Morning 1 in Rwanda

A quick check in this morning. Slept great. Woke up about 3 am. Huge coughing fit. But fell back to sleep an hour later. Slept until about 7:45.

I've begun my talking "fast" to try to get my voice back. Alycia is heading over to the initial planning meeting while I take the morning off to "fast." I'll head over this afternoon.

More to come when I actually have something to talk about (and can "talk" about it. :))

Thanks for your prayers.

Finally in Rwanda!

We made it! 25 hours of flight time. 41 hours from the moment we left our house until we arrived at the hotel in Rwanda. Surprisingly wide awake but that will change soon, I'm sure.

I've still very little voice left. I may have to go on a talking "fast" for a day or two. I don't want to ruin my source of livelihood!

We're busy unpacking. We had a decent meal after a long day of rather bland food.

Tomorrow we get at it, whatever it is.

For now, we are OK, glad to be here, and ready for bed after a nice, long shower.

On the Road to Rwanda

I'm sitting in London Heathrow Airport after a 10 hour flight from Phoenix Easter Sunday night. My daughter and I are on our way to Rwanda to help with a youth conference held there, sponsored by the ELCA. Because I had such a public anxiety meltdown last July when I was supposed to go to Rwanda (see previous Rwanda posts) I decided to not tell anyone about this trip. No one but my immediate family knew I was going. No staff. No board members. No one. Kind of fun keeping a secret.

If you read the other Rwanda posts you got a sense of the anxiety I can experience before such trips. This trip I had done pretty well. Until Tuesday of last week. On Tuesday I received my first traffic ticket in the mail. I had a very challenging conversation with people close to me. I came down with a fever! Not good stuff for one prone to anxiety. But I kept practicing my skills. And even though I had some moments, from Saturday night on I was calm and ready to go. Ironically, I began to get a bit anxious because I wasn't feeling anxious, even though I was flying with the virus still in play. I was a bit nervous my anxiety would rob me of Easter but we had a great Easter morning at Grace!

From here we have a 10 hour flight to Johannesburg (Both BA flights were business class thanks to our points!) Then a 3 hour layover. A 4 hour flight to Nairobi. 3 hour layover. 1 hour to Rwanda. We arrive there 5:30 Tuesday evening--9 hours ahead of Phoenix. That's a long couple of days!

We will return home April 1. No joke.

Keep us in your prayers.

I will send as many updates as I can.

Tim's Big Colonoscopy Adventure--Part 8

8:45 am--home! and lived to tell about. Still deeply under the med so a bit loopy and spacey.

Procedure a breeze. Don't remember most of it. Love those drugs.

The colon is a ok with a small touch of diverticulosis which is treated with more fiber.

Other than that, my colon is the poster child for colons.

Now it's time for breakfast, and a big sleep.

So, in conclusion--for you weenies out there--get it done. It's a piece of cake (or better said, a piece of fiber-optic that's this......................long!)

This is pastor Tim, signing out on another rite of passage. What a way to celebrate three years of Grace.

Tim's Big Colonoscopy Adventure--Part 7

6:17 am, Tuesday, March 11--C-Day! I leave in about 10 mins for the big scope-o-rama.

A so-so sleep last night. I couldn't have water past midnight and am very, very dry. Also, the stomach is still dancing a bit.

But...all in all, so far so moving.

Tim's Big Colonoscopy Adventure--Part 6

8:15 pm--what a delight-full day. Gatorade. Chicken Broth. White Grape Juice. More trips to the bathroom than I can count. And the colonoscopy hasn't even happened yet!

Now...time to head to bed and read awhile (and make a few more trips to the bathroom, no doubt.)

More tomorrow. I know you can hardly wait.

Tim's Big Colonoscopy Adventure--Part 5

4:55 pm--I was warned by a few people yesterday about how awful the Miralax diet would be--that by the end of drinking down 64 ounces of the stuff in a 2-3 hour period of time I would be gagging.

But, thanks to the colonoscopy place, I mixed the stuff with Gatorade and have not had a problem with it whatsoever. In fact, I can't taste the stuff at all.

Jan used Crystal Light last year and hated it because of the artificial sweetener aftertaste.

Having said that, I think I'm wearing a groove in the carpet to the bathroom!