Starting to say good-bye . . .

Well the time has come. It is hard to believe that in one week we will be headed back to the U.S. . . . home. Which is strange because somewhere along the way this actually started feeling like home. So now we are headed back to our old home but grieving the loss of this home and all we have here. Moving is always complicated and emotionally challenging but I think moving cross-culturally amplifies things. What if I am one of those people who arrives in America, heads straight to Wal-Mart and ends up in the fetal position on the floor overwhelmed with all of the choices and excess? I doubt it because I am really looking forward to shopping but you never know what can happen so I'm trying to prepare myself.

I'm trying to prepare the kids the best I can. I told Ford the other day "When we live in America we won't wash our dishes in the sink. We will have a big box that we put them in and when we take them out they will be clean" and "We won't hang our clothes out on the line either. We will put them in another box to dry them". Mostly the kids are the saddest about leaving our dog which I knew would happen we we got the dog but she has been worth it. We are all in different states of limbo - sometimes really excited about what is waiting for us and at other times really sad about what we are leaving. Which can be confusing with all of us at different states at different times!

I know we will be OK once we get there and get a little settled. But this in between time is killer. I feel like someone is pulling a band aid off really slowly for about two weeks.

Rhett's colleagues in the AIDS Relief training program hosted a going away party for him and two others in the program a couple of weeks ago. It was amazing. I can't believe the effort they put forth for us. Here is the party in pictures . . .

We drove about 40 minutes away to a hotel in Limuru for the party.

Now this looks really safe . . .


The setting of the party . . .



Our good friend and Rhett's colleague, Millicent.



The kids enjoying a lunch (mostly chipatis their favorite Kenyan food)



There are no words for this picture. I'm just thankful there are a lot of people at there praying for our safety.



Rhett giving his speech. There were speeches all around. Even I gave a speech! Their culture is still quite formal which I really enjoy. There are speeches and ceremonies and greetings.



This was during the gift presentation



This is the AMAZING photo collage they gave Rhett as one of his many parting gifts. You will find this proudly hanging in his new office I'm sure!



This cake sure looks good . . . but it's not really. We learned early on that Kenyans do not like sweet desserts so things often looks so yummy then you dig in and realize there is about 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in the whole cake - not so yummy.



Trying to get a group photo . . .



So that was our wonderful send off from an amazing group of people who work really hard to care for people who are often ignored or despised in their culture. The stigma of HIV is changing every so slowly but there is still a long way to go.

Many more good byes in the days to come . . .

Your generosity has done this . . .

Late last year, through a long variety of circumstances, we came to know of some refugees from a communist country in Africa. This group of men had been arrested during a church service - that was their crime. The next 7 or so years they were imprisoned in different military prisons. At one point they spent several years in shipping containers in the desert of this hot country. They were only let out to relieve themselves twice a day. They were tied up, tortured and beaten. Then the were moved to a solitary confinement prison work camp. They were only let out of their underground cells to do hard labor during harvest time. Remember their crime was attending a worship service.

Finally they were able to orchestrate an escape attempt during their labor time in the fields. They ran through thorns, encountered a leopard, were separated from each other and each met individuals who did what they could to help them escape to a neighboring country. It was there that they were helped by Voice of the Martyrs to come to Kenya. And from there they were brought to Kijabe for care after their years in captivity. Rhett was asked to see them and address their health issues and from there our very special friendship started.

They joined us in our home for a meal. What do you serve people who have been in prison for the last 7 years? I was a little nervous. I bombed on the meal. I went bland on the food thinking anything spicy might be too much for them and it turns out their native food is quite spicy and my potato soup wasn't much of a hit. Cupcakes for dessert? Too sweet. They also ate them with a fork which I thought was cute! Anyway, we sat around our dining room table honored and humbled to have these persecuted Christians in our presence. They were mere weeks from their escape ordeal. They were emaciated and had a look in their eyes like photos I've seen from concentration camp victims. Physically the needed time to heal from their past and emotionally as well.

One feeling I had as we talked with them was that they seemed to have forgotten how to smile. They looked around nervously and seemed awkward when it came to smiling. Then at one point it was time for my kids to go to bed and asked them to go say good night to our guests. Claire walked in and gave a corporate "Good Night" but Ford started around the table with a "Good Night" and a hug and and kiss for each person. It was as if time stood still and my little 3 year old blonde angel gave the first loving touch and affection to these men that they had received in years. And something amazing happened. Smiles and tears. I felt as though God was giving them a little love through Ford right there and telling them it was OK.

We are thankful for our friendship with these special guys. We have continued to keep in touch with them and Rhett has seen them on a couple occasions since our first meeting. All of you who have supported us financially have also been a part of this story. We were able to pay for all of their medical and dental bills as well as their substantial bill for counseling at a center in Nairobi who helps refugees deal with the horrors of their past. We found it an honor to help our brothers in Christ and we wanted to make sure you knew what part you played in helping them too.

That has been one of the most amazing and fulfilling part of being here. We are able to truly see and know the needs first hand and have the privilege of helping and showing compassion to those around us. Thank you for your support that makes this possible. Please continue to pray for our friends. They have a long road to travel. They can never return to their country. They struggle with the thoughts of what might have happened to their families in response to their escape. But they have joy in Christ and have faith that inspires.

Sweet home . . . South Carolina?

This blog announcement is way overdue! Most of you who know us personally know by now that when our 2 year commitment with World Medical Mission ends in October we will be moving here . . .





Greenville, South Carolina! We are so excited about our new town. I hear it is great. I haven't actually been there (except for cheerleading camp at Furman in 12th grade) but everyone says it is a great town! Rhett did actually go and interview and was able to get a glimpse of our new home and his report was great too. When we first started talking about this job opportunity in Greenville we were just looking on the internet for information and photos and one site said "Greenville is known as the Athens, GA for adults". If you know us then you know that had our attention! Rhett has been blessed with an amazing job that has a lot of diversity, a big group of partners (unusual in ID) and the opportunity to teach in the residency and medical school there. We are amazed at this provision for our family.

Now we just have to get there! We are in about 2 1/2 weeks away from our departure from Kenya. It is very emotional and stressful. I thought coming here was difficult but, man, going the other way is tough too. Lots and lots of transition. I hesitate to start packing because, honestly, I don't know when we will unpack again. I'm trying to care for each of my children's hearts in the way that they need it as we guide them through this time of transition. I know everyone always says how resilient kids are and quick to adjust but speaking from a childhood full of major moves all over the place - it is tough. It is sad. Not to mention all of the cultural adjustments they will have to make. So even when my head is swimming I have to stay steady for the little ones who look to us as parents to know if all is right in the world.

One of the difficult parts of leaving Kenya is that everyone wants your stuff. I've heard others who left talk about how stressful this was to deal with but didn't understand until I had people knocking on my door early on Saturday morning asking to reserve Rhett's underwear. People at the hospital have been paging Rhett all week asking about our sale. One person wondered if we were selling "extra laptops" and another wanted our "sound system". What are we Best Buy? We have some old clothes and toys that aren't coming back with us but no "extra" lap tops to sell. Culturally it is important that we have this "sale" for the community so we are putting our junk on our porch and letting them come and get it. (I did learn earlier this summer that you can't give it away for free. Someone tried that and it caused a stampede and people were getting hurt. So I will "sell" our stuff for garage sale prices after letting our workers and close friends take what they want). After that it should be pretty easy to pack our life up into 10 suitcases and get ready for the long trip home. In the next 6 weeks we will travel to London, Athens, Ga; Boston, Colorado Springs, Atlanta, Birmingham and Dalton, GA before finally moving to Greenville.

Whew. Then we will finally be settled. Nope. We don't actually have a place to live so we are being creative (and cheap) and living here for a while . . .



That's my parents' motorhome and it will be our humble abode for a time while we look for a house or another longer term housing arrangement. We just found out about an ID Christmas Party that we need a babysitter to attend. Rhett is begging me to let him drive the motorhome to the party and park it with the kids asleep outside. Needless to say I've made other arrangements! It will honestly be a fun way to start and make the transition from our life in Africa to life in American a little easier - kind of a baby step. And every house I look at will seem HUGE compare to the motorhome!

Anyway, that is an update. I have lots of blog posts hanging around in my mind that I hope to actually post before we leave. I've left a lot of gaps during our time here and I hope to fill some in. Thanks for praying for our family as we say many good-byes and start to feel unsettled.

Very Green Missionaries

Life here in Kijabe is many things. One thing I have added to that list is "green". Now I am by no means a tree hugging environmentalist. My environmental philosophy goes something like this: I care for the creation but worship the Creator. Anyway, no doubt about it life here is considerably greener than our old life in the US. A few examples:

We have no heat and no a/c. We have a fireburning fireplace for the cold months (which is essential because, yes, there are cold places in Africa and Kijabe in July is one of them). It never gets hot enough to want or need an AC.

My refrigerator is slightly bigger than the one in my dorm at Brumby Hall at UGA. But you know what? We manage. We get creative with packing things in there and it is fine. Our oven is also tee-tiny. It does have 4 burners and can hold exactly one pan in the oven. But it also works fine for our family.

Our hot water heater runs for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. We have warm showers and enough warm water to wash out dishes through the day.

We grow some of our food in our garden and buy a lot of our food locally.

We have a car that we drive occasionally. We drive it locally due to the steep terrain and the logistics of shopping and walking along dangerous roads with three little kids. But when we drive it locally it is never more than a mile round trip. Rhett walks to work each day. We drive further to Nairobi a few times a month.

We do have a washer but no dryer. Which means that all of our clothes get hung out on a line to dry each day. Don't believe what those advertisements say about being "April Fresh" and "Windy Breeze" scented. If you are lucky your clothes smell like nothing. If the wind is blowing in the wrong direction there is a long list of unpleasant things your clothes can smell like.

So you see, I have enough carbon credits stored for the next little while to do exactly as I please. (I don't actually believe in carbon credits by the way :) So if you happen to run into me in the US and I'm driving around in an exceptionally large vehicle, idling at the drive thru with the windows down and AC cranked up just know that I'm working on that carbon credit balance and things are all good.

A blog worthy event . . .

In my lack of blogging I've missed a few milestones. One, in particular, I needed to go back and document for our family. Back in May Ford learned how to ride a bike!



Normally, this is a huge deal for any little kid but considering the fact that he was 3 1/2, had his sister's rickety bike and a 20 x 20 concrete pad it is a small miracle.

Gus's thing is playing ball - Ford's is his bike. It is fun to see them doing things that reflect their own desires and interests. Ford spends a lot of time riding in circles around our little basketball court. Finally Rhett just said he thought he could do it and took his wheels off. I thought he was crazy. "He's three! He has to continually turn because the concrete area is so small - that's too hard! He needs to learn to go straight first!" I stood there making a million excuses why he couldn't do it while Rhett quickly removed the training wheels and Ford started riding his bike. So much for excuses!



We were all SO proud and jumping up and down from excitement. He was Mr. Cool just riding his bike like he'd been doing it for years. I love this boy.

'Round here

What have we been doing?? Who knows! We had a steady stream of lovely visitors for a while. Rhett climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (which deserves it's own post) and other than that our days have been very normal. This is a busy time of the year in Kijabe because many people leave during the long school break so Rhett has been up to his eye-balls with work, being on call (a lot) and teaching responsibilities for various things. So what does "normal" look like? Here are some photos from the last few months . . .

I celebrated yet another birthday! I pray this year is the best one yet!



Gus woke up for the last time in his crib . . .




And took his first nap in a big boy bed . . .



We play with sticks in the dirt . . .



And we climb trees - oh, boy do we climb trees . . .











I wonder where they learn how to climb . . . oh yeah - they have good teachers!



Ford eats as much passion fruit as he can handle . . .



We play "muddy river" and get a little dirty . . .



So we build a little bridge . . .



We turn roller skates into pets and take them everywhere . . .



We turn rakes into horses and race around the yard . . .



We bite on sticks for some unknown reason . . .



We bite on sticks because our big brother did . . .



We love our dog, Kuli . . .



We drink chai with our outside worker, Jesse . . .



We spot the most amazing birds in our yard . . .



Gus has this reaction to his first day of potty training . . .



But is getting the hang of it!



Claire read Green Eggs and Ham so she got to eat some green eggs of her own . . .



The boys drink more chai and eat more passion . . .



Claire prefers hers black (with sugar) like her Mama . . .



And when you are learning how to use the potty and you don't have a dryer it can get a little complicated . . .




So that is us - every day. Some big stuff and a lot of little stuff that makes up our life. It's wonderful.

2

I was looking back a my posts and realized I missed a huge occasion! Gus turned two on May 5th! My little baby is no longer such a little baby. Sigh. I'm the only one around here mourning that fact however. With a fun birthday like Cinco de Mayo there will always be a party on his birthday (that will include yummy Mexican food and perhaps eventually a margarita or two :) We invited a new family over to celebrate with us and it was a fun evening.



Making cakes is NOT my thing even though I went to huge effort to have a ball shaped cake pan brought over and everything. Oh well. Rhett was quick to point out that I did the basketball lines all wrong but I did in fact follow the directions when I should have just looked at a basketball. Once again oh well.



Three special days with one special boy.









Gus is fiesty and tough. He loves to snuggle and loves his Mommy (as evidenced by him saying Mommy approximately 7,421 times a day). The only thing he loves more is a basketball. He has "mad skills" as his Daddy describes and spends most of his days with a ball in his hands. He is starting to play with his big brother and sister more and more. He adores Claire and has a beautiful beginning to a special brother relationship with Ford (meaning they spend a lot of time wrestling and chasing each other while laughing hysterically).

Every night when Rhett gets home he is greeted by little Gus, ball in hand, saying "Daddy, let go play ball" and off they go - loving it. When we moved into this house we had no idea what a blessing it was that we have a small basketball court in our yard. It is one of the only flat and one of the only paved places around and the only way Gus found his passion in young life!

Happy 2nd birthday to my little baby (no more).

X is for X-ray

Ford has been fortunate enough to be included in the "3 year old" preschool this year even though he didn't turn 3 until October and is younger than all of the other kids. It has been great for him to have a "school" to go to one morning each week for a couple hours.

Today they were learning about the letter X and my new sweet new friend, Mardi, http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif needed some help taking the kids on a little field trip to the hospital to learn all about X-rays. I was happy to come along so I could take pictures and see what they were learning.

Taking a group of three and four year olds anywhere is very much like herding cats. We made it the 100 yards from Mardi's house to the hospital and through the hospital to the x-ray department without too much of a scene.





The kids liked guessing at the different parts of the body in the x-rays as our missionary radiologist gave them a nice talk all about x-rays!





Not long ago we took Claire's class to the dentist on her class field trip.





The kids had fun although I think they were all a little nervous. Other field trips she has gone on this month during their "community helper" unit are to the RVA laundry facility, the RVA cafeteria, the local mechanic, the post office, the local shop/restaurant/vegetable market. The grand finale is on Monday when we all go to a nearby cheese factory to see how they make cheese and enjoy some pizza. Definitely a different preschool experience!

Meanwhile, Gus hangs out with our houseworker Esther. This is how I found him the other day . . . enjoying his morning chai!