For now at least, this is what a typical day is like.
06hrs: our alarm goes off (but our other alarm, in the form of a cute but precocious 8-month-old, may have already gone off!) I get myself and Elijah ready for the day and make breakfast (usually we have eggs, porridge, or cereal).
06:20 breakfast
06:45 worship with the students (Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri mornings). The students have a very organized time of worship in which they have 15 minutes of psalm singing, 15 minutes of reading/exposition of a passage, and 15 minutes of prayer. Each day of the week is designated for a specific item for prayer, i.e. ‘Thanksgiving’, ‘World concerns’, ‘Church’ or ‘College’ etc. and they list various prayer requests under that day’s topic, and then various students are called upon to pray. Plus they systematically pray for 2 of the students each morning. They have a rotation for the reading and sharing from the Scripture and are currently working systematically through 1 Samuel. Most students are able to share in English though it is very difficult and nerve-wracking for them, but a few preach in Nyanja. The same with the prayers – most students are able to pray in English but a few can only do it comfortably in Nyanja. The orderliness of the worship prevents any confusion as to who is assigned to do what, and also means that we are able to hear each of the students progressing in their knowledge of the Scriptures. We really enjoy coming along for these times.
07:30 worship ends; lectures begin; David either starts lecturing (he teaches 2-3 times a week) or he goes off to study & prepare lectures in the College office. I go home with Elijah for the morning chores. The house always needs to be swept and there are usually dishes to be washed. And of course a baby to be amused! I usually try to wash one load of laundry per day, otherwise I fall behind very, very quickly because something unexpected always comes up during the week and washing laundry takes so much time (and is weather dependent). On Thursday mornings Asnet, the wife of Samuel who works on the farm, comes to help me clean the house. She sweeps and washes the floors, cleans the toilet and shower, and wipes things down. She is usually here for 2 ½ hours. I don’t do laundry on Thursdays because my washing machine drains the dirty water into my shower which she has just cleaned!
08-8:45 Elijah usually goes down for his morning nap sometime around now and sleeps anywhere from 30 min – 1 hour. While he's asleep, I try to use the time to do things which are difficult to do while he's awake, like baking or cooking, or email/blogging. But laundry can take up a whole morning all by itself!
09:30 first lecture period ends,and the students have a 30 minute break.
10hrs second lecture period begins. If David is not lecturing, Elijah and I visit him in the office to bring him a morning snack. I might also take Elijah on a walk to the farm to feed the kitchen scraps to the pigs. The remainder of my morning is spent amusing Elijah: reading stories, singing songs, or sitting in the front garden pulling weeds.
12noon I make our lunch, and feed Elijah his lunch.
12:30-13:30 is lunch break. David comes home and we eat lunch, and usually play a game like Triominos or Quiddler to relax a bit. On Wednesdays we eat lunch (nshima with relish) at the College with the students and staff.
13:00 Elijah is usually down for his afternoon nap around this time. Depending on how busy my day has been, I often take a nap with him.
15:00 We are usually awake from our nap by now, and often there is something going on during the afternoon. On Wednesdays I go to Marjanne’s house where the ladies get together to work on sewing or other craft projects. On Thursdays Marjanne has literacy classes for the local women from the village to teach them how to read and write Nyanja. On Saturdays there is a children's outreach ministry. Other afternoons I work on blog posts, emails or just keeping the baby happy!
16:00 time to go for our daily walk. Usually it is myself, Marjanne and Jacomien who go together but sometimes Mirjam joins us. We don’t have a set time, but just sometime after 16hrs we meet and go. If we have time, we make two circuits instead of one. We always try to exercise for at least 30 minutes. This is a refreshing time of day to be outside and it is so nice to enjoy the company and fellowship also.
17:00 David quits work for the day and comes home. This is Elijah’s “daddy time” while I make dinner.
18:00 dinner
18:30 family worship. We read (currently in Proverbs), pray, and sing systematically through the Psalter.
18:45 I bathe Elijah while David washes the dinner dishes
19:00 I nurse Elijah and put him to bed, and if he stays quiet than David and I have some time by ourselves to talk about our day and just enjoy relaxing!
21:00 We try to be in bed by this time, since there is always such an early morning ahead!
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