pra... "Hey look Mount Kilimanjaor is not covered in clouds. I should go take a picture." 2:38. Talk to BAriki about the pictures I just took. Pee. Okay now it is time. Holy Spirit please help me focus on prayer.
Just breath. Breath in "Abba." Breath out, "I belong to you." Calm my mind. "Abba, I belong to you." "Jesus blood, never fails me." Then I prayed for like a half hour till I had a 20 minute nap. From that very true and detailed account of my day of prayer you are able to see how powerful it is. How effective prayer is for changing things and how the spirit is willing bu thew flesh is weak. Also you are able to see how much the enemy hates it when we pray. So he decides he will give us a temporary case of attention defiecit disorder.
More stupid then any of that is that I knew what was going on and couldn't or more likely didn't stop it. I cheated myself and I cheated God. Betcha He was looking forward to some Father-daughter time. Don't think He doesn't look forward to spending time with all of His children.
So if you learn anything from my story learn that prayer is powerful, effective and a beautiful way to communitcate with your Dad upstairs. The enemy knows this better then we do sometimes and will do to stop us. Seriously like I would ever pull out my leg hairs one by one.
Prayer is a funny thing. I guess not prayer itself but what the enemy does to try to stop you from praying. Yesterday I decided to dedicate the day to prayer and fasting. It turned out to be mostly fasting.
The day started like this. I slept in. Then thought oh I should study Kiswahili just for a bit. Hey I have been studying maybe I will play the game on my phone just till 12:30 so only for like a half hour.
Go in room to pray, well it's only 12:47 I could play just a bit longer. NO, NO I want to pray. Maybe I would do better back outside. AH that's better. I think I will worship a bit first (not a bad thing by the way). 12:52 que phone. Christina is at a kids camp and wants me to come out with Beatrice while she teaches the kids. Sure that would be great. She calls back and it is all set up. Beatrice will pick me up at 1:45. It is now 1:06. Crap. Not literally more like oh crap I only have 40 minutes. Pee. Literally. Go get cloths from the line. Fold cloths talk to Bariki who encourages me to stay home. Telling me if i set aside a day for prayer I should follow through with my plan.
Good idea. 1:29 call Beartrice and Christina to tell them I have changed my mind. Change back into lounging cloths and finally settle down to pray. On the way back inside to pray I make the mistake of glancing in the mirror. "Man, my eyebrows are out of control!" "Is that a white hair in my eyebrow?" Wow I am either getting older or I am really stressed out. Probably both. hahahah." "That pimple is huge, but Bariki did not have to point it out yesterday, Uh I know it's huge."
Okay gotta pray, I'll sit down on the bed. I fold my hands and start to pr... "Uhm my hands look exactly like my mom's and mu aunt's." "I really gotta trim my nails." What's that red dot on my wrist?" "oh great now it's itchy." "I wonder how long it would take me to pull out all my leg hairs one by one?"
FOCUS!!! I'll sing a bit to get focused. 2:12 I am ready to pray now. 2:20 prayed and brushed my teeth. "There that feels better." Pray, pray, pray, please Lord help me pra... "Hey look Mount Kilimanjaor is not covered in clouds. I should go take a picture." 2:38. Talk to BAriki about the pictures I just took. Pee. Okay now it is time. Holy Spirit please help me focus on prayer.
Just breath. Breath in "Abba." Breath out, "I belong to you." Calm my mind. "Abba, I belong to you." "Jesus blood, never fails me." Then I prayed for like a half hour till I had a 20 minute nap. From that very true and detailed account of my day of prayer you are able to see how powerful it is. How effective prayer is for changing things and how the spirit is willing bu thew flesh is weak. Also you are able to see how much the enemy hates it when we pray. So he decides he will give us a temporary case of attention defiecit disorder.
More stupid then any of that is that I knew what was going on and couldn't or more likely didn't stop it. I cheated myself and I cheated God. Betcha He was looking forward to some Father-daughter time. Don't think He doesn't look forward to spending time with all of His children.
So if you learn anything from my story learn that prayer is powerful, effective and a beautiful way to communitcate with your Dad upstairs. The enemy knows this better then we do sometimes and will do to stop us. Seriously like I would ever pull out my leg hairs one by one.
WOW it has been to long and so much has happened in the last 15 months. I am sorry to all of you who followed my blog and enjoyed reading it. I am here again in Africa and it is still an adventure. Everyday in fact is a new adventure. Where do I begin when you haven't heard anything in so long.
I will start here. The reason I stopped blogging last year was we had a home invasion and my computer was stolen. Everyone had told me how much they enjoyed the blog and how they thought it was so funny. After that I wasn't sure if I would laugh again let alone make anyone laugh again. But God heals and it has been a process and a half and the process is still going on.
After the robbery we were able to come to Canada for a visit. It was nice having Bariki there to see the world that I come from. To experience so many things for the first time. The time there was also a challenge as we both tried to cope with what we had gone through in our own different ways. But we managed okay and made the best of our time there. In fact my family even helped me arrange a wedding there. It was wonderful. We laughed, ate such wonderful food, laughed and danced till I could not stand anymore.
Then he left. He went home July 14th 2009 and I was not able to see him again till February 25th 2010. People ask the question how is married life? I would answer great, we never argue, we always say beautiful things to each other. But I would like it better if we were in the same country.
And now it is Canada day 2010. Big shout out to all my felow Canadaians. Have fun tonight but play safe. I am sitting in an internet cafe in Moshi Tanzania trying to figure out what is important to tell you all and what insn't. We spent a month in Kenya where we learned to wait on immigration, to hate chicken and chips after eating them everyday and to go out in the rain just to see the women wear shower caps on the streets to protect their hair form the moisture.
So I will blog again soon and till then I will keep my eyes open for the little things that make me laugh.
I will start here. The reason I stopped blogging last year was we had a home invasion and my computer was stolen. Everyone had told me how much they enjoyed the blog and how they thought it was so funny. After that I wasn't sure if I would laugh again let alone make anyone laugh again. But God heals and it has been a process and a half and the process is still going on.
After the robbery we were able to come to Canada for a visit. It was nice having Bariki there to see the world that I come from. To experience so many things for the first time. The time there was also a challenge as we both tried to cope with what we had gone through in our own different ways. But we managed okay and made the best of our time there. In fact my family even helped me arrange a wedding there. It was wonderful. We laughed, ate such wonderful food, laughed and danced till I could not stand anymore.
Then he left. He went home July 14th 2009 and I was not able to see him again till February 25th 2010. People ask the question how is married life? I would answer great, we never argue, we always say beautiful things to each other. But I would like it better if we were in the same country.
And now it is Canada day 2010. Big shout out to all my felow Canadaians. Have fun tonight but play safe. I am sitting in an internet cafe in Moshi Tanzania trying to figure out what is important to tell you all and what insn't. We spent a month in Kenya where we learned to wait on immigration, to hate chicken and chips after eating them everyday and to go out in the rain just to see the women wear shower caps on the streets to protect their hair form the moisture.
So I will blog again soon and till then I will keep my eyes open for the little things that make me laugh.
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