Doing Hard Things!

It would be obvious for me to say that we are not the most faithful blogger out there.  I would like to say that we are truly repentant but after teaching the lesson on repentance to one of my group of ladies on Thursday, my conscience won't let me. : )  I have noticed something interesting which I'm sure is not true across the board but does seem to be a pattern.  People who are more open and free with their views in "real life" (who could that be? : ) don't make very good bloggers but those who are more private and quiet are much more faithful and personal on their blogs.  Has anyone else notices this?   But because I love you all I'm going to exert myself and write something.  I can't remember what I've told who and who I've told what so here is just an overview of what we're doing right now.
We are in Botswana right now.  This will be the end of the third week on Tuesday.  Mr. Hammett is teaching classes on different aspects of missions and teaching strategy and we are doing bible classes with some of the people here in Francistown.  Krista and me were not aware that we would be included in these lessons until we got here.  The group this time was smaller then previous groups and included another girl, Anne, so I think that has made this group a little different from the others.   Rachel warned us that it would be very busy once the classes started but I don't think any of us really understood how busy.  This is are schedule every week day.   We have devotions at 8:00am in the morning so if you want any breakfast, coffee, or a shower you have to get up in time to be done by 8:00.  These devotions are not like your usual morning devotions.  They usually consist of one verse but sometime it may only be a few words.  Then Mr. Hammett asks a billion questions and you have to think really hard and this goes on for at least an hour.  One day it was two and a half hours.  By the end of this my head is hurting and I'm tired again and it's only 9:00am. : )  Then he usually asked us two questions.  What did you learn from the passage?  and What does God want you to do?  Everyone has to answer, no exceptions which means you'd better be paying attention. : )  Then we have a lesson on how to teach the Scripture Diagrams from the book he wrote.  I think some of you have seen it or used it before.  Mr. Hammett's method of teaching them uses a lot of questions.   The goal is to try to always ask questions and avoid statements.   This goal of this method is to have your student find truths in the Bible themselves as opposed to you telling them truths, which is a lot less powerful.  It takes some getting used to.  Especially since you are also trying not to use "yes" or "no" questions. : )  Then after diagram lessons we either have a Phonetic lesson with Nat or a lesson on Mission strategies with Mr. Hammett or the girls sometimes have a lesson with Mrs. Hammett.  The phonetic lessons are very interesting but also quite difficult.  The more you study the more you find that learning another language is hard work.   We are just trying to be able to say and write our students names correctly.  So we usually have fun in class trying to say weird sounds and learning pitch and tone and many things about speaking that you never though of before.  Nat is always very patient with us and Phonetic classes are always fun.   Usually we finish morning classes right at 12:00 and eat a quick lunch (which is always very good. Mrs. Hammett makes the best lasagna every: ).   We have to be done with lunch and ready to leave by 12:30.  Downtown Francistown is not far from the Hammett's house and we usually get there a little before 1:00.  Half of us get dropped of at the market place and the others get dropped off on a nice shady street in front of the cities Civic Center.  Me and Anne are always in the market place.  This is a group of stands, usually selling oranges, vegetables, candy or other odds and ends, lining one of the main roads with a taxi rank (parking lot) on one side and a mall on the other.  I have lessons with several groups of women that run their own stands.  From 1:00 to 3:30ish I walk around the market and meet with whichever of these women are available.  It is one of the most interesting experiences of my life.  About the third day of teaching I started seeing a lot of American money floating around and by the fifth day it became obvious I was in the middle of some sort of business that wasn't quite kosher. : )  It's been fun.  I think me and Anne are in the middle of Francistown's blackmarket (and I'm not talking about the color of their skin. : )   I learn something new everyday.  Last week I learned how to tie a scarf over my hair.  Lizzy, one of the ladies in my blackmarket group, ties it for me almost everyday.   I usually wear it around for the rest of the day and get a lot of smiles and kind words about it.  I love it.  Most of the women are Swana but a few are Zulu, Shona, or Klanga.  There are also many people from Zimbabwe here, legally or illegally, it doesn't seem to make a difference.  Me and Anne carry around little stools so that we can have a place to sit while teaching.  It is always sunny and warm.  I'm getting darker everyday and my freckles are starting to show.  We usually wrap up by 3:30 and me and Anne walk down to the Civic Center to met the others.  I love this part of the day, walking through all the vendors and taxis with all the noise and people.  Sometimes we stop by one of the shops to pick up something to eat.  Francistown is not like South Africa.   We are usually the only white people in a sea of black faces.  It is an unique experience that I have come to love.  The people of Botswana are in general much more friendly then other countries, including the US.  We are constantly being greeted by strangers.  The women wear the most beautiful skirts and dresses and there is no such thing as clashing colors to them. : )  After our relaxing walk to the Civic Center there is usually someone still doing lessons so we all sit on the brick wall under the trees and wait.    Mr. Hammett has assigned us all to write out the whole book of Acts so many of us work on that while we are waiting or we walk down to the Pick and Pay (a little grocery store) and buy something to drink or a snack or just walk around.  There is a little fabric shop across from the Civic Center.   Most of the fabric shops are run by Indians or Pakistanis.  I bought some fabric Thursday to make a bag and maybe a head scarf, we'll see.  We usually all get home by 4:30.  Dinner is at 5:30 then we usually have a few more classes or watch a video on culture or one day we watched a sermon by Milton Martin.   Then we debrief.  We all just tell about our day, who we taught and how it went.   It is encouraging and neat to hear about everyone else's experiences and we usually have a lot of laughter and good ideas for the next day.  By then end everyone is tired and we go to bed because we know that it will all start over again at 8:00 the next day. 

P.S. Brother Gerth, : ( I'm a very bad student.  I have no paper for you yet.  I would like to say I'll write it soon but I just don't think that's going to happen.

Ready, Set, Pack

 So, Krista, Tobi and I are in Seattle right now.  It's kinda hard to think that we've only covered 3 of the 29 hours we'll be traveling.   I'm trying to fight down the panicking feeling.  Here are some picture of my packing which of course I did at the last minute.  

                        I made this bag real quick for my books.

 Here is one of the Etsy finds I bought for this trip.  This one has by makeup in it. I love Etsy.

 Another Etsy find! : ) 

 All my cheap jewelry ready to be packed.

 So all this......

became this.

We were allowed two pieces of luggage apiece weighing under 50 lbs. 

Mine were 49.5 lbs each. : )

Missing everyone already.  Aimee, give Jane a kiss for me.

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.

the timid traveler

that's me.....

usually my logic is I fear the unknown so I avoid it whenever possible

this usually results in my siblings dragging me to do the unknown and then when It is known to me I can do it.... usually.... but it's the making it known to me that's the hard part......

I can always tell when I'm really nervous about something cuz i get nauseous...

it's actually only happened a couple times in my life so when It does happen It's a big deal right? (I know i'm pathetic)... and then there's this stabbing pain I get in my chest but that doesn't happen when I'm nervous that's for something else but anyways it was just the nauseous sick feeling this time(I'm sorry this is the way I do post's....it's annoying to me too).... so going to another world country definitely made me try to find any excuse to get out of it.......

things like....

I can't afford it

I can't be gone from my work for that long

I can't be gone from my Church family and the ministries I get to help out in

I can't miss three months of Clayte's baby life!

I have to avoid the unknown!

and the "I cant's" go on and on......

Are you noticing the trend of I's? me me me..... clearly my thinking needs an adjustment! 

It helped that my family said you're going whether you like it or not! When you're asking God to give you a sign that you should go or not and your godly advisers are saying you are going whether you want to or not that seems like a pretty clear sign to me.....though sometimes I do wish think maybe I'll break a bone....come down with disease or something that will stop me from going.......

do I realize how silly I am?

Yes I realize... it's sooo embarrassing

especially when I think of missionaries and people who have given a lot up to go into the unknown.... I mean the REAL unknown.....the SCARY unknown.....And then i know I'm being incredibly stoopid....

I tend to look at everything very realistically and always look at the worst possible outcomes to every situation so I'll be prepared for them if they happen and that scares me into just avoiding it.  But I'm not going to avoid it this time Lord willing......... Why do I think it's so scary? I don't even really know.....I'm just being dramatic I guess =o) oh yes I can think of lot's of things that could happen but they're to silly to put here......

arrgh the clever one just tried to scare me...he said they went to pick out plane seats and i was gona have to sit by myself for most of them while him and the clingee( I'm the clinger so that make her the clingee right?) get to sit together..... he knows things like that freak me out..... 

Oh and for the record Tobi is the only one who hasn't put a toe out of the USofA.... Bekah and I have both been in another country though mine doesn't really count cuz it was just Canada but anyways it's nice to hold it over Tobi's head =o) He's composing a song by me as I type.... his talent is frightening.... You don't have a piano do you Rachel?

Anyways I really don't want this trip to be about us....I'm hoping we can SOMe HOw be a blessing to the Hammetts ....... I have a fear they could get very sick of having us around...haha... If we're driving you CRAZY tell us!!

  Rachel please tell your mom I like doing dishes and stuff like that.....it's about the only thing I'm good for and it give's me a feeling of secureness like maybe I'm actually being helpful....I'm a very simple girl so simple tasks I can do.....usually....I want to be helpful so please give me something to do! =o) 

I hope you're willing to answer lot's of dumb questions.... i'm known as the dumb question asker in this family(It's ok I can 

accept that...hurt feelings are silly so I don't have them...hehe) so i hope you don't mind...... I noticed a fence around your house and gasped to myself and realized Africa can be dangerous huh? It doesn't really scare me I just point out the obvious a lot..... 

It's not that I fear the unknown is going to hurt me....it's more of not being able to feel in control because I know what is coming....which is really weird considering I'm more of a very clingy follower than a controller....I know It's so silly and embarrassing..... 

Cons and Pros

(these are not listed by order of importance at all!)

cons:

1. I will owe dad and mum money for a while......i don't really mind if they don't....and I feel so very thankful to them for helping me out...I didn't even have to ask them...It was kinda part of the whole your going whether you want to or not thing ;o)

2. I'll miss a lot of work but I'm actually glad about that and  my Boss said she definitely want's me back so this is more of a pro.

3. I feel bad about being away from my Church fam for so long and dropping the things I get to help out in. I know I will hear some good teaching in Africa but I don't want to miss my pastor's preachin so hopefully i'll get to download the messages..... everyone really makes up a part of the body you know? So in a sense I think it will strange being away from my body for a while...It seems like so many things could happen here in that three months but I know it will go fast.

4. I know our Clayte's gona change so much in those three months and I'm gona miss him..... but since we're able to survive without seeing our other two adorable nephews very often i think we'll make it...this is a silly con I know especially for people who hardly EVER get to see their family relations. There's definitely something wrong about a family being strewn all over the place and not being around each other much after living with them most of your life! but that's the way of life and probably even God's will in most cases so maybe I shouldn't call it wrong.....haha I'm just bitter......or in denial .... ;o)

5. My Jordy brother is not going with us and I'm sad about that =o(

I might miss his abusive picking at me...and personally I think he might go a little crazy without us. Actually I really don't like being away from my family in general....yes I get homesick........but i know I'll be back to the looney ward sooner then I think......... 

6. We could all die of malaria or any number of exotic disease couldn't we? haha me being dramatic again.....I don't really fear death thanks to my Saviour....

Pros

1)Plane ride.......love them! makes me think of this quote 

There are only two emotions in a plane:  boredom and terror.  ~Orson Welles

I am afraid me electronics will run out of batteries and I'll be bored so if you know of things to do on a long plane trip tell me!!  The thing I don't like about a plane trip is going through security! it's seems like TSA wants to take everything away from you. So if you people who have done this before have any tips on getting through security please tell me!

2)I have to confess when i see all the goodies Rachel makes it does make me want to be there...haha...I hope you'll make us some....please?? that's a silly pro i guess but it's true =o)

3) Just getting to see a foreign country is going to be neat i know.....I really have no idea what it's going to be like so I don't know if I'm going to be shocked or what but It's gona be interesting I know...

4) I've seen some pics of the animals over there and I'm so amazed at all the stripes, spots, horns, and just all the creatures I never new existed....this creation just amazes me! I very much hope we get to see some up close...

 

I don't really know how the weather is gona be over there but this is going to be my constant companion.....and lot's of batteries =o) I hear it is supposed to be like our Alaskan summers but I get miserable in our summers so I'm a little worried about the heat.... I do not like hot.... I like cold so I can burrow and snuggle under all my blankets =o)

I was hoping we'd get to see a good storm while we're over there but it's not really the rainy season is it?.....I really have no idea about these things so you'll have to explain it to me..... i was REALLY hoping we could see one cuz we never do up here....










Ok so this is getting long...um this is how my posts are gona go....I'm not witty or clever with words so what you get is a jumbled mess of thoughts..... It's so embarrissing but we're all supposed to post so this is it I guess.....please bear with me...... it you can't bear it that's ok.... 

To you people who have made this trip before...if you have any tips on what to pack or anything like that please tell me! I need your wisdom =o)  


~The timid Traveler~

~Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God~

P.S. Don't tell anybody but I'm actually REALLY excited....it's mixed with the nauseous feeling but it's still there =o)