June 29, 2009
monday mornings are never fun...unless you are in afrika :)
before i proceed to tell you about this monday, i realized there were several things i forgot to mention so far that i feel are essential that you know.
first of all, i am pretty tired of hearing about michael jackson. even half way across the world, he has taken over the newspaper. becky and i had our tribute last night with the playing of that good old free willy song. now let's keep moving.
and billy mays. i never did try oxi clean. i've had a great object lesson planned with it for months that i have just never fit into a lesson..but i think i will as soon as i get home in honor of him...
yesterday i took my first malaria pill. if you could see this place, you would know how silly that is.
because of east wind, the dunes are super dark and they have these edges of blown sand setting on the top of them. it's really beautiful.
i have now survived 6 days without blow drying or straightening my hair. i am proud of this. and surprised that i have yet to terrify anyone with my hair.
my work out sessions....ha ha well let's just say i am making some effort out of pure guilt from all of the wonderful baked goods that kim has kindly offered me. so i do a few sit ups, some criss crosses (straight out of winsor pilates) and some of those killer leg drop things. and i walk to the truck each morning, and i get a pretty good work out in those kid songs....ya no. let's just say i did not think i was supposed to go to africa and gain weight. it seems backwards to me. just saying.
the turtles mr. t and tiny t have been mia since i last spoke of them. it's a really sad thing. becky and i searched for them and they are no where to be found.
i am currently somewhere around 350 pictures in 6 days...so i do not know how to say this...but if you thought my album count was ridiculous before...prepare yourself.
here in namibia...they offer flushing options when you go to the bathroom. there are two buttons on the top of the toilet...a small one and a large one....do you see where i am going with this? if you need the entire bowl of water you press the big one, and if you didn't do so much damage you can save yourself some water and go for the half bowl flush..just thought you would like to know
missy is the gardner's dog. she is what we call slightly skittish...and borderline bipolar. one second she is your best friend cuddled up to you on the couch and the next thing you know, she runs from you as fast as she can in the opposite direction. sometimes when we play with her, we have to hide or she won't come out to fetch the ball, i don't know what we did...but it's interesting.
lately i have been contemplating wearing my zeebra shirt to the safari ride. i don't know if camoflaging myself with be helpful or harmful and i am looking for opinions on this matter. please post.
ok now back to this monday morning.
it was a slightly rough start considering that becky and i napped for quite sometime yesterday and had a hard time falling asleep. but the 5:30 alarm came no less and by the grace of God we heard it and woke up.
i have got to say knowing that i was walking out into the african sunshine may have motivated me slightly.
so we went inside, put on our large, bright yellow tshirts and headed off to the school assembly.
we unloaded the truck and walked into the most beautiful thing that i have ever heard-200 african children in uniform singing at the top of their lungs. it was right out of a movie....i seriously had tears in my eyes.
i need to record it because let me tell you something, that would get me out of the bed in the morning, you just couldn't help but smile :)
so we did a life lesson with bananas..are you beginning to see a theme around here? bright yellow shirts, bright yellow truck, bananas, etc.
sang some "i like bananas" told a story which involved mark eating a banana peel and all, me wrapping up the life lesson, some keko the monkey and his atomic karate chop in which he chopped the banana into 7 pieces without even removing the peel, and a little more singing.
then we met kim for breakfast at this adorable little place called the village cafe. i had some delicious warm hot chocolate(swakopmund is now officially cold again since east wind is gone) and a nice cheesy omelet with some green peppers and toast.
are you beginning to see the wonder in this monday morning?
then it was time to dress nort and tangelo, the new monkies on the scene.
mark takes this matter very seriously mind you. the clothes need to match their skin tone...and kim keeps his feet on the ground ha ha it's amazing how it all works. anyways we looked around and contemplated and finally settled on some pretty "gangsta" clothes in the words of kim.
then mark took us to this second hand store on the corner. soo fun. i mean it's super cool to buy something authentically african...and it's even cooler to get something used that is african because it ensures it's authenticity...ha ha. kim thought we were nuts. she said normally people hate stores like that when they are visiting, we are the first ones to be so odd she says. but she's laughing so she must be entertained and hey that's usually my job.
later this afternoon, mark wanted to sneak in a trip to the golf course so he let us tag along. apparently it is a place where deer and antalope play...but for real. so we hung out with some antalope and the birds and lots of their poop.
funny thing about this...my mother told us to look out for the antalope...ha ha of all things african they were at the forefront of her mind.
i am alive and well and able to report that they are indeed gentle creatures. just incase you needed to know :)
we came home and once again becky and i crashed for a while. when we woke up, it was time to brainstorm for the first namibian kids camp!
kim won out on the theme. mark really really wanted "love never fails" but kim (along with the rest of us) thought that a lot of hearts was not the coolest kids camp idea on the planet ha ha. so we went with "the ultimate challenge" pretty much a survivor theme. we spent the rest of the evening googleing decorations and trading camp stories and allowing mark interject his crazy stories...we came up with a pretty amazin banner for the front of the camp too. kim wants this to be the best kids camp ever...she knows it's the first one ever..but she says it will be the best ha ha that's why we love her.
she has recently be dubbed kimpossible.
she made this amazing turkey dinner tonight with mashed potatoes and gravy and corn on the cob and broccoli with cheese and rolls....and then fresh fruit after...fresh african fruit mind you :)
so what have i learned today?
well i stumbled across this amazing verse in habakkuk 2:3 "for still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end--it will not lie. if it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come it will not delay.
so while i don't have some great lesson from the mission field today, God did show me a little something in our time together. and he has proven this promise to me over and over again. if i will just trust him with all of my heart and follow him where he leads and just keep the visions and dreams he gives me close to my heart, they will come to pass. he also says in isaiah 55 that the words that go forth from his mouth will not return void but they will accomplish what he has purposed.
i thought i would never get to africa, and here i am...
and sometimes i think of all of the very BIG things he has put in my heart and i wonder how they will ever come alive. i am so small, they are so big...but today he just encouraged me to keep them close to my heart and some day he will bless them and bring them to life. all i need to do is be willing.
and he has been speaking to me and showing me some pretty cool things and just expanding the dreams even further :) it's beautiful really. and i am so thankful.
i also have a recommendation. if you are planning some sort of missions adventure...aim for a smaller group. while i have been blessed and learned a lot from team trips, this is a totally different dynamic and it provides so much more opportunity. so much one on one time and more chances to really see the land and the country and get to know people instead of just being in and out of places and constantly moving. it's what the field is really like and how missionary families really live. i have learned so much and so many different things...and plan to spend lots of time and to really really soak up every single second. just saying...ha ha
well. time to skype some people :) let me know if you would like an african phone call :) i'm researching post card prices right now....trying to not spend a fortune lol.
i must also practice conversing with myself and developing mort who turned to nort and is now officially named nugat. mark insists that he make an appearance at the orphanage and that i become a vantrilloquist by the time i leave africa :)
new afrikanse for the day: lekker...sounds like leca=good
ok
lekker night all :)
thanks for reading :)
before i proceed to tell you about this monday, i realized there were several things i forgot to mention so far that i feel are essential that you know.
first of all, i am pretty tired of hearing about michael jackson. even half way across the world, he has taken over the newspaper. becky and i had our tribute last night with the playing of that good old free willy song. now let's keep moving.
and billy mays. i never did try oxi clean. i've had a great object lesson planned with it for months that i have just never fit into a lesson..but i think i will as soon as i get home in honor of him...
yesterday i took my first malaria pill. if you could see this place, you would know how silly that is.
because of east wind, the dunes are super dark and they have these edges of blown sand setting on the top of them. it's really beautiful.
i have now survived 6 days without blow drying or straightening my hair. i am proud of this. and surprised that i have yet to terrify anyone with my hair.
my work out sessions....ha ha well let's just say i am making some effort out of pure guilt from all of the wonderful baked goods that kim has kindly offered me. so i do a few sit ups, some criss crosses (straight out of winsor pilates) and some of those killer leg drop things. and i walk to the truck each morning, and i get a pretty good work out in those kid songs....ya no. let's just say i did not think i was supposed to go to africa and gain weight. it seems backwards to me. just saying.
the turtles mr. t and tiny t have been mia since i last spoke of them. it's a really sad thing. becky and i searched for them and they are no where to be found.
i am currently somewhere around 350 pictures in 6 days...so i do not know how to say this...but if you thought my album count was ridiculous before...prepare yourself.
here in namibia...they offer flushing options when you go to the bathroom. there are two buttons on the top of the toilet...a small one and a large one....do you see where i am going with this? if you need the entire bowl of water you press the big one, and if you didn't do so much damage you can save yourself some water and go for the half bowl flush..just thought you would like to know
missy is the gardner's dog. she is what we call slightly skittish...and borderline bipolar. one second she is your best friend cuddled up to you on the couch and the next thing you know, she runs from you as fast as she can in the opposite direction. sometimes when we play with her, we have to hide or she won't come out to fetch the ball, i don't know what we did...but it's interesting.
lately i have been contemplating wearing my zeebra shirt to the safari ride. i don't know if camoflaging myself with be helpful or harmful and i am looking for opinions on this matter. please post.
ok now back to this monday morning.
it was a slightly rough start considering that becky and i napped for quite sometime yesterday and had a hard time falling asleep. but the 5:30 alarm came no less and by the grace of God we heard it and woke up.
i have got to say knowing that i was walking out into the african sunshine may have motivated me slightly.
so we went inside, put on our large, bright yellow tshirts and headed off to the school assembly.
we unloaded the truck and walked into the most beautiful thing that i have ever heard-200 african children in uniform singing at the top of their lungs. it was right out of a movie....i seriously had tears in my eyes.
i need to record it because let me tell you something, that would get me out of the bed in the morning, you just couldn't help but smile :)
so we did a life lesson with bananas..are you beginning to see a theme around here? bright yellow shirts, bright yellow truck, bananas, etc.
sang some "i like bananas" told a story which involved mark eating a banana peel and all, me wrapping up the life lesson, some keko the monkey and his atomic karate chop in which he chopped the banana into 7 pieces without even removing the peel, and a little more singing.
then we met kim for breakfast at this adorable little place called the village cafe. i had some delicious warm hot chocolate(swakopmund is now officially cold again since east wind is gone) and a nice cheesy omelet with some green peppers and toast.
are you beginning to see the wonder in this monday morning?
then it was time to dress nort and tangelo, the new monkies on the scene.
mark takes this matter very seriously mind you. the clothes need to match their skin tone...and kim keeps his feet on the ground ha ha it's amazing how it all works. anyways we looked around and contemplated and finally settled on some pretty "gangsta" clothes in the words of kim.
then mark took us to this second hand store on the corner. soo fun. i mean it's super cool to buy something authentically african...and it's even cooler to get something used that is african because it ensures it's authenticity...ha ha. kim thought we were nuts. she said normally people hate stores like that when they are visiting, we are the first ones to be so odd she says. but she's laughing so she must be entertained and hey that's usually my job.
later this afternoon, mark wanted to sneak in a trip to the golf course so he let us tag along. apparently it is a place where deer and antalope play...but for real. so we hung out with some antalope and the birds and lots of their poop.
funny thing about this...my mother told us to look out for the antalope...ha ha of all things african they were at the forefront of her mind.
i am alive and well and able to report that they are indeed gentle creatures. just incase you needed to know :)
we came home and once again becky and i crashed for a while. when we woke up, it was time to brainstorm for the first namibian kids camp!
kim won out on the theme. mark really really wanted "love never fails" but kim (along with the rest of us) thought that a lot of hearts was not the coolest kids camp idea on the planet ha ha. so we went with "the ultimate challenge" pretty much a survivor theme. we spent the rest of the evening googleing decorations and trading camp stories and allowing mark interject his crazy stories...we came up with a pretty amazin banner for the front of the camp too. kim wants this to be the best kids camp ever...she knows it's the first one ever..but she says it will be the best ha ha that's why we love her.
she has recently be dubbed kimpossible.
she made this amazing turkey dinner tonight with mashed potatoes and gravy and corn on the cob and broccoli with cheese and rolls....and then fresh fruit after...fresh african fruit mind you :)
so what have i learned today?
well i stumbled across this amazing verse in habakkuk 2:3 "for still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end--it will not lie. if it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come it will not delay.
so while i don't have some great lesson from the mission field today, God did show me a little something in our time together. and he has proven this promise to me over and over again. if i will just trust him with all of my heart and follow him where he leads and just keep the visions and dreams he gives me close to my heart, they will come to pass. he also says in isaiah 55 that the words that go forth from his mouth will not return void but they will accomplish what he has purposed.
i thought i would never get to africa, and here i am...
and sometimes i think of all of the very BIG things he has put in my heart and i wonder how they will ever come alive. i am so small, they are so big...but today he just encouraged me to keep them close to my heart and some day he will bless them and bring them to life. all i need to do is be willing.
and he has been speaking to me and showing me some pretty cool things and just expanding the dreams even further :) it's beautiful really. and i am so thankful.
i also have a recommendation. if you are planning some sort of missions adventure...aim for a smaller group. while i have been blessed and learned a lot from team trips, this is a totally different dynamic and it provides so much more opportunity. so much one on one time and more chances to really see the land and the country and get to know people instead of just being in and out of places and constantly moving. it's what the field is really like and how missionary families really live. i have learned so much and so many different things...and plan to spend lots of time and to really really soak up every single second. just saying...ha ha
well. time to skype some people :) let me know if you would like an african phone call :) i'm researching post card prices right now....trying to not spend a fortune lol.
i must also practice conversing with myself and developing mort who turned to nort and is now officially named nugat. mark insists that he make an appearance at the orphanage and that i become a vantrilloquist by the time i leave africa :)
new afrikanse for the day: lekker...sounds like leca=good
ok
lekker night all :)
thanks for reading :)
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