Scotland!

well i can finally announce that I am in Scotland! Most of you already know this because I told you in secret but we were waiting to announce it to the internet because we were surprising everyone who is here.

Sam and I had a very uneventful flight from Zambia to Scotland. Albeit quite long and drawn out. We went from Zambia to Harri- Zimbabwe, from Harri to Nyrobi-Kenya, from Kenya to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Glasgow-Scotland. Altogether we were in the air for about 14 hours.

I underestimated the affect that coming from a third world country to a westernized on would have on me. We arrived in Glasgow at six o'clock on the 23rd and were immediately treated to McDonalds....which I am a bit ashamed to say I MISSED SO MUCH! We were siting in the drive through and I had my burger in my hand just taking in a big whiff of the aroma! Funny the things that you miss when you are far away from anything familiar. Coming from the Lusaka Airport to Scotland, the airports got more and more civilized. When we got into the Amsterdam airport, the sight of the shops and resturaunts brought tears to my eyes. Might seem a bit silly to you but I assure you that you would fully understand if you had been away from familiarity for six months.

It has been so amazing to be reunited with some of my classmates.. I would compare it to coming home from a war. We were all swapping battle stories.....

...to be continued.

Sorry for the silence yesterday! It was a good day! A long long long day.

Lesson: Don't take Dramamine (at least I can't. makes me act like I am drunk).

Passion: Friends are the sweetest gift in the world. Separation from them only makes the reunion that much sweeter! Cherish your friends and keep your relationships with them alive. Even from a distance they will love you with all their hearts. Send a note or leave a message telling them how much you love them....

What a friend we have in Jesus...

"Greater love has no man, then to lay down his life for a friend! "

So because of certain events I have been short-winded these last few days but I promise I will be able to elaborate intensely tomorrow evening!

Love you all,

Cally Jane

wait....wait....wait....

So today was all about waiting...for what I can't say at the moment but you will find out soon.

Lesson: those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength....

Passion: Waiting on something important can be stressful... but let not you heart be troubled. Let yourself be swept away in joyful anticipation but be wary of anxiety.

November 22nd- Eat Pray Love

Today was a good day. I woke up at six to talk to my family on Skype. It is always so amazing just to hear their voices. Sometimes, if the Internet is cooperating, I get to see their faces too! After I talked for a while with my parents (and kept them up way past their bed time) I headed off to church. I attend the "Church on the Hill" as we call it. We live on a compound which is probably about five or six acres square (but I am bad with those kind of things so it could be bigger or smaller as far as I know). We live on the South side of the compound. The Church, the Bible College and the Mepepe staff houses are on the North side on the top of a hill.

As I was walking to the road to church this morning I noticed that I was tuning out. By tuning out I mean going through the motions of walking without thinking. I was looking down at the road before me barely calculating my next step. Something inside me woke up all of the sudden. I raised my head up and took in the vista surrounding me. I was about halfway up the road. The sun was still new in the sky and the smell of the rain from last night was still fresh and cool. The road is made up of mostly iron pyrite, that sparkly stuff usually referred to as"fools gold", so the sun was shattered into a million tiny shards all along my way. The banana trees were all waxy and shiny from their rain bath the night before and the sound of the cicadas and the grasshoppers was a harmonious "good morning" hymn. The realization of that one moment took my breath away. In the remaining minutes of my walk I praised God for His Africa, for the opportunity that HE has given me to be in this glorious place.

This afternoon my teammate and I got the chance to go to Lusaka to see a movie! This is a big treat! We wanted to see the new Harry Potter movie but we found when we got there that the screening had been delayed for two weeks. Instead we saw Julia Robert's new movie "Eat, Pray, Love" It was a very good story. The movie follows a young author who is sick of her life. She feels that it is boring and expected. She is drowning in monotony in her job, her marriage and her everyday life. I won't be a spoiler because I recommend that you see the movie. Trying not to give anything away, I will try to make my point about the lesson I learned today. In the movie, Liz(Julia Roberts) goes on a pilgrimage to find her passion. She learns how to live with pleasure in Italy, learns how to pray in India, and learns how to love in Bali. Although I didn't agree with some of the philosophy in the film, part of it struck a cord with me...the mundaneness of life. No matter where we are, what we own, or accomplish...life can be mundane. We often trudge through with our eyes halfway shut and our gaze at our feet. But in our hearts there is a little tugging that says "this isn't how I want to live". I have been reading a book called "The Sacred Romance" it is about how we are created to be romanced and thrilled. That it is our nature to strive for passion by our God. That this beautiful earth that we live on was created just for His bride...us. HE is our ultimate Romancer.

Lesson for today: Raise up your head and take a breath. Breathe in the beauty around you and let it point you to your Creator.

Passion: Fall in love. Fall in love every moment. Fall in love with everyday mundane smells, sounds, tastes and people. You will have nothing to gain or to lose but love.

Cally Jane

The Today Experiment

Thursday the 18th marked six months since my arrival to Zambia. So far the experience has been heart breaking, breath taking, soul rending, character building, the highest of highs, the lowest of lows and its taken a whole lot of growing.

I was chatting with Mom and Dad this morning and they expressed to me that I have been a bit remiss about sharing my day to day experiences. They are right...as usual. So I decided that the best way to share my day to day life would be a blog.

I was sitting outside on my swing this evening....actually I was laying down on it looking up at the sky as it was fading from brilliant African blue to the pinky grey of evening. I was thinking about the lessons that I have learned today and then it popped into my head...that is what I will blog about :) SO my Hypothesis for this Experiment of a blog is that I honestly believe there is a lesson to be learned in life everyday and a passion to be discovered in that lesson. With this blog I hope to express a new perspective(lesson) that I have stumbled upon that day. I hope that I have the courage and tenacity to see and understand these lessons. I know that some days there is an abundance of obvious lessons and I know that other days it can be extremely difficult to find any hint of passion. I hope that this can be informative to you and encouraging! Keep me in your prayers!

Cally Jane