"Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it." Isaiah 30:21

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Life


Kristen here…

One of the things that the speaker said to us at orientation was, “you are the same person when you get off the plane as when you got on the plane.”  We all laughed at the comment because of how painfully obvious it was, but there was a lot of hidden truth in this one statement.  Just because you move overseas doesn’t make you a super hero, you don’t suddenly become more holy or a better person, you don’t have different needs or desires and your personality stays the same.  The point is that living on a different continent doesn’t mean that you don’t still have to do/want to do life. At the core you are the same person no matter what continent you live on.  The hospital consumes a lot of our time, but there is still a need for sanity and the need to “do life” outside of medicine.  I thought I would just give a glimpse into what “life,” aside from the hospital, means here.

Garden cleared and ready for planting

I helped! :-)

Recently, we planted a garden in our backyard.  This was a project that Dan dreamed up and has been really fun!  With the help of my in-laws sending us some seeds to get things started we have been able to plant. Things are now starting to grow and we are eagerly awaiting these much desired vegetables from home that can be hard to get here.  I have to confess that in residency I was given a small pot with a bamboo plant in it.  I single handedly almost killed the plant completely until my roommate took over caring for it.  I have wanted to learn how to garden for years, but knowing my epic failures with potted plants in my own home - I was aware of my limits and never tested those boundaries.  I can’t really take much credit for this garden either as Dan did everything.   All I did was drop the appropriate seeds on the ground where he told me to.  It has been really rewarding, though, to watch as the plants come up and to see success in our endeavors. 

 
Weeding

This last weekend we decided we needed to do some weeding.  It was time to sort out what we had intentionally planted versus the unwanted invaders.  We were getting ready to head outside, gardening gloves in hand, to tackle this chore when I had to admit that I didn’t know how to weed.  Actually, I didn’t even know what tool to use or how to properly pull up the plants.  The look on Dan’s face when I shared this shortcoming was priceless – complete disbelief.  This was then followed by so much laughing that he had to leave the room and wipe the tears from his eyes.  Well, there is a first time for everything and it was the first time this girl had ever pulled up weeds!

 
Weeds are all gone!

Other “life” things that contribute to our lives here in Kapsowar are learning how to make your own fun.  Back home you have a variety of things to choose from including going out to eat, going to the movies, going to a sporting event, various weekly church activities, spending time at the gym, etc.  In Kapsowar, “life” is different in that these types of run of the mill entertainment activities are non-existent.  Nevertheless, the desire for them, the desire for activities, for date nights remains the same.  Now, we just have to get creative. A few weekends ago Dan suggested that we have a date night – just the two of us.   There is nowhere to really go in Kapsowar at night so instead of going out for our date we stayed in.  We made dinner. Filled the house with candles.  Got dressed up.  We cleared the living room of all of the furniture and recreated our first dance from our wedding.  It was a priceless, special evening.  It wasn’t fancy, it wasn’t extravagant, but it was “life” and doing it together.

Date night fun
 

We have also recently added to our family.  We got a dog!  Moto is our newest member and has been really great.  He makes for a great companion for me when I am out hiking or running the trails in the mountains surrounding Kapsowar and a great watch dog for our home.  He is full of energy and keeps us busy as well as entertained with his antics. He eats vegetables and kills bugs.  Perfect for being overseas! He is so much fun.

Moto means fire in Swahili
 

Though the hospital consumes most of our time here, I hope this has given you a little glance into the everyday normalcy that is “life” on the mission field.  Sometimes you have to be creative, but doing “life” is an important part of staying sane, keeping perspective and being sustainable on the mission field.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Kristen, Well I will have to apologize, for not teaching you how to weed, I thought it was a natural response to nature. love, dad

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  2. Love that you made a date night out of getting dressed up and spending some extra special quality time alone. What a wonderful idea you two :)

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  3. The garden looks great! Love to read your updates. 😀

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