TEACH IT, LIVE IT

this day i've been inspired, tired, thankful, disappointed, re-energized, and reflective. 

this day i started writing about about the matching of socks while folding laundry and how mike and judes always match into pairs and the rest of us, rarely.  and wondering what kind of a metaphor that is about us as people- about predictability and the lack of it.  i started writing about zoe's week, about her three amazing days and her tougher last two days.  about how the scratchiness of her clothes acts as a thermometer to gauge how challenging the day will be.  i started this day thinking about being thankful for the three fantastic days- because they provide the hope that she has it in her- that we will "arrive" someday.

this day i spent a lot of time doing and re-doing tasks related to moving to Africa.  a lot of time trying to get our fund raising letters out.  branding ourselves- who are we- what are we doing- why are we doing it.  trying to make it make sense- and make it pretty. trying to explain the great need for higher education in Uganda- the great need for medicine and for public health- for people to know how to prevent malaria, and HIV, and how to get clean water.  trying to explain why architecture and engineering are important.  how these things are related.  how people who are educated well are empowered, how education is translational if people are taught how to think and not just how to repeat information. how education spreads knowledge and creates empowerment, how knowledge and empowerment fight injustice and injustice fights poverty and poverty is so big and wide and consuming and deflating.  how poverty dis-empowers people and spreads disease and violence and sorrow. 

and as i was rushing my all my kids into that giant rental Suburban machine, to truck them over to paper-source to buy my green stickers for printing our logo "TEACH IT  LIVE IT", i saw a facebook post from mukono, uganda, where we'll be living in 5 months if people decide to support us in this work.  it said there were riots in the little town where we'll be living and in the capital, with bullets and tear gas.  and there was a cobra in the neighbors house. 

and it gave me pause.  i had a moment.

what?  what are we doing? 

me in this fortress of a car, abandoning all, choosing to live with real instability- with danger.

my little green TEACH IT, LIVE IT stickers might be pretty, but the reality might not be.  teaching it and living it, might not be quite as pretty.  it's risky.  it's risky for all 5 people in our family- those who's socks match up and those who don't.  and does scratchy really matter when people are dealing with riots and tear gas, or bullets? 

but the truth is, there is a huge need for higher education in uganda, for empowerment, for the fight against injustice, for the fight against poverty, for medical care.  cobras and tear gas, riots and bullets don't change that.   in fact, they scream it.

so, we will go.  to TEACH IT, to LIVE IT.   to do our best to humbly meet the needs we can, with the tools we've been given.  and who we are as people will have very little to do with matching socks and and scratchy clothes, and it will all be unpredictable.  and we will live in the days of hope we see- that let us trust in all of our 'arrival'.

WWW.KRISANDMIKEREID.COM