raining sahara sands

This picture is taken right outside of our neighborhood. That bright spot in the top right hand side in the sky is the sun. We have had the most freakish weather these last few days. It is truly raining sand. Our house is unbelievably dusty. By the end of the day, my hair is full of dirt and sand and dust.You walk anywhere and open your mouth you have a coating on your teeth. It is truly the strangest thing I have ever experienced. Anyway, that is the picture of today. Lots of wind and sand. Have a great day.

barefoot running

I have been hearing that in the USA people are becoming more and more aware of the benefits of running in your bare feet. I have not personally been researching it, so I don't really know of all the advantages, but I found myself in awe of these young men and women who competed this weekend against the Hillcrest track team. Here we were with our jersey's and tennis shoes, ipods, etc... when up walks the other school, and I pretty much mean the entire school came to support and encourage their team. They literally came as they were and ran. Head wraps, no shoes whatsoever, shorts and t-shirts.

My guys competed in the 800 meter and the 5000 meter and they did very well. Here are some of their competitors. These three men to the right are on lap 10 I think. I lose track after awhile. Can you imagine though running a competitive race without shoes on? I bet I put myself in positions of thinking I cannot do things without the proper uniform and therefore, I don't even try. What would happen if I ran without shoes more often? Doing things I am not "equipped" for (at least not in my mind equipped). I know that goes against so much christian psychology, but what if we just tried, maybe I would find I am more equipped than I think. I don't know, all just thoughts going through my head.

These girls were sprinting a 200 Meter. I was so impressed with the sportsmanship shown between schools. It was also the last meet of the season. I was glad to be a part of it in some small way.

I have to admit by being a part of something outside of the "ministry" it has allowed my heart and soul to be a little bit more attached to the people and the culture.
I think there must be something about this. When we lived in Mexico, I was not as involved outside of what we were doing. Some of that was my own insecurity with language and not sure of my fit and some of it was the pace of ministry. Not much time left in my own energy level to want to give more than what was already given.

That was my error. I am learning for me anyway, my heart is so attached here and I know there are many reasons why: being involved outside of just the "said" ministry, the way I was created, my heart for the african people in general and I am sure there are more. I also know that I have had to work outside of comfort zone more than ever before and have been more emotionally encouraged and discouraged than ever before. I guess I just am amazed at how much someone can do, even without shoes. Maybe I should continue to try to take my shoes off and just see what happens.

spelling bee

I know that people want to see pictures of Africa and Nigeria, but part of us living here has been daily life and daily routine (if there can be routine here, which I really don't think there can be). One of our "normals" is the kids school. They are a great heartbeat as to what is going on here, crisis or no crisis. They do their best to maintain the best education possible while staying culturally relevant with 60% nigerians and 40% missionary, and my children love it. We feel so blessed and thankful for this school.

Yesterday, the fourth and fifth graders had their annual spelling bee. Gus made it to the actual spelling bee contest, which there were 12 from each grade that were chosen after a series of 6 weeks of spelling tests.

This picture to my left is of the 24 top spellers in these two grades. Gus did very well. He did not make it to the top five, but he definitely made it to the top 6 of his grade. It was fun seeing him go through this exercise because at the beginning he told me he was purposely going to miss a word so he wouldn't have to be in front of others spelling. Isn't that funny how it is sometimes in our human nature to perform poorly verses try and do the best we can.

I think these types of things are so valuable for children to experience and go through so they are better prepared for future real life opportunities. Overall, he said he had a really fun time and was glad he was a part of it. For the record, his misspelled word was "business"... he transposed the "s" and the "i". He did so well! Well done Gus!!

miango rest home

The kids spring break is coming the week after next (basically March 29th through April 2nd). A ministry that has been based here for many years takes this time during the students spring break to host and serve their community with an annual retreat at a location called Miango Rest Home.

It is a retreat center that has cabins, volleyball sand court, a snack bar and then it has dining facilities so one does not have to worry about preparing food while there. It is about a 45 minute drive from where we are located and as a family we have had the opportunity to go there a couple of times.

John and I and Jason and Emilee have been invited to go there and host a retreat for their youth (12th grade down to 1st grade) while their staff have a retreat of their own. Here are some pictures of when we were there last summer with a few of our "all summer" interns. What I enjoy most about this place is that it is truly located in a beautiful area, lots of trees and flowers, an old volcano is about five minutes down the road that you can hike in and out of and a pretty waterfall is down the road as well. It is also extremely quiet.

Located on the grounds sporadically are some open air shelters. In Mexico, we would have called them palapas, but these were much smaller. Just big enough for a few people to spend some time in them on their own. Two of these pictures are my children spending time with the Lord before we began our own retreat with our summer staff and interns.

There are lots of areas to meet for "talks" and lots of areas to roam around in. The picture to the left is a large play structure/treehouse that is large enough for kids of any ages to play in. There is actually a rope ladder on it that I could not climb up; whereas, my children had no problems whatsoever.... a humbling experience I must admit.

We look forward to the time away from our own home during these few days, but the few experiences we have had of the place have been kind of funny. Both times we arrived, there was no running water and the power was out most of the time. So, in John's mind, why go somewhere to deal with the same stresses we have at our own home. So, he affectionately calls it miango stress home. He is funny!

singing in the rain

How sad for me to realize that rain pictures are just not the same in picture as they are in real life..... But, it rained again yesterday which surprised me a bit since it has just started in the season, but still just as beautiful. For the record, even before moving here, I have always loved rain and storms. Even as a little girl, I remember looking out our front window of our home and just watching the storms roll in. Rain storms equal security to me, weird, huh?Do the see the massive rain drops coming off the shelter???? Wow, I know, you are completely enthralled with these riveting rain pictures.
Well, that wraps it up! I think you might have to use more of your imagination than I was hoping, but at least it is a beginning. Have a great day!

random pictures

Here are a couple of kids from OLA enjoying ice cream. I just really enjoy these two boys. Their names are Moses and Daniel. The picture below is of our water making system. We are working on a possible new one for our family, but for now we pour into a five gallon bucket a little packet of pur (a Proctor and Gamble product) and stir for five minutes and then let it sit for five minutes and do you see the gross stuff on the bottom, appropriately called flock? That is all the bad things in the water that we will then proceed to filter through a t-shirt of some sort as we pour the clean and good water into a clean, ready to use container. Sounds fun, huh?
I wish this last picture was bigger but this is of one of our interns this past summer playing with a child from the village. There are alternatives to video games...... Cute huh?
Just an FYI, it poured down rain yesterday for the first time this year and it was, once again, absolutely beautiful. It was a stifling hot day, as it has been for at least a month now, and within twenty minutes the sky grew dark, it dropped many, many degrees and it poured hard!! We thought maybe it would hail because it grew so cold. But, maybe next time. I was not able to get a picture as I was at track practice, but I hopefully will get one next time and send it your way.

weekend

Lots going on this weekend. Lots of fun for the kids, some visits to the hospital and a day off!We went to a carnival this weekend. It was a lot of fun and fellowship with other missionaries. Gus used some of his tickets to go four wheeling. No joke, this guy went really fast. Gus loved every minute of it!
This is our friend Evelyn who just gave birth about two days ago to a little boy named Daniel (after the father). She is looking strong.
Proud father and son moment. We are grateful for his health and for the mother's health.

Another one of Evelyn and I. Two days ago, we went and visited and she was flat on her back and not really aware we were there, so it was so fun to see her and spend time with her at this visit.
Gus and Sarah wanted a picture, but Sami said the baby was too new for her to be near, she was afraid she would hurt "it." But he was small and precious.

While we were at the hospital, we not only visited Daniel and Evelyn and their new baby, but we also went a saw our other good friends, Mercy and Ibro and their baby. Mercy gave birth about 7 weeks ago to a baby boy named Abraham (after the father also) and a couple of days ago he became very, very sick. They are not sure what is the problem, but we are praying for their baby and for the doctor's wisdom. It is hard to celebrate with one couple and then turn around and take the burden of another couple, but we are so grateful for both of these couple's and the role they have played in our lives as a family. They are our friends and we want to help in any way we can. Join us in prayer, will you?

Lastly, we spent Sunday doing nothing as a family. IT FELT SO NICE!!!! John committed to not work, I committed to not being on the computer and we shut ourselves in and didn't really converse with anyone at all, but each other. When all is said and done, I love our time together as a family. I am so wired this way, and I do feel as if it is rare to have this non-distracted time, and we had so much fun, playing games, etc.... We are blessed for sure.