Clouds…..

 

I love taking pictures of the sky. My kids give me such grief and make fun, but I just love clouds & storms (usually…..living here we often pray for rain in this desert nation, but now the rains have proved a bit too much!). Today, the sky is quite expressive. Hmmmm,  is that possible? I started to walk around and take different shots.  You would never think these shots were taken in a short 10 minute walk around the yard. Beautiful fluffy cumulous clouds out my back door and then murky dusty clouds as I rounded the corner of the house. Storm clouds out the front and even a cloud with a silver lining.  It even sprinkled in the front yard but not the back…is the sky a bit confused?? I know I am!

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I started to think that this is really how I am feeling. All over the map, emotionally. Such devastation as the Niger River has broken it’s banks destroying homes, livelihoods and leaving Sahel Academy under water. The kids had started their last semester here with such joy and expectation and now are feeling a bit glum and uncertain about the future. My heart is heavy for the people who have lost so much. I struggle to keep perspective and not focus on my self. But these clouds are “telling”…one minute I feel like I have some good perspective (a patch of blue), I might see the silver lining but then I feel heavy, sad, uncertain, confused, upset and FULL of “rain”. I had not cried yet…well until I was in the shower a few moments ago, thinking….and as it started to pour outside,  I was able to let the tears loose. My head is spinning a bit trying to may sense of it all, I am pretty sure I will not figure it all out today though (ha ha). One day at a time and the journey/adventure continues….

I pray for restoration, good solutions and hope to shine bright. I am so thankful that God is much bigger than the weather and our current worries. The theme for school this year is “We Shine for Him”.  I know that is why I am here as well, to bring glory to God.  I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities….no matter how the sky looks! I do prefer the fluffy white clouds in a blue sky though….

RE entry

Well, today is Friday and we just got back last Friday afternoon. Coming back to this different world that I live in has many challenges. This week, I think I have met many of them head on:

Funny that in my week of re entry,  there are so many “re” words…restore, restock, repair, remember, revisit, reunited,reminisce, reset, relaxing, realizing but most of all REJOICE……so here we go, I am BACK!

reunited with Leron, he says it is a bit quite without us in the house…we sure did miss him

restored a normal sleep pattern, as I seem to have beaten jet lag quicker than expected

remembered how people drive…..have navigated crazy traffic scattered with herds of cows, goats, sheep as well as realizing that my shortcut through the dump is a big puddle filled with livestock eating trash and VERY smoky as trash burning has commenced

relaxed by the pool, love love my slower pace here…reading a lot

restocked my bare pantry (remembering that this is not one stop shopping)

returned the kids  to school

resetting schedules with realistic expectations…got back into the food prep groove (bleaching veggies, just remembering that everything just takes me a little longer here)

readjusting to a “place of MANY needs” from the “land of plenty”…still  not sure how this works out….two totally different places…..something I struggle with a lot…..who and how to help?

repaired the my kitchen sink (this is the 3rd time it has rusted through….hmmm, ya think we would be using materials that are impervious to rust) When I say it needed to be fixed, it was because any time I used it my kitchen flooded! The man came 1st thing and it was done in a jiffy.

rediscovering the wild and crazy things I get to see each day….animals in  and on vehicles, people being creative in a variety of ways, and well…I could go on, but just thought I would add a pic of a goat outside our gate stretching for the tree up above to get a fresh tasty nibble

remembering all of the beauty that is here…bougainvillea, numerous different plants, but mostly smiling faces

reminiscing…what a super summer we had

REJOICING over so so much…..safe travels, RAIN, great start to school, did I say RAIN?seeing old friends and remembering why we are here….really missed so many people! It is truly something wonderful “re”turning home!