After traveling all day - from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., four tired travelers stumbled into their home in Kibogoro last night. The leader of the motley crew, Tim, was coughing and hacking from sort of nasty cold he picked up in Kenya. The rest of us were just worn out, but thankful to not feel as poorly as Tim!
We spent the last 5 days in Kenya with Stephen, who was on holiday from RVA on his midterm break. RVA operates on a trimester system, so they have a break between the two six weeks of each trimester. All boarding students have to leave campus for break, in order to give the teachers and staff a break, as well, so we came in to spend the few days with him.
It consoled me greatly to meet some of his friends and to see how well he'd already adapted to his new country and new school. Stephen is doing very well, and we are so thankful for that - and so proud of him.
As soon as we made it home, Ruthie was off to the post-surgery Pediatrics ward to check on her "posse" of kiddos. They exuberantly welcomed her home, dancing and shouting and calling out her name, "Rooosee! Rooooosee!" Moms and kids alike adore her and brighten up so much when she walks in to play with them.
Dave and Naomi Harrison, our Britain Buddies, welcomed Sam home with a big surprise - a new chameleon to keep his chameleon, Mildred, company! They'd made a Chameleon Village in their bathtub, full of climbing branches, leaves, dirt and rocks. (Yes, they have another shower......) It was pretty impressive, I must say!
This morning, Sam prepared quite early to leave with Dave to help with his filming again. What a wonderful apprenticeship Sam is gaining by having Dave here, doing all this film work! While in Kenya, Sam took over my family job of taking all the pictures. Seems he has learned more about my camera in the last month of learning from Dave than I've learned in the whole year I've been using it. We went on a tour of the Kenya National Park, and he took excellent pictures of the giraffes, zebras, gazelles and impalas we saw there. So glad I gave him the camera to use! If only we'd brought the zoom lens. We'll know better next time.
I can't upload any pics today, because our internet is very slow just now. As soon as it picks up, I'll post many....I promise.
I'll leave you with a couple verses I've been pondering this morning.....the first is from the "happy" book of Habakkuk. Seriously, has anyone read that lately? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the gist of it, b/c I do not have access to any commentary just now due to slow internet......but I think I basically got it, and it is pretty stark and sad!
The overview: Habakkuk is telling God how horrible things are for him and his people, and asking for help. God answers by telling him, "Stand back and be amazed. You haven't seen anything yet."
("Good", I thought. Here's where God is going to come in and save the day!" But, no. That's not what came next...)
God went on to say: "You haven't seen anything yet. It's gonna get tons worse - way worse than you'd ever believe, unless you saw it with your own eyes."
I'm kind of guessing that Habakkuk felt like, "Gee, thanks. I feel much better now, God. Not!" Anyway....after hearing about all the heartache and the physical nightmare he and his people would soon go through at the hand of God, but at least then hearing that after some horrible stuff, God would eventually rescue them and restore them......at some point....., Habakkuk then declared:
I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields
produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.
~ Habakkuk 3:16-19
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