Treading water, day 3

One of the benefits of having absolutely nothing to do, is that I am sleeping better.  For a long time, I have not been able to sleep much past 5:00 am, but I did not wake up today until after 7:00 am.  It is wonderful!  We seem to have lost our nail clippers during the trip.  I don't know if you have ever considered this, but having a way to trim your nails properly can sometimes become critical.  Now that I am learning my way around town a little better, I knew exactly which store to go to, and sure enough, there were nail scissors.  Success!  The Foxes and we went on a group hike to the store to restock on groceries.  We had some light rain on the way, but nothing like an Alabama rain.  The kids made a point of stomping in nearly every puddle, of which there are a considerable number, so they stayed entertained during this chore.  

The clothes are finally dry, although Libby hit a few of them with the hair dryer, just to make sure.

We have no way to cook in the room, but Jill set us up with a way to at least heat some water.  We have a small metal container and a heating element that we stick in the water.  This allows Libby to have her coffee in the morning, or to heat water for instant soup.  We are moving up in the world!

This reminds me of a few of the ingenious things David has done in Odessa to make life easier for them.  The first is brilliant, and after trying to dry clothes our way, I really appreciate it.  The ceilings in their flat are very high - maybe 14 feet or so.  David rigged up a clothes drying line that is low, so Jill can reach it, on one side of the kitchen, but as it travels to the other side, it also rises up near the ceiling, so it is both out of the way, and above the stove and water heater, so it reaps the benefit of all that wasted heat. It is a very efficient way to dry the clothes.

The other thing is their hot water.  They do not have very good water pressure in the flat, and it seems that if the pressure is bad, their water heater also does not work well either (it is essentially an instantaneous water heater).  So they have diverted the water into a water barrel, purchased and installed a pump, which pumps through the water heater, and on to the shower or sink.  Brilliant! And they have all the hot water they need.

Don't forget to pray for our missionary friends.  Many things we take for granted, that are easy for us, are a bit more challenging for them.