Dripping Laundry and enough

Christmas 2012-18

I originally decided that such thoughts should be a bit more private when a friend challenged me…who are we to only share our strengths with others and not are weaknesses our moments of faith only and not also our moments of doubting? How can we encourage others if we are not honest with ourselves.

We headed out with a “plan” which made it simpler to say “no” to one more Christmas in the states and leave before the holidays toward what awaited us. Then we arrived. We’ve been in Nairobi for three weeks now and all the plans that brought us here earlier then we planned have changed.

As we ushered in the new year today with our family at home I found myself thinking about how I really do not know at all what the future holds. We will be studying language somewhere for some amount of time. Decisions could take weeks to be made and even then everything changes quickly around here.We find ourselves in a bit of a holding pattern where our future is unclear to us.

So I have found my favorite time of the day is hanging the clothes up to dry. Laundry cannot sit here, there is no dryer and our laundry room is small so if we get behind we have wet clothes…well everywhere. Every day I run 1-2 loads and hang them to dry in the laundry room. This little room has no glass windows just some stucco patterning that allows in a breeze or squeals from children outside or sometimes lots of rain when it rains (quite often) here. It is often quiet as I hang them up and I find myself praying. Often in this quiet task God speaks to me and often asks, “is this enough Abukk”. If I brought you halfway around the world to hang laundry in Nairobi is this enough….or more specifically am I enough? What if I brought you out here to home school, cook, and clean, disciple the children and clean some more? I find myself crying out, of course Lord you are enough…and then the questions come, what are we doing here? how will we learn language? why did the visas fail to come through? Where will we live long term there is not enough housing for us? Did I really come to an environment that is harder to live and function in to hang laundry and treat my children for malaria and worms?

Then something amazing happens. It is time to do another load of laundry

The wringer is broken on the laundry machine so I wring each piece by hand and I hang it up and again he gently calls me, “is this enough Abuk…am I enough” I find the depth of my soul crying out, “yes Lord it is enough you are enough!” and then in the same breath “help my unbelief God meet me here”.

In many ways that little laundry room has become to me holy ground.

I don’t know if you are hanging laundry, pouring cereal, wiping noses, going to work,  or mopping floors but is that enough, is He enough? What if your life is summed up not in changing the world, or wild successes but in hanging laundry and knowing God is enough

What if God brings you halfway around the world to merely teach you more of Him, is it enough, is He enough?

I love hanging laundry because He reminds me that whether I am in Kinderuma 1b in Nairobi, a cute 2 bedroom in auburn or a mud hut in south Sudan it is enough because He is enough.

5 thoughts on “Dripping Laundry and enough

  • 2 January, 2013 at 2:28 pm
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    Aww, A—, although I am not miles away with the challenges of performing tasks that are not so simple as they are here in the States, I can somewhat relate. As I watch kids day in & day out, run errands to & fro, try to keep up w/ a home that never is quite clean all at once, and then go to my office cleaning job, that office is much like your laundry room. It is a quiet, peaceful place where I have been able to pour out my heart to God. I’ve cried, prayed, sang…all the time wondering ‘What else am I supposed to be doing?’ As you say, is God enough? Your ministry in sharing your story while there, even if it’s about ‘just doing the laundry’ is an encouragement to all of us. Jon sees you, your children see you, your neighbors see you, and God sees your heart in obeying. Our prayers continue as you continue, keeping in faith, questioning and hearing God speak to you. Hugs ~ Bev

  • 2 January, 2013 at 2:39 pm
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    Thank you for your brave honesty. You write so beautifully and it helps me know how to better pray for you and your family. May His kingdom come both in you and through you and for you as you wait on Him.

  • 2 January, 2013 at 5:11 pm
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    Thank you for sharing! The reality if this is so true! Not easy to accept, but the sooner we do, the easier we can roll with all the unexpected changes! We have your updated picture on the fridge, I love it and continue to pray for you all! God is good and I love seeing all He is doing with you guys!

  • 5 January, 2013 at 8:29 pm
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    Thanks for sharing how God is working in your life! We have been following your blog from time to time, since we saw your names in the SIM US prayer guide. Our daughter, Amy (Winger) Kidder went to Doro in 2007 and we have been praying for the missionaries there on the South Sudan team (there have been several Amys there!) We can picture you in Kindaruma there in Nairobi. We were there in July 2008 when Amy and Nate got married in Kenya, and then this past October we spent a wonderful month in Nairobi with our new grandchild, Ethan, and Karina, and Amy and Nate. Maybe you will get to meet them….Nate is getting his Masters in Biblical studies at the AIU, so they are living in student housing there in Karen. For sure it is not easy to be so unsettled with a family! May God give you His grace and patience as He unfolds the plan for the next step in your journey!

    Blessings,
    Ardys & Gary Winger

  • 6 January, 2013 at 3:38 pm
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    Thank you, dear A—. The Lord used you to remind me that life is all about Him, to refocus my heart on Him and recognizing that yes, HE IS ENOUGH.

    Love to you in our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
    Judy Baker

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