Wake Up Call

It's not unusual for me to wake up around 5:00 in the morning. I usually get a cup of coffee and sit in the dark. Sometimes God will give me a scripture to read or a song will begin to run through my mind. Sometimes, I just sit.
Promptly at 5:00 a.m, the Muslim call to prayer begins, through loud speakers. We get a variety of "choruses" from smaller mosques in our immediate area. I would like to tell you it is melodious, but those of you who have visited Tanzania can attest, it is not "music to the ears".

The construction of the largest mosque in East Africa is near completion about a mile away "as the crow flies". I don't think their speaker system is up and running yet, but I'm sure it will be before long. ..........which is beside the point.

So, I joined the chanters this morning as the words from a song by Phillips, Craig, and Dean ran through my mind:
Like oil upon Your feet
Like wine for You to drink
Like water from my heart
I pour my love on you
If praise is like perfume
I lavish mine on you
Til every drop is gone
I pour my love on you

Psalm 48:10: "Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the end of the earth."

My Utmost for His Highest--March 4

This is Oswald Chambers classic devotional "My Utmost for His Highest". I gave a copy of this to Ed, before we married, in 1991. We have been reading it each year since....not each and every day, but most of it. Next to the Bible, many of the devotions have given insight to who Jesus is and who we are in Christ.

Many pages are underlined, highlighted, and often notes written in the margins as a reminder of what was happening in our lives at the time. I have come upon one of the grandkids pretending to read and carefully marking the page, just as they had seen me do.

Today, I turned to March 4 and found one devotion which spoke profoundly to me as I wrestled with joining Ed in Tanzania in 2007. I loved my job and everything about it.....especially the friends I had there.

PRACTICALITY told me:
You are needed here.
You love this job.
You would be giving up great benefits.
You love this job.
It's wonderful pay.
You love this job.
You can retire in 7 years.
You love this job.

But I found that God wanted to speak something else to me through this devotion on March 4, 2007.
"Practical work may be a competition against abandonment to God, because practical work is based on this argument---'Think how much value you would be in that particular type of work.' That attitude does not put Jesus Christ as the Guide as to where we should go, but our judgment as to where we are of most use. Never consider whether you are of use; but ever consider that you are not your own but His."

The following day, I let my supervisor know, I would be joining Ed in June.

The Friendly Pepper Upper

I have been drinking Dr. Pepper since I was a little girl. My precious Uncle Price had a Dr. Pepper bottling plant in Pecos, Texas. Dr. Pepper, along with Nehi Grape were the only beverages served when we had family gatherings. I have never strayed from my faithfulness to DP and was appalled when my children, at some point chose the other "coke" as their beverage of choice.

Each time we return to the US, business at Sonic increases as I make my daily run for my DP with "good ice". I heard rumors, which I came to Tanzania, that Dr. Pepper was spotted occasionally in Nairobi, Kenya and sometimes in Dar es Salaam. After 2 years, I made my first trip to Dar es Salaam a few weeks ago. We happened on a small grocery store that caters to "ex-patriots" and imagine my surprise when I found Dr. Pepper in a 1.5 litre bottle.....priced at $5. I could only bring myself to purchase one bottle. It tasted so good..........more like the Dublin Dr. Pepper we get in Texas. I did my best to stretch it out over several days and it eventually went flat............but even that was good.

"I'm a Pepper....you're a Pepper.......wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too???"