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| I can't quite be sure of how the fan broke |
So we started the day a bit later than normal – 8:30
AM. This is a not a bad thing, I just
like to get a good amount of praying done before Benny Michael wakes up. Once he is awake, there is little time and
patience for focusing on anyone other than him – which is great. If he wants me to spend all of my focus on
him, then he must like me, right?
Or maybe he is just bored.
Yeah, that works too, he is bored.
Soccer (or football) is played every morning in the backyard
area of the restaurant. It is a dynamic
little game of pass back, where he stands on the top of the hill and he kicks
it as hard as he can down the hill to any point of the 50 yards that encompass
the bottom of the hill. Normally I go
chasing the ball and pass it back up the hill straight to him, but the more he
runs around, the sooner we go inside, or I get to sit with him and work on
numbers or names or counting. So, this
morning, because I was wearing sandals, I did not run after the ball, I took my
time. And instead of passing it back to
him, I kicked it in the opposite direction of him, and made him chase it. Mission accomplished. Instead of 45 minute of straight kicking it
around, it stopped at around 20 minutes, and then he began his wind down. His wind down consists of beginning to pick
up the ball instead of passing it right away and doing drop kicks far away from
me. After the drop kicks, he will start
throwing the ball in. After throw ins,
he starts sitting on the ball, or tackling it and rolling around for a few
minutes before standing up again.
Awesome.
What I really wanted to do was to go inside and get some
tea. This morning I came out to breakfast
excited for this new blackberry tea that I had bought, but when I went to check
on the water, and honey, there was the biggest ant that I had ever seen in the
honey pot. I mean the biggest ant, bigger than an average brown house spider. So that turned me off for a bit. Once we were back in the room, I plugged in
my awesome hotpot, and it did not turn on at all, no blinking or beeping. I took it a part, switched plugs, flipped the
power strip on and off. Oh man, how am I
going to boil water, and drink tea, and feel normal. Oh yeah, that’s right. I was having a really good morning, and the
devil just wants to jack with me. It was
a brand new stainless steel Oster that had been used just once, two days
before. The only reason for it to start
sucking is to make me bummed out. Not
going to happen. I might have to forego
tea while I am here because there is always something floating in the hot water
pot they have ready for use at breakfast.
But I did buy three boxes, which means that I will just bring more tea
home with me when I leave…maybe March 25th because surely I cannot
drink 60 glasses of tea in 25 days right?!? Well not now anyway.
I decided that today would officially be clean-up day – get
pictures back on the blog, catch up on prayer intentions, do laundry, etc. I decided to start with the wash, which was
harder to do than last time because there is no tub or rinse bucket, just a
hose coming out of the ceiling in the space that used to be a closet. It is totally do-able, just harder because
you have to stand in the shower and scrub and wash, which means you get soaked
along the way. The good thing is that
the shower is the size of a closet, with a bar for hanging included right down
the middle of it. That means that I
washed, rinsed, squeezed, and hung straight up.
Of course the toilet, and sink are all in the closet too – there is no
division between the areas, so you could shower and go to the bathroom at one
time, and if you hang your clothes like so, then you cannot use the toilet
without dresses and skirts hanging in your face. Of note, the whole area is slightly slanted,
and the drain for the shower is actually right behind the toilet. I will take a picture tonight so you have
something to laugh at tomorrow.
Now, how to sweep. I
was hoping for like a Swiffer, but the closest thing they have is a 3 foot lock
whisk looking thing made out of brush. I
wanted to get rid of the dust and dried grass to see if it made a difference in
Michael’s sneezing. Surely sweeping with
a handful of tall dried grass would not accomplish this mission of helping
Michael breath better.
I am quite jealous of the woman working at the table in the
dining area. She is sitting there
folding silverware in paper napkins. I
wanted to ask her if I could help. I
wondered if it would be rude of me, like maybe she would think that I was
critiquing her method, when all I really wanted was something to
accomplish. I was jealous of her piles
of silverware, her stack of napkins, and the immediate satisfaction that comes
when you can sit and accomplish something from start to finish in a relevant
and measurable period of time. People
who know me are rolling their eyes. This
sounds all too familiar to them I imagine.
A god example of this in my everyday world would be when I
was home in California for Christmas. I
loved being home, but there was little for me to do. I would dump out all of the suitcases and
repack them. I would create projects
from nothing – “Hey mom, let me sort all of the toy buckets for your day care
children for you.” So, we packed up,
said good bye, went to the airport to find that we were snowed in for two or
three days. We went back to my moms, I
was thrilled, the kids were excited. Within
hours, I cleaned out all of my mom’s food cabinets and reorganized them. I went into the laundry to toss in a load,
and kind of got lost in there, very focused on what I was doing. I suddenly heard my sister ask my mom if
Allison had snapped yet, and my mom said, “Let me go check, I am guessing so.” And she opened the laundry room door, to find
me on the ground reorganizing all of her food pantries in there as well. It is no fun organizing your own house when
you have 5 (now 6) kids, they just destroy it within a few hours, and then you
feel defeated or get mad. Ahhhh but
organizing someone else’s place is way more fun – you do not have to care if it
gets destroyed in a few days, you will never know.
My madness gets worse though. While we were playing soccer this afternoon,
the shouts and cries from the school next door caught my attention. I could go next door and ask them if they had
any chores for me to do. I could play
with the kids and Michael could play on the playground equipment. I could change diapers, or feed babies or do
something, anything. Knowing full well
that I am being tempted into longing and distraction, I took Michael inside so
he could nap. I fell asleep with a book
in my hand that I had yet to even open – The Power of Persistent Prayer – a
study of St. Monica. Oh how I love St.
Monica. She is an amazing example to
mothers everywhere – the power of mothers, the power of dutiful and faithful
wives, who smile and sacrifice in the face of all problems and tragedies. I wish I could be more like her.
It was in the middle of my afternoon madness that Fr.
Michael called. He was calling to let me
know of a small miracle, and a greater need.
The small miracle was that normally it can take a week to get the
written ruling back. Our verbal ruling
was given Friday, and not even a whole business day later, our written ruling
is done, and headed to the main office to be sealed. Once it is sealed, then we get his official
long birth certificate. When that is
done, I get all of those forms and head to the passport office. Woot, woot.
Part up in here. All of that
being said, that was just the first tiny baby step in a whole row of big steps
that need to be taken for me to leave. I
am proud that all of you have prayed me this far, keep up the good work. Father also wants me to remind you that the
closer we get to success the greater the demons will try to crush our spirits
and our ability to get things accomplished.
I meet at the embassy on Wednesday bright and early to get Benny
Michael’s blue medical for the IOM – super stoked for that appointment, but we
cannot even go to the IOM medical appointment until the passport comes
back. I have a great feeling, and a
lurking sensation. I will ignore both,
and just live in the moment, praising God for his gift of good news today.
Notes from my prayer journal:
I praise Him in the pain, suffering, the joy and the happiness. I am still working on the peace aspect of my
life, where often times my world is the polar opposite of peace. I love those time though because I am able to
maintain an inner peace most of the time.
I was just talking to Paul this morning about being fed a little, and
trying to keep the nourishment to my soul going for a long time – taking tiny
nibbles, like a carrot to a donkey being led through life. It is the tiny bits
of good news that keeps me focused in prayer, and joyful throughout my busy
days. It is the “give thanks always”
that I struggle with.
“Be
joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in a circumstances, for this is
God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
-1
Thessalonians 5:16-18
Soundtrack song of the day – Bartles & James – Band of Horses
Consecration to Jesus through the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Who are you O Holy Saints of God, day 12
The Novena to the Divine Mercy, Day 3,
faithful and devout souls
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