Look for the silver lining in the people God has put around you

Some of the MAF Uganda International community representing 13 nations..
which means we can have our cultural challenges but we're better together than apart

Ever since my last post months ago I've had it on my 'to-do-list' to write another post but it always seems to get bumped to the next day which has led to months of bumping.  The intensity of this week though has brought some thoughts forward I really wanted to write down. 
  
The most dangerous thing our pilots do in Uganda is not actually the flying but instead the 30 minute drive to the airstrip..this might be because any crazy driver seems to have a license on these roads and many don't seem to respect road rules...unlike pilots.
   
One of our MAF wives received a call we all would dread to ever have to receive.   Her husband had been hit from behind on his motorbike and then run over by a 4WD.   He had a punctured lung, 6 broken ribs, broken collar bone, badly broken arm and a cracked hip and pelvic bone....I wish I could show you the photo of his shirt with a muddy print of the 4WD tyre mark all the way across to emphasise what a miracle it is that he's alive and doesn't need more than surgery on his arm...but it's their photo to share when and if they desire.   

This week has gone from bad news, to relief, then relief and then more relief to hear each test and scan coming back clear...firstly no head or spinal injury, no internal bleeding etc..his one punctured lung began breathing on its own again.  Then he was moved out of ICU 3 days later and into a regular hospital room and now we've heard he may be discharged soon.  We're all so thankful that these developments are moving in the right direction and further away from a day that could have been very different.  There were signs of God's covering even though the accident was so horrendous.    A christian policeman happened to be driving and saw the car speeding away from the scene being chased by motorbike taxis...he was able to shield our pilot on the road and then flag down armed military to stand around him until they hailed a UN truck to safely bring him to a hospital.  One of our colleagues had just returned from Holland who has nursing training.  She was able to let a nurse know at the first hospital he was taken to that she could see swelling from a punctured lung or 'Pneumothorax'.  The nurse argued that this wasn't the case but our colleague insisted they inject him.  Afterwards we learned from a doctor that this helped saved his life because if he'd been moved by ambulance to the second hospital without the injection he probably would have died.    

Then to witness the love in our MAF and wider community here in Kampala, spreading its wings over the family, rallying around them to help in anyway at all possible has been beautiful to see.    We don't have our families close-by to turn to in time of crisis, but we do have each other and this is something I'll always remember about having lived in Africa for the last 11 years.

Its so important to keep our eyes open to God's provision, protection and grace that can sometimes be so subtle we miss it.   There is evil at work in our world but then God is still participating and can turn evil into good..I've been thinking about when Joseph said to his brothers who had wronged him on so many levels, 'But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.' Gen 50:20.   God's intention is not to run a puppet show but to bring us safely through to eternity.  From my experience He will allow temporary trials only if they bring a weight of glory.  For us it can appear harsh and we can wonder why He doesn't step in and stop things from escalating....but the balance of Him allowing us free will and Him wanting us to grow stronger and to use us more with the compassion we gain from these trials is a finite one.   

I hope that anyone reading this can trust and perceive Him as a perfect and loving Father who has our best interests in mind even if in our earthly timezone it sometimes can translate differently.  Also I hope I can inspire you to reach out to those around you and not be an island...we all can learn from each other through our various trials and community can help paint a silver lining.

The Termite Queen's Fateful End

Our raspberry plot that was under siege.  We sell the
raspberries which then set women up into cottage industries

After weeks of no rain, with humidity rising and all of Kampala being covered in a layer of red dust, we've all been longing for rain to cool and wash everything down.  We've been spoiled the last year with so much rain that it seemed the two rainy seasons joined into one. Uganda is blessed with cooler temperatures than you might expect most of the year round and rain that thoughtfully comes for a few hours at a time and then clears up, so we still get plenty of vitamin D!   I have woken up this morning at 4:45am to a cracker of a storm.  Kampala is in fact named "The Lightning Capital of the World".  Outside it sounds like a war as the storm moves further away but occasional bomb-like thunder accompanies the widening gaps of lightning. At 5a.m. the mosque has started its call to prayer, gently and melodiously down the valley.   So, unlike my normal self, I've surrendered and decided to get up while its still dark and write another blog.   I know that I owe you one about Jackson....that will come.  I wanted to share some thoughts I had on Valentine's Day last week.

How the termites take over with just one queen

Over the last few years we've been struggling with a large termite nest that has been gradually taking over our garden.   I've arranged for fumigators to come and spray the nest, we've tried pouring oil over it and more recently we attempted destroying the nest over and over, hoping to wear them out...but each time we knocked the nest down, the very next day it would be back with scalloped rings of dirt, meticulously designed overnight!   They killed off my rosemary bush and moved onto completely wipe out my two stunning rose bushes....the last straw was when they moved into my raspberry patch and began chowing down on my beloved plot!   MAF's night guard, Chris, offered to search for the queen, and explained that unless she was found and killed, the nest would continue to overtake everything.   Apparently the queen moves from one side of the nest to the other according to whichever side the moon rises so Chris was confident of finding her.   I found Chris on the 14th, digging at first light a ginormous hole.  He then exclaimed that he had found the queen and killed her with his spade.   She was like a fat, huge, witchety grub from Australia!    He then told me that all of the termites would run away and find another queen elsewhere. 

Where the termites home used to be
after their evacuation

I've thought a lot about this picture given straight from nature.   The bible talks about tying up the strongman before trying to take his goods.  It also talks about filling our houses with the spirit after deliverance so that the enemy doesn't return after the house is swept clean.  Often when we pray, its sometimes hard to see results.   I'm often reminded to go for the strongman when praying about worldwide, local or personal issues.   For example, one huge strongman of our age and throughout history is the spirit of deception which blinds peoples eyes so they cannot see truth.   When we pray more specifically about the root causes of our hurting world, I believe we do see results.   If talking about strongmen is a bit hefty and spiritual, I would also like to relate something I learnt from the Living Wisdom Counselling course I was able to attend 2 years ago.   They talked about people's inner problems being like an iceberg that just shows a tiny percentage of its mass above the water.   Their counselling offers to go right to the basement in people's lives and through asking 'Empowering Questions' they offer to really get to the root cause of why we react the way we do.   They equip you with 'Truth Coaches' which help to make truth your friend, rather than toxic thinking.   They're course also encompasses 2 advancing themes of our generation...'Neurol plasticity' and Emotional Intelligence.   They talk about the phrase 'UBF', Unbearable Feelings which we all have (some have one or two or even more) based on whatever we've gone through as children...lies we believe about ourselves which go onto become buttons we try our best to avoid.   One I have struggled with is the UBF of rejection.   Like the Queen termite, I've had to dig down deep to address this reactor in my life and am attempting to downgrade it to a bearable button so that I can be more centered, balanced and respond the way a grown up should when I come up against it in my life.   All of those lies in my thought-life are having to run away and find another home now that the 'Queen' has been dealt with.    If you can get hold of Living Wisdom's course, or read up about it online, please do (or email them at info@livingwisdom.com.au).  It has been a life changer for me and is exciting to know that we're not too old to change or unable to get free of crippling lies that can get control of us and destroy our garden.   Our relationships with others can thrive when we're taking captive of every thought and making them obedient to Christ.