Sunday, March 27, 2011

The board is set, the pieces are moving...

It seems that watching BBC productions of Charles Dickens is becoming a weekly, Sunday afternoon habit for the Humphreys. We spent five hours of our Sunday for the second week in a row watching a Charles Dickens mini-series. They are so addicting, but that's not really what this post is about.


It is a beautiful night. The sky is a clouded over, purple-grey color, dropping heaps of snow that are falling over the backdrop of black spruce and naked white birch. I honestly can't think of a more beautiful sight that nature can offer. I makes me wish winter would stay, but the detestable course of spring has to pass before we can enjoy our pleasant alaskan summers. Though I guess none of it matters this year because we won't be around for our alaskan summer, and that brings me to the point of this post.


The other two have posted already, so I guess it's my obligation to write a little something. Hopefully the trip itself will offer me much inspiration and I will post more in the future. I was going to post our flight information, but, although the tickets are paid for, some of the flight times have shifted and we're in the process of canceling out Joburg to F-town tickets, so I'm not really sure what all the details are going to be. Besides, I'm sick of thinking about plane tickets. I spent a weekend pulling my hair out, trying to find the perfect tickets for everyone(and I count my hair as a precious asset, so that's real bad). Just when I had everything figured out from glancing through search engines, the links would take me to pages that declared the results as no longer available, or the tax prices would be added. It was a long and annoying process, trying to please everyone involved while also trying to make sure we actually would be able to arrive in Botswana. I'm sick of the whole affair. Not to mention, airfare information is plain boring. Why am I even talking about it? Moving on...


I guess we are going to be picked of by some strange family known as the Wilhites in Joburg and then meet up with our old friends, George and Kristen, on the way to F-town. If this is true, then I'm glad. If we're going all the way to Africa, I'd like to meet up with as many of our missionary friends as we can.


Regarding travel anxieties that have been the subject of much typing on this blog: I have none. That's prolly because I'm too stupid to be afraid of international traveling. I'm okay with that though.


Regarding drawbacks:
I'm bummed that I will be gone from my church family for 11 weeks. I feel that my church is at a place where each member needs to pull their own weight and then some, so I feel a little guilty that three of us are running off for 11 weeks, but I have peace about it as well. One of the main problems is that we happen to be the churches only three piano players, but who says that a church has to have piano players. That's just old baptist tradition. And I'm not the one who forced Krista to go, so I feel no guilt about the piano situation. I do feel sorry for the song leaders though, but I'm sure they'll work something out.
I'm bummed that I will not have a way to play music for 11 weeks. That will be extremely painful, but I'll manage. I'm just spoiled because because I have five pianos always at hand to play on and one guitar to tinker with.
Those are really the only drawbacks for me. Oh wait, one other thing. Mom has been the only person to cut my hair since I was a baby. Over the years, she has perfected her craft through my excessive criticism. If I'm gone for 11 weeks, I'll need a hair cut at some point, and I'm terrified at the prospect of leaving my hair in the hands of someone other than her. I'm sure I'll survive though.


I'm actually trying not to think of the trip too much. Right now I'm focusing on life before and after the trip, trying to make these times as productive as I can. I'm very excited about the trip, but it's more important for me to focus on what is happening right now, and not obsessing over something that is 9 weeks away. Wow, we're in single digit weeks already. Anyone curious about what I'll be up to in Africa can check out Bro. Doug Hammett's blog. I'm praying God would work even more mightily in this next training period to sanctify me more and use me to be a blessing to others.