only four more mondays left at the office. crazy! i cannot believe how fast time is flying by. i also cannot believe how little we’ve been able to accomplish these past two months. this is very unlike me, people, very unlike me indeed. i am the one who has tickets and itineraries and tour guides and packing lists all researched and purchased and printed out weeks in advance of any trip. with this “trip,” it’s been very different, and i am not proud of it at all. seriously, get with the program, d!
november was a crazy month, though. aside from the holiday and other reasons that typically make november busy (and awesomely wonderful, because as we all know, november is the month that brings the most special people into the world, especially on the 23rd of the month), j and i encountered one of the scariest moments of our lives a few weeks ago. i don’t want to get into details here, so long story short, docs found a large lesion on my hip bone that they feared could be cancer. after what felt like forever in sleepless nights, with additional xrays and MRIs, we finally found out that it wasn’t cancer. i’ll never forget that afternoon in the doctor’s office–the second he said “it’s not cancer!”, j shouted (yeah, he literally shouted) “hallelujah! praise Jesus!” repeatedly, at least 10 times in a row. it was the biggest load off of our shoulders. we’re so thankful that God spared us from what would have been a pretty complicated situation.
november was also a month of blessings. we met the lovely basnet family, refugees from nepal, through the tragic death of their 8 year-old son, kaylan. we were invited to the funeral service, which involved hindu traditions (incense, songs and prayers for the soul’s peaceful passage from this life to the next). i asked a few of the family members about the significance of some of their rituals, and they shrugged. they were just following along because, well, that’s what was expected. that’s all they knew to do during this time of mourning. it kind of broke my heart.
why do we do things without understanding the significance of them? i know i’m not to judge people for what (harmless) things they choose to do to help them cope, and that’s not why i ask this question. i guess i just feel that it’s tragic to commit to something that you don’t understand, especially when it comes to matters of the soul….
meeting and getting to know the basnets was a blessing. maybe i’ll write more about it later, about how powerfully God spoke into my heart about His love for them, but for now, i’ll just leave it at that. it was amazing.
thanksgiving weekend was also amazing. the four kiddos (me, j, chach and john) made an amazingly awesome feast! we had leftovers for days, no complaints. thanksgiving food, kind of like fine wine or fancy cheese, has a way of getting better with age. well, maybe not the turkey so much? black friday was a major disappointment, though. i was appauled by the so-called “blockbuster” deals that were listed as a mere $10-15 off the original price. insulting, that’s what it was. who do these people think we are? brainless consumers who can’t do math and are easily distracted and engaged by large and flashy advertisements? okay, so maybe we are. but it’s still insulting.
one final thing to add onto my list of amazingness: chipotle. i have been eating their vegetarian bowls non-stop! i need to find the receipe to that awesome cilantro-lime rice, lest i go mad in rwanda.
a year in africa 