Mustard Seeding

I wanted to name this blog "Everything is Awful and Nothing Ever Goes Right." But, O reader, I don't want to depress y'all so I sacked that. (Do I want some cheese with that whine? Yes I do.) So, I recognize my last blog was uplifting and shining with new hope and justified faith. I wish every blog could be like that. But this here blog is for my truth bombs. It's not purely a "missionary blog"--- full of spiritual amazingness, but it's also space I've created to be real. The last week or so I've been getting frustrated as there have been too many days full of disappointments piling up. I wanted to rant/vent. But if all I'm doing is complaining out into the internet air, what good is that?  So instead of a pure rant, here is my "pros and cons" list (à la The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon). *This is meant to be read in the voice of Jimmy Fallon-- not in the voice of me feeling grumpy on a hot afternoon. Pros...

So as many of you know Ema and I have been officially “homeless” for basically a year. We left our beautiful townhouse in Chiang Mai at the end of August last year- 2016 and it’s August again. We’ve been bed surfin’ ever since. (Shoutout to our amazing friends the Damerons, a once in a lifetime 2 months with the used-to-be single Mandy, and “our room” in my Mom’s house. Not to mention our most recently vacated domicile of the “Green Palm Hotel” in Mwanza) As a missionary, I suppose this isn’t the most outrageous thing ever. We learn to flex and be happy in many a room that’s not ours. But still. A year y’all. A year.   The last month at the Green Palm Hotel has been very emotional for me. Adjusting to life in Africa, the sadness of leaving everyone and everything behind, and the daily hope and disappointment cycle of “are we moving today?”.   When I was preparing to move to Mwanza, Ema was scouring the city looking for that perfect house. The right price, but comfo...

MWANZA! As I'm starting to get more settled here, life is getting easier and more enjoyable. In spite of still living in our little hotel room! I mean, how could I start getting impatient now- We've been without a place of our own since we left Thailand last August. That's getting close to a year of not having our own place! We've waited this long, we can wait longer. Plus the hotel has most things we need. Cold air conditioning, good electricity, occasionally hot water in the shower, a restaurant. So I want to tell you a little bit about my new city. First of all, it's in the north part of Tanzania, along the coast of the gigantic Lake Victoria. (And you can see-- very close to the "endless plains" of the Serengeti Wildlife Reserve.) This means that the views of the lake are so beautiful! And almost from everywhere in the city! There's something about this lake that is so beautiful. I have yet to really capture it in photos, it...