Forgetting those things which are behind

Those of you who are concerned about my mental health will be glad to know that my return to Maal was a great success on that front. Despite my fretting I found I was actually quite glad to be back. I spent a pleasant two weeks doing nothing much... hanging out with my family and a few friends, reading some books, taking long walks in the desert which has temporarily turned green. I was happy to be there and felt at peace - two things that haven't been the case very often in the past. Riding to Kaedi today I found myself feeling conspicuously serene; I only hope it will last when I'm thrown back into the pressures of doing my job and dealing with lots of people. I kind of think it will...inshallah.

I'm in Kaedi to see our new volunteers swear in, then next week I'm taking three girls from Aleg to Nouakchott for a week-long GMC conference. It's going to be pretty crazy, I think, so if anybody's in a praying mood they can pray that my serenity will be preserved - and that I can interact with these girls patiently all week. Female high-school-age Mauritanians are perhaps my least favorite segment of the population, and I think much patience will be needed.

"One thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press forward toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ."