Caleb Joe 6 months today!

I've loved the baby stage of 6 months with each of my children and Caleb is no exception. They feel so good and they're sooooo sweet! If I could make time stop now for a few months I would do it! "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights." James 1:17 Thank you Lord for Caleb!!

Teaching Again

Although it's been almost a full year since I've been teaching women's lessons in the villages, Wednesday in the village of Ajadaa felt as natural as if I'd been going out every week for the past few months. They were all happy to meet Caleb and were shocked and pleased that he nursed like their babies. I read about the woman who came and washed Jesus' feet in the home of Simon and the woman with the issue of blood who touched Jesus' garment and was healed. We talked about how Jesus responded to and healed these women because of their faith. Kabiye women always marvel when I teach on the way Jesus treated and responded to women, with such compassion and grace. This is not what they expect from a man, especially one who is "in charge" of others.

I understood language better than I remember in the past and felt so grateful that the Lord placed this dream in my heart so many years ago and has made it come to pass, giving me delight in being His ambassador. I love the older women in this church. The group was small on Wednesday but during our praise time the songs these women made up and taught as they went along blessed my heart in such a sweet way! Please pray for the Christians in this village as they continue to be led by God's spirit closer to his heart.

Termite Attack!

In the 6 and a half years we’ve lived here in Togo, we’ve had army ants march down our hallway, black biting ants pour out of a door frame and cover our hallway, mosquitoes pour from the bathtub drain, and crabs skitter around the dining room (these I brought back as a gift to my children after a ladies’ getaway at the beach over a year ago). But this past Monday night was the first termite infestation we have experienced. Now that I have a blog I get to record these adventures for posterity and also gross some of you out! (You can stop reading now if the pictures were too much for you!)

The electricity has been going out about 5 or 6 hours each day over the past few weeks. This usually happens either all at once in the morning or for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the early evening. On January 19th, I think the power went out in the late morning so it wasn’t unusual that the power shut off at around 6:30 that night just as we were finishing dinner. David, proud of himself, reached for our high powered mag light that he had placed near the table before dinner and switched it on, giving adequate light to finish up our meal and get the table cleared. Within 30 seconds, Hannah said, “Eww! Look at those bugs!” as about 10 bugs flocked towards the light. It didn’t register in my mind at first that these “ewwy” bugs were termites. If it had, maybe the following mayhem would have been lessened as I might have evacuated with the children more quickly.

Perhaps you may know that where there is one termite MANY quickly follow! They begin flying about as soon as they hatch and they only come out at night. Thus, the reason our little hatchlings inside the door frame began to pour out as soon as our electricity shut off. Within 45 seconds or so, there were hundreds flying frantically about, but they were crowding out the mag light so they began flying across the dinner table to the computer screen, still lit by the battery. Yes, they were in our hair, crawling on our arms, down our shirts and I was desperately trying to keep them off Caleb. Hannah ran to the recliner, balled her legs up to her chest and began wailing. I was shouting orders at Dave to hurry and find the bug spray. Gabriel was laughing crazily and Elijah kept saying “Yuck! Yuck!” Dave was running around in circles trying to find the bug spray that wasn’t in its usual spot on top of the refrigerator. Then, he lit a candle to try to draw more termites to the light and off of us, but they snuffed out the flame within about 20 seconds. “Run to the bedroom with the children and close the door!” my hero said. Thankfully, the termites hadn’t made it back to that side of the house, so we were safe and picked off the few termites still on us. 10 minutes later David opened our door and announced that it was safe to come out. He had sprayed all the termites and swept them into a neat little pile outside the kitchen doorway. Excited to see the casualties, the children all ran towards the pile and examined the “ewwy” termites. (The power was, thankfully, back on by this point!)

I knew I had to get a picture because this is a night that will probably stick in their memories for years. I know it will in mine!

Third Culture Kids

In case you've never heard this term, "Third Culture Kid" basically refers to a child who is raised in a culture outside of his/her own home culture. This child grows up "in between worlds". He is neither fully a member of his home culture (The US, for us) or host culture (Togo, for our family) and therefore is termed a "third culture kid". There's no way around it...as missionaries in a foreign land our children will grow up as third culture kids, part of a culture neither completely home nor host. This thought used to kind of bother me. Some parts of it still do. But mostly I've begun to see the advantages and even delights of my children being able to grow up in between cultures. First, and foremost, my children know in a more tangible way that they are truly wanderers on this earth, looking forward most of all to our true home in heaven. Another sweet advantage is the blessing of "realness". Knowing that one can not completely conform to one's host culture and not living in one's home culture, my children are more keenly aware of their true likes and dislikes, their interests, and what people are "really" saying, despite their words. They have more freedom to live and learn without the sometimes overwhelming pressure of cultural expectations (that may be either right, wrong, or neither one).

These pictures taken of Hannah and Elijah this week sing of their place in a third culture. Hannah had been saving up her allowance for the past month and a half in hopes of buying a wig at the open air market here in town. Elijah also had been begging for a trip to the market to spend some of his earnings. So we arrived at the market on Monday morning with our school teacher, Rachel, to do some shopping. After purchasing some material for Rachel, Hannah walked right to the wig stand and began musing over which one to purchase. Rachel kind of giggled and then really began to hoot when Hannah put one on. Then she caught herself as she realized Hannah was serious about this purchase as a beauty item! If women here can afford them, they own 2 or more wigs that they sport for more formal attire. Hannah has been noticing different wigs around town and decided she would like to try one for herself. This is the one she bought, pictured above. She wore it all around the market and got at least 6 genuine comments about how nice she looked in her new wig. She also wore it to school the whole next day and informed everyone her name was Zoe for the day. (Her alter ego?) Her head was sure sweaty when she arrived home after wearing that wig all day!

Elijah picked out a tie to wear on a date with me that night. It was a second hand blue tie with Loony Tune characters adorning it and he thought it would do nicely. Dave cinched it up and somehow managed to make it work over Elijah's green polo shirt and we had a nice date at a restaurant he thought was great, but was one most Americans would avoid like the plague. (Unless they were in Kara, Togo and were very hungry, that is!) We had a wonderful time and I went to bed smiling that evening deep down, knowing my children so individually and celebrating their uniqueness that I just can't miss or suppress in this setting. ...and I'm so glad I can't!!

As Christians, I guess we're all part of a "third culture" with different values, likes and dislikes, and perceptions of what reality is compared to the thoughts of the world. Give us eyes and ears, Lord, to truly follow you.

Recent Pictures of My Children

Ok! I'm responding to "needs" from grandparents to see their sweet grandchildren and anyone else who is wanting to see recent pictures of our kids. Gabriel has been walking our fast growing German Shepherd around the yard on a leash, which is something he is very proud of. Hannah is holding Caleb after swimming in our blow up pool, and Elijah is climbing up the door frame to our bedroom! Check out the new video of Caleb from a couple of days ago at the bottom of the blog. Enjoy!