Life in South Lebanon and Alli Rogers

Yesterday, i went through a period of major nostalgia. Let me set the scene... i was just up from a sunday afternoon nap. i had told myself all week that i would use sunday afternoon to clean the bathroom and so as i sat on the couch deciding what to do, as much as i tried to ignore it, the bathroom was calling out....

SO. i thought. i will check my blog quickly and see if anyone has commented on the wedding pics post. this was mainly an effort to avoid the bathroom, but it turned out that there was in fact a comment, and so i proceeded to read. check out this post to read it.... i loved the comment b/c it was from my friend kendra and it was as if i could hear her talking to me and getting excited about wedding pics. kendra is SUCH a special friend and i wish all the time that we could see more of each other. when i was living in South Lebanon- small town life for sure- kendra was my best friend. i did so much with her and her hubbie and her friendship was just so enjoyable. and accountable.

back to the bathroom... i had to do it. i began to scroll through my itunes for the perfect bathroom cleanin' music. for some reason i was reminded of Alli Rogers and began to play her cd. Immediately all the memories came flooding back... See, this was the cd i listened to endlessly while living in South Lebanon. And so as i was spraying and scrubbing, it was seriously hard to hold back the tears. The quiet life, arabic, the time with kendra, the home visits, even the struggle living alone.... i felt it all. Music does that to you.

there is one song on the album called Tanzania. i love it. and relate so much right now.

here are the lyrics:

It’s eight hours later in Tanzania.
When Jen lays down
Mary’s just opening her eyes.
Her child’s feet land on the ground
and dirt scatters,
And she feels left out in the open,
always left out in the open.
She says, “son, wear my shoes to school today”.
He turns and smiles and walks away,
and she thinks to herself…

Someday I will wake
where the earth is clean and safe.
My children have a place to play,
not here in Tanzania.
And someday I will live
in a house that’s built by
hands that hold the world.

It’s eight hours earlier in Chattanooga.
Mary sits down and Jen’s just put the coffee on.
Katie Couric is talking news and fashion,
and Jen feels pushed into a corner,
always pushed into a corner, she says
“Baby I know what girls at school are like”.
And her daughter rides off on her bike,
and Jen thinks to herself…

Someday I will wake
where my children get a break,
And there are chances that they’ll take,
not here in Chattanooga.
Someday I will live
in a house that’s built by
hands that hold the world.

Well it’s hard to be mother,
and it’s hard to be a woman,
and it’s hard to live in Africa sometimes.
It’s hard to be mother,
and it’s hard to be a woman,
and it’s hard to live in America sometimes.

But someday I will wake
in a body that won’t break,
On ground that doesn’t shake, not here.
And someday I will live
in a house that’s built by
hands that hold the world.

Tanzania... South Lebanon.... America.... it's just nice to know that someday we'll live in a house that's built by hands that hold the world.