Day 29: Rest. Pizza. Date.

Phones and technology are the bane of my existence, lol. 

Today was a really good day. We chose to protect our rest day, even though there are lots of really cool things we could have done today. 

I slept in, had no run scheduled (green box!), we watched a movie (it was more Shrek). I read some in Isaiah and in one of the books I'm reading. I finished our staff book on racial gridlock, now I'm just reading the book with Alexis, finishing the TPM book, and am going to start Til We Have Faces, which is probably the best book ever (though Les Miserables and The Lord of the Rings and Dune will always have special places in my heart). If you haven't read it, read it. 

Izzy and I walked to pick up pizza for our team's lunch. We stopped by the AM/PM and put some saldo on my phone (which has been a mess all day). I missed a text and call from Matthew and from Doña Helen, who is our landlady. We have a hole in our roof and water is dripping onto our floor. She thought she fixed it, then it got worse. Also, for a while, my phone wouldn't let me type on it. Then, for a while, it just wouldn't turn on. *sigh*

After lunch, I took a big nap. It was lovely. I looked at the calendar and tried to figure out some plans for our time here and for my time here. 

Everyone here is so hospitable and welcoming. It's such a warm culture, and the way people are valued leads to a more relaxed culture, so people have time for each other. But, I am trying so hard to fit in so much, that I worry that even the 6 weeks we have left will feel insufficient. 

But, it'll be ok, I reckon. 

We got to see Tony a few times today. Doña Helen had some things she was working on and they were in and out of the house. 

Around 4:45, I got dressed up and walked over to Cafe Momo, for a date. Alexis and I had a date over Zoom, where we both dressed up and ate together and talked and stuff. It was really sweet. It was raining really hard, and I had some trouble hearing, but it was really sweet. 7 is when they close, but I wasn't paying attention to the time. Momo folks let me stay until 7:45, while they cleaned up, but then they flicked the lights at me, so I walked home. Then we Zoomed some more and talked about lots of stuff. I felt nervous for some of it, but it was really good. We watched some episodes of a show we're watching together, then said goodnight about 100 times. 

Sorry if that's cheesy, and not what you came for. But, I'm just amazed. I get overwhelmed sometimes, feeling loved by God that I'm getting to be in this relationship. Like, maybe we'll work out, maybe we won't, but God's hand is really evident in all of this. The timing, the way we are, the ways he's guiding and protecting and refining us. It's kinda crazy. 

Ok, anyway. Tomorrow is the museum and lots of planning for our team. I feel nervous about getting the CDI devotionals figured out, using Marta's system. I wish we coulda gotten some MAWL* action on this, but I think it's good we're making it our own, then we can give it to the church here and they can make it their own. 

*You may know this, but MAWL is the way to do discipleship or training in a skill.
Model - I do, you watch
Assist - We do together
Watch - You do, I watch
Leave - You do. 

For good, reproducible discipleship, that includes training people to MAWL others as well (that sounds funnier said out loud), so maybe there should be some other letter after L to signify passing it on. Sometimes, God puts us in circumstances where we just need to trust him and do the thing though. That reminds us that in all our our systems and plans and structures, he is still the one doing the work through us and making us competent as ministers of his Spirit (that's a Bible verse). 

Ooh, it's almost 1 AM here, so, obviously, it's Wordle Time. Alexis got it in 3, so let's see how I do.

Muahaha, I also got it in 3:

Wordle 358 3/6

⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩

🟨🟩🟩🟨🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I don't think that's spoilery in any way. Once you've gotten it, the real challenge is if you can figure out my previous words.

PRAYER

-for us to walk in step with the Spirit
-for the museum trip tomorrow to go well
-for us to get everything ready for this week
-for this week to go smoothly without Lagos and Ana Raquel to hold our hands
-for good team dynamics
-for powerful moments with God
-for wisdom on how to do H@ngout
-for good relationships with the people here

Date #6 - First Zoom Date