Tip #239 for people prepping to come to PNG. Bring a lice comb.
Lice are my cockroach. Let me explain. My wife, when we first got
here, strong as she is, was always creeped out when a roach would appear
and run around. Now she shoos them away without even being bothered.
Weevils in the flour? No worries, sift the flower and they come out.
Bugs in the food? We've learned to pick them out.
5 years in a place with creepy crawlies helps you get a rather healthy
resistance to being 'grossed out'.
But lice for me, was always the one that really got me. I used to treat
it like the plague. That has changed.
A lot of people (like me) have never had lice, nor had to deal with it.
But part of working and living alongside people with different grooming
habits, is that your children (and thus you) can contract lice.
Today we found it in my son. Which means we have to comb everyone's
hair with a special comb, clean all the linens, rinse the hair in a
special oil and wrap it in plastic wrap, then take special showers.
It's an ordeal, and on a Sunday when you have a cold and you're trying
to get to church... it's just one more stress.
But I began to think of it as a blessing from God. I'm not the type of
over spiritualize everything, but hear me out. My wife had long
beautiful hair (now it's shorter but still beautiful) and has plenty of
experience since high school with lice. When in college her dorm had a
lice outbreak, she knew how to deal with it. She had that experience,
that training. And so, when we have had our lice outbreaks in the home
here, she (as both a teacher, and a patient) knew exactly how to deal
with the lice, and wasn't creeped out. She simply began the long and
methodical process of ridding the house of lice.
A lot of people not used to how to deal with lice, have to go through
this process multiple times because missing a small set of eggs could be
enough to cause another upcropping. But my wonderful wife, having been
prepared by God in her life for such moments, has always been able to
rid our family of the lice.
And I sat there admiring my wife and thinking 'wow, she's great! And to
think God prepared her in this way to help our family'. Because until
lately, this was my achilles heel. Rats, mice, roaches, snakes, I'm
fine with all the creepy crawlies, but lice... I didn't know how to deal
with lice. She just... starts right in.. we need to do this, then this,
then this.... and before long the lice are gone.
Every now and then, you see a glimmer of the truth of God's preparation
for you. I see it most often in skills. How does she know how to do
this? God prepared her earlier in life. We can easily overlook the
fact that having these skills is more confirmation that God was
preparing us for a long time to be here.
And so yes, today I saw lice as a blessing from God. As confirmation
that we're here in full compliance with His plan. It is a good feeling
when you get to see that. Those moments when you say 'wow, I was able
to accomplish this, because God prepared me.'
