I'm still here!

I know, I've committed one of the number one "sins" of good blogging. I've been absent. Sorry. But I'm still here. And I've even composed a few blogs in my head as I wander through my days. But they just haven't been committed to keyboard for some reason!

Things are going well. I've spent the week with my sister and her family in the forest. It's been great! I've had a few hours a day to get some things done - preparing for some presentations on my work in Africa and organizing my schedule, as well as checking some reports from back in Africa and answering some of the emails that never seem to stop.

I'm really excited about tomorrow, though, because I finally get to meet someone who is coming to Africa to make my life so much easier and less stressful! We're getting a REAL IT person to live on our little compound back in Jb! And he happens to be from this part of the world! So tomorrow I get to have lunch with him to tell him all the gory details of life in Jb (didn't want to tell him too much before he had his plane ticket bought... but now that he's committed, well, he can hear the whole truth :) ). And then on Sunday I've been asked to share for a few minutes in his church.

I've also been asked to speak at a rather big retreat thing (won't go into the details here) but it's rather a big deal. And I really don't feel up to the task. So I've been trying to figure out is that just me being a scaredy cat and this is just one of those instances when God uses my weakness to show his power... or am I really just not suited to the task, and my refusing to speak, it opens the way for someone who really has something to say to share?! You can pray I can make a good decision about it. In the shower this morning, I was sorta feeling like I just need to commit to doing it and trust that the Lord will use the time for good.

But, um, well, honestly, I'm not a motivational speaker! I don't normally have too much inspiring to say! I don't think the folks who have come for a great uplifting weekend really want to hear all my stories about Zane's rat hunting, you know? Might be inspirational for all those rat hunters out there... but, well, somehow, since we all reside in a rat free region, I don't think it will really hit where anyone's at, if you know what I mean. So anyway, if any of you faithful readers happen to have any prophetic words about what I should do... um, let me know :)

So. That's really all I have to say. I've been trying out this small town living for the past week, and I can see how it might start to grow on you. I even wore a flannel shirt and big snow boots to town yesterday to get my car washed! I was, however, sitting in a little cafe a few days ago (went to get a change of scene to get some inspiration for the presentation I'm making on Sunday), and as I sat in the little cafe with my laptop, I was getting a few odd looks from people who were wandering in and out in their own flannel shirts and cover-alls. Funny, because back in the city, if you're sitting in Starbucks WITHOUT your laptop, you start to get odd looks! It's really interesting to me how different the culture is out here in the country!

Right. I hope it's not another whole week before I get back to blogging again. Maybe by then something interesting will have happened.

By the way, also keep those folks in Haiti in your prayers. It's amazing how many personal connections I seem to have to that little island these days, but it seems everyone that I know who has family there seems to have everyone accounted for. But it can't be a pleasant time for any of them.