No Excuses

There are some times in life when excuses just don’t cut it. One of those times happened to me this week. We were going through airport security (to catch our flight to Manitoba) and after coming through the scanner, my purse was taken off the conveyor belt to be searched. Immediately, I remembered that in my barely-awake-haste to get ready at 4:30 that morning I’d forgotten to pack my little folding travel scissors in my suitcase instead. My excuse mattered very little right now. I groaned and kicked myself.

I hate that pending-guilty feeling you get when they rifle through your personal effects (for what seems an inordinate amount of time) in search of some long-forgotten item that could be used to wreak havoc--given it were in the possession of someone with wrong motives. But my motives were not in question. It was those little scissors on the other hand, the ones that had gone just about everywhere in life with me, that were. And they were about to be confiscated, regardless. No excuses.


In Mozambique this week:

The Prairie team continues with their activities and cross-cultural experience. A professional photographer from Prairie is there this week taking photos, and having a bit of fun as well. Heather is gleaning as many photography tips (which I’m anxious to learn once I get back) as she can while he’s there. Here’s some of the stuff she posted this week.

Taking pictures.

Caring for sick people in the clinic.

Helping a local family with the work of harvesting and preparation for storage of grain.

Enjoying some smiles.

A 2 month old baby weighing less than 2 kg was brought to the mission for help.


The downside this week was the passing of Fred, who suffered the complications of a recent compound hip fracture. He was a long-time friend and prior employee whose quiet spirit, good sense of humour and hard work brought joy not only to our lives but to all who came to stay at the mission. We will miss Fred, but we rejoice in knowing that his joy and peace are now complete.




One of the upsides of the week is that spring has finally sprung, even in Manitoba, and fruit trees are all in beautiful bloom. After about 5 days here, we head back to Edmonton to wrap up our last few remaining weeks in Canada. Here’s hoping we can pack the remaining work into the remaining time.

And here’s also hoping that maybe, just maybe, I’ll make it through airport security without the kerfuffle of being searched again.

PS: Check out Dwight's latest blog post.

PPS: I do understand and appreciate the need for airport security :)