The Big Move

Without electricity and without internet, well, it leaves someone a little behind when it comes to updating her blog. So, I am going to be writing some blogs on my computer and posting it whenever we decide to get our internet up and running again. In any case, I wanted to update my blog for those of you who follow and know that we were planning on moving to our Children’s Village site this week, even though we don’t have electricity yet.

Our lease on our current place ran out at the beginning of November, and that put us in a bit of a predicament as the ECG (Electric Company of Ghana) have been dragging their feet at giving us numbers. It’s been extremely challenging and John had his hands full as he was back and forth between Accra and Tema and our own Doryumu in the weeks before our move. We were really trying to get here on the site before Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving came and went with no move towards electricity. And with the impending lease (here, even if your lease is expired, you are given three months to move out), we knew that the move was “better late than never”.

So, we packed up everything and we moved out. The 29^th of November was the last night that we spent at our old home in Downtown Doryumu. And when I spent my first night in our new house here at the Children’s Village site, I was reminded about that first night that I spent in our old home. I remember that we had moved very late in the evening from Tema and we didn’t arrive until pretty late at night (like after 10 pm) to our new house. I remember driving in through the bush and thinking…what have we got ourselves into. Then, piling everything in my room and hoping that I would be able to sleep. Our beds were just mattresses on the floor and the electricity was only at half-current that night, barely moving the fan in my room. I remember waking up in the morning to the sun shining through my window and thinking, “Now, I really am in Africa”, with this beautiful sunrise coming up over the hills behind the house. It was scary, and exciting, and unknown all at the same time.

And that house held a lot of memories! That is where we lived with Baby John and Baby Princess, whom both have gone to live with their families. And that is where we hosted hundreds of volunteers in the 2011 year…Australians, Americans, Chinese, Bristish, Ghanaian…you name it, it feels like the WORLD came to us this last year. And that house is where I spent 8 months taking care of my boy Edwin. It was a difficult, and beautiful, season of my life. In some ways, I miss the time that I got to spend taking care of him, but in other ways, I’m seeing the blessings of boundaries in ministry. That house is where I kissed my boys goodnight every night, and prayed for our kids, and joked and laughed, and even shed some tears. It’s where Katie came to visit me, and my mom, and Brianna, and Chris came. It’s where Christy and Victor lived out their time (even without me there). That house held a lot of joy…and a lot of people!! At one point, we were over 40 living in one house.

And now, we’re here. Only 13 months later, we have 2 houses and a school built (well, part of a school!). And isn’t God good? It’s amazing to see what he has done in that time. Just amazing!

And my first night here, well, it held a little trepidation. I wasn’t sure about the “no electricity” thing. I mean, how would I deal without computers and my phone and internet and all of that…but we figured out a system. We use the generator for a couple of hours every evening to charge things up, and by 9:00 pm, we’re in bed and the generator is off. I thought it would be miserable at night without the air of the fan, but the weather at the site, for the most part, cools down at night. It’s a little buggy, but it’s been beautiful!

I’m looking forward to heading home to pick up a few things to decorate my room. I got some curtains when I came last time, but they don’t quite fit my windows, so I might be looking at doing something else…we’ll see! But, in any case, for some reason, this room really feels like my own place. I’m looking forward to making it mine.

So, here we are…making it, without electricity! I don’t think I ever would have thought I would be in a place like this, but here I am…and I’m realizing, yet again, that what I thought was impossible, well, it really is possible!