This morning we had to say goodbye to Scotty and Lau, our guests who came for one night and stayed for five. Their next stop was Ilha de Mocambique, where they of course couldn’t go over the weekend because of the cyclone. On Sunday afternoon we went to Nairucu, which I always love, and had such a good time in their company. It was just amazing to me how the Lord brought them across our path right at a very difficult time and they were a tremendous encouragement to all of us over the weekend. Last night we had the Turnbull family, minus Lisa, who is in the States following her mother’s death, over for dinner and Scotty and Lau were just so good with the kids, they have a wonderful gift. The rest of us could focus on the food and the hosting and our own fellowship and they were just so funny and interesting and captivated the kids. They had to leave sometime, I know, but tonight it’s quite depressing to set the table for 4! Tomorrow the men are planning to go to Chocas do Mar (they may meet up with S&L) for a few days, so that will really be an adjustment for me.
It looks like I’ll most likely be in the house for at least a few more days. We finally got hold of a plumber and he fixed our shower drain, but it still needs to be retiled there. Also, today when the guys were dropping me off to do some work in the flat and they were unlocking for me, the front door key broke off in the lock! I’m not quite sure how we’re going to tackle that… In the meantime Angie, our other flatmate, has arrived and I finally met her – she will be staying at SIL until we can figure something out, because her bed and mosquito net also aren’t completely sorted out. I’ve once again been feeling somewhat discouraged about the flat, but think it will help to have my friends around me and for us all to just pray about these things – life has been so busy and full and I need to set time aside to become still again.
In that same vein, the Lord is just bringing so many things into my life right now that don’t want to deal with! But I know I need to accept it from His sovereign hand, and I am once again reminded of that quote that says “The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” Again and again the Lord brings me back to issues I have dealt with already – theological, emotional etc – and I need to cover some of the same ground, but there is also progress and new insight every time. The last few weeks have been extremely hard, but I can only keep on believing that the Lord will use all this heartache for His glory.
