Back to “Normal”

Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated here, but we missionaries got together to celebrate the day. It was a fun time getting together at the Blazers house, with lots of stateside foods and pie fillings (that Andrea’s sister brought down).
After lunch, there were no football games on ESPN here so we played table games, and all got to laughing! When we got home that night, one of the stores downtown was celebrating Santa’s arrival and shot off lots of fireworks – 4th of July quality – that we watched from our 16th floor balcony. Nice ending to a great day!

Sometimes you wonder what’s in the small print of a missionary job description. Sue spent hours and hours this past week decorating, doing all the flowers and setting up for a wedding. She did a terrific job! The church looked great from the entry hall through the auditorium up right up to the platform area.

Tim did the wedding, and as Sue and I were part of the wedding party (ten couples), I don’t have any shots of everyone up front. But the place was packed with family and friends who enjoyed the service and a delicious sit-down dinner reception. As Saturday turned into Sunday, no one was in a hurry to leave.

We did all have fun, but the general take down for all of us missionaries finished up at two in the morning. The maid then arrived at six and was just leaving as we came back at eleven for straightening up before the service. We got home, cleaned up and had lunch by three o’clock.

Then I walked over to emergency room at the hospital that’s only a block away, since something had happened to my eye while getting ready for the wedding on Saturday, and it was bleeding from under the pupil and gathering under the film of the globe. (Looked pretty awesome for the wedding though, and gave me a subject for the small talk.)

Anyway, the ophthalmologist on call came in, did several examinations and explained that somehow a large varicose vein in my eyeball had broken (who even knew that eyeballs had varicose veins, but then again, maybe they’re not even called that in English). Thankfully, it was nothing more serious and, with patience on my part, it would heal itself in about ten days. Sorry, no eye shots!

I got home from emergency with a half hour to get ready for church. The teens were responsible for the evening service on Sunday. A half hour before the service, the platform area had not yet been set up, and everything became last minute.

Then wind blew a rainstorm in just as Lucas, one of the teens, was giving the introduction, and all the electricity went out! After about five minutes power came back on, and the kids did a fine job with a positive attitude, and kept smiling in spite of the difficulties while leading worship. It was thundering and lightening and raining so hard on the roof of the building that only the first couple rows were able to hear the group reading on the body of Christ they presented. (Maybe they’ll do it again at the family talent night the last Sunday of the year.) In the end, everyone applauded for them as they finished!

So you’d think it would calm down by Monday, but no, I had to carry fifteen bags of garbage out to the street for pick-up when Sue headed over for her ESL classes. And washing tablecloths will go on here all week!

While on our planning retreat a week ago, the studies were about challenges of our faith. The final lesson was on rewards for our faith. Yes, that is Biblical! I said that this past weekend was definitely a reward winning weekend!

Guess what! There’s another wedding this weekend. Thankfully, this one’s at a big house in the country.