Just today ...

Is all I'm worried about. There is so much to do, and so little time ... and I'm down with a cold but still up working. And yet all the problems I can see around me paled yesterday. They really aren't that big a deal. You see, we had a wonderful visit yesterday with our good friends from Tanzania, Rachel and Joass, and their little 6-yr-old (and our God-daughter) Glory. In their new home they just bought and moved into, no less!

Joass and Rachel came to the US about 9 years ago, while he worked on advanced degrees in business, especially at Willamette U. here in Salem. While they were here we became good friends and their daughter was born and baptized. One of the wonders of my life was holding that beautiful little girl through part of her baptism. All too soon, their student visa was over and they went home, but it wasn't really home so much anymore. So they applied for approval to immigrate to the US, an expensive process that often takes many years. In the meantime, they started the long process of building a house in near Dar es Salaam. A couple years ago, they literally won the lottery to apply for US citizenship and started preparations to leave their old lives behind. When it was time to start moving to the US, Rachel first while Glory and Joass remained in Tanzania.

Rachel got a job and started establishing a new life here while back "home" Glory went to school and Joass continuued working for the World Bank and finishing the house they had started in Tanzania. A year passed, with Rachel here and hubby and daughter there. The house was finally finished so they could move in (I think) two nights before it was time for Glory and Joass to leave Tanzania and join Rachel here. The house that they had worked so hard on and scraped for the money to build was completed, but Rachel never saw it done nor spent a night there. They left it all behind them. Their first year together here was spent in a tiny two-bedroom apartment.

Now, Rachel works in Salem and Joass for an accounting firm in Portland, and they have a wonderful brand new home built just for them on the north edge of Keizer, in the new land they have chosen for a home. They still miss parts of their lives in Tanzania, and their families, but they feel this is such a wonderful country for little Glory to grow up in and live that it is worth the sacrifice.

Talking with Rachel and Joass yesterday, I was struck by what a huge chance and sacrifice they have chosen, leaving their culture and family behind to strike out anew in a new world. With the hope and the courage that they display every day, what can we, who have lived here all our lives, really have to worry about?

And most importantly to me, my good friend and my little God-daughter are near and part of my daily life!