Seasons

“Do you have a rainy season in Scotland?”, our gardener asks me. I smile as I answer: “It rains all the time there, no matter the season!”.

It’s one year ago today since we arrived in Mzuzu. We have seen each of the weather seasons come and go during that time: the warm rains, the cool rains, the cold dry season (ok, not Scotland cold but it’s all relative!) and the hot dry season. Each season has its own characteristics, evident not just in the weather but also in people’s lives and the food on their plates.

At home you can find most foods on the shelf all year around, whether locally grown or imported from across the globe. But here the seasons are more apparent. In November, when temperatures reach their highest and the ground is bone dry, many Malawians eagerly await the rains so that they can begin planting maize. Provided the rains are not too abundant or too lacking, this maize will make up the bulk of their diet for the months ahead. In December there is a sudden abundance of mangoes at the market as the trees across the country bear their fruit, and January sees the arrival of the avocados (I still can’t get over the price here – 15p for an avocado!).

And it’s not just the food. The arrival of the rains appears to bring all manner of insects out of hiding. There have been nights when, just after sunset, we have closed all the doors and turned out all the lights to avoid a swarm of large-winged flies from taking over the house!

Life here has been seasonal for me too. Yes, there are the expected ups and downs of everyday life when trying to raise young children at the same time as navigating a new culture. It’s exciting, it’s terrifying, it’s fulfilling and it’s frustrating. There has been lots of laughter, and just as many tears. But in the bigger picture, I have also seen my purpose (or, more importantly, God’s purpose) in being here in Malawi change as time goes on.

For the first 9 months, my focus was very much on settling in to life here and taking care of the girls. I tried (not always successfully!) to cherish the time with them, particularly with Morven when Eilidh was at school. I even managed to take some time out to read and reflect on life. There were times when I wondered what on earth I was doing here, and I would feel guilty for not “doing more”. But when I look back I know that it was not time wasted. I needed time to adjust, time to take stock, time just to enjoy being a mother.

The past 3 months have been quite different. Morven is now going to nursery in the mornings and I have begun to look for new volunteer opportunities. Through my visits to a local nursery that takes care of babies who have lost their mothers or have been abandoned, I have started getting involved with the setting up of a new ministry. Its goal is to train family members and guardians to take care of babies without a mum, so that those babies do not need to leave their community to be cared for at an orphanage. I’ve been helping with some of their operational processes and being a secretary for the charity’s board – all those years being secretary to pension scheme trustees have come in handy! I’ve also been making use of my proofreading skills by helping a friend write a training manual for her organisation, which will be used to help people in rural Malawi change the way they carry out everyday tasks so as to avoid debilitating back pain.

I didn’t know a year ago when I came to Mzuzu that this is what I would end up doing. Not that this is the “end” by any means. I’m very aware, particularly here, that life may look very different again in a few months’ time. The Bible tells us that “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Whether that’s taking time out to assess where we are in life, or throwing ourselves into something new; whether it’s staying at home to care for children, or working long hours to keep a roof over our heads; whether our circumstances make us feel happy and fulfilled, or we are going through intense hardships that make us cry out to God in desperation. While our circumstances may change, I am thankful that I have a God who is certain, who is permanent, and who can help us to know contentment in whatever season we find ourselves.