Back to "Normal"

Now things have resumed a bit of “normalcy” so I am feeling a bit more normal myself. I am so thankful for your notes and prayers! The kids and I went back to our “adventure walk to the grocery store” routine on Friday, and on Saturday, J and I were able to take the kids to Central Park in the middle of the city. It was fun to explore as there was a “playground” and lots of trails to walk through. We ended up getting little packs of biscuits (cookie-cracker-ish things) each for 5 shillings (less than 10 cents!) and we sat in the shade of big a tree for some people watching. The kids thoroughly enjoyed playing with sticks and watching the fountain be swept out.

In the afternoon, we had the country director for one of the LIA offices in the horn of Africa over to our house for coffee. He is in town for a conference for a few days, and the visit with him was incredibly fascinating for me. He was a kind man who shared openly of the religious persecution that goes on in the country he is serving in. He shared how people literally have to choose between their faith and their family. He also spoke of the difficulty of poverty and how the churches are able to train the people on basic health practices, etc… and what a difference it is making in their communities. The inspiring things he shared about were the way that his family is really being the church. They hold studies in their home, his wife is almost always cooking for at least 6 or 7 guests who would otherwise have been hungry, and they pay for hospital fees for pregnant women to get care. It’s beautiful, really. His main passion is for the school they have started with the help of LIA. He asked us to pray for him and his family, and that we most definitely will. I was wishing that everyone could have the opportunity to hear his stories. It is definitely perspective altering.

Between that and the verses that J and I have been looking up for one of his LIA projects, we have been provided with much food for thought. Here is one that I keep thinking about: “But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” 1 John 3:17. I have been challenged to say the least.

We have also had two ladies staying with us while they do some evaluations for LIA. It has been very fun to talk with them as we had met one in Ethiopia years ago, and the other has lived most of her life as an expat wife in various places across the world. She actually does women’s ministry with women living abroad so she provided me with some great insight and supportive conversations. I really like good conversation.

Tonight, J’s dad will be arriving (we are excited!) to be a part of the documentary team that will be arriving tomorrow night. We are really looking forward to their trip and just to having them around the house with us for a week. It will be a lot of people here, but should be really entertaining. T will be happy to have that many more hands to play ball with in the evenings, too J