Pack it up... Pack it in...

So I've been a little MIA lately... but for good reason.  Not only have I been preparing to make the journey to the US, but this past week I found out that we have to have our whole house packed up and as much of it moved into a storage container as possible before we leave.

At first I was thinking "It would have been nice to know sooner" but actually I'm one of those weird people who really like to pack.  It seems like almost everybody else I know likes to UN-pack. Me? Know way... I hate deciding where things go.  I need to hire a professional unpacker/organizer.  However, God has paired me with such an amazing complement... and he much prefers to unpack (yes!) so I think we make a good team.

Right now I am sitting on my couch looking at a bare bookcase, everything is cleared out of my kitchen, pantry, and Aden's bedroom.  Three suitcases are filled right next to me just waiting to be locked with some TSA locks after we add a few last minute things in the morning. 

My carry-on is packed with clothes for cold weather (Brussels will be COOOLD!) When we leave tomorrow, the high in Freetown will be 86 degrees with a max of 88% humidity, comfort level = 96 degrees.  I also have lots of toys and snacks for Aden to try and keep him occupied during our 6.5, 9, and 4.5 hour plane flights we have planned.  I'm not actually too worried about the flights with him.  I may be being naive, but John and I have been in prayer about it and I know that it is a finite amount of time and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  How bad can it be?  ;) 

Well, see you all on the other side!! 

Car Problems

I would say almost without fail, when teams come, there is some kind of car problem.  With this last team we had at least 3.  The first one was when Chad realized his breaks didn't work on the day they were heading out to the village.  About half a days work and the problem was solved.

The second problem happened when John and I and the other people from Flagstaff were on there way to the village the next day and Robin's car got a flat tire.  But we made lemonade out of lemons while John went to go get the tire fixed.

While we were waiting Aden was just walking up and down this road as far as he could go.

We also took cover in the shade of some trees.  This is Dean from CCoF.

The 3rd car problems was when we were leaving the village and one of John's tires fell through a bridge.  The bridge was made of palm tree trunks and was not held together very well.  While we were waiting Aden, my mom and I walked down to the next village and sat with the villagers for a while.  Everybody here is so hospitable.  They dusted off three chairs in the shade and kept bringing us more and more gigantic cucumbers from their gardens.  Precious!

Straight Up Lion King

We found this in the village...

Straight up GRUBS!!! I seriously can't think of grubs without thinking of Lion King... anyone?

Turning the Crank

Since we first got our well drilling kit in March of 2011 (and since have added another kit) we have drilled over 20 wells.  And when I say "we" I use the term loosely as people do when they are associated with a good work that is going on but are not actively involved.

I've had only a few opportunities to jump in there and turn the crank with the boys and usually I was holding Aden so it would have been difficult.   John said there has only been 2 girls that he's met that could 'turn the crank' for any lengthy period of time without tiring out.  In this last trip I decided to give it a go.  Yes it was hard and I was tired... yes I did most of the work (you can see in some of the pictures that John is smiling... nobody truly working hard has a smile on their face... and clearly, the look of constipation consternation on my face shows that I was doing most of the work).

Aden Meets Grandma at the Airport

So I haven't been blogging for a while because we were busy when preparing for some teams (which included my Mom yay!) But I'll start posting some photos and commentary of what we've been up to in ministry and otherwise :)

Here is Aden waiting for Grandma at the airport!

We skype with Grandma nearly every day so we were all curious if he would recognize my mom by voice or looks.  Because we made friends with a guy in the airport while we were waiting, he sneaked me back to baggage claim which is usually off limits for people waiting.  It was so good to see my mom and our old friend Steve and our new friend Dean.

I wasn't allowed to bring Aden back to baggage claim so after we collected everything we walked out to where John and Aden were.  My mom went to go say hi and she started talking to him the way our family talks to babies (read: high pitched squealing) and Aden in turn squealed back!  So we are fairly certain he knew his granny!

We got into our house fairly late after crossing the ferry and I wanted to stay up and talk to my mom and look at all the goodies she brought us but we had to wake up early the next day to leave for Ronurie.

More adventure awaits!

Aden and the fan

The other night John was talking into the fan and the Aden was laughing at the 'vibrato'.  So a few minutes later he thought he would do it himself.  We also have been trying to teach Aden to make faces. :o

Here is a short clip...

Grapefruit

Not quite the reaction I was expecting, but still not a big fan...

Hopefully it means he'll like it later in life like his mommy :)

The Bigger Person

Yesterday in my women's bible study, the topic of "being the bigger person" came up in regards to conflicts with others, particularly our spouses.  I'm sure everyone who has a spouse (or even in relationships with friends or family) has come across the opportunity to take the higher ground in a conflict.

John and I don't argue or have conflicts that often, but every time we do, I can feel the Holy Spirit tugging at me to take the higher ground, forgive first, be the "bigger person."  Yet often the sin nature deceives me and tells me lies that say "no, no, you have a right to be upset"  "he's just going to have to learn not to speak to you like that, and if you just let him get away with it, he's not going to learn" "trust me, you'll feel better when he finally comes to his senses and apologizes for the way he acted" "you've done nothing wrong and therefore have no need to apologize."  Can anybody relate with this internal war?

This morning I meditated on Ephesians 1:7-8... "In him [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."

I spent some time thinking about how I so often I sin.  I have the capability in my heart to be a BIG TIME SINNER.  And so often I am.  The sin of anger, impatience, frustration, selfishness can bubble out of my heart like a river after a flood.  Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.  God knows and understands these sins yet every time I sin, he does not condemn me nor sentence me as I deserve.  He does not get upset and want to the hold the sin over my head until I am really sorry.  With EVERY sin, He has taken the high ground, He has been the "bigger person" and forgiven first.  I am so thankful and pray that I can learn from his example to be the "bigger person" because that is who He is.

YOUR stand

I am doing a personal bible study by Kay Arthur (one of my faves) called "Lord, is it Warfare? Teach Me to Stand".  I bought it for $1 at a garage sale of a fellow expatriate who used to run an orphanage and was trying to clean house.  Right now we're in Ephesians and something caught my eye today in chapter 6...

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take YOUR stand against the devil's schemes.  (NIV, emphasis mine)

Satan knows our weaknesses and mine vary from yours and yours from mine.  But we are each responsible for putting on the armor of God in order to take OUR stand against the devil's schemes.  Sometimes I tend to rely on the convictions of others as good examples for my own walk and my own stand.  While it is important to let iron sharpen iron and to spur one another on in love and good deeds, I am ultimately responsible for MY stand, MY being firm in the Lord, and recognizing when Satan is scheming after MY heart and mind.  We can easily spend our time following in the footsteps of others, all good Christians, but fail to spend time putting on our own armor that has been strengthened by the time we have hammered it in the fire.  Nobody cares about your own protection in times of war and the strength of your armor more than you do.  (or maybe that's just me because I'm selfish?) And if that's the case, WE must spend that time in the fire with God as he prepares our own armor, that he especially fitted for US, for the areas that WE need to take a stand.

Playing ball...

John usually plays ball with Aden in the evenings and they have a wonderful time.  John was picking up our teammates from the airport after their short furlough in AZ.  Here is a little ball game when mama is in charge... lot more clapping than ball throwing that's for sure!

Aden plays with John Barry

After John left for the evening, he asks, "where did he go?"

Umbrellas

How creative are these for the rain?

The _____ face

It took 3 tries for me to get the picture on camera... but can you tell what he's doing in the last one?

Camping in Ronurie

A few weekends ago we spent the weekend camping in one of the villages.  We will be going out to this same village with two teams in a couple of weeks to drill a well.  In preparation for that many people... John decided to set up some toilets and showers.

The framework for the girls' side... 3 showers and 1 toilet

Digging holes for the guys' side

The bamboo sticks they used

Enclosing the rooms with palm leaves woven together

 Isn't it pretty?

Adama (Abdul's wife) doing some dishes at the campsite

Here's our little water and cooking station

Gas stove!

Consider it all joy

Interesting how I wrote about fair-weather faith last week because that very thing was tested starting last night when I started feeling a little feverish and had a headache... aka malaria symptoms. 

We had some friends over for dinner and I had to leave early cause I wasn't feeling well.  I took 2 malaria tests.  One was positive but it could have been left over antibodies from when I got it a month ago.  The other test which tests for something different looked mostly negative.  I could see where the positive line "would be" so to speak, but nothing was there.  I decided to wait it out over the night to see if my fever got higher (it ranged between 100 and 101 F).  There is also a cold going around my group of friends with similar symptoms, but by the morning I couldn't shake the feeling that I felt like I did with malaria last time.  Also, I had no cold or stomach bug symptoms that I would have if there were another reason for my fever like I have gotten before.

While I hate taking medicine... especially strong drugs to treat malaria, after seeing John get it seriously a few times, I felt like this was one of those "better safe than sorry" type situations. Plus, the last time I took this drug, I had really no side effects from the meds which is not the case with many malaria treatment options.

I must admit as I was trying to figure this whole malaria "do I have it or not" "do I take treatment or wait it out", I think my faith initially failed me as I cried "Not again Lord, please not again" "Why do we have to live here and suffer this sickness" Yet this morning those words came back to me as well as a few other verses from James 1...

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything

Fair-weather Faith

Remember that we have no more faith at any time than we have in the hour of trial.  All that will not bear to be tested is mere carnal confidence.  Fair-weather faith is no faith.

                                                                                     -Charles Spurgeon

I love this challenge to specifically put our faith in God during an hour of trial... particularly because it is when it seems the hardest to do so. 

We're getting a dog!!

The only dogs here in Sierra Leone are mostly small little mutts.  One of our friends bred a Doberman with an (apparently enormous) Rhodesian Ridgeback.  The puppies are just a few weeks old so it will still be a few more weeks till they are weaned and we get to take one home. 

Bottlecaps and Kisses

Aden is OBSESSED with the tops to bottled water here.  I am serious.  If he could have one in each hand, he couldn't be happier.  If he sees one in sight, he MUST have it.  It becomes a sense of urgency until he has the precious piece of plastic in his hand.  (We deny him occasionally because we're not ones to give into every desire of our children)  My friend Jesi suggested that we get him a whole pile of bottle caps just to see the look on his face.  Here are a few pics from over a month ago when his friend Anna was visiting.

There it is again... in his right hand...

Leans in for a little kiss...

Anna not too happy again... (sorry Anna... we told him to do it!)

And a few hours later...he still has it in his hands.

Bubbles

I just uploaded a bunch of videos that have been sitting on my video camera so be prepared to be video-ed out from my son's cuteness.  This one also features his future wef.  His heart misses you Miss Anna!

Camping and Funny Stories

John, Aden, the Gonzales family, and I are all going to Ronurie for a few days.  John will be setting up 2 latrines and a few showers in the village.  They will just be temporary during the time when we will have a team of about 20 or so people camping, drilling a well, putting up a permanent latrine, and loving on the people there.  The team come near the end of September and we couldn't be more excited!

The other info I wanted to relay to you is a couple funny stories that our friend Deborah told us tonight over dinner.  I was laughing so hard I was crying and I'm not sure if it is because I've been in Sierra Leone and its now culturally funny to me.  So if its hardy har har funny to you just bear with me.

So Deborah stayed the night at our friend's Sada's house last week.  Deborah stays with and mentors a group of orphan girls not too far from us. She gave one of the orphan girls (we'll call "Aminata") her key to stay in the night she was gone.  Aminata was going to run a small computer class in Deborah's bedroom. 

The next day Aminata approaches Deborah and says "What is that spray you have in your purse?" Deborah immediately remembers a small spray of essential oils that she has in her purse called Thieves oil.  Aminata says "It is strong." Deborah uses it on her sore throats and it can definitely burn, even if you rub it on your skin.  Deborah chuckles to herself as Aminata goes on and on about how "strong" that spray was.  Aminata said "we had to leave the room and get out it was so strong." Deborah goes to sleep that night thinking Aminata was slightly dramatizing the issue as is somewhat common with these teenage girls (as it is in all cultures right?)

Well the next morning, Aminata comes back to Deborah and continues to ask about what that strong spray is.  So Deborah says "come bring me the spray from my purse" with the intent of telling her about the essential oil.  Well instead of bringing her the thieves oil, Aminata brings Deborah another spray bottle, but its MACE!!!!

Oh I just died laughing picturing little Aminata wanting to use "Deborah's perfume" from her purse so she could smell just like Deborah and getting doused with pepper spray.  Luckily the first spray she made was away from her and not on her skin or body so she was okay.   But maybe she will think twice next time about going through Deborah's belongings!

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After that story Deborah said that things like that happen to her all the time.  Another time she was away, one of the girls used her toothpaste... or what she thought was toothpaste.  It was in fact cortisone cream.  It was Equate brand and apparently the girl had used toothpaste that said Equate on it before.  The orphan girl somehow ignored the fact that the tube also said "anti-itch".  When the 'toothpaste' had no flavor, the girl decided to put more on.  Deborah also said that they do not swish or spit here so the girl swallowed both doses of the cortisone cream.  yech!

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Well that's it! Have a good Friday and weekend all!  I'll try to come back with some videos ASAP!

Parent and Baby Photo Day

Crazy Dad

My little strawberry blonde boy

Two Accidents Waiting to Happen

This video was taken almost 3 weeks ago so both children are significantly better at walking now, but it was a bit touch and go there for a while as it seemed they were playing a very unstable game of bumper cars.

Things that mold in rainy season...

1. My leather belt
2. John's flip flops (also leather)
3. The rolling pin
4. The shelves of spice cabinet
5. Our tile
6. Don't even start me on food (bread lasts about a day)
7. Our walls
8. Pillows not being used
9. My sourdough starter if I don't feed it regularly (yes I'm a terrible sourdough owner)
10. Anything and everything leather, wooden, or cloth not previously mentioned if not left perfectly dry

How I miss thee AC that dries out everything :)

Mischevious

He gets this look from his father...

Chubby Bunny aka Conejo Gordo

So our team members Chad and Robin and fam went back to AZ for a furlough.  They are fluent in Spanish and we are not.  I can definitely communicate in Spanish but I much better and reading or writing than I am at speaking and understanding.  John and Emily know less than me so needless to say, there are lots of miscommunications here in Lower Allentown, Sierra Leone.

Just the other day, John was planning to take Pepe and his crew of guys upcountry to drill a well for a week.  When John went downstairs that morning to pick up Pepe to leave, he was still in his p.j.'s.  That was probably John's fault of forgetting to communicate the schedule to him.

For one of Aden's birthday parties, I was planning to make a Mexican lunch.  Alejandra was going to make "pollo al horno" or baked chicken.  Yet when I texted her to come up for the party, she had thought the party was at night! Luckily we were able to enjoy her absolutely DELICIOUS chicken for dinner.

We are always looking for ways to have fun that cross both language and cultural barriers.  Emily had the fantastic idea to play chubby bunny or in Espanol... conejo gordo.  I'm sure most people have played this game but the premise is that you take turns sticking marshmallows in your mouth and saying "chubby bunny" or for the chileans "conejo gordo" until somebody either can't say it anymore or gives up and spits them all out.  Definitely not recommended for someone with a gag reflex.

We played it when Emily's family was here and it was a hit!!! Emily beat Escarlet (although I do have to say it was an unfair advantage due to Escarlet having a smaller mouth since she's only 10 years old)

Isn't she precious?

Alejandra took a turn...

and schooled Emily!

We are so thankful and blessed to have such great and fun team members!