Preparation

I find myself having to continually remind myself of a very simple task. Its not something I had to do or ever made a habit of doing when I lived in California, but in my effort to adapt to this different culture, I try to be conscious of it. I drive down Lema Road every morning on my way to work and there are many people that I pass on the road; women with bananas on their heads, school children and the like, just starting their days. In the states, even poor schools utilize school buses and most people get around by their own vehicle or heaven forbid public transit. While we do have cheap public transit in Tanzania, if you are super poor it may be something that you cut out of your budget. So people instead will walk and as people in cars pass, the pedestrians often ask for a “lifti”(many Swahili words are English words with an “i” on the end). They do this by stopping, looking at the driver and putting their hand out, palm up (as opposed to our hitchhiker thumb). It is common practice to give these people rides and I am training myself to always be prepared and ready to give them a ride.

I want to be the kind of person that is always ready to bless someone, always prepared to fill in and do what is right at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately, I have not arrived yet in being the person that is always prepared to do so.

Monday through Friday, we start of the days at TOA with devotionals. Eli takes Monday, Lydia does Tuesday, I get Wednesday, Jodie takes Thursday and one of the staff teaches on Friday. With Lydia gone, Jodie and I are alternating on doing her Tuesday. I like to teach, but the devotionals are a bit of a discipline for me. Coming up with something to teach on a weekly basis, is stretching me and I sometimes feel ineffective. Nonetheless, I didn’t want Jodie to bear it on her own in Lydia’s absence so when Lyd left I offered to alternate with her. I did it two weeks ago, but then last week the Tuesday was done in Swahili by a staff member. Yesterday, Jodie asked me if I was going to do it the following day (Tuesday) and I squirmed out of doing it, by virtue of her having not done it the week before. She caught me off guard and I wasn’t prepared to just bless her. Jodie is a wonderful woman and a hard worker. She is doing great with added responsibility in Lydia’s absence and is also coming off a bout with malaria. Despite that my lack of preparation to just bless at a moment’s notice didn’t bring her any relief. I felt convicted of it that night and I texted her to apologize and tell her that I would be happy to lead the devotional if she would like me to. Jodie, in her grace, told me that it would be okay and that she would do it anyways.



I seem to be finding myself to need to be in the moment more and more. To not jump to the next page or whatever and thus miss the opportunity that is right before me. I think that was evident to me this week. Sometimes, those people asking for a ride will stick their hands out at the last moment as I’m nearly whizzing past them. I, in my lack of grace, say to those people as I drive away “ah, you should have put your hand out sooner so I could have seen you 30 yards earlier. Too late.”

We always like to think about the big things and the little things (or possibly, more accurately, the things we’ve got going on today) get swept aside as less important. I had a reminder of that today as I was teaching English to our guard Arnold. I teach him English for one hour, four days a week, because we plan on promoting him to a more prominent (and English speaking) position in the future. Many days we practice his vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure. And days like today, we just talk for the whole hour, which is great practice for him as well. Our talk on politics and the recent Tanzanian elections went down one rabbit trail then another. Soon, I found him telling me how he told his wife that he only wanted two kids when they got married, a boy and a girl. He got his wish with his first two kids, but then his wife wanted another. He didn’t feel prepared for it, but they went ahead and had another girl. Now his wife is telling him again that she wants a fourth child. Again, primarily because of finances, he doesn’t feel prepared for something so big as a fourth child. That’s certainly a tough spot and is a reminder to us to allow the Lord to constantly be preparing us for both the big and the small things. As an aside, the conversation took an unexpected turn as Arnold told me that if they have another child, he would want a second boy. In step with such preparation, he then asked me “nitafanyaje?” which translates “how will I do it?” I burst out laughing and told him that he doesn’t get to choose the sex of his child, but he has to take a gamble and let the Lord choose. The English lesson turned into a science lesson as I used the whiteboard to explain what’s going on with our 26th chromosome and how everyone’s got a 50-50 shot on being an “xx” or an “xy.” Highlight of the day.

Anyways…

The Lord is interested in the kind of people that we are. The things that we do are second to who we are. The truth is that we are children of God and disciples of Christ, but we don’t always allow that identity to really grip us. You can be a very gifted person and plan these big events where you can let your “heart for God” be truly seen. Such events can be great, but sometimes they are led more by an individual’s charisma as opposed to the Spirit of God. I, instead, believe that its those moments that catch you off guard that exemplify the kind of person that someone is. It can be something small, like looking to hook up a stranger with a lift or how you react when something huge takes you by surprise.

My prayers this week have been with a family from the church that Melissa grew up in. Their godly mother, who was the preschool director at the church, unexpectedly died in what can best be described as an unusual accident. Many prayers have been sent up for this family and we trust that God remains present and bigger than any tragedy. Melissa shared with me how the husband pointed to Christ and challenged those at the funeral to examine their own lives. How do you prepare for something like that? The person that you love most on the earth, the person that you dedicated yourself to and the person you started a family with is gone just like that. Clearly, this man of God, while he wouldn’t say he was ready for this, exemplified Christ-like character in the hardest hour of his life. That speaks volumes to not only his integrity and faith in God, but shows to unbelievers that we mourn, but we do not mourn as those who have no hope.

Preparation has to be a constant prayer on the lips of followers, because we don’t know what’s coming next and what decisions will need to be made. The Lord does however, so we need to be praying that He’ll prepare us for that. Forcing things into the consciousness is important, because then we are mentally prepared for whatever might come up. I don’t mean this in a morbid way, like you need to expect tragedy or something. Your preparation may look like getting ready to receive a major blessing that you will in return use to bless others. This preparation ought to take place on a moment-by-moment basis, in every big and small thing. This is an important way that we redeem the time.

So I’m working on this. I’ve mentioned George before. He’s an impoverished and ailing old man that hangs out by the bread shop. I’ve been a bit conflicted over the last month about what to do about George. I normally give him either some bread or a little money when I run into the store to grab a loaf for myself. Last month, I saw him just take the bread and hide it on top of a woman’s vegetable cart instead of diving in. I would always pray for him upon giving him the gift, but I stopped doing that for a little while in my hurrying. I turned a blessing into a simple “George Tax” on my trip to the bread shop. I realize that I need to do a better job being prepared to just bless and not worry about wondering how hungry he really is. Well today, I saw George there when I rolled up and when I ran into the store I bought a second loaf and came out and gave it to him. Then I took a pause and just prayed for him. It would be cool if you took a second and prayed for George to.

God is interested in the kind of people that we are and whether or not we’ll be people of integrity in any upcoming or abrupt circumstance. Last week I dropped my “big news” about my extended furlough and said that I would be looking to do speaking engagements and events. I expected people to just flock to the opportunity to have me come and speak and they’d check out my website and get on the schedule and so forth. That day and the next, I emailed all my contacts from churches or other affiliates and added one mere engagement at a youth group in Hawthorne (which I already knew I would be speaking at, just not when exactly). My “big news” blog posted on Facebook and Blogger racked up sifuri comments or likes and most people haven’t emailed me back. I would love to prepare for big engagements and do all this crazy prayer and fund raising in the states, which I do pray for, but I guess I have to just stay in the moment and be prepared for what comes today then tomorrow and just allow January to come a little down the line.

The beautiful thing is that the Holy Spirit dwells within those that have given their lives to Christ. If we are willing and don’t suppress Him, He is always ready and always prepared to enact His own will in our lives, for this we give praise.

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The Rundown: It was a pretty good week I suppose. It seemed pretty normal. Most of the things worth putting down here worked themselves into the main blog portion. All the kids are well. Today I watched a competition between Zoe, Justice, Moses and Jerry as they stood on one side of the porch and threw beanie babies to try to knock down a tour of Legos. Zoe (Ms. Athletic 3-year old) pretty much took it to those boys. That was a rival highlight to my conversation with Arnold. Church was good and I had a wonderful time leading worship. I might be taking off the next two weeks from leading, depending on a couple things. I for sure will be at an engagement at the Treasures’ church on the 14th where our little kids and Eli and Rosa’s baby will be getting dedicated. Basketball was great this week and I love having that time with those guys. Other than that, not much going on. Thanks for your prayers. Comments and messages are encouraged as well!