I'm going back to Kenya!

"I think I'm in love. I don't know if it's the country, the people, the weather, this camp, the beauty surrounding me, or all of it. I just know I love Kenya!"
                                    ~My first journal entry in Kenya: April 2, 2013

When I left Kenya last March, I had know idea I would be heading back just a little over a year later. But God is full of surprises and so many blessings!

In June, I have the opportunity to go to Kenya with a team of eleven others to work with Shelter of Hope for two weeks. We will be teaching Vacation Bible School in the slums of Nairobi, as well as a rural village.

I'm so thankful for this opportunity and looking forward to sharing more of God's work in Kenya with you!  

Home Sweet Home

I made it home! It was a little later than planned, but I did still make it. My flight from Tokyo to Chicago was a little late and immigration/customs was backed up further than I had ever seen it before! Even the airport workers were surprised/frustrated and pointing out the stack of comment cards to people! It took over an hour just to get through immigration and customs. At that point, I had less than half an hour to get to my next flight. They had already started boarding and I was basically told I would never make it on that flight. They were pretty much just sending anyone with flight in the next hour to get new tickets.

So, I joined the line of frustrated, upset, anxious people waiting to get a new ticket, praying the whole way through the line that I would be able to get another flight out that night. And I DID! Three hours later, put my in right around midnight, but I was SO thankful!

And God sent other little blessings along the way. One in the form of another girl who missed the same flight I did. She teaches in Shanghai and we were able to have some really nice conversations.

Thankful to God for the safe trip and that the flights themselves were uneventful. Kelsey and Leah made it home safely as well and now we're praying Cat home today :-)

Things we say here that we will probably not say at home....

How’d you get so cute?


How’d you get so sweet?

Did you poop? Are you poopers?

Is there any more in there?

You’re getting to be such a big boy/ girl!

Look how chubby you are!

Look how strong you are!

I’m going to go suck the snot out of her nose.

You can’t crawl over the other babies.

Thanks so much for spitting up on me.

WORD!

Only five more days until movie night!

I’m going to bike into town.

 
 
Hard to believe I'll only be saying/ hearing these things for one more day!
 
Please pray for:
-safe travel home on Monday.... kind of dreading the 24+ travel hours alone, but looking forward to seeing all my family and friends!
-safe travel for Kelsey and Leah (who leave Tuesday) and Cat (who leaves Wednesday)
-Meredith, Word, Showhwa, and Shr Mama, who will be here with the babies.
-Several of our babies who are sick
-an adoptive family flying in Tuesday night
-one of our babies who has her 3rd court date next month... pray that things will be worked out and that she will be able to go home to be with her forever family soon.

The Power of Prayer

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).


"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

A few weeks ago, Ted preached about prayer. How many sermons have you heard on prayer? Probably many. You often hear sermons on prayer. Most I've heard are good, but Ted's sermon was so meaningful and made such an impression on me. Why? Because Ted lives it out in his everyday life. His first response when something happens with one of the kids is to pray. He stops whatever he is doing and prays. He prays on his bike rides in the morning. Prayer is a part of everything Ted does. Just a couple examples of prayer requests answered since I've been here:

-Three families have scheduled flights before their final paper was here (per Ted's ok, of course). He called them and told them to go ahead and schedule, and then we prayed. And guess what?! Papers arrived for all three of those families so they could get their babies on time.

-A couple weeks ago, Word went up to get more wipes and found that there were no more. We just had what was downstairs, which was not many. We rationed our wipes and we prayed. The other day, men came with a delivery and guess what it was! Diapers and WIPES!

God is so good! He provides for our every need, regardless of how small it may be.

Thursday off

Thursday each week are our days off. This past week, we spent a day out on the town and we had a blast!

 First, we stopped so Kelsey and Cat could get some new glasses.... everyone tried some on!

Next, we went to get our hair shampooed and head massaged.....it was definitely worth the less than $5 we paid!

 Cat and Kelsey's cost 20NT less than Leah's and mine..... still don't understand why!

 Leah, happy with the end result and loving that we had this opportunity.We all enjoyed it! A must-do if you are ever in Taiwan!

Then, we went to get Mango tea, which was good, and even great if you actually like tea....

After picking up our tea, we headed for the Christian bookstore. We were unsure of exactly where it was, but when we were wondering if we were headed in the right direction, we saw our friend, Gwo Hwei, and he pointed us in the right direction..... thank You, God! We made it there without any further problems and enjoyed doing a little shopping.

By this time, we were all pretty hungry, so we went to a local pizza place. We were all pretty excited about our pizza lunch! .

We couldn't miss out on possibly a last chance to get mango bing, so we headed across the street and through the park to the mango bing place, but were distracted by these creatures made entirely out of kitchen pots, pans, and utensils.... pretty impressive, right?!

And since we were taking pictures anyway, we had to get a group picture!

We finally arrived and got our mango bing. It was absolutely delicious!

Another must-have if you're ever in Taiwan!!!!!

As much as we enjoy our days off, we always look forward to getting back to the Home to love on the babies.... they are missed on our days out!

Blessings from the past week:
-Final papers arrived for one of our little ones, and her parents are coming to get her on August 2!
-One of our babies was allocated and has a new name.
-It is beautiful here.... I'm continually blessed by the beauty I see on walks and bike rides. It's a great reminder of how great our God is!
-Jun Jun, Renee, and Meredith, who faithfully come out on Thursdays, so we can have a day off. What a blessing they are!

Prayer Requests:
-Paperwork to move more quickly... it has been much slower than last summer.
-The older kids at camp this week.
-A couple of our babies, who are still struggling with coughs/colds
-A situation with one of our babies
-Birth mothers- it is such an act of love on their part to give up their little ones. They know they can't take care of their babies and and they want a better life for them.... what a terribly difficult decision to have to make!

Random pictures

In my last post, you got random posts.... this post will be random pictures!

I love baby feet! 

Last week we celebrated Showhwa's birthday! She got cards from all the babies!

Taiwan is beautiful!

Don't you agree?

I love when the babies hold hands!

Did I mention that I love baby feet?!

We took a boat ride on Showhwa's birthday!

Mango waffles are amazing!



Random thoughts....

I'm lying in bed unable to sleep for the third time this week because of the random thoughts in my head. These include, but are not limited to:

-Maybe I shouldn't have had coffee this afternoon.

-Why would I want to add my blood type to my facebook profile?

-I love watching Ted interract with the kids.... he is a fantastic father to all these little ones!

-I'm really going to miss David and his family as they travel home tomorrow, but I'm so happy for them!

-I miss my family and look forward to seeing them in a couple weeks.... can't wait for pizza and pinochle!

-Praying for a situation with one of our little ones.... God's will be done.

-Hoping all the babies with colds will feel better soon and that I'll have the energy to give them extra love, hugs, kisses, and patience

-Wishing I could let God be in control instead of worrying and getting upset about little things. Why is my first reaction not prayer every time? God is so faithful, yet He is far to often not the first one I turn to.

-Glad Matt, Chrissy, and Mira are able to spend time with family, but I would love some pictures sometime soon (hint, hint!)

-Why is the fruit here so much better than the fruit in America?

-I work with some pretty awesome people (both here and at home!)

-The internet is working right now and that makes me incredibly happy.

-How can I only have two weeks left here?! Mixed emotions about that.... I am so excited to see everyone at home and looking forward to a new school year, but I am going to miss everyone here and I will definitely be going through baby withdrawl!

-I sure hope sleep comes soon- 5:30 comes so early!

What thoughts are running through your head?