Reminder of how blessed we are

There are times that I have to remind myself of how blessed we are (and there are other times when that comes easier). This past week was one of those times when God shakes you up a bit, so you can get your perspective back. I had had a particularly challenging week that came to a climax on Saturday when our water was cut for most of the day (8:30 am-10 pm). I wanted to grumble and complain but then I realized that:

a) the water had lasted long enough to have my morning coffee :)

b) I still had some water in the barrels that we keep in our bathrooms (because it isn’t really that unusual for us to have brief water cuts) and

c) that in reality I am living on the edge of the Sahara—I should be grateful for the amount of water that the Niger River provides us in the capital!

I have had friends from home ask about if we have to ration water and things of that sort but other than occasionally having a problem with the water towers not being able to provide water pressure (because of electricity cuts) and the odd shut down to work on the lines, we have been truly blessed!

I also discovered this week that our newsletter was feeding responses to an email account that I don’t normally use and that I had year old email waiting for me. If one of those emails belonged to you, please forgive my lack of response and know that you are very important to us and our ministry here in Niger. I will do my best to sift through it all this coming week.

Thanks to all of you that have been praying for Cole (and my class) as he (they) writes his (their) exams. Cole finishes his 6^th and 7^th (of 12) exams this afternoon and I know that your prayers have made a great difference in this very stressful time.  My class seemed pretty happy with the exam they took yesterday and will be writing one more next week.

We are very sad that we couldn’t be part of the FMCIC General Conference this coming weekend. We especially miss the opportunity to reconnect with so many of our supporting churches (& you!), but know that we will be checking in to follow on-line when we can and that you are in our prayers.