following the LEADER

Sam requested that Dave cut his hair because he was too hot. His ability to sit patiently is a sure sign he's getting bigger.

We’re getting back into the swing of things around here, and we couldn’t be more happy about it.  This family loves a routine.  We’ve been painting, splashing, digging, swimming, and just plain loving our African life.  This weekend we commenced our normal Saturday afternoon at the Rec Center.  Everyone enjoyed the pool and reuniting with old friends.  I was especially happy to see several of my students.

Nathaniel discovers some well loved old toys.

Meanwhile Samuel digs in the yard.

Caleb loves Dankarami as much as the other boys do.

So far as I can tell, our weekly routine will be pretty packed.  Monday night is our Mission Fellowship Dinner.  Tuesday an opportunity to help with art classes in the AD Bonifondou School in the afternoons. I’m hoping to continue hosting the other MAs (young, single missionaries) for dinner on Wednesday nights.  Thursday morning is play group and is ladies Bible study.  Sam will be going back to Ecole Alliance every morning starting next week.  This week they are on holiday.  Dave is hoping to start a daily routine of French studies and Bible courses through Global University. I hope to teach Elementary Music again in the fall.

Of course all of this is subject to change- and we’re sure it will some what.  We will keep you posted on that kind of thing as it happens.

Sitting with Caleb on the porch while the boys play outside.

For now, we’re settling in.  Please pray for us regarding our decision to move.  We’ve been looking at houses in a neighborhood with more stable electricity and trying to get in touch with our land lord who said he was going to raise our rent starting June 1.  If this is true, we will need to find a house in the next week or so.  This will enable us to spend a month preparing the new house and making it livable.  Pray that we will find the right place or that if God wants us to stay here, he will change our land lord’s mind.  We would love a bigger yard for our growing boys.  We know God has the right place out there somewhere.

Lots of cliches come to mind.  Home is where the heart is.  There’s no place like home.  The real truth is that this missionary mom was feeling a little sad about leaving our beautiful Virginia spring.  Our time spent there was so full of blessing.  The blessing of friendship.  The blessing of provision.  It was a great and precious time for the whole family.

We arrived last night to the wall of heat that greets you as you step off the plane.  Immediately I thought to myself, “Once again I underestimated the heat.”  But that’s not all I underestimated.  I underestimated the blessing I would feel in this place.  I can’t quite put into words how good it feels to come home to our house.  Our beds.  Our dog.  Our friends who have missed us.  Danika, Julie, and Daniel stocked our fridge and pantry full of food.  They even made us vegetable soup and shepherds pie just to have on hand.  And this morning Halima (our friend snd the Teague’s cook) came over to make us omelets.  Just to say I love you.  Wow.  What a great day to wake up.

As the hours pass, I feel a deep joy just in being here.  And the Lord is affirming in my heart that this is where I am called to be right now.  I look forward to the next two years and all the moments we will share as a family.  All the opportunities for ministry- those we can forsee and those we can’t.  And my heart just feels at home.

We were all up around 10:30 or 11 am this morning.  Which means we’re pretty jetlagged.  Niger is 5 hours ahead of the US East Coast.  We enjoyed our sleep last night and needed a good breakfast because the traveling was not easy.

The first leg of our journey was wonderful.  Our hour flight from RIC to JFK was smooth and easy.  Nathaniel and Caleb slept while Sam made friends with the flight attendant, Caris, who told us where to go in the NY airport to find the best food and relaxation for our long lay over.  When we got to NY we found the Air Moroc counter to check in and then we took the “Air Train” (just imagine Sam and Nata’s pleasure) to another terminal where we found a McDonalds and some driving video games that kept the boys happy and occupied.  JFK was a mad house full of people trying to get to Europe.  Our flight to Morroco which had been half full a week prior was now overbooked.  Which means that Nathaniel would be on Dave’s lap the entire way.

Our second leg was not so bad.  The flight from JFK to Casablanca is only 6.5 hours.  Which is great if you’re used to going from IAD to CDG which is closer to 8 hours.  The boys slept most of the way.  When we landed we were faced with a sea of people trying to get to Europe.  Which meant that every hotel in town was booked.  And we would be spending 14 hours in the airport instead of a hotel like we thought.  Dave and I took a deep breath and went to work trying to make the best of it.  We had some coffee in a little cafe and I got out the markers and coloring books for the boys.  There was a cat (really a cat) sitting in a chair next to us which delighted the boys.  Then we moved to the hallway in front of the info desk to try and squeeze some pity out of the Air Moroc staff so that they would give us a hotel room.  Long story short, we never did get a hotel room.  Instead we had a great time hanging out with our friend Elliot.

Elliot is a High School student whose father works for the State Department.  We became friends with him when he lived in Niamey, but now he lives with his parents in the capital of Morroco.  It took him an hour and 45 minutes (one way) to get to us.  We were so honored that he took time out for us.  Sam was thrilled and kept telling Elliot, “You are my favorite boy.”  Dave, Elliot, and I were able to have a great chat while the boys napped and then all the boys went outside together and ran around in the grass while Mama fed the baby and had a moment’s peace.

And so, by the time we actually got on our flight to NIM, we were very tired.  Nata was done.  Screaming at the top of his lungs between dozes.  The flight to NIM was three hours.  We slept some, cried a lot, and all felt relived when the wheels hit the ground in Niger.

It’s been funny to watch the boys wrestle with being here.  You can tell that things are familiar and they feel at home, but warming up to the culture might take some time.  After breakfast this morning Daniel and Moumouni blew up the giant pool and the boys splashed around.  We’ve all been red in the face since the moment we arrived.  Caleb has been sleeping in the airconditioning all morning.  I think he is just totally exhausted.

So that’s the full scoop.  I know there are some of you who wanted to know all of the details of our travels.  We are going to dinner tonight at the Teagues.  Right now the boys are napping and I’m going to do a load of laundry and try to make a dent in the unpacking.

Thank you so much for being our support.  For praying us through our voyage.  I cannot imagine what we would have encountered if you hadn’t.  To our friends in America: we love you and miss you.  To our friends in Niger:  we can’t wait to hug you hello!

Today was the end of a long chapter in this crafty mama’s life.  It began about a year and a half ago with this.  I decided to try something I had never done before. Something I didn’t know I could finish or if I would.  And so I started on a very long project that has come to mean so much to me.  I’m chuckling now as I read that first post where I predict that it will take weeks to finish.  It has been one year and four months.  But I finished.

With the completion of this project I join a long line of Texas quilters.  I have seen quilts made by my mother, my great grandmother, and her mother.  In the end, I needed a little help to get it all done before our departure for Africa, and I asked for it from other crafty moms, including my own, who were glad to help out.  They remembered the joy they felt when they first began to sew, or when they finished their first quilt, and they were happy to share that with me.  Their eyes sparkled when we came to the end of a square, or row, or section.  And sharing this with them made my joy more complete.  I also became aquainted with a heavenly little corner of Hanover County, Virginia.  If you like to sew, I encourage you to stop by Millstone Quilts in Old Church. If you’ve got the time, bring a book and sit a while next to the creek.  It’s so gorgeous there.

So, now the quilt is finished.  Working on it has been such a joy.  I decided almost as soon as I started it that I would be giving this quilt away.  It was just too good as a wedding gift for my dear friend Krystal.  She was there when I started it, and many of the fabrics were from clothes that she wore.  She understands the history of almost every patch and is able to name where they came from.  And she is so precious to our family.  So, today, on Jason’s birthday, I gave the quilt to them.  They’ve now been married for 6 months and I started it just after they were engaged.  I love them so much, and I’m so happy for them to have it.  It is such an excellent representation of who they were, who they are, and hopefully as the quilt ages and gets passed from generation to generation… who they are yet to be.