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.

Experimental Cooking

I have had so much on my mind lately that I just shut down and do nothing.  My house is a mess because I have started projects and then got distracted and never finished them.  We have one more week of our Homeschool Co-op.  I teach a Critical Thinking class so there are papers to be graded and I need to come up with a final grade for the 14 students in my class.  Thankfully, Drew has decided that helping me grade papers would keep me sane.  Last week I was stressing out trying to get all of our visa applications organized, it was not an easy task.  The visa application is sent, along with our passports, so now we just wait for them to return.  I have had numerous blogs fly through my mind but have not had time to capture them, so unfortunately most of them are gone forever.  With 4 weeks to go until our departure, I am attempting to take one day at a time.  That being said,  I am very distracted by thoughts of Africa and preparations that need to be made.  My brain is divided by what needs to happen to function today and my daydreaming about my future reality.

One of the great unknowns about our trip has to do with what happens once our team heads home.  Usually when you are with a team, a cook is provided and you are well cared for.  I was anticipating that I will feed my family as I do here in Minnesota.  At first I was getting a little distressed about what this would look like and thinking I might want to hire a cook for our family.  It could have to do with the fact that Kerry Bender has been to Ndu and told me about buying a lamb at the market, walking it home, feeding it for a few days and his daughter naming it.  Then one day, they (the locals) slaughtered the lamb and that was supper.  I love to cook from scratch but I have never gone that far back to the "natural".  The thought of killing my supper does freak me out a little.  I dealt with it by assuming there will be no way they could possibly expect me to cook under such conditions, so they must be providing a cook.  That would not be an unusual thing at all in Africa and it would actually help whoever we hired to earn some money for their family.

About a week ago, in the same email that gave the wonderful news that our housing would be half of what we had expected, there was a short note about me "not needing a cook".  Those words left me trembling.  I was talking to my computer even - "What do you mean, I don't need a cook?"  When I had finally composed myself, I simply replied that I couldn't possible kill my supper.  The answer I received left me somewhat relieved when I was advised that indeed I would not have to kill my supper.  After breathing a sigh of relief, I started wondering exactly what that means.  I envisioned how my cat leaves his "treasures" on our door step and wondered if I would find a carcass of some kind waiting for me to skin it and make stew.  I'm guessing not, but that is how my imagination goes.

Once I got over myself (again),  I started thinking about how our full house has been preparing me for this all along.  I would say most of the meals I make are what I call "experimental cooking".  I love to throw things together and use my favorite spices.  My family is very encouraging and most meals get the thumbs up.  Their biggest complaint is that I can't usually make the same meal twice.  Kyle keeps telling me to make my own cookbook.  I haven't had that same response from people outside of my home but I'm thankful my kids will eat anything I put before them.  I've been flipping through magazines and cookbooks feeling very inspired and excited to try my hand at African cooking.

As with most things concerning our upcoming trip to Cameroon, I have had to process and in the end I've come to a point of embracing that which I feared.  I think at this point I will be very disappointed if I am not cooking at least for my immediate family.  I look forward to finding unique treasures of local vegetables and fruits and creating some amazing meals.  The best part is, I will have my family surrounding me, hopefully with double "thumbs up".

Perfect fit for Drew

Going on a missions trip is always a lesson in flexibility.  You may go into it thinking you have an idea of what you will be doing and it won't look anything at all like you imagined.  That is part of the excitement of it all.  I'm a planner so this is not easy for me.  It's interesting because you send your information out of all your skills and talents and then you wait.  Every now and then I get an email that lets me know that they are working on what we will be doing and give me just a hint of what is to come.  Drives me crazy as I try to read  between every line to see if I can eek out just a tiny bit of  information that isn't being said.  In the end, I'm left trusting the people in charge - most whom I have never met.


As the days get closer to our departure I have had to ask a few questions about the plans for our family.  A little over a week ago, we still needed about $3000 in our account.  This was a lot of money to have to take out of our savings.  We could do it but it would leave us with very little upon our return.  I emailed to find out more specifically what we would need to pay for housing while in Cameroon.  The email I got back just made me smile at how well God takes care of us.  Found out the housing where we are going (Ndu) is half of what we were thinking.  That was a savings of $2000!  Shortly after this we were given gifts in person and more deposited into our account.  Financially it is all falling into place - Praise God!


The other cool part of the story is also evidence of God's hand in this whole journey.  Our family has been part of an AWANA program at Faith Baptist church in Minneapolis.  Over the years we have heard about missionaries that they support in Cameroon and their church has also sent short term mission teams to Cameroon.  I was thinking about one family in particular that homeschool their children and work full time as missionaries in Cameroon.  In one of my emails to Wycliffe I asked if we would be able to get gifts to this family from their support church in Minneapolis.  I was informed that we probably wouldn't see them because they lived in the mountains but the gifts could be sent on to them. 


 I guess within an hour from that reply, the person in charge of our assignment received a request from the Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary (CBTS)  in Ndu.  The request was for a job through Wycliffe Associates to do construction work - mainly concrete.  My husband has been finishing concrete for 20 years.  It ends up that this is the same place the missionary family I had just asked about lives and works.  She too saw this as God's hand and forwarded our name on to  Eric Hagman, the Africa Area Director of Wycliffe Associates.  Eric and his wife Tracey were long time members of our home church before moving to Africa, not to mention good friends of ours.  Eric immediately replied that our family would be a perfect fit for the job.  I still don't know what part I will be playing while in Ndu but I'm convinced it will fit me just as well as this job fits Drew.  


This kind of thing makes me so excited.  It's obvious that God cares about the details and was working out the pieces to the puzzle far before I ever even had a thought of actually going to Cameroon.  Now here we are just one month before leaving and a few more pieces are revealed to me.  I have no doubt we are right in the middle of God's plan for us as we prepare to live for 10 weeks in Ndu.

Coffee snobbery to a new level

Anyone who know my husband, knows that he loves to make yummy coffee drinks.  We own a little espresso/barista machine that he uses to steam his milk and makes shots of espresso for the most wonderful latte'.  Every morning throughout the year he makes me a coffee drink that far surpasses any coffee shop.  I'm pretty spoiled.

When we go camping or if we are at a hotel, away from his espresso machine, he will bring along our french press so that we do not have to go without great coffee.  He really gets a kick out of serving people by making coffee drinks for them and watching their faces when they discover how good it is.  It's early right now and I'm going without coffee until he gets up to make me one.  I just know that it's worth the wait.  I usually only have one coffee a day so it better be good.  He loves making me coffee, you could even say it is his "love language" to me.

In Cameroon, coffee is one of their main exports.  The books that I have read say that they grow coffee there but do not usually drink the coffee.  We were concerned about being able to find coffee in Ndu where we will be.  A friend who has been there mentioned that you can get it but we will need to roast our own beans!  The thought of this makes me giggle.  Drew is already so particular about making the perfect coffee, I know he will embrace roasting his own beans.  There will be no stopping him and he will no longer be satisfied with a normal cup of coffee again.

Blessings Showered Down

December is here and I’m starting to freak out a little at how fast the time is going.  This morning I was taking a long shower, talking to God about all the things on my mind and trying to let go of my worries.  Ever since my children were small I have had a rule not to bug me in the shower unless the house is on fire.  I justify it because I have always been with my kids day and night.  Being in the shower is like a little retreat or personal spa treatment, it gives me time to renew my mind and be a better Mom.

 I was showering and praying about what to bring to Africa without over packing.  No small feat, because when we camp we pack for comfort.  I definitely struggle with over packing.   This will be much longer than any camping trip I have ever been on.  It's not fair to compare it with camping but that is the closest thing in my experiences.  We will have a house to live in so I certainly will have a comfortable place but it will be different. 

Right in the middle of my prayer, the thought came into my mind – How many people in the world don’t even have enough water to drink?  What would they think right now if they could see me standing here?  Besides the shock of seeing a naked, overweight, very white, 40 something woman- I wonder what would go through their mind?  I’m sure for some it would be something they could barely wrap their minds around.  They would probably think I had lost my mind wasting water like that.  If I wanted I could drink my shower water and not get sick.  Here I am with gallons of water washing over me and down the drain, while people all over the world are dying from disease caused by  infected water.   It’s not like I can bottle up the water going down my drain and make any kind of difference, but do I really understand what an amazing blessing it is not to worry about water?

We may or may not have access to showers on a daily basis while in Africa, but at least our showers will need to be much shorter than we enjoy here.  I read one story of a short term missions team that was in Africa for 2 weeks in a village that had a shortage of water.  They had rationed out water for the team to drink but one lady was using the filtered water to wash her hair.  All I could think was – Please Lord, help me not to be so culturally insensitive that I do something so incredibly selfish.  I know that I am selfish through and through and  my eyes are going to be opened to that fact more and more while we are in Africa.  

Today I am thankful for my fresh water to drink, my toilet to flush, my hot shower, my sink with running water to wash my dishes.  I'm also thankful for the amazing blessing of getting to go without these things for even a short while and live like most of the world.  We live in a land of abundance, in a season of even more abundance.  God, show me how to be content, to let go of wanting more, to be satisfied with the blessings all around me big and small.  Help me to be satisfied in you alone.

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.