Weirdo

Everyone has their little idiosyncrasy's ... and so do I! Does that make me normal? I think not!

I've always found it amusing when I hear of people who are scared of clowns. I can understand those people who have nightmares about creepy crawlies. I have always been a bit of a dare devil, so heights haven't bothered me ... I've been known to jump out of plane on more than one occasion. But most people seem to have something that pushes their buttons.

On our compound here in Dodoma, there is a great communal area where we can hang out and the girls can play, complete with wendy house, swings, sandpit and soon to be slide and trampoline (when our container arrives). The girls have really enjoyed this space lots already and I foresee much more laughter and fun out there over the weeks and months to come.

So, what is on our compound that makes me look like a total weirdo for not liking it?! The photo gives it away? ... the sandpit!

Ever since I was little girl I've a 'thing' about sand and I have no idea where it comes from! When I was small, my mum could put me on a towel at the beach, go for a quick dip in the sea and know that I wouldn't go anywhere that involved leaving the perimeter of my safe haven onto the granules of sand!

Even now, if I had the choice I wouldn't spend too much time anywhere near it. It just gets stuck all over you and into everything and is ... yucky!! 

Don't get me wrong, I still like going to the beach but am extra careful about the whole 'sand' thing! On my honeymoon, me and my new hubby went to a gorgeous desserted island in the Maldives. We spent very little time on the beach itself, either in the water or on the decking of our watervilla ... it was still a little piece of heaven for me!

Getting excited about playing in the sand though is never going to be an expression that will be used to describe me. I even hate having to clean off the munchkins after they've been having fun in it ... but because I'm such a lovely mummy I will continue to do it, even if it's just so they don't follow in my footsteps and become a sand weirdo! 

So far, so good, they're having a whale of a time! And now you know one of my weaknesses too!

Seven False Assumptions

Today is February's guest blog, by a Missionary Mum right here in Dodoma, Tanzania. Patricia is from New Zealand and first came to Dodoma to teach as a single lady. She is now an MAF wife to Thomas, an engineer from Northern Ireland (who went through the same training as Mark at MMS) and a mummy to Grace, Naomi's new best friend. 

The McKelvey's are our next-door neighbours here in Dodoma and have been key in helping us settle in. Today Patricia writes some words of wisdom aimed at me and Mark ... but could be for anyone embarking on mission at home or overseas.

Several years ago this document was written by Anne Stoothoof (MAF US Alumna) and it was passed onto to the wider MAF community. When I first read it I was amazed how perceptive it is. At different times on our journey Thomas or/and I have realised we have fallen into one of these dangerous assumptions. I have a printed out copy that often lives above my computer.

Jenny and Mark have only been living next to me in Dodoma a week. Although I realise they have been on the journey for several years. It's quite a serious list but I hope it will help Mark and Jenny to be able to recognise these assumptions when they arise.

But may your honeymoon time as you start your life in Dodoma be a long one and I pray the creepy crawlers that you have met this week won't put you off.

SEVEN FALSE ASSUMPTIONS THAT WILL KILL YOUR JOY

1. If I go where God leads me, the people will love me

‘The servant is not greater than his Lord’ - John 13:16

If I do God’s will God will love me, though he loves me even if I do not.

2. I will be useful in every area I will attempt to serve

‘God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the things that are despised and thethings that are not … so that no one may boast before him’ - 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

Just because I came here, doesn’t mean every need is my responsibility to meet, nor that I will be able to meet all needs.

3. What I do will make a significant (noticeable, appreciated) difference

‘For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’ - 2 Corinthians 4:18

I have to be willing to be faithful to do what God wants me to do, whether it is seen by others or not.

4. I will be adequate for the task

‘For when I am weak, then I am strong’ - 2 Corinthians 12:10

No matter how much I think I know, I need to know more about brokenness than about ability.

5. I will gain a sense of belonging - fitting in with ease

‘He will be despised and rejected of man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief’ - Isaiah 53:3

While trying to bridge the language and culture barriers, I must still be willing to be rejected, and to love anyway.

6. If none or few of the above are true, I am a failure

‘Measuring yourselves by yourselves and comparing yourselves against yourselves, you become unwise’ - 2 Corinthians 10:12

No one is a failure who seeks the pleasure of God alone.

7. If all or some of the above are true, I am a success

‘God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world’ - Galatians 6:14

For whose sake am I trying to succeed? If I win all the cross-cultural crowns and forget the cross, I lose all.

Getting my Bearings

Almost at the end of our first week here and we're all learning to find our feet in our own very individual ways!

For me, it's nice to be back in Dodoma after 12 years. So much has changed and yet so much is the same. Of all the programmes we could have been placed by MAF, this will probably be the easiest place for me to get my bearings.

I still have some local friends, I have been able to reemploy my old house girl, I have been able to delve into the recesses of my brain and salvage some of my Swahili knowledge and put it into practice and the layout of the town is pretty similar.

That being said, there are a lot of things still to learn, as things have understandably changed and moved on in the last decade or so. Where to go to buy certain items, who's the cheapest, what is a good price for something, which fundhi to use to make clothes and so the list goes on. There is a lot more choice in the stores than I remember (my eyes have popped out of my head on more than one occasion this week!) and so many more of the roads are now sealed, so I almost don't recognise places I know I have frequented many times before. 

Thankfully our next-door neighbours have been a great help and guide to us as a family but particularly to me, who will have to run the household (which is a big deal out here), as they have been out here for many years already. As our Link Family they helped during our preparation time and are now walking us through the different things we have to get our heads round out here too!

I know for a fact that half of what I've been told since we arrived has gone in one ear and out the other ... not because it's not valuable information or helpful but because during a time of such huge transition for us, there is only so much I can process and take in. 

I'm grateful that there are so many lovely people here, who having gone through it themselves and are all really understanding. When I admitted today that I would probably be asking the same questions over and again in the next few weeks, they just nodded knowingly and said they would be ready to answer them!