On Christian Community or The Joys and Perils of Motorcycle Rides

So, here we are, almost at the two week mark. What can I say? Well, a lot of things actually! So much has taken place, as you all can imagine. However, for the purposes of this post I'll be speaking (typing) on what I've learned about living in close community with other people.

First things first. This trip has seriously been so awesome thus far, and living at the Compound is a real blessing. It has been kind of crazy around here I must say, people coming and going, stopping by, saying hello, waving goodbye. Yet, there exists a central core of people who remain, and living with them has been a great experience in and of itself. Don't get me wrong, it ain't all peaches and cream. As with most living situations there are minor anomalies and disturbances. Like for instance when a certain someone (I won't name any names) let's call her Delia (O.K. sorry, I lied, and I will most definitely name names) sits on the couch with her knees up and gets in the way of my arm recoiling with a scolding hot cup of tea, knocking said cup of scolding hot tea onto my knee causing near 3rd degree burns, and then having the nerve to resign all responsibility for the incident and get mad at me for jerking back and disturbing her sitting. "It's all your fault," she says. Ha!

Well, I guess in short what I'm trying to say that of course everything can't be perfect, and we are all weird and slightly annoying (okay mostly I'm talking about Chris, Matt, and myself here.) We (the aforementioned three) are constantly wondering what the people (mostly of the female persuasion) must be thinking about living in the same house as us. In the words of Matt pretending to be Anne, "We raised and paid thousands of dollars to come to Africa on a missions trip and we got these guys?" But that's the thing, the Lord is always good and faithful, and he's really shown me (and I'll dare to speak for everyone here) that it's that weirdness that make things fun and interesting. The body of Christ (or the whole world for that matter) isn't composed of one type of person, it's not boring or mundane. It runs the gamut. It's eccentric. Sure, like I said, things get rough sometimes but I think that's maybe just a matter of perspective. It's all about what you make of it. It's easy and normal to let small things get the best of you, in fact it's human. But I (and I'm willing to wager that most people are in the same boat) am not in the business of being normal. So, I'll weirdly make the best of every situation. And I'll say thank you to everyone who lives here in Kitale with me, thank you for being exactly what you are. Let us pray that God continues to grow us together as a community, and that we don't eventually kill each other (I'm expecting a sharp knife to enter my stomach soon from the girls, due to a little incident with water pistols and Chris' and my destroying them. Pray for us.) And as for the rest of you reading this, I miss your weirdness and as much as I love this place I can't wait to share my own weirdness with you again. You should all start preparing now.

Well, that's all I have for today. The heavens are restless now as a fierce thunderstorm blows outside. The best (worst) one since our arrival. This place frigg'n rules.

It seems like were always racing a storm. Here's a nice view of what that looks like:



Ok so that's all I'll say for now... D.P. Spain, over and out.