Sadly I am no longer in Uganda and my posts here where somewhat far and in-between. But I was able to type this out while there right before a power outage and would like to share it!
The internet has been down for the past two days.
We have had water on and off for the past three.
Our neighbors have children that stomp and scream constantly as they either play or cry.
The city is constantly filled with smoke. Black heavy smoke from burning trash.
Dirt is constantly staining. Everything.
The babies that are handed to us are dirty. Wearing nothing but an old, ill fitting dress, they often smell of pee.
The birds are loud. They wake me up every morning as we near 6 a.m. and I pull back the curtain at my head and peer out into the upcoming day. A new day in Uganda. A fresh day in my life.
Most of these things sound negative. Having no internet can seem to be quite the hassle. When there is a blog to be written, emails to be responded to, and pictures to be uploaded who has time for no internet?
Honestly, it was nice. Not because keeping in contact is a hassle, but because it forced me to write things down. To be more observant and to commit things to memory. I have memorized the pictures on my camera rather then uploading and erasing. I have carried a journal noting new words, observing, immersing.
No water is a hassle. I will admit carrying a bucket to the toilet to fill it with water each time one of us needs to be relieved is tedious and gets old fast. Not showering on command, annoying. Especially when my entire body is overed in a mixture of dirt, sunscreen, and sweat. But not having water is a total reality for more than half of the population right here on this block. It's a total reality for the majority of this country, this continent. I am annoyed when I cant take a shower once I am home when most are happy to shower even once a week. It has taught me a lesson that I seem to need to learn again and again, I am SO blessed. So blessed. To have simple things like water, a shower, a clean towel. It means nothing to me in the States. In fact, it's expected.
I am not one to consider myself "high maintenance" but after the past few days I am finding I am more so than not. We are not called to live comfortably. I don't mean I believe God wants us to be miserable for all of our days. In fact I believe He WANTS His children to live comfortably. All of them. Including the ones here. So for those of us who have come to "expect" a shower each morning or night, a clean towel to be one the rack, let us take a step back from our reality and consider theirs. How can we make THEIR reality comfortable?
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