I am a city girl. I like to have things neat and clean. I hate bugs, mice, and crawling things. I have learned to hike and camp only because Dean likes to do these things.

BUT…here I am in Nanjoka, in rural Malawi.

One day a small snake slithered towards me as a I was hanging clothes outside. I quickly got someone to help; he hit it repeatedly with a broom and understatedly said, “That one is bad” in Chichewa. After he left, the snake started moving again, trying to get away. I ran for our machete and frantically hit it over and over, saying, “You will not hurt my family.” We later identified the snake as a black mamba, one of the world’s most poisonous snakes.

I am a city girl. I am not used to hearing bats flying in the ceiling and leaving droppings. I am not used to developing my own curriculum for homeschooling based only on the books borrowed from our kids last school. I am not used to needing four-wheel drive to get home through a river of mud. I am not used to having sweat running down my back most of the day, even when at rest.

But I need to remember when these things overwhelm me that I am here for a reason–to care for orphans and love the people around us.