Erik in Kenya

I have been blessed to hear from Erik via email or text a few times since he has been gone - always very brief, but much more communication than either of us expected. The drive from Nairobi to Nyarut (village one) sounded long and a little hairy, but they did arrive a morning later than expected and were able to meet last Sunday afternoon with the village leaders to determine the work that needed to be done. They spent from Sunday until Wednesday in Nyarut, doing irrigation work for several small farms (which they call gardens.) On Wednesday, they headed out, stopping at a hotel along the way for showers and a night of sleep before beginning again in Nyangina. I have not heard from Erik since he arrived in Nyangina, other than a short text telling me he had no internet access - which we expected, since this second village is smaller and more rural. As far as I know they are still in Nyangina, but may be packing up this morning to head toward Nairobi. They are planning to travel through the Masai Mara preserve and see wildlife before their return trip on Wednesday. I'm not sure of the timing, as Erik's initial schedule was loose. Please pray they are able to efficiently finish the work and energetically pour Christ's love out on the villagers!

While Erik has been gone, I have been so thankful for God's provision and grace for the girls and I. I really have wanted to wisely use the time -- not just "getting through" his absence, but really using that time alone to faithfully minister to my children and draw near to God. We have been doing well! Some rough moments when I struggle with issues of behavior and really miss the wisdom and consistency of my hubby... but the girls are doing great. Elisa constantly wonders what time it is in Africa, and they love to pray for him when we cut off each days paper chain to count down the days. They also love the Kenya picture book given us by a dear lady in our church who was a missionary in Kenya about fifteen years ago.

Things we have done:

- shared dinner with three different families, and our small group
-played dozens of rounds of Memory
-gone to the pool
-gone to gymnastics (where my littlest one cracked the back of her head on the uneven bar's chain. Oops!)
-kept the house clean :)
-learned all about the letter F.
-prayed for Daddy
-read hundreds of stories
-snuggled
-gone for jogs and romps in the snow
-frozen two post-baby meals
-I have kept up with my Precepts Bible Study and read most of the "Mission of Motherhood."
- and, today, loaded kids in the car by myself, drove to the park, strapped the Chariot around my belly, and hauled 100 pounds of kiddos and Chariot for nearly two hours of cross-country skiing. Two hours sounds short, but it is fairly straining on my abdominal and pelvic muscles at this point in pregnancy. Erik and I have the prep for skiing together down to a science... definitely a bit more challenging solo. The biggest challenge: we had to park on the park road because the lot was full, which meant we were a long way from the potty. Our response: all three of peed crouched by the car instead of trekking to the outhouse. Yup. I have no shame. :)