Communion in the Chaos

The last two weeks here in Bundibugyo have been pretty down-right crazy! (Now, ask me in another month, and I will probably look back and say it was just status quo...) The week before last, we were expecting a quiet and laid back week, since it would just be our family and Jenna (Lucy's preschool teacher) on mission. The others were off on a re-stocking trip to Kampala. Well, we should have known by now that "quiet and laid back" just does not (and probably never will) typify our life here in Nyahuka! 

The first night we got a call from Jenna right after dinner saying that she had sliced her finger open pretty badly. Derek headed off with his medical light and sutures, returning after an hour and a half or so of caring for our poor friend. (Thankfully, she did not require sutures, but it was something that definitely required some medical attention for several days following!). The next day she called to say Impali were invading the house. Now, if you have not experienced Impali ants before, you better pray right now you never do! I'm not even so sure these things fall under the category of ants, as they are so voracious, carniverous, and disastrous when there troops decide to cross your path. Literally, if you have an invasion of Impali, you MUST stop everything you are doing to deter their path from your premise. Thankfully, Jenna was able to hire someone to tackle the problem for her, but even still- it took him all day and several bottles of kerosene to get rid of them. As if that was not enough excitement for Jenna's first week home alone, we then got a text at 2am on Wednesday morning saying a tree had fallen on their roof! Again, Derek headed off with the head lamp, rescued poor Jenna to our house, and then had to spend the entire next day managing the removal of NOT ONE BUT FOUR trees from their roof! Talk about creating a stir in our little suburb of Bundimalinga...everyone wanted a job that day (even to just get a sneak peak into what all the commotion was at the house)!

Now, all of that would have been enough to fill one's week to the brim. But meanwhile, over at the Webber camp, we had people finalizing our rainwater collection system, fixing our gutters, creating a dutch door in our kitchen, painting 2 rooms, and working on yard maintenance! By the end of the week we were all completely spent. The electrician (who is hard to get a hold of because he only does side work when he is not busy working for the electric company), said he could come Saturday morning and finish the job he had already started at an earlier time. Reluctantly, we agreed that he could come finish, forgetting the fact that ,



"Oh yeah. We live in Africa..." Of course he didn't arrive until almost 11am, and at 5:00 pm, when he still was not finished, Derek had to tell him he would need to come back another day to complete the work because we needed to have family time.

I think a compilation of fluctuating hormones and the lack of structure and personal boundaries from that week tipped my scales going into to the following week (last week), which sent me into a tailspin of exhaustion, anxiety, and discouragement. I've noticed that it happens every 4-6 weeks or so, which I guess is why our team has the mandate that we must leave the district sometime within this time frame. 

 Life just wears on you.  

The little things that don't seem to be a nuisance all of a sudden become crippling. It's the ants in your syrup, the unending knocks on the door, opening a much-awaited care package item only to discover it has already molded or a rodent has already gotten into it, kids waking up screaming in the middle of the night or soaking their last pair of sheets. Even in typing this blog, I have had to get up to remove clothes off the line before it rained, re-hang said clothes on the inside line, go to the bathroom to plunge dirty diapers in the tub, strain the milk, tend to a kid who woke up too early from nap, run off intruding neighborhood kids who might wake up my children. If it is not one distraction it is another. And then there is the joint pain. Please pray for my healing in this area. It is mainly in my shoulders, and mainly just when lying down. But recently, with increased rain, cooler temperatures (which are otherwise a blessing!), lack of sleep, and stress, it has worsened and is like a thorn in my side- one more thing to steal my joy.

I didn't mean to ramble on and on about how challenging life can be here. That's a given. And, that actually wasn't the point of this post. The point I meant to make is that Jesus is meeting us in the chaos. We are being stretched to the point of breaking, and we are daily seeing our ever-increasing need for Him. If nothing else is consistent, we are discovering that our lifeline to God must be a priority if we are to survive. And so, Derek has carved out a space in his office, and I have carved out a space in our bedroom, that is the prayer corner for us and Jesus to meet. I make it a priority to keep this little spot beautiful, relaxing, peaceful, and inviting. And each day, even if for a short amount of time, the demands of the children are ignored, the knocks on the door can wait, and the rains can fall on my clothes.

 

Because Mama is meeting is with Jesus.

So, thanks for your prayers for us, friends. They are truly felt and so much needed. We have received numerous letters and care packages and feel so incredibly loved by all of you. I am still trying to figure out how to mail a letter from BGO to the US, but as soon as I do, hopefully we will be reciprocating some of the intentional communication with many of you.

Lastly, I'd like to share this. We are learning that there are many days where you just ask the question, "What in the world are we doing?" It often seems like you are stuck in the mud, not getting anywhere, or on the opposite end, that you can not put out one fire before another one catches blaze. But, this week we were given the blessing from God that He is doing something with us here. We had made a family trip in to Bundibugyo Town. Derek had dropped me off at market while he stayed in the car with the girls. He bumped into the electrician mentioned above (who wanted to come finish his work at our house). And this is what he told Derek: 

"I like you, Derek Webber. You are different. I have been in your house many, many hours and have seen how you treat your wife and your children. When there are going to be workers in the house, you always ask her first if it is a good time. When the children need help, you assist your wife in helping them. No one here treats their wives that way. But, you- you are different than us."

I am reminded of the hymn, "God Moves In a Mysterious Way", and am comforted to know that He is moving in the shadows of our life. There are many ways that we are different from the Ugandans here, but deep down we struggle with sin just like they do. We don't treat each other respectfully all the time, we don't put others' needs before our own, we do hold grudges and think more highly of ourselves than we ought. But thanks be to Jesus, He is working in our midst. If there is any good that observers see in our life, it is because of Him. And, we are delighted in sharing that with them...

because really,

This He is Life.