Always singing!

All in a day...Be flexible!!

We had an interesting day two weeks ago that really speaks about being flexible but I have not had the chance to sit and write about it and actually post it. Between painfully poor internet connections, Micah, our househelper Dorcas, people coming to our gate, laundry to hand-wash, planning and fixing dinner…I am hoping to finish now!

We had been told about Wycliffe, a young man whom several missionaries hire to do yard work and other odd jobs. He is married to Celine and they have a 5 year old boy. He works hard and makes huge efforts to get by. We met him and his family two weeks ago at another missionary’s house and we felt compelled to offer him some odd jobs as well. Wycliffe and Celine were both orphans and finally were able to move out of the slums a few months ago. They are strong Christians and literally trust the Lord to provide each day.

We planned for Wycliffe to come by the next afternoon to help Robb with some yard work. He arrived about 10am…be flexible! Robb put aside the tasks he had planned for the morning and started working in the back yard with Wycliffe. They trimmed the loquat tree and bougainvilleas, and dragged piles of branches through the house to the front for trash pickup. I believe they filled 6 black yard waste bags and still had several more piles. Clearly, the yard had not been worked on in quite a while.

While Robb was working with Wycliffe, I brought Micah to another missionary’s house to play then continued with more cleaning and organizing. Shortly after, there was a knock on our front gate (be flexible!) and I met Mama Sumaki (the fish lady!) or Margaret. She brings whole tilapia fish and fillets them right there for you! I had to get over the fact that flies were all over the them as she filleted them. One fish costs 300/- or $4.00. Not bad considering one fish was more than one meal for us. She has been selling fish to missionaries (and others) for about 20 years or so. Needless to say, she really knows how to fillet a fish! I was disappointed that Micah was not there to see Margaret fillet the fish for us.I was told that Margaret likes to take the heads & bones and make soup with them. I had asked Wycliffe earlier if he wanted them so I saved them for him. The next time Margaret was to bring me fish I asked Dorcas if she would like the heads & bones to make fish and she said that she does not make fish soup. She asked if Wycliffe and Margaret are from the Luo tribe (they are) because the Luo tribe is originally from Lake Victoria, and she is Kikuyu and they do not eat fish. Interesting!!

Robb had connected with another missionary who said we could borrow his “extra car”. That afternoon Robb took a taxi to go pick it up, and I have to admit that I was quite surprised when Robb returned (be flexible!)! The “car” is fondly referred to as Big Red! It is a 40 or so year old Land Cruiser, and it shows and feels every bit of it! It is loud, rough, and tough to drive, but it is fun, can handle most any pothole that it encounters, and people generally stay out of its way! Shifting certainly has not been kind to Robb’s torn rotator cuff but it has been so nice having our own transportation!

Whew, what a day!!