Category: Kenya

Not as Good as I Should, but not as Bad as I Could…

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With the move to Kenya in February not just sneaking up on us but really more like bearing down upon us like a freight train, you’d understand if I told you some of what’s been going on and how I’ve been feeling. But, for the sake of brevity (and so as not to bore you), I don’t really want to go into all the detail.

Suffice it to say, there have been moments of stress, anxiety, doubt, and discouragement, alternating with excitement, peace, and joy. An interesting combination and quite the roller coaster ride. Mixed in with all the emotions are, of course, the sometimes-overwhelming practical things that need to get accomplished on a stricter and stricter timeline. Add to that the fact that on a day-to-day basis, I’m trying to keep routines and tasks as consistent as possible for the children, so we’re still schooling, still trying to enjoy *some* down time, and so on. Yet when things are “too” normal, I tend to feel stressed because there’s so much to do that isn’t getting done. (sigh.)

Yesterday was difficult for me. Somehow, every “little” thing (which I suppose I normally wouldn’t have trouble handling) seemed magnified by my rather raw emotions and the fact that the baby has been frequently getting up at night and I’ve not been sleeping very well. (Tiredness never helps!) And as has been the case more and more frequently lately, I ended the day thinking, Today, I don’t think I did as good as I should have, but I certainly didn’t do as bad as I could have! Which is not a really good place to be–though I’m tempted to pat myself on the back over my spiritual “progress,” if the truth be told.

But I press on.

And I’m chewing on this, as I wrestle with some things that, in the final analysis, are probably quite “little and common”:

“In temptations and troubles a man is proved, what progress he hath made, and therein is his reward the greater, and his virtue doth the more appear. Nor is it a great thing if a man be devout and zealous so long as he suffereth no affliction; but if he behave himself patiently in the time of adversity, then there is hope of great progress. Some are kept safe from great temptations, but are overtaken in those which are little and common, that the humiliation may teach them not to trust to themselves in great things, being weak in small things.”
Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

Crazy

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Can’t believe it’s December already! Time is going by sooo fast; hard to believe we’ll be in Africa almost before we know it!

We finally got our shipping crate built, upping it from the original 4′ x 8′ to 6’x 8′. We can’t ship it until Marc’s (missionary) work permit is approved, though…and we have no idea when that will happen. Depends on the Kenyan government.

Have been taking care of some administrative odds and ends, like setting up a state-side P.O. Box, formalizing change of address, and setting up ads to try and find a renter for our house. Speaking of, we’re also continuing to clean stuff out; most recently, we sold our living room built-in shelving and our master bedroom set as well as some storage shelves. We have sold the boys’ bunk beds but need to get them picked up, and we need to get rid of our big freezer (it’s being given away, but we have to coordinate some help and transportation to move it). We are still trying to sell the girls’ triple bunks and we’ll probably end up giving away our 14-person conference room table (which we use as a kitchen table).

We’ve also spent some time updating things around our house (and at my father-in-law’s next door) to make sure everything is ready for rental. Panting, painting, and more painting, plus installing a couple of doors, caulking around sinks and tubs, and some other miscellaneous stuff. We’re going to have the kitchen and living room flooring replaced before we move, but that’s not a DIY job.

That’s what’s been going on here. Appreciate your prayers for tying up all the loose ends remaining…the work permit approval is a biggie and we sure would like a renter for our house. ALSO (don’t know how we missed this when we first booked our flight!) one of our layovers (in Switzerland) is only a 45-minute connection and I think we’ll even have to go through security (all 10 of us, plus 9 personal bags and 9 carry-on suitcases and 9 check-in totes)?! Definitely need the Lord’s timing on that one. Can’t imagine the chaos if we miss a flight. We had to book about 6 months in advance just to get us all seated near one another on the plane!

God is in control. 🙂 We press on…

{Pause}

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Today I had to go to the bank and decided to stop at the park with the children. Their favorite equipment at our 70’s vintage town playground is the one we’ve officially dubbed “the death trap.” You probably know what I’m talking about:

As they spun themselves around again and again, I thought about how time has seemed be moving justthatfast lately. Having a new baby, gardening and freezing and canning, then starting up school again, and of course preparing to move to Kenya in February, it seems as if the kaleidoscope of time has been going non-stop.

So today I paused.

I mused out loud to the children,

“Do you realize that Enoch and Jubilee [who are 4 months and two years old, respectively] will probably never know–or remember–a Fall day like this one?” Kenya, at the equator, is remarkably constant: an average of 80-something degrees all year with sunrise at 6:30 AM and sunset at about 6:30 PM every day, seasons only marked by wetness or dryness, long rains and short rains…

Snow will be a foreign concept to them, known only from pictures and the rest of the family’s reminisces.

They won’t remember appliances like dishwashers and washing machines and dryers.

And a playground…?

We’re moving toward good things, but there’s a lot we’re leaving behind. I will miss being able to hop in the van and go to the park to enjoy a beautiful Fall day, listening to my children laugh and enjoy each other and God’s creation.

I’m thanking God for giving me {pause} today…

(This post is linked up with A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.)

A-Wise-Woman-Builds-Her-Home

“Sooo….that’s my life in a bag”

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In preparation for moving to Kenya in February, we’re having a massive yard sale over Labor Day weekend. Today I supervised the children as they went through all of their possessions. Their instructions: Make a pile for yard sale or giveaway, fill their backpack of things they want to bring, and throw away the rest. It’s interesting to see what each of them finds important enough to make the trip. (Note: books and clothes are being packed separately as necessities; they’re just packing their personal items.)

Isaiah (age 12)

He’s my “engineer-in-training.” Always working on a project. So in addition to his Bible, notebooks, watch, solar-powered battery charger, and a few small toys, here’s his “stash”:

He showed me everything in his backpack, ending with, “Soooo….that’s my life in a bag.” A sobering thought, indeed. It brought to mind this verse:

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)

Jonah (age 10)

Our budding naturalist who still very much likes to play!:

Rebekah (age eight)

Likes to read, write, and do arts and crafts:

Stuffed animals are one thing I’ve long discouraged the children from owning. I’ve never seen them do much but collect dust and get thrown around. However, they each have one or two that are special for one reason or another. Bekah’s teddy bear is no exception. When she got some money for Christmas last year, she really wanted to buy a special stuffed animal for herself. I told her that it was her money to spend, but encouraged her to do so wisely and through prayer. After a week or so of praying about it, she said, “I do want a stuffed animal, but only if God wants me to have one.” That day we needed to go to the Post Office, and oddly enough, there was a box full of stuffed animals there. The post master said that they were left over from some outreach that they had done over the holidays and we could pick up a few if we wanted them. That night, Rebekah wrote about it in her “Praise Book” journal of answered prayers and said she would save her money to buy a Bible. For her birthday shortly after, she received a Bible as a gift from her Auntie. That made her praise book , too! 🙂 Now both of those items are in her Kenya bag.

Deborah (age 7)

Deborah is a real collector of “stuff.” Here’s what she narrowed it down to:

Hannah (age 5)

You know the expression, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?” Somehow Hannah ends up with the stuff no one else wants, and she thinks it’s treasure, indeed. Any time she gets anything new for herself, she usually ends up giving it away. She’s a sweet soul.

Micah (age 4)

He wants to bring everything to Kenya! It took a lot of work to narrow it down so that everyone was happy.

Jubilee (2) loves her new “pack” and is wearing it around the house, perfectly empty and happy as a clam.

What would your “life in a bag” look like?

"Woe to you who are well-fed now…"

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We have been making an effort to simplify our eating and rely on what’s coming out of our garden or what we have in storage (I’ll be posting more on that later). As a result, we had a very hearty garden vegetable soup with some Indian fry bread for supper last night. Knowing how much my husband likes spice, I had put about a cup of salsa into the huge pot of soup, trying to strike a balance between Marc’s tastes and the children’s (who prefer things a little milder). Though it tasted fine at first, by the time it simmered and got put on the table, I suspected that it would be a bit spicy for the kids. I was right. So for supper, they had Indian fry bread and complained through a few bites of soup. Only the boys and I finished our whole bowls full.

This morning, Marc awoke to emails from our partners in Kenya.We’ve already been hearing about the many refugees who are fleeing the drought in Somalia to find relief in Kenya. Now, Patrick tells him that food prices in Kenya have tripled, as the drought is affecting crops there as well and the influx of people is driving demand higher.

Patrick had already planned a Kingdom-Expansion training meeting for this coming week in Kajiado. Kingdom-Driven Ministries had sent him a small amount of money to fund the transportation, accommodations, and food for the approximately 45 people who will attend. Today, Patrick asked if he might have more money, to bring needed food to the locals–to put the Gospel of Jesus into practice. He said,

“We have to purchase and carry food from Nairobi as Kajiado is currently under severe drought. If we had relief food even for $100 we could get 5 bundles of maize flour: 60 packets of 2kg; we could reach 60 houses with 2kg packet each. Faith without works is dead in itself.”

With all this in mind, I sat down for morning devotions with the children. As we talked and prayed, I was nursing 6 week-old Enoch. I told the children that the mothers in drought-affected areas would not be able to produce milk for their babies if they did not get water and adequate nutrition for themselves. Our baby is colicky and everyone hates those times when Enoch cries and refuses to be comforted; tears came to my eyes as I told the children that these mothers listen to their hungry babies cry in just the same way…until they get too weakened to cry any more…and then, they die.

And I thought about our meal the night before, the soup that many of the children barely touched. Maybe you grew up hearing about “the starving children Africa” and how much they would have appreciated the food you complained about. Well, I told my children the same thing this morning–and I was dead serious. We know people there who are affected by the current drought, and others who are trying to do something about it. In fact, we’ll be living in that area in February of next year! It is real. The only thing I could say to the children after sharing my heart was to tell them the words of Jesus:

“Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry…” (Luke 6:25)

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?… The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’” (Matthew 25:37, 40)

Needless to say, we will be doing all we can to help in this situation. If the Lord prompts you to give to the physical needs of the people of East Africa, so that our partners there may also minister the Gospel to them, please visit Kingdom-Driven ministries and contribute. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated and we trust that the Lord will bless your giving.

Passport Photo Adventure

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Now that we’re “officially” transitioning to Kenya (we finally pulled the trigger on plane tickets for February, 2012!), we went to CVS to get our passport photos taken this week.

Ever try to get a shot of a colicky 6-week old baby where he’s looking directly at the camera with a “neutral” expression?

I had the other six children go first (Isaiah already has his passport from his November trip with Marc), while I nursed Enoch. As soon as he was done and burped, I suggested we go for it. I was all for avoiding another trip into town for a second photo shoot.

So the nice lady put Enoch on the floor on top of a piece of white poster board. Thankfully, he was happy…but very wiggly! He kept moving his head from side to side (along with the rest of his body), and snapping the camera during the split-second when he actually looked directly at it was a challenge. I think it took us about twenty minutes, but we finally did it! As soon as the deed was done, no lie–he started crying. Praise God the mission was accomplished! Here’s his official photo:

 

Update on Marc’s Trip to Kenya

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Marc has been gone for a week to Kenya–it’s gone by fast so far but now I think time is starting to slow down a bit as we wait for him to come home. 🙂

I had planned on having my sister out to visit from CT for a few days while Marc was away, but (SURPRISE!!) my Mom came, too! It was great to see them, but their visit went by quickly. And, unfortunately, we passed a stomach virus around during the short time they were here. They treated us to several meals out to eat, which was a real blessing, and came with birthday money for the kids from various relatives…so of course we went shopping. It was a whirlwind few days…now we are settling back into our normal routines this week.

Fortunately, Marc has been able to call frequently (although I’m not sure what our phone bill will look like!). His stay in Nairobi was really anointed. He did leadership training for the network of pastors there, which went very well, and then did a marriage and family seminar which was also well-received. God really did some amazing things during the Sunday service, though, and he is really excited about all of it!

He also visited the ministry orphanage in the slums of Nairobi, which was a very sobering experience. There is a big difference between their standard of living and ours, although Marc remains convinced that in many ways, they are better off there than we are here.

Now he is out in a more rural area ministering to a different network of churches, but also doing the leadership training and marriage and family seminar(s). I think he has fallen in love with Kenya! Hopefully he will post some more details when he returns.