Arting Again!

A couple months back I held the first Arting event in Musoma. Yesterday we carried on. It was extra fun because this time everyone had their own ideas that they were making into art: a verse of praise, an experience with God, a family memory, a favorite spot, etc. I loved seeing all the creation, acting as an art consultant, and sensing that my friends were enjoying something new.

Midterm Break

We reached midterm break already... and it's almost over! I was blessed to travel with my co-teacher, Lyndy, to Cape Town, South Africa for a subsidized retreat put on by an organization that ministers to women in missions. It was a good time to meet sisters in Christ, hear from the Word, see new beauties in nature, eat fun food, and just get away for a time.

One of my favorite times was when I happened to wake early. I went down to the waterfront as the sun tinted the sky pink and the moon meandered towards setting. It was refreshing just to watch the waves, hearing them crash. I reflected on some passages in scripture that God has put in my path recently. Particularly, messages about how God gives us a firm footing as we look to Him in the challenges of life (Psalm 84:5-7, Isaiah 54:12-17, & 1 Peter 5:10). I am comforted by this truth because I feel challenged by living alone and not knowing what's next in life... Yet I know He has GOOD in these things.

To finish off the morning, I looked to my right and saw a little pool down in the rocks below me. I went down. The pool was full of different colored sea anemones, seaweed, and even a few sea urchins! I'd been wanting to see sea anemones, and there they were! A gift for the morning.

Paragraph Games

My second grade writers brushed up on their paragraph writing skills at the beginning of this semester. That means: topic sentence, related and interesting detail sentences, and a conclusion statement, question... or exclamation! One of their classmates was traveling recently, so I decided to take a break from normal writing projects to play some team paragraph-writing games. This is one of the outcomes.

Lake Flies

It's ridiculous really; I've lived by Lake Victoria for nearly three years now and I don't believe I've ever blogged about lake flies. Perhaps you thought this is a picture of dust I swept up? No, pure lake flies. And it's a very small batch too.

Sometimes I'm up on the rock, looking at the lake. I see a large cloud moving towards land. I used to think, "Strange, how could there be a big fire on the lake?" because it looks just like smoke from a raging fire. But no, it's lake flies. They lay eggs in the lake, hatch as nymphs, then rise to the air in a cloud for a quick mating season that sums up their adult lives. 

Once they hit land you need to hold your breathe to avoid breathing them in. If your house sits on the lake, as my new home does, you get a big clean up job. This was what I got off one half of my porch from just a minor cloud of flies.

Ten Things I Like About Now

I'm still in Musoma, teaching at Lake Victoria Learning Center, a place and job I love. However, I recently left my house, and my housemate left for new life adventures. I miss things about the old house (our passion fruit vine, how you could stick plastic bags to dry on the tile walls of the kitchen...). I miss Ronit (laughing together, sharing meals... That list is longer than the first!).

But sometimes missing is a good thing; it's joyful remembering (maybe with tears) and thanks for gifts God has given. It's good as long as I trust that He meant that good to end and another good to begin. And I do. I falter at times, but I do trust.

Here are ten good things I see God putting into now.

1. A stunning 30 minute walk to work passing lake, boats, ladies selling fish, etc.
2. Watching the lake from my back porch and hearing it during the night
3. Sweet commraderie with friends/family here and away via WhatsApp, even if I'm home alone
4. More time for quiet things like praying and reading and just sitting
5. Knowing that God has good plans for the future, and waiting to see what those are
6. Getting to know people here in new ways because I have more open time
7. Going to bed early
8. Being able to manage the responsibilities of house (cooking, expenses, employees, etc...)
9. Cooler temperatures and less mosquitoes
10. Having a cat around to sit on my lap and watch hunt... though I wish she'd find some mice instead of geckos