Hannatu's Happenings

The Year in Pictures

2012-01-29T16:11:00.000-05:00

I decided to summarize the year 2011 by putting up a picture for each month.

January 2011
We made a visit to Connecticut, then took Suzanne back to Ohio (Daniel was already there, but I don't remember how he got back), helped represent SIM at Cedarville's missions' conference, and spoke at a church in western PA on our way back to Maryland. To celebrate John's birthday, we went sightseeing in Washington DC. We visited the African-American Civil War Monument, the Daughters of the America Republic museum, and walked past the White House.

February 2011
Daniel (not our Daniel) and Victoria came to visit. We had a great time.....guess what?....sightseeing in Washington DC. This time we visited the African Art Museum and the Holocaust Museum.

March 2011
John had his spring break from the college we were at, so we drove to Sebring, FL to visit my parents. We had a really good time with them, sitting on their verandah eating lunch and just spending time together. It was a foggy rainy morning the day we left.

April 2011
Spring was absolutely gorgeous in Maryland!!! The azaleas and the cherry blossoms turned the area into possibly the prettiest place I have ever seen in the spring. But even better was a visit to us from good friends....Ed, Sharon, & Luke and a week or so later Al & Judy. I chose this picture of John with Ed and Sharon just because it shows how much fun we have together. Oh yeah....guess where we went with our two sets of visitors? You got it!! Washington, DC. With Ed & Sharon we visited the President's Gallery at one of the museums, went quickly through the American History Museum, and then we walked around the monuments where all the cherry trees were in blossom. With Al & Judy we went to the American Indian Museum.

May
Another trip to Ohio, this time for Daniel's graduation from Cedarville University. We couldn't be prouder! (or is it more proud?)

June
We moved from Maryland back up to Pennsylvania and John was off for his six weeks in England. Daniel was working in Ohio, and Suz and Theo were working at nearby Camp Ladore. Thankfully they came home every weekend which kept me from getting too lonely! It was a pretty quiet month, though.

July
Most of this month was spent packing and getting ready to return to Africa. John was back from England and we took a couple of weeks for a "staycation", seeing some of the local attractions. But probably the highlight of the month was taking the wedding pictures for my nephew's wedding. Jeremiah and Heather had a beautiful wedding!

August
Back in Africa! Suz and Theo went with us and got engaged while they were here. That was pretty exciting!!

September
September was a pretty quiet month with us settling into a routine. One day everybody in the office went to the house of one of our co-workers to have a time of prayer and present a monetary gift to him to celebrate the birth of his twins. Normally that is done at the naming ceremony, but that was held in a neighboring country and none of us could go. Meanwhile, back on the other side of the big pond Daniel got engaged to Kelly! :)

October
More routine! One of the big things we did though, was to host an orientation for new missionaries. In this picture John is translating for Hama who talked about Nigerien culture.

November
These are two of the ladies I get to work with. I enjoy them a lot. We also got a new generator installed at the office meaning we can continue on with work even when the power goes off. Suzanne had been sick for over two months so I made a quick trip to the USA to visit and encourage her.

December
While in the US, we got to take a trip to Washington DC. While there we visited Georgetown Cupcakes. It was fun spending time with Daniel and Kelly and Suz and Theo.

2011 was a year with a lot of transitions in it, such as moving twice. There were times that stretched our faith and that were difficult such as Suzanne's extended illness. And there were a lot of joys such as the engagements of both of our children to godly partners.

May God bless 2012!

Honoring an Honorable Man

2012-01-24T09:06:00.001-05:00

Let's just call him "Ancien", which translates as "Elder". This is the nick name affectionately given to him in the office. Not only is he the oldest in the office, but he is also an elder at his church. Ancien has worked for our organization for 30 years. Every day he counted and handed out cash. Never once was he caught short or with his hand in the till.

We recently celebrated his retirement by having a big party for him. As people got up and shared what Ancien had meant to them, the words honesty, integrity, and faithfulness came up over and over again.

In an area where graft and corruption are fairly common, qualities such as honesty, integrity, and faithfulness are to be highly honored. As Ancien said, "I am retiring with a clear conscience." He has not knowingly wronged anybody, stolen from anybody, or ever embezzled money though all of those would have been temptations common in his position.

And of course, every big celebration is accompanied by heaps of good food!

I hope at the end of my career words like "faithful" and "honest" will be used of me and that I'll be able to say that I am retiring with a clear conscience.

I think this is a little bit of what heaven will be like. I'll stand before the Lord with a clear conscience....not because of what I've done or who I am, but because of what He's done and who He is. I can't wait to hear those words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Not because I'm so wonderful, but because He's given me the power and ability to do what He wants me to do. And then we'll have the Marriage feast of the Lamb with food like we can't even imagine! What a day that will be!!

Maranatha!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-14T15:45:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since I did a blog! First I was really busy getting ready for all the people who arrived between December 27 and January 1st. Then we had our conference from January 4-8. And then we had no internet for a week. I never had a chance to write about our Christmas, so I'll do that now.

I got back from the US on December 20, so the next day John and I decorated for Christmas. Here's our little tree aka the bush. But I like our little tree! John and I got a little tree for our first Christmas because we didn't have a lot of money and because we thought it would be easier to bring a little tree to Africa than a big one. Then when we moved to the "village", we decided we didn't want to have a big tree that attracted a lot of attention. As we established a church we didn't want to do anything that new believers would think they had to do, such as have a Christmas tree. It's normal here to decorate your house for holidays, so our decorations were understood as making our house nice for our holiday. But we just didn't want the focus to be on the tree. So to this day we have a small tree. (I've got nothing against big trees...this has just been our personal choice. And when we're in the US, we almost always buy a real tree. And I love going to people's houses who have lots of decorations!) We try to keep our decorations simple, too. This is a small creche scene I picked up at the dollar store, but I really like it!

On Christmas Eve John and I had our traditional Christmas Eve supper.....curry, the way my dad makes it with tons of chopped up fruit, nuts, boiled eggs, etc. to go with it. I also made sticky buns which we had Christmas morning for breakfast.

Here Christmas is spent at church with believers AND this year was also Sunday. So we went to church! It was a great service, full of joy and celebration. The walls, ceiling fans, and even the guitars were decorated. The choir had several special numbers. Each Sunday School class came up and sang songs and recited verses. Some of these verses were really complicated, too. These itty-bitty kids speak better French than I do! Of course, the little guys stole the show like they do at churches all over the world. Our neighbor kids even recited verses in French. I was proud of them so I'm sure their parents were extra proud! The oldest Sunday school group did a skit. And the ladies' group sang, too. The white blurs are hankies and kleenex being waved around. Why, I'm not really sure. I have been attending meetings, but missed for a month so since I wasn't there when they practiced I didn't participate in this special number. And, of course, there was a message.

The service was followed by a meal. I didn't get any pictures of that because I was too busy eating!

Later in the evening we went to a friend's house for a potluck supper.
And on the 26th we opened our gifts.

And that was our Christmas!

And,yes, we missed our kids. Immensely.

A Quick Trip to DC

2011-12-27T09:29:00.000-05:00

My reason for going to the USA was to try to get Suzanne back on the road to health. But of course I wanted to spend time with Daniel as well. I saw him overnight on Thanksgiving weekend and we got to have lunch together, but it was a really brief visit.

So Suzanne, Theo, Kelly, and I decided to drive down to DC for a weekend. We finally found one that worked for all of us. It was an 8+ hour drive. We stopped once for supper at Wendys and once for gas. We made good time until we got near Daniel's exit and the traffic was all tied up because of construction. I guess we finally got to his house around midnight and we had left at about 2:45.

We saw his apartment and Theo stayed there. Suz, Kelly, and I had reservations at a hotel. First we went to the wrong one, then we had to figure out where we were really staying. We were so tired when we finally dropped into bed.

The next morning we went to McDonald's for breakfast, but there were so many people there that we decided to take the metro on in to DC and find a McD's there. But by the time we got there, it was too late for breakfast so we just had an early lunch. We got to see Daniel's office building, and we stopped at a trade fair outside the Art Museum.

Our next stop was Bolling Air Force Base where my nephew is stationed. He had just graduated from the Honor Guard program and is now starting technical school. In addition to learning a trade (something electrical???) he will also appear in parades, at military funerals, and at others affairs of State. The bottoms and sides of his dress shoes have metal taps on the toes, horse-shoe-like pieces on the heel, and metal on the sides so he can click his heels together. I'm guessing his shoes weigh about three pounds a piece. Fortunately he doesn't wear those all the time! We didn't get to see him in uniform, but I'm sure he looks pretty handsome! He should after all the hours he spends ironing (yes, even his boxers), polishing, and duct-taping stuff (you'd be surprised what all is duct-taped on the reverse side of that uniform!). He and his wife have a real nice apartment and she'll be able to transfer into a university near there to continue her social work program.

Back on the metro we went, this time to Georgetown. Suzanne wanted to visit Georgetown Cupcakes which is featured in the show "DC Cupcakes" on TLC. Daniel had figured out where it was and what metros to take to get there and where we had to walk to find the shop. Once we got there, we had to wait in quite a line, but it moved along quickly and the cupcakes really were delicious. I got a cup of steaming hot tea to go with mine as well.

Our next stop was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but unfortunately the park was closing at 5. After seeing J in uniform, we wanted to see the Changing of the Guard (which he said is always Army, never Air Force), but it wasn't to be. Somewhere in all this Metro riding and changing lines we rode on the 2nd longest elevator in DC. It was a bit scary.

And then we went to Old Towne, which is in Alexandria. We got there in the dark and walked down the main street, peering into shops and actually going into a few. We three teachers in the group enjoyed the Children's Book Store we found and we all enjoyed the 10,000 Villages store we went in. We ate supper at Chipotle and then walked down the other side of the street back to the metro. All my pictures are blurry, but it was really pretty with the Christmas lights.

Back at our hotel a huge party was going on. We had to park in the parking garage and fell into a huge pothole on the way there. Around 1 a.m. a drunk woman woke us up with her loud talking. It kind of scared us (Kelly and I....Suzanne slept through it and I didn't know Kelly was awake) because she was yelling about "I don't even know you" and "get out of my room". Sounds like she got a little too friendly with somebody at a party and then decided they were a creep. It was kind of hard to know what to do and if we should do anything. After awhile we heard her saying "thank you" so I think security came and helped her out. It was quiet after that, but I found it hard to get back to sleep. Please remind what's fun about getting drunk?

I'm so glad we were able to go visit Daniel and spend good quality time together. I just wish John had been there. All in all, it was definitely worth the 16-hour round trip!!!!

Update on Suzanne

2011-12-23T17:29:00.000-05:00

As you know, we made a sudden decision for me to go to the USA to visit Suzanne. She had been sick for over two months. During that time she had some weeks of feeling better, but after the 2nd time of feeling really good, she felt sick again. By then she was really discouraged and we felt like some time with Mom might help her get over it.

By the time I got there she was starting to feel some better, but complained about nausea in the evenings. She was still taking anti-nausea medicine as well. Gradually she started feeling better. During my time there, she moved out of the dorm and over to my parents' house where I think she is eating better and more regularly which, ironic as it may seem, helps the nausea.

So what was wrong with her? We really don't know. So many people have suggested different things. Early on she was given a treatment for giardia which actually seemed to help a bit. But as it kills off the bad bacteria in your digestive system, it also kills off the good critters that contribute to a healthy digestive system. So, it's very possible that it made her better, but got her system all out of whack. She was tested for all sorts of other things and all tests were negative. We even had her room tested for mold and CO, but both of those were negative as well. However, she and her roommate did have Glade Plug-ins in the room which gave off a really strong odor. They were making me feel weird when I was in there, so I have no doubt that, while they probably didn't cause the nausea, they contributed to it. After all, they are shooting chemicals into the air and that can't possibly be good for you. For an excellent article on the dangers of air fresheners, read this article.

At any rate, we are so thankful to God for giving her better health and we are praying that she is really, truly over it. She has lost a lot of weight and is really thin and needs to gain back some weight to fit into her wedding dress that was ordered 15 pounds ago.

So what did we do while I was in the USA?

I helped Suzanne and Theo make their wedding invitations (still a work in progress). Suz created this idea herself and they are really nice invitations!

We spent time perusing Pinterest and made scarves from an idea we got on Pinterest. We even made one for the cat, but she was not at all appreciative of her gift.

We went up to Michigan to visit Theo's family and for her to show me her wedding dress (nope! no pictures of that!! You'll have to come to the wedding to see that!). OK, here's one little sneak peek.

Suz went to school every day and I did my personnel work remotely. I helped her study for an exam. I also had some time to get started on making a quilt for Suz and Theo. I found out what colors Daniel and Kelly like and will make one for them, too.

Suz, Theo, and I went to the insurance office at Cedarville and started the process of figuring out what our insurance, and what Cedarville's insurance will pay and then how much we will owe. It's quite complicated, but Cedarville's insurance lady really knows her business.

One night we went to Campus Christmas. I got to hang out with Suzanne and some of her friends during Open Dorm night. A lot of the halls or units go all decorating on a theme. The best men's and the best women's hall or unit wins gift certificates to a restaurant. Theo's unit decorated as a spa. Personally, I thought theirs was one of the best!

We went shopping together. Not much though, because Suzanne was so busy with school. But that's OK. I get tired of shopping in a big hurry.....but not of spending time with Suzanne.

I cooked most of the meals while I was home, trying to tempt Suzanne with stuff I knew she'd like.

And one weekend she, Theo, Kelly and I went to spend time with Daniel in Washington, DC. We had a blast, but I'll save that for the next blog!

And might I mention that, in spite of being miserable for over two months she managed to pull off a 3.9 GPA?

Saying good-bye was hard. It always is. Coming back to John was good. I just wish we could all live in the same town together, have Sunday dinner together every week, continue to be a family.....Us, Suz & Theo, Daniel & Kelly, our parents, our siblings. Maybe that's why we long so much for heaven. For an excellent post on saying goodbye, read Suzanne's blog here.

I Love Our Neighbor Kids

2011-12-14T09:24:00.000-05:00

We live on a compound with three houses on it. Our house is actually a duplex. Currently we live next to a teacher at Sahel Academy. She's a lot of fun, but will be moving soon. A couple from New Zealand who will also be working at Sahel Academy, will be moving in there next. I'm sure we'll like them, too.

The house in front of ours is a family house. A family of five lives there and they have the best kids ever. When Suzanne and Theo were in Niger they promised them some good all-out water fights. Here are some pictures from one of the water fights.

These kids are really creative. Here is a house they built out of mud, sticks, stones, and leaves. I often find them outside in some sort of creative play.

In October/November the dad of the family was gone for a month, so one Saturday morning we had them over for breakfast. Another night we had them over for supper and then we played Tripoley together. To sum up the game very briefly, you put chips around on the mat and then by playing certain cards you can win those chips. The more chips you have, the better. But with six people playing we didn't have enough chips, so I got colored paper clips to use as chips. The kids were so funny with the paper clips. They would line them up and organize them by color and then trade more or less desirable colors with their siblings. We had more fun watching them in the paper clip trading business than we had playing the game.

Living this closely with neighbors could cause a lot of tension, but we are so thankful for our neighbors who are more like family to us.

A Hippo Hunt

2011-12-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

After orientation, I arranged a canoe trip up the Niger River to look for hippos in their natural habitat. It turned out that quite a few people attending orientation needed to do some shopping while in the big city and Saturday was the only day they could do it. Another had ended up in the "emergency room" (I use that term loosely) the night before orientation started and that person and several others helping care for him were also unable to come. And some had already done this, so it turned out to be John and I, the Kim family, the Rupnows, and Christoph.

We entered a large, what might be described as a dug-out canoe. In French it is a pirogue and in Songhai it is a hi (pronounced hee). The pirogue had cushions on which we reclined. Overhead were grass mats to protect us from the sun. There was an outboard motor on it to get us upstream faster. The boat man also used a pole to steer the boat whenever we were close to shore.

Along the way we saw quite a variety of birds. One tree was filled with egrets and herons. We also saw these black and white quail-type of birds. I have no idea what they are called!

The river is full of water hyacinths. The Kim children had a great time catching them and pulling them out of the water as we went by.

Finally we came upon the hippos. I think we found three different groups of them, but I got a bit confused as to whether or not we had circled around an island and came upon the same group or not. Don't worry, we're not as close as we appear. I have a good telephoto lens and our boat man was very cautious. He had a very healthy fear of hippos, who can be very dangerous!

The trip was a lot of fun, but got a bit long. Originally the boat man told me he'd take us up to a village that had a market and we could get out and explore there and then he'd take us back to the starting point. But we'd seen the hippos and the children were getting hungry (note to self: take snacks next time) and we were all tired from a busy week, so we asked him to take us back before we ever got to the village.

Orientation -- an Important Part of my Job

2011-12-06T09:07:00.000-05:00

As personnel coordinator, an important part of my job is orienting new arrivals to the field. This happens in stages. When they first arrive, I meet with them in my office and go over some things that are important for them to know....things like not using your left hand, taking your anti-malarials, how to recognize when you're going through culture shock, and what you can post on the internet. Of course, during this initial orientation the new arrival is usually jet-lagged, bleary-eyed, and totally overwhelmed so I'm not sure how much is really absorbed.

As they settle in to their work and ministry, we assign them a mentor. This has been a bit haphazard, and we are trying to move towards more intentionality in this. The reason for having a mentor is because as new arrivals go along and begin to process things they begin to have an idea of what questions they really need to ask. The mentor is there to help them with everything from figuring out how to wash their vegetables and work their water filter to understanding how to act in the culture. As they meet with their mentor, the hope is that the mentor will be able to guide them into a greater understanding of themselves, of their new culture, and of their Heavenly Father.

Twice a year new arrivals are invited to a two to three day orientation. John helps me with this and does a lot. He's so much better up in front of people than I am, and he does a fantastic job with his enthusiasm and teaching gifts. Eliane, who does Member Care is also very involved.

We did one of these orientations in October and will do another one in March. We usually do the October one in the capital city and the March one in a city farther to the east. We like the east one a lot because it gets people out where they can see things other than the big city. But we usually have too many orientees to wait and do them all at one time. The other reason is that by the time March comes, our teachers who arrived in August are on the home stretch getting ready to return to their home countries.

Mornings start with a time of praise and worship.
Eliane leads us through some important topics such as handling stress, conflict management, and culture shock. Others came in and lead sessions on language learning and the mission and the church. John did a session on the predominant religion and we did a skit showing the wrong and the right ways to do ministry in our context here. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that! Time spent in small groups helps the orientees get to know each other better and keeps us from doing too much lecturing! Everybody's favorite session is when we have a Nigerien come in and talk about their culture. The questions and the openness in sharing is amazing. And it's a lot more effective coming from a Nigerien. When we tell people how they should act in the culture it can be assumed that maybe we don't really know what we're talking about. But when it comes from a Nigerien, it can't really be argued with!

And what would orientation be if we didn't end it with a meal together at a local restaurant?!

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 27, Long Distance Shot

2011-11-30T19:27:00.000-05:00

I missed doing Day 27 because it was raining. In fact it rained for three days, ending with snow on the evening of the 3rd day. The snow did stick, but by this morning it was gone. Today the sun came out and it was beautiful even though it was cold.

My parents live in a town, but here in southern Ohio you are never far away from a corn field or a soybean field. This farm can be seen from a block away from their house.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 29, Black and White

2011-11-29T21:51:00.000-05:00

Today's photo challenge is a black and white picture. I know that I have a black and white setting on my camera, but it's not obvious where it's at. So I just used photo shop to change my picture into a black and white one.

The cat found a new favorite spot on the book shelf. I'm not sure why she likes it. Maybe she can survey her world better from here.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 28, Flowers

2011-11-28T20:17:00.000-05:00

If you are alert, you'll see I skipped Day 27. I have a picture in mind for that one, but I need to go outside and it's been raining for two days. I'm not taking my camera out in the rain! So I'll come back to that one when the rain stops.

Today's challenge is flowers. My dad bought my mom flowers today. Six red roses. Aren't they beautiful?

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 26, Close-up

2011-11-28T20:07:00.001-05:00

Suzanne and I saw a cute idea on Pinterest for making a scarf out of old t-shirts. So on Saturday we went to Goodwill and bought an armful of old t-shirts. We then followed the directions and the scarves came out pretty good. Suzanne found a ghastly tie-dye t-shirt that she turned into a beautiful scarf. Amazing how something tacky can become a great fashion accessory.
We even made one for the cat but she wasn't impressed.

Today's close-up is the pile of cut up pieces of t-shirt. And here's a close-up shot of Suzanne's wedding invitations we've been working on.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 25, Something Pink

2011-11-25T19:21:00.000-05:00

Like the color orange, I just don't have much that is pink. I have one skirt that is completely pink and one with a lot of pink in it. That's it for pink clothes and I don't have pink in my house at all.

I'm at my parents' house and they do have a couch with some pink highlights in it. Here it is. Suzanne is working on her wedding invitations here.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 24, Animal

2011-11-24T18:07:00.000-05:00

Today I was privileged to have Thanksgiving dinner with my parents, Suzanne, and some Nigerian friends of my parents'. My niece-in-law's cat is here, so today's pictures are of her. She is one spoiled animal! Mom's chair is by the gas fireplace and Sparkles has claimed Mom and her chair and the fireplace as her own special property. Suzanne has also been doing the Photo Challenge, and hers for today also happens to be Sparkles. Check it out at Darza go Irikoy gaa.

30 Day Phto Challenge, Day 23 Sun Flare

2011-11-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

I left West Africa just after midnight on Tuesday night. God's hand of blessing was on my trip in so many ways.

I had wanted to make a quick trip to the Grand Marche to buy some more cloth to start making a quilt as a wedding gift for Suz and Theo (I plan on making one for Daniel and Kelly, too). But something unexpected came up at the office which took way more time than I thought it would take. So I didn't leave the office until 1:00 and I still needed to eat lunch and go to the airport for the pre-flight check in. I decided that even if I had to skip lunch I was still going to the market. So I went down there and parked a few streets down from the market. As I was walking towards the market, I saw a cloth shop and decided to go in there. The seller had piles and piles of cloth already cut into smaller pieces and I found a lot in the color family I wanted. So I was able to get what I wanted in one shop, with a minimum of time spent, and never even had to go into the market!

After I got through security, I prepared to join the line of those boarding the plane. A man wearing a badge came up to me and so I showed him my ticket. He said something to me about peanuts, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. Then I finally figured out that he was talking about his wife who sells peanuts. She's sits on the corner of our street and I talk to her every day. He said he knows I work for "par la priere" (by Prayer...our motto). Then he said I should follow him. So he took me into the VIP Lounge of which he is the manager and bought me a drink.

The flight to Paris was good. It was full, but I got a good seat. It was probably the quietest night flight I've ever been on and I actually got some sleep. I got a good laugh when the flight personnel declared in English that "those caught smoking in the toilet will be persecuted." The breakfast was a teeny, tiny pain au chocolat and a glass of orange juice. So I ended up spending almost $20.00 in Paris on a proper sized pain au chocolat, a cup of tea, a pen (somebody in Niamey borrowed mine and didn't give it back), and a pack of gum. My time there passed quickly. I slept a bit, walked around a bit, had my breakfast, walked around some more, read my book, etc.

The day's photo challenge was a sun flare, so this is a picture I took in the Paris airport. I like the way it turned out.

The flight from Paris to Cincinnati was only half full, so I was able to grab a row of three seats and I got some sleep on that flight. The seats were so close together that it would be a miserably uncomfortable flight if the plane were full. The food was really good on that flight, too. I was surprised that in Cincinnati you have to go through security to get OUT of the airport, too. That took so much time and was annoying at that point in the trip.

It sure was good to see Suz and Theo waiting for me there. Then Mom and Dad had a good meal waiting at home. Today is Thanksgiving and Mom, Dad, Suz, and I will be sharing it with some friends of my parents.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 22, Hands

2011-11-24T09:08:00.000-05:00

I love my husband's hands. They are both strong and gentle. He is so helpful to me. Neither of us are wild about doing dishes, but he does them for me several times a week and always on Sunday. These are his hands doing the dishes.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 21, Faceless Self Portrait

2011-11-21T15:13:00.000-05:00

OK, if I were trying to take a self-portrait with my face in it, I'd miss my face every time. But try to take a self-portrait without my face in it, and I get it in every time. I finally resorted to using the timer again.

Here I am packing my suitcase for tomorrow ....night, actually Wednesday morning.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 20, Bokeh

2011-11-20T15:08:00.000-05:00

Just in case you are reading my blog but aren't really a photographer, or, like me, you love photography and are trying to learn more, you might not know what bokeh is. It is the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light. I think it's a cool photographic effect, though not always that easy to achieve. It is a Japanese word.

My picture today is of some lantana flowers growing in our yard. You can see the bokeh in the background. Growing up at boarding school in Miango, the hill behind the boys' dorm, known as Mt. Sanderson, was covered with lantana. I think we considered them a weed as they grew wild and profusely. At certain times of year, they have little green seeds, that later turn black or bluish. We would take the little seeds, put them in empty bic pens, and blow the seeds at each other. They delivered quite a sting upon impact. When the bushes flowered, the hill would be covered with yellow and pink flowers. The odor of lantana is unmistakable.

Now in the US, people plant lantana as a decorative plant. The first time I saw it in the US, John and I were on our honeymoon in Washington DC. We were walking down the sidewalk when we both stopped, looked at each other, and said, "It smells like Miango!" There in planters along the sidewalk we were surprised to discover lantana! A weed being grown in Washington, DC! And in our yard, apparently, where we enjoy it's beauty. Let's just hope it doesn't decide to take over.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 19, Something Orange

2011-11-19T15:37:00.000-05:00

I had to really look to find something orange! I don't usually wear orange. First it isn't my favorite color and secondly my skin tends to have yellow tones so I don't think I look good in oranges or yellows.

I do have one outfit that is turquoise with orange flowers appliqued on it. I wear an orange scarf with it and interestingly enough I get a lot of compliments when I wear it. I guess there's enough turquoise that the orange doesn't look overwhelming.

Our bedspread -- which is in a box which was supposed to have arrived on the container but didn't -- has quite a bit of orange in it. So we painted three walls of our bedroom blue with an accent wall of orange. So here you are with my orange appliqued outfit and scarf and our orange wall.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 18, My Shoes

2011-11-19T03:52:00.000-05:00

I had such a crazy day the past two days that I didn't post yesterday. Suzanne seemed to be getting better, but then got sick again. So we've decided that I should go back to the USA to help her out a bit and try to be an encouragement to her. I will be leaving on Wednesday morning and there is a lot to be done between now and then. I wanted to go for two weeks, but it's ended up to be a month. It was half the price to buy tickets for that length of time than it was to buy for a few weeks.

So yesterday's photo challenge was "My Shoes". Well, I don't have many, that's for sure! Basically I have black sandals, white sandals, and brown sandals, tennis shoes, red Toms, a pair of dressy black shoes, and black flats. Oh and flip-flops which didn't get in the picture because they were on my feet. Actually, in a country where most people own one pair of cheap flip-flops, then seven pairs of shoes PLUS flip-flops are a lot of shoes!

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 17, Technology

2011-11-17T14:52:00.000-05:00

Not being very technologically minded, today's challenge is a bit of a challenge. One bit of technology I can't live without is my computer....both personal and at work. At work, when the power goes off, there is next to nothing I can do. Rearrange a few files, maybe. At home, my laptop at least has a battery so I can do some things for a few hours. Hopefully the new generator at the office will soon be operational. The work crew has spent a lot of time getting it installed, for which we are most grateful!

Computers are necessary for missionaries. I use mine to keep in touch with family, supporters and prayer partners. I occasionally play games on it...Scrabble, Mah Johng, and Bejeweled being my favorites. I kept track of our expenditures on it. I use it as a telephone. Since I have a Skype number I can actually call telephones on my computer. I create brochures, newsletters, and power points on it. All of the Bible stories and Bible studies we translated were typed and are stored on our computer. Indeed it's a handy tool!

In spite of that, I'd rather receive a "real" letter any day. I think real letters take more thought and more time. Therefore it seems like people are sending more of themselves with a letter. I know I've gotten out of the habit of sending hand-written letters. For one thing postage is so expensive here. For another for awhile the US had banned mail from Niger since somebody tried to send meat through the mail service. And then there's the time it takes to write a letter. I do have a goal of writing a hand-written letter to Daniel and Suzanne once a month.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 16, Long Exposure

2011-11-16T16:13:00.000-05:00

This is our side of a duplex. It used to be one apartment and half of another. It's kind of a strange shaped place, but it's our place, and there's no place like home. Looks like the lights are on and nobody's home.

I took these a couple of nights ago when we were out, just for the fun of it. I knew they wouldn't really work out since we were moving and it was dark. This is the lights of the new bridge taken from the old bridge and some of it is reflection in the water.

This last one I took stopped at the round about waiting our turn to go around.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 15, a Silhouette

2011-11-15T13:30:00.000-05:00

Here in West Africa the moon is really bright. This is a picture of a tree and the corner of our house silhouetted against the setting moon. Even though it was not full and was setting, it was still bright. When the moon is full, you have no need for a flashlight. I have even read outside by the light of the moon. When we lived in the village and slept outside we would have a hard time falling asleep because it felt like somebody had left the light on. I like how you can actually see the stars in these pictures. The green light at the bottom center of this picture is the neighbor's porch light....not sure why it looks green, though. And yes, I usually get up while it is still dark out. This picture was taken around 5:30 a.m. And yes, I also take a nap later in the day! :)

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 14, Eyes

2011-11-14T11:45:00.000-05:00

I don't really like pictures of just eyes. They seem to me like they are missing something. Kind of like a dismembered body part. I've often heard the expression "eyes are the window to the soul". But they are windows, meant to look into something or out from something. They aren't meant to just be all by themselves without the person attached!

Still, I've always loved these eyes. Can you guess to whom they belong? It shouldn't be too hard!

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 13, Me and 13 Things

2011-11-13T09:01:00.000-05:00

I like to have something special for breakfast on Sunday morning. Sometimes I'll make something on Saturday; sometimes we'll go buy pain au chocolat (choco pain au lah as Suzanne used to call it when she was little); or I'll get up early enough to make something. This morning I got up and made Jiffy Cinnamon Rolls. This is not exactly a flattering picture, but it was Sunday morning, so what do you expect?

The 13 things are:
1. flour
2. sugar
3. baking powder
4. salt
5. margarine
6. milk
7. brown sugar
8. raisins (actually, I think they were currants)
9. a bowl
10. a muffin pan
11. a wooden spoon
12. cinnamon
13. my home-made cookbook (ok, it's behind me and didn't quite make it into the picture.

Here's the recipe:
In large bowl, mix:
2 cups flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
(Or you can use Bisquick or prepared biscuit dough if you live in a country where such things are available. I don't!)

Cut in until crumbly:
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Make a well in the center. Pour into well and then stir in:
1 cup milk (I use skim)

Stir to form a soft dough, adding a bit more milk if necessary (I actually used a little less than 1 cup of milk). Turn on lightly floured surface. Knead 8-10 times. Roll into rectangle about 1/3 inch thick and 12 inches long.

Cream together:
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Drop 1 teaspoon of filling into each of 12 greased muffin tins. Spread the remaining cinnamon mixture over dough rectangle. Sprinkle over top:
1/3 cup cut up raisins or currants (cut up? You've got to be joking! I don't do that!)

Roll up, then cut into 12 slices. Place cut side down in muffin pan. Bake in 400 F oven for 20-25 minutes. Turn out on tray. Makes 12. Top with glaze made with 1/2 cup icing sugar and enough milk to make a thin glaze.

I don't do the glaze as they are sweet enough without. Enjoy for an easy Sunday breakfast!

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 12, Sunset

2011-11-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

Where we live it is really hard to get a picture of the sunset. We have a lot of trees in our yard and are surrounded by walls and other houses. So pretty much we just don't see the sunset.

But tonight we went across the river to the school for a Harvest Festival. We timed it just right to catch the sunset over the river. To our advantage was the fact that a truck had broken down and was causing the traffic to move across the bridge at a snail's pace. So here are a few pictures of tonight's sunset, and it was a beautiful one!

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 11, Something Blue

2011-11-11T15:33:00.000-05:00

Our bedroom is blue....well, mostly blue. Last week the container arrived with some of the things we had shipped. We got the pillow shams, but not the bedspread. Hopefully it will arrive some time! We got three out of four of the curtain panels. So my bedroom isn't really finished. But I found this blue blanket we've had since we got married and it doesn't look too bad as a bedspread.

To the left of the door is our dresser and wardrobe. That's about all that fits in our room!

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 10, A Childhood Memory

2011-11-10T15:36:00.000-05:00

If you're supposed to use a picture you took today, how can it be a childhood memory? So I guess the idea is to take a picture of something that evokes a childhood memory.

So here we go. This is the old generator at the office being removed and this is the new one that will take it's place. Today we had a seven-hour power outage, which means no work got done at the office. So this new generator will be wonderful to have!

You may be wondering how this brings up a childhood memory! Well, when I was a kid growing up in Igbaja in Nigeria, we didn't have electricity. The mission station had a huge old generator....in my mind it was big enough to take up a building....but maybe it was just a shack! Basically they ran it from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., which meant everybody had an enforced curfew. The lights would blink, giving a five or ten minute warning that the lights were going to go off. If you planned to stay up late and read or whatever, it was time to light the lanterns!

Occasionally they would start up the generator during the day if they needed to do recording in the studio. My parents said on those days somebody would start up their electric coffee pot and inevitably neighbors would end up dropping by for an impromptu coffee break. Not being a fan of coffee, I can't say that I remember that!

Everybody had two kitchens and two stoves. The "back kitchen" had the wood stove in it and was used mostly for boiling all our drinking water, though some baking was done there. The house kitchen must have had a gas (butane) stove, but I don't remember details like that! I think we had a kerosene fridge. We did not have ceiling fans or any kind of fans and we lived in an area of Nigeria that was very hot and humid. At night, especially in March, April, and October it would be so hot I could hardly sleep. My mom would come in and rub my back and tell me that if I laid real still I'd feel a breeze. Some times it was true....if you quit thrashing around you really did feel the breeze coming in the window. But sometimes it just didn't happen!

In spite of the heat, it was a childhood that I would not have traded for anything!

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 9, Someone I Love

2011-11-09T14:52:00.000-05:00

The people I love most in the world are my family members. Most of them don't live on this side of the ocean, so I can't really take their pictures. Of course, the one I love MOST is John! I didn't take this picture today, I must admit. I took it last week. It is a picture of my husband planting cilantro, parsley, and tomatoes for me. He's so good to me! And here's hoping everything grows.

These two beautiful ladies, Fati and Ouma, are some others that I love. They work with me at the office. Fati is the receptionist. She noticed that every morning I went into the "kitchen" to make hot water for tea. So now she makes the hot water and brings me a cup of hot water for my tea every morning. I feel like an executive or something! Both ladies have hearts of service and joyous smiles. They are a privilege to work with. This picture is from today.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 8, A Bad Habit

2011-11-08T14:47:00.001-05:00

I really wanted to take a picture of somebody picking their nose. That's a bad habit, right? But how am I going to get a picture of that? And anyway, when you live in a climate of below 10% humidity, face it, everybody picks their nose once in awhile.

So then I thought I'd take a picture of somebody cleaning their ears with their keys. Yep. I've seen that. Again, somebody might think it was kind of strange for me to take a picture of them cleaning out their ears with a key.

Instead, I took a picture of our neighbor who has a very bad habit of running around in circles in our yard squawking his head off, jumping around on our roof where he sounds like he weighs about 30 pounds, and just generally makes a nuisance of himself. Yes, it's a bird. No, it's not just any ordinary bird. It's a guinea fowl. If you've never met one personally, they can be very obnoxious especially early in the morning. I know this guy is kind of strange. Usually they are black. I guess this one must be an albino. All I know for sure is that he's in danger of having his skinny little neck wrung and of being eaten for dinner.

OK, to make this a little more personal, this is my bad habit. Yeah, I know, it tastes so delicious. And the Coke they make here in Niger is WAY better than American stuff in a can. So maybe I just can't help myself that I have a bottle of it a day. I mean, I do limit myself to one a day. And it's helping the local economy, right? But really, delicious doesn't equal healthy. I know I don't need the sugar, or the caffeine, or whatever is in it that supposedly eats through nails. So I am trying to cut down to drinking it twice a week, or at most three times a week. Last week I had it three times. And today is my third day in a row without a Coke at all.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 7, Fruit

2011-11-07T11:39:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite tropical fruits are guavas. I don't like the smell so much, and especially not the way the smell of them makes everything else in your fridge taste like guavas. But I do like the taste of them and they are very nutritious. I prefer the pink variety over the white ones, though I did get a few white ones in this bunch. It's pretty much impossible to tell them apart from the outside.

I will also take this chance to do a tutorial on making guava jam since that's what I spent much of my morning doing. First, slice off the ends and then cut each guava into quarters. Put the pieces in a saucepan and add just a little water. Cover the pan with a lid, then simmer on a medium heat, stirring often, cooking until the guavas are soft. It helps to break them up with a wooden spoon and even to mash them with a potato masher.

When the guavas are cooked down, let them cool a bit. Then put the soft guavas, a little at a time, into a Foley food mill. I've had mine at least since I got married 25 years ago. I'm not sure if I got it new or if it was passed on to me from someone else. But I checked on line and you can still buy these....one of those necessary items for your kitchen that you might not use that often, but it sure is nice when you need it. What it does is pushes the good parts of the guavas through into a bowl below while keeping back the seed and peeling junk that you don't want in the jam. When you've turned and turned it and all that's left in the mill is dry stuff (which really doesn't look very pretty!), then you've gotten all you're going to get out of it.

The next step is to measure the guava sauce into a measuring cup, and then dump it into the same saucepan you cooked the guavas in. Then measure out the same amount of sugar and add that to the pan. Finally, throw in some lemon juice. I used about 6 tablespoons for the amount of guavas I had. John squeezes lots of lemons at one time and then freezes the juice in ice cube trays. So all I had to do was use three of the ice cubes.

Return the pan to the stove, keeping the burner on medium-low. My modus operandii in the kitchen is to cook at high speed, but that's not a good idea with guava jam. For one thing, you'll scorch the jam, giving it a nasty taste. And for another thing, once it starts boiling, if it's on high heat the jam will spatter everywhere making a mess to clean up. And it will spatter on your hand, burning you. You also need to stir constantly, especially when it really starts boiling.

So, how long does it have to boil? I really don't know. I go more by the consistency of it than anything. If it drips very slowly off the spoon, you have cooked it long enough.

I got one large jar and half a small plastic container of jam. When we moved from the village to the city I got rid of all my canning stuff. We thought we weren't coming back to Africa, and I didn't have a place to store it. Now I wish I'd at least kept some of the jars. So I was limited in how much I could make. But that size jar is good for just the two of us.

The final thing you do is enjoy!

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 6, From a low angle

2011-11-06T11:44:00.001-05:00

Today's challenge is to take a picture from a low angle. We have a HUGE tree in our yard and this is what it looks like from the ground looking up.

This is known as a gao tree. It's scientific name is Faidherbia albida. These trees are interesting in that during the rainy season they don't have a single leaf on them. When the trees begin to leaf again, you know that the rainy season is drawing to a close. They then have leaves on them during the long dry season of no rain, making them a favorite shade tree. When the leaves begin to fall off, you know the rainy season can't be long in coming.
I'm told that it's a nitrogen-fixing tree, which helps fertilize the soil. When its leaves fall off during the rainy season they become organic fertilizer.

Just to put it in perspective, here's what the tree looks like from a distance. Our house is the building to the left.

3 Day Photo Challenge, Day 5, From a High Angle

2011-11-05T10:32:00.000-04:00

I love my kitchen! It's a bit on the small side, but for a small kitchen I have a lot of cupboard space. I love that it's got red touches to it. I'm pretty sure John loves that good meals get cooked in it. I love that John helps me wash dishes! :)

The challenge for today is a picture taken from a high angle. So here is my kitchen taken with me standing on one of the kitchen counters.

A while back I did a blog asking your opinion on several pictures or posters that I liked as possibilities for my kitchen. The thing is, I wasn't really crazy about any of them. So I ended up using Photoshop to put a verse on one of my own pictures which I then ordered from Snapfish as a really nice canvas print with a frame. It says "Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25". As part of my ministry, I provide a lot of hospitality. (For example....in one of the pots on the stove I was preparing something for having guests for supper and in the other pot was something for a team coming in early Monday morning.) Most of the time I enjoy it, but sometimes it gets to be a bit much especially since spending time in the kitchen isn't something I do just for the fun of it (even though I DO love my red kitchen!). So this verse, hanging over my stove where I spend a lot of time, reminds me that providing a meal, sharing a good conversation, encouraging somebody who isn't sure what they're doing here are all parts of refreshing others. And as I refresh others, I will myself be refreshed.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 4, Something Green

2011-11-04T13:09:00.000-04:00

For a long time now I've had a blue theme going on in my living room/dining room. The last two places where we've lived here in Africa have had one big open room for the dining room and living room, so they've shared a color theme.

Our last living room suite was THE most uncomfortable set of furniture I've ever sat on. There was no getting comfortable on it! So we sold it and are having new furniture built. I went shopping for cloth for the cushions and ended up with....not blue, but green. I got a darker green for the curtains. I can't wait to get the furniture and the cushions and get the living room set up. We are using borrowed furniture for now.

John has been trying to get a compost pit dug in the back corner of our yard (that's another story in and of itself!). But one day he dug up this wine bottle. I cleaned it up a bit, filled it with water, and stuck this plant in it. Any other ideas what I could put in it?

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 3, Clouds

2011-11-03T16:36:00.000-04:00

Clouds? What clouds? We don't have clouds at this time of year. When I took these pictures, around 3 p.m., it was 102 degrees and 7% humidity. It is currently, at 9:00 p.m., 88 degrees and 16% humidity. By morning it will be about 75 degrees and 20-something% humidity. You just don't get many clouds with weather like that! There were a few white wisps of high-altitude clouds if you look closely. This time of year it's pretty easy to predict the weather....sun's gonna shine, it's gonna get hot, but the night will be pleasantly cool. o% chance of rain.

Our weather here in Niger has a long dry season, and then a shorter rainy season. The dry season runs from October through May. October is still pretty humid from the end of the rainy season, and the humidity begins to build again in May. But from November through April, we like to say that if you could have negative humidity readings, we'd have them.

Then from June through September we have our rainy season. At first it will only rain every other week or so. These first rains are usually accompanied by violent dust storms. Now THAT's a cloud to see! (No, this picture wasn't taken today. It was taken several years ago in our village where we used to live.) Then it comes at once a week intervals, and then climaxes to every third day or so. We'll often have a week or two in August when it will rain every day, but only rarely all day.

This year's rainy season was terrible in this part of the country. Tera was especially devastated by the lack of rain. Somebody from there recently told us that farmers who usually get 100 bundles of millet will only get 10 this year. It's really sad to see.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Day 2, What You Wore Today

2011-11-02T15:36:00.000-04:00

OK, how many days dealing with what I look like? Enough already!

Today I wore one of my favorite skirts. It's a favorite because it's so comfortable more than anything else. I usually wear this top with it, though I have a plain blue shirt I wear with it sometimes, too.

As with at least half of my clothes, I got both the skirt and the top at a thrift store. So the price was good!

Oh yes, and I wear a skirt or dress every single day of the week (except sometimes on Saturday I wear whatever I want because I stay in my house all day). Slacks are not considered modest here, so I don't wear them. I often wear an African outfit instead of a more western one. Unlike when we lived in the village, I don't often wear a headscarf.

And whenever I wear this outfit, I think of my sister. Her favorite pattern is paisley, and both the skirt and the shirt have a paisley design on them.

And take a look at what the dirt here does to white shoes! Amazingly the top part is still white.

30 Day Photo Challenge

2011-11-01T16:11:00.000-04:00

Suzanne found this on Pinterest. I decided I'd give it a try. I don't know if I'll make it through an entire month taking a picture every day, then uploading it to the computer, and then posting it to a blog. But Suzanne encouraged me to do it, because she said it would be more pictures of me and Dad and where we live, which would make her happy. So here we go with a month's worth of pictures, which will make Daniel and Suzanne happy if nobody else!

I'm terrible at self-portraits, as Suzanne can tell you. I always get caught trying to look through my bi-focals because the camera is too close to look at it from the top half of my glasses. So I just look dorky. So, I cheated today and took this by setting the camera on the timer.

These are taken in my office since that's where I spend my days!

Two of my office walls are dark blue and two are a bluish white. The curtains are blue and purple, but with the sun shining through they almost look pink.

This one is a bonus. Suzanne wanted to see what I'd done with pictures on my desk. I want to put some more on my bulletin board, too.

Anybody else want to join me on the 30 day photography challenge?

Praying for my Children

2011-10-30T08:59:00.000-04:00

Ever since we knew I was pregnant with our children, we have prayed for them. As they grew, we prayed for them. As we raised them, we prayed much for ourselves, also, that God would give us wisdom! And now that they are on their own and thousands of miles away from us across an ocean and on another continent, we continue to pray for them.

A couple of years ago I started praying scripture for my children. For example from Psalm 63:7 & 8: "O Lord, because you are Suzanne's help, she can sing in the shadow of your wings. May her soul cling to you; your right hand upholds her." Or from I Corinthians 16:13 & 14: "Lord, help Daniel to be on guard. May he stand firm in the faith. Help Daniel to be courageous and strong. Help hi to do everything with love."

And we are currently excited about the way God is answering our prayers that someday they would meet and marry somebody who would be both godly and uniquely suited for them. Daniel's fiancee, Kelly, and Suzanne's fiance, Theo, are answers to those prayers and they are now being prayed for by name as I pray for Daniel and Suzanne.

Right before returning to Africa, I saw a book in the bookstore by Stormie Omartian called The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children. I thought that looked good, but, since I'm cheap, I decided to order it off Amazon instead of buying it in the bookstore. So I ordered it from Amazon, but instead of being that book, the book I got is Book of Prayers: The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children. So it is a little booklet of prayers that you can pray for your adult children. I am finding it helpful and would still like to get the full book.

However, the other day I was praying one of the suggested prayers and I had to say, I can't pray this. It went like this (prayer 27):
LORD, you have said to "seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you" (Luke 12:31). Help my adult children to surrender to You in body, mind, soul, and spirit so they can move into the abundance and prosperity You have for them. Help them to learn from the correction and instruction of wise teachers and people of maturity, wisdom, and experience so that they will avoid poverty and embarrassment and gain the honor and prosperity You have for them (Proverbs 13:18). I pray that the beauty of the Lord will be upon them and establish the work of their hands (Psalm 90:17). May they "long enjoy the work of their hands" and "not labor in vain" (Isaiah 65:22-23). In Jesus' name I pray.

I'm not sure that prosperity is what I want to pray for my children. If God blesses them financially, that's fine. But what if they choose to live simply? What if they devote themselves to a ministry that doesn't bring prosperity their way? What if they go through hard times financially, physically, emotionally, etc.? Is financial success the only way the Lord blesses us?

Instead, I prayed the prayer something like this:
LORD, you have said to "seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you" (Luke 12:31). Thank you for your promise to give them what they need if they whole-heartedly seek You. Help my adult children to surrender to You in body, mind, soul, and spirit so they put Your kingdom and Your work above all else. Help them to learn from the correction and instruction of wise teachers and people of maturity, wisdom, and experience (Proverbs 13:18) so that they will be willing to give up all for Your sake (Mark 10:29). I pray that the beauty of the Lord will be upon them and establish the work of their hands (Psalm 90:17). May they "long enjoy the work of their hands" and "not labor in vain" (Isaiah 65:22-23). If you choose to bless them financially, may they give away more than they keep. I pray that they will always reach out to those living in poverty, even if it means that they end up with little. Give them the gift of living in simplicity while providing enough for all their needs. Protect them from having so much that they forget their need for You. Prosper them with joy, love, kindness, self-control, and peace. In Jesus' name I pray.

And speaking of praying for our children....Please pray for Suzanne. She has been un-well for two months, ever since her visit here with us. It seems very possible that the illness is something she picked up here. She has been constantly nauseated. After a dose of flagyl, she seemed greatly improved, though not 100%. Now she is back to where she started, feeling nauseated again. She has lost at least 10 pounds....she was at an ideal weight and this leaves her pretty thin. She is really discouraged by it all. She saw a GI specialist last week and he is running some tests. She has a follow-up visit tomorrow.

Pray specifically that the doctor can get to the bottom of this and find out what is wrong and that he will know how to treat it. Pray that the Great Healer will touch her body and make her well. Pray that during this time she will draw closer to God as He leads her through one of those difficult times in life that we can't understand, and may never fully understand. Pray that she will experience His love and presence with her and will learn to trust in Our Father's sovereignty.

And Two Shall Be One

2011-10-22T09:49:00.000-04:00

On July 23, about a week before leaving to come back to West Africa, my nephew wed his high school sweetheart. Well, maybe that's not technically correct....they met in high school, but didn't go to the same high school. A neighbor lady of Heather invited her to church with her. Her church is the home church of my nephew, Jeremiah, so they met at church. Heather found Christ there...and her true love, Jeremiah.

July 23 happened to be one of the hottest days of the year in western New York state. Unusual for that area, it was over 100 degrees. Because the area has short, mild summers, the church had no air conditioning. And the church was beautifully decorated with hundreds of candles which made it feel even hotter! My sister scoured all the flee markets and 2nd hand stores she could think of to find enough ruby-colored candle holders to decorate with. She did a great job on it!

The day started with a visit to the salon and up-do's for all the girls and moms. My niece, Alesha did the make-up for all the girls.

In spite of the heat, the groom was handsome and the bride beautiful! The ceremony was quite traditional, but they had some elements unique to them, making the wedding very special. The rest of the post will just be pictures of Jeremiah and Heather's special day!

Here's the handsome groom

And here's the gorgeous bride.

And here's what happens when you put guys in the Sunday School room with the sports equipment. Maybe they were confused as to the meaning of "tie the knot".

The bride and her sisters who were her bridesmaids and her half-sister. One of her sisters is her twin sister. Can you tell which one is the twin?

I told you it was hot!

Saying their vows. Jeremiah's dad, my brother-in-law, performed the ceremony.

It seems to me that the evidence is pretty incriminating. The guy not pointing the finger must be the guilty one! Although, the one with two fingers pointing at him looks pretty guilty, too, since he's been caught holding the roll of tape.

I have so many good pictures, but my connection is slow event though I have compressed these pictures, so I'll leave it at this. The pictures are all edited and will be on their way to the bride and groom tomorrow. After they've had a chance to post on Facebook if they want, I'll put up a few more there.

New Babies

2011-10-10T02:19:00.000-04:00

The wife of one of my co-workers at the office recently had twins. Here the mother-to-be often travels back to her mother's house to have her baby. This mother did, traveling back to Burkina Faso to have her babies. Because the babies were born in Burkina, the father traveled there as well for the traditional naming ceremony, usually held on the 8th day after birth.

10 Perfect Little Toes

Usually if somebody at the office has a baby or another important event happens, everybody at the office will go together to the event. But since the babies' naming ceremony was in another country, we couldn't really all go together.

Gathering to pray for the family

So when the mother got back with the twins, we all went over to their house to greet. We collected a gift of money to present to the parents. Of course, we all wanted a turn to hold one of the babies! We prayed for the family and presented our gift to them. Here are some pictures from our visit.

Miss K gets to hold one of the twins

Miss H's turn to hold the baby while E counts the fingers.

The proud papa

Mr. T, one of my co-workers, the mother, and the twins.

Another Engagement!

2011-09-26T02:46:00.000-04:00

On Saturday our son, Daniel, proposed to his girlfriend, Kelly. And, of course, she said "Yes!"!! We think the world of Kelly and feel that they are well-suited to each other. The miles separating us seem longer at times like this. Daniel called right away (we knew it was happening this weekend), but the connection was bad. I could hear him fine, but he couldn't hear me at all. Later he and Kelly were able to skype with me....I could see a blurry representation of their faces and of the ring, but nothing ever really came into focus. I can vouch that there is a ring on her finger, anyway! This is a picture my brother-in-law took with his iPhone.

Here are a few pictures of the couple I took in May.

The greatest joy parents can have is not to see their children happy, because sorrows and hard times WILL come into their lives. If all we've taught them is that we want them to be happy, they will be miserable people when life doesn't deal them the hand they think they are entitled to. It is not to see them successful or rich because those things don't satisfy in the long run. It is to see them applying biblical principals and following the Lord with all their hearts. I am filled with joy when I see my children choosing the path of faith. And, believe me, I take no credit for it. In spite of my failings as a parent, in spite of my strengths as a parent, in spite of everything, they have chosen to let God work in their lives.

And I think that the 2nd greatest joy for a parent is to see their children marry others who have also chosen the way of faith. Kelly is such a woman and Theo, Suzanne's fiance, is such a man.

Thank you, Jesus.

New Things around Town

2011-09-14T16:04:00.000-04:00

When we came back the end of July, we had been gone for two years. So many things are exactly the way they were two years ago. But some things have changed.

Our MK school, Sahel Academy has grown a lot, increasing in numbers every year. The biggest change there is the new classroom and administration building. These pictures were taken a couple of weeks before school started and there was still a lot of work to do to get the building ready. The outside has now been stuccoed, tiling was laid upstairs, the stairs have been cleaned off, the lights have been hooked up, and the upstairs classrooms are in use. The offices will soon be in use as well. In this picture, it was still very much under construction and there were no lights in the building. But you can see the stair case....this is our first double-story building at the school.

Another thing that is quite different from the old days is that there is now a green softball field/soccer pitch. It's pretty amazing to see this much green in one place!

The town also has a brand new bridge. The bridge was under construction when we left. It's pretty impressive, with a total of four lanes. As you can see, however, there isn't much traffic on the bridge. The road at the end of the bridge that connects it from where you've been to where you want to go is TERRIBLE. So most people only use it if they live close to it or if the other bridge is blocked up.

Lastly, there are these new structures all over town, mainly on the roads coming in to town. I'm told they are to keep trucks that are loaded sky high from entering town. Trucks that have their loads higher than these structures also tend to have problems driving under power lines, telephone lines, tree branches, etc. and usually end up pulling something down that creates a huge inconvenience for everybody else.

Oh! And one last thing....there are solar-powered street lights in some parts of town. They are really cool, using one of Niger's natural and free resources....sunshine! Since the sun shines almost 365 days a year, it might as well be used. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the lights.

Giraffes

2011-09-08T02:43:00.000-04:00

Niger has giraffes that live wild in their natural environment. I understand that these are the last herds of giraffes in West Africa. While Suz and Theo were here we went out to see the giraffes.

Because the giraffes are protected, you are not allowed to just drive off the road and look for them yourself. You have to stop and pay for a guide, pay for each and every camera you have with you, etc. Then at the end you have to tip the guide. But it's worth it and it's nice to know the government is working so hard to protect the giraffes. Our guide told us that he is "Guide #1". There are a number of guides now, but he was the first they ever hired. He seemed to really know how to find them and knew a lot about giraffes, too.

He told us that when a female is in heat she urinates on the ground. The males smell the urine and come from all around. Then they fight with each other, attacking with their hooves. The strongest male wins and he then mates with the female. He said there are a lot more female giraffes than male because some of the males are killed or seriously weakened during these fights.

He also told us that if you are driving on the road and one runs in front of you and you hit it and kill it, or seriously injure it and they have to put it down, there is a fine you have to pay of 500,000 cfa or about $1000.00!!!!

We also found out from a missionary that you can get in big trouble for taking pictures of giraffes from the side of the road as you are passing by. They did that, apparently somebody saw it and let the police know, and the police chased them down! They finally talked their way out of it, but another missionary from another organization did the same thing and ended up paying 100,000 cfa or about $200.00. They are serious about having a guide and paying for the cameras.

As I said, we saw several herds. Many of them moved on quickly when they became aware of our presence. Then we came upon a giraffe all by herself. She was chewing her cud and seemed to enjoy watching us as much as we enjoyed watching her.

Sunset over the Niger

2011-08-30T16:12:00.000-04:00

After our day of visiting our former town, we ate out. We were just too tired to cook a meal. We went to one of our favorite restaurants near the river. There are several reasons we like this restaurant:
1. It starts to serve early. We can go around 6 p.m. and get served. Most restaurants don't start serving until about 7:30, following both French and Nigerien customs of not eating until 8 or 9 p.m.
2. It's not that cheap, but it's cheaper than many restaurants. We figured we paid about $9.00 a person. But that is for organic beef, potatoes peeled, cut, and fried on the spot, and delicious green beans, plus drinks and the tip.
3. Which is my next point....the food is delicious! The menu is simple...beef brochettes, a plate of green beans seasoned with onions and garlic, and french fries. All of the above is served with a hot pepper sauce to dip your meat in, mustard, mayonnaise, or ketchup.
4. We like the setting. We sit outside, looking over the river, and if you time it right, you can enjoy the sunset and maybe even catch a cool breeze. You can sit on the terrace, inside a building, or up on the rooftop of that building. The best place to watch the sunset is on the rooftop.

The night we were there, we got a special treat....the sunset on one side, and the moon rise on the other!

Come visit us and we'll make sure you get to take in a beautiful sunset over the Niger River!

Our Town

2011-08-26T11:11:00.000-04:00

One of the main things we wanted to do while Suz and Theo were here was to visit the town where we lived and worked for 16 years. It is essentially where Daniel and Suzanne grew up. It played a huge part in making them who they are today.

Waiting for the ferry

We left early in the morning on market day, crossing the river at the ferry. In rural areas, many people leave the towns during the rainy season and go live in their fields. Their fields can be 5-10 miles from the town, so many of them will have a little hut in their field where they live during the rainy season, eliminating the long commute they would normally have.

On the way to market

But, market day will find them returning to town to buy supplies, meet up with friends, and catch up on the gossip. So we chose market day to visit knowing it would be our best chance to see friends who might otherwise be living near their fields.

The first thing we noticed when we drove into town that more permanent shelters had been built in the market and that one of the roads going around the market was now paved, making two paved roads through the market area! When we had last visited there were reports that there would be a paved road put in that would go all the way to Burkina Faso. Sure enough....the paved road now no longer ends in Our Town, but goes all the way from Niamey to Burkina!

The new road

It's a pretty nice road and we had trouble recognizing landmarks as it didn't follow the exact same route as the previous dirt road. There is even a multi-storied hotel there now!

We first went to my friend H's house. I guessed she wouldn't be there as she always moves to the bush in the rainy season. Sure enough, the house was all locked up. So we went to M's house next. She had been my house-worker and friend and teacher-of-culture for the entire 16 years we lived in Our Town.

My friend "M" and me

We had a great visit seeing how the kids had grown, finding out who was married and who had had babies, and who had moved away. John's friend, H, came in while we visiting and more news was exchanged.

From there, we went over to my friend, H's, house. In a land of poverty, they are even poorer than everybody else. They squat on a piece of land, living in a grass hut without even a latrine for a bathroom.

"H" and me

They were so excited to see us and even shed a few tears. Then H told us, with tears in her eyes (it is very unusual for Nigeriens to cry and especially for people of her people group to cry) that her husband has "gone crazy". He is very old and I suspect has dementia. He wanders off and went into the compound of the people across the road. The young father there told him to get off his property or he would kill him like he'd kill a sheep....in other words, slit his throat. It was so, so sad to see how they are treated and despised just because they are so poor, they are nothing. H's daughter who lives in Ghana has never been able to have children, so she took her youngest sister to live with her there. We really missed not seeing her around...she was always so small for her age due to under-nourishment, but she was such a spunky little thing. H is one of my best friends and it was just nice to spend some time with her again.

Theo has the great ability to make friends with kids wherever he goes. Language doesn't stop him!

While there, John's friend N, came wandering by and was really surprised to see us! We had a great visit with him, too.

Next stop was to visit Suzanne's friend, S. She is married and has a child. She married well and lives in a pretty nice house with real furniture, a TV, etc.

Suz and "S" grew up together

As we were driving to her house, my friend H (who wasn't home) saw us, literally dropped her stuff, and came running. Also, John's friend, A, wandered by then and they were

John's Nigerien brother, "A"

able to spend a lot of time visiting while Suz, Theo, and I visited with S.

By then we were really hungry, so we headed to the other side of the stream that runs through town and found a nice deserted spot for a picnic lunch.

Trying to toss peanuts in Theo's mouth

The fast of Ramadan is going on now, so we didn't want to eat in the market in front of everybody.

As soon as we were finished eating we went to the market. There we ran into my friend H again and she took me to find her mother. We also saw a lot of friends from the nearby village of D. It was very hot in the market, so we ready to leave by 3 p.m.

The millet in the area looks terrible. It is not an exaggeration to say it is one of the worst years we have ever seen.

The millet should have been about chest high at that time.

Arriving back in Niamey, we were pretty tired out so we went to one of our favorite restaurants for supper. But I'll save that for another post!

Settling In

2011-08-18T16:28:00.000-04:00

What a huge mess!

In the past three weeks since our return, we have done a lot of work, just on the apartment alone. First, we unpacked all our luggage and found places for everything.

Then we contacted the painters and had them come. It took them four days, I think, but there was a weekend in there, so we were displaced for six days. Thankfully the apartment next door was empty and we were able to sleep and eat over there. They used oil-based paints and the fumes were just too much to sleep here! Most of the apartment is painted white, but we have colors in our room, bathroom, and one wall of Suzanne's room (which will become the office and guest room since there is an air conditioner in there). However, I am not telling you yet what the colors are. I have a "new" bedspread, curtains, shower curtain, floor rugs, etc. on a container that is coming. The colors are meant to go with those items, so you'll have to wait until they arrive before I show you what the rooms look like. For now, the old curtains are up and they look ghastly with the new colors!

Somewhere in the first two weeks we moved all the stuff we had stored in a container here over to the apartment and unpacked all of that. It has been quite a challenge to find places for everything. We have TOO MANY BOOKS! But who can get rid of books? They are friends! We have thrown a lot of stuff, though.

We also rearranged some furniture. Some of it just barely fit through the doors and under the fans!

The air freight also arrived, so John got his piano and stand and we got two more action packers we had sent air freight.

Slowly the apartment is starting to look more organized. We still have barrels on the porch that need to be stored, used in some other way, or gotten rid of. We have a non-functioning chest freezer on the porch. We're debating whether we should sell it or try to get it fixed. The problem is, that the time we want to use it most is in the hot season. We would normally buy up good vegetables when they were in season and freeze them until the hot season. But with the constant power cuts during the hot season, I don't know if I want to risk wasting a freezer full of good food. There are also some items still sitting around that belong to other people that we have to move out.

Both John and I do best with a routine and an organized environment, so I hope that we will get the mess fully organized soon!

Home Again

2011-08-12T02:14:00.000-04:00

The beginning of the trip: looking bright and chipper.

Waiting for our flight at JFK. Still looking bright and chipper.

Our trip back to Africa was interesting, as usual. Our flight was slightly delayed boarding. Once we got on there was an incident of a woman yelling at a man about all his carry-ons. Later on we realized they were a couple!

Sunset in Morocco. We had two over-night flights, but thankfully we had a day room at a nice hotel in Casa Blanca.

No sooner did everybody get settled on board, but a thunderstorm came up. That meant we just sat in the plane and didn't leave the gate for over two hours. They didn't turn on any air, so it got hotter and hotter in the plane. A bunch of people flipped out and went to the front of the plane and started yelling and shouting. We're not sure if they were demanding to be let off or just demanding air. Shortly after that, they did turn on the air and we moved away from the gate. It was a bit disturbing to all the passengers. We once sat in an airplane at the same airport for six hours, so two to three hours seemed pretty good to us!

No longer so bright and chipper!

We did arrive safely at our final destination in spite of adventures with people with numerous carry-ons on our second flight. I'm sure that plane was way overloaded! We got to our apartment at about 5:30 a.m.and went straight to bed.

Since then we've had a lot of momentous events take place! I've started work, going in a few hours a day, a couple of days a week just to keep up with things. We've rearranged furniture in our apartment, have gotten the apartment painted, and have been unpacking and organizing things (Now is as good a time as any to get rid of stuff we don't really need!). But the most exciting event by far is what happened last Saturday night at the sand dunes! Theo asked Suzanne to marry him, and, of course, she accepted! She is now wearing a gorgeous diamond ring and we've been spending a lot of our time looking up stuff on line and even shopping for some of the things we want for the wedding. The story of the engagement is Suzanne's to tell, so if you want the details you'll need to read her version of the story at her blog.

Leaping into life together.

We've also purchased a used car, got the air cargo stuff (John's keyboard), and made a trip to the town where we used to live. But all of that is for another blog.

Sailing Away

2011-07-28T19:53:00.000-04:00

We have a supporter who owns a sailboat and who loves to sail. He offers to take us sailing whenever we're around and we're happy to take him up on the offer. It's always a relaxing, fun day and this time was no exception.

Suzanne and Theo got to go with us this time. We weren't out a long time because thunderstorms were predicted for the afternoon. Without further comment, here are some pictures of our day out.

Guess which of us hasn't been working outside all summer?

When we got back to shore, our friend suggested that we go to the Submarine Museum. I had never been there and found it very interesting, though we didn't have enough time to look at everything. The most interesting thing was looking through the periscopes and touring the USS Nautilus.

Our next "sailing" expedition will be tomorrow as we sail through the clouds towards our other home in Africa. It will be good to be back, but at the same time it will be hard to say good-bye to our kids. We got to see Daniel last weekend and Suzanne and Theo will be coming with us for a few weeks.

If I Were Rich and Famous

2011-07-25T08:44:00.000-04:00

As you know, John and I did a "staycation" this year. On one of the last days of our break, we went to Milford, PA to visit Grey Towers. Grey Towers was the summer home of the Pinchot family. James and Mary Pinchot made their fortune in the wallpaper business. They also cleared the hills of NE Pennsylvania of their trees, shipped them down river, and sold the logs for lumber and the cleared land to farmers. The Pinchots fashioned their family home to be exactly like LaGrange, the country estate of Lafayette, located in France.

James and Mary's son, Gifford, along with his wife Cornelia, inherited the family home. With the encouragement of James, Gifford studied forestry and became the founder of the USDA Forestry Service. He also served two different terms as the governor of Pennsylvania. His wife was active in the suffragette movement and both Gifford and Cornelia promoted prohibition.

Here are some shots of the inside of the mansion, which the Giffords referred to as their "hunting shack". They spent their summers here and did a lot of entertaining, especially during the years Gifford Pinchot was governor.

In the entry hall. Cornelia kept her gardening table and supplies in this hall.

In the Pinchot's library

The library again.

The parlor. The pictures on the walls are "trompe d'oeil"....a trick of the eye. They are actually painted on the wall, but look like pictures in frames hanging on the wall.

The parlor had originally been two rooms, the dining room and the ladies' parlor. The library had also been two rooms....the library and the men's parlor. After dinner the men would go in their room and the women in theirs. But Cornelia thought that was all nonsense, so she made the library into a large room and did away with the dining room, making this all one large room. She believed that if they were to have a summer home, they should eat outside. So she created an outdoor dining room.

This is the dining room table....a pool, surrounded sheltered by wisteria vines.

The food was brought to the table in wooden bowls. When you wanted to pass food, you had to scoot it across the water.


There was also a skylight above the pool so that during evening meals the moon would shine down on the water.

I loved sitting there, it was so calm, peaceful, and breathtakingly beautiful. When the park ranger wanted to move the tour on to the next place, I didn't want to leave. I told John that when we are rich and famous we have to live someplace warm like Arizona and have an outdoor table like that. If I had endless amounts of money to have whatever extravagances I wanted, that is what I would do!

Gifford and Cornelia had only one child, so they built him a play house where he could go to escape all the adults that were always around. These two pictures are taken outside his play house.

The Pinchots also had an in-ground swimming pool, the first ever in NE Pennsylvania. In front of the house was a moat and we discovered quite a number of bullfrogs in there.

If you find yourself in NE Pennsylvania with $6.00 to spare, the tour of Grey Towers is worth every penny!

Before going to Grey Towers, John and I took some time to explore the town of Milford. There are a lot of old, very pretty houses there. We also ate at a restaurant that was also a hotel....we had the most expensive hamburger in Pennsylvania, and it was the cheapest thing on the menu! But it was fun to eat at something other than McDonalds.

This will probably be my last post from the good old US of A! Next post will be from the other side of the ocean. But who knows, maybe on Thursday I'll have time to catch up on some of our other activities from this summer and do another post.

Hiking in Ricketts Glen

2011-07-15T08:45:00.000-04:00

Ricketts Glen State Park in North East Pennsylvania (approximately located between Wilkes Barre and Williamsport) is an amazingly beautiful place. Every time I go there, my reaction is, wow, God is amazing. Who but God could have created such an amazing place. Thankfully, people are also careful to not dump their trash everywhere and so it is a clean place as well.

When John and I decided to take 10 days off, we had Ricketts Glen on our list of things to do. Then Suz and Theo came home for the weekend with a crew of other counselors and said they wanted to go to Ricketts Glen. We asked if they minded if we went the same day, so last Wednesday we went there. We ended up with three cars of people and essentially divided into two groups. The bigger group wanted to hike the entire Falls Trail which ends up being over seven miles of challenging hiking. It's not like you need ropes or anything, but it is steep and very rocky. We (John, me, Suz, Theo, and one of Suz's friends) decided to do the top half of the trail, so we hiked about five miles.

This is the path. Kind of like life....nobody said it would be smooth or easy!

You have to watch every step you take which is frustrating because you also want to watch the scenery. Every time you come to a waterfall, you have to stop just to take in the beauty. There are 22 waterfalls if you do the entire hike. Some of them have pools at the base where those who like frigid water can take off their shoes and socks and get into the water.

Back at the top we had a picnic. We had told the other group to meet there at noon, but that time frame got all messed up. We crossed paths with them as they were going up and we were still going down, so we thought they'd be at the picnic area impatiently waiting for us (the food was in our car!). So when we finally got back to the picnic place we didn't know how we'd ever find them as it's a big area and there were a lot of people around (there is also a lake there for swimming). Theo said we should just take the food and claim a table and then look for them. So he lead us off to the side to an empty table he saw. As we rounded the trees, guess who was at the table next to the one we were headed to! We honestly didn't see them until we were almost on top of them. So that was a God thing that He led us right to them. They had only been there about five minutes.

After lunch a few people got in the lake. The other group started hiking back down. But we were done hiking and went home as Suz, Theo, and their friend needed to get back to camp by 6:00.

An Early Anniversary Celebration

2011-07-11T09:37:00.000-04:00

Our anniversary is not until August 16th. This year will be the big 25 year celebration....our SILVER wedding anniversary. Does this mean we are getting old? Or just better?

Suzanne and my friend, Sharon, decided to throw a surprise party for us. Sharon invited us over for a picnic on July 5th....a delayed 4th of July picnic, she said. We had to do it on the 5th and not the 4th because Suzanne and Theo and Sharon's son, who works at the same camp as Suz and Theo, would not have the 4th off. I asked her what I could bring and she said whatever I wanted, so I made mac & cheese (if she said nothing I might have gotten suspicious). We were supposed to get there at 6, and it was pretty close to 6 when we walked out the door. Theo made a comment about walking to there. I said it's possible, but it would take too long. I was also thinking how difficult it would be carrying hot pans of mac & cheese. There were three other girls and a guy staying with us, so we said we'd have to take our car and Theo's. Two of the girls got in our car and one in Theo's and the guy in Theo's. Then Suz came out of the house and made one of the girls get out of our car and into Theo's so she could ride with us. I thought it was really strange that she wanted to ride with us instead of with Theo, especially since the shot-gun seat was being reserved for her in Theo's car!

As we drove down the drive way, she said we needed to stop at the Recreation building to get her shoes which she had left in there. I also thought that was a bit strange because she had told me earlier that she and Theo were going for a walk and I didn't know how she had keys to get in the Recreation center.

As we drove up, a bunch of people came out of the building. "Surprise!" I was like, surprise what? Then we saw the silver paper hanging in the door and I realized it was a party for our anniversary. Almost everybody from the small group we attended was there. There was a lot of food. Sharon made this really amazing cake. It was banana cake north of the equator and 4th of July "confetti cake" south of the equator. Suzanne had put a lot of work into this scrapbook she made for us. She had told me she was making something for our anniversary and that if her door was closed I couldn't come in or ask her questions, but I had no idea what she was concocting. She did a fantastic job on it and it is full of some fun memories. Suz and Sharon put up a calendar page for every year of our married life. They also put sheets of paper on the tables that had listed important historical events that happened on August 16.

We were really surprised and had a fun evening. Suz and Sharon, you did a great job on planning the evening!!! And here's to another 25 years of August 16s!

Enjoying our "Staycation"

2011-07-04T20:15:00.000-04:00

John has been working non-stop on his doctoral studies for over a year now. And while we were in Maryland he taught nearly a full load at the Bible College. So I told him that when he got back from England he had to take 10 days off with absolutely no work being done on his doctorate.

Not only has he been working so hard, but we also return to Niger the end of this month. So we want to be rested up as we know we'll hit the ground running once we get there.

We are just staying home since we live in a beautiful restful place, don't have money to travel or stay anywhere else, and John doesn't feel like doing more traveling right now. So we've planned out some fun things to do around here.

On Saturday we walked around Lake Scranton. It's a 3.5 trail, and I didn't feel like taking my camera with me. Here is an old postcard of Lake Scranton. While I walked around, John ran. Then he started around a 2nd time, but when he caught up to me he walked the rest of the way with me.

Saturday evening we went to a barbecue restaurant in a town near us. They only serve on weekends and this is their busiest weekend. We had to stand in line quite a while, but it was well worth the wait. If you're ever in Hamlin, PA on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night in the summer and need a good place to go, this is the place. (I did not take this picture. It was WAY more crowded than this the night we were there.)

Sunday we just went to church and took it easy all afternoon. Later in the afternoon some friends of ours came over, bringing some delicious dessert with them. I had apple crisp and strawberry shortcake for supper!

Today was the 4th of July, so we had to go on a picnic, of course! We went to Promised Land State Park. There were tons and tons of people there, but we didn't have any problems at all finding a table. Then we took our chairs near the lake and just read for a couple of hours. I'm reading Radical by David Platt. It's got so much good stuff in it, I'm taking notes as I go. Here's John catching up on one of his news magazines. We didn't go swimming because there were too many people crowded into the small swimming/beach section. We thought of doing the paddle boats, but they were pretty expensive. So we just sat and relaxed, something neither of us do much of.

I hope you had a fun and relaxing 4th of July (ahem, for my American readers, anyway!).

Random Thoughts on This and That

2011-06-28T11:37:00.000-04:00

John has been gone for almost six weeks. He'll be home on Thursday. Yeah!!!! Six weeks is a long time to be apart. But I've managed to keep myself occupied and haven't just sat around moping. It's not in my personality to do that, anyway. Also, I was told once that only boring people get bored. Between work and my own projects, bored is not one of my problems. So I guess that makes me an interesting person! :)

One of my big projects has been scanning and digitalizing my late father-in-law's slides. I worked on this project all winter and thought I was done. Then in May when we went to my mother-in-law's house, she had found a whole bunch more slides. So this past six weeks I worked hard to finish those. I breathed a sigh of relief to have that project done....then this past weekend I went back and found a few more! It has been an enjoyable project, really. My FIL traveled widely. He and my MIL worked in Turkey for four years. While there he traveled to Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Iran, Greece, and all over Turkey. Then they spent two years in Nigeria when my husband was young. So he has some very interesting slides. Here are a few of my favorites:

A village mosque with the Emadag Mountains in the distance

Inside the Blue Mosque, Istanbul

A street scene in Jerusalem

ceiling of main arch Masjede Sah, Isfahan, Iran

Masjede Sah, Isfahan, Iran

A shaking minaret. This mosque has two minarets and somehow climbing one makes them both shake. But it is still standing, 50 years after this picture was taken and probably since hundereds of years before it was taken.

The Olympian in Athens, Greece

I can't find the title for this one, but I believe it was in Ephesus.

As I was scanning these I found I needed to do a lot of color correction because they had turned strange hues of blue or red. Then I would also get distracted by looking up stuff on the internet about the pictures. I found this one very interesting. This was the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, a Roman Catholic church in Tripoli, Libya in 1960. I looked it up on the internet and found that when Khadaffi staged a coup in 1972, this church was turned into a mosque. This is what it looks like today:

And while we're on the subject of the Middle East (I told you this was a very random post!) I highly recommend this article in Christianity Today:

Philip Yancey: A Living Stream in the Desert

How the Christian faith will be a subversive—and liberating—influence in the Middle East.

I really want to get this book now.

Also while on the subject of my late father-in-law.....He was an avid coin collector. Some of the coins he had were left from their days in Nigeria. Many of the British West Africa coins had holes in the center so they could be strung on a string for safe-keeping. My very creative sister-in-law turned some of these coins into jewelry. She also made jewelry out of some of his old keys. Here is what mine looks like:
By the way, if anybody can tell me why there's a star of David on the British West African coins, I'd appreciate it! I tried to find some information and there are several theories out there but I'm not sure that any of them are based on facts.

Last week I went to Connecticut to visit my mother-in-law and to see my brother and sister-in-law who came up from Oklahoma. I was privileged to attend the graduation of my nephew while there.

He's the tall one right in the middle.

He was part of a class of over 400 students. We were in the "nose-bleed" section of the building (thankfully his parents got good seats). Here's what our view looked like. Thankfully we could see well by looking at the big screens. All these little symbols after his name means he had a lot of accomplishments! Afterwards I got this nice picture of Seth and his two grandmas. I am taller than his grandma on the left and shorter than the one on the right, so you get an idea of how tall he really is. I am so proud of him....for his academic accomplishments, his athletic abilities, but especially his stand for Christ. You can see proof of this in his acceptance speech of his athletic scholarship for Princeton University which you can watch here.
I'm not a fan of football, but suddenly I think I'll become interested in the Princeton football team!

One more random thing. I enjoy doing counted cross-stitch. I finished this project awhile back, but hadn't gotten it framed yet. Here is the final product.

Thoughts on The Cruelest Journey

2011-06-21T11:21:00.000-04:00

One of my blogging friends recently had a post reviewing the book The Cruelest Journey by Kira Salak, which you can read here at "Our Wrighting Pad". Her review got me interested in the book, so I checked it out of the local public library.

The book relates the story of Ms. Salak's kayak trip down part of the Niger River, from Segou in Mali to Timbuktu (yes, it's a real place). In some ways I cannot relate to Ms. Salak's story as I don't go in any kind of water craft that might possibly tip over, don't like deep water, and would not travel that distance alone. But as she interacts with parts of the culture, I find myself identifying with her. I love to read about different cultures and people's interactions with other cultures. I also love to read anything about West Africa.

As she travels, she often spends the night in villages. At the beginning people are friendly and open, but the closer she draws to Timbuktu, the more demanding people become for money, probably because of the way tourists have thrown money around. Ms. Salak often feels frightened, not knowing what people will do to her. On one level I feel like her fear is a little overdone. Demands for money in this part of Africa don't necessarily translate into personal harm. But I have been pick-pocketed in the market and our house has been burglarized, so it could happen. Also, there have been kidnappings in this region, and with her traveling alone her fears may have been well-founded.

But what I find myself identifying with is the pervasiveness of the poverty. Ms. Salak writes,

· “Yes. Poor. ....I've been to other countries just as poor.....so that when I see Mali all around me, a strange numbness of familiarity comes over me. A numbness that is part acceptance, but part resignation, too. Inevitably, I become filled with this strong desire to Do Something about it, which often succumbs to feelings of futility.... The poverty greeted me on every street corner and along every road. I quickly ran out of spare change or bills to drop in all the extended palms.”

Oh yes, I can identify with those feelings of wanting to Do Something and then with the futility of it all. I've often likened helping people there with putting a band-aid on a huge, open, surgical wound. There are so many needs and so little I as an individual can do.

The poverty is everywhere you look, and life seems so unfair. Why were they born into those conditions, while I was born to American parents? Even though I am not rich by any means, why do I have enough money to buy all the clothes and food I need while they have one or two new outfits per year and don't know where their money will come from? Why do they find themselves unable to come up with the $1.00 needed to go to the dispensary for medical help that leaves a lot to be desired while I can be medically evacuated from the country if need be to receive the latest in medical care? Ms. Salak writes:

· “I do have some bottles of ibuprofen that I brought to Mali to pass out as gifts and when a couple of old women with painful arthritis come forward I ask a young woman who speaks really good French to translate my instructions for taking the pills. When I hand the bottles over, the old women are so happy to receive then that they hold their hands toward me and start crying. I look down, feeling completely ashamed. Ashamed for all I have, and for all they don't. Ashamed that while American babies live, theirs must die. Mali has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world: 12 of every 100 babies die. And what to do about any of it? I know that the economy of my own country often flourishes by exploiting other countries' poverty and suffering. Sitting here in Nakri, in front of all these people, I feel a certain culpability from simply being American.”

Oh yes, I feel annoyed by being asked so often to help with this or that. And I immediately feel guilty....culpable as Ms. Salak says. And I believe that for Christians, it is even more complicated. What would Jesus do? At what point are we being compassionate and at what point are we being patronizing and colonial in our approach? Does this person really need help to buy food or do they need to be taught better farming methods? And anyway, I don't know the first thing about farming myself. So how do I balance constant requests for help with the love of Jesus? Do I respond from true love or from feelings of guilt?

In SIM Niger we've been talking about the danger of the one story. It is easy to label people and assign one story to them. For me, it is easy to assign labels to Nigeriens....to see them as "poor" or "needy" and not to see each person individually with a more complicated story. It is easy for Nigeriens to see me as "Rich White Lady" and to demand money from me rather than getting to know me as somebody who has her own story. Ms. Salak said,

· “People don't seem interested in me much beyond what I might be able to give them. They see my white skin and reduce me to an identity I can't shake: Rich White Woman, Bearer of Gifts, nothing more. This is an important lesson--the way people so easily label and dismiss each other. I'm dismayed by how simple it is for me to get caught in the same game, to start seeing every passing man in a canoe as a threat or as someone who only wants something from me. In this cordoning off of the people I meet, in this mistrust, I deny them their humanity. Do we ever greet people without wanting something from them? Without hoping they'll give us certain things in return--love, money, approval? Without wanting them to change, or to do what we want, or to see us the way we want to be seen? What's stopping us from simply finding joy in another's presence? I'm miffed by it all.

I think what it comes down to is that the difference comes when we build relationships. Ms. Salak didn't have the luxury of spending more than one night in a village. Our family lived for 16 years in the same village. We were adopted by families. Yes, we got a lot of requests for help. But we were also helped. People gave us gifts. We got to know people's stories and they got to know ours. Yes, there was still a separation that we could never seem to bridge, a difference in culture that is always there no matter what. But there was also a mutual respect. That can't happen when you are in and out of a village, spending less than 10 hours there.

Ms. Salak writes:

· “A crowd gathers nearby to stare at me, the kids asking me for money in incessant whispers. There are just too many of them to give money to. And beyond that, what would I be teaching them? Only the same lessons the other tourists have: that white people represent money and nothing more. Maybe it's foolish, wishful thinking that I want to be more to the people I meet. It seems crucial that I become more, that we understand each other, know the commonality of our existence, know how we can help one another. But here in Wameena we have only a single night together, and the women are busy patching houses and cooking, and the men are discussing plans language difficulties separating us more easily than continents ever can, and with much more finality. So here, too, is something I should probably learn to accept.”

There are no simple answers. The only answer I can give is to not lose sight of why we are in Niger. Simply put, it is to show the love of Christ, to know people, and to help meet their needs. Yes, I must admit I become overwhelmed with the needs, with the demands. I must admit that sometimes I don't respond in a God-glorifying manner. In one village Ms. Salak gets angry with people because of the way they are crowding around her, demanding this and that, and then she regrets her reaction. I have to admit.....been there, done that. The best way to live in Niger is to really get to know people, to build relationships, to understand their story.

(All pictures from Kira Salak's website.)

The Ways God Answers Prayer

2011-06-13T10:12:00.000-04:00

When we were in Maryland, we had a guest speaker at our church. He spoke about prayer and shared an illustration I loved. He said that we pray for something, anything, that we desperately need an answer to. He said, let's call that prayer 2+5. So we pray for 2+5. "Lord, please give me 2+5. Lord, please answer this prayer. Lord, 2+5 is not outside your will, so please answer. Lord, we desperately need 2+5." And we pray in faith, knocking and knocking on heaven's door. And then the Lord answers, but sometimes he gives us 3+4 or 9-2 or 70 divided by 10 or 100-93. And if we're not careful, we totally miss the answer because it came to us in a way totally unexpected and usually more wonderful than we ever could have imagined.

The example he gave was that his church was going to open a Day Care Center to meet the needs of families in the area. But when the building was inspected, the Fire Marshal told them they had to have electronic smoke detectors....about 10 of them... in the center. The cost estimate was in the 10,000s of dollars because they would pretty much have to completely rewire to install them. They had a sprinkler system already, but not this type of smoke detectors/alarm system. So the congregation met every week and for an hour all they prayed about was money for the fire alarm system. "Lord, we need money for this alarm system. Please give us $20,000 (or whatever the amount was). Lord, give us 2+5." They prayed like this for a month and they still only had about $300 in their fund for the fire alarm system. At the end of the month, the Fire Marshal called him on the phone and asked how it was going. The pastor said, "Well, we've been praying for a month. We know God is going to do this for us, but we don't have the money yet and we won't go in debt, so we'll let you know when we get it." The Marshal said, "Well, here's the thing. I reconsidered and since you have a sprinkler system, I'm going to let you go with battery-powered smoke detectors. You have to have just as many, but you can go with the battery detectors." The total for all those detectors? About $300! They prayed for 5+2, but God gave them 49 divided by 7.

We've been praying for a job for Daniel. He had graduated from Cedarville and needed a job! Specifically we were praying for 5+2: a job in Columbus. It didn't seem to really tie in with what he'd majored in, but it felt like a good foot in the door that might open up the right doors. We were really disappointed when he didn't get the job (he is on the list if anybody else cancels he could get it).

He has been living with my sister in Ohio. He ended up getting a job feeding leopard geckos. Yeah, not what he went to college for, but at least it was a paying job. But, as he said, that's the kind of stuff he did when he was 10 years old.

Then less than two weeks ago he sent me an email telling me that he had applied for a paying internship in March. He never heard back from them, so he assumed they weren't interested. He pretty much forgot all about that position. Then out of the blue he heard from them saying they were really interested in him and could he come to Washington, DC. This job is exactly suited to his interests and abilities, doing research on North Africa and the Middle East. He had no idea where he'd live when he got there, but he decided to accept the position.

He got down there and was able to spend a couple of nights with friends of ours. He found some kind of Christian classified ads and has been able to locate a apartment he will share with another guy. This makes the rent more affordable (housing is terribly expensive in that area).

Not only that, but he's been told the internship might turn into being offered a full-time job in August. I don't know yet if Daniel is interested in that or not. But the possibility is there!

We prayed for a job for Daniel. We prayed for 5+2, specifically the job in Columbus. And God gave us 77 divided by 11. He gave Daniel a job and it's even better than we could have hoped for!

Waging War on Rodents

2011-06-04T19:16:00.001-04:00

We are back in Pennsylvania. We are staying in the same house we've lived in every home assignment since Suzanne was 4 years old. We love it here. It is so quiet and peaceful.

Until the evening when the mice come out to play. They are not even afraid of us....or they are too dumb to notice us. We have seen them run out from the drawer in the bottom of the stove. From under the burners on the top of the stove. Across the kitchen counter. Practically right over my feet at my desk. And in the TV room. We have heard them scurrying around behind the fridge.

So, we decided to declare war. We set two traps. One on top of the stove and one right in front of the stove.

The first night after we set them I went to bed. Sometime in the night I heard the trap snap. Then I heard it flopping all over. Finally there was silence and I thought, "Good. He's dead." When I came out in the morning the trap that was on top of the stove was laying on the floor and there was no mouse in it.

So we set them again. A few nights later I heard it snap. Then I heard it thrashing around the kitchen and again silence. "Good," I thought. "He's dead." When I came out in the morning the mouse trap in front of the stove was gone. It was no where to be found. I searched high and low and finally I found it way back along the side of the fridge. I got a broom and finally managed to pull the mouse trap out. But, you've got it, no mouse.

A few nights later, Suzanne and I were watching TV when we heard the trap snap. Then the flopping started. We came running to the kitchen and there he was lying there in the trap, bleeding from the nose. We thought we'd have to watch a slow and painful death. But upon closer examination we realized it was only his paw caught in the trap. When it snapped it had hit him on the face, causing the bleeding, but he wasn't mortally wounded. So, you know what I did? I took the easy way out. I took him outside and let him go. I couldn't just kill him!

Finally early one morning I heard the trap go again. This time I came out in the morning, and a mouse was in the trap on top of the stove. Poor little thing. But he really was good and dead. I haven't heard or seen any since, but the traps are still set, just in case.

Here's Suzanne's foot protection so she doesn't step on the trap....her Dad's big shoes.

Birthday Girl

2011-05-23T19:48:00.000-04:00

20 years ago yesterday, May 22, 1991, Suzanne joined our family. She has been a real blessing to us. What a privilege God gave us to raise this special gift!

When she was only three months old we took her to Niger where she grew up. As you can imagine, she drew a lot of attention. The European women would always stop me in stores to coo over her and exclaim, "Quelle poupee!" (There should be an accent over one of those e's). That means, "What a doll!" The Nigeriens were always amazed with her white hair. I could post picture after picture of her growing up in Niger, but this one is one of my favorites.

There was a Suzanne (Susanna) in the Bible. Do you know who she is and what she did? She is mentioned in Luke 8:1-3 which says:
¹ After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, ² and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; ³ Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

When we named our Suzanne, it was our prayer that she would be a woman who would follow Jesus and who would serve Him in practical ways and who would be generous with her time, possessions, and talents. What joy it is to us that our Suzanne does have a heart of service and that she loves and follows Jesus.

These past 20 years of our lives have been enriched by Suzanne's life. We pray for God to continue to bless her and to give her many more fruitful years of service to Jesus.

Engagement Shoot

2011-05-17T17:12:00.000-04:00

We have just moved from MD back to PA. The house is in disorder and I have no time to blog. So I'm just going to post a few pictures I took of my nephew and his fiancee.

College Graduation

2011-05-09T14:51:00.000-04:00

Wow. Was it only four years ago that Daniel was graduating from high school and now he's graduated from college?!

Graduation at Cedarville was quite the event. Daniel's Grandpa and Grandma Hall were able to be here as well as us. Graduation started at 10 and we were there just after 8:30 and there was already a long line waiting to get in. By the time we got in, the really good seats were taken, but ours wasn't too bad. We had a good view of the stage, anyway. But I couldn't see the graduates as they came in....just a few peeks at mortarboards bobbing down the aisle between the heads of people around me. The graduates were coming down two aisles and I had no idea what aisle Daniel would come down....the one closest to us or the one farther away. I decided to just take a picture of the screen, so I aimed my camera and snapped. Just as I snapped the picture, they changed the camera angle to a different view of the graduates and when I looked at my picture on my screen, there was Daniel!!!! I absolutely could not believe it. It was just a little blessing from God that I got a picture of my son coming down the aisle even though I couldn't see him. Don't you think that's amazing!???! The ceremony was really good. The speaker was Dr. Barry Black, the Chaplain to the US Senate. He gave an excellent message and challenge to the graduates: without Christ you will never be truly successful. There were brief addresses by other important guys in the college, including Dr. Brown, the President. Then came the time for the receiving of the diplomas. Over 600 names were read, graduates received their diplomas and a Bible, and they were off. It happened so fast that it's hard to tell if this is really Daniel or not. It's definitely not either of the graduates before or after him.
After the graduation it was a challenge to find Daniel in the throng of happy graduates, parents, grandparents, and siblings. We all finally got together and got some good pictures of Daniel, of Daniel and Suzanne, of Daniel with us, of Daniel and Kelly, and of Daniel with some of his friends.

As the crowd dispersed, we headed back to my cousin's house for a graduation party. I made African peanut sauce, Natalie made rice, Jeanne put together a salad and a cut vegetable platter, and she made four pies. It was also my birthday, so a birthday cake also appeared from some hidden corner. We had a great time celebrating one of Daniel's major achievements.

Azaleas

2011-05-02T17:25:00.000-04:00

My favorite spring flowers are lilacs. But after having spent a spring in Maryland, I'd have to say azaleas run a close second now! They are everywhere down here and in every color imaginable: red, pink, coral, purple, yellow, and white. OK, not black or green.
There are a whole lot of them in the woods outside our apartment and we can see them as we eat at our table. I have no idea if they grow wild or if somebody planted them there. Then on the campus here (Washington Bible College & Capital Bible Seminary) there is a prayer garden with benches and nothing but azaleas. One morning I took my Bible and notebooks out there and had my devotions there.

John and I went out with the camera and tripod and took pictures of ourselves in the prayer garden. I love this pictures and hope you enjoy them, too!

When I see the beauty of the azaleas, I am struck by the awesomeness of our Creator God. How could so many colors have "just happened"? And what big bang could have produced the intricacies of a flower with its petals and stamens? And how could it have just happened that bumble bees (who in and of themselves are an aero-dynamic impossibility) could know that they could use pollen to make honey? And how do they turn pollen into honey, anyway? I think God is pretty amazing to have made all this beauty, to make it provide food for bees, and to encourage us when we see such glory around us.

And a year from now when I'm back in Niger and am too hot to even breathe, I want to look at these pictures and remember God's glory!

Royal Weddings

2011-04-29T16:50:00.000-04:00

Weddings are beautiful events! This morning I was up at six so I turned on the TV just in time to see K*te Middl*t*n arriving at Westminster Abbey. She was so beautiful in her gown....so modest, yet it showed off her figure nicely. The ceremony was good. And I loved the way they decorated the Abbey with trees. I dare say that will become a trend for weddings!

The priest said something I liked....that on any man and woman's wedding day they are royalty for the day. That is so true! Little girls dream of the day they will walk down the aisle to meet their handsome prince. For one day they get to wear the most gorgeous dress they will probably ever own, throw a party just the way they want it, and show the world how much they love each other.

We went to a wedding last weekend. No, the bride and groom weren't royalty, but they were for a day. The couple were just as radiant as today's royal couple were. Their ceremony was special and their reception was fun. Their family and friends got to share the day with them. Food was shared. There was dancing and having fun with friends.

And just think....some day the best wedding of all will take place. That will be in heaven. It will be the marriage supper of the Lamb to His Bride, the Church. There will be food like we've never tasted, singing and dancing, and seeing Jesus face to face as well as all our loved ones who have gone before us and others that we just haven't seen for years and years. The invitations have been sent out and all are invited. Will you be there?

The Colors of Spring

2011-04-22T16:03:00.001-04:00

I LOVE spring! I think it's because I don't really like winter. I think snow storms are fun and snow is beautiful. But I get so tired of the short, dark days and the cold. So when spring comes with its warmer, longer, brighter days, I feel like I've been given new life.

I love how spring and Easter come at the same time. It's easy to think Easter is all about the pretty spring colors, candy, bunnies, and Easter eggs. But it's Christ's resurrection from the dead. It's new life....new life for the plants around us, but more importantly, new life for all who put their trust in Jesus.

Last Sunday I went for a walk on the campus and these are some of the pictures I took that show the colors of spring.....purple, pink, coral, red, yellow, not to mention all the shades of green.

That's why I love spring!

This weekend I want to focus on leaving behind my old, dead life and concentrate on living a new life. "Create in me a pure heart, oh Lord, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." The word "create" here is the same word used of creation at the beginning of time. It is starting from nothing. So God does not even have to fix up the mess of my life...he starts fresh from nothing. It is a brand new thing He does in my life. Hallelujah! Have a blessed Easter!

More Sightseeing

2011-04-19T17:07:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, Al and Judy came to visit. Al and Judy were John's youth leaders back when he was in high school and had a huge impact on John, contributing to making him the man of God that he is. They have their own motor home, so they stayed at a park, but came over for supper one night. Then the next day we went sight-seeing in DC.

We went to some places where we'd never been. First we went to the National Gallery of Art. The museum is actually two buildings connected with tunnels. We went down this moving sidewalk that was really cool with the lights surrounding it. At the end there was a dispay with a gondola. This picture was taken right before Al and I got in trouble for touching it. I've long known I'm a visual learning, but I didn't know what a tactile learner I was until recently. It seems I have to touch things to see how they feel to really get a full sense of the thing being examined. I didn't know this until I've gotten in trouble twice in museums for touching something I shouldn't have. We went to a exhibit of Gauguin's work. Can't say I was a fan. Then we saw some impressionistic paintings which I really liked. This museum had a lot of pretty spots....fountains, statues, nooks, etc. where you could just sit and enjoy. This lady was painting in one room. I supposed she had to ask permission first?

Our next spot was the National Museum of the American Indians. The outside of this building is pretty impressive, looking like a rock formation or a waterfall. We spent quite a lot of time in there....a good place to be as it was pouring rain outside. We went to the cafeteria for a break and I had an amazing cup of hot chocolate with chili pepper. First you tasted the chocolate and then when you swallowed, just a zing of pepper. It wasn't hot enough to make your nose run, but just enough to give the chocolate an extra layer of flavor.

Washington Bible College is literally one street over from the beginning of Greenbelt, Maryland. Historic Greenbelt was established by the government back in the 1930's as part of FDR's New Deal. It was a planned community, intended to be a green place for people to live and to commute to DC for work. John and I drove into historic Greenbelt to see what it was all about. The houses are town houses or condos and they all have an awful sameness to them. They were built with little or no imagination or originality. There are block after block of these buildings. Greenbelt had it's own shopping area, it's own schools, it's own churches, and it's own library and municipal buildings. Whereas most towns develop gradually over time, this was built all at once around a purposeful plan. We drove through the shopping area....probably one of America's first strip malls. I got a kick out of these shops...Curves next to the Dessert store! So, do you eat dessert first, then go work out? Or work out, then reward yourself with dessert?

All I can say is, I don't think I'd like living in that part of Greenbelt, MD.