Our Journey

Any move is stressful, but all the strong and willing friends who showed up to help us made it so easy.  And with our trimmed down lifestyle (and crazy type A personalities) we had everything unpacked and put away within 24 hours.

good friends

Then after preaching the following morning, we headed to Lilongwe on our way to Luwawa Forest Lodge for our Christmas holiday.  Some friends had tracked down some petrol for us in Blantyre Saturday night so we arrived in Lilongwe with no problem but still needed another half tank to get us to the lodge and back to Lilongwe.  Thankfully, Chimango Mhone was in Lilongwe and made friends with a taxi driver who was “in the know”.

After the much-anticipated call about the arrival of the latest fuel tanker, Chimango suggested that Jeff’s “mzungu” self stay behind while he went to get the fuel.  So we enjoyed a lovely room service dinner while Chimango sat in a long line of fuel-hungry Malawians.  But at 7:30pm he returned triumphant!

So Tuesday morning we headed for the lodge.  Twelve miles off the tarmac road and up into the Viphya mountains we went.  We arrived to a beautiful lodge with a cozy fire, small bar and restaurant with wood plank tables, and picnic tables and amazing flower gardens surrounding it all.

beautiful grounds and scenic views

orchids that flower lovers around the world travel to see

Carter immediately found the playground and Claire Marin sniffed out the bikes.  Jeffrey enjoyed the view and I unpacked and made yet another new space feel like our own.  We travel everywhere with orange monkey, Duckie, coloring books, the Kindle, paper, colored pencils and Legos!

Carter at work

Honestly, I was still a bit out of sorts the first couple days.  Bored and unable to enjoy the lack of anything to do and fill our days.  But then I got the hang of it.  We hiked the beautiful trails, read books, played cards, napped when it rained and visited with other guests.  The highlight was abseiling and mountain climbing the 50m beginners’ rock with Claire Marin.  But it was also fun when Jeff, Claire and I gave archery a shot.  It’s a good thing our daily protein intake does not depend on our prowess with the bow!

a pro at work

how great is this?

Carter was carried the bulk of most of the hikes but he was usually entertaining us with new songs he had made up; he sang out clearly from Jeff’s shoulders.  Carter and Claire Marin play so well together – most of the time.  Jeff and I usually postponed our dessert until after the kids were in bed and enjoyed Mzuzu coffee and fruit crumble or chocolate cake with hot custard in front of the fire.  It was a delightful week.

can you guess what Carter gave me the first night at the lodge?

The last day or two Jeff and I admitted that we were both looking forward to and dreading going back.  There was a high possibility we wouldn’t find fuel in Lilongwe to get home and even when we got home, as far as we knew, the new house (as comfy and perfectly suited for us) still didn’t have water or electricity.  But we packed up a suitcase of stinky clothes and muddy shoes and got on our way.

The gas gauge hit empty about 70 kilometers from Lilongwe.  I actually said a breath prayer for a good 90 minutes asking God for fuel.  I’m so glad God didn’t strike us down.  As we neared Lilongwe we didn’t see any long lines.  So a few blocks from the hotel we pulled into a station and asked about petrol.   The attendant nodded like it had been flowing like water all along.  I can’t tell you how much tension whooshed out of the car!  We filled up and glided to the hotel.

At the hotel we even had ice cream to celebrate.  And then holding our breath we called Wilson to ask about the house… electricity at the new house!  We felt like we’d won the lottery.

Now we’re back at home and the relaxation and elation have worn off.  Electricity has been rigged from the neighbors and bizarrely and randomly decreases in power or cuts off.  And we only have cold water – sometimes.  The foreman was here today and says he’ll have a plumber here tomorrow to figure out the geyser situation.  In the meantime we’ve bought two 210kg barrels to collect and hold water for days when water doesn’t run at all.

Tonight the electricity went out about 4:30pm so Jeff made macaroni and cheese over the mafua (charcoal stove) out back and boiled water for each of the kids to take baths in the plastic tubs sitting in the shower.  The kids don’t seem phased at all.  We’re trying to decide what is reasonable to expect in Malawi and when we slip into whining.

But right now the electricity is on, the Christmas tree is glowing in the corner with presents underneath from Fort Wayne, we’ve enjoyed home roasted coffee from Brad Wood and the dogs (Yes, now we have two dogs but that’s for another post.) are sleeping peacefully.  Right now is pure grace.

Merry Christmas and Mulungu kudalitsani (God Bless)!