How many husbands do you know that can kick back in a rocking chair after supper while his wife (who made supper from scratch) washes all the day's dishes by hand? Taking it a step further, how many of those stellar husbands can then make a comment like, "I really enjoy spending time with you like this," and not expect a well-deserved soap-sudded fist suddenly honing in on their position? Well, I may be in a category of my own, but that scene very accurately describes me multiple times every week, as I enjoy what I consider to be a very important part of Andrea's and my intentional habits in "time together".
Sometime shortly after moving out to Gesas in 2010, we became tired of silently tackling the piles of dirty dishes each evening after Micah was in bed. And so, having found a number of old paperbacks left behind by our predecessors, we decided to begin the tradition of reading out loud each evening as we one of us washed dishes. What once was a loathsome duty at the end of the day, soon became the anticipation of the next episode in our novel, or stimulating chapter in our book. Over the years, our reading genres have been all across the board – classic missionary biography, legal fiction, marriage and parenting, deep theology, missiology, a Shakespeare play, Christian allegory fiction, how-to books, and on and on. This past year, much of our dish washing reading time has been consumed reading Scripture as we have committed ourselves to a "read through the Bible in a year" program, following along a sermon series preached at one of our supporting churches in 2012.
Although our reading/washing tradition functions like a "date" for us, we learned this summer that we enjoy having a third wheel along for the ride. It was great having Maateyos join us for three months, not only in that his place in the washing rotation kept our hands dry more often, but it was fun to share the reading of this summer's books with him. We read a series of powerful fictional stories written to challenge cross-cultural workers with real issues we all face. We read an excellent missiology/personal spirituality book called Spirituality of the Road by David Bosch. And lastly, we enjoyed a brand new book from a South African author named Marc Secchia. This book, The Enchanted Castle (Shioni of Sheba), is a fictional fantasy set in an ancient Ethiopian kingdom. Apart from the story being well-written, with well-developed characters involved in some action-packed adventures, we particularly enjoy the Ethiopian cultural insights scattered throughout. Coffee ceremonies, navigating a society of respect, ethnic diversity, traditional folklore, specific animals native only to this region, and more…it's fun to see how the author wove into the story his knowledge of life here in Ethiopia. You see, Marc is one of our colleagues over here, keeping our organization's computers alive by day, at night his fingers tap away on the latest book he is drafting. Ever wanted to experience a bit of the culture we live in? Well, here's your chance! Check it out at http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482348667. And if you like it, we can also recommend the second book in the series, The King's Horse. Andrea and I are in the midst of this second adventure in our evening dishwashing "time together".
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