Expect the Unexpected

Send off some teammates, shop for groceries, and attend a couple of meetings. This was what I wanted to do on this intended four-day trip to the capital city. Needless to say, things didn't go as planned. 

If there is anything I've learned from living in Burkina Faso, it's to expect the unexpected. 

A combination of car trouble and Emily getting malaria and salmonella ended up in a twelve-day stay. Emily will be the first to tell you what an unfortunate combination that is. Thankfully, she didn't have to be hospitalized since I ended up turning our guest house room into the Ashli Clinic and giving her IV hydration right there in what we affectionately named "the salmonella room." 

Just when you thought malaria and salmonella was exciting enough, some missionary friends added to the adventure when their 19 month old baby was swinging outside and a rabid bat landed in her lap and scratched her. This turned into a frenzy of rabies vaccines and a hunt for immunoglobulin, which apparently doesn't exist in this country and had to be brought right away by a kind friend who carried it in a cooler on an airplane as soon as he could get a ticket. I'm telling you, you can't make this kind of stuff up. 

It's a crazy kind of life we live over here! 

Even in all the craziness and unexpected turns in events, God redeemed all the extra time spent in Ouagadougou. With him, nothing is ever wasted. As a result of our extended stay, we got to attend a women's Bible study, English church, and expat ultimate frisbee. We got to do Taco Tuesday with gal friends, watch late night movies with our french missionary friend, and go swimming with 6 missionary kids who had four hours of fun trying to dunk and drown me. I got to hang my hammock in the park and start each day with a cup of good tea and Bible study in the courtyard of the guest house. I had coffee with a friend who I don't see very often, received some counsel from trusted people about my future, met and welcomed a new missionary family, and even had dinner with some missionary friends who also care for orphans, and they showed me their new ministry center opening in August. I witnessed Paulin smile, was present for the birth of our teammate's fourth son, and helped out with several other medical things including a case of cellulitis, acute back pain, and finding a cervical collar for a lady who had a moto accident...not to mention the whole rabies and malaria and salmonella thing. Hooray for tropical medicine and for being a nurse in this unusually crazy place.

As I drove home after our unexpected, extended twelve-day Ouaga stay, I thanked God for how he comes through and shows up when things don't go the way we had planned. Even though I didn't want to be in Ouaga twelve days (and at times was very vocal in complaining about it), I look back and see how God filled the time with important, refreshing, and just plain fun things - things that he must have known I needed. 

As soon as we arrived home, the dark clouds from the north rolled in, the wind picked up, the dust blew over, and the rain came. The Burkinabé view the rain as a sign of God's blessing, and I did too. The rain was like his way of saying welcome home. After twelve days of crazy and unexpected but also rich experiences, Emily was well and we were finally home. 

Things won't be normal here either; things won't always go as planned. We have learned to expect the unexpected, to just roll with it, and more importantly to embrace everything that happens as another adventure with Jesus and an opportunity to trust that God works all things for our good and will never allow one single experience or event to be wasted.