Home again, but where is home again?

Another long car ride, a 3-hour border crossing, and one near-accident with a goat, and we are back in Francistown. We had no water when we left, and though assured it was turned on in the middle of the week, we had no water when we got back on Saturday. When we first lost our water, it wasn't too bad because we had stored up quite a bit of tap water. Everyone was able to brush their teeth and wash their hands, we cooked meals, boiled water on the stove to wash dishes, made coffee and iced tea, and still had enough to occasionally flush the toilet. Discovering the water still off on Saturday evening was rather alarming, because we were literally down to our last couple jugs of water. Knowing we wouldn't get anyone to work on it until Monday morning, we went down the street a couple blocks and booked a room at a lodge.

This actually worked out rather nicely. The lodge is within walking distance from the house, so my brother and I slept at the house, while my parents slept at the lodge. (They enjoyed having a real bed again!) We could all take showers there, there was a tiny kitchen in the room where we could cook and wash the dishes, the lodge served breakfast each day, AND there was a huge swimming pool which was empty most of the weekend.

So what seemed to be a bad situation, really turned out rather enjoyable. The only downside was the black cloud of no water hanging over our heads - and not knowing if we could get it back on again or not. If not, we were planning on heading back to South Africa on Tuesday, but if it did come on, plans could proceed as usual. Of course, how do you really prepare for something like that? With so much to be done and so many people to see, how do you even start getting ready - a week before you were planning on going?

We were surprised, and maybe a bit overwhelmed by the circumstances. But God knew all along what was going on, and He was not caught by surprise. We were grateful to rest in whatever He wanted us to do...we just were wondering exactly what that would be!

Down at the office on Monday morning to see what was going on, the landlord discovered that the water had been turned back on, but whoever put the meter in had not pulled the proper plug. Someone stopped by the house, and a few seconds later, we had water. Something so simple, yet it had big repercussions!

It really is nice having running water. It is nice to wash the dishes without having to boil water on the stove, then temper it, then do it all over again to rinse. It was nice to scrub the shower out before our next guest (the last one!) gets here tonight.

And it's nice to know that we don't have to leave Botswana on Tuesday, that plans can go forward as usual (yeah, whatever that means). As much as I will enjoy our time in South Africa once we get back there, I hated the thought of leaving this place without saying all my goodbyes and having my last few meetings with the ladies I've come to know.