This week marked the celebration of independence in two of my homes. Of course, the United States celebrated its 241st year of freedom on July 4th. While Malawi, my newest home, celebrated its 53rd year of freedom on July 6th. I love the fourth of July in the US, it's a wonderful celebration, but the closest thing we have to a "theme" is bbqs and fireworks. Malawi has a theme each year (this year's theme was "Thanking God for the season of plenty"), and we wer...

It was a quiet week. I'm glad it was a quiet week. My gut was not very pleased with me, so I ventured out a couple of times, but tried lying low for the most part. There were two highlights, first, immigration! And I say this with no sarcasm or irony. I love going to immigration; which is good, since we have to go every 30-60 days. Why do I love immigration? Because everyone is so nice and helpful. You walk in and they greet you with a smile and offer you a sea...

Our week started of great with two visits on Sunday. We started by picking up Chimwemwe Kalima at the LifeNet's shop (she is the clerk) and she directed us to the home of Patrick and Lisnette Maferera; their home is about an hour drive from our home and the church hall (it's likely triple that time when you factor having to walk to the main road, and then catching a minibus to the area, and then walking the rest of the way to the hall [with four kids]), so...

Sunday started bright and early with a last stop at Mugg and Bean, one of our favorite coffee shops in Malawi, and it's only in Blantyre, so we have to take advantage while we're there. The good news about this coffee shop is that they serve more than coffee; otherwise, I'd probably hate it… coffee is terrible. I've tried most of my adult life to like coffee, and I just don't; I always feel as if I'm missing out on being in the cool kids club. Thankfully I ha...

Sunday was Pentecost, and another lovely day with our brethren. We spent a lot of time getting back in the groove of things, including going grocery shopping again, and heading to the post office. I have to tell you another story about the post office. I hate the post office. There is always a long wait; the people who work there are disinterested at best, hostile at worst. So, we pay for a P.O. Box, but for some reason they no longer deliver our mail to our b...