The Broni and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad... Attitude

I keep thinking of Judith Viorst book this last few weeks. I felt like Alexander, and keep wanting to say to by self, "I think I will move to Australia!" It has been one of those weeks, or should I say months. Patty had a miscarriage at the beginning of the month. The house flooded, after the water came on at night and one of our sinks was left open. I had my malaria come back after many late nights of work and cleaning up the house. The computer crashed and it took two days to reload everything. Then Ella's foot got an infection that turned into blood poisoning from a punter wound. Also our Ghana football team was robbed by a cheating hand ball in the World Cup which would have allowed them to go to the semi-final and maybe to the finals.

But... I realized the problem was not the problems, but my attitude! I was looking at the wrong things, like Alexander does in this story. Though there have been a lot of hardships, we have been blessed in great ways. I realized yesterday, that God is allowing some of these things to help us to grow in patience. Also I realized that satan is attack and trying to use thingsto keep us from advancing in our work. He wants us to get our eyes off of God.

So in response to this Broni's terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad... Attitude. (Which I did have many times this last two weeks), here are a list of all the blessings that God has poured out this last few weeks.

Our youth activity had 25 teens at it. They loved the new games and the preaching time was the best that it has every been. Football Sunday was a great blessing and had many people attend. There are two people on schedule for baptism, and more requesting to be part of the next group to be baptized. The last two Wednesday night meetings have been so full of adults that there has not been enough room for all of them. Bismark said that if it continues he will built a small structure to allow us to meet near his house. On Thursdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays new people have been attending and have returned (which does not happen always). The house did flood, but of all the things that got wet, only two thing were ruined (books). The computer did crash, but I had almost everything backed up, and I was able to find a round about way to safe the other things before it crashed. Also after two years of my computer not working well, after I formatted the hard drive and reloaded everything, it is working GREAT! And if Ghana had won, probably many people would have died in celebration, since Ghana did not win, they did not die!

Giving Thanks!!!

This past week has been a great time to remember and be thankful for all that the Lord has done for us. Though Thanksgiving is not a Ghanaian holiday, we try to celebrate the holiday anyway. Our family believes that it is good to teach people to count their blessings. So each year we invite people from our new Ghana family.

Here are a few things that have been a blessing this last week. I am going to mix in a few of our Thanksgiving pictures so that the reader can see our Thursday activities.

1. This last week we had the blessing of leading two people to Christ. Mensah has been attending our Bible study for about six months. On Saturday of last week we where able to led him to Christ. Also on Tuesday of last week, Pastor Andrew and I where able to led a young lady named Mary to Christ. She has attended for about three months. This was very encouraging, and was a great way to start the week of Thanksgiving.

2. Water Supply- The longer that we have lived in Ghana the better the electricity has gotten, but that is not true of the water. Most days our water flows from about 2:00am until 9:00am. That is of course on the day that it does flow. Because of these facts we have become quite good about our water consumption. We have 5 buckets that we fill twice daily. They are used to flush the toilets, put water in the sinks for washing dishes and bathing. Each adult gets one bucket and the girls split one. But, this last week we had a great blessing given to us! Our landlady decided to put two large water containers on the roof. (Each one holds about 2,000 liters of water each). We have one outside, which is wonderful, since even if the water is off for a week, we can still get water from this outside tank. But, since our landlady put these tanks on the roof, we have constant water in the house. We can flush the toilet after every use (YAH!) and even take showers. (I have learned to like cold showers here). Basically while the water is flowing, these tanks refill each night, when the pressure is good. They hold enough water that once the water is off again (normally for 4 to 5 days), we still have water in the house. We are very happy. Now we have almost constant water!

3. Little blessings- Since we have moved here, we have learned to really enjoy little blessings. Things that would be normal or even go unappreciated in the states, become exciting here. This is one of the perks of the mission field. Here are three, OK, four blessings. A. Ritz crackers. They never have these here, but a few weeks ago Andrew and I walked into a store while out visiting, and what do you know, there where boxes of Ritz crackers. They where even fairly cheap. So we snagged a couple of boxes each. They where great with my wife's broccoli casserole that she makes for Thanksgiving. (That is another blessing, a farmer has started growing broccoli here, so we do not have to buy expense imported broccoli now!) B. Stove Top stuffing- a small shop had three boxes of Turkey Stove Top stuffing this year! We bought them, and have been able to use two so far. The Ghanaians loved it at the party! C. Summer Sausage- My sister sent this to us! Not sure how she fit this huge thing in the box, but she did. We are very happy to get to eat this little blessing on New Year's Day. D. Last but not least our Turkey! It is a blessing to be able to buy a local turkey that was large enough to feed all those people and still have leftovers!

4. The Thanksgiving Part- We had a great time! We had a total of 12 people at the party. It was the best party that we have ever had. It was so much fun to eat together and share the meaning of Thanksgiving. After we had games and Pumpkin Pie! (Yes, this is another blessing- they grow here only during the fall months, and Patty makes a WONDERFUL homemade pie!)

These weeks have been filled with blessings! And today I want to say to God, Thank You! I hope that all those out there had a great Thanksgiving weekend too.

The Other Part of My Team!

Many times in missions the men seem to get the glory. In a few rare cases, like Isobel Kuhn, Amy Carmichael, Mary Slessor, the ladies seem to stand in the spot light, but most often it seems that the great women seem to be content in the shadows and help their husbands to do what God wants. Ann Judson helped Adinoram to be the man that he was and his ‘team’ would have been incomplete without her. Maria Hudson was the helping hand that so greatly aided Hudson Talyor in his early years of the mission.

I was reminded again of the great blessing I have in my wonderful wife this week. Patty had to go in for a minor surgery this week. She went in Saturday, and returned on Sunday morning. A I sat outside waiting for her to come out of the ‘theatre’ many thoughts flooded my mind. I hope she was be fine, but what if? Then I started thinking how difficult life would be here without her. How much I love her and am thankful that God has allowed her to be here! Basically after the hour of surgery, when they rolled her out of the ‘theatre’ I was very happy to she.

The surgery went well, we are almost back to normal, and we even washed clothes by hand together today, since the water has been off for a week. It is good to have reminds. So today post is given in honor of my missionary wife.

The poem is for her. She read it and said that it was quite good.

Missionary Mother's Dilema
by Pam Griffis

The very first thing in the morning
I plan my schedule for the day.
I think I've got it all worked out,
In my neatly organized way.

Devotions first; Then Aerobics! (Of course!)
"Breakfast?", Did my hubby say?
Quickly fed and swiftly dressed,
I send the little ones out to play.

"Oh, I forgot today is wash day!"
As the generator starts to run.
I rush to gather the dirty clothes
I must hurry and get them done.

Above the din of the washer,
Shouts the voice of my 4 yr. old son.
"Mom, J.J. has to go potty!"
"And he broke my favorite gun!"

I settle the fight and dry the tears,
The clothes are finally hung out.
As I sit to type the culture file,
There is yet another shout!

"Hun, Awelalu brought sweet potatoes!"
I try to hide a frowny pout.
I really enjoy my chat with her,
Knowing that is what it is all about!

Lunch time comes all to soon.
"Where's desert?", the clan wants to know.
I could pull my hair out one by one,
But I don't want my feelings to show.

Dishes to wash, then rest time;
I am feeling pretty low.
I sit down to study language,
And a windy rain starts to blow.

I run to rescue the clothes off the line,
The kids wake up from their nap,
"Did you bake cookies yet?, they ask me,
As they climb up on my lap.

An hour later, the cookies baked,
Clothes folded and put away.
A sigh of relief and a "Thank you, Lord,"
Is all I am able to say.

When supper is over, baths and dishes done,
And our family pauses to pray.
When my little ones say, "Thank you for Mom,"
My frustrations fade quickly away.

Tomorrow will surely be better,
And if not, God planned it that way.
He knows what I need for my growing.
I am only to "rest" and obey