SURVIVING or LIVING?

Today we didn't go to church, citing cultural differences for our absence. Heidie and I talked for about two hours, reviewing the year (next week) that we had spent at Chikankata. For both of us, it has been a hard year - one of the hardest ever. I say this not for sympathy but just to highlight the starting point in our conversation. We talked about the difficult situations, the hardships, the missing home and all sorts of things of other related things that I won't bore you or myself with. As we chatted, I think we were both hit by how selfish we had been in our thoughts and conversations over the last few months. Moaning about lack of finances, proper systems, times with no water and electricity and, dare I say it, some people who we didn't feel were pulling their weight. The hardships we face are mirrored, only on a much, much grander scale, by the people we work with, treat, live with and call our friends here in Zambia.

Anyway, I could go on and on about this conversation - we made lots of resolutions, promises etc etc (which we probably won't keep) but overall we decided that we were going to appreciate the challenges, value the opportunities and just have a blooming good laugh together for the next two years. Then we listened to a Jeff Lucas tape from Roots 2004, just picked at random from a friend and it talked about how the Big Man (aka Jesus) loved to party too. Well I know it's not always going to be easy, but I am going to live the next two years not just survive.