This morning when we woke up at Alketa's, the electricity was out. Though Ermelinda was able to go to work, Alketa and I both had to delay our plans, Alketa went in late to work and I met Ana after her meeting at school rather than walking there with her and having some quiet time at the lake. I am reminded of how dependent on technology and other circumstances we are and how unstable life is as I think on the past week...
Obviously, the most recent example of this was the electricity going out. Before leaving for Albania, those who would be traveling were warned that electricity may go out at any time and we would have no idea about when it would come back on. Thankfully this has been my first experience with this. We were also told that the water would only be on for a few hours in a day, so we had to make sure to take showers when we could...there have also been no problems with this, again, thankfully.
The second incident I think about is the FBC team's delayed traveling because of bad weather. They finally arrived this afternoon, exhausted of course, after travelling for three days. As great as it is that we can fly airplanes and travel the world much more quickly than a hundred years ago, we still haven't figured out how to control the weather...and I don't think we ever will. We can't fully count on everything working out perfectly...in fact, I think it's a blessing if it does all work out.
The third experience with this is my attempts to Skype while I have been here. Up until this past week, the only voice to voice (and when the internet worked well enough, video to video) contact from home I had was with Cory. How blessed I am to not only have the opportunity to talk to someone from back home, but someone who cares about me in a very special way and who has encouraged me in this endeavor. If anyone would protest my leaving Ohio other than my parents, I would guess it would be my boyfriend; but he not only was fine with my leaving, he encouraged it because he knew it was a desire that God placed on my heart, and he knew it would be a great opportunity for me to fall more in love with God and seek what His will for my life is. He has continued to encourage me in our conversations to delight in the Lord and trust in Him. As much as I feel at home here in Tirana, I cannot wait to go home to Ohio and to see Cory and my family. So the third experience was not only my broken connections while talking to Cory, but when I tried to talk to my mom on Thursday (not having spoken to her for 3 1/2 weeks), we couldn't hear each other at all. We only had video and chatting. The following day, after my mom tried practicing with the neighbor girl and said everything was fixed, I could hear my parents and Susan, but they couldn't hear me. And no matter what I tried, I couldn't fix my microphone, which was weird since I recently had spoken with Cory and we had no problems with audio. So midway through the call, Cory called me, so I put my family on hold, and lo and behold, Cory could hear me. So telling him I would call him back after, I went back to my parents who decided to fiddle with the volume, and they discovered they had my voice turned off and were now able to hear me. Ha!
All these incidents remind me of how unstable life is, no matter how much we try to control it. We must depend on the sovereign, unchanging One if we are to find any stability in life. No, everything will not work out perfectly while we are on earth, but we can always rely on our Perfect Father. I can't control the electricity, the weather, my mom's technology, the internet, or every part of my relationships with other people, but I can seek Christ, being near to the One of/through/to whom all things have been created, and doing my best to glorify Him.
Psalm 73:25-26, 28: Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is nothing upon earth I desire that I desire beside thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.
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