Feb 17th.
Ellie is feeling sick. James (one of the institute students) had a cold and probably gave it her, because her throat really hurts and she doesn't feel good. Luckily, she doesn't have a headache also, which would be a telltale sign of malaria.
Church today was long, but good. One of the coolest parts was when an engagement was announced. Here at New Hope they have a formal (from our point of view) process that a couple goes through to be considered ready to be married, meeting with mentors, etc. Anyway, it is pretty much behind the scenes and secret until it is formally announced to the community. So when Pastor Jonnes said there are two among us who desire to walk together towards marriage, the place erupted. This was even before they knew who it was. And when he reached into the choir and grabbed the shoulder of the man and said his name, all the men leapt into the air, hooting and hollering, waving their arms and jumping. And then when he reached over and said the name of the girl, there was screaming and general pandemonium for about a minute. I have never seen such exuberant celebration in my life. I wish I had it on tape. Mark and Ellen, it was a small picture of the angels doing backflips in Revelation. It makes you appreciate what heaven might be like.
Two things struck me ( and made me cry)
1. Can you imagine standing up there and being the recipient/participant of all that exulatation. Imagine standing in the choir in front of a room of 300 people with someone you really want to marry. Then the pastor turns and says that you and your intended beloved are thinking about getting married, and the entire congregation, young and old, man and woman alike, immediately leaps to their feet and cheers for almost 10 minutes straight because they can't even contain their joy. What a feeling. I was overcome on their behalf, and still am.(as an aside, a similar kind of reaction was exhibited at the end of our wedding. Some said they had never seen spontaneous applause like that as we walked down the aisle.)
2. This was just an engagement announcement. Not even a marriage, not a life turned around, not an alcoholic turned sober, not a prodigal son returning, not someone who has chosen to follow God for the first time. What if we could see the real outcome of momentous decisions like these? I don't mean to discount their joy. In fact, I'm delighted, and encourage it. But there are things that are equally or even more important that are deserving of even greater joy. Why don't we have as much joy for those things? I know I don't. I think part of it is because we don't understand, and because we can't or don't see the real and long-term consequences. Obviously, we are not prescient; we cannot, like God, see the future. But still.
We so rarely experience real, raw joy. Joy has become a flat word; it has lost much of its meaning, becoming almost synonymous with happiness. Happiness is a meager substitute for joy, and some folks even chase happiness in vain. Today I feel like a joy addict. I want more of the joy of the Lord, more joy at the things that are worth rejoicing over, joy that I am a free man, joy over the gift that Ellie is to me, joyous to be a servant.
The scriptures say to rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn, and I have certainly done both of those in in these last few days.
(Later in the day)
We had quite a scare today. Ellie has had a sore throat for a few days, but nothing terribly serious. But this afternoon all of a sudden she had horrific lower stomach pains. She collapsed on the latrine floor drenched in sweat, then made her way back to the house asking me for help, when I had no idea what was wrong with her. She writhed in pain on the ground outside the hut, for maybe 5 minutes as I ran and got some help. Auntie Florence and Katie came, and we prayed and called the nurse. Florence sat her up and craddled her upper torso and told me to grab something to tightly wrap her stomach in (much to Ellie's concern!) After we prayed, she started feeling a bit better, at least being able to communicate with us, although very weakly. Roget, the nurse came; by that time she was able to stand and walk to the couch inside and lay back down. He said it could have been a reaction to the antimalarial meds she took at lunch. He gave her some advil for the stomach pain, gave me his cellphone number, and left with her laughing weakly. Anyway, I carried her in to her bed, she lay there and drank some water and relaxed for a while and we just talked. She had some dinner and is feeling much better now and is happily playing solitaire on her bed. Those first 10 seconds when I saw her stumble and collapse on the ground were quite terrifying, however.
Remember the merry go round? Go watch this video
http://picasaweb.google.com/johncollman/Uganda/photo#5167999116999635458
Ok. off to bed. I've got a lot of work to do this week on the guesthouse. My goal is to have the roof done by the end of the week.
No comments:
Post a Comment