Last Day With Our Team

We just had a sweet time with all of us together, reminiscing about our time here up in Ndu. We took turns telling a high and a low from our time and giving words of encouragement. It's always fun to see how God brings people together on mission trips. You spend day in and day out with people who you aren't normally used to being around, and in our case people have to spend time with my whole family. I feel our team was very united and that is a result of many prayers. I was in tears earlier today as I thought of what a blessing it has been to be with these other women and how much I will miss them.

Tomorrow we will move out of this home and into our little yellow house. It will be a much quieter evening without the laughter of having 9 people in one house going a little loopy. This has been such a nice place to stay, but during supper I went into the kitchen and a mouse ran across my slipper. I was very calm about it because it happened so fast I think I was in shock. So now I'm thankful to be moving to a kitchen with a cock roach and away from my kitchen with a mouse. I will miss all the cupboard space.

Pray for our team as they travel that rough road back to Bamenda and then on to Yaounde' the following day. Pray for us also as we transition into serving for the next 2 months without the support of a team. We have met the other missionaries and they are so supportive in helping me to understand all the ways of Cameroon.

Today our friends the Schroth family bought a chicken and had it slaughtered. Levi and Kyle were so excited to watch the action, they even took my camera to record it. I arrived shortly after the chickens neck was sliced and Levi was close to tears. He has a very tender heart and it was just too much for him. I think he also felt some empathy since it wasn't that long ago that his own neck had been sliced open and it brought back bad memories. Even tonight when we were doing our "High and Low" game he couldn't mention the chicken experience.

I'm so thankful for this experience, even if some of my blogs may sound like I am complaining. In truth, I have many emotions that go through me as I am experiencing life in Ndu, my blog is just my place to process the good and the bad. I will not sugar coat it and make you think it is "easy" - I think everything is harder here. I would love a hot shower, but for now I am thankful for my Norwex cloths. You get so dirty here even if you try to stay clean. Be thankful for the cold snow in MN... that is if you have any yet.

January 16, 2012

January 16, 2012

Life is different in Cameroon, it’s hard to even guess how the day will go.  As Alyssa would say “You can’t make this stuff up”…. Oh wait, she is usually talking about something my family is doing when she says that.

 Kym has been working in the library, she has become friends with one of the office girls there and often will say “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”  She passed by her again today and threw out her cheery greeting as usual “If you need anything, just let me know.”  Later the office girl entered the room where Kym was working and shut the door.  “You keep telling me that if I need anything to ask you…well, I need a watch and a computer.”  Thankfully, Kym was quick on her feet and said she will check around for her.

Drew spent the day chipping the dirt off stones that will be used to rebuild the wall…no power washer here.  He sat on a rock with his hammer and wire brush for 7 hours – time consuming but necessary.  He learned to say “Sore Butt” in Limbum. 

Alyssa and I had to head up to the stores to find a voltage regulator for my new refrigerator.  We arrived at a hardware looking store and found out there are choices.  After buying a few odds and ends (sunglasses and a plastic bin), we had to walk back to the house and look at the frig to see what size regulator it needed.  Later we walked again to the store (lots of walking around here), and they didn’t have the size I needed so I had to get the next size up.  We then stopped at a little bar to see if they had any “Ginger pop” (which is good for upset tummys).  I have been looking for the Ginger Pop for days – one bar I stopped in had a young (maybe 10 year old) boy serving up glasses of Vodka.  Apparently there is no minimum age to work in a bar here.  The bar we stopped in did not have “Ginger” but the waitress ran up to another store to see if they had if for us… but no “It is finished.”  That seemed to be the reply from everywhere we checked.  We settled for bottles of Fanta (all of 50 cents each) and will return the glass bottles sometime tomorrow.  Once we were refreshed, we headed to my house to plug in the refrigerator – which did no good since the electricity was out again. 

Kaley, Ellie and Alyssa spent time in the Child Care Center again today.  I went down to visit after getting a lesson from Kym on how to log library books.  One child fell asleep and they grabbed her by one arm and threw her into the crib…not very gentle.  One of the missionaries had given us a bag of toys that her church had donated, I brought the toys down to the kids and they had so much fun.  The teachers didn’t even know what to do with the Duplo Legos that were given so I gave a lesson on building with legos.  I came back later and someone had built a cross out of them and put it in the window.  There really is very little structure in the nursery, the kids play until they get fed or fall over and get thrown in a crib.  I hope that we can give them some ideas of fun things to do with the kids, but in truth, I’m not sure they want any ideas.

We are having a beautiful night warming up together by the fire.  The Pastor just stopped by to pray for us and leave a gift of bread and soda.  He gave an enthusiastic and encouraging prayer.  As he was leaving, and would be driving his motorcycle in the dark, I said “Thank you for coming, Don’t hit a goat”….what is wrong with me?

Ndu Tea

Today we took a tour of the Ndu Tea Estate.  The fields of tea go for miles and are so beautiful.  The location near Ndu was chosen as a perfect place to grow tea because of the climate.  The first stop on our tour was a weather station:  the coolest thing was a ball of glass that marked the length of the sun for each day.  It had a strip of paper under the ball and as the sun hit the glass it burned a line into the paper, each night this strip of paper is collected.  Our second stop was the fields where the workers gather the tea and bring it to the road where it is picked up by a truck.  From there the tea travels down the road to the factory.  We were given a very thorough tour by a man in a shiny disco shirt.  The building smelled great too.  There are about 5 conveyer belts and heaters – each one different names but all actually the same tea.  The end of the road was the tea tasting office where we had a sample of the wonderful tea of Ndu.  Our guide’s name was Emmanual and he did a great job.  I had promised my artist friend Elisabeth Preble that I would bring one on her Doily Ninjas to Africa with me.  I chose to leave one at the tea plantation because I know that Elisabeth loves tea and it seemed like a good fit.

Workers in the field harvesting the tea leaves.

Ndu Tea

Today we took a tour of the Ndu Tea Estate.  The fields of tea go for miles and are so beautiful.  The location near Ndu was chosen as a perfect place to grow tea because of the climate.  The first stop on our tour was a weather station:  the coolest thing was a ball of glass that marked the length of the sun for each day.  It had a strip of paper under the ball and as the sun hit the glass it burned a line into the paper, each night this strip of paper is collected.  Our second stop was the fields where the workers gather the tea and bring it to the road where it is picked up by a truck.  From there the tea travels down the road to the factory.  We were given a very thorough tour by a man in a shiny disco shirt.  The building smelled great too.  There are about 5 conveyer belts and heaters – each one different names but all actually the same tea.  The end of the road was the tea tasting office where we had a sample of the wonderful tea of Ndu.  Our guide’s name was Emmanual and he did a great job.  I had promised my artist friend Elisabeth Preble that I would bring one on her Doily Ninjas to Africa with me.  I chose to leave one at the tea plantation because I know that Elisabeth loves tea and it seemed like a good fit.

Workers in the field harvesting the tea leaves.

Friday of our first week in Ndu

Here it is Friday already, we haven’t had much internet – I only have it when I use Peg’s internet port but she needs it for her work.  The electricity goes out most days at least once.  I have a load of laundry in the small washing machine waiting to have electricity again so that it can finish running.  I will have to wait until tomorrow to hang them out to dry.  Our cooks have made another amazing meal for our team – it has cabbage and meat baked inside a pocket of bread dough.  The house smells so wonderful; they baked bread for us today also.  Hopefully Alyssa will be able to enjoy it, she ate koki from a vendor and was throwing up all night.  We are calling this the “Koki Lesson”.  The town of Ndu has market day every 8 days, the cooks brought back some wonderful fruit for us to try.  The kids have been so good about trying new things.  Kyle needed a pair of jeans so he bought some used from the market.  They fit well and we asked him where he tried them on.  He said that he just put them around his neck (?).  Turns out if you button your pants and put the waist around your neck, and it doesn’t choke you, they should fit.  All of us girls bought fabric at the market to have made into skirts.  We called a tailor to come measure us for outfits; hopefully she’ll have them finished in time.  We asked her to join us for dinner and it was obvious she was uncomfortable.  We also had our neighbor Dan for dinner; he and his family are here until the end of February.  His family is at a conference but he had to remain on campus to teach a class.  His house was too quiet so he came and hung out with us for the evening.  It’s much like the “group home” atmosphere we have at home – lots of laughter and fun.  The sunset from our front door is so incredible.  We have a tree with purple flowers and the ski turns a beautiful purple color with a haze from all the dust – it is breath taking.

It’s been interesting for me today as I’ve observed the different people on our team.  All of us are in the process of being changed and the time is going by way too fast.  There is this sense of urgency to get the projects done that have been started.  Relationships are being built and we have this desire to help these people that we have started to care about.  There are so many needs around us and it feels somewhat overwhelming, we wonder if we are even making a dent.  Drew is working with men doing heavy labor and they do not have money for lunch so they get slow in the afternoon.  Right now we have cooks that make way too much food for all of us so Drew has brought them back some of the leftovers.  I wonder if this is a good idea to set this precedence from the beginning of our 2 month stay.  We will not have a cook feeding us after the team leaves and wil the number of people requesting lunch gets to be too many?.  Levi invited a couple of boys he had met into our house to show them what our football looks like, a short time later I opened the door to about 15 little boys trying to push their way into our house.  It’s almost impossible just to do something for one or two people.  I don’t have any answers but I am praying that we will have wisdom.

Kaley, Alyssa and Ellie have been working in the child care center; the kids are not there yet since the students are still on their semester break.  Today they bought bright colors and painted the doors, windows and cabinets of the center – it looks great!  They have asked Emma (the child care director) for a list of needs that we can maybe help them with.  She was teary as she said that she has been praying for some kind of miracle like this.  Many times she has requested from the school to make changes for the children but there is just no extra income and she ends up feeling like a beggar.  It would be wonderful if the playground equipment could be fixed so that it is safe again.  I took my Norwex window cloths down and we cleaned all the windows – the child care ladies were amazed.  We used the Enviro cloths to clean the doors too .  There is very little access to water so they loved the fact that the cloths cleaned so much without needing more water – I just would fold it over to a fresh side.  Ellie is hoping to help with the children when they arrive on Monday.  Kaley and Alyssa are both wishing they could stay longer.  I am wishing they were staying longer too.  This place is going to be very different without the whole team here.  We are working on getting our house ready that we are moving in to, it’s not as nice as the one we are in currently 

Ndu

We have been in Ndu for 2 days now and are feeling settled (somewhat).  Right now our whole team is living in a house that is usually used by visiting teachers to the seminary.  We have 2 beautiful women cooking for us: Ancella and Martha.  They have made the most amazing meals for us, although too much for our small group.  Today we ate beans and rice and I had to fight the urge not to eat until I burst – so good!  The house that our family will live in once the team leaves is just up the hill a ways.  Alyssa, Kaley and Ellie cleaned the floors and the kitchen yesterday so it’s starting to look better.  I had Drew rearrange the bedroom furniture but we are still waiting for the mattresses to arrive.  We were told maybe today but the day is almost over and they have not come yet.  There are a couple of baby goats that like to hang out outside our door of our home, they get a little crazy at times and it sounds like someone is trying to break in.  As I was walking away from our little yellow house towards the team house, I heard someone shout.  I didn’t think it could be for me but I looked to see what the shouting was for.  There were two men walking towards me with a refrigerator on their heads, this was for our home, so they were shouting for me.  I would have loved a picture of it but my camera battery had just died so it didn’t happen.  We have seen lots of interesting things carried on people’s heads and on motorcycles.  We did get a picture of a man on a motorcycle carrying another motorcycle.  It reminded me of some of the photos Tom Butz has “You know you’re a redneck when…” only we will call it “You know you’re in Africa when…”

This morning Alyssa, Kaley, Ellie and I walked to some of the local stores to get some supplies.  Ellie had her first marriage proposal.  I think it creeped her out a little, especially because he was a Muslim man much older than her.  He asked how old she was and said at 15 she should be getting married, since she is 14 he thought she should be preparing for that day.  Different world.

Drew started working on the main entry stairs into the teaching area of the seminary.  He brought   a few of his fellow workers home for lunch – nice men.  They have already done quite a bit of work for the first day.  The kids were cleaning off shelves and books in the library.  The seminary boasts one of the largest libraries in Northern Africa but it is very unorganized.  There is only one man running the whole library and it is very overwhelming.  So if you know a librarian who would like to come to Ndu to help Henry, he would love the help.  The dust that is everywhere is not good for the books either.  The   kids are so dirty   after cleaning books all day.  Tomorrow Alyssa and Kaley will be meeting with the woman in charge of the Child Care Center to see what their project will be.  Kaley is going to school to be a preschool teacher so this is right up her alley.

We are having so much fun, the time is flying by.  Last night we got the giggles so bad over stupid things – it feels like being at home.  It will be so hard when the team leaves.  It looks like I will have a part time cook once we are on our own in our little yellow house.  The people here are so nice though, I’m sure we will be well taken care of.  It’s still hard for me to grasp that my family still has 2 months to go in this amazing, but dirty, place.  We have had water so that is good.  I guess they can go weeks without enough water.  I’m still trying to figure out what my role is here.  My first priority is getting our home ready for us to live in. 

Pray for our team and the people we are working alongside.  Pray that we will be productive and that the seminary will be satisfied with the work that we do.  Pray for our family as we adjust after the team leaves (which is still one week away but I am already feeling melancholy over it).  We all feel so privileged and thankful to be here.  Thank you all for helping to make this possible and for your continued prayers.

The Road to Ndu

The road to Ndu is hard to describe but I will try.  It started out tar and not bad but quickly we were on a dirt road that was extremely dusty.  The ruts were deep and the path straight up (or so it seemed).  It's a 5 hour drive but seems much longer - especially if you have a full bladder.  We had 2 vehicles, Peg hired Fy Eric to drive her truck.  The boys rode with Eric since he had a very strong body odor, and they didn't seem to mind.  The girls all rode with Peg.  We passed many villages and children going to school in their colorful uniforms.  The dust flies everywhere and everything is coated in red dust.  Our luggage was covered with dust and so were we.  We made one potty stop along the road but Kaley couldn't handle the "au naturale" so she instead endured the pain of the bumps.  There was a "no smoking" sign in the ravine right next to the forest where we took our potty break, apparently we weren't the first to have to stop there.

At one point the truck was having a hard time getting up the hill - which meant the Toyota Land Cruiser the girls were in had to back down to try again (and again).  Finally, Peg switched driving with Eric, it was her truck and she knew how to drive it.  She made it up the hill and Eric followed with the Toyota.  We all had to hang on for most of the drive.  The good news was no one got car sick!  Kyle thought the ride was amazing.  It was both terrifying and extremely beautiful with the sheer drop off at the edge of the road.

Now here is the guys description:  Drew has never driven on a public road where low range in 4 wheel drive was necessary.  This road required being in 1st gear much of the way with 4 wheel drive in low range!

I wanted to send pictures but the internet is really slow and other people want to use the internet plug thing.

Church

Attended church in yaounde at the Hilton Hotel.  The church is an international church attended by many missionaries from all different church backgrounds.  It’s not a typical African church, which is probably one of the reasons we attended today, in that it runs on a schedule much like we would find here in America.  Drew and I were both struck during the message, which was on living outside your comfort zone, how different that would have been heard back in Minnesota.  Here we were surrounded by people who have left their comfort of family, homes, jobs and are living in a foreign country.  In my opionion, these people are living far outside their comfort zone and yet they still needed to hear that message.  In discussing this with Drew, it seems that our comfort is more a “spiritual” place rather than just the physical needs we think of.  Anytime we are in a place where we do not need to rely on God’s help but rather our own efforts, we are living in a place of comfort.  I know that before the day was over I would experience just a little of being completely dependent on God, but I will save that for another blog.

                                                                                                                                              

A fun thing that happened at church today just showed me how God really does care about us as individuals and He loves to indulge us in the things we take delight in.  Our niece Kaley is a student at St. Kate’s University and lives with our family.  She is part of this mission team and will be staying with us in Ndu for 2 weeks.  This trip is far outside Kaley’s comfort zone, she had never even been in an airport before leaving last Thursday.  At times leading up to this trip I wondered if this was even a good fit for Kaley for a few different reasons.  One reason I questioned whether Africa was a good fit is that Kaley hates hot weather – but now that we are heading to Ndu she will no longer have to endure the heat and humidity.  The other thing that made me wonder if this was a good fit is that Kaley is completely obsesses with Asian culture – specifically Korean.  She has been teaching herself Korean and when her studies allow, she spends hours watching Korean variety shows and reality Tv on her computer.  Kaley would love to go to Korea someday and maybe even teach there when she is finished with school. Needless to say, I wasn’t sure how Africa was part of God’s plan for Kaley but I have been so excited to see her step out in faith and join us.  Imagine my delight (and Kaley’s), when we walked into this little fellowship of believers and the worship leader was a young Korean man.  I almost laughed out loud when he shared between the songs about not being “freaked out” but completely trusting God wherever He takes you.  If you know Kaley even a little, you know she uses the term “freaked out” quite frequently – probably because many things freak her out, like bugs, heat, people she doesn’t know touching her or invading her personal space (all the things you find in Africa).  It made me smile when I envisioned God going to such care to speak directly to the heart of my niece.  It blows my mind how much God loves us and wants to bless us.  

The Road to Bamenda

                                                                    January 8, 2012

Our Toyota was loaded up sky high and ready to leave for Bamenda as soon as lunch was over after church.  We ate at a lovely Asian restaurant owned by a Vietnamese American.  Our whole team was there with the exception of Kym and Alyssa who had gone on public transportation ahead of us to Bamenda.  Once lunch was over we piled into our VERY full vehicle – all 7 of us in what we would consider a 5 passenger vehicle since that is how many seatbelts there are, heading north for what should be about a 6 hour drive.  I got the giggles when Kyle, Drew, Levi and I all had to turn sideways just to get the back doors shut.  Once the doors were shut we settled down, completely squished from door to door, I can’t tell you how glad I was that I insisted Kyle put deodorant on before we left.  Ellie and Kaley were in the front with Ellie straddling the stick shift.  I think Peg was the only one with a full seat to herself, which was good because she was the one driving us.  Thankfully for Drew, Peg has short legs, which allowed him some leg room and some space for the extra bags that didn’t fit on the roof rack or in the back. 

The ride seemed to go fast at first as we were taking in all the sights.  There are so many people going in all different directions, the driving conditions are a bit crazy.  The further we traveled from Yaounde, the worse the road conditions became, although for the most part the road is in fairly good condition, tarred and everything.  As you get to open market areas there are speed bumps along the way – some are marked better than others and with our full load on top there were times we wondered if it would all stay in place.  The majority of the trip is just one road north but as you enter cities there are these turn a bouts that can get very confusing since all the roads look alike.  In the town of Bafousma (?), we got on a wrong road, which became obvious when there was no longer tar but these deep dirt pits, people were everywhere and pointing at us (but probably because they thought we were going to lose our load on top).  Peg found a place to turn around and we headed back the way we came, she had things under control but if was getting dark and we still had at least an hour to go.  Needless to say, there were some tense moments in the car and I’m sure we were all praying silently for both protection and direction.  I kept thinking how greatful I was that we had so many of our friends praying for us, even if they had no idea what kind of a situation we were in.

We did got back on the road to Bamenda  but it was slower going in the dark, it’s harder to see the pot holes or the speed bumps.  Arriving in Bamenda, we again got turned around for a bit but soon Peg recognized where she  was again.  About this time, Peg started noticing that our brakes were not working well – I was very thankful we had a stick shift which would give us a little more control.  We turned onto our last dirt road taking us to our place of rest for the night and it was steep and windy.  Knowing our brakes were not working made that another tense moment or two but God was gracious 

We arrived at the La Verna Spiritual Retreat, which is a retreat center run by these beautiful Cameroonian nuns.  They had a lovely meal set out for us and Kym and Alyssa were waiting for us too.  We were all exhausted but thankful to be in such a lovely place.

This is it

Last year at Faithwalkers (December 27-30, 2010), I felt a desire to do something BIG and to see God work in my family.  I wanted to get out of the security of my own little world and do something completely different with my family.  This caused me to spend more time seeking God and asking Him for direction.  On February 3rd, 2011 - God put it on my heart to pursue going to Africa with our family.  He didn't speak audibly to me but it was the closest thing I have experienced of "hearing" God.  My husband and kids came together in prayer with me to see what God would have us do.  11 months ago we started our journey together in prayer, asking God to provide all that we would need to go to Africa, if this was truly HIS desire and plan for our family.  I have been a Christian for years and to be honest this is the most clear direction I have ever had from God.  I don't know why, but God doesn't always give us such a clear vision in all things He is leading us to do.  Even though there were days of waiting within this past 11 months, it all has come together EXTREMELY fast.  God must have amazing things in store for us!

Tomorrow, the 5 of us will leave for Cameroon, Africa, and we will finally get to see what God has been preparing us for.  Thank you so much for your prayers for us.  We will try to keep you posted as much as possible.

To Be a Faith Walker

Psalm 145:4 -7
"Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts.
I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles.
your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness.
Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with JOY of your righteousness."

These verses get me excited.  I think David was a blogger before there was such a term - his words are thought provoking and transparent.  I get excited about these verses because God is doing such an amazing thing with my family - I want to proclaim HIS greatness!  This past year has been a journey:  seeing God's provision, His faithfulness, His willingness to use my family with all our imperfections.  My kids will be telling this story to their children someday and encouraging them to step out and do whatever God puts on their hearts.

Last year, friends of ours donated $1000 for my family and I to attend Faithwalkers in Omaha, Nebraska (December 27-31).  We had a fun time but the whole time I struggled with the idea that experiencing "Faithwalkers" was the peak to some in their Christian faith.  Every year families look forward to this BIG event.  They have high expectations and will probably walk away feeling spiritually pumped after listening to great worship music and inspiring speakers.  Some people do walk away changed people and they do something with that change.  They may do something outside their comfort zone, like go on a mission trip or they may commit to being a spiritual leader in their family, or serve with Kids Against Hunger.  I also believe that quite a few will just go back to their busy lives, the experience of Faithwalkers will be just a pleasant memory.  Faithwalkers to some is just a social event, that in many ways pulls their families apart in several directions rather than bonding them with a common purpose.  To some, Faithwalkers is their "thing" that they are doing for God - they have to take time off work, pay money for a hotel and add one more thing to their busy schedules - to them, this is sacrifice enough.  To me, Faithwalkers was just the trailer to a bigger adventure of living for Christ.  It was that inner struggle and crying out to God for direction during my time at Faithwalkers that first started pulling me back to Africa.  The fact that we are leaving in just 10 days is an amazing testimony to God's goodness.  I want my kids to be excited and notice what God is doing in us and through us.  I want them to be doing God's will and looking forward to the next adventure He sends us on - willing to do His will.

  There is nothing in itself wrong with going to Faithwalkers, we will hopefully go again.  I just think that if attending a conference is all my faith and living for Christ amounts to, it's not worth it.  I would much rather be living out my faith on a daily basis, sold out for Christ, even if that means I never have time to attend another Faithwalkers convention.  Faithwalkers is not a bad thing, but for me and my family I want it to be a time of celebration of what God is doing in US.  I don't want to just go and listen to other people talking about what living for Christ can look like.

My prayer for my friends attending Faithwalkers this week is that they will be forever changed - and their life will no longer be their own.  That they will not be looking at this time as a social event but that their eyes would be "fixed on Jesus".  God has changed my life and grown my faith this year, and it all began with a seed of discontent that was fanned into flame at Faithwalkers 2010.

Christmas Traditions

Last night we had a house full of my relatives for our annual Wige Christmas.  In years past our family got together every year on Christmas Eve.  Now we switch it up every other year in a way to compromise.  It gets difficult when people get married into other families and their traditions.  My Mom was the one to start this tradition for our family, hosting it at my parent’s house each year.  She would put on a huge spread of food and the rest of us would bring desserts or appetizers.  Mom loved to buy gifts for everyone, starting months in advance.  She would have a budget and took great delight in finding the perfect gift for the lowest price.  In fact, she passed away in May of 2007, the day before she died she was shopping for Christmas gifts, to the delight of those who received gifts that year.  All of us adult “kids” would exchange names and buy gifts for our person.  With the economy turn we have switched to doing a “white elephant” gift exchange.  The kids in years past would be overindulged with gifts from everyone, now they get one or 2 gifts.  My Dad no longer spends Christmas in Minnesota so it is up to my generation to keep the tradition going.

  Even since a few years before my Mom passed away, our family started meeting at my house.  It stresses me out to have the whole big fancy meal so we started doing just the desserts and appetizers.  This year we had all Chinese food and it was fantastic.  It seems like we are finally making something of our own for our family get together.  It has taken a few years to let go of the expectations we had, because of how my Mom had made Christmas so special for all of us.  We laughed and ate way too much, enjoying each other’s company. 

Today is Christmas Eve and I actually have no stress, it’s lovely.  I spent some time wrapping presents and being leisurely.  Our church met for a beautiful Christmas Eve service in the afternoon.  Upon returning home we all raided the leftover food from last night’s party, put on our jammies and watched “The Nativity Story”.  The kids will bug us until we relent to letting them open one present tonight.  We’ll wake early tomorrow morning and wait while Drew makes our latte’s .  We’ll take our time opening gifts one by one.  Sometime during the gift opening, I will put some cinnamon rolls in the oven and we’ll take a break to eat a healthy breakfast including that and some Captain Crunch cereal.  With nowhere to go, we’ll see how long we can make it staying in our pjs.  Silly little things but these are the traditions that we love.

Teen House Church

Last night we had a whole bunch of teens in the house for Teen House Church (THC).  As I looked around our crowded basement I was so impressed with the people involved in my kids lives.  Our THC rotates between homes and is lead by the Dads of the teens who attend.  We also have a young couple that lead THC as a whole, getting to know the kids, challenging them, praying for them and being consistent role models in the lives of the youth of our church.  Joe is an amazing man, he recently finished law school and is now a lawyer.  He is an extremely intelligent man.  I admire the fact that despite having to study hard while he was in school, he put memorizing the Bible as a higher priority.  I love how he shows these kids that God honors and blesses us when we put Him first.  Joe's wife Katie is as sweet as they come and makes everyone feel as if they were her best friend.  She is so quick to share her story of straying off the straight and narrow path, and the fact that God rescued her.  They are both so real and transparent, not sugar coating life in any way.  I'm so thankful my kids have a chance to see up close and personal the results of living for Christ in people outside of our immediate family.

The other thing that struck me last night was the fact that 8 Dads gave up their Saturday evening to spend with a bunch of teens.  The Dads rotate who is teaching, if you are hosting the teen group then you are teaching.  All of these men have so much to offer in the way of their unique experiences.  It would be easy to just opt out of coming to THC when it isn't your turn to share, but rarely do they choose not to come.  Besides teaching when it is their turn, they help prepare the communion cups, play bongo drums during worship, serve by cleaning, lead in prayer or just hang out and have fun getting to know the friends of their children.   The kids don't seem embarrassed or annoyed that their parents are here with them.  To most of the teens it's quite normal to have a conversation with any of the parents in attendance.  It's encouraging to me as a Mom to know that my kids have a safe environment with many caring adults that they could talk to if they wanted or needed.

One other important feature that makes the THC a success is the fact that the teens really do own this time.  Each week 2 different teens will share from their own personal quiet times about what God is showing them.  Ellie shared this week about reading a verse that said to pray 7 times a day because that is more important than the law.  This challenged her to put God first and to pause several times a day to pray, also to read her Bible even before tackling her school work.  Kyle shared about reading in Revelation where it's talking about things to expect in heaven, like getting a new name.  He thought this was really cool and looked forward to these benefits of heaven, but as he was reading he noticed that all these things came to those who were "conquerors".  To be a conqueror requires more that just sitting around letting life go by, it requires action.  He shared how this challenged him and hopefully that challenged others who were listening to his thoughts.  There are quite a few kids that show up so after worshiping and breaking bread together they have a chance to go into "tiny" groups to share prayer requests on a more intimate level.  These smaller groups are lead by some of the older teens, girls in separate groups from the boys.  I love that the relationships built here are across all ages.

Relationships is really the key feature in the THC and how it is structured.  A meal is served each time they meet,  what better way to fellowship then over food.  There is a time for worship, with a few of the teens leading singing and playing guitar.   There are 30 + teens crammed into a small space, singing praises, sharing communion and reminding us of the ultimate relationship we are needing with God.  The families are in relationship with each other and have an interest in encouraging each others kids in their walk with the Lord.  When the "official" youth group time is over, it's not uncommon for everyone to just stick around and play games or watch a movie.  These are the people we do life with, and what a blessing they are.

Blessings from Friends

Last night I got together with some neighbor friends from our previous home in Robbinsdale, MN.   We try to get together at this time of year and catch up on each others lives.  We all have kids in the junior high and high school age and have been friends since they were all just little.  My friend Val, who happens to be the quietest one of the bunch, was feeling disconnected as a stay home Mom of small children.  She took it upon herself to make up little invitations and walk around the neighborhood delivering them to any home that looked like they had kids living there.  I was also home with my 2 young ones in diapers.   Val invited us all to her house for a play date and a chance to get to know other Moms in the neighborhood who were home with their children.  We have been friends ever since that time (about 12 years) and what a blessing these women have been to me.

I have such fond memories of living in Robbinsdale and the friendships we developed during that time.  One Mom loved celebrating Valentine's Day and Halloween and would always have a fun party for the kids.  She was so good about having crafts, games and snacks all revolving around a theme.  Had it not been for her, I don't think my kids would have done some of the fun (but messy) craft projects they did while in her home.  We had alley "Polka" dance parties at another friends house with a real live polka band.  We decorated bikes for 4th of July and had our own parade on the parkway.  We spent countless hours at the park,  the kids playing and the Moms all gabbing.  We had picnics and went on field trips.  We hung out and enjoyed root beer floats before the fireworks during Whiz Bang Days and then walked to the park together to watch the display of lights.  We signed our kids up for t-ball and cheered them on  even when they ran the wrong way around the bases.  We encouraged each other by listening and sharing the day to day struggles of being a Mom.  We walked together at times, we prayed together and even had a Bible study at one point.  Even though we all had different choices of churches, or even schools once the kids became of age, we all were on the same quest of being the best Moms we could be.  I know my experience of being a stay home Mom may not reflect what most people experience, but for the Moms of our neighborhood it was a wonderful community to raise our kids in.  Over the years many of us have moved away but those friendships will always have a special place in our hearts.

At our Moms get together last night, we exchanged blessings and prayers with each other instead of gifts.  Just reflecting on the memories we share together was really a blessing in itself.  As we age we have experienced the heartache of parents dying and relationships that have ended.  We have also experienced the joys together of seeing our children become these amazing and talented people, making a difference in their world.  The focus turned from our children  to my family and our upcoming trip to Africa.  These dear friends all gave me a blessing, a prayer, letter or verse to carry with me on my journey.  They know that missions have an important place in my heart and it was so amazing to have them excited that this dream of mine is about to happen.  I felt so humbled by their encouragement and their faith in that which is not yet seen.  Candles were lit as a symbol of the difference one light + one light + one light etc can make if we just step out and do the task God has given us. 

 I'm proud to know these women who have influenced me in many ways.  I think of the courage that Val had long ago to invite a bunch of strangers to her home in hopes of filling that feeling of being alone.  What if she would have ignored that prompting?  My life has been richer because of the friendships made that day.   What is it that God is asking you to do today?  The blessings that may come from just a simple task may be more than you can ever imagine.

What About School?

Probably the most frequent question I get asked concerning our trip to Africa is "What about school?"  It's a fair question and looks different depending on who it is coming from.  We are a homeschooling family but even that does not look the same in every family.  Some may take classes online, we don't.  Some are very relaxed and don't follow any type of curriculum, we follow more than one.  Some take classes through a co-op of families, we do.  There is freedom in our decisions on how to teach our kids, but in many ways I feel a great pressure in that freedom.  I do feel like I have "eyes" watching me at times and there is a pressure to some degree of caring what others think (by this I mean extended family or friends that don't homeschool).  I would say my biggest reason for the pressure I feel is that I don't want to fail my kids.  I don't want them to be ill prepared for life or finding a decent career path using the skills and talents God has given them.  I have one shot at this, there are no "do overs".

Originally, when I thought of going to Africa, I did think that we would just bring our work with us.  My reasoning is that I didn't want to get behind on anything.  After talking to a friend that had gone with her family on the mission field for an extended time, she helped me see it differently.  I believe her comment was, "Why would you want to taint your child's experience by bringing their 'American' school work with them?  They would miss so much."  Giving that some thought, I realized she was right in many ways and I needed to come up with a plan.

We started our basic school work several weeks early and I had each of my kids test out of the first few chapters of review in their math books.  Our co-op has been wonderful and the kid will be able to jump in the middle of their subjects when we return.  For their Enviromental Science class they will be doing a project on what they learned in Cameroon with regard to Enviro Science.  As a family we love to read aloud, or individually, so we will have a Kindle full of books as well as the real deal.  Math will be real life stuff like dealing with conversions, buying things from market, figuring travel time and working through real life construction puzzles with their Dad.   We will have a front row seat on our African culture class.  French is spoken in parts of Cameroon so they will have a chance to put their French into practice.  They will learn about Bible translation and the effects of illiteracy and how they can help.  They will learn compassion and mercy that would never come from seeing a documentary or reading about poverty.  Their one assignment that they will all have to do is to keep a journal of our trip so they can document it through their own eyes.

My hope is that all of us will walk away forever changed from this experience, but especially my children.  I hope that they come home with a vision for how God can use their lives.  My wish would be for them to work hard at the tasks put before them and the school that must happen to reach their goal.  I would want for them to see school as essential steps to live a bigger life with purpose and not just a time to do the bare minimum.  They do not need to wait until they are adults to make a difference in this world, they can begin today.

I think the answer I got from our travel nurse is the one I liked the best.  When I told her we were not bringing our regular school books with us, she responded "Oh, field work, sounds good!"

Provision My Way

Yesterday I shared how God has been providing for us in some amazing ways over the years, but more specifically leading up to our trip to Africa.  I am an idea person, so when we first started realizing just how much this trip would cost, my mind started thinking of different ways to make it happen.

Earlier this year "Minute to Win It" was in town looking for people to be on their show.  We don't even watch the show usually because it is on Wednesday nights and we are at AWANA on Wednesday nights.  A few times we have caught the end of the show or watched it on some of the free Wednesday nights we had.  If you have never seen the show, the contestants do all kinds of crazy games/competitions and each time they successfully complete the challenge they move up a level.  Each challenge has a dollar amount and you can win lots and lots of money.  When I heard about the local auditions I shot them an email.  For whatever reason, I got a reply email with an invitation to audition with my family and a VIP pass so we could move to the head of the line.  I was so excited and completely sure that God was going to let us get on the show.  I figured we could give God glory since we had a good reason for wanting the money.  It would also be a quick and easy way to have all the funds we needed and maybe some leftover too.  I liked the idea of an easy solution to our money dilemma.

Things got crazy around here for a while.  We checked out the "Minute to Win It" web site for all the different challenges that had been done.  We set up stations so we could practice all the different games.  I have to admit, I was terrible at all of them.  I was too impatient to bounce a pencil in a cup or get a cookie from my forehead to my mouth.  I wanted to get on the show because it sounded like an easy way to get to Africa but I really didn't want to practice so that I would be ready.  Thankfully, my kids were great at almost every challenge they tried. Although they were having trouble getting a playing card to lodge itself into a watermelon by throwing it from 3 feet away.  I'm still finding cards in random places in my basement.  I was feeling a little nervous because we wanted to be good examples since we were using our money for missions.  All the competition brought out some pretty ugly parts of our character and we hadn't even left our home.  We laughed a lot too as we stacked Oreos on our foreheads and did other crazy stunts.  We put everything else on hold as we worked on our training, not knowing exactly what would be expected of us at the auditions.

The day of the auditions finally arrived and we headed out to the furniture store where auditions were being held.  Our 10 page application was all filled out and we had our matching shirts to boot.  The store was overflowing with people and once inside the door the line of contestant hopefuls wound and wound throughout the store, they would have a long wait ahead of them.  With our pass we awkwardly walked past all these staring eyes to the front of the line.  Everyone else had only one page applications so we felt pretty good about our chances.  The "audition" was over in about 30 seconds and we were walking out the door.  That was very anti-climatic but we were all so thankful that we were not part of the crowd waiting all day in line to have the same experience.We never heard from "Minute to Win It" again.  All that practicing for nothing except to annoy me whenever I find another ping pong ball, or card, or cup with holes in it, in a cupboard or under furniture.  It was kind of a waste of time in the end.

Thinking about that experience showed me just how easy it is to get our eyes off of what God intends for us and that which is fun or will make life easy.  I wanted to "win big" for a good cause but in doing so I would have missed so much.  The people who have been praying for us for months probably wouldn't be, since most of these people knew what we were doing from our support letter.  Our family has been so touched by the sense of community we have had knowing people are investing in us on our journey, both financially and through prayer.  Practicing for "Minute to Win It" would not have prepared us for what we will be doing in Africa.  However, working on remodeling the house that we helped "flip" was great preparation for all of us (since we will be doing construction projects).   We have had lots of opportunity to work together as a team and support one another.  Our character has grown as we have had to work harder than we ever have before and persevere to the end.

"God's ways are higher than our ways" and I've found that to be true.  We are winners!  My faith has grown leaps and bounds this year as I've seen first hand God's faithfulness.  My kids wanted to be on "Minute to Win It" because they have never been on an airplane.  They will get to be on an airplane for a VERY long time and God used our hard work, along with big and small gifts and lots of prayer from our friends.