No sleep but a good day

The past two days I’ve got up at 4am and 2:30am, respectively. Both times I just got up and stayed up...had an early breakfast, researched airfares on the internet, booked flights (I leave here on March 2^nd) and did a bit of early morning work. Then slept from 7:30am-9am before heading to the office. That’s one of the pros of working here: we’re not held to a 9-5 schedule. It was actually quite nice to be up at 5am, when the birds start to sing, and to experience sunrise. Can’t say it’s something I see very often :-) I’m more of a night owl, even though I love the quiet of the mornings.

We got another survey report approved by peer reviewers for publication on the internet today. I had edited it so it’s satisfying to see things moving forward.

We also had a team meeting and drew up some ideas to help a Wycliffe colleague design an interview schedule to assess in what form Scripture should be distributed in a certain area of PNG (orally, in book form, over the radio, on DVDs...). It was good to brainstorm various ideas. I’ll be meeting with this guy on Monday to chat through what we came up with.

And THEN to finish the day off perfectly, I got two packages. My first Christmas presents from overseas! We all have little post office boxes here at Ukarumpa and when you get a small, faded, yellow piece of cardboard in your box with a thin, red border around it saying, ‘Package too large, collect from desk,’ you know it’s a good day. I got CDs (Jack Johnson, Sleep Through the Static; and Bob Marley, Chant Down Babylon) a DVD, some chocolate and a couple of letters and cards. You don’t know how nice it is to receive mail here. It felt really special to go back to the office and open those gifts, to read the messages and remember friends. Thank you very much to my parents and Andy and Katherine.

Then to make the day even better I got some credit for my phone, walked to an area where we get a cell phone signal and called a guy who I became good friends with in Zambia, at school. We chatted for 45 minutes or so about life, catching up on the past year since we last talked, sharing our struggles, joys and hopes for the future. He’s a Zambian guy who now lives in Johannesburg, working for a management consultancy firm. We didn’t chat for longer as he needed to finish off applications for MBA courses at Stanton and Harvard. When I retire from this work and start my own business I’m expecting free advice from him, so I try to keep on good terms ;-) But seriously, I really value the friendships of people all over the world who keep in touch. It’s always so nice to hear a familiar voice on the phone or get an email or letter. God uses you to bless me.

All in all, a good day. It is now 10pm, pouring down with rain and maybe time for a hot drink. I may have some of that tea I brought back with me from England. Hmmmmm.....