you were wondering where I’ve been. Our internet has been frustratingly wacked out! It will work for two minutes and then stop for 15 minutes (or something random like that) all day long! I have some pictures of Esther and Ezra that I am eager to share with you. Also, some shots of our Christmas tree decorating evening. Stay tuned…pray that Togotelecom can get their act together soon.
Archive for November, 2007
The project started out with great enthusiasm, but ended as a dud. The huge leaf pile that Isaac imagined turned out to be a tiny gathering of itty-bitty leaves. The joyous leap into a mountain of crackling leaves turned out to be a small hop into a barely there hump. Oh well, at least they tried…
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your day off is refreshing and restful AND full of thanksgiving.
As for us here in West Africa, we celebrated Thanksgiving on Monday with our team and fellow missionaries from Burkina Faso. (Thanks for driving 11 hours to be with us!) We had all of the traditional foods (sort-of) to enjoy. The food was delicious and the fellowship was amazing.
But, today was just an ordinary Thursday. We had school, prayer time, and pizza for dinner just like other Thursdays.
Just another day…to be thankful.
Every once in awhile I get in a rut….in my thinking, daily activities/habits, relationships, etc. I’ve noticed that there are certain mental messages that I give myself to climb out of these ruts. To (hopefully) kick-start my journey this go-around, I made actual notes to myself of my mental messages. I have been displaying one a day on my desk this past week. Believe it or not, it’s actually helped! What are your notes to self?
Like most mothers and teachers of young children, I have a constant stream of funny things said to me or in my presence. Here’s a just a sampling from last week….
When asked during our vocabulary lesson what the students thought certain words meant…
Q: What is a nativity?
A: Oh! I know, it’s the navy doing activities!
Q: What is a nomad?
A: Oooh! Oooh! It’s a small person!
Q: What is a goblet?
A: Is it a scary thing?
Q: What is a monocle?
A: It’s a tiny part of something bigger.
My favorite- said to me by Graham as I walked into the room to tuck him into bed after taking a shower. “Wow Mom! You smell good- just like a Bible page!”
I have been trying to find a cohesive way to write about what I’ve been thinking and feeling for the past couple of weeks. It’s been difficult. Having the Neal family visit was a huge blessing. As they talked about their readjustment to life in the US, my thoughts turned to our own transition. The one word that does keep popping up is LOSS…but that’s only a part of the story. But, it’s a good place to start.
Loss produces grief. I’ve learned over the years that you can feel loss and grief over just about anything. In my life, when I feel loss there’s a part of my brain that goes back to the biggest loss I have experienced to this point- the death of my mom. So, not only have I been thinking about what losses I will suffer upon leaving Togo, but about losing my mom. I am trying to be proactive about dealing with this grief. (In times past, I’ve just stuffed those emotions. Telling myself, “That’s not the issue right now!”) I drew a symbolic picture of how I felt as a little girl when my mom died. It took me all Saturday afternoon to do it. The boys kept interrupting me and asking “What’s that?” It was emotional for me to share with them what I was thinking, but they were very encouraging in their comments.
Now, about Togo….I printed off a calendar for each remaining month in Togo. (There are only 7 left!) I am going to post them on the walls of the family room to give the kids (and Bryan and I) a visual reminder of how much time we have left. I also printed off two sheets with the headings….What I will miss about Togo…..What I am looking forward to in America. My idea is to have family members jot down thoughts as they come to mind over the next few months.
So, what am I going to miss? Of course, this list is only the beginning and at first glance someone might say, “Yeah, but you can do that in the US too.” Maybe something comparable, but it won’t have the same Togo flavor!
- teammates
- teaching
- my house
- my yard
- the mountains
- the exotic flowers
- spicy local food
- Abla
- beach vacations
- waterfalls
- butterflies
- singing with my teammates
Isaac and Graham just walked up and noticed what I was doing and they wanted to make a list too.
Isaac
- goats
- chasing chickens
- bike riding
- the city
- African friends
- mountain hikes
Graham
- riding bikes
- going to school
- friends
- hiking
My family and I have enjoyed a jam-packed, whirlwind week with our dear friends and former teammates, Don & Jane Neal and their four children. They moved away from Togo 20 months ago and this is their first time back for a visit. We had to share them with our other team families, the Millers and Reeves. So, they were only at our house for 3 nights. Each of those nights, I took full advantage of having Jane all to myself! We stayed up late chatting, surfing online and chatting some more. A good friend does the heart wonders!
We were blessed to be with them on Sunday morning as they visited the village of Sanda Te which is where Don primarily worked. The people of Te were so pleased to see them again! After worship, they prepared a delicious meal of foofoo and chicken. (This is the first time that I’ve seen the entire bird prepared! Head, feet, brain, etc.) Peter bravely tried to eat the chicken foot! The other kids occupied themselves by chasing ducklings around the yard.
Mary Claire was baptized on Monday morning at the Bafilo waterfall. The entire team made the hike to witness this special occasion.
We celebrated our annual Harvest Party at the Reeves home. There were games for the kids to play and plenty of candy to eat. But, the highlight was the performances that each class gave based on what they had been learning in school. The fourth grade performed a play based on experiences on the Oregon Trail. The second grade recited their memory verse and the preschool sang some fall songs. It was precious!
Mary Claire, Peter, Rachel and Honor all joined our kids in school. It was a treat to have Mary Claire in class. She’s grown up so much!
It’s been a great week catching up with them. Needless to say, we will sorely miss the Neals when they head back to Texas tomorrow morning. We love you!!!
On our day-off Monday, we hiked as a family to a new-to-us waterfall near Kara. Some of our teammates had been to this waterfall recently and tried to give us good directions. Although, given the fact that there are no sign posts or clearly marked paths we got a little lost along the way. Attempting to find the right path again, we walked along the stream that we knew eventually would become the sought after waterfall. The boys were hot and begged to please stop and just swim in a little pool. As tempting as the cool water looked it was not the place we had set out to discover. The Spirit prompted me to talk to the boys about how our little hike was turning into a parallel of our spiritual journey. Sometimes, we lose our way and are tempted to stay at a place that looks nice (complacency/sin), even though it is so much less wonderful than our ultimate goal(heaven/intimate relationship with God). We needed to press on and keep in mind how great the big waterfall would be once we arrived! Indeed the hard hike through overgrown millet fields and down into the steep ravine was worth it and I have the pictures to prove it.
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