68. What A Difference A Day Makes-- Well,Two Days!

Went to bed to the sounds of an awesome Congo Thunderstorm! It rattled the timbers. Then this morning it’s pretty again and the birds are puddle bathing and splashing. Nature out here is still so fresh- not polluted. And so loud- or it that because there is none of the noise of civilization disturbing the beauty? Humm.

I have lived on Alive since our return from Lubondai and knees all but refused this morning. But “we” are on the go and I want to write all of you again. Forty eight hours after the trip to Lubondai has given me pause time. Reflection time. Thanksgiving time. Distance time.

I should have maybe waited  a day or so to write and waited until I had recited several times to myself- Isaiah 40:31- “…They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” And my part -Teach me Lord, teach Me Lord to wait!!

So today I don’t need to describe everything so you can see it and experience it with me as I did it. I won’t spend 10 plus hours on this thing writing and two more editing before I hit send and still catch that it should have been -15 miles to the Falls and not 15 minutes! ;)  I want to share my reflections from early this morning as I waited for the other two in the house to wake up- or admit that they too were awake and just staying quiet!

The trip was a true blessing for all three of us. Ken was delighted to see improvements and life coming back. Not overnight but coming.  Mama Luxe is going to continue to improve the economy of Lubondai and that will improve the infrastructure. She has built a gorgeous, snow white, all new Magazine in NTolo’s village. Marcia was last there 30 years ago and was surprised it’s still only the Marks and dental area that are so deteriorated. The areas around each of the houses being lived in were “cared for” by Congolese standards.  I was glad I came. I was thankful for those of you who had come before me and sent pictures- so I was not shocked. What I have found weird is I still see it the old way of my memories but can turn the page in my mind’s eye and see it in its current condition. I would love to go spend six months there and get it all whipped into a cleaner shape. It’s not a mountain of work! If someone would act as overseer the villagers could clean it up and then they could continue to mimic. Almost no one there saw it all clean and mowed so they can’t even “go back” – since they don’t know what that was all “cleanish”!! Oh well- just an observation.

The car- through the grace of God- got us there and back. ;)   We would not have been able to go without it. Will I ever forget all of the details I shared about it? No, NEVER!  And I am sure Bob and Kristi see it the same way- it gets them there! (I still hope you do get a new one on your return and will watch your blogs to see a picture of it!)

So far I have been to five towns, stations and/or cities in this country. Folks go on and on about the vast natural resources that are being stripped. But the greatest resource of all is the people. They are what I treasure meeting all over this huge country. They have pride and still have hope! They are survivors of wars and other things about which it is to horrible to speak. But if one keeps looking at the bad, the losses, the destruction etc we miss that little mustard seed that really is growing still- started by our various parents and denominations years ago! Somewhere in my “churching” or schooling  I heard that our destination will be the same whether we “ travel by despair or hope” and locked this thought away in my memory bank.

 I am depending on these people. I have hope for Congo because of the little folks I played with at Lubondai. I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game with me as their Pied Piper.  Hopefully I am now part of their special memories! I think as adults we have- hopefully- learned that life has never given us what we expect or what we think we deserve. The things our parents did for others is their great legacy and by their shirt tails- ours too! ;)

So four closing thought from those much more word and thought gifted than I.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”
― Bil Keane

I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”
― Tom Bodett (And I’ll leave the light on for you!- as he always says on the advertisement!)