no daylight savings?

first off, thank you so much for all your prayers. i have had people i don’t even know tell me they are praying, and i know my family & friends are too …and it’s working! this has been a much harder transition than i could have ever imagined, and it’s easy to get down. but when i do, i know God’s grabbing my hand & saying, “hey, we’re in this together. remember?”

i’m starting to fit into all this a bit better. i’m learning the girls’ individual personalities and more about them. i can tell when they have had a bad day or when they need that extra bit of attention. the older ones are opening up, and the little ones run as hard as they can from the gate to me after school. i’m learning to cook some african dishes. i have found a ‘day job’ while the girls are at school working at a baby school. i teach english to 3, 4 & 5 year olds and help feed toddlers at lunch time. it’s becoming routine to get a bucket of water to bathe with in the mornings and to wash my clothes by hand. i’m over the fact that i get stared at everywhere i go. i’m trying to look on the bright side, and think it is kind of cool that i may be the first white person some people may have ever seen. …& my swahili is getting better.

john & janet, the family who lives in the tiny, 2 room, concrete building in our yard have to be 2 of the nicest people i have ever met. their cheerfulness has been a bigger blessing than they will ever know! janet speaks little english, but she always has a smile on her face & always seems like she couldn’t be any happier to see me! they are so giving, even though like most, they have so little. john always wants to know things about geography or history or art or america. he is very eager to learn & to share what he knows as well.

i will probably be placed somewhere else at least the first couple weeks in april. the girls have holiday from school, & they are sent to aunts or grandparents or any family that they might have, so that they might have ties in community when they are older. i will go to spiritual life conference in the middle of april with all the missionaries from SIM in kenya. i am really looking to that fellowship. please pray for discernment for the following months. mike & terry, the only other ‘muzungos’ in this area, are going back to canada at the end of april, & i don’t know where that leaves me. maybe i can find another placement or maybe my time will be cut short this go around. i wish i could be heroic & say i could do it without having them close by, but pride isn’t usually best. for emotional & security reasons, it works well to have a support team down here on earth as well. i can only pray that whatever happens, it will be a good situation. well it’s almost 9, & these days that means it’s a book & bed time.

i miss you all beyond belief.

be blessed- mb