The proudest mom

I am going to take a few minutes to brag on my kids for bit. 

Marquite is the most amazing 16 year old girl I know. I know she is my daughter and all, but she has grown so much in these two months. She had to say goodbye to her friends, family, and boyfriend. We really like this boyfriend too. I would have thrown the biggest teenager fit in the world if my parents did this to me. When you are 16, your friends and boyfriend are the most important thing in your life. She never once did that. Instead, she tried to be excited and came to Kenya. She has made so many friends and has taken on projects that make a huge difference to this area. She even found a way to pay for her friends school fees because he got kicked out of school for late school fees. 

Marquite even started a business here for one of her classes. There is no limit on what she can do. I am so unbelievably proud of her. 

Natalie is in love with her animals. This is a big part of our day. Especially now that we have the rabbits. She even married them yesterday. Natalie has made a few friends that she likes to spend time with. She is well liked at SOAR Kenya and takes classes there a couple hours a week. 

She never asks when we are going home. She knows we will not be here forever, but she has adapted so quickly to life here. She sees that people need help here and she loves to help. She even told her new friends the other day, "We are the same people, just different colors."  I thought that was very insightful for a seven year old. 

Phillip is loving the same things he loved back home. He plays Legos and now discovered Minecraft. Phill has also discovered Minecraft. Phillip plays really hard and needs naps often. He doesn't like that we walk so much, but someone usually carries him. He is friendly to everyone he meets and he loves to keep us on schedule with our prayers and devotions. He even prays for us. It usually goes something like this,"God thank you for this day. Please bless this food and send your angels to protect us. Happy Birthday Jesus."  None of us have the heart to tell him we only say that on Christmas because it is so cute. 

I really think we should brag on our kids once in awhile. We need to focus on their individual strengths and continue to build their self esteems. We live in a cruel world sometimes and we need to be our kids biggest cheerleaders. So go ahead and brag. I just did!!  

The hardest part about Kenya

A friend asked me the other day what the hardest part of Kenya was for me. I had to think. Not much here has been that hard. Leaving home and my friends and family was hard. Leaving my dogs behind was really hard. The anxiety right before leaving was hard. Living with my in-laws for a month and a half was really hard. I love them and I am so glad they are here, but imagine all of us under one roof, selling, moving, packing with all of our anxiety levels at an all time high. 

So much good has happened since we have been here almost 6 weeks. The people here are my favorite for sure. The kids here make my heart melt. In silent thoughts and prayers I would adopt so many of them. I know this is not possible at this time, but if money wasn't the main obstacle it would be done. 

I guess my answer would have to be money is the hardest thing. Automatically you are perceived as wealthy and to be honest we are so wealthy compared to most of the people here. You can't explain, no we don't have jobs, we have very little amounts of money to do things with so please don't charge me four times what you normally charge. They just look at you in disbelief. They probably think, you have never been hungry. You have never been homeless.  You have never known the hardships I have known. You have running water. You have clean clothes. You flew in on an airplane so don't tell me you have little money. 

God has been working on me though. He knows exactly what we need and he will provide. He has been working through us to help others who are more in need than we ever could be. He is also working through all of you who have helped us through gifts of donations. It feels so amazing to sponsor a child, buy clothes, backpacks, food, goats, chickens, eggs, trees, etc. all because you felt moved to give. I could never thank you enough. I wish you could see the smile, the tears of joy, the gasps of disbelief. I wish you could feel the love of little kids hugging you so tight, playing with your hair, holding your hand, and have a crowd of kids follow you wherever you go.   

 

I think the hardest part of Kenya is going to be saying goodbye this summer. 

Happiness and Running

We have been here about one month. It seems like we just got here. I am loving living in Kenya. The weather is just about perfect. It is hot during the day like 80-90's. Cool at night 50's. Sometimes it rains for 30 minutes or longer. Phill and I got sunburned a couple times. We complain but then realize oh yeah, we are in Africa. It is beautiful here. I love the mountains and the trees. There are white doves that fly around. It is probably the most beautiful place in the world. The kids are my favorite. 

Natalie and I went for a run/walk today. There were kids lined up and down the road yelling" Wazungo kimbia!!"  Which means white people running. Then they laugh because they think it is so funny!!  It is like no matter how tired you are running there is always a cheering section of kids who want to high five you. Sometimes kids run behind you. I want to make a short video for you to see how amazing this is. I will make a video so I can show you the kids in torn clothes, barefoot, and smiling the biggest smiles in the world. Not to say look at these poor kids can you please donate money so I can buy them shoes?  But to say these are God's beautiful children embracing something/ someone who is different and loving them.  They are truly happy and such a gift to see each day. I plan to run because I love to run, but mostly because I love to see my new little friends. I have said it before and I will say it again," Some of the happiest people I have ever met have very little."