Class - Day #4 ... plus...do you get a little grumpy, too?

We know Hurricane Rita will do alot of harm over the weekend...we pray that people's lives will be spared and that the church will rise up in compassion for all those affected. At this writing, it has "weakened" to a category 3, which seems good to me, but I know offers little relief to those on the southeast coast of Texas and Louisiana. God be with them.

The class on John’s gospel continues to go well. The recent quick shower did send a lot of people to their fields (the rain was desperately needed), but we still had a consistent crowd the past couple of days. Everyone just about has the memorization down (our Five Statements of Truth), so I’m thrilled about that. Today, we talked about Jesus’ last days of ministry, including most notably his time with his disciples. Washing their feet was a good experience for them…it was refreshing to see their reaction. Most were very grateful and so many people had the same reaction as Simon Peter, “I could never let you wash my feet.” I say “refreshing” because when I did this same lesson at Dekpo a couple of months ago, they did not have the reaction I was hoping for (smack dab in the middle of my lesson about humility, the crowd swelled with everyone sticking their dirty stinky feet in my face saying, “me next!”)…don’t think the folks at Dekpo got the point…but today, the Kaitemey Christians seem to understand it well. I did make a small blooper when I got so absorbed into the foot washing that I didn’t understand several people’s comments, almost barking at me as if it were urgent. As I dried this old man’s foot, I then clarified, “what were you saying?” Paying attention this time, I heard them clearly say, “we were telling you to be careful with the old man, because he fell yesterday and he badly sprained his ankle.” Oops, sorry about the poor bedside manner there.

Tomorrow we’ll finish the course…we finished today at the point of Jesus’ capture. This group has been very response and interactive. I’m gonna do a visual demonstration tomorrow involving each person having to hammer nails into some wood. I hope they will get the understanding of the relation of our sins to the cross of Christ.

All the kids continue to do well and I do have to brag on Kelly! She has been under the weather all week with a staph infection, yet has kept this place hummin’ and in good order. Usually my schedule does not have me teaching a class from 8:45a – 4p every day…but that’s been our way of life this week. She’s an incredible wife! She is feeling better, but when she saw the doctor last week, the doc said specifically, “you need to stay off your feet for awhile.” Not following doctor’s orders was my fault, needing to continue with this course this week. Without complaint, Kelly has been great. I’m so thankful to minister alongside my best friend here. By the way, for those of you who read about Timothy's accident on Tuesday, he's doing great...no problems. Again, we're so thankful it wasn't anything more than it was.

Another challenge of living in Africa is constant power outages! On Wednesday AND Thursday night, the power went off at 10p and did not return until 4a! It was near impossible to sleep, plus you have different kids tossing and turning or getting up because of the heat. Then last night, right about midnight I finally decided to shower and the water pressure was a small trickle…AAUGHH! Truthfully, when we return Stateside someday, being without power and water are things I won’t miss about Africa! It’s draining and frustrating and can make a man grumpy!

What about you, what makes you a little grumpy? Some convenience that isn’t convenient any longer? Some luxury all of a sudden you can’t afford any longer? Some recurring situation that just gets under your skin? Just curious….figured I’m not the only one out there with some hang-up that battles against your contentment. PLEASE share yours...make me feel a little better.