Well…what a HUGE difference a week makes. First off, let me say, I seriously didn’t mean to freak people out with the post last week, but when we started this journey, I promised I would be honest about what I was feeling…good or bad…week before last just happened to be REALLY bad!! BUT, after a “curl up in a fetal position and cry it out” day….I felt SOOO much better. The tummy continued to give me problems until a few days ago, but even that is going well now. I have been eating since Friday, albeit simple, bland foods, but so far, so good…I’m still taking it easy, but all and all, I have declared myself “well”!! And if anyone thinks I’m giving up THAT easily….you seriously don’t know ME very well!! I do though, want to thank ALL of you that emailed, facebooked or called to give me encouragement and to let me know you were praying for me….you have NO idea how much it helped….clearly, your prayers worked because I’m back people, I’m back :)
When I look back today at what I was feeling a week ago, and why, I can now see God’s hand all over it. Do I think He intentionally made me sick….of course not, but do I think that’s what it took to get me to slow down long enough to evaluate how and what I was feeling…absolutely! And this is the thing…because I was home all day every day for almost three weeks, I have already started to develop strong relationships with Christine and Beatrice, the two women that work for us all day, every day! And while Beatrice (our gardener) doesn’t speak a lick of English…we have bonded over our shared love of planting and gardening. She, Christine and I spent a whole afternoon starting tomato (three different kinds), basil (two different kinds), oregano and Italian parsley seeds in plastic cups. Now…it wouldn’t have taken ME all afternoon, but the girls were SOOO curious about what I was doing….apparently they don’t start seeds in anything…except in the ground or they simply don’t grow it at all….and today, as we had the whole group for lunch again, we were giddy with excitement as we had our first sproutings!! SCORE!! And apparently, Beatrice, who has five children, told Christine that the reason I was so sick is because I was pregnant. Ummm…yeah…not so much!
Christine and I though, have had some deep conversations about just about everything from husbands to family to babies. She is the one that has filled me in on the reality of being an average woman in Rwanda today. That she can’t do ANYTHING without her husband’s permission. That she is not allowed to tell him NO… AT ALL! I wonder if that has anything to do why she is due to have her third baby at the end of July, when she had been told it would not be safe to have any more children (she and the baby are both great, thus far….THANK GOD). And I, in turn, have shared with her what it is like for me to be a wife to Russell., and a woman in a western country. We are building a deep friendship and it would have taken much longer for us to get there if I had not been sick and home every day! AND…she completely took me by surprise on Friday when she came to me and said, “I have something VERY important to ask you”. Now, let me preface this by saying that naming a child is one of the most important, celebrated and honored things you can do in Rwanda. Also, the husband is the one who names the child….the wife having very little say. And after the baby is born, they have a HUGE naming ceremony and celebration. So…she says she has something VERY important to ask me and at that exact moment about 50 things go through my head…..she wants the day off tomorrow…she needs an advance on her salary…OH NO…she says to me, “I would like for YOU to name my baby.” ………………………………………………………………..that’s where I was SPEECHLESS!!! She said that the baby (it’s a girl, by the way) had to have a traditional Rwandan name, which her husband would choose, but she wanted ME to bless the baby with her second name (the one by which she will most likely be called). She also said that she had to gain the courage to TELL her husband that she would like for me to give the baby her second name, and then she says, “Praise God, he said OK”. Words really can’t even begin to describe how honored I feel (not to mention the pressure of it all), but the name came to me almost immediately, it’s a name that goes back generations in my family and is also an important one in Russell’s as well, and it means “Oath to God”…..it is my sister’s name, our daughter’s middle name and our niece’s name…it is….ELIZABETH….when I told her today, she almost cried…she said it was PERFECT and that she knew I would honor her baby with a special name….*tears of joy flowing* She also told me she would like for me to be in the delivery room with her (husbands don’t do THAT either, apparently). She is due on July 31, and we are due to leave on July 27th….my prayer is that a HEALTHY baby girl comes a few days early….So, I am no longer lonely….I had friendships all along…it just took me being sick to appreciate them!!
And I, of course, I couldn’t let this day pass without wishing a great big Happy Father’s Day to my husband, my dad and my father-in-law….these men have loved me and influenced my life in ways that are immeasurable. And while we weren’t able to be with them today, we hope they know how much we love and appreciate them! And while R squared wasn’t able to be with our kids today, as you can see from the pictures, he was surrounded by kids.....he was a HAPPY camper!!
Thanks again, to everyone, for all the prayers and continued support….I turned a corner this week…and I can honestly say I am “most settled”!!
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