The Lord Goes Before

I am now safely back at school in the bush after an uneventful trip back. I am so, so thankful for how the Lord smoothed my way as I traveled back to Zambia; I had been a little nervous about traveling with the walking boot. I had to stand for a long stretch waiting to check in, but my dad scouted out a less busy security station for me so that went quickly and without any hassle despite all the extra hardware. On my long flight, about 14 hours, I had not only an isle seat that I could physically get the boot into (I had been worried about that), but no seatmates! So, I was able to curl up on the seat a bit, and had plenty of room to maneuver.

In Dubai I was able to get some good sleep and spend some time just resting after all the activities of the last month. I was able to get an isle seat again on the shorter flight down to Lusaka, and ended up almost at the front of the immigration line so I didn’t have to stand very long. All my bags came through without issue, and nothing broke. Four of us had a smooth flight up to Solwezi on Friday, were able to get some groceries, and then had an uneventful drive up to the school. I was quite thankful for all my practice with the boot over the last few weeks, as my ability to maneuver and perform certain challenging feats was tested in the form of a long drop and a pit stop in the bush—God has been so good!

Since I’ve been back at school, I’ve been cleaning my house, unpacking, sorting some, working on some professional development, and resting. Today I went over to my classroom and did some big jobs like clearing out papers and other things that are no longer needed, and doing a bit of work on my boards. The students start arriving on Friday, and I need to get my room sorted out and finish my curriculum revision so I can leave things well organized for my replacement to take over next year. There is much to do, and this term we are down both the cook and a secretary/support teacher, so things will be stretched pretty thin. Prayers for help as we redistribute duties this term, and for grace for ourselves and others would be much appreciated!

Parting shot: It was amazing to see how much things have dried out in just the month and a half that I've been away! We are going into our spring, which is also the hottest time of the year. The new tree leaves are sometimes scarlet, and laundry dries on the line in no time flat!

Bonus: How do you deal with a hole in a cement wall that has become too large for its plug? White glue and matches! Learn something new every day...

Last bonus: No meat should EVER be that color!