Contentment

Greetings friends,

Some lessons in life are just difficult to learn.  Since we arrived here I have been mildly disgruntled about not having my luggage and having to make due with just 2 changes of clothing.  In addition, Marilyn has been mildly disappointed about our not being housed in the guesthouse this year, and thus somewhat separated from the main group of short-term volunteers who are visiting this year.   We still share meals with the group, and have plenty of interaction with them, but are living in one of the long-term missionary apartments in the lower compound (due to some plumbing issues which occurred in our room at the guesthouse prior to our arrival).  As a result, we are having to “suffer” in a very comfortable 4-bedroom apartment with good water pressure, and plentiful warm water!  On the day after our arrival, we were invited to dinner with the long-term OB/GYN missionary doctor and her pastor husband.  We enjoyed a wonderful meal and some great fellowship time, but near the end of the meal, our host indicated that she was in charge of scheduling devotions for the next morning, and had overlooked an open slot in the schedule.  She somewhat sheepishly asked if we might be able to “fill in” on short notice.  As some of you may, or may not know, Marilyn and I did a devotional for the Tenwek Hospital staff 2 years ago while we were here.  The title of the devotional was “Contentment” based upon a book written by Richard Swenson M.D.  We had prepared for weeks, and had even created a Power Point presentation which I “just happened” to have on my laptop.  With great reluctance and trepidation, we agreed to fill in.  We returned to our apartment and furiously “dusted off” our prior presentation and began to tweak it somewhat.  The following morning, we walked up to the guesthouse to have breakfast with the rest of the short-term staff, and to fortify ourselves for the ordeal ahead.  No one else was in the dining area, and we set about preparing breakfast for ourselves.  As I turned on the cold water faucet to rinse out the coffee filter, out came a blast of scalding hot water and steam, followed by a small “explosion” in the cabinet below, and a stream of equally hot water streaming out into the dining area floor.  Within a few minutes, a short-term guest from the room over the kitchen popped his head in to see what was happening.  He reported that his wife had flushed the toilet upstairs and had experienced a similar blast of steam and a geyser of hot water pouring into their toilet, followed by flooding of the apartment floor (fortunately she had not been sitting on the toilet at the time)!  I was able to find a valve outside the kitchen/dining area, and shut down the water going to the kitchen and guest apartment.  We proceeded to finish preparing and consuming our meal, while standing in a pool of water, then headed up to the hospital where, a short time later we were standing in front of all the Kenyan residents, short term volunteers, and long term missionaries to talk to them about “contentment”.  One of the scripture passages in our presentation was from Matthew 6:25-34:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  And why do you worry about clothes?  See how the lilies of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, “what shall we eat?” or “what shall we drink?” or “what shall we wear?”  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do no worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

All I can say is that God certainly has a sense of humor, and that Marilyn and I apparently needed to RELEARN how to be content, and how to trust in Him, and seek first His kingdom.  Fortunately, no one was injured in the above fiasco, and the “plumbers” were able to get the hot water reconnected to the hot water line rather than the cold water line, and all leaks repaired.  Later that same day my luggage arrived (hallelujah!) and we had a new appreciation for our apartment, located a safe distance from the guesthouse.  I suspect that we will be practicing more thankfulness and contentment in the days ahead.

Love to all,
Randy and Marilyn