A very full life

Our First graduating Class, our students

since 8th Grade.

Hey everyone

It's been since November that we have updated our blog but our life has been so full this year and all consuming. The thought of trying to put everything down on text was at many times overwhelming the past few months but here goes.

In November my friends Dawn and Tiffany returned from their bereavement leave. It was a busy time of helping them get settled back into life here along with getting their kids enrolled in a school for the first time.

In December I hosted an event for them and I called it a "Blessing Fellowship". Back in October I really felt the Lord calling me to plan something for these ladies that would be a good time of everyone coming together and just heaping blessings on them. So on a Saturday morning we had about 40 missionary ladies come together for food and fellowship in our home. We bought the ladies bags and each lady who came brought a little gift to put inside, they had the opportunity to speak a blessing over them or just give them a little gift. I do not have the gifts of teaching so this totally stretched me as I felt God leading me to give these two ladies and the other missionary ladies who came a message. It was an intense and vulnerable morning but how awesome to be apart of their lives in this way. My friend Dawn walked away saying she felt like she had just had her feet washed by 40 ladies.

Ahhhg the Lord has taught me so much about grief this year and seeking Him in the midst of it. The biggest lessons I have learned and will continue to learn is just how to listen. How to be in the moment with someone and just feel their pain with them. Not to fix it but just to experience their life with them. Being a nurse this is so hard for me to do because I just want to fix things. Every Thursday night I go over to Dawn's house and just be with her as we put the kids to bed it's gotten easier to just go and be a part of her life in this way over the past 6 months.

January our family was able to get away to South Africa for a special trip to the very tip of Africa in Cape Town and also to Jo'Burg to visit our other team of OCI missionaries. It was a much needed trip for our family and we really enjoyed the beach as well as connecting with old friends. The highlight of our trip was swimming with penguins in the wild on a beach in Cape Town. Never thought I would do that. The end of January brought tragedy again as Kayla's teacher's husband was found dead at home. This whole situation just tipped the bucket for us as we had been feeling more and more burned out and tired. I had a hard time saying goodbye to her teacher as grief just continued to be a part of our lives. Kayla loved her teacher and Mrs.Key was great with Kayla. I think it took about a month for our spirit's to recover and some of our strength to return. Mr. Key was the athletic director at our school. The loss of his presence was felt by many.

In February I became head of the graduation committee and we started planning for our school's first graduation. We had to figure out many graduation firsts for our school as we had to come up with graduation gowns, hats, how to get diploma covers and tassels. It's taken quite a bit of leg work on our part but the graduation ceremony is coming together.

In March our family traveled the farthest we have been out of Nairobi with the kids. Kayla has had issues with the bumpy roads but we decided she might be old enough to try a longer trip. Nakuru town is about 3 1/2 hours outside of Nairobi and we were able to stay at a missionary retreat center. We travelled with friends and had a fun time just relaxing. The kids loved playing on the cement tree house in the rain, having an Easter egg hunt , and finding out how to milk cows. At the end of our time there our family traveled to the local national park and had a great time seeing tons of rhinos, a huge lake full of flamingos, and many giraffe. Also in March I had a good time getting away with my friend Dawn to a local hotel in the country. It was her first birthday without Ryan and I think we had a good time. My life and hers were full of many firsts this year but I felt God with us. He has been a comfort this year and I have seen him provide in so many ways.

April finds us this week continuing to make plans for graduation as we decide how our ceremony will happen as well as packing and getting ready for our Senior trip down to the coast of Kenya. Eric and I are so excited for this time. We are not taking the girls and are really looking forward to resting and reconnecting with the Senior class. We are saying this is our anniversary trip as we celebrate 13 yrs of marriage in May. Eric is going to do some scuba diving and I might just take a nap on the beach :) I hope and pray it will be a great time for us and the Seniors as this is our last big event with them.

We thank you for your constant support of our ministry this year we have felt your prayers in the midst of this difficult year.

Prayer requests

1/ Pray for this Saturday-Wednesday as we leave on a plane with 20 seniors to the coast, pray our girls will be safe in Nairobi and nothing eventful will happen in each situation.

2/ Pray for strength to finish the year strong we have many events left we are in charge of (Graduation, baccalaureate, grad night and helping my friend Dawn pack up and leave)