Attitude

When I was little, my mom always stressed the importance of one's attitude.  She had, and still has, a clipping on the refrigerator that says "Attitude is Everything."    As you know, everything seems better when you have a positive outlook on what lies before you....and your outlook is largely controllable, albeit sometimes with great effort.  On the other hand, everything can seem so much incredibly worse if you have a negative attitude - ie, pouty, sour, or just irritable.  

Sometimes, I find myself pouting "on the inside," and I have to stop and make myself give it over to God.  I can't continue in my bad attitude, if I have really given it up to Him.  The hardest part is giving it up.  Sometimes, the little daily things here start to pluck your nerves.  For instance, here is what our water looks like intermittently, since the mudslides...

Peach tea - right from the faucet!

Very thankful for the filter!

 The roads...

The equipment...

Pulse oximeter probes are reused until shredded.

Xray equipment from the 1970's in significant disrepair.

The bugs!  Every few weeks we have a new influx of a new category of insect.  We are coming up on a year of living here, so we should at least be aware of all the bugs that are around.

Rick took this photo of our side door one morning during a recent moth invasion - he said it looked like something out of Alfred Hitchcock!  Since the doors and windows aren't sealed well, we also had a healthy population inside the house.

But, then I think, "Look at the incredible blessings that you have!!!"  For instance, I don't live in squalor or have to pick through garbage to sustain myself!

I took this in Nairobi from the car.

I have my arms, legs, and sight and am in good health - and so is my family!  I don't know this boy's story, but he was always smiling as I passed him in the corridor.  He liked to look at things on my phone. :)

We have another another boy in the hospital right now who is from South Sudan.  He is 7 years old and his leg was blown off last week while playing in a minefield, leftover from the fighting there.  .....and he is the fortunate one - the three friends playing with him didn't make it.


There are laws in Kenya about not having electrical outlets in the bathrooms, so I have spent almost 11 months now drying my hair (I have electricity and a hair dryer!!) by looking into a 2.5 square inch mirror on the window sill.  I realized one day, probably as I was feeling grumbly about leaning over trying to see, that I could either be grumbly because I had to deal with this arrangement.....

Focusing on the problems

Or, I could be cheerful because I have this AMAZING view every morning while I drying my hair and drinking coffee!  Really, it is a matter of perspective and how you choose to live....am I going to be thankful and cheerful, or am I going to be grumbly and complainy?  Am I going to keep my mind on the things above and be thankful, or wallow in my earthly (minor) difficulties?

Focusing on the blessings

I was talking to one of my kids last week, and I mentioned that each of us were born where we were and into our specific family for a purpose and through no power of our own.  God could have just as easily placed us into a middle class American family, a wealthy Asian family, or a poor Kenyan family - we had no control over it and should be thankful and humbled for our individual situations.  We have also been given a big responsibility to serve those who have so much less.  

Today, I am rejoicing for my blessings and quite humbled by my circumstances.

Mount Longonot before sunset.

My favorite things this week:

Sound: The hum of the bees as I walk under the flowering loquat tree in our yard.

Sight:   The millions, literally, of stars that we could see in the night sky last night, broken   
             only by the distinct Milky Way.
Feel:     The warm sunshine on my skin in the cool air of "winter" here. 
Taste:   The homemade strawberry ice cream that we served with chocolate chips.
Smell:   These flowers blooming in the yard. 

Lots of love,
Sarah

Proverbs 15:13

A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,
But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.