Catch up time!

Lets just say that life got in the way of my blogging.  Sorry, I do know that some people really enjoy reading these posts.  Thanks for your encouragement to keep doing this.  I will attempt to try to catch you up on what has been going on with me this year.

In case you didn't know, I was on furlough from June of last year until late May of this year.  Furlough is not a vacation.  I do get to see a lot of the country, but I am usually pretty busy with reporting to churches and individuals about what has been going on in Turkana.  That is not to say that I did not get a little vacation time while I was on furlough.  I did.  I just don't want you to think I had an eleven month vacation!  I didn't!

From January to May, I visited 10 supporting churches.  A couple of them I went to more than once just because I was still in the area.  I traveled in and through several states to visit these churches.  The churches were in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.  I put a lot of miles on my car!  I also got to see many old friends and to make some new ones.  It would be really hard to choose who to highlight and who to leave out, so I will not be telling you the names of all the churches, individuals and families that I spent time with during these months.  It is fun to see so many old friends.  It is great to get to talk about Turkana and the work the Lord is doing there!  Even so, for this slightly introverted person it was also tiring.

In May I spent my last few weeks in Colorado with my parents and niece.  I was busy purchasing the things I needed (and wanted) to bring back to Kenya with me.  I had a couple of days when I searched for some trunks to bring stuff back in and I eventually found what I needed.  I got a lot of things - it is embarrassing to think of all the stuff I bought, but I really am glad I got it.  :)  

Then I returned to Kenya.  When I got here, I needed to spend about a week in Nairobi.  I had to buy groceries, repack those trunks, ship most of it up to Turkana, buy a new refrigerator and a new wash machine and arrange to get those shipped as well.  It was a busy time.  I'm glad God helped my stay on track, because a lot of the time I just wanted to be sleeping since I had jet lag.  Thanks to everyone who helped me raise the funds I needed to get these two appliances!  I love them both and thank our Lord every time I use them!

I finally made it home to Lodwar on May 30th.  When I got here I spent some time just visiting with people, hugging kids, petting my animals and readjusting to the heat.  I was excited to see some fresh green things in my yard too!  Turkana had gotten some rain in April and early May, so things were doing well and not as brown as when I left last June.  I'll leave you with a few pictures of the things in bloom around my yard.

A blooming tree at the back of my dinning room

kids smiles blooming every time I saw them - even when clearing out brush because they lost school books

one of my workers planted these not knowing what would come up.  I like them!

another blooming tree.  These are fuzzy buds.

a plumaria plant

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  I loved seeing signs of plant life when I got home and just wanted to share a little of my blessings with you.