Thankful Thoughts

November is the month to be grateful, at least to be more aware of the things we are thankful for.  Today I thought I would share with you some things that have put a smile on my face and joy in my heart and made me grateful.

My list of gratefulness could include (and does!) all the material things I am blessed with… electricity, running water, healthy food, clothes, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste… being surrounded by so much poverty makes me acutely aware of how blessed I am.  But lately I have been aware of how much the Lord has blessed me with the people in my life!

This is finals week at the Bible College, and between tying up loose ends in class, writing exams, grading exams and papers etc. my life is a bit chaotic.  Between the extra busy schedule and the oppressive heat, my apartment has kind of become a disaster (yeah mom, I know you can’t imagine what that might look like ;-) ).  Clothes everywhere, dirty dishes piled up, books, papers, notebooks, pens, have created a heap of a mess.  Today Mrs. Tilimboyi and Mrs. Munsanje came for their bi-weekly cleaning job, and Mrs. Mudenda even came to do my ironing.  Although I pay them for the work they do, today felt like a huge team of supportive friends showed up to pull my life back together.  They were all paying extra careful attention to detail, pulling out beds and dressers to get all the dust bunnies out from the hidden places, helping me organize the clutter, and Mrs. Munsanje even served me some chibuantu (Zambian traditional drink) that she had made.  I was busy grading the entire time they were cleaning, and their energetic presence and singing motivated me to work harder. Towards the end of their cleaning Mrs Tilimboyi beckoned me into my bedroom saying she wanted to show me something.  She said, “Look it’s your baby!”  She had wrapped my stuffed bunny-rabbit in a little blanket like a baby and laid her sweetly on my pillow.  J 

This morning I felt a little bit scrambled before my tests and admittedly a little bit sleep deprived.  So I walked into the class in an obvious hurry to accomplish what the morning required of me.  Apparently I looked really grumpy because my students said, “madam you need to smile!”  And then they all started making jokes and saying “We won’t take our test unless you are smiling!” It was so touching to think that they cared more about my emotional state than about their test… here I was panicking about getting the details all in order so they could take their exam, when all they wanted was to make sure their lecturer was happy J

Last night I was having a heart-to-heart chat with Cindy. It got pretty late, at least late for us… 10:30.  All of a sudden Cindy throws her hands over her mouth and screams in her throat… her breath was taken away and her knees pulled up to her chest… I followed her eyes and saw a rodent sized spider (no exaggeration, this thing could have been a mouse.) crawling under the front door.  It was massive.  We went over to where we saw it escape and in between screams, shrieks, and lots of giggling we watched it carry another dead spider and devour it.  Then the disgusting creature decided to turn towards us and it chased us into the house!  We starting jumping up and down on the couch, screaming at the top of our lungs, and poor Mike comes out from his peaceful slumber to rescue us.  Despite the panic that this ugly creature caused, we are still laughing about it today… and I’m sure for many days to come.  J

Yesterday during my discipleship group Paul, one of the students, said extremely meaningful and genuine words of thanks to me for the ways that I have helped them in the classroom, encouraged them as friends, cooked chili for them, played games, prayed  laughed and cried with them, and “especially for the squishy-squashy” (aka brownies).  He said, “We don’t have anything to give you to say thank you for all you’ve done for us, but I can give you these words.”  Those words are all the thanks I could ever ask for.  J

I am surrounded by people who love me.  I am surrounded by meaningful, genuine friends.  I am embraced by the Lord’s grace, mercy, love, and JOY.  For all of these things, and so so much more, I am endlessly grateful J