Saturday Post -- 22/05/10

I have to admit, halfway through Sunday afternoon I was beginning to doubt if we’d manage. But, sure enough, we managed to move all our items into the new flat (getting by with a little help from our friends) and, in the process, make something resembling a home out of it all. As promised last week, then, here are some shots…

Amanda preparing lunch on one side of our L-shaped kitchen (this is the room we painted)…

…and me in my default mode washing dishes on the other side.

Our new bedroom. Those doors at the back open out on to…

…the flat’s pièce de résistance, our new balcony. Already proving ideal for my morning quiet time.

We also have a bathroom, living room/hallway and dining room – the latter rooms are as yet unfurnished, but I’ll post all pictures on Facebook for those of you who prefer the spartan look. The work over the weekend was exhausting – those high wooden ceilings alone take hours to dust – but I think it was around lunchtime on Monday that the thought suddenly dawned on us: we have our own place! Needless to say, we just feel incredibly blessed to have been provided with such accommodation within just a few months of our arrival and it all just feels like another affirming pat on the shoulder from the Lord himself – they’re getting to be quite regular, them!

Back at the Fundación, it’s been another busy week. The Campaña drew to a close on Wednesday. Amanda certainly benefitted from the experience, though naturally is enjoying being back home before sunset. There won’t be surgery next Tuesday in its usual slot as we are preparing for the official opening of the new operating theatres on Wednesday, in which I will be unleashing my (in)famous moves on an unsuspecting FT staff as part of a folk dance – performed, thankfully, along with another dozen or so locals.

I’m a little more in my element when preparing Bible studies and this week I was tasked with leading the Fundación’s morning meditations for the first time. All staff members attend this session, which is completely voluntary, before work begins. Each week the focus is just a selection of verses from a book of the Bible that is worked through and this week we came to the very last dozen verses of 1 Corinthians. If you’re familiar with Paul’s epistles, you’ll know that the endings can be a little scattergun – you can more-or-less visualise him pacing up and down the room, dictating frantically to his scribe every last greeting he can remember, with the last post mere minutes away. 1 Corinthians is similarly non-linear in its closing moments, but it allowed for a wide-ranging, and no less thought-provoking series of meditations this week, taking in subjects such as what it means to be watchful, how to ‘love’ in one’s workplace and the doctrine of saints (regarding which, there is obviously a fair amount of confusion down here). And today I chose to focus on chapter 16, verse 22, in which Paul pronounces a curse upon those who don’t love the Lord – an open-goal for a gospel-related meditation, and I just pray my execution was more Wayne Rooney than Dimitar Berbatov.

Prayer
• For both of us as we start sign language classes this weekend (I know, not another language!).
• For patience as we face continued delays in obtaining our carnets (we can’t obtain driving licences without these – the process should take a few days but it’s fair to say that the recent elections have thrown quite a spanner in the bureaucratic works).

Praise
• For continuing professional development for Amanda, and patient safety, during the Campaña.
• For the Lord’s guidance in leading this week’s morning meditations.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda