a speedy two weeks

Well, the first two weeks of summer have come and gone and once again I find John in Abuja taking people home.  It is strange how quickly time has moved.  I feel the interns that are here have always been here and I am amazed also how quickly they have transitioned and blessed this ministry.  Their first week, training week, we had lots of conversations about community living and shelter and how we can be that for one another and the ministry areas we work in and they have taken those conversations and made them a part of their lifestyle and to that I am grateful.  We also came up with words that were a part of our early makeup of what God's shelter to us might look like.  I will write them down later because the poster board is in the other house, where they all live and I am not there.  But, all of that to say, we have chosen words that we value and made them a part of our DNA of our Back2Back Nigeria team... words like "encouragement" or "believing the best in each other" or "short accounts" and "transparency" and I could go on, but I won't.  Another day...

But, so far, we have fed a children's home a couple of times, had a fun celebration dinner with dancers and all, made school photos for children, prayed and handed out food to a village, hiked up rocks, laughed and watched movies and played games, had bible study, taken communion, played soccer, landscaped a home, built benches and school desks, done lots of dishes, met new people, eaten out and shared a lot of life together and we have also made mistakes, cried, asked for forgiveness and realized our inadequacy for the task at hand (and this is not all, I just have a short memory).

SO, with all of that, I am excited to see what God has in store for the next 9 weeks.  Should be fun.  No matter what, I am thankful for those of you who have prayed for us, who have partnered with us, who have allowed their children to visit and be a part of our community for this time period and I am thankful for those of you who are just going through life like we are with the realization that there is something bigger and we don't want to miss out.  I am thankful because the idea of knowing there are others out there taking a day at a time as well brings a little bit of peace to my heart.