Deer Hunting

The avid deer hunter is up well before dawn, they dress as warm as they can and quietly walk out to their deer stand (where they arrive likely 2 hours before sunrise).  This year, though I was wide awake by 4 am, I just couldn't persuade myself to go out in the frigid cold! I would freeze and eagerly  return home before I could legally shoot anything!
Around 5:30 am I dressed as warm as I could, donning multiple coats and wearing the required blaze orange jacket and hat. I packed my hand and feet warmers and a bit of trail mix (to help keep me warm while I sat out there--you see I've become a bit of a wimp since living in TZ!).  A sense of  anticipation filled me as I gathered all my gear.

You see, hunting has always been a special time, it used to be the one thing that was just Dad and I. We used to get up and go sit in the tree stand together. Dad built a special deer stand just for me that was my own little hide-a-way.  After a few years, the oldest of my younger brothers joined us and a few years later the next brother.  Now my 'baby' brother has also joined the ranks.

This year, Dad didn't hunt.  I went out with two of my three brothers.  As I walked out to the tree stand (when it was nearly dawn!) I was again taken aback at the beauty surrounding me.  What a great creator we have! Wide open spaces, all kinds of vegetation, beautiful trees.  My excitement escalated.

I reached the far edge of the field and climbed up into my deer-stand.  I sat down and was overcome with praise and worship songs and Bible verses that I have stored in my heart. What an honor it is that I can sit here for hours and just take in all that God has given us!

As I continued to sit and praise Jesus (I mean actively hunt ;) I started making parallels in my mind with deer hunting and our walk as Christians.

In deer hunting one of the most important skills is to sit QUIETLY  and wait.  Taking time to be patient.  In our walk with Christ, we need to take time to sit and wait, and to be patient, to listen.  If we are busy making noise and moving around we will not see a deer; likewise,  if we are active all the time and making our own noise we won't hear Christ. While we wait, many an opportunity comes along.  We see all the small creatures and blessings God has given us to enjoy and eventually our 'prize' comes along.  In our Christian walk, sometimes we jump too hastily and miss a bigger blessing that God wants to send our way.  It's our job to prayerfully discern what comes before us and ask God to give us clarity.

Though I didn't spend as much time in the deer-stand this year; and though I wasn't actively hunting.  God blessed me with many a lesson in the deer-stand.  He revealed more of His glory as I sat in awe of the tiny bit of who He is that I can grasp.

WAIT!

As God teaches me more about waiting on His timing, a friend posted this reading.  It inspired me and met me where I am.

Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried,
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate, 
And the Master so gently said, 
"Child you must wait."

"Wait? You say, Wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!"

Is your hand shortened or have you not heard?
By faith, I have asked, and I'm claiming your word.

My future and all to which I can relate
hangs in the balance, and You tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign, or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
we need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
"I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly I learned of my fate As my Master replied once again, 

"You must wait."

So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut and grumbled to God, 

"So, I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine, and He tenderly said, 

"I could give you a sign.  I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.  

I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek I could give, and pleased you would be.  

You would have what you want--

But, you wouldn't know me.

You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint;

You'd not know the power I give to the faint.

You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me when darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience that fullness of love as the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;

You'd know that I give and I save....(for a start)

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart

The glow of My comfort late into the night, 

the faith that I give when you walk without sight,

The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked

From an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee, what it means that

"My grace is sufficient for thee."
Yes, your dreams for your loved-one overnight would come true,

But, Oh, the Loss! if you missed what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see

that the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.

And though oft may My answers seem terribly late, 

My most precious answer of all is still 'WAIT'"

~Russell Kelfer (as seen in The Daily Encourager)

More of you and less of me...

This phrase is so much easier to say than to walk out as I am reminded and continue to learn. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind filled with many emotions: excitement, anger, frustration, hurt, happiness, love, joy, peacefulness, anxiousness and the list could go on. It's so easy to look at hurdles and obstacles that we have to cross in life's road and to get frustrated. It's so easy to question God and ask 'What are you doing???' It's so easy to ask 'WHY?'. It's so easy to ask for answers right now and wonder when they will come. It's so easy to feel all alone and to again question why God is stripping seemingly everything away. But the most amazing thing, is God's work in the process and I can hear him saying 'wait my child, abide in me and I will give you answers as you need them.' He assures that it is ok to be angry, to want to scream or punch someone, it's ok to cry, be honest with Him about how you feel. And amidst all of these things he gives blessings that are greater than anything else. :)
I feel my heart exploding with all God is teaching/reminding/showing me right now. This song has spoken to me many times in the past few weeks:
                           
 For the past few years I've loved the verse "The heart of man plans his way but the Lord establishes his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)  and it's true, we head down the path that we feel we are being led on and God reminds us that it's not our way but His.  His plans are inconceivable but nothing is sweeter

than being in His will (but it will not always come easily). To be in His will means constant surrender of EVERYTHING.  Earlier this week I was crying and commenting about how my life is changing and so many things are out of my control, so many things are much bigger than me I can't even try to solve them. I was reminded 'Marie, do you think that is what God is working on?  Surrender the control and trust Him.'  After this lesson, I was driving in the car, still trying to analyze life, trying to figure out the why's in life, and trying to figure out why God keeps telling me to "Be Still, and Rest in Me".  (I have protested and said 'I know that but right now God I don't want to sit still! I don't want to think, and He keeps taking me back to 'Be Still, Abide in ME, REST!'  As I was analyzing, the radio announcer said 'sometimes God takes us into a place of rest to make us rest and to refresh us and to teach us.  Don't resist this rest'...haha, nothing like confirmation on what God is teaching.  The broadcaster said read Psalm 23.  A Psalm I've read many times but one I cannot get out of my head this week. "He makes me lie down in green pastures..he restores my soul."

Later in the week we went to visit one of mom's friends, the first sign I saw on her walls was 'Be still and know that I am God." I am learning to savor the hours of time that He has given me to 'be still, to rest in Him,to delight in Him.' We serve such a mighty God, one who is so full of love for us, who fills us to overflowing with his joy and his grace. We are blessed.
The last HUGE idea God continues to instill in me is to just praise Him in all things and for all things. I look at all I am blessed with and how can I not give praise? Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice"

A few of the blessings the past few weeks:
1.) Met my new nephew :)
2.) Saw ALL of my cousins on the Christianson side for the first time in years
3.) Was able to be home to share in the celebration of life for my grandmother.
4.) Got to be around for Landon's (new nephew) baby dedication
5.) Quality time with cousins
6.) The opportunity to help clean out my other grandma's house.
7.) God's amazing creation and beautiful fall leaves.
8.) No allergies
9.) Time with friends
10.) God's ever present love and grace.
11.) Praise and Worship music on the radio!
12.) Meeting the girls in my brothers' lives.
13.) Great time/conversations with my sister Rachel.
14.) Adventures with my brothers.
15.) A supportive, encouraging team here who are making the transition back to the states a bit easier.
16.) Learning how to pray for and empathize with people in new ways.
"Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise, when the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say Blessed be the name."

What a mighty God we serve. Have a blessed weekend dear friends! :)

I'm going to try this diligence thing once again.  We'll see how it goes :)

Today was a fun filled day starting with a great church service from Matthew 7.  A continuation of last weeks sermon about not trying to take the speck of sawdust out of your eye until we've taken the log out of our own eye, along with this came the advice about knowing when and how to correct. We talked about wounded hearts and trust this morning as well..hmm...sound familiar?

After church some friends came over and we chit chatted for awhile and I threw together a yummy meal of scalloped potatoes, steamed pumpkin and meatloaf.  I love having the time to cook and enjoy the cooler weather brought on by the rain and clouds of the day. 

Crystal and I watched a few episodes of HOUSE and are now setteling in to read email, chat with family, check up on fb and eventually get back to schoolwork.

I continue to ponder my blessings and think of all the things I'm thankful for and that I take for granted.  I am thankful that I still have parents and grandparents and all my siblings, thankful that I have clean drinking water, a Bible in my mother tongue, an education, a great church and the list goes on.
God is good all the time and I think it is important to reflect upon the many blessings he has given us.  All too often it is easy to find something to fuss about.  What are you grateful for today?

Time continues to fly faster than a speeding bullet!  I was glancing over my blog and realized I started driving in Dar a bit under a year ago.  I have since started driving bajaji and am hoping to get my license this coming week.

We are well into our school year and as is typical the second year goes better than the first.  I feel much better about my teaching just feeling more settled into routine.

In the past month or two months God has made it clear that my time in Africa is not yet done.  I have decided to stay on and have found a new house to move into.  It is very freeing to know that I am in God's will.  Next week we sign a lease on the new house and hope to move sometime in December.  Hopefully we will spend our Christmas in our lovely new home! :)

Along with the need for a new home came the need for transportation.  I tutor in another part of Dar three afternoons a week after school and traffic is a bugger, I decided the way to go is by bajaj.  I spend Saturday mornings in Madala village tutoring.  I am hoping to buy a bajaj by the beginning of January.

I've grown to love the verse "The heart of man plans his ways but the Lord establishes his steps." so true... God has everything planned out and when we walk in sweet surrender to Him and are in continual communion with Him nothing is sweeter :) 

Hope all is well with you, love hearing your updates! Have a relaxing Sunday!

Summer--oops I mean Winter madness :)

Today marked our last day of school before the "summer" (or if you're living in Dar it is Winter) break.  The day was filled with many goodbyes to staff and students alike as is the case when you live in a mission community.  It is hard to believe that I have been living in Dar for nearly 11 months.  Though I love teaching, it will be nice to have some time off.

We had a final assembly this morning and after that a time of farewells and checking out.  The day has been very  cool (chilly in fact) at a current temp of 78 degrees Fahrenheit.  I really appreciate Dar weather at this time of year.

This afternoon, Crystal and I and our neighbor Lydia, took the opportunity to go to Tegeta to browse through their used clothing market (which is open every Friday)...I found a pair of good Capri's for 500TSH (30ish cents), we were then able to buy some fresh produce.  There is a huge produce market in Tegeta. Right now oranges are in season and 10 oranges cost us 1000 TSH or 69 cents.  We've made a few batches of homemade orange juice! (YUM!!)  After shopping in Tegeta, we went to "Camel Oil" which is a gas station/small 'supermarket' they have most things that we need and are very close to home.  They have even started selling LUKU, (LUKU is our electricity--we prepay it and then get a code to punch into a LUKU box at our home) which makes them even nicer and more convenient!

The weekend will be filled with many events, some of us on the compound will go out for a nice breakfast. (I hear it's the best place to go when feeling homesick--apparently the food is wonderful!).  In the afternoon we are invited out for one last beach party.  On Sunday it is farewell to my roommate and a few others.


A month and a half ago I started tutoring a little guy with special needs who is not a part of our HOPAC community.  I go to their school and tutor him three days a week.  I will continue to work with him throughout the summer.  It still baffles me that there are virtually no options for those with special needs.

I am hoping to have my newsletter out very soon...

Hope all is well for each of you! happy Friday!  :)

Beautiful star lamp

So,
The other day I went to the "mall" with my friend who was in town for the day.  We used a school car and this was my first real driving experience in Dar. :) Who-hoo!! I survived traffic day one :)
Whilst at the mall I saw this beautiful paper star shaped lamp, I've looked at it two other times but decided against it, this particular day I decided.."that lamp would be nice to have, it would have a soft glow that my flourescent lights don't provide"  I told the man behind the counter I wanted the red star lamp (which turns out it is BRIGHT pink).

I paid for the lamp and we went on our way, headed for home.  When I got home I took my lamp out prepared to plug it in however there was a slight problem...the cord had no plug, just a wire.  I said "what is this?" I have since learned that this is how they sell these lamps, none of the chords have a plug...who would think they would have to buy a plug to wire onto the cord before being able to use their lamp??  I guess I have learned yet again never to assume, and Africa wins again!

Thankfully one of the hs boys next door came over with an old chord and he put the plug on for me. :) Yay!! it's great to have nice neighbors.

Have a wonderful week!

Sala ya Yesu

We have spent our last two Kiswahili lessons learning the Lord's prayer:

Sala ya Yesu:
Baba yetu uliye mbinguni
jina lako litukuzwe
ufalme wako ufike,
utakalo lifanyike duniani kama mbinguni.
Utupeleo mkate wetu wakila siku.
Utusamehe makosa yetu kama tunavyo wasamehe nasisi walio tukosea;
usitutie katika kishawishi lakini utuokoe na maovu.
kwakufa ni ufalme wake nguvu na utukufu ni wako milele.
Amina.

Wow! Another year has come and gone and my life has changed dramatically. I will try to stay on top of this blog a bit better, at least for awhile.

I have moved internationally to work as a missionary and am spending Christmas this year in a HOT climate. What a change from the white Christmas' I am so accustomed to. It was very hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year but shouldn't be as Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our savior, it should not be dependant upon being with family, or having the usual decorations in the streets or our home, the ability to make the goodies that have become traditional or the lack of snow.


This past week was long as everyone is excited and counting down days until the end of 1st term. On Wednesday night my roommate and I decided we were too exhausted for Bible study but decided we would order out some food. This sounds like a grand idea in the general scheme of things but this was one of those evenings my roommate would describe as an "AWA day/night' (Africa Wins Again). Wednesday was a national holiday here and we didn't have school, which means many others don't have work either. We decided to catch a dala-dala to T-square, a small little bar/restaurant to pick up our food. We stood and waited and waited for a dala that looked at least a little bit safe (meaning no people hanging out the side). We finally caught the dala and wound up at Africana where we wanted to stop. From Africana we took a walk to T-square, where they asked us to wait for our food. We had ordered 7 mishkaki and 2 chips. After 30 minutes they brought 'our' order: 9 mishkaki and 5 chips. We explained as best we could in our limited Swahili that we hadn't ordered that much and were quoted a price of elfu tisa (nine thousand shillings). They agreed not to charge us for two orders of chips. Crystal and I were on our merry way when we received a call "your food is ready come and pick it up" (all in Swahili). We tried to explain 'tulikuja chakula' we came and got the food. Needless to say we were on our way home and got a text, then two more phone calls---we could not quite bridge the language gap. So we asked our friendly guard to help us send a message--he can understand our limited Swahili and actions better than the restaurant ;) We had a crazy bajaji ride home, with a driver that did not listen to our directions and who grumbled about our fair price the entire way.

Last night we had our staff Christmas party which was great fun, on the way home we were going to catch a bajaj...they decided they needed 5,000TSH for what should have cost 1,500 at the most. The farther we walked towards home the more expensive and more rude the bajaj drivers got. We decided to walk all the way as we couldn't find a reliable bajaj. We were walking on the shoulder when the guy we were with says "watch out!" we look up to see a car coming at us in our lane (which is not really a lane---a two lane highway can become 4-6 on evenings with heavy traffic)...this means "Watch out Pedestrians--you don't have the right of way".

Today we took a dala on our way to go out to eat...the dala skipped our stop and kept going. We ended up a lot farther than we wanted to be and changed our plans for lunch. :)

I think it's just been one of those crazy weeks and one of wonderful memories in Africa! :)

Next week we will have a plethora of school Christmas activities and finish the end of our term! :) already one third of the way through the year, it's so hard to believe.

Well..time to end this post...more later!

Have a wonderful day!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Wishing you and your family a blessed Christmas season. :)

Since it's been awhile since my last update I figure I should give a brief update. I have moved home from Alaska and am preparing to go overseas to teach in a few months. As the dream becomes closer to reality it gets more and more exciting. I have received all my official invitations and now have the paperwork to start the visa process.

It has been very nice to be home for all of the Christmas preparations and the flurry of activities. It has been many years since I have been able to participate in and attend certain Christmas activities.

We will most certainly be having a beautiful white Christmas this year. We have been blasted with cold snowy weather. The few inches of snow we received last night were light, fluffy and sparkle and shimmer in the sunlight or moonlight. It will be a beautiful Christmas. I think I will miss the snow for Christmas next year.

I found this song and thought I'd post it to remind people of the reason for the season, the author is unknown...

It’s not the biggest teddy bear Sitting in the window there,
It’s not the chubby baby doll, A wind-up toy or basketball.
It’s not the latest, greatest thingThat Santa Claus will ever bring,
But still, it’s the greatest Gift of all.
It’s not a fancy shirt to wear,
A shiny diamond solitaire,A silken tie, a suit of tweed—The silly things we think we need.
The greatest Gift to come our wayWas sent by God on Christmas Day.
Jesus is the greatest Gift of all!

When He came down to earth,
It was a lowly birth,
But soon the world would sing,“Behold the King of Kings!”
And when He died for me,
He gave unselfishlyThe greatest Gift of all!

It’s not the greeting cards we write,
A choir singing “Silent Night,”Snowflakes on the windowpane,
Stockings filled with candy canes.
The greatest Gift God gave to man:A baby Boy in Bethlehem!
Jesus is the greatest Gift of all,Jesus is the greatest Gift of all!

Merry Christmas!