July 17, 2007

It is already the middle of the month and I am finally writing. I feel like we have been really busy and by the end of the day I just want to sit and read or have fun and play a game. Not a lot has been happening though, just daily life. But I will try to fill you in on a few things.

It seems like everyone realizes Grace is learning new words every day. She says almost anything but some of it has to be interpreted by Dad, Mom, or Lydia. Our favorite lately is when we pull in our drive way and Grace says, “O, o, o, om!” Grace sure can make us smile which is a good think cause she can sure make us want to give up too. She can be a screamer and stubborn. Even the people in town notice after Josh and her have only been there for 5 minutes. She will be disobeying and we will ask if she wants a spanking and she will say yes. Actually it is “da” (yes). We are beginning to wonder if she is Russian.

Lydia has always talked our ears off. I still get a kick out of how she says dessert, “delizart”. It is so funny how kids speak what they think they hear in a word. Lydia has been a good big sister and helps a lot. She continues to sing and loves to set up all her little toys when she plays alone (Grace and Avalien’s nap time). Lydia has been playing with her magnet paper dolls a lot lately. She sure has imagination. I love watching her play.

Sometimes I really like routine and routine is something you can have living here. Lydia and Grace go to bed so well together now. They are in bed at 8pm and comfort each other as they go to sleep. And they stay in bed and quiet all night! Grace now sleeps in Lydia’s bed for nap so some day soon Lydia will be moving to the top bunk. Did I tell you Grace doesn’t use pacifiers anymore? She gave them up herself. She had a sore in her mouth and since then she lost interest. We figured it was our chance to take them away painlessly. And it worked no more pacifiers. No more “plugging” her up when she cries though. Now if we can just get Lydia to get up to go to the bathroom at night.

On July 1, Sunday, we grilled hot dogs and kebabs and even had smores. Lydia loved it! It wasn’t the fourth of July but it was Canada Day so Tim was happy. The fourth of July was our first all day rain. It was a very ordinary day here. But it did make us think about all of you.

Avalien turned two on the seventh. We had a nice little birthday party – bar-b-q, cake and ice cream, and gifts. The next day we went to Mbale. We enjoyed a day at the pool – a continued celebration. We had a nice lunch too. The girls sure love swimming with their Daddy – the water was too cold for Mommy.

VBS went well. Well as far as I know. I was able to go twice in the two week each time for about 15 minutes – that is all Grace could handle. VBS was from 4:30 to about 6pm Monday through Friday. It was at Pastor Patrick’s church in Aropi. John and Barb came with all the material and led the stories and crafts. Josh did the bible memory every day in Ateso. Pretty impressive, I think. Josh loves VBS! The kids memories two verses with motions – they really knew them. The Bible School students where also required to come. Josh then taught a children’s ministry course with them. About 80 kids came. When I was there it seemed a bit loud and disruptive. Part of it was defiantly the language barrier and there are too many babies there with their siblings. But the kids where there and seeds where planted into many little heart. Kids were told about and experienced God’s love. That is success.

The Sunday after VBS was finished we invited the parents of the kids to come to church and hear and see what the kids have been learning. We wanted a way for them to be connected to the church. All the kids were there, quite a few of the mothers, and a few fathers. It was a good service with a lot of singing – the kids really sing and jump. John reviewed the stories from the week and Josh gave a gospel presentation. He did a really nice job.

We climbed another “mountain” (more like some big rocks) Sunday with Sliedrechts and John and Bard. The week before the others climbed the other mountain and saw monkeys so my girls were very excited to go look for monkeys. Usually we like to climb mountains to get away and enjoy the beauty, but not so much this time. We had about 25 or more kids follow us everywhere we went. They didn’t speak English but boy do they speak Ateso because they talked the whole time! I thought our chance of seeing monkeys was ruined, but we did actually see a few monkeys on the rocks in and in the trees. Grace hasn’t stopped saying, “monkey rock” since. Every time we go to town and see the mountain there we hear it over and over again.

Construction continues here. I will be glad when it is all done. The workers are great and I hope they continue to come around, but the stress of it can be done. The garage is complete and looks really nice. It did turn out a lot bigger than we planned. I am not sure how. Tim and Angie’s side of the duplex has been a mess for almost two weeks now. They torn out a couple wall, filled in a couple, put in more outlets… Now their old garage will be an addition to their living room and there is an office. What a lot of dust! We hope to do about the same but we plan to be in Kampala during the messy part of it. And now they are doing a screened in porch attached to the new room. When we get done with this we will have plenty of room and it will be very nice. But first we have to endure the chaos. All the decisions, picking out paint, finding tile, making the right plans… I have confirmed what I always thought -- I will never build a house! I am not good at making decisions or being able to envision what it will turn out like. The money for all of this is an issue too. Thankfully the landlord takes most of it off our rent but we need to pay upfront for it. Can you believe he allows us to deduct what we do from rent? That seems to be how they do it here. Rental houses are like bank account or investments here. You can’t trust the bank and it is almost dangerous to own cows so property seems to be the way to go. They see that you are improving their house so they pay for it (and they don’t have the money to do it.) Our landlord has been more than nice and seems to like the best. We think he plans to live here when we leave.

We went to Amecet Sunday for their small worship time. The older kids sang, danced and played drums. I was touched by these HIV positive kids singing “no more sickness there we are going to see the King” and “no more dying there we are going to see the King.” The meaning of the song came alive to me. Sick preteen kids, full of energy, singing praises to their Lord. They know true hope.

Our guard Patrick now attends Francis’ church where we often go. He has proved to be a real leader. He seems to have a heart for kids and has started a Sunday school and leads the choir. I was so impressed to see him up front singing with the kids. He has the biggest smile. Patrick has also been studying the Bible a little bit with John. He has been sharing what he has been learning with his boss and boss’ wife, now they are asking for a Bible. That is awesome! I am so proud of Patrick. He has such a young faith and reading ability yet he is filled with Christ and sharing Him with others. I still can’t get over that this boy whose parents where killed and who was forced to be a soldier for so long, loves the Lord and knows His joy.

Josh preached Sunday on Psalm 121 “Where will you put your trust?” It was a very fitting sermon for me and my family. Psalms 120 to 135 all go in sets of three – the first Psalm of the set is about trouble, the second about trust, and the third about triumph. We will all face troubles where will you put your trust in these times? Before the triumph comes we need to trust in God. Psalm 121 says, “I lift my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from?” It says hills because there where many hill and high places to choose to put your trust in. False gods where worshipped on these places. We have a choice – in which thing or god will you put your trust? We need to put our trust in the only true God. He is the creator of everything. He knows you and cares about you. He never leaves you and will protect you. Trusting is God will lead to triumph.

(I was also touched by the song on Ps. 121, “Oh, how I need you Lord, you are my only hope, you are my only prayer. So I will wait for you to come and rescue me, to come and give me life.”)