“… he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways…”

I love this verse from the 91st Psalm.  When I was a little girl, my parents would pray for my sister and me every night, and the prayer would go something like, “Keep all bad dreams and all bad and evil far, far away.  Put your angels around her to guard her and guide her.”  This became somewhat of a mantra for Laura and me.  We loved those quiet times with Mom and Dad, and we refused to go to sleep unless they came in to pray the special prayer.

These days, I find myself doing the same thing with Sam, and I imagine I will very soon with Nathaniel as well.  I pray the Lord’s protection over the lives of my children especially in the moments when I’m not there to protect them myself.  I comfort myself in knowing that their heavenly Father loves them more than I ever could and wants (even promises) to protect them.

Why am I telling you about this?  Because of the week we’ve had, of course.

Last weekend Sam was sick with a pretty violent stomach virus.  Many of the other expat children were in the hospital including our good friend Amber T.  Sam spent many hours hovered over a bowl.  Last Sunday we visited Geladio again to hand out Plumpynut to malnourished children there.  I realized that if any of these starving village children were as sick as Sam, they wouldn’t survive.

Then, a few days ago, I put Nathaniel down in the kids’ room to play.  I was in another part of the house and came running when I heard him start to cry.  I found him in the bathroom with an opened bottle of toilet bowl cleaner spilled on the floor.  I cannot explain to you my feeling of helplessness.  I immediately grabbed him and tried to determine if he had swallowed any of the poison.  His mouth smelled and tasted like the cleaner.  I immediately took him to the sink.  Normally, we do not drink water from the tap here, but I didn’t worry about that, knowing that these chemicals could be way worse than a little bacteria in his digestive tract.  After this I began to nurse him (praise the Lord it was just about time for him to eat anyway).  Then I called Dave.  He came home with Krystal and Brent.  Krystal had the excellent idea of calling poison control in America using skype.  Praise the Lord again for technology.

Long story short, Nathaniel was totally fine.  It seems he didn’t really swallow very much of the cleaner, but probably only tasted it. Also, the cleaner seems not to have been very harmful.

I think this story is important to tell because, for me, there were so many details of God’s provision and protection of my 7 1/2 month old son.  First of all, he didn’t drink very much of the chemical.  Also, God gave me the exactally the right insticts.  I didn’t know for sure that diluting the chemical was the right thing to do.  Should I just try and make him throw up?  Did I need to rush to the emergency clinic or try and immediately feed him?  It was God that guided my actions.

It’s amazing to think about all the things that could have harmed us, all of the accidents that were prevented because “[angels] lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

I’m glad to report that we are all happy and healthy.  Sometimes I forget that this is a huge miracle in itself.  Thank you for praying for us.  We know that we are in his hands.

let’s go for a walk

Get your shoes on. Sammy wants to go for a walk. Mama, brother, Krystal and Amina are coming too! Where are your shorts, Sam? You can’t go out in just your diaper.

Ready, set, let’s go!

Oh look, there’s the shop keeper’s kitty! Sam loves the “meow”.

Sam look at the camel! (not pictured, but we really did see one).

Here is the shop keeper’s son. Sam wants a sip of his milk.

Thank you, Monsieur, for the yummy yogurt/ milk drink. What’s in this stuff? Mama always reads the label.

Krystal likes it too!

Sammy can’t resist the fresh made millet cakes. He asks for them every time. All the vendors on the road love Sam and know his name because he loves their food.

Sammy wants to sit a while and take in everything on the street. We sit while Sam eats his millet cakes. And we see a Donkey! Hee Haw! (not pictured)

Thanks for coming with us on our walk, and thanks to Krystal, our photographer.

Psalm 144 [the Message Bible]

Blessed be God, my mountain, who trains me to fight fair and well.

He’s the bedrock on which I stand, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight,

The high crag where I run for dear life, while he lays my enemies low.

I wonder why you care, God- why do you bother with us at all?

All we are is a puff of air; we’re like shadows in a campfire.

Step down out of heaven, God; ignite volcanoes in the hearts of the mountains.

Hurl your lightnings in every direction; shoot your arrows this way and that.

Reach all the way from sky to sea: pull me out of the ocean of hate, out of the grip of those barbarians

Who lie through their teeth, who shake your hand then knife you in the back.

O God, let me sing a new song to you, let me play it on a twelve-string guitar-

A song to the God who saved the king, the God who rescued David, his servant.

Rescue me from the enemy sword, release me from the grip of those barbarians

Who lie through their teeth, who shake your hand then knife you in the back.

Make our sons in their prime like sturdy oak trees,

Our daughters as shapely and bright as fields of wildflowers.

Fill our barns with great harvest, fill our fields with huge flocks;

Protect us from invasion and exile- eliminate the crime in our streets.

How blessed the people who have all this!

How blessed the people who have God for God!

I have been praying this psalm this morning, and I thought I would share it with all of you.

Dave has gone with Brent and the team to build a church in a village called Madawa (it’s about 8 hours away). We are choosing to be happy in our home this week. That’s not hard with Sammy around, but we do miss our Dad. Please continue to keep us and our leadership in your prayers.

Nathaniel has really been growing and changing these past few weeks. He laughs, rolls over, and is very responsive to all of us. Sam likes to sit beside him. They talk and make faces at each other. I have kind of given up with the potty training for the moment. I’m tired of cleaning up after Sam who has decided that life is too busy and fun to be bothered by taking trips to the bathroom. Every time I ask him if he wants to go he yells, NO!

It’s a joy to have Krystal living here with us now. She has such a gentle spirit. She always all hands on deck- ready help with anything at a moments notice.

Here are pictures of our goings-on….

we love brookley

Here she is getting her hair braided by Amina.  With her departure, one chapter ends and another begins again. Although she’s not leaving for 2 whole weeks, the team arrives tomorrow, so we’re starting to get sad about her time drawing to an end. As I type this, she’s giving both my boys a bath. That’s right, I completely trust her with a two year old and a three month old in there by herself. That’s how good she is. She also made a chocolate cake today all by herself. (That means I also trust her completely with my kitchen aid mixer that Aunt Claudia got me as a wedding present. The very same one that recently traveled back to America with us for repairs caused in part because I let other people get their hands on it). She’s amazing and we love her. Sam calls her LEEEEEE.

Sam is doing well, and I know it has been way too long so I will take time now to give you the full update on his big-two-year-old-ness. He has many new words that correspond with this environment. Koowaide and Icetea, muwigan come, pool, and pool bus to name a few. A pool bus could be the long yellow kind or the African minivan type that our friend Dankarmi drives. You better believe he had a field day when he saw Eye-yie-yie driving a Pool Bus. He talks about that several times a day. We have also started the potty training process. Sam seems way ready for this. Mommy and Sammy sat at the table one day a week or two ago and made a big sign for Sam’s room out of construction paper that says Sam can use the potty! We’ve been putting his “Sam” stickers that Grammy sent on it every time he goes, and it’s really working. Today he went twice. I think I’m about ready to put him on the pot every hour or so. To our great joy Sam has also started singing. This morning while Dave and I were trying to get a few more minutes of shut eye, Sam was standing beside the bed holding the plug end of the cord of our unplugged lamp in his little hand as an impromptu microphone. Singing Mama-Ah, Ya Ya (that’s Dada)- Ah, Woa Woa (that’s mulligan’s nick name)- Ah. We both rolled over and just smiled at each other. How can we sleep through such a beautiful serenade?

Nathaniel is growing too.  He loves his tummy time and smiles and laughs at all of us.  Sam loves to kiss him and tells me every time he sneezes, cries, or does anything else very interesting.  Mulligan and Nathaniel adore eachother except when Mulligan barks at the visitors, that makes Nathaniel cry, but he hardly ever does.  Amina asked Dave today why white babies cry less than African ones.  I smile at that.  He’s just a good baby!

The last several days I have been pretty sick, and I won’t bore you with the details, but I must gush about Brookley again regarding this matter. She has saved me. Between her and Amina, I think I might just hop a plane to the Caribbean. I went to the clinic and got some medicine, and now I’m feeling way better.

Other events that have been fun for us all are….. eating pizza in the basement of La Piller (one of our favorite restaurants), had cokes one day on the terrace of the Grand Hotel looking at the best view on Niger River, Sam found a new kitten friend that lives at the Orphanage (oh yea, and we love seeing the kids there too!)

and while Sam was taking his nap Brookely and I made her a wrap skirt out of Nigerien fabric. The fun times keep rolling.

There has been a ton of work for Dave to do with the team’s arrival tomorrow, and we’re all excited for the change of pace. I’m so sorry about the lack of updates, but it’s been quite difficult without internet at our house. When we’re at the Teague’s house to use the internet, there are so many other things (like r

esponding to an overflowing inbox and checking on accounts) that updating just doesn’t seem to happen. I wrote a lovely update on the fourth of July that never got posted because the power went out. Maybe I’ll go ahead and put that one up as well. While the updates will probably be coming less frequent, I promise to try and make them more info-filled.

We miss our friends and family back home, and we don’t want you guys to feel left out of our lives. We’re happy and for the most part healthy. Keep up the prayers! With love. hj