the short story: alive, amazed, and thankful

What an adventure. We survived 28 hours in a bus to raft 12 rapids on the Nile River, 4 of them Class V. It was a beautiful 30 km (18.6 miles) down the river that was lush and green and lovely. We have so much to be thankful for about transportation, safety, accommodations, navigators, etc. I don't think the details of the trip itself could have gone more smoothly than it did. We even got to eat creamy, delicious ice cream. The Nile itself was just breathtaking. I will be getting photos from the others soon and will write the long version later. Thank you for your prayers. Please join us in thanking God for his abundant provision.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Upcoming Travels

As you all are preparing for turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie, we would love a little prayer for our Thanksgiving plans. Since we are teaching at an American-style school, we get the upcoming Thursday and Friday off, as usual. However, we have decided to join the other teachers on an excursion to Uganda to go rafting on the Nile River. (It's so unreal just to write that.) As the day of departure gets closer, I'm getting a little bit more nervous. Please pray for all the travel logistics to go smoothly, protection from disease, for safety, especially on the river, to not get robbed, etc. I don't know all of what could go wrong, but those are the main things I'm worried about. :) Anyway, I know that we are in God's hands and so that is comforting. It will also be a fabulous adventure that we will always remember and I am just hoping that all the memories are pleasant. We will be gone Thursday - Sunday. Thanks for remembering us in your prayers!

sometimes in Africa...

Sometimes...
...we play the "I miss America" game and name off all the things we're looking forward to. This either ends in laughter or tears.
...our toilet works perfectly.
...or toilet is extremely noisy, slow, and inspires fervent prayer and fear
...we really miss the seasons
...a coffee shop is the most comforting place to be
....it's shocking how it goes from stormy torrential rain to hot sunny weather in less than an hour.
...we lose water at the house for unknown reasons and then it returns for unknown reasons
...Levi is showering when we lose said water and must stand soapy until I hear him yelling for help
...we have electricity. 
...Ava's bunnies poop in our office, leaving us a few surprises the floor
...the day's crazy events are unsurprising
...the day's crazy events are shocking
....you buy things and they stop working the next day. (that one may be more than just "sometimes".)
...we can talk with our driver in English and feel like both parties understand
...the store has the items it had in stock last week.
...we have to be anti-social and get work done. good bye.

Blessed be

This past weekend, we went to the orphanage here in Kigali with fellow teachers to play with kids. It was a surreal experience. We were not allowed to take photos, but I so wish I could share their smiles with you. They came running to us the moment we walked in, with a little one jumping straight into Levi's arms. I too got one running up to me for a big hug. They were absolutely precious - big smiles, big hugs. It was fun to be there with Levi, Kristen, the girls, and other teachers from the school. The visiting hours are during their snack time where they receive bread and chai (a milk drink with spices). The orphanage was founded by Mother Theresa, and you can admire a lovely statue of her across the grounds. The children we played with were about 2-5 years old. There were younger ones in a room, but we were out on the play yard. There were about 50 children, so it was nice that there were at least 10 of us there. Kristen and I both were singing to them, getting choked up several times.

As I reflect on the experience, I have just been so moved by thinking about what God did for me, how He sent me to my family at such a young age, and the family he placed me in. I'm in a devotional group that's going through 1 Peter and we were reading chapter 2 the week before that spoke about how once we were not a people, but now we belong to God and we are to proclaim his excellencies. It was a powerful image to see the children, to think of my experience with my family here on this Earth, and then to think of my Father in heaven. Anyway, we would appreciate prayer for us to be able to go out there regularly and to be the hands and arms of love for them.

I've been musing on and encouraged by this song:
Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful, when the sun's shining down on me, blessed be your name.
Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering, when there's pain in the offering, blessed be your name.

Thank you for your love and support. We are deeply blessed by your prayers and encouragement.