Fearing the What Ifs

Yesterday one of our chickens had gotten sick, so we killed it. I was doing an online search trying to figure out if it would be okay for us to eat a sick chicken. It was a really big bird and I hated to see so much meat go to waste. Doing my online search all sorts of things came up. One was an article that caught my eye. It was about a young girl in America who went out to eat at a restaurant, ate chicken, and then got sick. She then later developed a disorder that prevented her from absorbing nutrients from her food and will be on IV nutrition for the rest of her life. She blamed it all from eating chicken at a restaurant that might not have been cooked well enough. The article went on to discuss all the problems that you could have if you ate chicken. It even gave really grose details of how the American poultry industry sprays Arsenic on the chickens and how much Arsenic Americans consume each year from certain products. This article tried to scare you into never eating a piece of chicken again, for the possibility of illness or death.

Now when it comes to Not eating a sick chicken, that can border common sense, but there are other things that we can apply to the What If statement. I started thinking about all of the other things in the world that try to scare us. The news media is especially bad about playing on people's fears of ... What If. I believe that each person should use common sense in certain situations but also not let dramatic What Ifs stop you from something, especially when it is the right thing to do. There are many situations in my life where the What If statement applies. It can apply to many different people in many different ways. But What If... You turned your What If statements into something positive. What if, I.....

I encourage you today to Have More Faith, Let Go of some of your negative What If's, and Do What you fully Believe is Right, According to God's will.  

What are some What If Thoughts that you have been thinking about... Please feel free to comment below. I would love for you to share your thoughts. :-) 

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Confessions of a Missionary Mom Part 2

I sometimes feel like I should be doing More...

My days are spent like many other stay at home mom's around the world. I cook, clean, home school the kids, wash the clothes, etc. As a "missionary wife" I sometimes feel that I should be doing more. I should be opening an orphanage, or going out and conducting my own Bible studies with women, or something else besides just being at home all the time.

When we had our visitors here to help with the work I really wanted to be "out and about" helping pass out tracts, or visiting other villages. When I didn't get to go and see the baptism of our newest sister in Christ, "Mama Judy" I started to get a little sad. When they called to say that they were going to the river, I was busy folding socks. Although the socks could have waited, it wouldn't have worked out for them to drive 45 min. to pick me and the kids up, and besides they didn't have room in the car. Even though I told myself this, it didn't make me feel much better. For a moment I still had a pity party for myself. I wondered why I had to be the one here doing all the "unimportant things" like fold socks.

Then I started to laugh to myself. I pictured all the guys walking around without any socks. If they didn't have the socks that I was folding, then they would definitely get blisters with all the walking that they were doing. And then I thought about the meals that were being prepared, they surely couldn't do the work without food. Although they had learned how to kill their own chicken, they certainly wouldn't have a clue how to make their food from scratch. So I started thinking about all the "important" jobs that were being done, right here at home. I started thinking about how someone around the house is even more needed in a "mission field" because there is no dry cleaning, no fast food, or even frozen foods. I know that there is a time for me to be "out and about"doing volunteer work, but only when it is scheduled into my day. I knew at this time I was needed the most at home. My mind turned to the scripture that talks about each member of the body having their own place. (1 Cor. 12:12 ff.)  I knew the same comparison could be made of the home. Each member of the home couldn't do what it does as well without the other. God has made a design for everything, even from the beginning. And his design for the home is no different now than it was back then. God made woman to be the helper.(Gen. 2:18) It was in that moment that I found myself even more content in my role as a wife, mother, and keeper of the home.

I know that there is even more pressure on women in America to work outside of the home "doing something." But I would like to encourage All Women to look at your role more closely in the home. I encourage you to strive to find contentment with yourself in what you do, and work to make your home peaceful, organized, and a place of joy.

Until Next Time,
Bonnie

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Kids at the Beach

My favorite picture of the kids at the beach.

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Roadside Roasted Corn

The Corn Crops in Tanzania are one of the most common sights that you will see during the growing season. Everyone, Everywhere, is growing corn. The most popular way that corn is eaten is through Ugali. The dry corn seed is ground into a corn meal, and then cooked into a hard dough and eaten in the form of Ugali.

Another popular way to eat the corn is is by roasting the corn on the cob. Here are some pictures of a man roasting corn on the roadside. Even after many years of living in Tanzania, I was hesitant to eat corn in this way. I wasn't afraid of the taste but of getting sick. You see this corn is usually always cooked on the side of the road so that the people walking by will have easy access in buying it. If you stand along side a road in Tanzania, you will probably soon be covered with dust, and vehicle exhaust fumes. During the dry season you can see the dust fly up in the air and then land on everything... including the corn roasting along the roadside. Regardless of this fact, I have been curious of what this corn taste like. One day a friend gave us some of the roasted corn. Out of politeness, I put the vision of dust and smoke out of my head and took a bite. To my surprise it was really bad at all. It didn't have a dirt or smoke taste at all. I was pretty bland, hard and crunchy. It tasted nothing like the soft, sweet, taste of corn on cob in America. The kids quickly wanted some, and They Loved It. It is funny what you get use to after living here for a while. Not long after this experience I found myself driving by a roadside corn stand and I was wanting to stop and get some. I thought to myself, "It is hard, bland, and probably dirty, Why are wanting to eat that?" And then I actually answered myself. (Yes, I know, kind of scary that I not only talk to myself, but answer myself) Anyways, I thought,"Well, because it is good, and I like it." Soooo the kids and I pulled the car over and I bought everyone some roadside roasted corn...And it was Good regardless of what I told myself.

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Our Favorite Picnic Spot

Sometimes we like to go out as a family and explore new areas around where we live. One day on one of our exploring trips, we found this place. It is not too far of a drive past the road where you turn onto to go to the church building. This river is the Ruaha River, which is said to be about 300 miles long. In the less populated areas of the River there are crocodiles and hippos. This particular section didn't have these types of animals, but it did have some interesting birds.

 

The water from this river is often used by many people for their everyday water needs.
While we were on our picnic we saw several people coming to the river to collect water in their buckets. Most of these were kids whose daily chore was to collect the water from the river and bring the Heavy buckets back home. They take the water back to their homes for cooking, bathing, washing clothes, etc.








We have only been here once, but I want to go again soon. It even has a perfect sitting rock that we spread our blanket on.

 

A little back from the river was some really large, and smooth rocks. These were perfect for the kids to climb on. This was almost as good as a McDonald's playground. Okay maybe not, but the kids had a blast.

 This particular picnic day was filled with the warm sun and perfect breeze. It had the sound of running water, kids laughing and playing, and the feeling of family fun.

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This Baboon Wants My Camera

This Baboon Wants My Camera

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Aubrie and the Bat

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The Talking Trash Can at Taco Bell

One day I was having lunch at Taco Bell and I went to throw my trash away into the designated trash bin and The Trash Can said, "Thank You." Yes, the trash can had talked.

I couldn't believe it ! Not that the trash can talked, but the fact that someone put that much time and money into making a trash can say "Thank You". For some reason or another it really, really make me question what was important in my life. What was I doing with My time and money?

My husband and I agreed that we should be doing more for God with our time and money, so we decided to save up and take a short term missionary trip to Tanzania, Africa. During our time in Tanzania I didn't see starving children, or hundreds of homeless people, as T.V. sometimes depicts of Africa, but we did see people without some of the basic things that American use every day. We saw people without running water, indoor toilets, no electricity, or cooking appliances, etc. We noticed that without even these basic things, that an American would call necessity, the people were happy, humble, and hospitable. The best part about Tanzania was that you could openly talk to people with a religious conversation. There was nothing uncomfortable about discussing God or His teachings. This trip really helped us see the more important things in life.

We realized that life wasn't all about working just to buy and collect things that didn't really matter. I personally knew that I wanted to stop working and be a better help meet to my husband. I wanted to help him to do more of what he truly wanted to do. He wanted to be a better servant to God through teaching others the Bible. We both wanted to live in a place where it wasn't uncomfortable to talk about God.

So fast forward, 7 years later. We have been working in Tanzania, Africa for over 4 years. We are working as a team together, striving to Glorify God, and we are remembering the more important things in life. 

Thanks for the reminder Mr. Talking Trash Can.

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