Skip to main content

Getting a wee bit overwhelmed.

Life goes on. I am still settling in here in Kansas City. I looked at a room to live in last week and decided to take it. It’s only 4 minutes to walk from the prayer room, has nice wooden floors and is a lovely house. I signed the contract yesterday and will move today. I feel peace yet a bit sad to leave my friends’ house. It’s been so lovely to live with people I know and be a part of life here. It’s funny how you get to catch up on a different level when you share day-to-day life. And being a good walk away from the prayer room has given me a chance to let others bless me with lifts. Other then my friends how live here, a couple of other people have kindly given me rides. Yesterday a lovely lady who was on her way in the other direction turned around and came back to give me a life because it was raining, and yesterday morning a lady stopped as I was walking to the prayer room at 6 am and gave me a lift. So I have been very blessed. It has also been quite nice to walk when it’s been warm and sunny, but cold and rainy is another story.

As I’d signed the contract for the house I’m moving into yesterday I suddenly felt all overwhelmed by everything. Suddenly it was like I just felt so alone and surrounded by strangers. I think it was triggered by the prospect of moving into a house with 3 girls I haven’t met yet, and moving away from my friends. And also the fact that I’ve been here for a week now and want to get a routine, yet knowing it’ll be another few weeks till I do get a routine. I did expect to go through culture shock. So far everything’s just been so lovely and “rosy” I knew I’d come out of the famous “honey moon phase” of culture shock, I just didn’t know when it was going to happen.

This morning I decided to just hang around the house and watch the web stream of the prayer room. It’s been good to have a slow morning and I can go to the prayer room this evening from my new home.

Now I have packed my bags once again (knowing I’d be moving when I arrived I never really unpacked, but obviously stuff kind had kind of flowed out of my suitcase and bag as I have been looking for stuff). It’ll be good to finally unpack, although I think I need to see if I can find a used bookshelf of desk or something for my room as the room I’m moving into only has a chest of drawers and a closet in addition to the bed and bedside table. All in due time- one thing at a time.
Well, I continue going through the days, one day at a time, and as I live, I write. It’s good to have a space to channel the happenings and a space where they’ll remain to look back on.

Popular posts from this blog

Getting to know the local culture.

Life is a strange thing. Last week went…not much happened, and then it was over. The weekend was quite calm without too many wild and exciting things happening. Except, of course, a wee outing to watch the National Championship for Veteran Ploughing. Now, like me, you might be sadly lacking an understanding of what this actually means. So I am delighted to be able to enlighten you in this respect. It’s basically (for the “farm-language-illiterate” like myself) a competition where you use old (hence the name “veteran”) tractors and ploughs, and plough up a stretch of field which is then evaluated and the one scoring the highest sum (accuracy, depth, how well the soil is turned is all given points) wins. I must admit that this information I got by eavesdropping on a conversation next to me where a man was explaining to some of my friends how it all works. So that was a fun adventure….although we only stayed for a bit. What is sort of occupying my mind at present is my upcoming travel abr...
Read more

Taking in the familiar and a heart connected.

Amsterdam. It still has that muggy feeling in Summer, and a constant flow of people which if you stop to think about it, it's quite amazing that there would even be space to accommodate them all. But then I guess they are not all staying. Just passing through on their way to or from somewhere. It's always good for the heart to visit somewhere that was once home. The familiarity of streets and customs makes it easier to embrace what might be new as well as the joy of being reacquainted with old friends. Friends. So many of them to be found in this city, ready with hugs and good words that are uttered when seeing someone who was away again. Friendship. A treasure that cannot be bought. Cobblestones trodden by many, including myself. Sitting on a bench. Praying. Remembering the first time I stumbled upon this area lined with windows with red lights and curtains. An area which has come to represent no longer windows, but people to me. Some still behind a window. Others who have ...
Read more

Tuesday children's prayer | Handing out shoes and feeding toddlers.

No day is the same here. After getting up early (which seems to be what I do here), and eating breakfast which was bread with butter (accompanied by an amazing cup of coffee given me by an American friend), I headed to the prayer room for children's prayer. This is a prayer time where the children come voluntarily to pray before school on Tuesdays and Fridays. Entering the room I was so impressed by how it was full of children eager to pray. There were probably 60 or 70 children there, and it was amazing to see one after the other choose to pray for their families and people who are sick, and other subjects on their little hearts. It was so great and an experience that I will carry with me for a long time. After prayer it was "Shoprite" time, which meant piling into a bus with other visitors and missionaries for the weekly shopping trip. I didn't quite know what to expect, but I had a few items to buy and hoped it would be a stress-free experience. As we drove along ...
Read more