My "Tabby Moment" from today was, Keith and I went to the Galena Coffee Shop to treat ourselves to lunch. Yes we do have a coffee shop here and we do get to go enjoy lunch there occasionally. Today I decided that I really didn't want to cook and I really was in the mood for some yummy Clam Chowder that Shirley makes really good. So Keith came home from work and we went to the Coffee Shop. It is a rather small room but it has a few tables and you just sit where there is space. We joined a group of 3 contractors that were already there. We started talking with them while we waited for lunch. I continued to talk to them while Keith went to drop Kaden off at school. We were all asking where everyone was from and I always say I am from Zambia. Well the black gentleman beside me looks up real fast and asks again. I guess he didn't think he caught what I said right. But when I told him again he smiled and said he was from Malawi! I nearly freaked! We started talking in Nyanja which is the language we speak in Zambia and Malawi. By the end of the conversation we were both laughing. He had been in Galena for about 2 hours and did not expect to be speaking Nyanja in the middle of bush Alaska!! I can tell you I was even more surprised! It was fun to talk to Crispin Ngoma and it was wonderful to hear our language and hear Chemwemwe, my Zambian name again. It was awesome!!! Who would have thought? Not me!
My second Tabby Moment happened a few weeks ago. Keith and I met one of the new teachers that has just moved here to teach science. Ross came over for dinner and when he walked into our house we started discussing our home decor, which is mostly African. Well come to find out he had gone on a mission trip to Kenya to work at a Bible school and he had been to RVA(Rift Valley Academy) the school I graduated from. What was even more humorous was that he knew many of the AIM missionaries that I knew. He knew the Bucks, Prospt and the list goes on and on. It was quiet funny that every time he said a name I would say "I graduated with their son or daughter!" Keith and Jeremy(who was eating with us too) were laughing at the amount of people we both knew. He also knew many of the places at RVA and in Kenya that I knew which totally blew me away! Fun fun fun!
The Best Tabby Moment this week was provided by Tina Parker. Tina and I have quite the history with each other. Many years ago when I was around 8 years old, my family was in the United States on furlough. We were speaking around Texas in many different churches, some small and some big. One Sunday we were in the small town of Quero Texas speaking at the Baptist Church there. I walked into a small Sunday school class with the teacher name Dwayne Parker. I met his two daughters Tina and Laura. Well at each church as a gift to all the people, my parents would give a small craved elephant to everyone if they promised to be like a elephant. Elephants never forget and with small craved elephants people would always remember to PRAY for our family. We gave out many many elephants to many people. (My grandad still has his on the counter in the bathroom at their house and I always remember to pray for my mom and dad... even now. ) I never knew such a small token given when I was 8 years old would be so significant in my life 20+ years later. When I returned to the States to attend college in Texas, I was in Lake Jackson going to the community college there. I was going to First Baptist Church in Lake Jackson and one Sunday there was a new lady in our Sunday school class. During the Bible Study time we kept glancing at each other with the look on both our faces that said " I know you from somewhere but I can't quite remember where I know you from." After Sunday school was over the lady walked over to meet me and she asked "where do I know you from?" For a Missionary kid that could be a lot of places. We eventually narrowed it down to Quero and she said "Wait, Your parents are the missionaries that gave out small elephants at our church a long time ago!" Yes they were and that is how I met up with Tina Parker 20 years later. She still had her elephant and every time she sees it she still prays for my family. Tina became one of Keith and my closest friends and was one of my bridesmaids in our wedding. Where ever we move we can always count on Tina being one person that would visit us.
This week Tina posted some pictures on Facebook and tagged me in one of them. Since I have not seen Tina in about 8 months I was trying hard to figure out where she got a new picture of me from..... WELL it was not a NEW one that is for sure! Under the picture she wrote that while going through some pictures of her grandmothers she found one of the Howard family. How funny that she still had a picture of us from way back! It made me laugh of how small our world is! Here is the picture she posted of our family back in the day. Look at our lovely missionary attire! Keith and I have had a good laugh just looking at this picture!
I know I am blessed with MANY friends and I love to meet people, so having Tabby Moments totally makes my days and weeks. I am thankful for good laughs and great memories with people all over the world. I love having Tabby Moments. It always reminds me that God is into every detail of our lives and loves to show us his sense of humor. He also reminds me constantly that even when I feel like I am in the middle of Bush Alaska and home is on the other side of the world, that his world is not so big that he can bring someone from so close to home and I can be reminded of home and family there. And if I needed to hear a language so dear to me, that God is so into the details of my life that he would even send some one to the Coffee shop in Galena to speak in my home countries language! EVEN IN GALENA!!!
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