Hello!
I made it back to the States. For those of you who don't know, I came home for Christmas. I will be here about a month. So, here are a few first impressions - jet-lag fog and all.
Driving - what do I do with my left foot? There is no clutch. My windowshield has no dust on it. The wipers have gone several times when I meant to do the turn signal. RIGHT! Stay in the right lane - my mind thinks it is wrong, but it is amazing how annoyed other people get :). No, I have only been on the wrong side when there hasn't been other traffic around to give me clues - only my parents in the car with me get annoyed. People drive fast! I must be getting old as I drive slow - of course being jet-lagged probably has something to do with that. Give me a few days and I'll be back to normal.
Restaurants - Americans are noisy! Almost every restaurant I have been to has had loud music and lots of loud people. Chik-fil-a still has delicious Chicken biscuits, but now they take your name and you go sit down and wait for them to bring your food. I still have to read the menus to see what is on offer and people behind the counter get annoyed that I don't know what I want before I come in. So, I guess we are impatient too.
Shopping - I haven't tackled that one much. I did go to get a few toiletries at Target, but I have avoided malls and such. Maybe next week.
I head out with my parents tomorrow to meet some Pottengers that we don't know - yet. It should be fun trying to figure out how we are related. We got connected through facebook and a college friend. After that, we have lunch with the Mangels and then start our driving trip to Indianapolis. I will be seeing some folks in Blue Springs, MO who came to visit me in Turkana in 2009. It should be a fun evening. Then on to Indy to see family and another party with friends and supporters. I am looking forward to seeing everyone!
I guess that is all for now. I hope you are enjoying the season and have a chance to reflect on Christ's Advent in the past, the present and the future! Be blessed in this season of our Lord!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
What's in a name?
Hello!
It is the start of Advent season. Well, actually, it started already I just haven't moved past the first day. I was reading Matthew 1 and kinda got stuck in all the names. Some of you don't know that played a Bible quiz game (called Bible Bowl) from 7th-12th grade. I enjoyed it and learned a lot of the Bible. I really liked the geneologies. If I memeorized all the names in order and my team was asked about it, it was like getting free points. I made up funny sentences, songs and rhymes to help me remember the first letters of the names. It was a challenge and it was fun.
I don't think they include geneologies in the current form of Bible Bowl. I could be wrong, as I am way out of the loop. I think they are missing out on something if they don't. "Why," you may say. Well, names are important to the people wearing them. The fact that they are included in the Bible tells me that they are also important to God. That gives me hope and a firm faith that my name is also important to him. He knows my name. He knows me. You and I may seem very insignificant to ourselves, but God knows our name. If we believe in his Son, Jesus, then our names are also written down in His book of life. He promises to give us eternal life. He has a new name for us that will describe us to a T.
So, I got stuck in the names. Some of them seem quite odd to our modern ears. Ram. Who is he? He is the father of Amminadab, the son of Hezron , the grandfather of Nashon. He is known by God! Who is Rahab? We know a little about her, but God knows even more. Who is Lynn? Who are you? We are the children of the living God and He knows our names and He loves us more than we could ever really comprehend. That's what's in a name!
I pray you have time this Advent to "chew" on Jesus' coming to this world, his second coming and his coming into our hearts daily as we allow him to do so. Have a blessed season!
It is the start of Advent season. Well, actually, it started already I just haven't moved past the first day. I was reading Matthew 1 and kinda got stuck in all the names. Some of you don't know that played a Bible quiz game (called Bible Bowl) from 7th-12th grade. I enjoyed it and learned a lot of the Bible. I really liked the geneologies. If I memeorized all the names in order and my team was asked about it, it was like getting free points. I made up funny sentences, songs and rhymes to help me remember the first letters of the names. It was a challenge and it was fun.
I don't think they include geneologies in the current form of Bible Bowl. I could be wrong, as I am way out of the loop. I think they are missing out on something if they don't. "Why," you may say. Well, names are important to the people wearing them. The fact that they are included in the Bible tells me that they are also important to God. That gives me hope and a firm faith that my name is also important to him. He knows my name. He knows me. You and I may seem very insignificant to ourselves, but God knows our name. If we believe in his Son, Jesus, then our names are also written down in His book of life. He promises to give us eternal life. He has a new name for us that will describe us to a T.
So, I got stuck in the names. Some of them seem quite odd to our modern ears. Ram. Who is he? He is the father of Amminadab, the son of Hezron , the grandfather of Nashon. He is known by God! Who is Rahab? We know a little about her, but God knows even more. Who is Lynn? Who are you? We are the children of the living God and He knows our names and He loves us more than we could ever really comprehend. That's what's in a name!
I pray you have time this Advent to "chew" on Jesus' coming to this world, his second coming and his coming into our hearts daily as we allow him to do so. Have a blessed season!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Schools out for Summer! :)
Hello!
Our local primary schools and the high schools are officailly out for the year. Today was the last day for many primary schools. I had a small party at my house for the kids that are sponsored by me or my friends. There were 14 kids here along with my guard, houseworker and me. We all had a good time. I fixed up a big batch of chili - Indiana style. That is with some spaghetti in it. It was the first time for most of them to have chili, but they seemed to like it. They were all part of the clean bowl club anyway. I didn't make it spicy hot as I don't like lots of hot spices and the very little kids would have complained.
The kids enjoyed playing on the swings and slide that are in the yard. I took pictures of each child and one group shot. Since this is a borrowed computer, I will have to wait to post one until I have my computer back. I only had one of my high school students here. The rest are not out of school yet or could not make it today. I measured all the kids and marked their heights on the back of my hall door. Now to find a tape measure to figure out exactly how tall they are :). I also wrote down their grades and class positions.
As I took them home, I handed out a small sack of goodies. They each got some lolipops, hard candy, bubble gum, a fig newton and a small cake thing with chocolate inside that I found at one of the shops. So, they were happy. They will all be promoted to the next grade in January. One student took her 8th grade test this year and will have to wait until the end of January to find out if she did well enough to get into high school. I am hoping that she did well and can get into a good school. Now to wait and see.
I hope you are having a great day!
Our local primary schools and the high schools are officailly out for the year. Today was the last day for many primary schools. I had a small party at my house for the kids that are sponsored by me or my friends. There were 14 kids here along with my guard, houseworker and me. We all had a good time. I fixed up a big batch of chili - Indiana style. That is with some spaghetti in it. It was the first time for most of them to have chili, but they seemed to like it. They were all part of the clean bowl club anyway. I didn't make it spicy hot as I don't like lots of hot spices and the very little kids would have complained.
The kids enjoyed playing on the swings and slide that are in the yard. I took pictures of each child and one group shot. Since this is a borrowed computer, I will have to wait to post one until I have my computer back. I only had one of my high school students here. The rest are not out of school yet or could not make it today. I measured all the kids and marked their heights on the back of my hall door. Now to find a tape measure to figure out exactly how tall they are :). I also wrote down their grades and class positions.
As I took them home, I handed out a small sack of goodies. They each got some lolipops, hard candy, bubble gum, a fig newton and a small cake thing with chocolate inside that I found at one of the shops. So, they were happy. They will all be promoted to the next grade in January. One student took her 8th grade test this year and will have to wait until the end of January to find out if she did well enough to get into high school. I am hoping that she did well and can get into a good school. Now to wait and see.
I hope you are having a great day!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Multinational Thanksgiving
Hello!
Happy Thanksgiving! Okay, I know I am a bit early, but I celebrated Thanksgiving last night with some wonderful friends. I was the only American present, but we all entered into the spirit of Thanksgiving. I celebrated with people from Kenya, England, and the Netherlands. It was a great evening of fun and food. We had many of the traditional trimmings - green bean casserole, potatoes, apple salad, pasta salad, pumpkin pie and cherry pie. Our main course was beef kabobs and barbecue chicken. It was all very yummy! Our barbecue grill was made out of a semi-truck (called a lorry here) wheel rim. It worked very well.
We spent the evening under the stars chatting about the meaning of Thanksgiving and then on to many other topics. We talked a lot about history. My old brain was working overtime trying to remember my history lessons about several events from by-gone years. Thankfully, the mosquitoes were not bad and we were able to sit out in a newly designed sitting area at Theo and Kaby's house (some fellow missionaries).
I hope you are all enjoying a great week and are full of thanksgiving to our Lord for who He is and what He has done for us! blessings to you all!
Happy Thanksgiving! Okay, I know I am a bit early, but I celebrated Thanksgiving last night with some wonderful friends. I was the only American present, but we all entered into the spirit of Thanksgiving. I celebrated with people from Kenya, England, and the Netherlands. It was a great evening of fun and food. We had many of the traditional trimmings - green bean casserole, potatoes, apple salad, pasta salad, pumpkin pie and cherry pie. Our main course was beef kabobs and barbecue chicken. It was all very yummy! Our barbecue grill was made out of a semi-truck (called a lorry here) wheel rim. It worked very well.
We spent the evening under the stars chatting about the meaning of Thanksgiving and then on to many other topics. We talked a lot about history. My old brain was working overtime trying to remember my history lessons about several events from by-gone years. Thankfully, the mosquitoes were not bad and we were able to sit out in a newly designed sitting area at Theo and Kaby's house (some fellow missionaries).
I hope you are all enjoying a great week and are full of thanksgiving to our Lord for who He is and what He has done for us! blessings to you all!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
buggy computers?
Hello!
Well, I thought my computer had a virus or a glitch in its system since it is an Apple and they are not supposed to get viruses very easily. It started having problems on Monday of this week. So, I got creative and figured out how to get it to Nairobi without me having to fly down with it. I had a visitor coming on Friday and an English class next week, so I didn't really have time to fly to Nairobi to get it fixed. A very kind and trusted person agreed to take it on the flight to Kitale and then she drove it the rest of the way to Nairobi on Wednesday. I had someone pick it up from her Thursday morning and take it to the only Apple shop in Kenya that is licensed to work on them. I thought it was just a glitch in a downloaded update that was making my operating system have problems. It wasn't!
I was told that it is a mechanical problem with my hard drive. I need to replace it and not used the computer until it is replaced or I could loose everything on it. This computer was new to me in 2008, but it was refurbished so I don't know how old it really was or what the problems might have been to made it need to be refurbished. So, I have decided to wait and look at something new when I go back to the States for Christmas. I will also probably get the hard drive replaced and then have an extra computer to use in my ESL class for my students. It will help to be able to divide them up into groups with this Movie software program we just started. So, that is the current plan.
I am currently borrowing a computer from a friend to write this blog. I will be trying to stay as connected as possible by borrowing when I can. God is good and has provided various people for me to visit and borrow some time on their computers this week. My teammates who are on furlough, may have a computer here that their son used. I am going to try to find it today and use that if I can. So, I do have a few options.
I am having to re-do the work that I had done for my English class next week. It was just a few worksheets, but it is discouraging since I already had them done. I am hoping to finish that up today and tomorrow if I have access to my teammates' computer. I am going searching shortly. I have to return this borrowed computer in about 15 minutes.
I hope all is well with you!
Well, I thought my computer had a virus or a glitch in its system since it is an Apple and they are not supposed to get viruses very easily. It started having problems on Monday of this week. So, I got creative and figured out how to get it to Nairobi without me having to fly down with it. I had a visitor coming on Friday and an English class next week, so I didn't really have time to fly to Nairobi to get it fixed. A very kind and trusted person agreed to take it on the flight to Kitale and then she drove it the rest of the way to Nairobi on Wednesday. I had someone pick it up from her Thursday morning and take it to the only Apple shop in Kenya that is licensed to work on them. I thought it was just a glitch in a downloaded update that was making my operating system have problems. It wasn't!
I was told that it is a mechanical problem with my hard drive. I need to replace it and not used the computer until it is replaced or I could loose everything on it. This computer was new to me in 2008, but it was refurbished so I don't know how old it really was or what the problems might have been to made it need to be refurbished. So, I have decided to wait and look at something new when I go back to the States for Christmas. I will also probably get the hard drive replaced and then have an extra computer to use in my ESL class for my students. It will help to be able to divide them up into groups with this Movie software program we just started. So, that is the current plan.
I am currently borrowing a computer from a friend to write this blog. I will be trying to stay as connected as possible by borrowing when I can. God is good and has provided various people for me to visit and borrow some time on their computers this week. My teammates who are on furlough, may have a computer here that their son used. I am going to try to find it today and use that if I can. So, I do have a few options.
I am having to re-do the work that I had done for my English class next week. It was just a few worksheets, but it is discouraging since I already had them done. I am hoping to finish that up today and tomorrow if I have access to my teammates' computer. I am going searching shortly. I have to return this borrowed computer in about 15 minutes.
I hope all is well with you!
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