The other day I was tired…

– tired of watching for spiders in my  house…and finding them

– tired of no hot water to wash dishes…unless I boil it

– tired of crazy, crazy drivers who it seems are out to kill me

– tired of corruption in the form of the horrible road conditions…there is a minister of roads here in Kenya, what is he doing?

– tired of lack of customer service…we waited 5 hours for repairs only to get one thing out of three accomplished

– tired of waiting…8 weeks for our alienation card only to be told it still isn’t ready

– tired of the seemingly runaround we are getting in regards to extending our visas

– tired of the NGO (like the US’s non-profits) board still having our application “in process” with no end in sight

Yes I was tired, frustrated, upset, questioning “what’s the deal God?” Before going to bed that night I told God “I’m tired of being afraid to be on the roads, being stared at, spiders, mosquitoes…Help Me!” and then I went to bed.

I woke up feeling better and refreshed, I slept through the night with no interruptions, no dreams of spiders, no thoughts of crazy drivers then read my daily devotional:

I was in trouble, so I called to the Lord.
The Lord answered me and set me free.
I will not be afraid, because the Lord is with me.  Psalm 118:5-6

and

Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking,
because you were all called together in one body to have peace.
Always be thankful. Colossians 3:15

So I’m thankful:

– I SEE the spiders and can eliminate them (ok yes I kill the spiders when they are in my home!)

– I have water

– Chuck could stop in time from the guy who pulled out in front of us

– We saw the man pulling a cart, on the road, at night, with no lights in time to narrowly miss hitting him

– We didn’t hit any large potholes

– Shade was available for us to sit in while waiting outside

– The lady at immigration gave us a phone number to call to check on the status of our alienation cards…instead of having to go down to the office.

I’m thankful God is in control, even though it sometimes takes me a while to remember that.  “Lord, I know that our lives don’t really belong to us.  We can’t control our own lives.”  Jeremiah 10:23, “But you know my heart, Lord.  You see me and test my thoughts about you.”  Jeremiah 12:3.  I’m thankful God shows me the right thought process in His Word and tests me to see where my faith truly lies…in Him not my circumstances.