Missionary Musical House

When my sister Kristen's father-in-law emailed us a couple of weeks ago and asked what had happened with the "missionary musical house" prayer request, I wasn't exactly sure what he meant (and we realized, Dad A, you're not on our prayer letter distribution list where we had given the short story of how God had led in this situation but we're adding you on and giving here the "detailed" version :-). Dan told me Dad A was probably talking about our housing situation and then I "got it." We had been walking in a circle past the moving into our co-workers house option, finding a completely different place to live option, and staying where we are option. Well, "when the music stopped," we found ourselves dropping into the "chair" that was the stay where we are option.

We actually just worked out the final details at the beginning of this month to stay in the house we are already in, but it truly is neat to see how God worked in this situation. Our co-workers are only taking a 6 month furlough this year because they have another child graduating from high school in a couple of years which means they plan to return to the States 18 months after they come back from their current furlough. Since they were going on a six month furlough, what that meant for us was that if we moved into their house while they were gone, we would be moving twice in 6 months and both times when they were gone and while Dan was carrying a heavy ministry load. Plus, we would have to be house hunting while they were gone which isn't as convenient of a process as it is in the States -- time consuming to find what you want at the price you want it.

When our co-workers first asked us about staying in their house while they were gone, it was a 50/50 chance that we would be able to stay where we are now. The Covenant missionaries we are sub-renting from had a couple who was trying to get here by the end of the summer, but they were still raising support. As we prayed through our options, we looked at a couple of apartments as well as another house in the area to get a broader perspective on housing here, and the apartments really grabbed our interest. I won't go on and on about our thoughts on housing here for our family as missionaries, but it was quite the interesting topic for Dan and I to discuss and get our tutor's opinion on. Anyway, there are both pros and cons to the apartment idea and people gave us their opinions which went both ways; maybe one day, we will return to that possibility as it seems that it would eliminate at least a couple of the things that we don't like living inside a walled place with a guard (but you know what they say -- the grass is always greener on the other side). At any rate...

When the missionaries we're subletting from said that their co-workers weren't coming until next year and we could stay where we are for another year, we were immediately convinced it was the best thing for our family. Not two moves in 6 months, not one move, but 0 moves! Our co-workers agreed that it was in the best interests of our family as far as ministry for us when they were gone -- to not have to move at all or look for a place to live at all so they let us back out of staying at their place. It was so neat that God showed both of our families this so clearly because before this point, there was just so much confusion as Dan and I prayed about what a variety of people had given us advice on in this matter. To review it all now, just two weeks after the Gaults have left and we are finding that there just isn't enough time in the day for Dan to disciple all who need it, to spend time with those who have questions and are "almost persuaded" (one guy in particular is really on our hearts as we wait to see what the Lord does in his heart as this young man said yesterday that he believes but not without a few doubts but he has had some great questions particularly about overcoming sin), to handle all the "Divine interruptions" that come a pastor's way, to study for Wednesday evening Bible studies and once a month Sunday preaching, to interview those who want to join the choir as there is a re-starting of the choir in process, to visit those who are sick or have questions, to visit those who haven't been in church for a couple of weeks, to encourage and build up those who are spiritually minded and helping Dan carry the burden of ministry here, to share the gospel with those in the neighborhood, to spend personal time in God's Word, to lead one's own family, etc. Well, we knew it would be busy for Dan even with cutting out French tutoring for the time, but now that we are in the middle of it, we are so thankful that we don't have to make time for a move at the end of this month, house hunting, and then another move in December! Thank You, Lord, for opening and closing doors or should I say removing and placing "chairs" in this missionary musical house time.

Oh, and a comment on the list of ministry busyness -- that was not a complaint! We are thrilled to be in the middle of ministry like this. Certain situations have not been "thrilling", but we pray the joys continue to outweigh those times and we know we need to be faithful in all situations not just the "fun" ones where people are wanting to grow. We know the day will come when we need to concentrate on French again so we can be more effective ministering in French, but for now, we know this is what God has for us, and it's great to be in the lives of people day in and day out. I have so many things I want to blog about even in these first two weeks of full time ministry -- thank You for giving and praying so we can be here. We are very, very thankful for you!

And as I've been typing, my thoughts have gone to the verse that says a man's heart plans his way but the Lord directs his steps (my paraphrase as I don't have it memorized). And of course one of my favorite verses, Prov 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." I have been giving in to the temptation to lean on my own understanding too many times lately instead of trusting in the Lord. It's so good to re-count the stories of the times we have seen God's clear directions of our steps because we can't always see His hand even when we know He is there, but re-counting God's faithfulness encourages me to truly trust in the Lord for our past, present, and future.

Kayla Schools Me in French

Random post because I have to blog about this before I forget. (Dad A, I am going to answer your question about "missionary musical house" soon. Thanks for your email. The others missed out on your sense of humor since it was too long to leave on Dan's preaching post, but we enjoyed it!)

The other day, Kayla is standing on the toilet (no, I usually don't allow her to do that), and I am standing in front of her (but obviously I was that day). Delphine, the babysitter is filling up the girls bathtubs as they had just gotten back from the park, and Krista is climbing here, there, and everywhere. It's a small bathroom for so much activity. Kayla says to me, "Mama, pousse-toi." My first thought was that she didn't say "s'il te plait" (please) and my second thought was that she was using a bossy tone with me, her mama; but I was distracted from that because I didn't understand what she was wanting from me. I didn't know what "pousse-toi meant."

I didn't have a context to work with because there was no conversation before this comment so my mind starts processing just like it does when I'm out and about and am lacking in comprehension -- I know the verb "pousser" is "to push" and "toi" is "you" but putting them together made no sense to me -- "push you"-- huh? Then, I realize that she had used a pronominal verb "se pousser" because otherwise she wouldn't use toi at the end of the imperative form. And my next thought is that the pronominal verbs often have different meanings than the verb alone (like for example "demander" means "to ask" but "se demander" means "to wonder" -- you have to listen carefully because if you only hear the verb, you can easily be on the wrong track if you don't hear the pronominal pronoun). All of these thoughts flood through in just a few seconds before I look at our babysitter who says to me, "She wants you to move. Maybe she wants to look in the mirror?" I was guessing "pousse-toi" was just more Kayla French where she makes up stuff amongst the legit, but no, Delphine knew what "pousse toi" meant which is why she could make the deduction about her wanting to see in the mirror. Then I got it, Kayla was standing on the toilet, and I was standing in front of her so she couldn't see in the mirror and she was asking me (well, technically she was telling me and I never did get to the lesson on manners because the babysitter and I were laughing about Kayla knowing a phrase I had never heard before) to move. [Oh, and if I used terms wrong here or made bad deductions, please forgive me. Feel free to correct me for that matter. I'm still a beginner in this language.]

Sure enough...I look it up in the dictionary and "se pousser" means "to move over, to shift". That's exactly what she was wanting me to do so she used something she said she had heard on TV in the right context with me. I was laughing that the literal translation was "push you," but I was laughing even harder at being schooled by my 3 year old. When Dan got home that day, I told him about it, and he didn't know what she was saying to me either -- he had never heard that verb used before in its pronominal form either. Kayla said she learned it on TV from Franklin (the turtle if any of you are familiar with that cartoon). I was just starting to wonder if we needed to cut back on the cartoons even if they were in French, but after this, how can I cut back something so "educational." :-) She really is picking stuff up and using it in other contexts and in this case correctly!

One last thing about the verb "pousser" in its non-pronominal form since we're on this verb. Several months ago someone told me that Krista was "pushing" quickly (they used the form of the verb "pousser" so my mind went to the literal meaning which is "to push" (oh for the day that I don't translate in comprehension and speaking literally). I gave that girl a look that showed her I didn't understand, and she repeated the sentence but this time used the verb for "growing" rather than "pushing." That was the first time I had heard the verb "pousser" used for "growing." That's the beauty of a language -- it's not just memorizing the one main meaning, there are so many different shades and meanings to the same word depending on the context. No wonder learning a second langauge takes a lifetime. Fortunately, I have a little helper in Kayla! And if she ends up going to Cameroonian school in September (that will be another post hopefully this week), she's going to quickly pass me up and have so much more she can help me learn.

Happy Father's Day 2009

So many things to post from the last couple of weeks, but I can't skip this opportunity to say a public "Happy Father's Day" to my wonderful husband and our dads.

Wouldn't you know that we didn't get even one picture of the girls with Dan on Father's Day?! I mentioned this to him with a rather dismayed voice around 5:00 that evening, and I could tell from his tired look after hearing my observation that he was thinking his day would be more special not to have to go through that hassle. He had been a trooper on Mother's Day getting the girls to co-operate for some good pictures knowing it would mean a lot to me so I returned the favor and dropped the subject of a Father's Day photo shoot. A hand-made card from Kayla, apple pie, and a quiet evening were more along the lines of the kind of "special day" he preferred. So, here are some pictures of the girls and the dad they love so much.

The peanut up the nose day! It was much preferable for Kayla when Daddy held her head than when the nurse (a big man) did it!

Isn't it just the most precious thing to have your children fall asleep on you?

Daddy helping Kayla at the carnival we went to a couple of months ago (a fundraiser for the school the Gault kids go to).

Krista loves Daddy attention!

So much I could say about my wonderful hubby who loves being a dad and takes his God-given responsibility seriously, but I'll leave it with just a few thoughts "from the girls."

Kayla, 3 years old: Daddy, I love it when you cuddle with me in the mornings. I love it when you tickle me until it tickles so much that I have to ask you to stop. I love it when you take me with you to buy bread, get gas, or check the mail. I love it when you read me stories even when it's my current favorite book over and over again. I love to color and draw you pictures. I love it when you play hide-n-seek with me. I love it when you tease me. I love it when you play Memory, Hi Ho Cherry-O, or Dominoes with me. I love counting lizards with you. I love you!

Krista, 1 year old: Daddy, I love it when you cuddle with me too (for a few minutes before I'm ready to be on the run again). I love it when you chase me around the house. I love it when you play hide-n-seek with me. I love it when you read me books especially the Ben the Bunny book. I love it when you make the animal sounds with me. I love it when you take me to buy bread, get gas, check the mail, or go anywhere for that matter. I love it when we get to play outside. I love it when you tease me and give me lots of attention. I love you!

The power and internet worked on Father's Day, and we got to talk to Dad V and Dad S on Father's Day -- yeah! We had tried to do video greetings like we did for Mother's Day just in case we had power and internet issues like we had for Mother's Day, but the videos ended up being short because when Kayla went to "give Paco a hug" (hug the computer), her hug turned off the recording but we didn't know it until we were back inside and had Krista in bed for her nap. So we got Krista back up and went back out for take #2, but well... our creativity had worn thin by then. Because of that, what a blessing that we were able to talk to them and the internet was even fast enough for the video feed too! We love you, Dad V and Dad S!

June 7, 2009 -- Dan's first sermon in French

Thank you, thank you to all of you who prayed for Dan this last Sunday. God certainly answered your prayers. From what I could tell and from what others said, Dan was able to communicate despite errors. Errors are a given -- nothing to be ashamed of if we do our best -- that's where we are in the process. The question is whether we can communicate despite them. We know that what we say and how we say it is child-like and a little hard on the ears -- it will take much more time to get beyond that -- but the question is whether we can communicate through these things. It seemed Dan did.

We have been here for 9 1/2 months, and we have had 7 1/2 months of French tutoring so we're still on the front end of this French language acquisition. It's so weird to think that when we arrived, we couldn't follow the preaching at all -- we sat there with no clue of what was going on, and now 9 1/2 months later, Dan is the one preaching (and I understood all of it because his vocabulary is smaller than Steve's so it was easier for me to follow even though I can follow Steve's sermons pretty well too now!). It is God who gave Dan the ability to progress like this to be able to preach in what seems like a short amount of time. Unfortunately, I'm not as far along as him, but in reality, it's Dan that "needs" to be farther than me because of his implication in the ministry.

One thing Dan has going for him is that he is comfortable speaking in front of people in English so being up front didn't overwhelm him. I could tell for about the first 20 minutes that he was trying to find his groove, but I'm not sure that others could have picked up on that. People seemed to think he was pretty at ease. For me, it was different than hearing the comfort level in his delivery in English, but then he settled in and seemed much more comfortable. About 20 minutes in, I could tell he was enjoying himself which I think goes a long way in communication too.

Another thing Dan had going for him was our tutor Etienne corrected Dan's French translation of his message into good grammar and word placement and usage. Etienne doesn't speak English (he might be able to but just refuses for our benefit-- I'm not sure), but he reads English so Dan gave him an English copy of his sermon and his French translation. That way if Etienne didn't know what Dan was trying to say in French (several verb tenses are very hard for us and change the meaning of the sentence when we use the wrong one), he would look at the English script and get a better sense of how to help Dan translate his idea into good French rather than just a word for word translation. Word for word translation from English to French is still where we are -- we don't think in French yet or in the ways they would say things. Etienne speaks very good French so Dan had confidence in his French translation at that point. He knew that if he could preach from Etienne's corrected translation that people would follow him. We are so thankful for Etienne taking the time to do this for Dan -- it made a huge difference in helping the people follow the sermon.

If it were me, I would've been reading a lot of the message, but not Dan! He read and read and read his sermon for 6 days, and then he decided that he would use what he remembered by memory from that and then "talk on his own" in between. He also used Powerpoint and put a lot more on it than one normally would so that if he was hard to follow, they could read the "good French". He said he was glad he didn't read the script because he was able to connect better with the audience through speaking more spontaneously, and I agree with him. It was worth the mistakes from him branching out on his own for that element of not being tied to reading a manuscript. Only a couple of times did he get stuck and wasn't sure how to continue on with that thought. It's harder to search for verb conjugations off the top of your head, but he just went on to the next point and it wasn't a distraction at all. Thank you so much for praying.

Any guesses as to how long he preached? I was thinking he might preach for 30 minutes -- which is a long time to be engaged in another language when you're doing all the talking. But oh no, he preached for 1 hour and 5 minutes (which is fine out here to go that long especially since he was holding their interest -- whether because of the context or because of the novelty of it being his first time we don't know :-). Dan is a trooper to get up and "put himself out there" in the first place, but he really gave his full effort. I've tried to branch out more than I feel comfortable with in using my French because I know it will help more than it "hurts" temporarily, but compared to Dan, I'm not very adventurous. Praise the Lord for giving Dan the personality to be willing to get up there and give his best effort. I know it was God Who enabled Dan to preach like he did, but Dan had to be willing to be used by God in that way so with that context, I say, "Good job, hon!"

Of course, everyone had nice words to say afterwards. Not that we don't believe them, but everyone has always been very encouraging to us. It seemed that people were surprised that Dan was up there holding his own with their language. I guess that's the benefit of low expectations from it being the first time and us not being here long. :-) The people have been very, very kind and gracious. Monday morning, Dan was at a meeting, and our guard arrived, and he started in about how he was able to understand the whole sermon and that the French wasn't a problem. I said, "Praise the Lord" and then asked him basically what he had gotten out of the content. He started off and talked through almost the whole sermon and how applicable it was to out here in this culture. But then he went beyond that and said he had asked his wife about it the night before and they talked about it together -- that was so touching to me, much more than the kind words about the French difficulties not being a problem. We have heard about others also who were impacted by the content of the message -- praise the Lord. Even a missionary told us tonight that there were elements in there that she hadn't thought of before and has been thinking on them since Sunday. We look forward to the day when our French isn't so "beginner French", but we praise the Lord that His Word works in lives despite difficulties in presenting God's Word to others in another language.

It will be interesting to look back at this post one year from now, five years from now, ten years from now. Wow! So much learned already and so much to still learn!

The video below is 5 minutes long so you may not be interested in listening to that much French, but I wanted to put it up so you could see the fruit of your prayers if you wanted to see it. For a little context, the church is going through a series on the Ten Commandments, and Dan's day was the 7th commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." There is one part where a volunteer comes from the crowd. Dan asked for someone who was intelligent and strong, and no one of course would volunteer so this guy Koko volunteered. He is always the one who ends up volunteering when no one else will, and he's just a funny guy so that's why people are laughing when he went up.

Dan Preaching in French from Dan Seely on Vimeo.

Oh and just to keep our missionary adventure real, here's a note about my ministry tonight. Tonight (Wednesday), Dan taught the Bible study which was a follow up of Sunday's sermon -- a more practical application and sometimes discussion too. My ministry was to take care of two very naughty girls while Dan taught! I thought I was going to lose it tonight -- Krista tried every nerve in my body. I couldn't even keep my "missionary smile" going not that it would've been convincing just pasted on my face. I took Krista out so many times. I just wanted to cry at one point. I had wondered if I should even try to go to Bible study tonight, but I figured the girls have to learn sometime that they have to sit still (especially Krista) no matter how tired or restless they are. Unfortunately, I wasn't in a great training mood tonight. Sigh... Hey, just like on deputation when we had strong willed, non-compliant children issues in front of everyone, at least people know we're normal and real. :-)

Below is a video of the girls from Sunday. Krista stayed with D through the sermon so I could videotape off and on, but towards the end of the sermon, Kayla came up and was talking to me so I went out on the veranda and then after she left, I got a little video of the girls playing. Children's church had finished earlier than the sermon so the kids were entertaining themselves. Some of the kids are inside the youth center building coloring. Some are over using the tree as a swing, and then Kayla was with others doing I'm not sure what. It's nothing too interesting... just the girls walking around but family will like it and it shows some of their little friends and the youth center property next to the church.

Girls playing at church from Dan Seely on Vimeo.

The Little Things -- Bank Ledgers

It's midnight, but I can't sleep. I was exhausted around 10:30, and then I decided I needed to get all our clothes out for tomorrow, the diaper bag ready, the Bibles out by the door, and then I realized that I hadn't done the dishes yet and then I started a load of laundry and then I picked up the living room and then I realized I wasn't tired anymore. I'm going to pay for this in the morning, but there's nothing I can do about it. I hate to lie in bed awake -- it feels like such a waste of time! I am one of those people who usually fall asleep in just a few minutes so after 10 minutes, it feels like forever and I usually get up and do something. Tonight, I'm working on getting my to do list for next week organized and also balancing my "checkbook" and my budget book.

As I'm filling in our bank transactions into my ledger and then putting them into the correct budget category, I saw again that I only have one page left in my ledger. The next thought is "why didn't I remember to pick up a couple of extras to bring over here". But tonight, there was another thought that brought a big smile to my face, "I'm going to be back in the States, and I can get a ledger or 2 or 3! Woo-hoo!" Can't get much smaller than that especially compared to going to a wedding and seeing family, but it brought excitement anyway.

Yep, I'm one of those who still fills out a ledger even though all the information is so easily available online. We rarely write checks and even more rarely out here, but I still fill out a ledger for bank transactions -- mainly because it keeps me more organized with keeping our budget filled in each month. What about you? Do you just rely on the online information? Or do you have a ledger that you track the transactions for yourself too? I remember about 4 years ago I said something about balancing my checkbook to someone, and she said, "Why do you take time to do that? Just get the info from the bank. I mean, have you ever found that they made an error?" That made me laugh so hard which made her laugh hard.

Okay, I gotta' get back to getting something productive done or try to sleep again. Maybe it's the anticipation of Dan preaching in French tomorrow that has me awake -- definitely a big day for him which makes it a big day for me too. He has worked so hard in preparing for tomorrow. We'll see how it goes tomorrow -- I'm so glad it's him and not me!

Swimming pool fun

Two days ago, our babysitter arrived as usual, and I was talking to her while I waited for Dan to get home from a meeting he had that morning so we could go to French class. The girls were interrupting my concentration (need lots of that when listening in French) so when they headed outside, I was relieved to have the quiet. After about ten minutes of uninterrupted conversation, I realized that I needed to head outside to see what was keeping the girls so quietly entertained. I go around the back of the house to find two very, very contented girls splashing in our little inflatable pool. [We got this inflatable pool at a missionary's moving sale for 50 cents, and now we know why it was 50 cents -- it doesn't stay completely inflated. But it stays inflated enough to keep the sides up enough so water stays in and the girls LOVE it so it ended up being a great bargain! Usually, I drain it and put it up after they use it, but I hadn't done that for some reason on Sunday.] The day I was talking with the girls' babysitter, I hadn't paid attention to what the girls had exited the house with, but those things were being played with in the pool (a completely cloth doll, a plastic bag to store stuff in, baby blankets, and baby brushes). The girls clothes' were soaked too, but they were thrilled with their little adventure. Fortunately, Dan came home around that time so I got to leave the girls to Delphine to clean up and got out of the extra work that resulted from their fun. :-) I told her since they were already wet they could play if it was okay with her because they loved "swimming"/playing in (shallow) water.

Yesterday, we came home and found the girls in the pool again -- but this time swimming n*ked. Apparently, Dan and I were the only ones who thought anything about this. Delphine said that they had enjoyed playing in the water so much the day before so she let them do it again. I never thought the day before to mention swimming suits when I said off hand that they weren't supposed to be playing in the water like that with their clothes on! It was so funny to me, but so completely normal for out here because even being in the city, we see people bathing children or children bathing themselves in the front yard n*ked. Usually when I've seen it, it's children maybe 5 or under, but one time, there was a 9 or 10 year old boy bathing himself who lives in a room under the church building. Children's church was over so our church kids were playing in front of the youth center (which is next to where he lives), and no one was phased by him. Nor was he phased by them all being out there.

Getting back to my little girls --when I got home, Delphine told the girls it was time to get out. Delphine had their shampoo out there and quickly washed them up and rinsed them off with the same water they had played/swam in. Okay, sure -- why not? Okay, bad question as there are several reasons in mind with the first one being that Krista isn't potty trained but I have to admit that I didn't bathe them again last night before bed and they seem perfectly fine today. :-)

Seriously, though, what a great way to cool down! And no, none of us are the least bit tanned for all this heat in Africa. If we're outside, we're in the shade so that explains our blinding white skin.

Surprises in Life -- A "Bad" One

On Thursday (three days after I had decided to go home for Karen's wedding), I got an email from my sister Kristen that I knew would come one day -- something "bad" had happened and I was halfway around the world. It was a mild heart attack, but even the word mild is only comforting to a certain point. The most surprising thing was that it wasn't any of my four grandparents who are 77-78 years old (and still going strong serving the Lord and others) who had suffered the heart attack. It was my dad!

My dad is only 55 years old, and while I know all is in God's hands, I could do the math and figure that if my parents and Dan's parents lived another 30 years and we came back to the States every 4 years, that would be 7 visits. 7 is a small number compared to 30, but as we left for Cameroon, I could choose to accept that fact. But then when this happened, I started thinking that 3 more years here is only 1 time back to the States, 7 more years here is only 2 times back to the States, etc. Wow! Some of you might be thinking it's crazy to think of it in these terms, but in some strange way, it helps me to think through something logically when there is nothing logical about the timing of death, accidents, or other surprises.

I had just read in Psalm 139 about a week before about God knowing all the days of our lives and applying that to if something happened to one of us or all of us out here. That reflection had me "ready" to filter this news. Still, when surprises like my dad heading to the hospital for chest pain and pain down his arm come and I have to wait for the results in a different time zone so when I get up in the morning (I didn't think I was going to fall asleep that night and then I ended up falling asleep while Dan was still praying :-), everyone is sleeping in the U.S. (or at least I was hoping so), and then about the time that it was a decent hour to make a call to the U.S, our power goes out for 8 hours, and well, you get the picture. It didn't seem to be a time for peace, yet the peace of God was "chez nous" at our place. I told Dan that I felt too calm -- shouldn't I feel more upset. Then I told him, "No, it's not that I don't feel upset, but it's that I feel at peace at the same time and that is ruling." Thank You, Lord!

The bad news is that my dad has a 50% blockage in his right artery. The good news is that there is only a 50% blockage in his right artery -- it could've been a much worse situation. I wish there was a chart to get me something absolute about what the numbers mean, but ultimately, it's all in God's hands. The doctors also gave instructions and medications that are to help -- I'm not minimizing that but wow! Another kind of wow than the last post!

What an even bigger blessing now that God had already prepared my heart about leaving Dan and going back for the wedding. Plans were already in place, and even the timing was already set. Please pray for my dad specifically that he won't go crazy taking it easy for the next week. If you know my dad, you can imagine how he is enjoying his required "vacation." He says that he's more stressed than ever trying to slow down and having people around making sure he's taking it easy. Pray too for my mom -- she's got quite a balancing job to do in being the wife in this situation -- oh my! Dan and I were talking to Dad the day he got home from the hospital, and he was his ornery (that word is for you, mom) self -- the ornery self that comes out even more so when he's not keeping busy which isn't very often. I told my dad that I think he has probably worked the equivalent of 70 to 75 years in his 55 years of life so he could slow down now, but once again, he said that sounded stressful and he's supposed to be avoiding stress.

Dad, I know you aren't enjoying this phase of life in the slow lane, but hang in there -- with time, you'll be back at it all. Thanks for doing it for all of us. We love you.

(To all, thanks for your comments on the last post. I was surprised to get up in the morning and see so many -- what a treat!)

Surprises in Life -- A Good One

So much to blog about! So many other things to do. :-)

I "had" to get this up, though! I am coming back to the States this summer for my sister's wedding!

Karen, my youngest sister, is getting married on July 25, and I thought when we moved to Cameroon last August that I would not be able to return for the wedding. We knew the Gaults were going back to the States in June; in fact, that is why we were going straight to Cameroon instead of to formal language school. It seemed "impossible" to even imagine going back and leaving Dan here by himself not to mention making the trip with the girls by myself.

About 2 weeks ago, it started to really hit me that I was going to miss my sister's wedding -- a once in a lifetime event for my own sister. Dan had been saying for a few months that I should consider making the trip without thinking about him being here alone because he would be "okay", but I couldn't even get my mind around the possibility of such a big event. Life has just been so crazy busy and in a different way than it has ever been before. But then, our income tax refund showed up in our checking account and that got me to thinking about a way I could spend it -- plane tickets for the wedding (that is usually so not me to have that line of thinking about "extra" money). And so the next step was to get quotes on tickets. Even though it was just 2 months before the wedding, we were still able to get the missionary discount one company offers plus Krista can still fly on my lap (that will be a whole other post sometime). We had prayed so many times about this, and I still wasn't 100% sure what to do. I started sorting through all the "obstacles" that my brain was telling me meant it would be wiser to stay, but my heart was saying, "It's your sister." And then my heart would say, "What about your husband?" Dan told me one day last week that he could tell I had decided to go even though my words were still debating it. That was weird when he said it, but I realized he was right in his assessment. In my heart, I had a peace about going, and Dan realized it before I did.

I still can hardly believe it! It was so fun to call and tell Karen that the girls and I are coming. I got choked up as she got choked up on the phone and said, "I think I'm going to cry. I'm so happy." Kayla is going to be the "flowering" girl as she says... although we'll see if she actually goes through with it that day. Her first question to me when I asked her about doing it was, "Will you do it with me, Mommy?" I told her (uh) no, but I will help you practice for it. She has been loving practicing! Oh my! I can still hardly believe that we girls get to do this!

Nine Months That Flew By Much Faster Than Pregnancy Seemed To!

Nine months ago today, we arrived in Cameroon. We are absolutely amazed that we have been here that long; the time really has flown by. This month, we have been in a time of transition which feels like it is coming all too soon. It's been very difficult to stay in our regular routine knowing so much is going to change and with having some things added to our schedules. So, we've kept going with our French tutoring but we've backed off the French study time already -- it just kinda' happened that we needed that time for other things so that's the way it is.

Dan has needed time to study for sermons and get organized in his thinking/strategies. This has been a very profitable time for him both in his own spiritual life and in preparation for the future. He's hoping to join Steve on visitation too quite a bit this last month before they leave so he can feel more at ease culturally in this. It's one thing to speak in French with people at church, but it's a whole other thing to be in people's homes and not know exactly what is expected or offensive culturally. Speaking French on visitation isn't so overwhelming if it's just a light conversation, but when there is an issue or someone is needing counsel, it's so difficult when you're missing a piece here and there. And knowing how to communicate back biblical counsel is so important -- that's not always easy in one's first language let alone one you're learning. Steve really wants Dan to focus on the member care aspect of the ministry while he is gone so Dan is getting his mind around that.

For me, all of this means that I have needed to lighten Dan's load of helping me take care of the girls. We have been such a team here at the house so that we could both study French, but now it's time for our lives to "normalize" a little with me as the "keeper of the home." I don't know yet what this means for me as far as French goes, but I got to the point this week where I said that I would be willing to put a hold on giving my time to French study if it was better for me to just focus on our family and home during the Gaults 6 month furlough. I doubt that I will no longer have any time for French, but I realized I needed to be willing to give it all up if that was what's best for our family for this phase of our life. Even this month of trying to focus more on our family and still keep French going, it has been exhausting and overwhelming and the Gaults are still here. The time they're gone is going to be such a stretching time for Dan -- it's not in his best interests for me to be exhausted and overwhelmed. So we'll see. Dan also isn't sure how much focus French study will be these next 6 months although he knows that practically, he is going to be out and about so much in French that he is going to progress a lot (and I'm not going to be jealous -- well, not too much!). :-) Seriously, I have to praise the Lord concerning Dan learning French -- He has really enabled Dan to progress quickly.

Sometimes we wonder what we were thinking to come out here not knowing French and knowing the Gaults would be going home on furlough 10 months later. Then we remind ourselves over and over that God clearly led us here in this way -- yes to come without formal French language school so that we could be here when the Gaults went home to put their son in college. This is the next phase of our lives. After they return, we'll figure out what our focus needs to be at that point. It will definitely include more French so don't worry that we think "we're there" after just 7 1/2 months of tutoring . Our future path may even include French formal language school at some point to really fine tune what we already have especially since Dan is still burdened to teach in a Bible institute/seminary. These are unknowns down the road, though. Right now, we just need to focus on our task at hand. And we are very thankful for those who are going to be standing with us here in so many different ways when the Gaults are in the States.

Everyone wants to hold Krista, but Krista just isn't sure about being passed around these days. Krista was on the verge of crying here, but N was thrilled that she got to hold her as long as she did. This picture was at a youth activity, and there was food. They all figured out that Krista would be anyone's friend if they fed her. :-)

Motherhood -- signs of mellowing?

The pictures and commentary below is my version of the the forward I've received many times and do not mind at all! I'm sure you've all seen it or something similar to it.
*Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry and take you to the park to play. *Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink do a puzzle with you.
*Just for this afternoon, I won't answer the telephone and keep the computer off to sit with you and blow bubbles.
*Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
*Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.
*Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
*Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

*Most days, I will let you play with the broom, "mop", "bathtubs", and wear my shoes around the house. I won't remind you that you have a room full of toys or that someone is going to get hurt with those long handles or something is going to get broken or that you're tracking whatever was on the bottom of my sandals all around the house.

Okay, and the mop buckets too.


Okay, and if it's hot, you don't have to wear clothes.


All around the house they go.


And if (the better word is when) someone gets hurt, I won't tell you that I saw it coming and that's what happens when you don't play with the nice, safe toys in your room. I will comfort you and enjoy the cuddles.

*Most days, I will let you play house under the kitchen table. I will try not to think about your "clean" (because we all know that I regularly wash them) pillows and blankets being on the floor.

(Just keeping it real. The emotions are intense at our house whether happiness or unhappiness.) (Notice the flip flops in the bucket. Krista loves to take all the shoes on the shoe shelf by the door and put them in the buckets. These are the things that would drive me crazy if I let them, but at the same time, I love it that kids don't need the latest and greatest toys to be happy -- especially since we don't have the latest and greatest out here.)

*When I find that the shower has become your imaginary "house," I will try to appreciate your ability to entertain yourself as you play. I will try not to wonder how clean the shower is or go down that road of thoughts. I will try not to think about the clean towel that you put down for your bed that is going to add to my laundry pile. (This picture is so Kayla -- little miss organization and "container" person).

Those of you who are truly mellow probably think I have a long ways to go, but I'm starting to act on what I know in my head -- there are things that are more important than things being in place and me using my time efficiently. Now that I think about it, this evening is even more "proof" that I'm mellowing-- I'm taking an evening off from studying despite all the French I still need to learn. :-)