The last two days have been emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually overwhelming. On Wednesday I woke up at 2am to one "emergency" text, then received word of another pressing issue later in the day. Every task I wanted to finish had some difficulty associated with it. I am tempted to list all the problems that seemed to pile one on top of the other, but I'm afraid I'd give in to self-pity and not glorify God for the strength He gave me to endure. So I'll keep this update brief, leaving the tears and heaviness of heart between the lines.
Highlights from Wednesday, December 12th:
"Family" brunch before John and Mary left. We had a nice time, visiting over pancakes, blueberry cobbler, fruit, and lattes. Those moments together are precious memories and I loved the feeling of being a family. It is hard to believe that I won't be seeing John, Mary, and Henry for several weeks.
Buying carpet. After our brunch, Andy and Lisa took me to the market to buy carpet. I'd already picked out the kind I wanted, so Andy negotiated the price. Men kept joining the conversation, some fascinated by Andy's Kurdish, others wanting to give their two-cents. In the end, we got a good deal on the carpet and they loaded it up in Andy and Lisa's van.
Setting up house. In the afternoon, though it hadn't been part of my plan, I laid out the carpet in both rooms. I tweaked my back a little while moving the couch, but I was thankful for the physical exercise that helped release some of the day's tension.
Skype call with Dave and Lisa. They listened to the struggles of the day, gave encouraging advice, and took off some of my load. I stayed with Andy and Lisa until a little after 11pm when Lisa drove me home. I had to respond to a couple emails before I could finally crawl into bed after 12pm.
Thursday, December 13th:
This morning, after finally falling sleep around 1am (thanks to Mary, I now have an app on my iPad that monitors my sleep cycles), I woke up this morning at 7:30 and got ready to go to the school. I dropped a couple things off, said hello to students, and sorted through a couple problems. A little before 11, I walked home and took care of some things for school. I whipped together the ingredients for truffles, put them in the fridge to harden, then took a quick nap. When I woke up, I finished the truffles and got ready to go to a ladies' tea. Lisa picked me up at 2:30. Through fellowship and events like this, I have enjoyed getting to know the other ladies in our expat community. The tea was really lovely with little gold and blue details - candles, tablecloths, hand-made party favors. It was a relaxing moment in the midst of my storm.
Dealt with one of the issues when I got home at 6:30pm, then made mini frittatas for dinner. I took a picture as proof of one positive thing accomplished!
As I crawled into bed at 8:30pm, I was reminded that a couple weeks ago, I saw what God was teaching me as preparation for "whatever lies ahead." And here it has come.
