Days' Inn

You haven't heard from me in a while because I have been busy as an innkeeper. One of the reasons I have a 4 bedroom house is so that I can entertain guest, usually international guests, but certainly not limited to internationals. The month of December gave cause to rejoice at a large house. From December 1 to December 31, I had house guests, sometimes one at a time and others multiples, some international and many Malawian. The blessing was that there was always room at the Inn.

The month began with an unexpected visitor from Scotland who needed a place to stay and regroup before launching into various projects in Lilongwe. She stayed a week, but not alone all that time. Charles was in and out. It is about 4 hours one way to Charles’ home, because of road construction, so it is difficult to come and go in the same day. When he comes for Synod business, he uses “home” as a natural stop over. He was in and out twice during the week that Susan was with me.

Thomas uses the house the same way because transportation to Chuita Presbytery is difficult because of its remote regions. The day Susan departed, Thomas arrived for two days, coming and going on presbytery business. In the course of his time at home, we talked about his wife Jean, who had had an accident with a charcoal burner earlier in the week and had seriously burned her ankle and foot. It was not healing. The three of us discussed it over the phone and decided that the best thing would be for her to come to Blantyre to seek medical attention and to have a time to stay off her foot, or at least not have to go out in the dust and mud to cook and use the bathroom. But she couldn’t easily travel on multiple mini buses, with a burned foot and a little boy, so Sam Ncozana and I took Sam’s 4-wheel drive to get her. (Mine is not high enough for the rough mud ruts in the most remote areas.) With Jean and Chimwemwe came lots of other visitors, mostly her family here in Blantyre area, to check on her. Some just came for meals and others came for overnights, like her brother and his friend, a young theology student who needed to take care of business at the Synod while here. That took time, so they stayed over. Thomas was in and out during this time, since his family was all here. Chimwemwe had a great time with his friends here in Blantyre as well. They were here from the 13^th to the 30^th. Since Jean was recovering, I had the joy of giving Chimwemwe his evening bath. That became a highlight of our time. Regardless of how busy the day had been, there was always time for “a swim” in Mummy’s tub. We giggled and splashed in delight every night. We just ignored the other house guests for a few minutes of “fun in the tub.”

For the Christmas holiday, I had invited the young couple from Zimbabwe who stayed with me last year, but their plans changed a bit. Jared and his son came to spend Wednesday night before Christmas, before catching an early morning bus to Zimbabwe where he would do research on his senior paper for the Theological college, and see some family along the way. So they came, spent the day and left early the next morning to catch their bus. Debra, his wife, and their infant son arrived two days later for 5 days, She and Jean are great friends from the college, so they had a good time over the Christmas holiday, both minus their husbands who were busy with church responsibilities but able to enjoy one another’s company. In the midst of this, were Thomas’ and Jeans’ birthdays. Thomas’ is Dec. 23 and Jeans’ is Dec. 24. Of course we had to celebrate. There were parties for each. It was nice to have Thomas here for at least a few days before the busyness of Christmas for pastors.

About mid way through the month, Sam came with 4 dogs. They were his but Thomas wanted two of them for watch dogs at his place in Chiuta. His plan was to replace the two with two from a Dutch doctor who was leaving to serve in Tanzania. The problem was that his dogs didn’t get along with the new dogs, so he wanted to house all of his at my place until we could arrange to get two of them to Chiuta and decide what to do with the others. He was hoping I would take them. (I finally agreed to one). So in addition of multiple house guests, I had 5 dogs as well. Fortunately, they are outside dogs, but they are noisy outside dogs. Maxwell, my gardener and my right hand man, took the brunt of “hosting” the dogs. He is a blessing.

Had I only been an innkeeper, this would have been an easy time, but I have other responsibilities in my portfolio that increase at Christmas time, like graduations and Christmas parties at Chigodi, Christmas parties for the house staff, beginning at a new church, regular church services and special Christmas services, session meetings and retreats. So there were times when I dropped off groceries and ran out the door to the next event. Debra and Jean especially managed well on their own, for which I was most grateful. The day Jean left,  with Sam and the dogs, Charles returned for Synod business.

The blessing was that we were never “over booked.” There were always enough beds for all who were spending the night. We did a great deal of sheet changing and laundry, but unlike the biblical story, there was always room at Days’ Inn. Praise God. So, if you are in the neighborhood, feel free to drop in and spend a night. There is room.