Wed Nov 4
(Con’t from yesterday)
After lunch we went to the market to get vegetables. It has been raining so much here. Everything is green and much more beautiful than last visit. There are tall, trees with lavender flowers that look a lot like wisteria. They are beautiful! They drop their petals to make a beautiful carpet on the ground. I will try to get a picture if I can. Anyway, because of all the rain the market was a mud bogL ugh…. By the time we were done my toes were as black as George’s. So I asked George if there was a place we could clean up a bit. I was thinking maybe a faucet in an alley or something. He said “I know a place”- we got in the van and drove off. Before I knew it I was sitting in a shoe shine chair getting my feet cleaned and my shoes polished. Never done that beforeJ when he finished mine, George got his shoes cleaned and shined. Meanwhile across the street Noah and Joel were getting bombarded by ‘hackers’ (people selling stuff on the street). They ended up buying baseball caps and were quite happy when we got back to the van. So we went to the butcher to get us some meat…and mayonnaise too…. Don’t worry no one is starving this trip. I think we figured out the eating thing. We took the scenic route to show Joel the Rift Valley and the lake. There were thousands of flamigos! Beautiful! You can see them in the background of the picture of the grazing water buffalo.
I love living with Nellie. She is so sweet and we work together well. Joel is a big help in the kitchen and George and Abba are grateful recipients of our labors. She got up early this morning to kill the chicken Helen gave us. She cooked it for dinner and boy was it good!! Maybe that ole rooster’s worth the trouble after allJ We went to town to open a bank account and look for a battery for my laptop. Noah got a haircut as we watched. The young man cutting his hair was amazing to watch. First he applied hot towels to his beard and head as he gave a gentle massage. Then he began the sculpting of hair. I have never seen anything like it. He is more than a barber. He’s an artist. Very nice haircut! Then he got his assistant to wash Noah’s hair. She massaged as she lathered up the soap and he almost fell asleep. I took this opportunity to ask the barber if he could cut my hair too. He said, “Of course, I can do this for you.” George had already told me he is the best because he knows how to do “nylon” hair. I asked him if he was just as good with “steel wool” hair – like his. We had a good laugh. – OK back to Noah’s haircut – he was taken back to the chair and give a complete and thorough massage of not only his head but his face, shoulders and upper back too. Wow! We concluded our trip to town with a cup of coffee and sandwich before going to look for a battery for my laptop. We found out it would cost $246 to replace it… never mind. When we got home I talked to Doug – we chatted a bit as he checked my computer, that was nice – then we decided I should do an online chat with the Geek Squad at Best Buy where I bought the computer to be sure I had a new one that wouldn’t give me trouble in Africa. That was most frustrating. They were no help at all, so I gave them a name change…..Worst Buy…. ( I’m sure I’m not the first to think up that name.) My frustrations was at its peak when I remembered I had a program called HP advisor so I managed to get on a chat with one of their reps. The first line let me know they knew how to help me. After about 30 minutes of diagnosing the problem she gave me instructions to power drain the computer and come back online if it didn’t work. Just as we closed the conversation the power went out. What perfect timing! So I took a break and went in the kitchen to help Nelly cook dinner. We cooked, ate and did clean up to candles and flash lights. Now it was getting late so I put away my laptop, let down the mosquito net and got ready for bed when, lo and behold, the lights came back on! So I got back online – we have a modem that fits into an usb port like a gig stick – and reopened my HP advisor to restart my chat session. I got a different lady this time but she was equally as helpful as the first. She gave me a download to check out the battery and a promise to send me a new one if this didn’t work. (A brief intermission for a commercial - I have been on chat with Dell and Geeks and no one has helped me like HP!... Except our own personal specialist, Doug, of course.) Well it worked and I now have a fully charged battery.
November 5, 09
Good morning! We slept well with the regular scheduled rooster crows causing us to remember where we are. But it is getting a little easier to ignore. Next, put on the kettle for tea/coffee, get a shower. The water pressure was good today, or maybe I’m just getting used to the trickleJ The temperature was dropping to about 76 degrees so Nelly got out the snow suit for Haviylah, (she already had on 3 layers of clothes. We laid her on our bed. She couldn’t even turn over. I’m thinking they better come visit us in the summer. J
I feel your prayers today. Yesterday was not without its’ trials. George and Noah got a little out of sync but they took time to talk and things began to lighten up. We had a good rest of the day. After dinner they spent time together talking about what God is doing here. We know without perfect unity God cannot move and we will not let the sun go down without working out our difficulties. Our enemy is busy and we must be about the Father’s work. His will is all we desire to do.
I am reading a book from our library (thanks JoyJ) called ‘The Obedience of the Faith: Mary Mozley’. She was inspired by Amy Carmichael, to go to Africa as a missionary. One of her letters to her friends and family at home put my thoughts and feeling into words so I will quote her:
“Indeed we feel if Jesus Himself does not draw near and go with us, it were better not to go at all. ‘If Thy presence go not with us’ it would indeed be life and money wasted. There is so much to do in these days we hardly have time to think. Everyone is so good and kind. Our hearts ache for those who will be left behind, it is so much worse for them. The verse that comes into my mind is that one about a sword piercing through the heart. And it means that at this time. Yet for our dear ones ads for ourselves, the knowledge that the sword is held in pierced Hands and the piercing is guided in the highest wisdom and the deepest love is more that comforting. There is a hundred-fold more in this present time to be given not only to those who go but to those who give. May we indeed prove this. Our future is unknown for us as we go forward and for you staying in the homeland. How good it is to know that even so it is –
‘Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown! Jesus we know and He is on the throne’”. -Mary Mozley
In other words I am missing you all already and love you so much. George says we are taking this first week to ‘rest’ …LOL…. and settle. Then we will get busy. My heart is full of anticipation of what God will do in these next 2 months, here and at home.
Haviylah