Through the Seasons

After reading the FLYLady website www.flylady.net I have created myself some routines.

Here is my morning routine:

Rise and Shine:

1.  Make Bed

2.  Get dressed, fix hair, moisturize or make-up, brush teeth

3.  Laundry

4.  Change and dress Asher

Kitchen:

1.  Straighten kitchen (if necessary)

2.  Breakfast

3.  Give dogs water

Think about the day:

1.  Check calendar

2.  Make/check to-do list

3.  Prepare for dinner

4.  Declutter table in living room

Think about yourself:

1.  Email, blog

2.  Exercise (still trying to work out the best way to do this)

3.  Drink water

House:

1.  Declutter/clean for a few minutes only

Then I’m free to do whatever is on my to-do list for the day.

I didn’t start with all this though.  It took baby steps.  I couldn’t have done it without following the FLYLady website so check it out!

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It is rare that I read a “classic” and thoroughly enjoy it.  I usually regard the challenge more as a character building exercise than pure pleasure and relaxation.

Then one day I received a gift in the mail.

Villette by Charlotte Bronte.

I can’t tell you how much I loved this book.  It was a challenge to read yet was so enjoyable that I soon forgot she wrote it in the 1800’s.  I sent it to a friend but plan to read it again one day, maybe while we’re in the States next year.  (Gotta love the library!)

On our recent trip to Dar I found another of her books:  Jane Eyre.  It wasn’t too expensive (like the modern books are) so I got it.  I finished it last night and LOVED it!  It wasn’t quite as hard to read as Villette and really her style of writing isn’t generally all that difficult anyway.

I want to read this one again too.  I believe she wrote 4 novels in all so I will have to watch for the other 2.  Her sisters each wrote a novel as well if I’m not mistaken.  I got Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte on that same trip to Dar.  We’ll see how she stacks up to her sibling.

But for now, for today, I’m just letting the story of Jane Eyre sit in my heart and mind.  I can’t start another book just yet because I’m not ready to leave this one although the story has ended.  I love and hate when that happens.  I can’t quite believe it’s over and I wonder how Jane is today.  What is she doing?  feeling?  thinking?  Then I remember.  She was the figment of a brilliant author’s imagination.  Incredible.

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A year ago today we traveled for 26 hours from Charlotte, NC to Detroit, MI to Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro airport to finally arrive in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania at approximately 10pm with a 7-week old baby who did NOT like the heat, a poodle who did NOT want to be in his kennel any longer, and a Llasa Apso who just hung out while the rest of us ran around a hot, busy airport.  Two and a half hours later we arrived at a friend’s house where we’d stay the night.  Four and a half hours later we woke to get ourselves to the train station.  After a fairly non-eventful 24 hours on the train we got dropped off at our home.

We were fresh.  We were excited.  We were tired.  We had no idea that the next year would hold for us:

- the theft of items we brought to Tanzania with us

- the death of our beloved poodle

- a new puppy

- a move away from our first home in Mbeya

- a transition over our first Christmas here

- the death of the new puppy

- a break-in at the new house

- too many car troubles to count

- living off of rain water

Thankfully none of those things have deterred us and we’ve had many highlights as well.

- new friends especially with Mama Ima and her family

- care packages

- trips to Makete and Nairobi

- new home with a wonderful view

- plenty of rain water to live off of

- another new puppy

- finally feeling settled in

- good health for all of us

- the best baby in the whole world – thriving here, not knowing there have been any difficulties at all

And that doesn’t even touch on what Jonathan is accomplishing with his work.  Life here our first year has been distracting from the work for sure but it hasn’t stopped it.  The people continue to hear more and more Scripture in their language.  And that’s why we endure.  So others will have a chance to know God through the means by which He decided to reveal Himself – His Word.  We feel so blessed that we have the opportunity to read the Bible in our own language.  We believe this is something everyone deserves.  Only that makes the lows not so low and the hardships not so hard.

Now we embark on another year here.  We’re not so fresh anymore.  We’re still excited.  We’re still tired.  And we still have no idea what the next year will hold for us.  But we know God is with us and that makes all the difference.

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The other day we had errands to run and Jonathan’s leg was too sore after his accident for him to drive.  (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, check out his blog.  If he hasn’t blogged about it, leave a comment asking him to.  )  We get to a police check (they’re always there) and they pull us over. 

But that’s okay!  I have my license!  I’m good to go. 

The law here is that if you have a valid license from the States you can use it here.  The problem is that not all the police officers know this rule so sometimes there is some ’splainin’ to do.

This appeared to be one of those times.  He looked at it.  And looked at it.  Then looked at it some more.  Then he said, “This has expired.”  All I could do was reach for it to see for myself. 

Sure enough.  On March 29th my license expired.  He let us go without paying a fine though since Jonathan had hurt himself and couldn’t drive – and because it had expired only a couple weeks ago.

So now what?  Gah.  I have to go get myself a Tanzanian driver’s license.  Can’t tell you how not in a hurry I am to do that.

But the real bummer is that like 2 years ago I researched how to renew your NC license from overseas.  I WAS PREPARED.  But you have to actually follow through with those kinds of things for them to make the difference.  Sometimes mere knowledge just isn’t enough.

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I’m still dealing with this computer crash.  What an inconvenience it has been.

My keyboard is messed up from the Coke spill and some of my letters don’t want to type so it takes me a few tries and a bit of effort.  That has made emailing and blogging a lot less fun – but I’m still managing. 

Also I have lost everything. 

As in

everything everything.

Pictures

Videos

Calendar info

Budget

Contact info

Everything

Everything

Everything

So I’m working on a computer without all the programs I used to have and basically no information.

But enough whining. 

Along with my losses is my list of prayer partners.  We have (had?) a group of people who wanted to be notified of current prayer requests via email.  I am going to recreate this.  If you want to be on this distribution list please leave a comment or send a message through our main website page:  www.mccalled.com.  Thanks. 

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Yesterday while I was making dinner the guard came to the door and said that there was a man outside selling a dog.  I asked Jonathan to go out there.  He said, “It’ll be a mutt.”  I figured so too but said, “It’s worth taking a look I guess.”

The next thing I know Jonathan comes to the door

with

a

puppy.

And what can you do after you’ve seen a puppy face!?!?  I said, “Awwwwwww…  I want him!”

Gah. 

No forethought.  No analysis.  Just “love” at first sight. 

So we bought him and he is, indeed, very cute.  He’ll be big so he’s an outside dog.  His job is to alert the night guard of intruders and (preferably) to scare any would-be thieves away.

And we named him

(drum roll please)

Raleigh!

(Pictures to come.)

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A friend of mine recently emailed me telling me I just had to check out this website – specifially this page:

http://flylady.net/pages/begin_babysteps.asp

And on the site I found this page:

http://flylady.net/pages/cjmain.asp

The concept is to take control of your housecleaning to where your house practically cleans itself and you get rid of perfectionism which causes procrastination and inactivity. 

That second page is probably what hooked me (although I’m totally on board now with all of it) because she shows you how to create a “Control Journal”.  How can you not love something called a “Control Journal”!?  I feel better just typing it out.  Control.  Journal.  And do you know what you put in your Control Journal?  Routines.  Yum.

And it’s been great!!!  I’m on Day 2 of my Baby Steps and I feel like I have gotten a lot accomplished and it’s okay if the house isn’t perfect.  It’s good enough.  I love FLYLady!

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I’ve started getting involved with our local Wycliffe branch a bit.  It’s not an official role which is perfect for me since my main focus is my home and family.

I’m excited though because my heart is in it and I’m passionate about it.  I have realized that God has given me this desire and worked out the circumstances to make my involvement possible.

What I’ll be doing is mainly just basic, practical care for new members. 

When we first arrived there were a lot of stressors in our lives.  Actually our first year here has been stressful and distracting from the work.  I don’t believe that anyone should have done anything differently for us but now having gone through it and talking to others about their arrival to Mbeya I see things that I could do to make the transition a little easier for new members.  I can’t take away all the stressors and some people want to figure things out for themselves with no help but others don’t and my goal is to just help them along a bit.

I don’t plan to do this on my own.  I want to add my own little touches for a new member’s arrival but not try to do everything for everyone so we have set up a “buddy system” where we pair people up who naturally fit so the “veteran member” (so-to-speak) will help the new member out by mainly being available to them, showing them around, and answering questions.

We even have our first buddy.  They arrive at the beginning of next year and we’re already helping them out a bit (hence the reason we are this family’s buddy). 

I’m excited.  I have bigger ideas than I can possibly pull off but if they are from God, He’ll make them happen.

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I’m still on this whole “sense of accomplishment” thing.  Bear with me.

I was thinking back to the days we had guests here.  There were a few things that I wanted to accomplish every day while they were here:

1.  replenish any used towels/wash cloths with clean ones

2.  make sure the guest bath had toilet paper

3.  make beds

4.  put candy/chocolate on pillows

Other than that my main thing was to make meals.  That actually wasn’t any different except that:

1.  it included a more elaborate breakfast than usual

2.  there were more people (7 total plus a baby)

And that’s it!  But the thing is I got to the end of each day feeling like I had really done something.  Looking back the days weren’t all that different except that more people were here and I had a handful of added tasks.  It was easier in some ways because Asher had so much fun with their kids.  It was harder in others though because Asher still had to be watched closely and you don’t leave that job to 3 and 7 year olds.

So the thing I’d like to do is incorporate that into my daily life now.  I think the problem before was that my to-do list was so discouragingly long and it included everything I could think of that I ever wanted to accomplish.  Maybe a bit overwhelming.  My new plan is to have a “wish list” on my – um – computer (let’s not even go there) with everything I’d like to get done “someday”.  Then every day I’ll just write a little to-do list in my handy dandy notebook for what I want to accomplish that day.  This sounds like a much better plan!

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