Our lives build on all that has happened previously. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes and grow from our experiences. This week has been no exception. As Rick mentioned last week we went to Biratnagar for the HBB training and I got quite sick. I’m still not sure exactly what the sickness was, but the after effects have lingered. This has tested Rick’s patience as I have been somewhat cranky and not very helpful. He can’t even hope for a new missionary companion. We have had office work to take care of and are trying to get some challenging details worked out. This takes a lot of back and forth between our team in Hong Kong, people in Utah and the NGO’s here in Nepal. With each step we get a little closer to finalizing some projects and some procedures.
Rick mentioned several “tender mercies” one of which was my feeling well for the Primary Program. It wasn’t until the next day that I realized how blessed I had been. The following day I felt totally wiped out and awful without much appetite. Unfortunately this continued well into the week. While we were sitting in the office of our accountant, he asked if I felt all right and then proceeded to tell me I didn’t look so good. To help me feel better he strongly encouraged me, as in not taking “no thank you” for an answer, to take some herbal water. It was rather soothing, but I was very hesitant to take anything I had not prepared myself.
While at the training in Biratnagar, Ranjan, who was coordinating the training, invited us to attend the Gunyo Choli for his daughter this week in Kathmandu. This is a ceremony and celebration honoring a daughter as she turns eight. We weren’t very excited about going, but it turned out to be very enjoyable. We arrived at the party palace a bit early and got to enjoy the extended family singing and dancing!
Since my digestive system was not back to normal it was more difficult to really relax and enjoy the snacks and dinner. We thought we wouldn’t know anyone there but as it turned out there were several people we knew from our humanitarian work here in Nepal and we were made to feel very welcome.
We had a little excitement at the grocery store this week. When it came time to check out Rick couldn’t find his debit card. He had used it before entering the store at an ATM but it was nowhere to be found. After triple checking his pockets and wallet we offered up prayers then asked Manoj and a store manager for help. Eventually we returned to the aisle where Rick had taken this picture…
Rick thought maybe his card had fallen out of his pocket when he pulled his phone out. It was not visible on the floor, but when he bent down he saw it under the shelving. We were so relieved. Having to cancel the card would have left us without access to our money, yikes! Learning from our experience we will always put our cards away properly.
Progress is slow but with a few small steps at a time we are closer to having two more projects ready for approval. Today I felt well enough to go walking and do yoga with a little retail therapy thrown in for good measure.
Leave a Reply