Guest House Feb. 20-26

My corner of the room we stay in. :)

(Can you see the zebras?)

On Tuesday night, we walked to a market, bought a watermelon and some mangos, and made a scrumptious fruit salad for supper. :)

Daryl Martin and Kendy Allen, this photo is for you. :)
Everyone else: Did you know Kenyan Coke is actually made with sugar cane? 

En route to Nairobi 2/20/13

I miss Snickers and Tabby, but there are some cows, donkeys, etc. in Boito (and there's always the bunnies at the Children's Home). Cows are usually tethered on maybe an 8 ft. rope, wherever there is grass to eat; and the owners actually have a pretty close relationship with their animals: I usually see guys walking their cow(s) like you would walk a dog with just the rope or maybe a staff. There's a farmer who ties his cows right outside the fence of the compound, and the kids are kind of shy of the large animals. (Gregory pet one cow on the nose for about a millisecond, but he did it. He was so brave).
Anyway, this little calf was one of the sights I saw on our walk. I took other pictures of him, but he was a little shy, and he kept hiding his head behind a bush. Finally he curled up in this little patch of shade, and I could snap a picture of his sweet face. <3 The rest of the day was pretty tiring, but I listen and connect with God in the still small moments, and this one was a little symbol of the riches of His grace, and His mercy and kindness. He cares for me, and He is good enough to give His attention to the tiniest details that will give me snippets of hope and joy to keep serving with my whole heart, and with His strength. I think the reason this meant so much to me, is that I'm more at home with animals than people sometimes. After living and working with people nonstop, it's so peaceful to just be silent and study the bright, innocent eyes, cute muzzle, and listening ears of a familiar animal.
"What words or thoughts are worthy of Him, who is above all language and all thought? The conception of God as He is can only be grasped in one way, and even that is impossible for us, beyond our grasp and understanding; by thinking of Him as a Being whose attributes and greatness are beyond our powers of understanding, or even of thought." -NOVITIAN 

'Walking is Very Beneficial Exercise'

'Aunt Kathy' and her friend Peggy are visiting this week; and  Courtney, Mallory and Peggy took Gregory and Elizabeth on a walk with me.

Valentine's Day

Every Wednesday night (without fail) the power goes out. Courtney, Mallory and I did ballet by candlelight :), and in then I was reading with my flashlight. It was perfect.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE ingredients! Courtney brought a bag of chocolate chips from the U.S. that she was saving for a special purpose (you can't find chocolate chips anywhere in Kenya), and we thought Valentine's Day was special enough. 

We took turns stirring, and here are the results. :) 

We made about 70 small ones like this to give to the kids, and a few large ones for ourselves. Greg and Mary Rose also gave us each a single pack of Oreo's, which was so kind of them. It's good that there aren't desserts in Kenya most of the time- Mallory and I agree that we feel healthier because of the absence of snacks and sweet things. Thursday was an exception, though, in the best way possible. 

Mmm.......

The brown cow in this picture has a heart-shaped white patch on her face. I couldn't get a picture of it, but I thought I would mention that :) -and it's really nice to have cows next door, it reminds me of home. 

Concrete, Joseph & Elkanah.

My theme verse. 

The view from the Children's Home. There are lots of trees, and we're surrounded by beautiful tea fields. 

The building to the left is the kitchen and the dining room. Greg's workshop (and storage room) is on the right. This picture is looking down the path from the building where our room is. 

Elkanah and Joseph <3

Again :)

Kenyan workers mixing concrete for the school rooms and bedrooms. 

So far, we have the classroom and the girl's room done. The guys working on the concrete propped the door back in the door way to prevent it from being, ahem, -disrupted- while it's drying. 

Cisco <3 She's the sweetest little girl and so quiet and gentle. 

Manny (Immanuel)

Mercy :)

Dorcas 

Me and Johnny.

Mallory and sweet little Faith Ann <3

Various tan lines, heehee

Me and Mary Rose <3 <3 

'

A Day in the Life

This morning I made french toast for my team mates. <3 We don't usually have milk, but there's always powdered milk and baby formula, so I mixed powdered milk/water with some vanilla, eggs, and cinnamon. Greg and Mary Rose bought us a loaf of bread earlier this week, so we made an executive decision last night to use it for breakfast this morning. In Kenya, all sugar is raw sugar (really good, and so much healthier than white refined sugar), so we made cinnamon sugar, and had honey and peanut butter to go with it. -It. was. scrumptious. 
Greg and Mary Rose are away for 4 days to do paperwork and shop for supplies/groceries that we need. It's impossible to do paperwork here with the constant needs of the children and babies, so every once in awhile they take a day or two. It's the closest thing to a break that they have, but I'm glad that they could go and feel good about leaving the kids with us and the staff. Mary Rose says that usually she worries about them so much while she's away (even for a day), that she winds up coming home earlier than planned. 
Today we are watching Gregory, Francis, Bryan, Manny, and Gideon (a.k.a. the Fearsome Five). We played soccer and tag with them until they dropped, and tried to read some Bible stories. I'm not sure how well they were listening, but we read about Jesus healing sick and paralyzed people, walking on the water, and the fruits of the Spirit. Everybody's (supposedly) napping right now, but at 3:00 it's time for two more hours of play/work, and then suppertime and bedtime. 

February 4, 2013

Bunnies <3

LIZARD! :)

Playing soccer in the yard, 2/4/13

 <3 Kathleen (you can see me with Mary Rose behind her)  

Courtney taught the girls how to make friendship bracelets. 

Left to right: me with Kathleen, (Francis), Mallory with Faith Ann, and Courtney with Billy (what WAS he doing?)

The Courtney jungle gym.