Getting ready to go...

I've got good people to stay in my house, I've got my shots and passport, I'm grateful for the generosity of people who have been contributing to my work in Kenya...  but I still have tons to do!


Getting mentally prepared: as I lay in bed this morning, I was thinking that maybe the biggest adjustment for me will be living without a refrigerator, without my morning hit of Orange Juice. I'm excited about living with solar power in a more environmentally-friendly way, minimizing my carbon footprint, but even camper-Jane is used to having a cooler, with ice, on most camping trips.


Getting spiritually prepared: At a Bible study at our church's fall retreat, I felt God nudge me to fast from coffee for 2 weeks....  Those 2 weeks were rough! I felt tired all the time, and I certainly wasn't as alert and productive as I was used to, and as I 'needed' to be. At the same time, while preparing to spend a year in rural Kenya, I realized this was an instructive fast...  a way for me, in a tiny way, to identify with the people I will be living with and working alongside in the Suba District of Kenya. This fast gave me an appreciation of what life is like for poor, malnourished people who are weak and tired all the time, yet still put one foot after the other, doing their daily tasks, not knowing any other reality.
Another spiritual preparation came this week, as I wrote an email to verify that I could count on having that extra solar panel installed on my cabin and working, when I arrive on January 4. After all, I'd paid for it 6 weeks ahead of time, certainly that was a reasonable expectation. The reply reminded me: "This is Africa". Things we westerners take for granted aren't "givens" there. I need to do what I can, and then trust God to care for what is needed, to exhale, and patiently wait.