Welp, good afternoon and happy end of July! This is the coldest July I think I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. Yay for living in the southern hemisphere. And since there’s always too much I could probably tell you, I’ve decided to make a list of 31 lessons, whether learned or relearned, to represent July. Yep. So, here we go…

The basket is for money tithed. The floor is for chickens tithed.

1. Don’t have any money to tithe. Then tithe a chicken.
2. Wearing a skirt doesn’t disqualify you from playing ninja tag, so do it if you’re cool.
3. It’s better to be sweaty, dirty & exhausted at the end of the day, having poured out everything into others, than to be clean, rested & organized, having benefited no one but yourself.
4. If you burp mid-sentence while entertaining guests, you just keep going. Kenyan etiquette. Kenyetiquette.
5. The best samosas are found in Machakos, and there’s nothing like getting them delivered to you through your car window as you stop momentarily on the side of the road.
6. It’s always chai time somewhere.
7. To know your friends are experiencing God’s love, goodness & faithfulness in ways you always wanted them to is a joy that’s in a category all its own.
8. If you want to be left speechless, have a kid spit on your face from 3 feet away.
9. Having to explain to a mother why her child has to have his leg amputated is hard, really hard.
10. Many hands make light work, and if you have the right partner, dividing and conquering is so much better than bearing the burden alone.
11. You’re not usually aware of habits you develop until you have to train someone else to do what you’ve been doing alone.
12. Having one of your bosses visit is a very, very good thing.
13. Almond M&M’s taste better in Kenya.
14. So do Kashi granola bars.
15. A 30 minute interview can absolutely be worth 4 hours of driving.
16. Reuniting with the kids I’ve met at mobile clinics once they check in to the hospital is a sweet reunion indeed. It means I get the privilege of walking alongside them through surgery, recovery & healing, and that our journey together gets to continue.
17. David Ouma, the first CUREkid in Kenya, will always have a special place in my heart.
18. When you don’t think you have anything to offer, offer a smile. Sometimes, that’s all someone needs to feel hopeful or optimistic.
19. Knowing one of your best friends is within an hour of you yet being unable to do anything about it is the definition of a tease.
20. I’ve never felt more white than when the last of the white people left (the American group that’s been here for the summer). The Last of the Mohicans has become The Last of the Wazungu.
21. Skype is one of the greatest inventions ever.
22. Taking time to help a kid make his wheelchair feel like a race car is always time well spent.
23. Watching the surgery done to correct a bowed tibia & knowing it will heal into a straight leg will leave you in awe of God’s ability to regenerate a child’s body.
24. Wearing anklets while playing soccer is a recipe for bruised ankles.
25. Sometimes the stars are company enough when you’re walking alone.
26. Words & actions can be like paper cuts. The small ones can hurt the most.
27. There are a lot of decisions to make each day, but the one that should be made first is to tell God you love Him and you trust Him.
28. God is revealing Himself all the time if only we choose to open our eyes. It’s crazy what life looks like when you look to Him as your reference point.
29. Spending $1.80 for a 1 hour conversation with your best friend is a very, very wise investment.
30. If it’s a Sunday, and it’s a kid’s birthday, then “Happy Birthday” will be among the songs sung in church that morning.
31. No matter where you are in the world, a nap has the same therapeutic qualities.

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

Numbers 23:19

I’m so glad we’ve been made in God’s image, and not the other way around. Trust Him to be who He says He is and to do what He promises to do, because our greatest potential is in our decreasing and His increasing…

Originally posted at http://nashipai.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/31-lessons/