God and QuickBooks

(Written on Monday, January 24)

I was reflecting this morning on the writing I have done lately, and my obvious obsession with the miniscule – such as my soap. (Incidentally, I had to fold it over onto itself this morning, in order to have enough to use. I anticipate breaking into the 1 ounce bar tomorrow morning, which means I will have enough to get me back to Lilongwe. My last two nights will be spent at the Cluny Lodge in Lilongwe – a somewhat upscale guest house – where there is ample soap!) I suppose my explanation is that my world is even smaller here, than it is in Chatham, and so small things consume me.

Somehow, that line of thought led me to a reflection on when I felt God most near to me, during the two months I have been in Malawi. Prior to leaving, I had anticipated/hoped for some kind of major religious experience here – what I will call a “Namaste moment” – seeing God within others. (I picked up the term “Namaste” when reading about Mother Teresa last spring. The term also cropped up during the last episode of “Lost” – it’s a sign on one of the buildings, at the end, just before they all show up in church.)

But, that wasn’t what happened.

I most felt God’s presence when He was helping me to learn and then teach QuickBooks to my students. I never imagined that I could do that – especially after I looked at Saul’s accounting spreadsheet, the source of information to be converted into QuickBooks, and was filled with utter dread. (Doug W will recall I experienced similar panic attack moments, when faced with the myriad of spreadsheets that make up the day job of an IT leader. I’ve begun wishing I had known about QuickBooks, back then!)

Numbers have never made sense to me – and yet suddenly, I was chomping my way through all this new material, with a feeling of energy and excitement. It was the oddest thing – and I knew I was being helped. Really – I am well acquainted with my personal learning curve and consequent deficiencies. And not only was I learning QuickBooks, but I was applying it in a non-profit environment – and every time I guessed what I should be doing, the guesses turned out to be appropriate.

I kind of wish, as a Christian on a mission, that I would have a more moving or inspiring story to offer up than that, but I guess He reveals himself in different ways. And I also know that without the prayer support from my family and friends back home, that I would have felt more alone and vulnerable here.

I had also kind of hoped to become more prayerful while here, and I don’t think that has happened. On the other hand, when Nelly asked me to say a prayer before lunch, yesterday, I think I handled it more gracefully than I would have back in December. And I continue to about the different forms of prayer – a line of thinking that Margaret Koomans sparked, a couple of weeks ago, which has been enlightening.