Much to my mom’s dismay, I used to take in homeless animals when I was young. They were irresistible to me, all forlorn and miserable. None were ugly, in my opinion. Cats especially were cute. It usually took a fair bit of begging and pleading to get a “Well, ok, but you’re going to be the one to feed it” out of my mom. I always readily agreed to the feeding part, but I must admit, it did get tedious after awhile.
One of my boldest and most memorable rescues was a big, black German Shepherd-looking dog. My parents were away on a trip when his need for a home came to my attention. Them being away made bringing him home all the easier. No immediate begging and pleading involved, just some explaining to be done later. I knew mom didn’t expect to come home to a big, black dog. And I didn’t really expect she’d let me keep him, either. But I was willing to try.
When they got home, she was "surprised", of course. And after some lengthy explaining, pleading, and promising on my part, she let me keep him. I guess you could say that we both got the unexpected. I was the happier of the two initially, but in time, I think she actually grew to like the dog too.
So what’s the moral to the story? Well, sometimes the unexpected turns out ok. Sometimes it’s ok right away, but sometimes you have to wait for that. (And maybe my mom will add a moral of her own in the comment section at the end of this post!)
It’s been an interesting week here in the bush.
Rick and Heather have officially left on furlough, although they will be in South Africa for several weeks while they work with the Canadian embassy on Tendai’s (their adopted daughter’s) visitor’s visa. There have been several unexpected bumps and delays, but we continue to trust with them for good to come of it.
I commented last week that Dwight would be gone and I planned to get LOTS of work done. Although I didn’t get to the tiling and painting, I did get other important things done.
Among these, I tackled organizing the school health curriculum visuals into folders and boxes, and now have revised lists of items I need to take to South Africa for scanning, printing, and laminating.
I also followed up on getting school child sponsor letters organized to send back with Rick and Heather.
Now, this is a much bigger task than most realize. First, because our school kids don’t write the letters in their mother tongue but rather in Portuguese, Mozambique’s official language. So some fluency is lost there. Then staff members, whose first language is also something other than Portuguese or English, translate those letters from Portuguese to English. One of the staff who does some translating was trying to write with his left hand because his right arm is in a cast.
He did a great job, considering. But those letters then needed to be typed and edited so North American sponsors could read and understand them better. I love reading these letters though because they are so unique and they represent the realities, hopes, and dreams, of these young lives.
Oh yes, and we had an unexpected visitor this week.
One of my boldest and most memorable rescues was a big, black German Shepherd-looking dog. My parents were away on a trip when his need for a home came to my attention. Them being away made bringing him home all the easier. No immediate begging and pleading involved, just some explaining to be done later. I knew mom didn’t expect to come home to a big, black dog. And I didn’t really expect she’d let me keep him, either. But I was willing to try.
When they got home, she was "surprised", of course. And after some lengthy explaining, pleading, and promising on my part, she let me keep him. I guess you could say that we both got the unexpected. I was the happier of the two initially, but in time, I think she actually grew to like the dog too.
So what’s the moral to the story? Well, sometimes the unexpected turns out ok. Sometimes it’s ok right away, but sometimes you have to wait for that. (And maybe my mom will add a moral of her own in the comment section at the end of this post!)
It’s been an interesting week here in the bush.
Rick and Heather have officially left on furlough, although they will be in South Africa for several weeks while they work with the Canadian embassy on Tendai’s (their adopted daughter’s) visitor’s visa. There have been several unexpected bumps and delays, but we continue to trust with them for good to come of it.
I commented last week that Dwight would be gone and I planned to get LOTS of work done. Although I didn’t get to the tiling and painting, I did get other important things done.
Among these, I tackled organizing the school health curriculum visuals into folders and boxes, and now have revised lists of items I need to take to South Africa for scanning, printing, and laminating.
(9 units x approx 10 visuals/unit x 3 sets = quite a few pictures!)
I also followed up on getting school child sponsor letters organized to send back with Rick and Heather.
Now, this is a much bigger task than most realize. First, because our school kids don’t write the letters in their mother tongue but rather in Portuguese, Mozambique’s official language. So some fluency is lost there. Then staff members, whose first language is also something other than Portuguese or English, translate those letters from Portuguese to English. One of the staff who does some translating was trying to write with his left hand because his right arm is in a cast.
He did a great job, considering. But those letters then needed to be typed and edited so North American sponsors could read and understand them better. I love reading these letters though because they are so unique and they represent the realities, hopes, and dreams, of these young lives.Oh yes, and we had an unexpected visitor this week.
Raimundo wasn’t very happy when he almost stepped on this Puff Adder lying in our yard yesterday. It was a warm day and the Puff Adder seemed to have come to cool off in the sprinkler. (Well, it’s a theory…) In contrast to last week’s snake, this one IS poisonous. He’s also beautiful.
Strikingly so, if you’ll forgive the pun.
And so wraps up another week. Yesterday, as I headed out on a walk at sunset, I expected to see the usual sights. Lots of orange sky,
green and red autumn leaves,
golden-brown field grass
and red dirt.
I saw all of those things plus a few unexpected surprises along the way too.
A Hornbill (Zazoo-bird, for those familiar with Disney's "The Lion King")
Several hornbills seem to have moved nearby to feast on the fruiting wild fig trees. To me, they are the clumsiest and most humorous of birds to watch.
I also saw a black and white butterfly in an otherwise colourful world.
Who would have thought?
God would, that's who :)
And last but not least,
A few forgotten relics in the bush which I retrieved and took home. I love old things like this because:
1. They can clean up and show off quite nicely.
2. They've stood the test of time, and that always challenges me.
3. I don't have to beg, plead or explain in order to keep them. I don't have to feed them either.
And that's ok with me.
Have a good weekend and ttyl.
3 comments:
Awww I saw mushu in the background in one of the pics :) strange that we had to beg and plead to have him come into the family? ;) Like mother like daugher I guess haha
Oh yes, we always had to have a cat or dog around, because parents realize their kids have to have an animal or two to teach them how to take responsibility ... And besides, we taught our kids to be kind to animals. How would it look if we insisted they put them out into the cold unfriendly world to fend for themselves. Then in spite of my resistance ... I actually grew fond of them myself, and I found myself doctoring, feeding and becoming a pretty dependable friend of them to all of them and missed them when they were gone. Mom's comments!!
Wow- you are very brave momma! I could handle the butterfly but the monkey and snake would do me in for sure. Beautiful photos though!
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