It's the Smallest Things

It's the smallest things that take me back.  Today it was a fly.

I was cooking breakfast, and a fly buzzed around my head.  My mind quickly went back to Uganda.  Flies were such a common part of my kitchen and life there, but this small fly today made me realize that I haven't seen a fly indoors in a long time.

Sometimes, on the rare chance I hear a rooster or goat, I am also reminded of my home back in Uganda.  It can be the wide roads and shoulders, the variety of choices at the grocery store, the ice in my glass, the availability of Dr. Pepper, my lack of car horn use, a clean smell, or wearing sweaters in air conditioning.  They all still catch me off-guard a little sometimes.  The smallest things will take me back in an instant.

And of course, there are things that never happen here, but I remember them as part of daily life there.

There is no one sweeping my grass/dirt at 6:30 in the morning.

I can't smell what the neighbors are cooking unless they are grilling out.

No one stares at me when I go out.

No one yells "Mundu" or "Mzungu" when I am seen walking around.

It's VERY quiet here; plus, my windows are shut.
Can you believe that my neighbors don't know when I'm going to the bathroom?
And there is no one patrolling around my house at night on foot.

I haven't filtered water in almost a year, and I've been brushing my teeth with sink water.

Not once have I had to check solar before doing a load of laundry.

And I don't have to buy meat and cheese three months at a time (although I could).

If you haven't figured out, we are still in America.  Father's plans are different than ours, and I'm so glad, because His are better.  We anxiously await what He has in store for us.

We've had quite a few adventures, but I never thought to share them because they're America-type things that you're used to.

We had originally been living in my hometown, with my parents, but as we saw our time on this continent was being extended, we knew we needed to find another place to live.  Through the workings of Our Creator, we are now living in another town we love, but the drawbacks were we had to leave our church, friends, and the kids' schools behind.  The kids weren't quite up to enrolling in a new school, so I started home-schooling again.  We're now finding our rhythm with school while having a baby around.

None of this is our plan, but we are confident in the One who is working "all things for good."

God speaks in a still, small voice, and He imparts amazing wisdom to us.

It's the smallest things that move and change us, and for me, today, it was a fly.