THE ULTRASOUND

It would be an abomination to say that I am excited about something more than Christmas but I am excited about something in addition to it.  

A couple of weeks ago our plumber showed up at 8:00am to give us a chicken that was 'fully ready to eat' with the instructions that we should eat him 'right away-that night'.  Whoa to those who do not heed good advice.  

Because I could not bear to cut off a chicken head or pluck all of it's feathers out, we kept it alive.  STUPID.  It is a myth that roosters crow magically at sunrise and carry on with normal business the rest of the day.  They crow all day and all night.  If you have ever heard one crow right outside your open window at 3:30am then you will know why I no longer have a hard time bearing the thought of cutting his head off or even plucking his feathers out- maybe one by one.  That is evil and I am just joking.  He had only one thing going for him.  I did not care to cook him but I did want his 'chicken broth' if you know what I mean.  We have been considering getting a rooster in order to have chicks but were still deciding on one.  This provided just what we needed.  So we kept him for a few weeks to give him and the four hens plenty of time(I think) to 'greet' each other.  He has now been eaten and I do not feel bad about it at all (I did not cut or pluck him) and absolutely do not miss his megaphone mouth.  

I am actually on pins and needles at the writing of this because I have become quite addicted to chicken raising.  I really like Nina, Rita, Dinna, and Zebra.  I had read that they can be very inquisitive and funny which they are.  They will hunker down and let me pet their feathers and come when I call.  I like that.  According to the information I read,  the hens put the 'chicken broth' in a special pouch and it can fertilize eggs for up to 6 weeks.  So, every egg that they have laid since old loudmouth left has been placed in the nesting box.  Zebra began brooding first and then followed Dinna.  Rita and Nina have no interest in being mothers but have taken the lead in bearing eggs.  Funny how sometimes animals can be so like humans isn't it?  We have marked the eggs with numbers each time one was laid.  It takes 21 days for them to hatch-give or take a few.  Today, we have 16 total eggs and number 1, 2, 3, and 4 are due to hatch.  There is no guarantee that they will hatch.  It is supposedly only about a 50% rate.  Our day usually starts with feeding the chickens so we go out and check the coop for more eggs and mark any new ones.  Then, during calendar time for school we mark the day that the new ones are due.  It is a good exercise in counting and understanding weeks and days.  I was worried that we were counting down to something that wasn't going to happen.  Therefore, I decided to do what one site suggested and at 9:00 at night the whole family trekked out to the coop.  There I performed an egg ultrasound. I dug out the eggs from underneath Zebra and Dinna one at a time to shine a flashlight through the egg and see if there was in fact a chick growing in there.  THERE WERE! Several actually.  So, we are elated about the new arrivals scheduled to be here any minute.  And as soon as I finish this writing I am going back out to check the four due eggs.  

I have a not-so-good memory of fifth grade when I wore my special jacket with the pocket across the front for both your hands.  I went to school with an egg from the fridge rolled up in a wash cloth tucked away in the pocket.  I had been keeping it warm in a box for a day or two because I decided a chick was the pet for me.  The teacher didn't notice at first but it was odd behavior to keep the jacket on all day and one hand in my incubator pocket.  Then she started asking questions which I answered gladly.  I was going to be a mother.  But that woman who I think never should have been a teacher because she was as mean as a snake cracked the egg on my desk assuring me that there was no chick in there because it had been refrigerated.  Oh, I wanted to throw that yolk at her.  How dare she smash my baby.  

I know this seems haphazard to write these events in this order but today I am thinking about how God has blessed me over an over again.  He has taken so many hard lessons and proven himself while multiplying blessings three fold.  Andrew and I heard terrible news this week on three different subjects and I was thinking about how much we are learning and how I want our family to always recognize who God is.  Satan is here raging like a lion looking to steal, kill and destroy(1).  He will wreak havoc on anyone and everyone with no respect to who or what you are.  But the God who through Moses made the sun stand still for three days(2), the God who stood with a young David as he threw a stone to kill a trained military giant that all of the Isrealite army was afraid to approach(3), and the God who had Elijah challenge 450 prophets of Baal to prove himself by burning an alter drenched with water(4) is a powerful force to be feared.  He is a conquerer as well as a healer and restorer(5).  Never fear those who can destroy the body but not the soul, rather fear the one who can destroy both the body and the soul(6).  'How long will you falter between two options?'(7).   Make your choice.  Moses or Pharaoh, David or Goliath, Elijah or prophets of Baal, really living or death of the spirit. 

As I watch these chicks hatch I will think about how God came to earth so that I might 'have life more abundantly' (8)in contrast to the times Satan scrambles my eggs.   As I watch my new little chicks hatch and I finally become a chicken mother, I will say to myself that 'as for me and my house we will serve the Lord'(9).

1-  1 Peter 5:8, Job 1:7, and John 10:10

2-  Exodus 10:21-22

3-  1 Samuel 17-I refuse to pick a verse-you should read the whole thing. 

4-  1 KIngs 18:20-40 

5-  2 Samuel 14: 14 and Revelation 21:4

6-  Matthew 10:28

7-  1Kings 18: 21

8-  John 10:10

9-  Joshua 24:15

Humorous

Happy Thanksgiving from the Sisco family.
We have spent this weeks school days learning about the Mayflower and making pilgrim hats. Of course we also blurbed inappropriate things.  Unfortunately, I had a moment on Tuesday and forgot myself.  I was telling the kids how the pilgrims gave thanks for all the things God had done for them.  They were thankful for the food they had to eat and for their Indian friends who helped them to learn how to grow some things.  Why I needed to say the next part I cannot say but the kids were happily putting their pilgrim hats on when I said, "They shouldn't have trusted them though because Americans ended up taking their land and killing most of them."  John snapped to attention and asked, "Is that true?"  And for goodness sake I couldn't say no.  So I was quite the dark cloud that day.
On that note I will say that we have made the decision to send two of our number to school.  I just can't do the whole of this job.  I have been trying to teach 3 different grades through a slight language barrier and a possible learning disorder.   Trying to man Ivey and trying to get breakfast, snacks and lunch ready on top of that has just proven to be more than I can do.  I must admit is hard for me to give it up because I feel like I failed.  I know realistically that that is not true but that is just how it feels.  I really wanted to be a super fun mom/teacher who made school so fun and exciting that they ran to the door each day to greet Andrew with the project of the day or some amazing fact that they had learned attentively.  But alas that was not the case.  I was actually snappy and super NOT fun because I almost always ran late by the time I got breakfast cleared and then I would feel a rush of getting everyone started.  We always started with calendar time and I tell you rushing 6-9 year olds through the writing of the day of the week or the month of the year is really a tedious task.   I may be a little bald on the sides now.   I am glad I didn't go with a degree in Kindergarten teaching after all.  Also, I found the cultural differences a little difficult to navigate.  For example, in Alberts books there is a writing section and it was always giving prompts like:  tell about a day at the circus, or write the rules of how to play baseball.  Then I would spend twice as long trying to explain those things just to change the instructions to something like; tell about a fun day going to the market or tell the rules of playing soccer.  Anyway, I will still be teaching 1st and then 2nd grade to Levi and John and I am hoping that I can redeem myself and maybe not blurt out crazy stuff that ruins holiday projects.

Today was humorous for several reasons.  First, I decided to make thanksgiving dinner.  That is laughable because I have proven over the years to be a not-so-great cook.  But there is no Nanny here to make the dinner so I had to do it.  We had chicken instead of turkey but I wanted to make the stuffing, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie that I always had growing up in the U.S.  We also had mashed potatoes but they were instant.  Everything had to be from scratch because neither French's nor Libby's is sold at Adnan's supermarket.  So I fried the onions and pureed the pumpkin.  The whole dinner had the potential to be awful.  I looked like a mad scientist with all my calculations on the refrigerator for the conversion of Fahrenheit to Celsius(our oven is Celsius) and substitutions for pumpkin pie seasoning.  I had to estimate 16 ounces of pumpkin puree by holding up a 12 oz dr. pepper can to the clear bowl and try to reason how much an extra four would be.  Also, when making fall cookies with the kids two days ago(before the thought vomit problem) I realized that I have no rolling pin here.  I guess I sold it at one of our yard sales or something.  So, I had to use the small one from the girls play kitchen.  It looks like an alligator on the handles and I had to laugh at myself rolling pie crust with that to the sound of Family Force 5 singing 'My Favorite Things'.  I'm pretty sure that was not the picture at Nanny's house today.
But, we had a happy day and the dinner wasn't too terrible.  It certainly wasn't up to the usual standards but that is part of what makes grandparents so grand.  We miss all of you lots today and hope that your Thanksgiving Day is full of things to be thankful for.

The Very Merry Un Birthdays

Isatu is sevem as she would say.  She won't smile all the way in these photo's because she is missing her two front teeth.  For her party she, Ivey and I painted fingernails, put on makeup, and made party hats.  Obviously, we did not do hair.  I am the worst at hair, especially in this humidity.  We then had the boys join us for a tea party with crowns and all.  As you can see from this photo Albert wasn't amused.  Cold tea in tiny cups wasn't his thing I guess.  

                                       Isatu has asked me for an apron countless times.  She loves to be in the kitchen, serve bowls and taste everything.  I am sure that she will be some kind of chef or taste tester.  So for her gift we gave her an apron and several food items for the kitchen.  She and Ivey promptly began the preparations for 'dinner' while the boys did what boys will do and made the party blowers into weapons of mass destruction- all the while laughing contagiously.  

 Also, Albert turned 15, or so we thought.  For him we had a different kind of party.  We let him play any music he wanted as loud as he wanted.  That meant the music they play in Krio on the radio here with the dubbed-in atari sounds that drive Andrew crazy.  Once DJ Alberto was ready we had a dance party with glow in the dark balloons(thanks to pinterest). 

 Then we had a race with remote control cars, ate cake and played some more.

As for Alberts gifts, that was a long time coming.  About two years ago I went with one of the TRS teams to Kroo Bay where we served food and had a short prayer and song time for the kids we were serving.  There were hundreds of kids in the room including about 15 of the older kids from TRS that were allowed to come with us on this service project.  Albert was there.  I watched him lead these hundreds of kids in a prayer and sing songs with the other leaders in the making.  And I felt so privileged that God had allowed me to be a part of his life.  After the food was served I saw him at the window staring out into the distance and I wondered what he was looking at.  As I approached he was so lost in this vision that I startled him.  He was watching a boy ride a bike.  I asked him if he had ever ridden one.  No he had not.  I made the decision right then and there that if ever given the chance I would buy that boy a bicycle.  October the 13th 2012 was the day.

Here in Sierra Leone they don't do the same paperwork in the same time frames as you do in the US.  So apparently some people never get a birth certificate and some people may get theirs months or years after they were born.  Therefore, the certificate may just be a close estimate of the birthday.  In a turn of events Albert's family came to town this last week and brought his birth certificate.  It showed that he is younger than we thought.  And that he wasn't born in October.  So, we didn't actually celebrate his birthday on his birthday and for now he is 14. 

The first time I heard Albert's story I remember feeling so bad for his parents.  I can't imagine how terrible it would be to have to watch your child be hungry or to have to trust someone else with them in hopes for something better.  Albert expressed the desire to see his mother again and I hoped that I too would be able to meet her.  I met his father before.  That proved to be a difficult task though because they live in a village that is many hours into the bush and there would be no place for us to stay.  So, Albert and I would have to wait.  

Last week we got our chance.  The parents came to do business in town and let us know that they were here and they would like to greet us.  How exciting. We found out that Albert's mother has just had another baby.  Apparently, her birthday isn't what we thought either because I was under the impression that she was too old to have any more children. So we met them at the center and Albert was beside himself.  His usually patient and quiet way was sidetracked by his excitement.  I let him sit in the front seat and he kept talking to stalled cars to hurry up and get out of the way.  As we approached the gate he gripped the passenger handle of the car.  Once there, there was no stopping the jump from the car.  I almost didn't get a photo of it.   I should note that the fact that they do not stand to greet him is cultural and not an indication of their excitement.  

                      Albert likes babies and holding babies.  He loved holding his own super cute baby brother, Bundu.  

Years ago when we were in the U.S. Erica gave me a necklace that had our three kids photo epoxied on.  When I would wear it I would be reminded of them and pray.  On this day I have quite different reminders when those three kids yell through the house and come up to me 20 times a day telling me they are hungry or the three extra times a year when my calendar tells me it is time to plan another birthday party.  So since I have no need for it now, I gave that necklace to Alberts mom so that she now can be reminded of a child she loves and remember that I promised to take the best care of him that I know how.  Including some very merry un-birthdays.  

Container

So Andrew got up at 5:30am to go meet the container over at the center.  It was quite an experience unloading all of the items into trucks right on the main road in the middle of Freetown but the container could not reach any of the three locations that the items were going to so it had to be done.    Bystanders began to congregate and by the time they were done several hours later it had gotten a little overwhelming.  Micheal had to retrieve a couple of items from people and Osseh went ahead and brought a load to our house in his car.  When the truck arrived I was in shock.  When I left my American house there was a small area of our garage that held our 'container' items.  This truck held three times that.  The amount of food items was unbelievable.   Levi was overjoyed at the mountain of mac n cheese.  Everyone has loved eating cereal for a change and lunch has been so much easier for me since the arrival of all the peanut butter and tuna fish.  We actually made chocolate chip cookies for the first time tonight and they were well received.  Albert has decided he'd like them for dinner tomorrow.  

Let me be a Debbie downer here and say that I have really struggled since coming back from the U.S.  Dealing with a sick child can be so tiring and when I got here it was the end of the raining season so everything smelled moldy.  It grows like crazy here.  It is especially bad on leather so one of my bags and our belts were completely covered.  Any wooden furniture has fuzz and you have to wash every fabric thing possible.  The rains are also growing moss on the concrete.  It is so slick that  even when I am gingerly walking along with my bowl of food for the chickens there is this one spot that I have yet to master and if anyone decides to videotape one of these daily episodes I could be the winner of 10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos.  Well, I guess that would be Africa's Funniest Home Video's.  Then there were the roaches.  Ew I hate roaches.  Something about the rains effected them coming into our kitchen.  We put out traps and powder and really nothing seemed to work until the rains slowed and now they are gone as far as I can tell.  It's funny what things perk you up.  I have a dining room table that Andrew and I joke that is my 6th child.  I love that table and it is one of the few furniture pieces that I just could not bear to part with.  I searched for a very long time to find it because I wanted one that seated 12.  When we bought it I had visions of Thanksgivings and Christmas's with my grandchildren.  I had ideas of hosting dinner parties with friends and art projects with my 20 kids and their friends in the neighborhood.  Only one of those three things has happened so far.  But, at that table I have a full stock of memories of people that I love dearly eating experimental casseroles and thanksgiving pumpkin dishes.  I remember doing a few failed crafts for kids at the center which lead to about 100 non-epoxied necklaces lining the mantle and shelves for weeks because I just couldn't bear to throw them away until I had searched the web to make sure there was no salvation for them.  There was not.  I laugh at the photo of a very plump little Ivey standing on that table in her halloween outfit.  On that table my mom and I made our first quilt and patched together pieces for my first nephew's birth.  I delicately tapped sharpie marker on spots where someone nicked the top with his light saber and I laughed nervously when another 'him' helped me hang christmas decorations on the chandelier above it.  But even the day I bought it I knew that it would not be long before it would have scratches and nicks.  That was part of the lure.  I wanted to look at those marks when I was 70 and remember.  When the container arrived I felt the satisfaction of it being back with me.  Ready to add scuffs and dents and marks with three new family members.  

Levi was elated over Monty the T-rex who has already bit John and crushed every Lego car in sight.  Ivey's kitchen was a huge hit with the girls and the shopping cart was the subject of several conversations with Isatu where I had to explain how Americans shop at grocery stores and put babies and groceries in the cart to push around.

But the bikes take the cake.  The kids were just beside themselves. Well, all but Ivey who insist walking is just fine.  

The arrival of my sewing machine has kept me up hours into the night (when we have electricity) sewing and smiling like a mad person.  I finished the couch slipcover, throw pillows and stool cushions.  It is now a lot more comfortable and colorful than it was and we are all glad for that.    

But really all that just can't compare to something else.  Like I said, it is funny what things can work you out of a funk.  There were things like fishing line that Brad packed with a hilarious note to go with the poles he made for the boys when he was here.   We found the box from my mom marked with christmas tree stickers that I have sworn on my life I would not open until christmas.   Andrew pointed out some of the boxes saying, 'That is a McCauley special' because apparently Jarrod is a master at getting creative with packaging.  We opened a box to find a ton of children's vitamins from Kelly.  Dave, who is a masterful shipper and the head of all this hustle and bustle container activity, did such an amazing job that not one thing was broken.  Not one thing.  All that planning, working, thinking of things our family would want or need.  All that time spend collecting and packing for us.  FOR US.  That can snap you back to good.  

I must brazenly ask for one more thing.  When I am 70 I want a memory of each of you at that table in West Africa.  Come and experimentally eat some plasas or beanch in the sweltering heat with 5 kids and two hair brained friends.  We'll even serve you chocolate chip cookies made in our new oven.  How could I have any better memories than that?

Overdue thanks.

When I logged onto this site it said that my last blog post was Sept. 11.  Geez, time has flown by.  I have a third quarter year resolution of writing more posts.  I have tons to write about it is just difficult to find time and Internet access.  My stick is broken again so I have to use Andrew's computer at night.  Anyway enough with the excuses and to the meat. 
I have desperately wanted to post some amazing, eloquently written thank you note to everyone who has been a part of our lives and our vision for Sierra Leone.  However, each thing I think up just seems so short of the depth our family feels.  Please know that my lack of saying something awesome is not because of a lack of gratitude but rather an inability to express it.  
I also thought that my plane ride back to SL would be the perfect time to type this perfection of print but as I have mentioned in previous post I am slow.  I was flanked on both sides by children in seats the size of  match boxes trying to keep them from kicking the seat in front of them or dropping red sauce all over their own seats.  Really Brussels Airlines!?!  You thought red sauce was a good menu item on a flight?  With kids and turbulence? And, just let me be American here and complain about  a minor item in life.  Ivey's screen didn't work.  That was annoying.  Here I am choosing to say 'that' instead of 'her' even though she was the one mentioning it every 2 seconds.  The darn Lorax was on and she was really upset about it so we had to do this whole shuffle around to swap seats.  So we get it resolved and she was asleep in 10 minutes.  I hate Murphy.
We made it home just fine and here I am 2 months later never having thanked the many many people and businesses who treated us so kindly.  I know it sounds like I have won a Grammy or something but first I would like to thank God.  Really.  He layed out our days in a symphony of events that were really quite amazing.  I'll tell one of my favorites.  We had received treatment for Ivey's staff infection and unfortunately it came back so we had to do a second round.  Because of that, I wanted to stay longer than anticipated to make sure that it was really gone before we came back.  I woke up one morning and had a long list of calls to make.  One was to our church pastor to respond to a question he had.  When I called he was not available so I left my number for him to call me.  I went on with my list and called the travel agent to ask if it was possible to change dates and got a huge shock.  I found out that it was going to cost us $1200 to do that even though we had changeable tickets (here I would like to insert that I feel that is ridiculous, bogus, and unethical). So, then I had to make a decision.  Do I take the 3 year old with the bubonic plague back to the foreign country where there is no one who can treat it before I feel sure she is well, or do I spend $1200 on plane tickets?  I told the agent I would call back after talking to my husband and I paced the floors a few times.  Then I launched the emergency procedure and called the troops to the living room floor.  Levi, Ivey and I got on our knees with our faces to the floor and prayed for God to help us to know which one to choose.  We got up and I regrouped.  I walked over to the computer that had not worked all morning to just check one more time.  It worked.  I messaged Andrew to see what he would have us do and saw that our pastor from Harpeth had asked me to call him.  I knew that he was wanting to ask about anointing Ivey's head with oil so I called with my times lined up.  He wasn't calling about that though.  He was wanting to tell me that the church wanted to help us with our emergency fund expenses while we were in America.   Now since they already gave us a huge amount of money just 7 months before to buy a car, I must say that I was totally taken aback.  I was just so flabbergasted that we had just prayed and then here was the answer so plainly and so quickly. Harpeth thank you so much for that!  Thank you for anointing Iveys head with oil and issuing such sweet prayers on Ivey's behalf.  Thank you for being a church that loves well. 
I won't list out everyone who helped us because as surely as the sun rises in the east I would forget to mention someone or something and feelings would be hurt.  I would never want that so I'll leave that to personal thank you notes.  Our friends and family housed us with the utmost hospitality.  We just couldn't have been more blessed.
I have mentioned before that we have been very blessed by our doctors and here I will say again that I would highly recommend both Brentwood Childrens Clinic and CoolSprings Allergy Associates.
Also, I want to mention Enterprise rent a car on Germantown Parkway in Cordova, Tn.   I was really impressed and decided I would tell everyone I know how great they treated me.  I felt that they really worked hard to accommodate me, gave me a great price and were extremely courteous.  Totally recommend them if you need a vehicle in Memphis.
I am working on getting the photo's of the container arriving and of Isatu and Albert's birthday parties up soon!
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Just a dance move

I don't have time to write a real informational blog about all the things that have happened lately.  I really want to do that justice so it might have to be a plane ride project.  However, I just had to post two stories from the day that have had me laughing to myself.
Story #1
Levi hates shopping and rightly so.  Hobby Lobby is one of the joys of my existence and one of his darkest nemeses.  Today he repeatedly shouted in the store, ran in the store, ran around aisles where I could not see him and several other top store no-no's.  After giving him the dreaded 3rd strike he was informed that he would be receiving a spanking when we got home.  Ivey had to go to the bathroom and I needed to search for a mailing tube in the beads aisle(they were 1/2 off and I am preparing a gift-so justified right?).  There was no mailing tube anywhere in Hobby Lobby today even thought I know they at one time did have them for art works.  So, Levi had been great for the rest of the shopping trip and even kept Ivey in line so as we checked out and walked to the car I told him that I was very impressed with how well he did for the rest of our shopping trip so I was going to excuse his spanking.  He very seriously told me, "Yeah, when I was in the bathroom I decided to turn my life around."
WHAT!?!

Story #2
Ivey Lane has been given some super awesome dress up shoes from her friend Ruby.  They are glittery yellow with red and white polka dot insides.  If a girl has shoes that awesome who cares if they match. So, she wears them every day no matter what the upper 3/4ths of her is wearing.  She and Levi had just gotten out of the car and were playing in the driveway which proved to be a perfect 'twirl your skirt' moment.  It did not, however, go as I suspect she planned and she kind of tripped doing one of those cartoon moves where your body stays in one spot but your feet are really moving.  There was all this heal clicking noise and stuff.  She ended up catching herself and I asked her if she was ok.  Without skipping a beat she said, "Oh yeah, that was just a dance move."

no doubt

 Levi, Ivey and I have been traveling back and forth from Nashville where Ivey's pediatrician and allergist are to Memphis where we have been visiting family.  I don't really mind transition or travel but after 5 weeks I am ready to be back to some kind of normal.  The update on Ivey's infection is that it was tested and the bacteria was resistant to the antibiotic that she was taking as we expected.  So we did 10 days of a new antibiotic.  We also have been doing 20 minute bleach baths every day, swabbing her nose morning and night and slathering all kinds of cream all over her eczema spots.   Four days after finishing the medicine she got a new infection.  I threw a mental fit that was close to spilling over to a physical fit on the floor.  So we went back to Nashville and our pediatrician put her on another round of antibiotics.  I'll just take this moment to do a little 'tree branching' as I have dubbed the way I write and talk.  I may have a main point but there are usually a 100 things I will branch off and say while getting there.  This first branch is that God has totally blessed us with our doctors too.  They have gone out of their way to help us and have been so kind.  If you need a pediatrician and a fantastic nurse I would 100% recommend Dr. Leeper and Nurse Erica at Brentwood Childrens Clinic.  Also, if you need an allergist Dr. Belleau at Cool Springs Allergy associates is awesome! Once Ivey completes the 10 days I want to watch her for at least a week and then we will go back to the other 1/2 of our family assuming that she gets no other infection.  Otherwise, we will see what we should do next.
So, in the meantime we have been able to see some great friends whom I love dearly.  I can't even say how much I have enjoyed being able to call them on the phone and being able to speak to them face to face.  We have also gotten to do several fun things.  One of them being the pool with aunt Katie who I think might not be able to show her face at her apartment complex any more.  I bought each of our kids snorkel masks because while Levi does ask for things at the store I have never seen him react in such a begging, pleading and groveling way as he did when he spotted these things in Target.  I had to get them for my fab five since they had just recently mentioned wanting them at the beach.  I let Levi have his today for this pool occasion.   Since he doesn't yet have experience with snorkels he would barely let me get it on before he bolted to the pool cannon balling three kids and almost four teens.  That was a bad decision.  Water gushed into the snorkel and down his lungs and he buoyed up and out of the water just as fast as he went in gagging and hacking and making awful sounds.  I know this doesn't sound good for me but I immediately laughed hysterically.  Gagging noises and dry heaving really gets me tickled for some reason.  And when Katie(who was in the pool by him) and I made eye contact I really lost it.   He got out and walked over to me holding his throat and looking serious and gave him his towel.  He just kept coughing and spitting and making all kinds of crazy sounds.  I just kept laughing and patting him on the back until it became obvious he was going to really vomit so I turned him toward the landscaping and he threw up whole pieces of macaroni.  I was thinking about how I was going to have to teach him to chew his food when I realized that everyone had gotten out of the pool and the four teens left completely.  It turns out that I didn't see that he had vomited some macaroni in the pool too because it is hard to see when your laughing hysterically.  Poor Aunt KayKay quickly tried to sweep the junk out while warning the other kids to get back.   Of course I then needed to apologize and explain to all the pool patrons that he just hadn't learned how to use the snorkel yet.  You would think after 6 years of parenting this child that I would have known to leave then but some of us are slow.  I made him sit for long enough to calm down from this unfortunate episode and then allowed him to go back in a little more cautiously and with better instructions this time.  Unfortunately, it worked and he went in down the stairs and was able to put his face in without the tube going under water.  This new approach allowed him to carefully study the bottom of the pool and just as all the kids had gotten back in the pool he surface and shouted that there was macaroni on the bottom. Where the heck are my sunglasses!
Also, I have had lots of time to listen to the radio.  I love the radio.  I have spent some major time catching up on music video's too and I just really want to say that I love No Doubt's video 'Settle Down' and Gwen Stefani makes me want to wear lots of eyeliner and dance weird.  There are six people I know who can attest to the fact that I do not look even a fraction as cool as her doing this.  Plus, what could be a better anthem for this time in life when my kids act like all I feed them is chocolate cake and narcotics while I am trying to remember if I really did dope Ivey up with all the prescribed medicines?

get get get 

in line and settle down, 

get get get in line and settle down

I really mean it this time
and you know it's such a trip
don't get me staaarted
I'm trying to get a hold on this.

I'm a rough and tough
I'm a rough and tough
I'm a rough and tough
and nothin's gonna knock this girl down

Decisions

We had to make some big decisions today and we want to let everyone know that I am bringing Ivey back to the U.S. to receive treatment for her eczema and staff infection.  We have been having issues for months now and are having a really hard time treating it ourselves.  We have been through several rounds of a very strong antibiotic for the staff infection and were advised by our pediatrician to seek medical help since it wasn't clearing up.  Today we went to the best hospital in Sierra Leone and the doctor told us that he could not help because her condition is chronic instead of acute. He advised us to seek a skin specialist and when we asked him if he could recommend one he said he didn't know any.  So we left and called Osseh to see if he knew anyone(his wife is a nurse) and the said he knew one guy and that he would call.  We got a call back a few minutes later and he said that guy had died.  So we went to the second hospital option and the receptionist said that the pediatrician was not there and that she didn't know when he would be coming back.  We asked if they had a skin specialist or dermatologist and the answer was no.  So, since we have no other option but to come back to the U.S. we decided to do just that to get some kind of antibiotic that will kill this terrible infection that we have been battling on and off since we have been here.   I intend to go to our allergist to get a prick test done to see if there are any new allergies that Ivey has developed that are causing the sever eczema she is experiencing.  Also, I am armed with every package I could find of foods that she has eaten that may lead to an answer as to what she may be allergic to.  While this is very expensive move to make we need to do it to get Ivey back to normal.  Staff infections just aren't something to mess around with and we have exhausted all of our options here.  If we don't get the eczema cleared up then we will just keep getting infections.  

Decision number two was what to do with our other four kids.  We have decided that in order for Andrew to continue the mission here that he will go to work for 1/2 days and take our three Sierra Leonian kids with him to the center to play.  They will all come home for lunch and he will work from home in the afternoons.  If he has to go to any meetings TRS said it would be fine for them to stay at the center whenever needed.  That leaves Levi.  He would not do well with that plan and it would be very overwhelming to him to be at the center without one of us there so I am going to bring him back with me and Ivey.  Also, that divides the responsibility  a little more evenly so that the work load will be a little less extreme for Andrew while I am gone.
We are flying out Friday night and should arrive in the U.S. Saturday afternoon.   We will be returning to Sierra Leone Sept. 3rd with Andrew's parents and sister.  They were already planning to visit and so we will just fly in with them. 

I do look forward to seeing people we love dearly but I am really going to miss four others that I am used to being with daily.  Five weeks is a long time to be away from your husband and three of your kids.  Please pray for our family during this time as it will be difficult.  

Ready...Set...GO

Well, this is Andrew again, sooo I guess, expect a lot of words and very little pictures, hah. Don’t worry, the blog queen will be posting again soon, I just like to throw some thoughts out there every once and a while.

Does it surprise you that I have been thinking about some stuff lately? Well, I have. Here is what has been on my mind lately. Obedience. There are several reasons why this has been on my mind lately, but mostly it has to do with our future. Here is the problem, surprisingly… I don’t know what the future holds. I know it is hard to believe. I have spent many hours trying to determine what the future holds for both our family and for The Raining Season aaaaand I have no clue. OK, so what do we do now? There are some big things going on right now on both of these fronts where knowing the future would be extremely beneficial. I know it sounds stupid because you think I would grasp that knowing where God is headed in all this is almost impossible so I should just deal with it, but I can’t seem to get it off my mind. So let me tell you what I have learned recently.


We have found that since we have lived in Sierra Leone there are many times when we have to stop and refocus. Why are we here? What is our main purpose? Is this stress really that big of a deal? Just a time to take the Nintendo game out of your mind, blow inside it, push reset, and pop it back in. (I don’t know why I decided to use that analogy, it works for me, ok). I will admit it, there are wonderful days here, and there are really tough days here. I once had someone tell me, “Don’t doubt in the darkness what you came to know in the light”. Some days our future in Sierra Leone is so exciting my heart starts racing just thinking about it. Sometime the future seems like such a heavy burden that I want to run away. So I had a tough day not too long ago. It was a long day of meetings, dealing with heavy things, and big decisions. I was drained on my way home and honestly couldn’t wait to get home, get my kids in the bed, and have a nice quiet sit down with a good book (is that terrible?). When I walked in the house Heather greeted me and said, “ the kids have been stir crazy today and I think it would be really helpful if you took any that want to go back up to the center tonight for bed time prayers.” NOT what I wanted to do and I think I had a pretty terrible attitude hiking back up the hill with kids in tow. The children at the center have bedtime prayers every night in their rooms except for Wednesdays and Sundays when they have a general worship time in one of the big rooms. Tonight was general worship. Last time I went to general worship, I was asked on the spur of the moment to bring the lesson (mini-sermon). I REALLY was not in the mood to do any preaching this day. I mean, I was really weighed down and struggling. I was relieved to see that Pastor Daniel was ready to bring the message and I was free to hide in a corner and try to keep kids from climbing all over me. I found the most secluded corner I could find and was relieved when Abubakkar, Melvin, and Auntie Hawa (holding Sarah) sat down around me. I like these people, but at that moment I mainly liked them because I knew they wouldn’t climb all over me. Maybe, I reveal a little too much about myself on these dumb blogs.


Ok, I am sitting there during the service and one of those moments when God punches you right in the nose happened again. Do you remember Sarah? She is the little girl I blogged about last time that had the burned face/throat, stick thin limbs, and was extremely scared of me. Well, she is doing a lot better, she is doing a WHOLE lot better. I was sitting there in my funk and looked over and started watching Auntie Hawa playing with Sarah. At this moment I witnessed the love of Christ first hand. This wasn’t just an Auntie doing her job of keeping Sarah busy, this was genuine love for this little cast-off girl. Auntie Hawa was laughing hysterically and get this…Sarah was laughing hysterically. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. At that moment Christ spoke to me. He said, “THIS is what I do. I am the Restorer. I bring good news to the poor, I bind up the broken hearted, I set the captives free.” It was restoration right before my eyes. Ok, I was watching this and God punched me in the nose about my attitude; then he decided to slap me around a little bit more. Sarah, who was previously very alarmed when I came near her, looked over at me and saw me laughing at her and she gets up and comes and sits in my lap. I was a little surprised to say the least. She then started playing with my fingers and the most mysterious other play thing according to EVERY kid at the center….my arm hair. After a minute or so she looked up at me and laughed, then got up and went back to playing with Auntie Hawa. At that moment, whatever the future holds seemed so small and easy to carry. My lesson from God didn’t end there (maybe it will never end). This last Sunday I was sitting in church with none other than Sarah bouncing to the music on my lap. I looked down at her and saw her watching the worship leader with a HUGE smile on her face. I looked up to see who was leading this song and it was Auntie Hawa. That, my friends, is discipleship. That is showing the love of Christ to the broken. That is a Christ like relationship. It doesn’t stop there. It is everywhere at TRS. These children are being restored physically, yes, but they are also being restored spiritually. I see uncles playing soccer with the kids and then helping them memorize their scriptures for their upcoming contest. I see Aunties disciplining these twerpy 5 and 6 year old boys and then praying with them at night. I see our Finance Officer crunching numbers all day and then preaching God’s truth to the kids on Sunday. I see our teams going to serve malnourished babies at a local hospital and taking TRS kids along with them to teach them to serve those in need. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Go and make disciples….


So, back to my depressed self, hiding in the corner of the room. God chose that moment to remind me what I am here for. I am not here to do cost analysis, interviews, program development, meetings, etc., all that is just how God is using my training to build his orphan ministry here. I am here to be a discipler. To these children, to the community, to my own children, to my wife.


Ok, so I was reflecting on this life lesson when God opened my eyes to something else. He said, “reflect on how you learned this last lesson.” I learned it through an action, through obedience, not through reading about it or having a preacher tell me. God’s sanctification process of his children is so wise and effective; I am continually amazed. He knows me so well. The Bible is full of commands for obedience even going so far as to say to love God is to be obedient to his commands.

1Jn 5:2-3

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

Not burdensome, huh? I sure felt burdened when I was worrying about everything under the sun for my family and for TRS. I was sure NOT burdened when I was watching Sarah. What was I missing before? Maybe…..obedience. You see, I spent most of my life with the mindset that I need to know everything before I do anything. I need to figure out the right path, make sure I studied all the theology behind the verse, and make sure I was mature enough to handle the obedience prior to taking the first step. But, that doesn’t match up with what I read. 1 John 2:6 “whoever says he abides in him must WALK as Jesus did.” . Jesus told his followers to lay down your nets and follow me. Obedience came prior to knowledge. I believe baptism is in place as an early part of becoming a Christ follower because it sets a pattern of obedience and submission to the King. Once again, obedience prior to knowledge. I am not looking for a theological argument here, I am just stating that I see a LOT of examples of Christ calling people to obedience prior to there being a large amount of knowledge in place. Why? This doesn’t seem like a very logical thing. Wouldn’t you end up with a lot of dummies following blindly…maybe. Maybe that is the reason for the command, so we walk without tripping over our own feet. I am learning more and more that through the obedience comes intimate knowledge of the Son and in turn, intimate knowledge of the Father. Take my sons for example…would it be very effective for me to just tell them what to do and have them study my words for a while, and then have them make the decision to do the action? It is far more effective for me to show them how to do it myself (Jesus’s ministry here on earth), and then ask them to do it for themselves with me standing right beside (great commission). Through this they learn not only the action, but more about me. Why I do the things I do, what my thinking is behind the action, life lessons through failure, how to walk with their father hand in hand. I used to think of the Bible as a book of commands. Now I see it as a path or window to know Father God better. The commands just help me know him better. His commandments are not burdensome even though my enemy tells me they are.

Ok, so fast forward a couple of weeks and I am sitting in church again. I happened to be sitting next to our newest intake, a young girl who has polio and is bound to a wheel chair. She is an incredible little girl. She is handicapped physically, but not mentally, but I tend to forget this because I focus on her outward appearance. I was standing next to her worshipping, but not singing out loud because all I wanted to hear at that moment was this little girl singing her lungs out to Jesus and doing her best to raise and clap her hands to the King. She was so excited to be sitting there singing to her Father. After the song was over I guess I was standing too long and she leaned over, punched me on the leg, and in perfect English said, “UNCLE, sit DOWN.” God, just saying to me…”see, I am still doing it. It is what I do. You go do it too and you will know me more.”


I don’t know why I felt compelled to share these lessons. I just want to encourage people through things I have learned so that others can experience Christ the way I am just now starting to. It is true life. It isn’t easy, but it is rich and filling and I don’t feel numb any more. God’s commands are not to put a burden on us, but to free us from Satan’s grasp. To be different. To join him in restoration. It is a better way. I spent so many years being told it is NOT a better way or that my OWN way is better; but that was a lie. I also had the thinking of, “ok, I am saved. Now I need to just work on not sinning and attending church for the rest of my life and I have got it made.” I was so focused on myself that I started treating my salvation as the end game and forgetting that me becoming a Christ follower is only the BEGINNING. I hate that I spent so many years in inactivity. I missed out on so much, hoping that others would want to know God by my being an “example” of “not sinning”. Hey man, don’t you want to be like Andrew? He is such a nice guy who doesn’t seem to be doing anything majorly wrong. Who was I kidding? In God is beauty, good things, true life, truth, richness, eternity. Our enemy is evil, darkness, numbness, complacency, lies, he robs us of what we were created for. Brothers and sisters, be hot or cold…..hot or cold. God plan is not in the money, the ministry, the material gifts, the time. His plan is in the sanctification, to make the givers trust him more, to make the receivers rely on him, to make those who “do” understand true life, to break the hold of the enemy, to open our eyes, and to do what he has done from the beginning…draw his people back to him. To make me more like Jesus, to make Sarah more like Jesus, to make you more like Jesus, so that we can be in communion with him. It is what we were made for. I am not talking about obedience in “not sinning” as I so long thought. I am talking about obedience to the things he says to go and DO. So I encourage you, show God your love to him through obedience, it is not burdensome.

Read these scriptures. Don’t just glance over them…

1 Tim 6:17-19
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, this storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is TRULY LIFE.

1 John 2:3-6
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in Him should walk in the same way in which Jesus walked.

Luke 4:18-21
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Walk like he walked. Don’t sit. Show Christ’s love to the world. There is a lot of hurting people out there. Some, don’t hurt any more. Isn’t Sarah beautiful…

Water is life...and death

The joy of rain after 10 days of no water,

The threat,

The assault,

The retaliation,

And another welcomed assault,

The update: Nanna came to visit for 3 weeks and is here presently.

We have 3 new family members. I have long searched for chek chek chickens. We have only seen them in one place and the owners have not wanted to sell them. Everywhere we go I would tell the kids to be on the lookout and for the first time ever I did not get mad when the kids started yelling in the car. The announcement was music to my ears. We hit a jackpot of sorts and there were several to choose from. Rita and Nina were the obvious choice We named Nina after Nanna since she was with us when we got her. When Levi was small he could not say Nanna and instead would say Nina and so it stuck for a while. They are so awesome! In case you don't know about chek chek's they have they wildest feathers. They curl out and up instead of laying flat. Ours have a zebra print feather on most of their bodies and light brownish orange on their chest and poofy little chicken booties. I adore them and am so happy to be re-filling our coop.

The other family member came from Uncle Michael. He brought Levi a chameleon for his birthday. We had made a cage for him for his birthday to keep just such a possession so it was perfect timing. Levi named him Gary.

Slash that. 4 new family members. It is taking me weeks to upload, type and publish this blog so in between writings we added one. Albert is now the caretaker of a strange pigeon that decided to stay with us. We were on the porch talking with Morlai when there was a commotion in the razorwire of his wall. He came down and got a stick to help it out and he flew strait over to ours. Albert climbed the wall and got him down. It was a little strange but the bird just let him pick it up. He has been tucked under Alberts arm or waddling all around the compound all day today. He has made a spot in one of the cubes in the chicken coop. I am hoping that they are kind with it. We shall see in the morning how he faired. The Sierra Leonians have a saying something like 'water is life'. From the time we moved here January 18th until just a month or so ago there was not one drop of rain. The dry season can be very difficult for the people because all the water dries up and it is difficult to get clean water to drink, cook with or clean anything including yourself. So water is in fact life. Unfortunately, water is also death. We stand in awe of the rains that have been happening lately and we have only seen the beginning. It rained for 2 days and one night strait. Most of the people here build their homes of tin or mud that they bake into bricks. Neither of which are very sturdy. We have heard stories about those people having to stay up all night with buckets scooping water out of their homes. They build their beds on stilts so that when the floods enter they can put the few belongings inside up on the bed. I haven't seen it for myself yet so I can't give any more detail than that. I can only imagine that it would be exhausting if not terrifying. Especially if you have children. So during the downpour that happened a few nights ago four people from one family died when their mud hut collapsed under the weight of the rain and an elderly woman who lived on a slope from what I understand was washed away as well. Andrew and I stood on our porch feeling terrible for those people who suffer in this way and pray that there would be a remedy.

Where the name of this blog originated.

So I was talking with our visitor Robin and realized that I wanted to post these few funny things of late. A few weeks ago Dave and Brad were here and brought a memory stick full of basketball games Andrew had missed. This was the first time our African boys had ever seen this sport. As two of the basketball players ran in excitement at each other to do a chest bump and then one slapped the others buttocks. Albert laughed hysterically and said to John, "This is how they greet each other?!? They slap each others booty and jump at each other!" That has always been a little funny to me anyway but to see their reaction was all the more so. Recently, Andrew and the boys stayed up to watch X-men. Actually, I think maybe they needed to be a little older in hind site but we didn't remember it having any bad scenes. It was just a little too scary for their age and they thought that everyone was a witch. They did, however, love it. I was in and out of the room for the first half of the movie but ended up sitting in on it because it is so funny to watch them react to movies. There is a scene in that movie where several of the mutant good guys are surrounded by police and more and more police cars keep coming with sirens on. Two of our boys have never experienced a police car like that and in the scene the mutants are trying to explain that they aren't trying to do anything wrong to no avail because the police are all posed to shoot which they did. They shot Wolverine right in the forehead. That caused another of the mutants to start shooting fire everywhere and John shouted, "YEAH, bring it with your whew whew whew." Sometimes I have trouble breathing around here! Also, during that same time frame we were reading about Abraham and God's covenant with him. The sign of that covenant was circumcision which launched a funny episode in itself about a boy at the center who had to be redone and a chicken pecked him in the privates which they all cringed about. But the real blurb that was hilarious came the next night when Andrew asked if they remembered what we read the night before. There was a pause where everyone was thinking and trying to remember when John very seriously says, "they all got short!".....................uh, yes, good job John. (C-A-T lego's) Today we are celebrating the entry of the very first person God placed in our lives to care for. I remember being at the hospital and feeling shocked that they were about to let me take him home. It is such a weight and burden to do a good job at this role. It has been very difficult to carry out but there are days when I feel successful. He prays beautifully when he decides to. I am pretty sure that he has made me laugh every day for the last 6 years and I truly adore this beautiful, smart, funny, and quirky little freckle faced boy. (Wolverine) I will end this one with one of my favorite parenting moments. I learned humility and how to lock yourself in the bathroom not-so-discreetly to hide from serious embarrassment. We took someone to a doctor's appointment. While waiting, Ivey had a dirty diaper. We trekked out to the car to get the diapers and wipes and I realized that I was not going to be doing this one in the car so we went back in and sat in the chairs next to the bathroom to wait our turn. After about 5 minutes I began to wonder if I had just not turned the handle hard enough but didn't want to disturb someone twice if there was someone in there. Levi, who was approximately three time, and loud, made the announcement that it was taking a long time. I quietly said, "Yes, it is." and hoped that he would end it there. He suggest loudly that maybe it was poop. "Yes it probably is." I said quietly again while I noticed a few snickers. There were approximately 15 people in this waiting room and I am pretty sure that all of them heard it. I tried to change the subject because I had found by that point that if you try to deter children from talking about a subject there are so many questions that you might as well write a 12 page essay about what they shouldn't say and why. So I chose to just answer quietly and hope he would be interested in the People magazine. But unfortunately that is when the poor woman finally emerged from the bathroom. Before I could collect Ivey and her things and close the door behind my little announcer he dashed in there to the toilet and dashed back out and shouted to me(the lady had not even sat down yet), "YEP, IT WAS POOP". I too stayed in the bathroom for quite some time.

Satiated

We owe a LOT of thanks right now to many people. One of them is Dave Williamson. Dave and his wife Amber have been great friends to us since 2005. Sometimes you know you have awesome friends but then a circumstance proves it and you find yourself amazed. That is how I feel about the last few years. When we decided to adopt they somehow secretly got a million donations for a huge yard sale where they cooked hot dogs and sold drinks and made a ton of money! We were so amazed and I didn't know what to say so I don't know if I said anything. Then we decided to move to Africa and work for a nonprofit group in a nonpaying position. Since that would require fundraising the Williamson's jumped to action and have been advocates for us from the first day. They have done an incredible amount of fundraising for us. One of them was a blanket drive. We stood in amazement at the work they and our other awesome friends put forth on our behalf. And again I felt like writing on paper just couldn't sum up the wealth we felt not only for the money they raised, but also the effort to support us. This is the busy season at work for Dave. Ambers mother has been severely sick. They have two kids and volunteer regularly as softball and soccer coach and nursery workers at church. They are really busy. However, they just did a second yard sale at their home and again raised a large sum of money to help cover the remainder of what we have to raise for our two years here. Also, Dave is the leader of our mission board and Amber is our financial partner who takes care of our donations and banking there in the US. They have worked I don't even know how many hours doing errands for us, buying us an oven, getting our container packed and loaded and I don't even know what else. THEN, Dave came to visit us. That requires plane tickets, shots, and vacation time, visas, passports, and $100's of dollars in bug spray and wet wipes. All just to survive 100 degree weather, freezing cold showers, crazy drivers and amebas. He packed lightly because he wanted to have enough room to bring the two checked bags stuffed absolutely full of AWESOME gifts. He gave us updates on friends. He jumped out of the car to join me on the corner of a busy street to haggle with a women about large buckets for our laundry room and then jumped in to buy them. He was patient when it took till 9:00pm to make dinner or till 10:00am to make coffee. He worked in the heat sanding down the metal corners on a piece of furniture we had built, wrestled a king size bed into the house, and as per usual had us laughing most of the week. His presence reminded me how much I love his wife and her italian cooking and super kind heart. She also gave up vacation time and single parented for a week and a half while her husband was here. As I type this he is probably in the air flying home. He will be quickly getting things for our container and then shipping it the next day. What could I possibly say to all of that? I am afraid nothing comparable. But geez I really love them! I feel so simplistic saying this but THANK YOU Dave and Amber for serving us and daily caring for us. I kind of feel like Jack Nickelson in the movie 'As good as it gets' when saying this, but you make us want to be better people. The other person that we want to thank on this blog post was also a visitor this week. We met him and his wife in college at Harding. Then our paths crossed again just a few years ago when they came to Harpeth Community Church and joined our small group. I liked them immensely from the beginning. Brad and Lindsey Conner are hilarious people with huge hearts that beat for the same things that ours do. Lindsey and I are what people in the south refer to as 'cut from the same mold'. So she's awesome. And Brad is an amazing carpenter who makes really beautiful things and is extremely knowledgable on anything to do with homes and how they work. They too have been involved from the beginning with our mission and have worked so hard to help us get to where we are. We rent our house because it did not sell before we left. So he volunteered to do any repairs needed while we were gone-for free. Lindsey gave up many a Saturday with her husband while Brad came over and helped us prepare the house for our departure. He patched walls, fixed leaks, put a lock on our attic, painted and I don't even know what else because that last couple of weeks before we left is such a blur for me. Then he and Dave told us to just leave anything in the garage that needed to go to the container and leave the mattresses we slept on the last night at our house where they were. When we left they went in, got our mattresses and everything in the garage, and loaded up Brads trailer with all of our container possessions. They packed and palletized all of it and stored it away until time for the container. Because of my forgetfulness I have had Brad get things out of our attic twice in the last few months-he is probably sorry to have that key! He came to Sierra Leone last week specifically to do projects for us. We e-mailed him the list of items we wanted to build and he spent untold hours getting the right tools and etc. to prepared and packed for that. He also spent thousands of dollars on plane tickets, visa's, passports, and shots all to wood work in the super hot African sun with several kids surrounding him asking what the buttons did and kicking up sawdust clouds. He even skipped the monkey sanctuary outing because he insisted on getting work done. Here I will insert that laundry takes up so much time here. Not only because we are now a family of seven but also because it is a more complicated line of events. There are lots of dirt stains and piles of muddy clothes from the water discharge pipe when the machine shakes all over the place. But no more. Brad made a platform for the washer, added a platform to lay folded clothes on and cleaned out the entire garage. We put the said buckets in place and I now have one for towels and sheets, one for lights and one for darks. All with lids to keep the stink down. No more muddy clothes! No more digging in piles of cloths and having giant African cockroaches scurry up your arm. He even put up two clothes lines in the garage since it is the raining season and we can't hang our clothes out to dry right now and are at the mercy of unreliable electricity. It is SO fantastic. He fixed the door frames(it is really nice to be able to close all of our doors), fixed our couch, and put hooks up to hang the cork boards and mosquito nets. He made us a king size bed. He made nine large rolling bins for our boys to have storage under their beds. He made three fishing poles for our the boys and they are now awaiting a beach day. The boys are so excited. I am so amazed! He did all that in only a week! His wife also single parented for a week and a half so that her husband could come here for us. We woke up one morning and everyone left to go to the monkey sanctuary with the team that was here-except Brad who didn't want to go so that he could work on projects. Really late that night we found out that it was his birthday AND his wedding anniversary. And again, what words could possibly mean enough to compare to all of that? So again, THANK YOU for all you have done for us!!! You really are so encouraging to us and make us want to be better people. We love you so much!!! I singled these two families out because they just visited us but we also want to say that we owe a huge thank you to so many of our friends. We just are so blessed and couldn't be more thankful for all the gifts and time spend doing errands and time serving at yard sales and shopping for items on our list. We are still in such shock and awe at the Fannie Mae type relationships we have. We are so far in debt to you that I don't know that we could ever repay it. Therefore, we daily thank God for you and pray that each of you would be repaid 10 times over for all you have done for us!

Rotting Roses

There is a veranda off the side of our bedroom that was built with these decorative concrete blocks that are open to see outside but you are kind of hidden. I stood there sinning for quite some time the other day. I was coveting the neighbors plants. There is a certain vine or bush, I am not sure which, that grows here that I love but for weeks no one could tell me where to buy it. I stood there admiring the beautiful bright pink one in this neighbors yard as he was on a ladder trimming and pruning. And then a terrible thing happened. I had also been hiding because this certain veranda is a dead spot where for some reason no one thinks to look when calling for me. I had been laughing every time one of our children went by yelling my name searching for me which they did with increasing loudness every few seconds. I don't feel even slightly bad about it because Andrew was right there playing ball with Albert and he was completely capable of telling them to stop tattling for the 100th time of the day. I even ate cookies while doing it. And to my utter dismay, they found me. That is not, however, the worst thing that has happened. In the last three weeks the electricity has only worked for 2 evenings. It came on at night and went off by the time we woke up. Guma(the water system) has not been flowing for over a week now. We have run out of both reserve barrels and Andrew, Albert and John spent Sunday morning filling buckets at a different tap and bringing them to the barrel just to try to have enough to wash ourselves and the dishes. The laundry is becoming a problem because all of our sheets and towels are dirty and Isatu is out of undies. Then, something happened with our ground wire and current was coming into the house so if you touched anything metal it would shock you. Sometimes it would be really strong. That can be alarming. Therefore, we have not been using the generator regularly. Even if that weren't an issue there is a fuel 'crisis' as they call it where there the gas stations run out of fuel. So we have had to be conservative with the generator. The lack of consistent cooling in our refrigerator caused some meats to go bad which was expensive. And our kitchen smelled horrible for a day. Next, Levi and Ivey got a crazy rash and we put creams on it but nothing worked so we finally took them to the doctor. It turns out they are having a reaction to the malaria medication and have infections in their intestines. The rashes are gone, Levi is back to normal and Ivey is close to being back to normal so no one should worry. We actually were surprised to find out they were sick because they never acted unusual or told us they were hurting. Also, we couldn't go to River #2 for our family day on Saturday because the car's 4 wheel drive isn't working and it makes a terrible noise when you turn a certain direction so it was in the shop. So, we went today instead and terror of all terrors the beach was filthy. It is usually so clean and beautiful but today there was trash everywhere. We inquired of the british man named Freddy that we just met and he said that according to gossip, when the rains come-which they have- that all the trash flows off the river banks and it all floods to the ocean. NNNNNOOOOOO!!!! We have mixed emotions about the rains. On one hand it gets so beautiful here when all the plants are blooming and green and we love the cooler weather. The downside is that besides the mentioned trash ruining my day of escape, there are termites, mosquitos, ants and all kinds of crazy bugs swarming right now. The termites are so annoying! They will fly right into your face. While I am giving the list I'll go ahead and make it complete by saying that on top of everything else our internet stick isn't working. I am typing this on Tuesday night but who knows when I'll post it. I am supposed to be ordering things for the container, and e-mailing our friends list and all kinds of things but with no way to charge the computer and no internet stick that is proving to be quite the problem. As I was typing this the electricity came on and about 20 minutes later the lights started doing the dreaded wave of dimming and brightening but this one was different. There was some clicking and I went to turn off some of the outlets. I was standing there debating turning it off at the wall switch so that it didn't blow anything out when flashes of lights happened outside. I ran out on the front porch and all down the street the light poles where flashing and shooting sparks. It looked like fireworks. Then it was only one. The one that is right outside our gate in front of the compound next to ours. It kept it up for a good 30 seconds and finally the last sparks shot. Andrew had joined me for the last part of that and we ran next door through our shared gate to see if Mr. Brama was ok. He was. He said they need to trim the trees and that the wires touched. So I came back in and started to type this when the electricity went off in one last definitive swoop. A guy who does landscaping came and we bought two of the vines I love for a grand total of $6, the electrician came and we think that the current leak is fixed now, all four of our fuel barrels for the generator are full, the refrigerator is cleaned out, the car will be fixed soon and Levi and Ivey are better. So we are fine but please pray for the electricity and water specifically. After several weeks it is getting tiring and the longer it goes on the harder it is to deal with. Fortunately, we get our drinking water from the store so the water shortage is not affecting that. The washing of ourselves, dishes and laundry is the issue. God has blessed me with a terrible sense of smell so I am not suffering yet but the stink is mounting. Andrew on the other hand has a great sense of smell so it is fortunate also that God has allowed me to always smell like roses. That's probably how my kids found me on the veranda.