The Good and the Not-So-Good

This is one of those times when I want to say, “I have some good news and I have some bad news… which one do you want first?”  Since I am usually a “sunny-side of the street” kind of gal, I will begin with what I experienced today that was not so great.

It has been another very long and slow day for me at the parsonage following a lot of activity this morning at church.  Since I am still on my own, the day dragged on for me as I did busy work (a little Greek translation for the upcoming semester and reading spring class texts).  Solitude is not hard for me, but inaction and idle time is.  In my daily life back in the States, there is always something to occupy my time and to keep me busy.  But here, the quiet stretches and the night yawns ahead of me… perhaps this is one of my lessons from this cross-cultural experience… sometimes you will literally have nothing to do.

The other trial today has been to deal with the restrictions that come from living in a country with limited resources.  Sadly when I went to take my evening shower tonight, there was no running water.  YIKES!  When has that ever happened to us back stateside?  The water system here at the parsonage runs off a cistern that collects rainwater… yes, there is no connection to some city water system… no this is an actual tank on stilts in the backyard that collects the rain and then runs through a pump to the house.  Now, don’t get too worried about me… I have bottled water for my sustenance (not that the water from the cistern is potable) and there will be someone by first thing in the morning to fix the pump that isn’t working to bring the water in.  But still, when I turned on the faucet and nothing came out, I had a distinct reminder that I am living in an environment that is not familiar.

Okay… now what is my good news?  Well, that would be the first part of my day spent with the members of Redeemer Lutheran and Calvary Lutheran in Georgetown.  I preached the sermon at Redeemer and then led the Sunday school class at Calvary… here is a picture of the kids from Calvary.  Don’t they look adorable?  They are no different than many of the Sunday school classes I have seen over the years.  And as I waited to be introduced, there were three very animated and dedicated Sunday school teachers getting the class ready.  They each reminded me of women I have known in my life who taught Sunday school… Debbie Oxley, Donna Funck, Sharon Anderson.  So much love came from them to the kids… patience, kindness, an interest in teaching these children about Jesus.  And then the kids... so eager and bright.  They responded to my questions with all the wonderfully random answers that children often come up with... and each one a delight of innocence and faith.  Sound like any kids you know from Sunday school?

So perhaps that is the point of all this travel and time spent in Guyana… again I am back to the differences and similarities…  today I had some not-so-good moments.  But in the end, it was the good moments that will linger for me.  My only wish tonight though is that the public works system in Guyana was in the category of the things we had in common!  Ah, well… tomorrow is another day!