Thriving

I am home…at least it is starting to feel like it!  We have been in Moshi, Tanzania for a little over 2 weeks now and I can’t believe how quickly my emotions have changed from sadness to joy!  Thanks to everyone’s prayers, God is changing my heart attitude and perspective.  

So I have been a busy bee, going in to town to shop for everything we need in our kitchen and everything else we need to make our home functional, get Zoey into a routine, wean her from some of our night feedings, changing her naps from 3 to 2 a day, etc.  And yet somehow God has been giving me strength to get through it all and enjoy some time learning Swahili and how to cook like a Tanzanian.  My first priority here is to take care of my family, but my second priority is to approach this country with humility by laying my pride aside and learning from our friends here.  Tanzanians have so much to teach us about their ways of living and culture. 

This means being laughed at many times because I’m so different from them and do things differently.  But one of the most important lessons I learned from our time in Papua New Guinea  is to be okay with sticking out and looking silly.  People don’t mean to be rude when they laugh.  So instead, I just laugh with them because I DO look silly sometimes and that’s okay.  

Some of my friends have spoken words of encouragement over me, and things are becoming clearer to see that I'm going to THRIVE here...and I've already begun to!

Zoey playing with Mama Salma

Shopping in Moshi

Heading to a Meeting

Praying over the ground as we planted Banana trees!

Dancing with my girl!

Making Maple Leaf cookies with Mama Salma

Making shampoo for Zoey

Mama Salma teaching me to make Chapati

One More!

It’s midnight…and I’m almost going on a week of a few hours of sleep at night.  We’ve arrived to Moshi, Tanzania.  Our new home!

We’ve been planning this transition for 2 years now, and yet it is so much harder than I ever imagined.  I lie here in bed, thinking, I wish I had one more hug from my mom, one more movie with my family, one more run to Trader Joe’s, one more sunset at the beach, one more…one more…one more!!!

But the reality is that there is never enough and there will always be a desire for one more “fill in the blank.”  

So for now, it’s time to embrace what I have and the blessings that the Lord has given me:  a wonderful, encouraging husband, a beautiful, joyful baby girl, a loving, embracing community, and house to call home, and most importantly, I have the love of our Father in Heaven who is with me through it all!

May this transition in my life be full of joy and embrace while I mourn the life that I once knew and engage in the one in my path!