Christmas and especially the turn of the year always brings a sense of nostalgia. Thoughts of endings and new beginnings. Reflections of the past year along with the sense that we have entered a new year. It stretches out before you untrodden, unsullied, and open. It’s the same kind of feeling as when you open your new agenda for the first time. One of life’s simple pleasures, underrated but a pleasure nonetheless.
When I opened my planner for 2023, it was the same as when I opened it for 2024. I had plans. I had thoughts of what might happen. But the pages were empty, the possibilities were endless and the questions piled high. What might happen? Now 2023 had gone. The Lord graciously opened the way in a surprising way in March. In January, I didn’t know what would happen or when. In March, I found myself here in Malawi. In March, after I arrived, I didn’t know how the year would end. I feared driving in unfamiliar territory. I revelled in the meetings with the children, meeting new faces and old, quietly made my house my home. It was a time of transition. A time of hard emotions. A time of discovery. A time of learning and pushing through the boundaries of my comfort zone. A way of questions and challenges and testings.... but the Lord has provided time and again.
Now my 2023 planner is full. I no longer fear driving here. Places have become familiar. Chichewa has become ‘a bit’ more natural. People have become family. This house has become home. My work has begun. I’m still stretching and growing, but strides have been made. I now teach Sunday school weekly, something both the children and I enjoy. I have driven alone to faraway places to meet with sponsor children, driving on mountain roads I would have been afraid to enter just 1 year ago. I made the trip home to Canada for a 3 week visit to see my family and to celebrate the milestone of my parent’s wedding anniversary.
2023 has been a year of surprises. God has been good. He has been faithful despite my unfaithfulness. Despite my doubts and fears, He works all things according to His plan. I can make my plans, but He fulfills them in His time, in His way. His thoughts are higher than mine/ours, His ways are so much higher than mine/ours. (Isaiah 55:8, 9).
2024 has begun. It no longer lies completely empty, untrodden. But we have life. The rainy season has started here, which means the temperatures have dropped slightly. They are now averaging between 28 and 30° daily rather than mid 30s. It also makes for more comfortable sleeping at night with temperatures at 22° rather than 28°. Small things, but a good night’s sleep makes for a better day, in general. With the rainy season, comes more issues with electricity. I’ve been wrestling with the question of – Do I buy enough meat and things to fill my freezer, meaning if electricity is off for a while, at least not everything will thaw completely in 5 hours? Or do I just resist stockpiling meat so at least I know it won’t go bad? I can always buy dried beans, other legumes, dried ground nuts, packages of soya pieces and eggs so at least I have sources of protein if for some reason the dirt road between here and town becomes unpassable.
With a new year, comes new questions. What do I want to accomplish this year, if God will sustain life and give His grace? Will people come here? Will/should I go back to Canada for another visit? What should be work goals be for this year? Some of these questions have partial answers. We cannot predict this year. We can only walk forward every day, seeking to be faithful every day in the callings and opportunities that we will have that day.
Sponsor work needs to be done. This means more trips to other districts in Malawi. Once I have gathered the letters of those who have not yet written for last year (each district has some stragglers), then I need to start again for this year. In the meantime, things continue as usual. Administration work needs to be done. Groceries need to be bought. Field trips need to be made. My car needs a service. I need to finish motorcycle lessons so I can get my license. Almost 1000 children need to write letters for their sponsors. Sunday school lessons need to be written and taught weekly. Policies need to be reviewed and revised. Proposals need to be planned and implemented. And then there are the myriads of little things that need doing but cannot be listed or written.
There is one thing I would really like to start but am full of questions as to how and where and when. It has been a desire of mine to begin a type of girl group which would include discussions on topics such as friendships, peer pressure, relationships, decision making, growing up and so forth. How this will turn out, I don’t know.
And so, 2024 lays before us. What will happen exactly, God only knows. Whatever comes, God’s counsel will stand and He will do His pleasure. He is God and there is none else. (Isaiah 46)
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