At Home in Nakuru

These have been two of the busiest weeks of my life!  Last Monday, we moved.  Everything went into a big moving truck, so we were able to get it all moved in one day instead of making multiple trips.  That was a huge blessing for us!

Here is a picture of my neighbor, Elpina, and I on the big moving day.  She is such a special friend to me, and that day, she was a little sad to see us going.

But we promised to stay in touch, and I invited her and her family to come visit us in Nakuru soon.  Please pray that I will still have an open door with her even though I don't live next door to her anymore.  I long to lead her to the Lord someday.

Here is a picture I took on the way up to Nakuru last Monday.  Can you tell it is rainy season in Kenya right now?  Look at those dark, low-hanging clouds!

During this last week and from talking to other missionaries, I have discovered that Nakuru gets even more rain than Karen did.  That is not a problem for me though.  I love rain!  It rained most days of the year when I was growing up in New Guinea too.  There is something so cozy about being inside and hearing the rain pitter-patter on the roof.

Here is the road that leads to our new house.

It is a very bumpy dirt road--quite the experience bouncing up and down at 7 and 1/2 months pregnant!  It only takes about 5 minutes on this road, however, after leaving the blacktop, so it is nothing like some other girlhood memories I have! 

So what has my life been like this past week?  I've been cleaning and unpacking at the same time.  Tuesday, the day after we got here, I started in the kitchen, and it literally took me all day.  But by the time it was too dark to see, I had everything where I wanted it in clean cupboards.  I mopped my way out of the kitchen, climbed the stairs, and fell into bed exhausted.  

Ever since then, it's kind of been a blur.  Every time I turned around, there was another box to unpack and something else that I wanted to get done NOW!  And in between all of the cleaning and unpacking, I've been trying to put together as simple meals as possible for my family.  (You missionary wives know that simple meals on the mission field are not really that simple!)  I'm also trying to keep up with a basket of dirty clothes, washing a load in the mornings by hand until my washing machine gets hooked back up, hopefully soon (fingers crossed!)  Not to mention sewing curtains (by hand too).  

Seth and I started school back up yesterday.  I can't wait to show you pictures of our school room!  It is so nice to have a room that looks like a classroom that can stay like that all the time.  I still want to do things in there like hang maps on the walls, etc.  But a little at a time.

We just got the internet hooked up last night, so I am back to blogging in between everything else.  Blogging is relaxing for me though, so I'll just have to take more of those mandatory breaks now!  

For Thanksgiving, we spent the day with the Mickeys, another missionary family here in Nakuru.  Mrs. Mickey really outdid herself with the Thanksgiving meal.  She told me not to worry about bringing anything, so I didn't cook . . . much.  I made a cherry pie with some cherry pie filling that was just recently sent to us from the States.  After not having cherry pie in over a year, it tasted sooooooo good!  Many thanks to our friends in Oklahoma City who sent us 12 cans of the stuff!  I think I'll be baking cherry pies to last us the whole term!

So this year I am thankful for . . . cherry pie and friends to celebrate the holidays with when we are so far away from "home".  But what is home for a missionary?  We are pilgrims on this earth, never fully fitting in here or there, but instead looking for a City (Heaven) where we will someday truly feel at HOME!  I can't wait!  In the meantime, I am loving Kenya.

Busy Days

Every day is busy as a housewife and mother, but this week?  We're packing up a whole house and shed and throwing that kind of busyness into the mix of everyday life.  Yes, somewhat hectic to say the least.  BJ is even busier than I am with all of the teaching that he is doing throughout the week too.  But I, at least, have to sit and take a break at times, and this is one of those times!

This morning Seth and I did school, and we're doing it tomorrow too.  Poor boy!  School on Saturday?  Sometimes it's necessary.  At the beginning of the school year, I made out our school schedule, determined that we would NOT get behind this year with everything going on.  I allotted two weeks off for the Dubai trip, Thanksgiving Day off, and three weeks off after the baby is born.  That will be his Christmas break a little late.  Christmas day falls on a Sunday, so that's a free day anyway.  I did not plan time off for our move because I did not know when that would happen.  So instead, we've been trying to get ahead these past couple of weeks.  Seth has been quite a little trooper and has had a great attitude.

Sheer concentration!

I've had to pace the work load because Abeka is pretty intense already (not that I don't absolutely love the curriculum!).  But these last two weeks, Seth has gotten 4 lessons ahead!  That means we can take Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off to unpack, then rest Thanksgiving Day, and start up again after that. 

After school, I packed almost all of BJ's and my clothes in a huge suitcase.  Then it was time for lunch.  After lunch, I had to take a few minutes to murder some flies.  There is nothing like trying to eat a sandwich with 4 or 5 flies buzzing around your face!  They were driving me insane.  For some reason the fly population has multiplied around here all of a sudden.  Thank God for flyswatters!  And thank God for friends in the States who send missionaries flyswatters when there is no such thing on their mission field!  I killed about 15 flies in a matter of 5 minutes or less.  That is 15 less flies in the world and more importantly 15 less flies IN MY HOUSE!!!

I'm rambling, but the break sure feels good.  I'm about to pack another suitcase--this time all of Seth's clothes are going in as well as miscellaneous things around the house.  I'm just trying to pace myself, and as my hubby would say, "Be prudent, and don't overdo it."

By the way, I am not sure about the internet situation for a little while after we move.  We'll have to get it set up in Nakuru, so you may not hear from me on here for a few days, a week, who knows.  But I'll be back to blogging when I can!

We're Moving!!!

Hurray!  I've been waiting to write this post until the lease agreement was signed.  Now it is pretty sure to happen!  Do I sound skeptical?  Well, I have learned to expect the unexpected on the mission field!  I thought we had a house, then we didn't.  Then I thought we found another house; then it wasn't going to be that one either . . . but now it is.

We could not settle on an agreement with the landlady, so we thought it was a no go until a week later, she called us back saying she would agree to what we could pay in rent.  She did not want her house sitting vacant any longer, and she said she knows we will take good care of it.  Wow!  I thought of the verse in Proverbs 21:1 where it says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."  The Lord definitely turned the heart of this lady around. 

So today, she and BJ signed the contract, and Monday we are moving in!  Yes, Monday.  That is three days away!  It is hard to believe it is actually happening.

We will be in our new house before Thanksgiving, and hopefully, we can get most everything unpacked by then.  We will be getting together with the Mickey family in Nakuru on Thanksgiving Day.  They are the missionaries we will be working alongside.  God is good!

Thank you so much for praying for us to find a house, a house for almost the same rent we've been paying for the past year but four times bigger!  Can you tell I am excited?  We'll actually have room for our furniture!

This is what Seth's room has looked like for most of the past year--a dresser under the blankets, two bedside tables on top of that, and three living room end tables turned upside down on the top of the stack.  Not complaining, but it will definitely be nice to spread out!

30-week Baby Picture

I've been trying to take baby pictures about once a month since I started showing even just a little.  I didn't do so well at that when I was expecting Seth, so this time I determined to be more consistent with it.  Normally, the firstborn has more pictures taken of him than the second child, but as of right now, this baby has more before birth than Seth did!  I did take a couple of Seth toward the end though.

I have a feeling this baby will be smaller than Seth was.  Seth was born at 9.7 lbs, and I felt huge and uncomfortable even at 7 months.  Also, I was ravenously hungry all the time with him!  My tummy is quite round by now, of course, but I feel great this time.  It's been so much easier carrying this one.

This baby is a lot more active though.  She kicks and punches and rolls around almost constantly it seems, especially at night when I am longing for sleep!  I've tried singing to her, ordering her to go to sleep, gently slapping my tummy to startle her.  Nothing works.  She's hyper or something!  Makes me wonder what her personality will be like.  I can't wait to see her, hold her, and really get to know my baby!

Our Thanksgiving Tree

This holiday season, I'd been bothered by the fact that our lives are so hectic with a huge move coming up and then a new baby on the way shortly after that.  Please don't get me wrong!  I am so thankful that both the move and the birth of our baby are about to happen, but at the same time, I feared that Thanksgiving and Christmas would sort of just pass us by this year without us being able to really enjoy the season as a family.  I'd been pondering in my mind how we could still make Thanksgiving meaningful to Seth even in the midst of a move.  Would we be here or there?  How could I focus on helping Seth understand the true meaning of Thanksgiving when my mind is so full with all that is going on?

Then I ran across a wonderful idea that perfectly fit our situation this year as I was reading Rachel's blog one day.  She and her family are missionaries in Estonia.  This year, they are making a Thanksgiving tree together by writing down their blessings on leaves and hanging them on their tree.  I knew instantly that it would be something Seth would love to do, and that it would also teach him what Thanksgiving is all about--being thankful each and every day for God's many blessings in our lives.

So he and I took a walk to find some twigs.  We tied them together with a rubber band to make our "tree".  I gave it a jar vase and taa daa!  It works!  Then I spent the rest of the day cutting out fall-colored leaves from construction paper.

And now we've been hanging our blessing leaves each night before family devotions.  Seth is loving it.  It is so important to him to do it each night as a family.  He very seriously passes out everyone's leaves, makes sure we have a pen, and even cuts our pieces of yarn in preparation to hang the leaves.  He writes down his own blessings all by himself.

It really touched my heart that the very first blessing he wrote down was, "God gav me mi uthr."  Which being interpreted means, "God gave me my mother."  How sweet is that?!

I am loving the green, orange, and yellow leaves decorating my home.  Fall colors do not happen on the equator!  Instead, we have beautiful green all year around.  But there is just something about vibrant fall colors around Thanksgiving time.  It's giving my home a cozy feel inside.  Thank you, Rachel, for sharing your idea!

A Fun Day in Olkeri

Today, after church we loaded some church members in our car and joined some other cars on our way to the village of Olkeri.  Last year, God allowed our church here in Karen to plant a new church in Olkeri.  Today was their one-year anniversary, and they had a big day planned.  For the meal, there was about six different kinds of Kenyan food, and it was so good!  I love the food here!  We had a really good time of fellowship with the Olkeri church and with the families who had gone up there from Karen.

New church building going up in the background.  They are currently using the tent.

About 5 Deaf went with us too.  It is a blessing to see these Deaf people so interested in coming and getting involved in our church.  Some of them come every time the doors are open.  They are so hungry to learn, and I believe the Word of God is taking root in their hearts.  They act like they can't get enough!  We enjoyed getting to sign with them during the meal . . . although it is difficult to sign and eat at the same time!  BJ rarely finishes his plate--not because he doesn't like the food, but because his hands are busy constantly!

Notice he is the only one left with his plate of food!

I am still trying to learn the Kenyan signs, so I kept having to ask the meaning for some of the signs they used.  They are so patient in trying to help me learn.  KSL is not a language you can learn from study.  Although they have a KSL dictionary here, many of the signs in it are different than the signs that the Deaf actually use.  The only way to learn it is to "talk" with the Deaf . . . a lot.  Unfortunately, I get a lot less opportunities than BJ to interact with them.  That is probably the case with any missionary wife trying to learn the language . . . or as in my case, the languages!

I also got to use my Swahili a lot more today too.  Many of the people in Karen prefer to speak English, and I find myself many times falling back on English simply because it is so easy to do that here.  But farther away from Nairobi, people mainly speak Swahili and their tribal language.  You know when you don't use a language, you lose it.  After 6 months of hard work and study, the last thing I want to do is lose this language!  So I am thankful for every opportunity I get to use Swahili too.  It was a busy day, but a fun day.

I am dying to let you know what it looks like God has done for us, but I think I will wait a few more days until it is "in stone."  These last few weeks have been so back and forth, up and down.  This past week my blog has been rather quiet as I've simply been waiting to see what God is going to do for us.

A Saturday Tradition at our House

I have recently found that breakfast for supper on Saturday nights works great for us.  This week it was cinnamon rolls.

Some weeks I make German Farmer's Breakfast which is simply a yummy breakfast casserole (shhhhhh) with a fancy name.  My hubby loves it!  I am planning biscuits with sausage gravy next week.  The great thing about cooking a big breakfast on Saturday evening is that we have leftovers for a big breakfast on Sunday morning!  We go to church with full tummies, and since we don't get home until about 1:30 p.m., it helps us to be able to wait that long until lunch.  (Well, I still have to have my stash of "emergency food" in the car for Baby and I, but anyway!)

BJ is loving these breakfast suppers every week and his Sunday morning breakfasts the next day!  He told me, "This is no longer just a tradition; it's a rule!"  It makes it easy for me when I make my menu each week to know that one supper meal of the week is decided--breakfast it will be! 

Here is my favorite cinnamon roll recipe.  I make it two ways.  Sometimes it is just cinnamon rolls, and sometimes, with a slight variation, they become caramel pecan sticky rolls!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
3 and 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 packages yeast (4 and 1/2 teaspoons)
1 cup very warm milk (120 to 130 degrees)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 large egg
Pecans and/or raisins if desired
Filling
Additional butter or margarine
Caramel Topping if desired

Filling
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Caramel Topping if desired
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup corn syrup

For caramel topping, heat brown sugar and butter to boiling in 2-quart saucepan, stirring constantly; remove from heat.  Stir in corn syrup.


Instructions for rolls:
Make a sponge with 1 cup of the flour, the milk, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar.  Let sit 10 minutes until it bubbles up.  

Now add the sugar, salt, butter/margarine, and the egg.  Stir in enough flour to make dough easy to handle.  Knead dough on floured surface, adding enough flour as needed.  Knead until dough is smooth, not sticky.


Place in greased bowl, turning dough to coat all sides.  Cover and let rise 1 hour to 1 and 1/2 hours depending on how much time you have.  


Make Caramel Topping if desired.  Pour into ungreased rectangle 13 x 9 x 2 inch casserole pan.  (If you are making plain cinnamon rolls, make sure you do grease that pan!)  Sprinkle with pecan halves. 


Punch dough down.  Roll dough into a 15 x 10 inch rectangle.  Spread with butter/margarine.  Sprinkle with filling.  Roll rectangle up tightly, pinching edges and tucking under to seal.  Cut roll into 1-inch slices and place slightly apart in pan.  Cover and let rise about 30 minutes or until double. 


Heat oven to 350 degrees (180 Celcius).  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.  Let stand 2-3 minutes.  If they are caramel sticky rolls, turn upside down onto tray or cookie sheet.  Let stand 1 minutes so caramel can drizzle over rolls; remove pan.


Notes:  If they are just plain cinnamon rolls, omit caramel topping and pecans.  Grease bottom and sides of pan, and you do not have to turn them upside down afterwards.  Instead, simply drizzle with vanilla glaze.


Vanilla Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Add water a tiny bit at a time until you get the right consistency to drizzle over rolls.

Trying to Trust

I'm trying to trust.  Why is it so hard to trust when everything is a big question mark?  I know in my heart that God knows the end from the beginning.  But I want to know too!  The house situation is still up in the air.  Trying to come to an agreement with landlords here can be . . . well, trying.

It makes me thank God for the landlady He gave us this past year here in Karen.  She has been such a blessing to us, and she has become my dear friend. 

My friend, next door neighbor, and landlady, Elpina

We've grown even closer these past few weeks as the time draws nearer for us to move.  She is sad that we are going, and yet she has been trying so hard to help us with contacts she knows in Nakuru as we look for houses.  Most of all, she keeps my spirits up as we talk together on my front porch about all that is taking place.  I've been trying to wait on God for opportunities to talk with her again about the Lord, and now I can see His hand in bringing our hearts ever closer through all of this.  

By the way, please pray with me.  Tomorrow, we are having Friend Day at our church, and I have invited Elpina to come as my friend.  She agreed right away!  I've been trying for a year to get her to come with me, and now this week, she said she is coming!  Please pray that the Word of God will take root in her heart.  She is also planning to bring her 11-year-old son, Arvin, with her.

Okay, about the house situation.  This week, we communicated back and forth with the landlady of the big house in Nakuru.  But in the end, we could not come to a reasonable agreement with her.  Her terms were more than we could do at this point.   So we keep looking.  This is normal.  It could take months to find the right house and the right landlord.  I just want God's will.  Yes, it is hard to wait and hard to trust, but I told BJ I would rather live in peace in a grass hut than live in a beautiful mansion and have constant headaches with a landlord!

Please keep praying, Friends, for God's will in this. And please pray for this missionary wife as I wait and keep on trying to trust in God.  "As for God, his way is perfect; . . . and he maketh my way perfect."  II Samuel 22:31,33  (My life verse)

He's Reading!

Seth is reading books all by himself and loves it!  Every day, he picks out a book or books from his closet, finds himself a comfortable spot, and sprawls out to read the stories. 

He is reading all the way through the books by himself.  This has just happened within the last week or two.  All of a sudden it has clicked with him, even the big words!  A few months into Kindergarten, and he is reading!  Hurray!  BJ and I are happy to see him so excited about reading books.