Mrs JohninGhana

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T05:58:00.000Z

"It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty founder was a child Himself." Charles Dickens

May Christmas find you with a heart full of love, faith, hope, and wonder this year! To all our friends and family, Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

2011-11-22T20:11:00.001Z

When I had the idea of giving away a Christmas box for missionary ladies, I just thought it would be a fun little blessing for somebody else. I thought it might brighten someone's day or be just the thing to encourage somebody through some tough days.
I had no idea it would be such a blessing to me.
Since that post I've had several people contact me with questions about encouraging missionary ladies, some pastors' wives check out ideas for their own missionaries, a few missionaries mention that they want to do the same giveaway while in the States on furlough, and read two excellent articles here and here about what a missionary faces in culture shock and how gifts can be such a blessing.

It has thrilled me to see how God uses small things to create a domino effect. A simple word spoken, a note written, a text sent, a phone call made, and even an envelope or box with some little goodies can be both a blessing to the giver and the receiver!
I think I speak for all us missionary mamas when I say it's not really about the things, it's the fact that somebody far away took time and made the effort to show us that we are loved, thought of, and prayed for. That goes a long way in encouraging a discouraged soul.

When I was growing up, our family tried to do a special project between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. We would find some way to "give Jesus a birthday gift." Often times it was taking a food basket to someone in need, at other times it was dropping off money to help pay for a heating or electric bill. As I think back over my growing up years, I remember very few of the gifts I received, but I do remember quite a few times when we gave to others. We have since tried to incorporate that into our own family. And guess what? that's what my own children are remembering now, too.
Whether you are overseas or in the good ol' U.S.A., whether you are a missionary or not, as we head into this holiday season, all of us can do something to be a blessing to somebody.

I'd love to hear...what birthday gift are you giving Jesus this year?

Pretty Please?

2011-11-17T14:11:00.000Z

Just a little request....if you entered the Christmas package giveaway last week would you be so kind as to email me your address? Please send it to ghanagirl@rocketmail.com. That would be lovely!

And We Have A Winner!

2011-11-15T05:14:00.000Z

Thanks, ladies, for playing along! It was such fun to read what treats would make a box extra special for each of you!
And, oh, how I wish I had the money to send one to each person who commented! But since I don't.....drum roll, please.....the winner is....
HEIDI IN CAMBODIA!
Heidi, would you please be so kind as to send me your mailing info ASAP?
You can send it to ghanagirl(at)rocketmail(dot)com. The sooner you let me know, the sooner your package will be in the mail!
And for the rest of you faithful missionary mamas, I hope and pray that each of you has an amazing holiday season full of many extra little blessings!

You've Got Mail - A Super Special Giveaway!!!

2011-11-08T19:49:00.000Z

I know it's not Thanksgiving yet, but it's really important that you give me a little leeway for a few minutes, okay?
I've got something special I've been wanting to do for a long time...and here it is!
We have a running joke at our house in Ghana. In our house, we eat candy canes at Valentine's Day, conversation hearts at Easter, chocolate bunnies at Fourth of July, and candy corn at Christmas. Is that because we're wierd? Well, maybe we are wierd, but the real reason is because my awesome mom sends us holiday care packages. But, she's so busy and it takes so much time for mail to travel half-way around the world, that the candy is always one holiday behind :)
When I knew we were coming back to the States on furlough I knew I wanted to do a fun holiday giveaway for my missionary mama friends. It drives me nuts that whenever you read a blog giveaway, it almost always says, "Only valid for US residents" or something similar. I've always wondered why they are giving things away to people who can just go buy them if they want? But that's another subject for another day. (I know, I know. It's because shipping is so expensive. Just givin' 'em a hard time!)
Now, if you're not a missionary mama, or you're not on the field right now, I'm so glad you're here and please don't be offended. Some days a little box of something familiar is just what a missionary mama needs to brighten her day a bit!
So today I'm turning the tables! This giveaway is ONLY for missionary mamas ON THE FIELD!!!
I've got a special little box of Thanksgiving and Christmas goodies all ready for one of you special ladies!
Not only will you get mail, but you'll also get some fun treats for the holidays!
I'm aware that these special days are coming quickly, and mail often takes awhile to make it 'round the globe, so this giveaway starts today and the winner will be announced next Monday.
A quick caveat: you must be able to pay the customs/duty, etc. on the package sent. If it's not worth it to you, then don't enter your name, 'k? I know that in some countries, that is the case. Sorry :(
So how do we play?
Simply leave a comment on this blog telling what country you are in right now and what would be the BEST thing you could ever receive in a box from the states. I'd love for lots of ladies to have the chance to win, so if you blog about this, I'll give you an extra entry. Just come back and comment again. And whether you are a missionary yourself or not, if you know a missionary mama that may not know about this blog, please tell them to come on over and join the fun! Thanks!
Easy enough? I thought so!
See you Monday, and hopefully you'll get a box BEFORE the holidays roll around. If not, you might be using turkey napkins for Christmas and eating candy canes for Valentine's Day!

This Insane Thing Called Furlough

2011-11-05T05:25:00.001Z

I've thought and thought. Written about a thousand posts in my head. Tossed and turned ideas over and over. Long post or short post? Lots of info or little info? Funny or serious? Decaf or regular? (Just wanted to see if you were still paying attention!)
And this is what I came up with.....
Life's busy.
Time to get back to blogging anyway.
I know....profound, right?
Really, though, we've been adjusting to being a family of five instead of a family of four. We've been on the road, and schooling, and trying hard to enjoy this Fall. We've made lots of new friends and gotten to reconnect with old ones.
We've been living this somewhat insane thing called the missionary's life while on furlough.
Here's a little peek....

Okay...as I'm sitting here going through pics, I realized that if I put them in one post it would be the longest.post.ever. And as it's one o'clock in the morning, I'm gonna stop now.
If all goes according to my plan (which would actually be a miracle since I have three young children including a two month old and John is on the road for the next week), I'll try to break away from my norm and try to post a couple of times over the next couple of days, and then I'm gonna tell you about an exciting giveaway I have coming up just for missionary moms on the field!
See you soon!

Where in the World Is Patty San Diego?

2011-10-04T10:30:00.000Z

Hello, Friends!
Where have I been? you may ask.
Well...we've been to the hospital - and stayed a while.
We've been to the cardiologist - and had a great report!
We've been learning how to do things with three little ones - instead of two.
We've been learning that sleep is highly overrated - ummmm, not really!
We've been learning what it's like to go to school outside the home - what an adventure!
And we've been learning how to plan, and pack, and travel - again.
Thanks for all your thoughtful notes and kind words.
I hope to be back to posting regularly in a few weeks....right after we head down to Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, and West Virginia, and then over to New Hampshire, and Maine, and Massachusettes, and New York!
Your prayers would be greatly appreciated!

Lili's Home!

2011-09-01T20:20:00.000Z

Lili got to spend ten days in the NICU, but she is now home and doing well.

Having to live in two places at once and be a mommy to two children at home and one in the hospital is one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do.

But you know what? I'm thankful for it. I'm thankful that God saw fit for her to be born in an excellent hospital with an amazing NICU.

I'm glad that the problem was caught before we were sent home instead of the problem being discovered at home.

I'm thankful that God gives grace in the dark times.

I'm thankful for excellent doctors, nurses, and specialists.

I'm thankful for the prayers of so many of God's people and the physical manifestations of His love through so many others.
And most of all, I'm just glad we're all home.

Hidden Treasures

2011-08-29T04:04:00.000Z

Today I have the privilege of guest posting at Hidden Treasures for Angela.

Come join the fun on Missionary Mom Monday!

Little Lili

2011-08-24T07:38:00.000Z

Please continue to pray for Lili and our family.
She is still in the NICU at our hospital.
Her PDA (part of the heart that is supposed to close at birth) is still not completely closed and this causes much pressure inside her little heart.
The doctors have said that all will be well. It will heal with time.
We are so thankful for this news!
But....we are also very tired.
God's strength is sustaining us, and we are thankful for this.
We would love for Lili to come home to us very soon.
Will you pray?

It's A.......

2011-08-18T21:08:00.000Z

Thanking the Lord today.....

for brand-new life....

another beautiful girl...

my girls' wonderful daddy...

a good hospital with wonderful doctors and nurses...

that the most wonderful things come out of pain...

knowing that God only gives good gifts...

Praying today for our darling Lilias Ann Sommer.
Mommy's home and Lili is not. A small part of her heart isn't quite right so the doctors are running some tests.
Praying that the heart will heal quickly on its own and thanking God for our beautiful gift.

Music to My Ears

2011-08-12T12:46:00.002Z

I wish I could say that Blogger was auto-posting, because I was in the hospital having a baby right now.....but I'm not. So don't ask.
Now that I've got that off my chest, on to more interesting topics!
As missionaries on furlough, we've been faced with some interesting challenges. If you've been in my shoes, I know you'll understand!
One of the biggest challenges has been for my kiddos, though I've certainly needed help in this area, too!
My girls are seven and four and the only home they've ever really known has been on the field. Let's just say that moving to a new place for a year is never easy, even if it is their "home" country!

Now I'll be the first to tell you that God gives us grace for whatever He calls us to do. And I'll also add that God has made children to be incredibly resilient! They often bounce back into shape much faster than mommy does! (And no, I'm not talking about having that baby again!)
But.....
we have definitely had "furlough days". The days when a little one wakes up crying, because they dreamed about friends on the field; the days when nothing seems to go right and they just want to go "home"; the days when nothing seems "normal" and they just want life to feel like what they're used to; the days when they've had to try a bunch of new foods and nothing tastes good; the days they've had to go to yet another new Sunday school class and they are nervous and want to know when they get to go to "their" church.
These are the days I'm talking about. And whether you are a missionary or not, I know you've had them, too. (Okay, maybe not the food part, but you get the idea!)
The days when NOTHING seems to go right.
If you've read my blog for a while, you may remember my post about seeing life through eyes of gratefulness. Since that time, I've also come to see the importance of fostering that in my girls.
Thanks, Ann!
And so here is my little solution: every time we have one of "those days" and the tears come, we think of things to be thankful for.
I bought some cute post-it notes to use, but really, you could use anything you have on hand. Colored paper, 3x5 cards, die-cuts, scrapbook paper or even chalkboards, whiteboards, or notebooks could all work.

It's a seemingly simple solution, but it works.
1. Think of things to be thankful for, instead of all the things
that you are unhappy about.
2. Write them down one-by-one.
3. Put them where you can see them!
4. Keep writing them until your focus has changed!
The amazing thing about counting your blessings is that it works!
Funny, isn't it, that God knows what He's talking about!?!
After just a few minutes of writing our thanks, both the girls and I feel much better.

And now that we've done this a few times, I'm already starting to see a change in thought patterns.
Out of the blue...."Mommy, can I add a star today? I'm thankful for...", that's music to a momma's ears.

Nothing.

2011-08-06T18:05:00.000Z

I should have something to say. I should be witty, fun, and engaging or serious, spiritual, and practical, but I'm not.
I'm a very expectant mother who is quite ready to meet the little person who's been growing inside of me for the last nine months.
If you've ever been there, you know what I mean.
I've got lots of ideas rolling around in my head, but not enough mental fortitude (like that catchy phrase?) to actually get them written.
Hopefully I'll get feeling that way soon.....we'll just have to see!

Tumbling Words

2011-07-29T03:56:00.000Z

Here I sit at the computer again with millions of thoughts whirling through my brain. Thoughts of how I'd love to post more....how I'd love to write about fun things....what I'd get accomplished if I could just ditch the "things-that-must-be-done" and do the "things-I-want-to-do"...
But, no. I try to type some of those things, but my mind and fingers won't let me. Not today. I keep going back to one thought. The word that is consuming me at the moment.
Since I started this blog to talk about my life as a missionary wife and mommy, then I guess I feel obligated to include not only the fun posts, but also the posts about what I face on a day-to-day basis.
This may sound a little melancholy, but really, that's not my intention. The word that keeps tumbling round and round in my brain is the word contentment.
Not a bad word, mind you, but not an easy word, either!
When we started planning this furlough, this was a subject John and I talked about often. We knew how easily we fell into the trap of always wanting more the last time we were on furlough. We didn't want to do that this time around.
When we first arrived in the States, we were simply overwhelmed with all that was available to us. We bought the necessities and were content. And then we started to see a little something here and a little something there. Not bad things, not too much, just a little here and a little there.
And since God is good, He often doesn't let us get too far down that path before posting a big, bright warning sign. BE CAREFUL! Watch where your desires are taking you!
And then come the words....are you content?
Are you content not to buy new clothes?
Are you content not to eat that food you don't need?
Are you content with the things I (God) have given you?
Are you content with no new toys/crafts/books?
Are you content with quiet days?
Are you content with just loving your family?
Are you content to stay home and not be out doing something new?
Ouch.
And then comes the harder questions...
Are you content if these things don't change?
Are you content to accept what I (God) give you and nothing more?
Ouch. Ouch.
And then the hardest of all...
Are you content with Me?
That one hurts.
Please don't misunderstand. God has been so good to us. Not only has He given us life and health, He has blessed us with more things than I can count.
But that little hissing voice still comes...
"If you just had this dress..."
"If you just bought that toy for your girls..."
"If you just had less responsibilities..."
"If your life could be just like so-and-so's..."
And every time, the answer must be NO!
The battlefield is my mind, and I can either take control of my thoughts or they will take control of me.
And so I let that word keep tumbling round and round my brain. And I keep my eyes open for the traps. And when that voice comes that's full of doubt and questions, I choose to fight. I fight with the most powerful weapon I've got - God's Word.
And I choose to be content.

Baby Brain

2011-07-15T10:48:00.002Z

Oh, goodness. Where to start....
I've been feeling this coming for days, if not weeks. Baby Brain. The need to write. To put it all on paper (figuratively speaking!). To unload, sort, work through everything in my head. And this is the place I feel like I can do that. Does that make me a writer? Hmmmmm. Not sure about that.
Anyways, here I sit in the early morning quiet. That's nice, isn't it? Quiet.
Things are about to get very UNquiet around here. I've got about a month left before we meet our new little one, Lord willing. Hopefully. Because I've been known to be overdue. In the extreme. That wouldn't be fun to do again. I actually love being pregnant - no sickness, no problems, except that I think my body likes it a little too much! If you think about it, please pray this baby comes ON TIME!
We've been in the States now a little over two months. Some days I feel adjusted, but many days I still feel like a fish out of water. This summer has been such a blessing. We've been able to spend a lot of time with our families. We've had time to just enjoy living and loving and making memories.
We've started traveling, but all our summer meetings are in Michigan until the new baby arrives! Yeah!!! At this point, sitting in a car for hours and hours on end isn't very comfortable!
Some weeks move at a nice, slow pace, and some weeks I feel like the speed of life here is way more than I can handle! Rushing from thing to thing, activity to activity, place to place...and dear people saying,
"Hey, you want to go do such-and-such?"
"When?" I ask.
"Now!"
Yikes! I don't think I handle spontaneity very well any more!
Some days I'm overwhelmed by all the choices. Grocery shopping still requires a lot of effort. Other days, I'm underwhelmed by the choices. Why can't Wal-Mart be more like Amazon and Etsy? Why isn't the stock of the entire world at my fingertips? This is America, for goodness sakes!
We continue to work through this reverse culture-shock as a family. Some days are super easy for the girls and others, not so much. Poor things have a lot to figure out, including, but not limited to, who are all these people that know them, but they've never met or even seen a picture of? what do all these strange American English phrases mean, and how do they use them properly? why do they have to eat all these odd looking and tasting foods? how in the world do the sinks,hand-dryers, and door locks work at each different public restroom?
I'm also nesting, or at least trying to. I know some of you missionary mamas can understand trying to nest when you don't feel like you've got a tree! I think my desire to nest is coming out in wierd ways -- cooking and baking (things I probably shouldn't be eating); wanting to try every new recipe with every new ingredient I can find; an overwhelming desire to go picnicking, Martha Stewart-style, no less; the desire to craft every cute thing I see on the Internet, but realizing that if I bought all the necessary supplies, I'd be broke, and knowing that our shipping space to take it back to Ghana is limited.
As this baby and I have now grown quite large, I'm not sleeping too well. And that's okay, just getting me ready for 2 a.m. feedings. That means I've got a lot more time to think than usual. Can you tell?
Thinking about being a believer, a wife, a mommy, a missionary, a blogger, and how do those things all work together? Having so many seemingly good ideas and desires and knowing I cannot and should not do them all. Knowing, too, that I should do some.
Thinking about being an encourager. This world is full of hurting people. Rarely do we know the hurts, and even if we do, do we know the extent of those hurts? How deeply those things pain?
How can I edify family, friends, missionaries, converts, church members, those in America, those in Ghana, those in my own home? How do I properly spend time with those I've been given to train and teach on a daily basis, and yet still reach out to those in the broader circles around me?
Baby Brain....lots to ponder...by the time baby gets here, I'm sure I won't have any brain cells left. Better get my thinking in now.

The Third Blessing of Furlough

2011-07-08T11:50:00.005Z

Can you guess what the third blessing of furlough might be?

As a missionary, I've learned to love two countries, but there is just something special about celebrating America's birthday in America!
When we are in Ghana we always take time to celebrate Independence Day, but it's extra special to get to party with friends and family and flags and fireworks and food. (Really wierd that all those start with "F"....maybe because it's the Fourth of July....hahahahaha, okay, enough corny jokes!)

We enjoyed an amazing Fourth of July weekend. My three best friends and their kiddos all came to Michigan. We've been best friends forever, really, over 20 years!

We also got to spend time with my family, including my little brother and his wife!

We also got to make lots of wonderful memories!

Happy Birthday, America!

So what did you do to celebrate?

The Second Blessing of Furlough

2011-06-24T13:44:00.008Z

Yes, I know I've been absent from this poor little blog for three weeks, but as you'll see, we've been quite busy! Not that that's an excuse or anything!

One thing I was really worried about when thinking of furlough was the pace of American life. Life in Ghana is routine, calm, manageable. Life in America seems anything but! I'm sure people here have their routines, their moments of calm, and even a way to keep things manageable, but that's tough as a missionary. We only live in the States for a year at a time. We have churches to report to, lots of driving from place to place, and trying to spend quality time with all our family and friends we won't see again for four or five years. We live out of suitcases, sometimes in hotels and sometimes in people's homes. And that, my friend, can feel a bit overwhelming.

As we've been back now almost two months, I've certainly had my moments of panic, fear, and complete desparation. If you don't believe me, ask my husband about my grocery shopping trip the other day! But through all these adjustments, I've been asking God to show me what He wants me to learn through this time.
I finally stumbled onto my second lesson of furlough this morning -- the blessing of experiences.

Some people live their entire lives in the same area, doing the same things, living the same way, eating the same things, and knowing the same people. That's not a bad life; it's a good one!
But God hasn't called all of us to such a life. He hasn't called my family to that life. He has called us to one that is a little out of the ordinary, one full of new places, new things, new foods, and new people. And I've got a choice; I can either balk at the new, out-of-the-ordinary, uncontrollable, and sometimes scary things, or I can embrace them.
I can go out of my way to make memories, choose the joy, and live life now, or I can miss out on all these amazing new experiences for my family and me!
Here are just a few of our recent experiences....

Carey and Ella at School Field Day

Making mud pies at Nana's house

Enjoying Greek food and dancing at the Greek Cultural Festival

Finding out that everything in America is a bit bigger and stranger than real life(including, but not limited to bacon band-aids, enormous marshmallows, mice, and cheese)!

Exploring a nearby German town with my Papaw and Grandma Martha (the girls great-grandparents!), who came all the way from Kentucky just to spend a little time with us!

Spending time up north with John's family and all the cousins, and learning that you can handle colder weather than you ever thought possible - the trick is in the ever-present sweatshirts and campfires!!!

Learning to fly a kite, because if you live in such a windy place like Saginaw, you might as well use it to your advantage!

Thanks for taking the time to read today....have a wonderful week filled with living life with all its experiences!

The First Blessing of Furlough and a Contest Winner

2011-06-03T12:04:00.007Z

Thank you for playing along with my little contest last week! I hope the geography questions weren't too hard :)
And the winner is....drum roll, please.........Betsie Lewis! And since I already have your address, I'll be sending your little package along very soon!

As we've now been on furlough officially for four weeks, I've had a bit of time to think about what a blessing furlough is for missionaries. When we began planning this furlough, I was having a hard time appreciating the idea. I knew it was what we were supposed to do. I knew it would be good for our children. I knew it would be helpful for our supporting churches. But I wasn't really sure if it would be of any benefit to me. Now I know that that sounds a bit arrogant, and I'm sure it is.

Often it's hard to see what we really need, but what a blessing that the Lord knows exactly what we need when we need it!
We've been back long enough now that the Lord has been able to open my eyes to the fact that He only gives good gifts! Furlough is a good gift! It's not just about leaving our home and ministry, as I was thinking. It's about putting us in a different place for a time: a place with different struggles, and different ways of stretching and growing, and yes, a place with different gifts from Him.

Missionaries have lots of things they think about when returning to their home country...their favorite stores, their own food, a familiar culture, and maybe a different climate...and all of these can be a blessing if mentally put in the right place. But none of these are the real blessings of furlough. These are just the sprinkles on top!

The first blessing of furlough is family. Simple.
Time to let the grandparents love on their grandbabies. Time to play games. Time to teach their grandkids new skills. Time to just be with each other.

And if family time is made a priority on furlough it brings a wonderful piggy-back blessing with it....memories.
Life moves so very swiftly. A year of furlough slips through the fingers like sand.

It's so easy to waste the days, the opportunities, the moments. Too easy to look back over a period of time and realize that it's gone forever and you can't even remember what you did with it.

Lord, remind me daily of the blessing that family is. Help me savor each moment and memory as the gifts they truly are!
Hope you all make some great memories this week!

Contest Time!!!

2011-05-27T15:16:00.002Z

I'm sure you've all been holding your breath waiting for this little contest...okay, maybe not! But I've been looking forward to it for a little while!
The first time I heard about a blog was from my dear friend, Heather. We were back in the States on our first furlough, and she asked me if I was going to start a blog when we got back to the field (if we were able to get internet service). Having had extremely limited internet experience while in Ghana our first term, I had no idea what a blog was. I smiled and said I'd think about it. She really encouraged me to do so and told me about another missionary she knew that kept a blog from the field. After we headed back to Ghana, I pretty much forgot about the whole idea. One day I started thinking about some of my missionary mama friends and wondering how they were doing. I did a little googling and found out that a number of my missionary friends and acquaintances had blogs. After looking them over a bit, I asked John what he thought. He loved the idea! And thus, my blog was born.
It was as simple as that! I didn't know that I was supposed to think about branding and marketing and advertising and commenting and following and giveaways and so on and so forth!
So back to the contest. If this blog hasn't done anything for anybody but myself, I consider it time well spent. I've enjoyed putting up pictures and working on my sad, sad photography skills -- better than leaving them in little files in the computer! It's been a wonderful place to journal my thoughts and feelings, lessons I'm learning, fun memories, and blessings and trials. And it's been a great place to share prayer requests and hear from those who are praying for us and God's work in Ghana.
So the contest? As a way to say thanks for sharing the last three and a half years with me, I put together a little gift basket from Ghana. All you have to do to enter the drawing is answer four little questions! You can answer in the comments section or on facebook (either on my wall or inbox) and then make sure to leave a way I can contact you if you win! (email address or your wall on fb will work!)
*Sorry Mom and other family members - you are out on this one -- you already know all the answers!
*And yes, this is open to you wherever you live in the world, just as long as you are willing to pay for the customs or duties that may be required :)

1. We started our journey to America from the second largest city in Ghana. The place we call home is _______________.
2. We flew out of the capital of Ghana, ____________.
3. We had our layover in a city known not only for gray skies, but also splashes of red: the buses, the telephone booths, and the post boxes. We stayed in _____________ for several hours.
4. We landed in a city near a lake. What a windy day! Our last stop before my parents' home was __________________.

So there it is! Just leave your answers, and I'll randomly choose one of you with the correct answers. The winner will be announced next Friday!

Little Blessings

2011-05-20T11:20:00.006Z

Okay, so I said I'd be back in two weeks (the last time I blogged), and, ummm, well, yeah. That didn't happen. I forgot how big an international move is. It's a BIG deal. It takes a lot of time. It is overwhelming. And reverse culture shock? It's real and can be a bit much to deal with at times.
All in all, we had a great trip. Long, but smooth. My girls were little troopers - I was so proud of them!
Since we've been back, we've been enjoying our families, buying all the things needed to live here during this furlough time, working like crazy on getting things ready for traveling, and trying to find some kind of day-to-day routine.
We've also been FREEZING! But I won't go into that!
I know when I get busy, it is easy to lose sight of the important. It's often easiest to focus on just getting through the to-do list than on life itself.
Since that's been one of my struggles since returning stateside, today's post is my attempts at noticing the blessings instead of the burdens. Hope you enjoy a little view of life on this side of the pond!

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I also said last time I wrote that I'd be having a fun little contest soon. It's almost ready, but not quite! Hopefully I'll have everything together next week!

What the Last Week Before Furlough Looks Like...

2011-04-29T07:05:00.004Z

What the last week before furlough looks like for a missionary mama (or at least this one!)
The last week before furlough is...
realizing that you could have started cleaning earlier.
thinking that you could have been packing life away at a more rapid pace than you have.
trying to eat up all the leftover food in the house.
eating up said leftovers, but trying to make them into balanced meals.
sending your poor husband to the provision shop down the road or the petrol station a little farther down the road, because you've run out of something...again.
eating canned cranberry sauce as a fruit, 'cause it's what you've got!
rationing the sugar, because all of the sudden it seems like everything you cook requires sugar, and there are just a few grains in the bottom of the container.
knowing that no matter how many rubbish bags you’ve purchased, you are going to run out before this is done.
trying to bake cookies for the last night of children's Bible class, and because of trying to do too many things at once, not getting the recipe quite right....and sending poor John to the store for biscuits...again.
getting quite tired of hanging all the newly-washed doll clothes and stuffed animals on the clothesline and wondering why we have so many!
eating as much Ghanaian food as we can, because it'll be a long time before we taste the real thing again.
saying good-bye to too many people for too long.
making our last visits to church members houses and being spoiled with fufu for brunch!
staring nostalgically out the window of the vehicle and knowing that quite soon everything is going to look very different.
answering a million and one questions from your kiddos, because even though they are technically Americans, they don't remember anything about America.
holding new little babies and knowing that the next time you see them, they won't be tiny anymore.
praising God that our paperwork finally got finished (enough for now, anyway), and we don't have to change our flights!
knowing that it's time for a furlough because almost everything we own is falling apart, breaking, tearing, drying up, or spoiling right before time to go --- including the camera!
getting that strange butterfly feeling in the pit of your stomach every time you realize that in a week's time your entire life is going to be turned upside-down.
being sad, nervous, excited all at the same time.
making a million lists and knowing that you are still going to forget something.
wondering how your children have so many dirty socks to be washed, when they hardly wear them!
having faith that this is God's will and therefore doing my best to go about all this with a smile on my face and a kind, if rather urgent, tone in my voice!
trying again when that smile slips and the tone becomes frantic!

Instead of blogging next week on Friday morning, I will be in a big airplane winging my way over the Atlantic. Please pray for a safe, smooth flight for this missionary mama and family -- we need it!
Hopefully I'll see you back here in two weeks time with some great stories and a fun little contest!

Fasting and Feasting for Easter

2011-04-22T07:24:00.006Z

As I've mentioned a few times lately (okay, maybe more than a few), I'm a bit busy right now. In fact, I'd convinced myself that I was so busy that I didn't have time to worry about any more holidays before furlough.
If you've read here long, you know I love holidays. We try to celebrate them all -- silly, serious, widely unknown, from different cultures, and so on, and so forth. For everyone who knew me in high school and college, you'll remember my amazing collection of holiday-inspired socks :)
I forced myself to celebrate Christmas this year, because I felt absolutely awful the entire season, but that one is a must! I stumbled through New Years, remembered to do a thing or two for Valentine's Day, and eked out something small for St. Patrick's Day (a day late).

When I realized that Easter was coming less than two weeks before we left for the States on furlough, I decided to skip it all together. There is certainly no commercialization of Easter here, so I needn't worry about my kids begging me for chocolate rabbits or jelly beans when we went to buy groceries! If I could just keep the decorations hidden away, and not mention it, they wouldn't realize anything was coming until Daddy talked about it at church, and by then it would be too late to make a fuss! And then.....
Then, the Lord asked more of me. Does He ever do that to you? Days when I'm positive that I can't fit in one more thing, and the Lord asks me to go the second mile? To give not only my coat, but my cloke also? That's what He asked of me this Easter season. I read some things here and there that the Lord used to stir me to make the most of this Easter season, in spite of my busyness, in spite of how I felt, in spite of what I wanted. A time of fasting and feasting as C.S. Lewis so aptly put it. He asked me to be willing to put away some things for a time and to pick up others. And you know what? It has been exactly what I needed. Has it been perfect? Nope. Are there days I've wanted to quit and do it my way? Yep! Am I glad that I've chosen a different way than my own for this season? Without a doubt.

In doing it God's way, I've been given the gift of time. Time to really think about the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. I've had time to keep up with all that needs to be done in the house and with the ministry at this time. And I've even had time to do some extras with the kiddos. Tons of extra time? No, but the time I needed.
In choosing to fast from the good but unnecessary, I've been given time to feast on the important: time to think about my salvation and its horrible cost, time to keep my home running smoothly during this transition, time to make memories with my family.

We've been enjoying our Easter tree each morning in school and our Resurrection Eggs each day at lunch. The girls had a lovely time coloring ornaments from their Great Granny (which might possibly be dry, but the amount of glitter glue on them makes that debatable...), and we've got plenty of fun things planned for the rest of this weekend.

This afternoon, we'll have a little picnic and egg hunt with our co-workers kids, we'll dye eggs, we'll play with our Easter Mountain, and try our hand at making some homemade Cadbury Creme Eggs.

Tomorrow we'll visit and share the good news of the Resurrection and prepare for Easter Sunday. On Sunday we'll rejoice in all Jesus has done for us, and on Monday (a holiday here!), we'll join together as a church family and sing and eat and share and play and simply fellowship!

And in the hurry and scurry, and hustle and bustle, we'll take the moments here and there, and we'll make time to reflect on Jesus. What a wonderful Saviour and Friend He is. How wonderful His gifts to me.

Happy Easter!

My Addiction, Among Other Things

2011-04-15T17:43:00.004Z

This week has been just as full as I thought it would be! I tried to grab the camera at different times throughout the week. We all love taking pictures of the "special" things, but don't we want to remember the "real-life", too?

We've been packing, schooling, cooking, cleaning, organizing, entertaining friends, and a whole slew of other things this week. I thought the week would fly by, but instead it seemed to move verrrrrrrrrrrrry slowly. I guess I should count that as a blessing! Maybe that's because I had plenty to keep me busy.....or maybe it's because I found out that I'm addicted to sleeping with an air conditioner. What??? Yes, me, I have an addiction.
When we first moved to the field, a veteran missionary told us that the best money we would ever spend would be on an air conditioner for our bedroom. He said it would help us sleep well and that good sleep was very important for a missionary. Well, we thought we knew better; we thought we didn't have enough money; we thought we were strong, healthy, robust! We were wrong. We slept without an air conditioner our entire first term, and when we went on furlough, I'm pretty sure we slept for the first two weeks straight. Comatose. Out.
When we came back for our second term, we decided to invest in a window unit. The veteran was right - it is the best money we've ever spent. I found out that I was a better wife, a better mommy, and an all-around nicer and healthier person when I actually slept well every night. Enter last Friday night. We turned on the unit, and it started making the strangest sounds. We turned it off, let it rest, and hoped that it was just a power fluctuation (which isn't uncommon here). Turned it back on, waited a few minutes....the noise came back even worse. Sigh. Repairmen don't work on the weekends. Bigger sigh. Took it to the shop on Monday, and today it is finally, happily home in our bedroom.
Right now it is humming its happy tune and blowing really cold air. Big sigh with a smile on my face. Tonight I will sleep soundly for lots of reasons. Cold air. No squeaky fan going round and round. No mosquitoes singing in my ear. No open windows letting in the sounds of trucks honking, roosters crowing, dogs barking, or churches having all-night singing-and-speaking-in-tongues services. No waking up in the middle of the night in a puddle of sweat. No more soggy pillow. I always have much to be thankful for, but tonight, I'm extra thankful. In the midst of all of this out-of-the-ordinary, we've been trying to squeeze in moments to focus on this special time of year. We enjoy celebrating all holidays, but we try to make extra effort at Easter. Part of me really didn't want to mess with decorating for Easter or even put my heart into talking about it much, but it's such an important part of who we are as believers. So, I decided I better make the effort, and of course, it's been well worth it. My girls love our Resurrection Eggs, and they can't wait to see the picture we add to our Easter tree each day. Well worth the little time it takes to sow those seeds in their little hearts and minds (my own, too!), I think. I got my wish with the tadpoles -- not only do we have legs, but we've actually got a few of the cutest, teensy-tiniest frogs you've ever seen! The only problem now is that I've found out lettuce leaves and weeds aren't enough. Now they need meat. Yes.......meat. Frogs do eat things like flies, gnats, etc., and since there aren't too many of those in our little "pond", I've got to give them scraps of meat. 'Cause if I don't.....they'll eat each other. Ummmm, yeah. Frogs can be cannibals. Oh, the lovely things you learn when you study nature! I'll do my best to keep right on posting every Friday until we fly out. I'm sure there will be some lag during the time we travel and arrive in the States and get everything set up for life on the other side of the pond. Unfortunately, it looks like my camera might be dieing. I'm hoping to make it last until we get to the States, but we shall see!
Keep praying about our government paperwork. As of this moment, we can't legally leave the country in three weeks. But.....we can't stay, cause that's the last week that I can officially fly.
Good thing God knows what's gonna happen!
Wishing you all a wonderful Easter week reflecting on who He is and all He's done for us!

Yellow

2011-04-08T08:49:00.004Z

After last week's exciting post, I'm thinking that anything I write won't quite match up!
This has been a long and full week with a few unexpected twists and turns thrown in. Isn't that life, though?!?

We are busy finishing school - only two weeks left! Both the girls and I will be quite ready for a bit of a vacation after this whirlwind semester! I'm not sure who has a harder time getting into the schoolroom some mornings. We are looking forward to a bit of relaxed learning when we get back to the States. We plan on making good use of the local library and enjoying spring -- something neither of my girls are very familiar with!

We are also working hard to finish all the sorting, cleaning, and organizing that goes with packing up life for a year. Boxes here, bags there, stacks of books and trunks, and suitcases in another corner -- it can get a little overwhelming at times, but we're doing our best to find a place for everything! Little by little it is getting done.

I've actually felt quite well the last few weeks, and my energy level seems to be holding...finally! Gotta love that second trimester :)
Thanks for all the sweet comments and well wishes. God has been so good to us!

In other silly news, we have some new pets. About fifty or so, I'd guess! If you know me well, you know that pets aren't my thing, but these couldn't be passed up! About two weeks ago, we were out visiting as a family. We stopped by the side of the road for something or other, and then Carey and Ella began to shout, "Look, Mama!" The open gutter on the side of the road was crammed full of itty-bitty tadpoles. As we had just talked about them in Science class, we had to convince Daddy that they should go home with us for "scientific observation." John finally bought a bottle of water and drank the contents, since I wanted to try catching them up in a plastic bag. Probably not one of my brightest moments! He sweetly scooped them up, and I carried them around in my purse for several hours. They made it to the house alive, and we've had a wonderful time watching them grow. I must say, though, that tadpoles grow much slower than I expected. I'm hoping we'll at least see legs on them before we have to travel!

I didn't have any new pictures for this week -- I don't think I even picked up the camera! I may try to snap a few of the tadpoles and whatnot this week, although pictures of real-life right now might be a little much!
As I was looking for inspiration, I ran across these all yellow pics from last year. I love yellow! It's bright, happy, sunshiney, and highly motivational! And on that note, I've got work to do!
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As a postscript, if you think about it, would you please pray that our government paperwork would be finished on Tuesday? I won't go into the long, boring details, but it would be such a huge blessing if it was all finished when John heads to the capital on Tuesday. Thanks, friends!

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

2011-04-01T07:35:00.004Z

Remember my serious lack of posting in December and January? Did you notice how I often talked about being tired? I was. For very good reason!
As a missionary, I must live in two different cultures. In my home culture, I would announce certain things right away; in my adopted culture, I cannot announce anything. In my home culture, people would offer their enthusiastic congratulations and ask all kinds of questions; in my adopted culture people will start calling me "old lady" and asking if I've been eating too much fufu. In my home culture, people might rub my belly and ask my due date; in my adopted culture people just look at my belly and smile. It will tell them all they need to know.
We are now over half way through this portion of our newest adventure. Lord willing, it will be completed sometime after our arrival in the States for furlough. You'll just have to wait and see!

Bright Spots in Busy Days

2011-03-25T15:02:00.005Z

Since I last wrote, life has gotten a tad busier :)
We had our immigration interview - and yes, he believed that we were telling the truth and were really missionaries here in Ghana! I'm glad he decided that, because I'm not sure what else we could be!?!?
We celebrated St. Paddy's day a few days late, but who's counting? And if you're gonna make a mess that big and colorful, you gotta take pictures!
John had to make a trip to Accra, and we got to go along. When we arrived, we were told the papers we were coming to pick up were not finished. Long story short, we got to rest just a little bit as a family. It was nice!
Now we are home and busily going through closets and storage, cleaning out the junk before furlough. It's actually quite nice to uproot your life every few years....you never accumulate too much stuff that way!
Thought you might enjoy seeing some of my bright spots these last few busy days!

You must eat rainbows on St. Patrick's Day. And make a big mess, I might add!

This is David and his mommy. His dad Robert is one of our faithful men. He's playing with the neighbor's homemade car.

Benedict walking! For those of you who know his story, this is such a wonderful blessing!

Some random bright spots from around the Guest House where we stayed. Enjoying God's beautiful creation, some play time for the girls, and some play time for Daddy, the Lego Man :)
Hope your week was as full of blessings as mine was!

Through My Eyes

2011-03-18T14:46:00.004Z

This week we got a phone call we've been waiting on and praying for - a phone call from the government. John dropped everything he was doing, packed up his enormous file stuffed full of our paperwork, and headed to town. When he arrived, a man began to grill him on why we were here, what we were doing, our future intentions, our ministry.
It was the first time John has ever had to go through anything quite like this.
After a bit of time, the officer in charge began to ask him about our buildings, our properties, our employees.
"We don't have any," was his entire answer. Nothing. In the eyes of this government, we were pretty much worthless.
You see, the path the Lord has given us to follow doesn't look very impressive. We are striving to build completely indigineous churches here. That doesn't look the same in every place or the same for every missionary. For us, that means that we give, and our people learn to give, and God makes something out of nothing.
"Where do your three Bible studies meet?" was his next question. Now John got to tell him that we meet in a school in one place, under a canopy in another, and in a chop bar (a wooden food stand) near the wood mills.
At this point, I think the director was looking at John as if he had three heads. In his mind, what John was saying made no sense. Where's the glory in that? What about what people think? You are a white man, for goodness' sakes!
After a few more questions, the officer told him that they would be coming to inspect our works. They wanted to know if we were lying or not. They informed John that he would have to take him to meet our people and see our places so they could check our story. They would have to see John's office...our house.
When John told me all this, I was afraid. Nobody anywhere wants government officials inspecting their life. Who wants a big stamp of approval (or disapproval) on their ministry from the government? As missionaries, we have no choice. This is part of what God has given us to do. So we do it.
As I sat at our Wednesday night Bible study in the chop bar, the Lord helped me a bit with my perspective. I was struggling with what these inspectors would think, but as I looked around, I was able to look at things through God's eyes. I saw a group of people singing "How Great Thou Art" at that moment in their own language; our first convert from a Bible study we've been holding for eight months; people hearing the true gospel preached to them for the first time; children hearing stories of the Bible they've never heard before; two faithful helpers that were brought to Christ through our work here.
At that moment, I wouldn't have traded places with anyone anywhere in the world. And oh, how I wished that these government inspectors could see things the way God had let me see them. I simply wished they could see it all through my eyes.

Spending My Days

2011-03-11T18:38:00.002Z

In this time of coming transition, it's easy to get ahead of where I'm supposed to be. And where the Lord wants me to be, for that matter!
I'm trying to spend my days doing first things first.
I'd read a quote of C.S. Lewis' some time ago, but was reminded of it again today...
"You can't get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first."
This is my challenge for this week!

Looking for Slow

2011-03-04T15:05:00.004Z

As a busy mom of young children, I've found myself craving for life to slow down a bit.
Here in Ghana life doesn't move nearly like the life many in America complain about: no play dates, no ballet or gymnastics, no running from appointment to event to home, not a huge number of church or school programs. There aren't televisions blaring everywhere you go or people jumping in and out of their cars to zoom from one place to another. But still, I wish life would just slow.

A big part of my life as a missionary right now is being a missionary at home. Honestly, this was very difficult for me at first. I wanted to be out DOING the work! So I did. I strapped my little Carey to my back and away we went! I was out doing what a missionary was supposed to do! Or so I thought. And then, through a little comment here, a note of advice there, God clearly showed me that my job as a missionary was to be a missionary to my own children first. I fought it, but I was beaten. I saw it staring me in the face in the form of a dear daughter, and I realized once again that being a missionary wasn't about what I wanted or what I had romantically imagined. Being a missionary was about obeying my God and proclaiming the Good News in the way He saw fit.

I wish I was a quick learner. I wish I had fully grasped what all that meant right away. But here I am, still struggling, still learning. Some days I feel like I've made great strides, and other days all I can do is lay in bed and beg God to help me put my feet on the floor.

As we draw nearer to our coming furlough, I've felt this fight more and more. My flesh rebels against change. I feel myself pulling away from all that must be done.
I need routine. I thrive when things are neat and orderly. (Those of you who remember my messy room growing up may be floored by that!) I like my days to have a nice rhythm. I want to scream out like the silly Emperor Kuzco, "Who threw off my groove?!?"

If you even glance at these pictures, you'll see that life hasn't exactly been smooth lately. Not only has taking care of my home seemed like an impossible mountain to climb on most days, but being the mom my girls need has seemed even more of a challenge. Let's be honest, on the tired days, the long days, the out-of-the-ordinary days, who wants to deal with the nitty-gritty things that are so vital to training children? It's a whole lot easier to just get through the day with clean clothes on and food fixed at the right time than it is to take time to deal with little sinful hearts. And it's a whole lot easier to just bark orders and get workpages done than to really reach out to the hearts and minds of our little ones.

The funny thing about kids is that they do slow quite well! Exasperatingly so, on some days, but they know how to live life as it comes. Each minute is a cup to be filled to the brim with fun and play.

So this week I'm challenging myself. I'm going to do my best to take each moment as it comes. Yes, I have a lot to do during this transitional time, but whether I'm cranky or mean, or gentle and joyful, it will get done. It always does.

And hopefully I'll be able to get my house clean this week, too!

And the Countdown Begins

2011-02-23T11:08:00.004Z

You remember last week when I said that there were a lot of things going on in my life? Well, one is now official, and it's time to share.
We are getting ready to go on furlough! Exciting, you say? Sort of. Overwhelming? Extremely!
When it came time for our first furlough I was so very excited. I couldn't wait to see my family, my friends, my old home. I couldn't wait to eat American food, indulge in some old hobbies, live in a culture I was comfortable with, and see things I hadn't seen in a long while. And we did have a nice furlough. I noticed something strange, though. Things didn't seem quite the same as I remembered them. Everything was a little different than what I had imagined.
Then God brought us back to Ghana for our second term. God has grown us and stretched us in many more ways than I thought I could be grown and stretched! And now we are looking at our second furlough. I've not left Ghanaian soil in almost four years. Though I love my friends and family, my life is here. God's given me another family, more friends, a new home. I love Ghanaian food, have new hobbies, am comfortable in this culture (on most days :) ), and enjoy the thought of exploring and learning new things here.
I must be honest, I'm looking at this furlough with a bit of trepidation. I'm not sure what to think; not quite sure how to imagine it all. I'm not who I used to be. I suppose I'm a bit of a mutant -- not fully American and not fully Ghanaian.
Sure, I have moments of furloughitis. The thought of a Fuddrucker's hamburger makes my mouth water. I'm thrilled at the thought of enjoying a Barnes and Noble for several hours. I can't wait to hug family members that I haven't seen in years, hold nephews and nieces I've never met, and spend time with a brand new sister-in-law and brother-in-law. I want to experience four seasons. I'm looking forward to laughing and giggling with old friends and meeting their new babies.
But in the back of my mind, I think of what I'll miss here in Ghana: a heaping plate of Joloff, bargaining in the market, church members, new converts, brand new babies that will be born while we are away, days and days of beautiful sunshine.
In the end, I can't be sad. I have a choice in how I view this. I can choose to see it all as a blessing instead of a trade-off. I have two families, two homes, two cultures, two languages (okay, maybe 1 1/2 :) ), and an amazing life.
And as for that, I can start counting my blessings today!
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Since we are leaving for furlough the beginning of May, I'd like to ask you all a favor. If you know me well, you know that I'm a bookworm. And this bookworm has no idea what books to read, borrow, or buy while back in the Land of More Books Than You Can Imagine, America. So what would you suggest? Biographies, Non-Fiction, Mothering, Fiction, Classics, Cookbooks, Christian Life, and any genre I've missed are all fair game. Old or new, doesn't matter. I just need suggestions! Thanks :)

Flat

2011-02-16T07:39:00.002Z

Have you ever felt flat? Like a bottle of pop, or soda, or mineral, or however you say it, that's been left out too long without the cap screwed on tightly?
That' pretty much how I've felt lately...tired, boring, no fizz. More worried about just getting through the day, than how I did it. Existing, yes; living, no.
The funny thing about a blog is that the readers only knows what is going on if the author tells them. It's easy to think a blogger's life is all rainbows and lollipops, or that they are just lazy and not writing, when really, neither one is probably the reality.
There's been a lot going on here in Ghana for quite a long stretch now. I've written about a million, okay, maybe a thousand posts in my head, but was never quite sure how to put it all, or finish it off, or even make it interesting to read. So I haven't been writing. There are days I've felt I'd explode if I didn't write it all out, but at the end of the day, I've just swallowed it down and gone on. And that swallowing it down over and over again has left me feeling like the old soda that's been left on the counter overnight. Flat.
Does anyone like to drink a flat Coke? Not me. So I'm writing again. It may be boring, it may be mundane, but it's my life. This is the only one I've got, so I might as well live it....with the fizz!

Celebrating Like Wild Indians

2011-01-07T10:34:00.002Z

Back from a long winter's nap -- still feeling kinda sleepy!

Christmas, lovely Christmas. Not the Christmas of my childhood, since I didn't grow up in the tropics, but in the far regions of the north, but a lovely one nevertheless! And I've begun to notice that the longer I live here, the more I like the tropical Christmas traditions we are establishing :) I guess that's a good thing, right?!?
One of our fairly new traditions is to build a Christmas hut. A few years ago, we starting asking around for local Christmas traditions. We didn't hear of too many to implement, but this one caught our fancy.
This tradition was much more commonly held in the past, but is still done in the villages a bit today - the building of a Christmas hut!
On Christmas Eve morn, we head out to find dead palm branches. As we have lots of palm trees here, that one isn't usually too difficult. This year was a little trickier than other years, because the palms in front of our house got trimmed a while back and didn't have enough dead branches. John and Andrew pulled out the ladder, and went to work.

Don't forget to grab some fresh coconut while you're up there!

A bit of twine, a lot of dirt and dust in the eyes, and a few scrapes later, we had the base of our hut.

Now mind you, when the children build them in the village, they sharpen sticks and sink them into the ground, and then actually weave the walls of the hut, but we do what we can. Have you ever tried to shove a sharp stick into concrete? It doesn't work too well. So maybe I should call this a Christmas teepee instead?
Now it's time to add the rest of the branches and make sure everything is holding together. Nothing like having a Christmas hut fall on your head!

Add a few of God's Christmas decorations.....

And then have some fun!

Just a Peek Into Christmas, Ghana Style...

2010-12-10T11:04:00.004Z

Hope you are enjoying time with friends and loved ones as you await Christmas Day!

Gratefulnesse

2010-11-24T08:38:00.007Z

Of course it's time to talk about thankfulness -- it's Thanksgiving time, right!?!
Until recently, I would have said that I was a thankful person. At least as thankful as the next guy! At different times through the year, especially around holidays, I'd list the things I was thankful for: life, health, salvation, family, friends, husband, kids, food......and so on, and so forth.
And then, this year, some things came into my life that didn't seem like good things, things I couldn't or wouldn't or shouldn't be thankul for.
I was searching for answers, for anything, really, to help me "feel" better than I did.
That's when God brought me to thankfulness - His idea of it, and not mine. Through several different avenues, He brought me to the fact that I wasn't truly thankful. Oh, I was happy with the good stuff, but I certainly wasn't willing to thank Him for the things that didn't seem to be good. I wasn't satisfied to choose thankfulness in the midst of the situations I didn't like or understand. And I wasn't satisfied to find the glory in the everyday, the sad, or the mundane.
I had a choice. I could choose thankfulness, or I could choose to wallow in the muck of my poor-me feelings.
I started journaling my thanks the beginning of August. I started thanking for the good, the bad, the ugly, the ordinary. And as my eyes were opened, I began to see the words of Elizabeth Barret Browing coming true in my own life....

Earth is crammed with Heaven, and every common bush afire with God; but
only he who sees takes off his shoes....

If my eyes are open, really open, I will find something to be thankful for everywhere I look.

This last stanza of the poem Gratefulnesse by George Herbert, a 17th century poet, sums it up best...

Not thankfull when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare dayes;
But such a heart whose pulse may be
Thy praise.

An Organic Thanksgiving

2010-11-12T07:15:00.005Z

Organic. This seems to be a popular word right now. Surfing the internet, one will find all kinds of organic items: organic food, of course, but also organic clothing, organic decorations, organic crafts, organic experiences. I guess by organic, we want everyone to believe it's the real thing, nothing imitation or impure about it.
In the spirit of all things organic, I thought you might enjoy an organic Thanksgiving tutorial. My husband has recently put this tutorial together, and I thought that all of you who are craving an authentic, organic Thanksgiving experience might appreciate it.
Our first Thanksgiving here in Ghana, we did not eat turkey. You see, Ghanaians don't celebrate Thanksgiving, because.....they aren't Americans! Therefore, no turkey. Our first Thanksgiving we ate roast beef. I never realized how much cultural significance is contained in that bird until I couldn't have one!
Anyways, after that first year, we began a hunt for someone who could sell us a turkey. We finally found a lady at the university campus that raised them, and from that point on, we went and picked out our live turkey each year. John would help her kill it, and then she would dress and clean it for us.
But this year....things weren't quite so easy. Our normal seller didn't have any turkeys. She was kind enough, though, to help us find another seller. After John and Andrew traveled way across town, and shelled out a good bit of cash, they had two turkeys in the back of the car almost ready for Thanksgiving dinner.(The new seller did not do the services of keeping, killing, and preparing the turkeys that our normal seller does). This meant our kids got the pleasure of not only seeing our live turkeys this year, but also watching the dads slaughter them (well, at least from a distance).
So, for all those that have never slaughtered their own Thanksgiving dinner. Here is our Internet tutorial.

Step One- Selecting the Bird

Go to a house across town where they raise turkeys for sale.
(This year we chose two: one local turkey (looks like and has the size of a very large wild turkey in the States), and the second, a farm turkey (all white feathers and much larger)).
After selecting your turkey, be prepared to call the owner and to bargain over the price for about 30 minutes. After the said 30 minutes of reasoning, imploring, and talking, pay the workers and select the fattest birds you can find.

Step Two- Transportation

After paying everyone, make your cultural rounds of good-byes and farewells and so on. Now, tie up the birds legs. (This is after chasing the birds around the compound for about ten minutes). This allows for the birds to be safely placed in the back seat of the vehicle. After traveling for about half the trip, realize that you should have tied up the wings also, since now your car will be covered in turkey droppings and feathers from the frightened turkeys.

Step Three- The Pot

To pluck a turkey, one must have a proper pot. In this case, a rather large open- faced pot, with a lid in order that the water may boil quickly is your best bet. Our former turkey seller was kind enough to loan us a great pot. Most people will prefer cast iron, but here we make the choice of a nice lead-based pot to give it added flavor!!!!

Step Four- Execution

Time for the dirty work. After Tom has eaten his last meal, and prayed his last rites, and the pot is good and boiling, the time has come for ... well you know what.
Andrew and I found a nice spot for Tom's last moments where the kids would not watch. I would advise you to do the same!
In the famous words of the Queen of Hearts... "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!"
Note- Turkeys kick a lot and are really strong. Make sure to hold the legs and wings well.
Andrew almost got a claw in the face on the second one!

Step Five- The Dunking Machine

This is where you will get your exercise. You must lift the 20 to 30 pound bird repeatedly, dunking it in the boiling pot of water. Make sure to cover all the bird, and to scald your feet with the hot water that is running over the pot lip. This is very important and makes for a great story to tell to grandchildren or if you are a missionary, at missions conferences.

Step Six- Plucking

This is the fun part. Now that Tom is wet and his feathers are scalding hot, remove him from water and begin to pluck off all his feathers. This is a good time to call the wife and have her help. About 45 minutes later, you will hopefully have a nice clean turkey carcase.

Make sure to keep the feathers. They are great for Thanksgiving decorations, Indian costumes, and fake display table items. (Everyone loves when they are told by the missionary that he was given these feathers by a heathen tribal chief as a present).

Step Seven- Surgery

This is not for the faint of heart, or for those that are not totally committed to being carnivores. I am sure that many a vegetarian took a trip to a slaughter house too early in life and therefore have joined the ranks of meat abstainers.
After about 15 minutes, you should be elbow-deep in livers, hearts, and other entrails and such like. Remove them all. Carefully.

Step Eight- Clean Up and Packaging
Normally, we suggest having running water. This makes it much easier to wash the dressed bird and your own hands after handling all that poultry.
To make it fun and mix it up a bit, on this day the city decided to turn the water off at our house. In the case of this event, let the wives use the remaining boiled water and use it to scald your hands clean and to clean the turkey before packing.
To prepare Tom for his three week wait in the deep freeze, just wrap him in two plastic trash bags, and place him in the freezer.

We do hope that our Thanksgiving preparation has been inspiring, and that you will try the Organic Turkey experience for your Thanksgiving celebration next year!

Kaasi Meetings

2010-11-05T07:01:00.003Z

(click on pic to enlarge)
Loving my life as a missionary wife!
Just a few pictures of our Bible study group at Kaasi. This study was started by Bismark, Benedict's father. Please continue to pray for Benedict's full recovery!

From Two to Four and Back Again

2010-10-29T07:39:00.006Z

As you may or may not know, God has sent us some wonderful co-workers. Andrew and Emily have been with us since January of 2009, learning, adapting, and preparing to plant more churches here in Ghana.
In January of this year, they told us the wonderful news that their family would be growing by one. Of course, we were excited for them and offered to help in any way possible.
After much consideration and many prayers, they decided to have their new wee one in the capital city, Accra. They found an excellent hospital there and were very please with the doctors, staff, and care they received. All seemed easy enough except for one tiny detail.....Accra is not very close to Kumasi. Ummmmm, not at all; like four or five hours away. Minor detail.
So they traveled to Accra as needed for check-ups and such with no problems. As the time drew closer, we asked them what they planned on doing with their two children, Mimi (5) and Adam (almost 4). They had it all planned out. Some missionaries from Cape Coast, which is much closer to the capital, were going to be in Accra. They would pick up the kids and take them to their house for a few days. Easy enough.
And then life intervened.
The Cape Coast missionaries had some things happen; the missionary wife had to fly back to the States to help her dying father; Emily started having signs of possible early labor. To make a long story short, plans had to change.
And that is how we found ourselves one day in the middle of September growing from a family of two kids to a family of four. A six-year old, a five-year old, and two three-almost-four-year olds.
We grew over a Sunday afternoon. We went to church in the morning with two kids, and we went back to church that night with four.
And so started our adventures. Everywhere we went people were shocked. Four children that close in age is not common here. For economic reasons, people here try to space their children out by three years or so. And here we were with four kids in stairstep.
We had four children sleeping in one room, two in two beds, and two on an air mattress on the floor. Four little people to keep clean and happy, fed, bathed, and schooled.
We thought this little adventure would be fun and short. Then after poor Andrew and Emily rushed to Accra, the new baby decided she wasn't as ready to come as we'd all originally thought. We told them not to worry; we would be fine with the kids. And we were.
We had a wonderful time being a family with four kids instead of two. Mimi and Adam stayed with us from that Sunday all the way 'til the next week Monday. On that day, we loaded everybody onto a bus at 5 am and headed to Accra to see the newest member of the Aaron family. Jane Elisabeth finally arrived very late Saturday night.
And so we went from a family of two kids to four kids and back again.
And can I just throw in there, that little boys are quite a bit different than little girls?????
Here's are adventure in picture form..........

Adam, who thought he could magically fit inside the doll house

Piles of laundry

A very crowded bedroom

My laundry helpers

Can you tell I did a lot of laundry?

Keeping everybody busy with a hockey game

Time for school

Everybody working diligently, or at least pretending to do so!

Kids deciding it would be fun to dress like beggars??? Don't ask me where they come up with these ideas!

One of the four goose eggs Adam got on his head while staying with us

The baby bird that Adam convinced Ella she had killed, and thus sent her into uncontrollable sobs

Clown Night

More clowns, though I'm not sure my kids even really understand what a clown is...

Tumbling Monkeys and Daddy ready for bed!

It was a fun and tiring week!

A Quiet Look At Life In Ghana

2010-10-21T15:11:00.008Z

Hope you enjoy a quiet look from life on the other side of the world.

A Random Act of Kindness....African Style (Part 2)

2010-10-08T15:44:00.005Z

If you missed the beginning of my story, please read the post just before this one.

...this crazy lady had been hanging around our junction for the last few days.
**To throw in a little explanation, we do have a few insane asylums here in Ghana, just not very many. From time to time we see crazy people living on the streets. There are many reasons people here go insane: some from drug use, some from curses, some from life circumstances that have been too much to bear, and some from demon possession. All of them are a sad symbol of the destructive power of sin!
Even though these people are very sad, they are often times a bit scary to run into. Many are very strong, and because they are "crazy" they don't think like someone in their right mind, of course!**
Back to the story...so here come Ella and I to the junction to catch a tro-tro (public transportation) to get to the clinic. I was carrying Ella since she couldn't walk on her bad foot, and I had my eyes wide open watching for the crazy lady who had been hanging around for the last few days. I was walking in the middle of the road with a large brick sign on my right and a bunch of little wooden kiosks on my left. Two things happened in quick succession, and I was in trouble. A big water truck turned onto the road, and the crazy lady jumped out from behind the sign where she'd been hiding. The truck blocked my way to get to the left side of the road with the shops and the people, and the crazy lady blocked my way to get to the junction. What should I do? I was afraid to turn my back on the crazy lady; I wanted to keep her in my sight. The truck blocked my escape route. So I kept walking, just hoping that she was going to walk past me. Well, she didn't. She walked right up to me and grabbed Ella!
Picture this, I've got a three-and-a-half year old on my right hip, and my purse on my left arm. Needless to say, I was doing my best to hold onto Ella, and she was certainly doing her best to hold onto mommy! The woman had a hold of Ella's arm and was jerking with all her might.
At first, I tried to stay calm. That's what you are supposed to do in an emergency, right!?! Wrong! Well, at least wrong in this case! I told her to stop in the language we speak, but she kept pulling. I then started shouting it, but to no avail!
Now, I was really getting upset and Ella was screaming so I started beating at her with my purse. Did that stop her? Nope! She had it stuck in her head that she wanted Ella. By this time, the ladies who were in the little shops were screaming too, except they were all as afraid as I was! No one here likes to deal with crazy people.
Then, I saw my rescuer. An adult man saw what was going on and came to our aid. He ran at the crazy lady and swung his bag at her with full force. It hit her in the head, but she didn't let go of Ella. So he swung again, and this time he knocked her off! He yelled, "Run!", and I was on my way!
I ran straight to the shops, and all the ladies huddled around Ella and me trying to comfort us. Of course, we were shaking and crying, but we were fine.
I looked up to see where our helper had gone and saw the woman coming at us again! By this time, our good samaritan had had enough. He ran and grabbed a board (like a 2x4), and he whacked the woman in the back of the head. That was enough to finally do the trick. I'm not sure if it knocked some sense into her or what, but she turned around and ran.
By this time, quite a crowd had gathered, and the story had to be repeated several times so everyone could hear the details. Who doesn't love a good story? In fact, I'm sure our story was repeated all over town that day!
After our trip to the clinic, (and yes, we went, even though we certainly didn't want to) we made it home and got to tell Daddy and Carey our story. It was a good reminder for all of us of God's protection here on the missionfield.
A few days later, I was reading something in a Reader's Digest my mom had sent me. It was a story of people doing Random Acts of Kindness for each other. Some were huge, like donating a kidney for someone they didn't know, and some were small things like putting quarters in parking meters.
Suddenly it hit me! I had been the recipient of a Random Act of Kindness. Mine had simply been African Style!

A Curve Ball

2010-10-01T16:46:00.002Z

Do you ever feel like life throws you a curve ball?
The last few months seem to have been and continue to be one unexpected thing after another. And guess what? I'm learning again, to be okay with that.
Way back in May, John's sister and our friend got to come to Ghana. We had a delightful time with them and really enjoyed having them here. But after that...well, I guess it threw off my groove. We finished up school, and then headed into summer. We hadn't been into the summer too long before Ella did a number on her foot. She punctured it by stepping on something or other, and no matter what we did, it kept getting worse. When we saw the red streaks coming from it and moving up her leg, we decided it was about time to head to the clinic. The doctor put her on a round of antibiotics and sent her to the "dressing" room.
--On a side note, the dressing room is where they do shots, clean and dress wounds, etc.
Anyways, they scrubbed, dug at, cleaned, swabbed, and about anything else you could think of, that wound. Ellla was screaming, and I was doing my best to hold her tight! She also got a tetanus shot. Oh, the joy!
To add to the fun, I had to take her back to the dressing room every morning for a week. She was thrilled to death the second day when they pulled out the scissors to cut off the excess skin!
On the way to the doctore the tnird or fourth day, we had quite an experience. Ella and I ran into a crazy lady....
To be continued next week!

A New Season

2010-09-24T15:25:00.002Z

Summer has come and gone! That might be a bit more obvious to some of you than others, but it's a fact! (Unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere, but I don't think anybody reading this blog lives there. If you do, just keep reading, 'k?)
Here in Ghana, the seasons change inside our house. We do have seasons, but not the ones I grew up with!
Our summer was a good one. It was very busy, but we enjoyed much of the busyness together. That word "together" makes it all good! And as much as I like the idea of holding on to summer, I was ready for a change.
I'm a Yankee through and through, and I love the dramatic seasonal changes I grew up with. I love a freezing cold winter full of ice and snow. I love a super-duper quick spring when the snow finally melts and everything begins to green again. I love a short, hot summer with long days and loud, crashing thunderstorms. But most of all, I love a perfect fall. Sweater weather. Air just crisp enough to take your breath away. Apples. Pumpkins. Soup. Cider. (actually I'd really rather go for hot chocolate, but cider sounds better!)
Maybe I love Autumn, too, because it's such a huge time of change. Things coming to a close. Even though everything is going to sleep or dying away, it does it so beautifully. Or maybe I'm just feeling sentimental today.
This summer was good, but there were some hard things we passed through this summer. Nothing earth-shattering or ground-shaking, but difficult none the less. We've passed through some dark days, but my hope and prayer is that we've passed through them with grace. That the old things God wants purged from our lives are dying away. More of my "self" being put to death so that John 12:24 can be real in my life -- Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
So that's where I am. A new season in life.
I bid good-bye to summer, and I embrace fall with open arms. I lay the past to rest, and place my hope in the One who holds my future.

And since fall is now here, I'm off to eat some of the secret stash of candy corn!

Not Quite As I'd Hoped...

2010-09-17T15:43:00.002Z

Well, I'd hoped to get back to regular blogging last week, but as you can see....
that hasn't happened.
BUT.....I'm in the middle of what will be a great story. I just don't have time to write it now.
I'll give you a little hint though...
our co-workers are in Accra awaiting the arrival of baby #3 and there just-turned-five year old and almost-four year old are staying with us. And have been since Sunday.
So......I've been busy. Really. Really. Busy.
I guess it's good practice for when the Lord blesses us with more children.
I know it's making for some great blogs! Just not yet!
Have a great weekend!

Long Time No See

2010-08-31T14:03:00.003Z

Yes, I'm still alive. No, I've not been eaten by a large snake or lost in the jungle. I've not been attacked by a lion or anything else so dramatic or interesting.
I've just been busy doing all the other things that needed to be done.
We've been busy with living life and working hard at the amazing job God has given us to do. We've also had some summer fun!
Now that the girls and I are back in school, my schedule should be a bit more conducive to blogging.
I hope to be back to my regular weekly posting very soon. I've got lots of fun stories and pictures to share. I know at least my mother will appreciate that!
See you soon!

Much To Be Thankful For

2010-07-21T12:57:00.006Z

"There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full." - Henry Kissinger
Do you ever feel that way?
I read that quote today, and thought that it fit my life quite well at the moment....or this last week....or this last month.
All in all, life is good, and I have so much to be thankful for...it's just that I could do without another "crisis" right about now!
So in honor of what I have to be thankful for...

A wanderer that has "come home"

New visitors to church

A full church house

My silly girls who didn't want to look at the camera

Playing human foosball on our special World Cup Sunday

Little David, who was so very sick just a few weeks ago, now healthy and in church with his daddy
Hope you have very few crises this week and lots to be thankful for!

Summer Time, Summer Time

2010-07-13T17:16:00.002Z

Ah.......wonderful summer time!
We've been busy with our normal things, but have also enjoyed having a bit more family time with school being out!

Playing hopscotch!

Celebrating our family birthday!

More hopscotch!

Cook Outs!

Games!
Hope you are enjoying your summer time,too!

Football Time!

2010-06-29T14:14:00.002Z

For those of you who don't know much about soccer/football, you may not be aware that the World Cup is being played right now.
Before I moved to Ghana I knew nothing about the World Cup. I enjoyed playing soccer at school and camps, but I'd never watched it on television.
Then.....I moved to Ghana. Soccer is big. Not a little bit big.....really big......life or death big. So I started to watch soccer. Not a lot, but enough that I could talk about with people here. So I could relate to what they were talking about. So I didn't sound like a complete ignoramus whenever it came up in a conversation (which is alot!).
The World Cup matches started the middle of June and will be done the middle of July. Until then, almost everyone here will think, talk, eat, drink, breathe, dream, live soccer. We've enjoyed watching the games and trying to keep up with who is playing and against whom they are playing (and let me just say that I have no idea if my grammar is correct in this sentence or not....).
Then came the BIG day. Ghana and the USA had moved to the Round of 16 and were going to play each other.
So we did what any self respecting missionaries would do. We cheered for both! And here are the pictures to prove it!
Here's Ella (and yes, I'm pinching her nose in that picture, I couldn't seem to get it right without holding her very still!):

Here's Carey:

Here are the girls acting silly, as usual:

And here is my wonderful hubby with the girls:

And no, there are no pictures of me, not because I'm shy, but because moms are always the ones taking the picture, right?!?

And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street...

2010-06-22T11:27:00.003Z

As usual, life has been busy!
We've started our Wednesday night Bible study in Kaasi and have been running about ten people, besides us workers! John and Carey had to make a trip to Accra so Carey could go to the dentist. Let's just say that she has my horrible teeth!
We've also been enjoying a bit of downtime with no school! I'm wondering, though, with all I have to do without school, how do I fit it in again when it's time to go back????? I guess we'll find out soon enough!
Just thought I'd add to my reoccurring post of interesting things I see on the mission field.

We had quite a storm on Tuesday night. When we went to visit in Anloga, this is what we found...

The footbridge for our people to get to church had been totally washed away! Let's just say that it was really difficult for our people to get to church on Thursday night, but a few made it. They've gotten a new bridge built now, so hopefully this one will last through the rest of rainy season!

Under the Big Top

2010-06-08T13:05:00.005Z

As missionaries, we are often asked what our job is. There are actually quite a few different missionary "jobs". Some missionaries do medical outreach, some do humanitarian aid. Some build, some teach, some train, and some care for orphans. Some are called to plant churches. That's our job.
Our first term in Ghana was one of learning and growing. That is what God wanted for us, and we are very grateful. This second term has been one of stepping out into the joys and trials of church planting.
It has been an amazing ride so far! Solid, self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating churches are not built quickly where we live. So instead of building one church at 100 mph, we build more than one at a time. Right now we have two Bible studies in two different communities. The Bible study in Atonsu meets in a school building on Sunday mornings and evenings. We also have a second Study that meets on Thursday evenings in Ahensan. Until a few weeks ago, we simply met under a tree. It worked really well.....unless it rained!
During last year's rainy season, everyone began asking about finding a building or putting up a shelter of some kind. Since then, our people have been faithful to give, and we recently purchased a canopy for our Thursday night Bible Study.

The kids were excited about our new tent!

Putting it up!

Singing time under the "BIG TOP"!

Our sign hanging out front - and, no, we don't have a name yet. We are not officially a church. That will come in time. When we officially organize the church, we'll simply make a new sign.

Everyone is welcome!
If you think of it, we are actually starting a brand-new study tomorrow (Wednesday, June 9th) night in Kaasi. Please be in prayer for this new area. We have a few church members who live in this area and are very excited about reaching their friends and neighbors for Christ!

The Mountains I Build...

2010-06-01T11:44:00.004Z

As I sit down to write today my heart and head are full. I don't often "put myself out there" on this blog, but today I am. If this is too heavy for you, I understand. But maybe, just maybe, someone else is struggling with the same things that I am. And, maybe, it'll just be a chance for someone to be reminded that missionaries are just ordinary people with ordinary struggles who serve on extraordinary God! I feel like I could write a book, but for your sakes, I won't! I'm sure you appreciate that!
Thoughts of my job have been swirling and rolling around and around in my head for weeks now. Not my job just as a missionary, but my whole job as a child of God. My job as a Christian, a missionary, a wife, a mommy, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a school teacher, a Sunday School teacher, a homemaker, a home keeper, a soulwinner, a discipler, a cook, a prayer warrior, a child trainer, a pastor's wife....and just like you, the list could go on and on!
Those who know me well will definitely tell you that I struggle with perfectionist tendencies. My husband calls it my "Martha Stewart Complex". I build up these towers of expectations for myself. No one puts these things on me but me. I am super-woman! I can do it all, and I can do it better than any other woman has ever done it! Perfectly clean house? Check! Delicious gourmet meals? Check! Superbly behaved children? Check! Dazzling Sunday School lessons? Check! Amazing homeschool lesson plans? Check! Add on top of that my missionary duties -- Perfect execution of the local language? Check! Hours spent in prayer for the people? Check! Translating the Bible? Check! The best discipleship lessons and counseling ever given? Check!
I'm a list maker. I always have been. So I draw up this gargantuan list of all the things I must do and how well I must do them. I imagine all these things coming flawlessly together. Oh, the beauty of the perfect life!
And then......
those towers that I've built, and those lists that I've made, and those day dreams that I've been having all start slipping, then sliding, then crashing down right on top of my head. And I find myself sitting underneath a pile of my broken dreams and crying and having a pity party for poor little ol' me.
Why? Because those things are sinful? No. Because I shouldn't strive to do my best? Nope again.
Why? Because those things are all about me. They are about me getting the glory and the praise that belong to Jesus my Savior. And He won't share His glory with another.
So what must I do? I must get up off the floor, push away all my plans and ideas, and ask Jesus to show me once again what He wants me to do. Ask Him what I should do or not do as His child, as a wife, as a mother, as a teacher......and the list goes on and on. And then, I ask Him to live through me so that His purpose can be fulfilled in my life.
Do I really do this all the time? No, I wish I did, but every time I get up from under the mess I've made and seek His guidance again, I come one step closer to my goal of a Christ-filled life.
And now I'm off to put these desires into actions, because I've got a bit of a mess to clean up!

This and That

2010-05-27T13:39:00.007Z

Wow, have we been busy! Life has been zooming by the last few weeks just as I thought it would. Since last I wrote, we've said good-bye to our co-workers for a month, had John's sister, Lynette, and our friend Rhonda come for almost two weeks and go, done all the visiting, Bible studies, and services on our own, painted the girls' room, celebrated our family birthday, and (as of tomorrow) finished school for the year.....YiPeE!!!!
We've enjoyed everything that's been going on, it just hasn't given us much time for any extras!

We had a great time with Lyn and Rhonda. What a blessing to be able to share the ministry and our day-to-day lives with them. I'll have to post more about their trip later.
Once a year our family celebrates a family birthday together. Since three of the four people in our little family all have birthdays very close to Christmas, and since they seem to get lost around Christmas time for us and family members far away, we have a big family party in the summer and celebrate our birthdays all at once. Lynette brought lots of treats and gifts for our special day, so we decided to celebrate it now, instead of waiting for the first of July like we normally do.

We had a great time together!
The last pictures I'm including today are of the girls' room redo. Since moving into this house almost five years ago, we've been slowly repainting the rooms. After five years and two little girls, you can imagine how nice the yellow walls looked (especially since it wasn't a type of paint that could be washed!). We had some money left over from Lyn's trip so we painted the girls' room. We already had some fairy and flower stickers so we painted a blue sky and green grass. If you've seen this room before (all three of you!), you will know that this was a huge improvement! The girls love it and so do I!

So, school will be done tomorrow, and our co-workers are scheduled to be back next week. I've got lots more stories, but those will have to wait for another day! They include a scorpion, a tent, and a salvation testimony. Guess I'll just leave you in suspense....

Have a great week!

A Week in Pictures

2010-05-03T17:01:00.005Z

This last week was quite busy, and the next few aren't going to slow down any! I thought I'd just post some pictures my super-great photographer husband and little ol' me took this last week. Enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed the peek into our daily lives!

If You Give a Missionary a Mango...

2010-04-27T03:45:00.004Z

Have you ever read the Laura Numeroff "If..." series...If you give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, etc? Well, I've got a new one to add to the collection. It goes something like this...

If you give a missionary a mango, she might eat it. If she eats it, she might have her face swell up like a balloon. If her face swells up like a balloon, she might not want to eat mango again. If she doesn't want to eat mango again, please don't give the missionary a mango.

There I am, in all my glory!
Ends up that people who are highly allergic to poison ivy, as I am, should not eat mangoes. Wish I would have known that BEFORE I decided to eat the mango!
Ah well, another day, another lesson learned!

Riding Along In My Automobile...

2010-04-20T13:31:00.005Z

Have you ever used public transportation? the city bus system? a Grayhound? a taxi? the "L"? a subway?
Until moving to Ghana, I'd spent most of my life riding around in the good old family car. Besides a subway ride in NYC during my Senior trip, I'd never had any experiences with public transportation. I'd read about it, seen it in movies, but never experienced it myself.
Now, public transportation is a part of my daily life. Because......we don't own a car. For all my American friends I'm sure that seems pretty strange. It was definitely a little hard to get used to, but now it seems more normal than owning a car!
Here in Ghana, very few people own cars. In fact, in the city I live in, there are more commercial vehicles than private ones! To get around in the city, we use taxis, tro-tros, and 207s. A taxi is simply any car driven around as a business. You can either "join" a taxi -- jump in with others already in the car and ride in it to the next junction, or you can take a "dropping" -- you can bargain with the driver to take you to your destination. If a taxi is too expensive, you can catch a ride with a tro-tro or 207. A tro-tro is a very small Asian mini-van, the flat nose kind, that has been gutted and refitted with seats for 18 people. I. kid. you. not. Oh, and that 18 is adults, because kids lap two (or three!) to a seat. A 207 is just a bigger tro-tro made out of old German cargo vans. Those puppies can sit from 36 people to who knows how many?
All of these options are great for city life, but the question now is how do you get around outside the city? The answer is.......a donkey! No, I'M KIDDING!!! We have several companies that run intercity buses. Kind of like Grayhound, but without bathrooms. It is always an adventure to use the intercity buses, but some trips are a little more adventurous than others. Our last trip was such a one. The company we usually use is run by the government. We like to use this one, because they actually have a leaving time. All the other bus companies just sit until the bus is full and then go. That kind of makes it hard for us as our lives run a little more on a schedule than that. At least, most days! Okay....maybe in my dreams! Anyways, a few weeks ago, we had to make a paperwork trip to Accra.
Our bus was supposed to leave at 7:30 a.m., but it didn't end up leaving until 8:30 a.m. We had a bit of time to kill -- since check-in time was 7:00 a.m.-- so we took some pictures.
Our bus waiting to go:

Waiting patiently:

And, my favorite, the price list for extra cargo:

(if you can't read it well, right click it to make it bigger)
Our trip to Accra was a bit long, since these buses don't move too fast, but pretty uneventful. Our trip home to Kumasi, well, EVENTFUL would probably best describe it! We were only in Accra for about 24 hours and then it was time to head home to Kumasi. We arrived at the bus station for check-in and were greeted with some interesting news. They didn't want our bus to go. We were the only people who had bought tickets for that bus, and they didn't want it to make the trip. So what were we supposed to do? They said we could just simply join the Tamale bus to the north at 3:00 p.m. instead of the Kumasi bus at 2:30 p.m. Nice and simple. They promised us our choice of seats, no hassles, no stress.
When 3:00 p.m. rolled around and no one was loading the bus, we started to think it might not be as easy as promised. At 3:30 p.m. everyone was called to line up and then the fun began. Not only were we not given our choice of seats, there weren't enough seats at all. They had overbooked the bus and then added our family! People were hot and tired and tempers were short, but finally around 4:00 p.m. our bus pulled out of the station, albeit with six people sitting in the stairwells and aisles. We were on the road, but now we were stuck in Accra traffic. I think we were traveling about a mile an hour for a while. After a solid hour of bumper to bumper traffic, we got to the outskirts of town only to be told that they had just a few more passengers to pick up at their secondary station! I never did quite figure out where those people sat!
In the end, God was so gracious to us. We were in the very back corner of the bus (we call these seats the roller coaster seats!), so at least the four of us got to sit together. To add to that, the driver turned off the filthy English rap music that was playing on the bus' radio the whole time we were waiting to leave the bus station, and then, the R-rated movie that the bus driver tried to play on the bus' movie screens wouldn't work. To heap blessing on top of blessing, both Carey and Ella fell asleep for the two hours it took to get from the edge of Accra to the rest stop where we could buy food. And if you know my girls, you'll know that one was a miracle!
So after a nice stop at Linda Dor Rest Stop, where we could buy some yummy Ghanaian food and pay to go to the bathroom, we hopped on the bus and made the rest of the trip home in relative calm and quiet. The bus dropped us off at the junction near our house about 9:00 p.m., and with a little juggling we were able to get the girls, including sleeping Ella, all our luggage, and ourselves home in quick order.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Home sweet home. Never more to roam.......at least I can hope, right?!?
Do any of you have any great travel stories?

Hold On To Your Hat.....

2010-04-14T16:49:00.003Z

Well, this is gonna be a whirlwind post, just like the last month of my life! In fact, if I get too long, I'll just stop and start again later. I don't want anybody getting bored, but I would like to get everybody caught up on all the happenings here in Ghana.
First, I want to invite everybody to go visit For Missionary Moms. Ashley has been posting stories of missionary moms who've given birth overseas, and my and Carey's story was featured on Monday. Fun memories!
Onward, Forward! Since the last time I blogged, we've had immigration problems and resolutions, we've been on a verrrrrrrrrrrry long trip to Accra and back trying to resolve said problems. The bus ride home is worth an entire post in and of itself. Our own bus got canceled because there were not enough customers; we got shifted to the northern bus that was already oversold; that bus left two hours late, it was so full that people were sitting in every stairwell and luggage was piled in the floor. God was so good in allowing my very hungry, cranky daughters to fall asleep until ten minutes before we reached a place that sold food. But I digress. Like I said, that needs an entire post all on its own!
We had a crazy week trying to get ready for the Easter activities, including John and Andrew having to try to dig, yes, I said dig, out the river, because we needed deep enough water to baptize on Sunday.
Easter Sunday was incredible with five adults being baptized! Then, we had a churchwide picnic on Easter Monday, and yes, that is a real holiday here in Ghana. We ate breakfast together and then played. We did relays and sack races and a scavenger hunt. Most of these things were a first for almost all of our people so of course that made it all the more fun!
Let's see, what else happened?!? Carey, John, and I all got sick on different days and passed it to Andrew and his family in the midst of all this....our rains haven't started yet so it's been as hot as firecrackers here....we're trying to get school finished up for the year....because the rains haven't come, our water hasn't been flowing as much as normal, thus hauling buckets....John's sister and friend are coming in a few weeks, and we are trying to get ready for their trip.....and we are trying to finish painting the kitchen! Shhhhhhewwwwwwwww! I'm tired just typing it!
So, there you go! Our whirlwind! And on that note, I'm outta here, cuz I got supper to cook! I'll try to get back to my regular posting soon, and next I promise I'll post pictures, too :)

In Like a Baboon?

2010-03-18T17:01:00.007Z

You know the old saying, "March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb"? Well, I think either I'm going nuts or the people here in Ghana (who don't even know that saying) are taking it literally. I've seen the strangest animals everywhere.
Saw a man walking a baboon down the road a few days ago. A real baboon - like the ones that have really sharp teeth and are really scary looking!
Went to the market with John for our date last week (that's a picture of us after coming out of the market, all hot and sweaty, but still alive!) to try to find some interesting spices and such. Found the spices and also found dried chameleons. Just in case you wanted them -- for what, I'm not too sure.

Went to the grocery store yesterday, and when I was buying my fruits and vegetables at the market outside, I found a run-away snail. Well, he was trying to run away, but he didn't get too far! He was about 2 inches from his bucket! It really tickled my funny bone - a run-away snail :)
And today, the only thing my kids have wanted to talk or think about is crabs. Why, you may ask? Because our neighbors bought one yesterday. Not to eat - to play with. And now that is all my girlies want to do is torture, I mean, play with the cute little guy!
I'm kind of worried about what the rest of the month has in store! I'll keep my eyes open, though!

Jesus Loves The Little Children...

2010-03-09T09:49:00.006Z

Since we will be heading back to the States next year for furlough, we are trying to get ahead of the game a little bit. To have a good presentation, a nice looking display board, and an attractive prayer card, you've got to have good pictures. So both John and I have been trying to carry the camera with us more often. If the camera is with us, we might be able to get more good pictures, right?!? I guess we'll see!
On Sunday I chucked the camera in my Sunday School bag, and I was quite happy with all the pics I got of my kiddos.

As you can see, these kids are lots of fun!

Never a dull moment in this class!

Okay, maybe it was a little boring after all!

Do any of you get the joy of teaching a bunch of cute little kiddos like these?

Come And Get It!

2010-03-02T15:20:00.003Z

One wonderful blessing of being a missionary in Ghana is all the wonderful food we have here! I'm serious!
I think most missionaries have a food horror story or two, but on the whole, I think most missionaries grow to love the foods of their fields.
Even though I've lived here almost seven years (I can't believe it's been that long!), I'm still introduced to new foods on a regular basis. Since Ghana has so many tribes, and each tribe has its own food, as I meet people from new people groups, I often get to enjoy some of their delicacies.
My family and I were recently introduced to a dish from the FareFare people of northern Ghana -- Bombara beans! I know, just beans doesn't sound that good, but these are!
The dish is quite simple -- bombara beans cooked for eight hours (yes, really, you have to cook them overnight!), melted shea butter spooned over the top (it's not just for your skin, folks!), and hot ground pepper sprinkled on top! WoW!!!!!!
GoOd sTuFf!!!!!!

Here are Emily and I enjoying them at Alice's on Saturday. If you come a visit me sometime, I'll do my best to let you try them, too!

And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street...

2010-02-24T18:38:00.003Z

To those of you who are Dr. Seuss fans, the title of this post will make complete sense. For those of you who aren't....well, it's the story of a little boy who imagines all kinds of grand things coming down his street on his walk home from school.
Some days I feel like that little boy seeing all kinds of interesting things on his street, but the difference is that I actually DO see these things!
This week was full of interesting things, but for today I'll include one that was also an answer to prayer:

This is what John saw on his way to Accra yesterday! Praise the Lord for safety on the roads!
Hopefully we won't see anything like this on the road again for a long time!

Mebrabom (My life)

2010-02-16T13:18:00.002Z

What does a missionary do exactly?
Sure, we go and evangelize the world and all that stuff, but what exactly does that look like on a day-to-day basis?
Before I became a missionary, I had all kinds of grand ideas about how I would do this -- huge evangelistic campaigns, trekking through the jungle to new villages, going door to door for hours on end, holding amazing children's clubs for thousands of kids at a time -- to name just a few.
And then, reality hit....on top of evangelizing the world, I had to do normal day-to-day stuff, too! What!!!????!!! How was that supposed to work? You mean, I have to cook, and clean, and wash clothes, and teach my children, and take care of my family? Sadly to say, for quite a while I tried to ignore these callings on my life. Praise the Lord that He continues working in our hearts until we learn the lessons He has for us!
And then, an even bigger revelation hit.....evangelizing the world wasn't really about the big, exciting, fantastic things (although they are part of it), it was about people. It was about reaching one person at a time and teaching them about Jesus Christ as far as they were willing to go. It was about meeting people, and getting to know them, their culture, their ideas, their hurts. It wasn't about reaching THE PEOPLE or A PEOPLE GROUP, it was about reaching people, person by person.
So, to give you a better picture of the life of this missionary wife, I want to write about mebrabom (don't try to sound it out, using English phonetics it sounds really strange!), or my life. How I get to interact and reach out to these people on a daily basis.
Saturday is the day that Emily (my coworker) and I get to go on ladies' visitation. We normally head out around 9 am on Saturday mornings. We walk to the main road and jump in a tro-tro (like a mini-van with a whole bunch of people crammed inside) to get a ride to the main taxi station. At the main taxi station we join a queue (line) to join a taxi going to another taxi station near where our visits are. From there, we walk. It's good exercise!
This week was a bit out of the ordinary as Emily wasn't feeling very well. So, John, Carey, Ella, and I got ready and headed out to make our visits........
We arrive at Bismark and Matilda's house around 10 am. It is already very hot. To reach their house we walk past several wood milling companies, a number of semi-trucks waiting for loads, many trash trucks headed to the nearby city dump, and several herds of cows. Bismark and Matilda live in a wooden shanty. It is built from scraps of lumber, old rusted pieces of zinc roofing material, flattened cardboard boxes, and bits and pieces of plastic. The house contains one room with a small lean-to for a kitchen. Bismark and Matilda are happy to have this place to live -- they actually own this shanty and don't have to pay rent. Inside the room is a bed, a couch, and some bags and trunks containing their clothes and things. Bismark has quite ingeniously rigged up some light bulbs to a car battery so they can have light at night and listen to the radio when they want to. Bismark and Matilda have a little boy named Benedict, who will soon be three years old. Right now, Bismark's younger brother, Peter, has come from the north to stay with them and earn money to start a farm in his home village. Most nights, Matilda's older sister, Dora, and Dora's four year old son, Amos, stay there, too.
Today we've come to counsel Bismark and Matilda. They have both accepted Christ as their Saviour, and Satan is really fighting them as a couple. Matilda has been having terrible nightmares about people trying to pull her and Bismark apart, and when she calls out for Jesus' help, the people turn into demons. Of course, as a young Christian raised in a culture that places very heavy emphasis on the importance of dreams, she is afraid! She has been doing the only thing she knows to do -- she prays and reads her Bible. Sadly, her husband doesn't have that opportunity. He is illiterate. When he is troubled he can pray, but he cannot read. He cannot turn to God's Word for comfort and strength.
John sits down with Bismark inside the shanty, and Matilda and I sit down outside on a bench. We send Carey and Ella to play with Benedict and the children from the surrounding shanties. At first glance, there really doesn't seem much for them to do, as these children own almost no toys, but soon they've found some odds and ends of things to play with - an old hanger here, an empty tin can there, a scrap of lumber, a broken bowl, a piece of rope -- plenty of things to play with if a child has a good imagination!
Matilda and I begin to talk -- this is an adventure in and of itself as we use three languages to communicate: English, Twi, and FraFra. Somehow, we figure most everything out! Matilda shares of her struggles with her husband. Some I can understand clearly, as they are struggles every wife has to face sooner or later, and some stretch me, as they are cultural struggles, things that I've never faced and never will face. She shares the hurts and the misunderstandings she's struggling with, and I silently pray that God will give me wisdom in how to answer her. Once again I'm reminded of how good God is -- He has given us a Book that is above culture!
After a few hours, it is time to go. Both parties have stated their problems and John and I have hopefully given godly counsel. Now John and I will go home and talk about what each has said.
On Sunday John acts as the mediator between Bismark and Matilda. Playing the part of a mediator is a very important part of the culture, and it must be handled with great care. John acts as the "go between" for two of them, stating the problems and the advised solutions. They seem to be listening, and no one seems angry, but that is also the cultural way of handling problems. Now, we wait and watch.
On Sunday night, Bismark and Matilda are back in church. The preaching this night is on I Corinthians 13. They seem to be listening, trying to understand such a strange concept as bibical love. Now the sermon is over, and everybody helps to pack up the benches and such. Time for everyone to go home. I look for Bismark and Matilda, to tell them good-bye, but they are already on their way.... walking closely.... talking quietly as they head down the path in the dark.

Happy Birthday, Carey!

2010-02-03T14:41:00.005Z

My first-born is six years old! WoW! Where does the time go????

It wasn't that long ago that John and I were impatiently awaiting her arrival!

Not only were we about to be new parents, but we were new missionaries living in a brand-new country, half-way around the world from home!

We couldn't find a hospital we were comfortable with in the city we were living in, so we went to the capital to look for one.
We not only found an incredible hospital and an amazing doctor, but the Lord also provided a great place for us to stay......for free!

Someday I might write down the whole miraculous, crazy story of Carey's arrival in the world, but not today!

I thought, though, that you might enjoy some hilarious pics from Carey's birth and some adorable ones of her today!

Happy Sixth Birthday, Carey!

And the Winner Is.....

2010-01-27T13:58:00.003Z

I'm back, and I have the winner of the food contest all figured out!
Before I announce the winner, though, I thought you might want to know what the foods are!
#1 - Kenkey (fermented and cooked corn dough), fried fish, papaya (the orange stuff), and bananas; the Coke doesn't count, because we are drinking it :)
#2 - Grilled tilapia (fish), fried rice, shito (hot pepper condiment), and salad
#3 - The food I actually wanted you all to identify was the stuff in the ground, which was green onions or leaf lettuce. But, everybody tried to identify the trees in the back, which are plantain trees. Sorry, not banana trees!
#4 - Pizza in a brick oven
#5 - Our Thanksgiving turkey, neck included. And yes, people here love to eat the neck!
#6 - Jollof rice; it is rice cooked in a tomato, hot pepper, and meat stew. It gets its distinctive flavor from a mix of dried hot peppers and nutmeg!
#7 - Goat stew and white rice; this was actually from a meal John ate with Inusah's family for the breaking of Ramadan.
#8 - Sugar cane!
#9 - That is a grape fruit that Carey is holding.
#10- I am eating a wonderful, delicious, almost American s'more! (It's almost American, because instead of graham crackers, we use milk biscuits, and instead of good old Hershey bars, we use our yummy Ghanaian chocolate!)
There you have it!
Most of you did quite well!
And now.....drum roll please,..........the winner is......A TIE!!!!!!!!!
Both Kristy Davis and my Mom tied! And I promise, I didn't give my mom any answers! Well, Mom, you might have a little bit of an advantage since you've been here twice :)
An honorable mention must go to the Martin family, too! You all were soooo close (with 5 1/2 points :) )!
So, as soon as you send me your addresses, I'll get your chocolates in the mail!
Thanks for playing everybody!

A Little Food Fun!

2010-01-13T13:56:00.005Z

Just felt like being silly today!
I thought it would be fun to have a little contest -- a food contest!
Don't worry! You don't have to eat any strange Ghanaian food! I'm sure some of you were quite concerned!
For this food contest, all you have to do is identify the food in the picture!
I've included ten pictures of things we eat here in Ghana. Some of them we eat often and some of them we don't! Some of them are American and some of them are not! Some of them are cooked and some of them are in there natural state!
To encourage everybody to play along, the winner gets a little PRIZE! A food prize, no less! Don't worry, it's not monkey meat or fish eyes. Honestly, we don't eat things like that here! The winner will get a nice little package straight from Ghana filled with Ghanaian chocolate. Since we are the second largest cocoa exporter in the world, I'd say we have some pretty good stuff!
So, if you want to play along, just leave me a comment with your answers, numbered one to ten. If you don't have a Google or Blogger account, all you have to do to leave a comment is sign in under anonymous, or you can send me your answers on facebook or through my email. Obviously you won't know the proper names of all the foods, in those cases, just describe what food you see!
Have fun!
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
That doesn't look to hard now, does it?!?
Give it a shot, you might be surprised!

Traditions

2010-01-08T14:31:00.010Z

Christmas and Tradition. Those two words just seem to go together, don't they?
Both John and I were raised in families that were rich in Christmas traditions. Maybe our families planned it that way, and maybe they didn't. I don't know, but John and I realized pretty quickly after Carey was born that living so far away from our families and our home culture was going to make it very important for us to establish Christmas traditions with our family.

We started off by blending the traditions our own families had.
John's family always put up the Christmas tree either on Thanksgiving or the day after. So now we do, too!

Christmas was about the only time of year we had to do much baking in my house, so we did all kinds of special treats for the holidays.

This is now a big tradition for us, especially as the girls have gotten older.

We save money and stock up on all kinds of things found at odd times and places, just so we can have lots of special things to eat at Christmas!

Some years they all turn out beautifully, and some years.......they don't.

Like this year. I think my husband jinxed me, but that's another story for another day!
Since we both grew up in the North, snow and playing in it were both a huge part of our traditions. Ummmm, usually we don't have snow here. Like never!!!! So, last year, we took an idea from an old Family Fun magazine.

We made our first no-snow man.

He's just cotton batting and cardboard boxes, but we really enjoy this new tradition.

My best friend's family always made graham cracker houses each year. Once I was a teenager, I often joined them. On John and I's first Christmas, we introduced the idea to our families. Then we came to Ghana, and there were no graham crackers. In fact, I don't think that I've seen a graham cracker here yet! We both really liked the idea of the graham cracker houses, so we decided to get really creative -- we would use....gingerbread.

The first time I did it, I was scared to death, but it wasn't actually too hard! Surprise!

We all have a blast decorating it, and then on the night of our Christmas party, we put it out for all the kids to eat!
This year we added a new tradition. During Christmas time our schedule goes nuts, and as I read about this idea, I thought it might help the girls focus on the real reason we have Christmas. We made a simple manger out of a box and brown paper. We then put a bowl of hay (local broom straws) next to it. We told the girls that for the month of December they were going to be watched very closely. As they were caught being good and performing acts of kindness, they would get to add a piece of straw to the manger. We were hoping to have a very soft bed for baby Jesus on Christmas morning! When they were selfish, disobedient, and unkind, we reminded them that we wanted a nice, soft bed for Jesus, not a hard, cold one! The girls actually did quite well with this - a few times I overheard one reminding the other that baby Jesus needed a soft bed! On Christmas morning they were thrilled to see one of their babies wrapped in "swaddling" clothes and laying there in the manger!

And last, but not least, is our Christmas hut. A few years ago, we began asking our Ghanaian friends if they had any Christmas traditions that we were unaware of. Truth be told, Christmas here is a borrowed holiday, and it is nothing like celebrating Christmas in another Western country, but we thought we might find something from Ghana to incorporate into our family traditions. We were not disappointed. Quite a few people told us about the Bronya Fie or Christmas Hut. On the 24th of December the children will cut down Neem tree and Palm branches. They place four large branches in the ground to act as support beams. After the support beams are up, branches are placed on top for rafters and the children begin to weave the palm fronds together to make the walls. Many children will spend hours decorating their huts. They use flowers, feathers and other beautiful things to complete their housees. In many villages the people decide which house is the most beautiful and praise the children that work the hardest. The belief is that Mary and Joseph will visit the village on their way to Bethelehem and will pick the nicest Christmas Hut to stay in. On Christmas Eve, the children are even allowed to sleep in their huts!

We live on a concrete compound, so there is no way for us to dig holes for the support beams, and we have no Neem trees near our house, but we do have plenty of Palm trees. So, we improvise.

We all gather Palm branches and build our Christmas Hut, but we build it Indian-tepee-style! The kids love it! Athough we don't allow them to sleep in it, they do play in it most of the day!

Traditions. What a wonderful blessing they can be! They bind us to our families, our homes, and our memories.
I hope you all enjoyed celebrating some wonderful traditions as a family this year! I'd love to hear about them!

Our Charlie Brown Christmas

2010-01-06T14:29:00.006Z

As a missionary to a country in Africa, I am often asked all kinds of interesting questions...questions about food, housing, wild animals, cannibals, snakes, you get the picture. One thing I have never been asked about, though, is holidays.
Holidays are so ingrained into who we are, that most of us never stop to think about what happens when someone moves to a new culture.
When John and I first moved to Ghana, we didn't give holidays a thought at all. Both of our grandparents and parents had been giving us ornaments since birth, and we bought a few Christmas decorations our first Christmas together, but when it came to Christmas on the field, we didn't give it much consideration. I packed my nativity and thought that was good. We figured Christmas in Ghana would be just like the Christmases we had always known, minus the snow. So we packed up our box of Christmas decor and hoped that maybe sometime we would be able to get it to the field. You see, when we first moved here, we stuffed all we thought was important (and all we could afford to pay for) in ten cardboard boxes. They came with us on the plane. There wasn't room for unimportant things like Christmas decorations!
We arrived in Ghana at the very end of August. Holidays were a long way off! September, October, and November flew by, and all of a sudden, it was December. Suddenly that lone box of Christmas things seemed very important! What were we going to do? It had never occurred to me that Ghanaians (or anyone in the world, for that matter) don't celebrate Christmas like Americans! Doesn't everybody have big evergreen trees, stars, lights, snowmen, candy canes, and wreaths for Christmas?!? Where were the Salvation Army Santas? the lights? the non-stop Christmas songs on the radio and in the stores? More importantly, what we were going to do for Christmas?????
By this time, it was two weeks before Christmas. We had nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zippo. We went to town hoping for something. We went to Melcom, our famous Indian "department" store. Maybe we could find a fake palm tree??? And then we saw it......a Christmas tree!!!! It was beautiful, it was green, it was tall (okay maybe it looked a little taller in the store than it actually was)! We ran and grabbed it! Then we saw a few baskets of flashy silver and gold and rainbow decorations, all kinds of strange things, but we didn't care! It was Christmas stuff!!!! I don't remeber what we paid for that tree. It was probably ridiculously expensive, but we didn't care! We had decorations for Christmas! We asked for them to put it in a box, but they didn't have one. So we walked out the door proudly bearing our new Christmas tree. We were walking down the crowded sidewalks, when someone shouted at us, "Hey broni, nice Christmas.......bush!" Did he just say bush? Now that we were out of the store and were in broad daylight suddenly our glorious Christmas tree didn't look quite so glorious. It looked a lot like a.....bush. My beautiful Christmas dreams were fading once again.
We took that tree home as quickly as we could and set it up. Then we went and got a box to put it on, and then another, until finally, it looked almost like a tree!
The missionary who was here when we first arrived understood rookie missionaries quite well. He had given us a small bag of homemade, stuffed Christmas ornaments his wife had found at a garage sale for us. He knew we would need some things, and he was right. Those old ornaments looked so beautiful to us that day!
Next, we cut out paper snowflakes and put them all over the wall behind the tree. Now we needed stockings. Goofy us, we didn't even bring socks to Ghana! Who needs socks in the tropics? So, John headed to the tailor up the road. He ordered Christmas stockings for us. The problem was, the tailor had never seen stockings before. John drew a quick picture and said he'd be back to pick them up in a few days.
Only one thing left now...gifts! We had another small problem, though. All our money was going to pay for Carey's birth in January. So, we came up with a plan. We would scour our ten boxes (which were still packed, because we didn't have a place to live yet) and find ten "gifts" (a.k.a. things we'd forgetten we packed) to wrap and give each other. We also had 50,000 cedis each to spend on each other (that equaled about $6.00 back then). To top it all off, I had packed wrapping paper from the States. Don't ask me why, cuz I don't know!
We were so excited!
John picked up the stockings a few days before Christmas -- they looked like tie-dyed Tetris blocks! Oh well! On Christmas Eve, we put out all our "presents".
We were ready for the big day! Only, somebody forgot to tell us that the one thing Ghanaians do do on Christmas is visit friends and family. Uh-oh! Oh, and some of them go to church. Uh-oh, again! So, when we found out we had church, we quickly got dressed and ready. We went to church and then came home, ready to celebrate. Suddenly, people began knocking. They were coming to visit. They expected to find biscuits (cookies) and Coke. We had neither. They didn't expect a tree. Or presents. So, we spent the next few hours explaining to every visitor why there were all these gifts under the tree that weren't really gifts. Yeah, it didn't make much sense to them either! I realized after a while that no one was going to leave until they got a treat. What in the world could I give them???? We had nothing to share with that many people. Then a thought struck...give them the candy canes off the tree! Yes, my dear, sweet sis-in-law had sent a big box of them, and we had hung them on the tree. So, off they came, and pretty soon, out everybody went. All satisfied with the strange American candy.
Now it was time for gifts. Since we were living with a national pastor at that time, we had asked him to go through his storage so he could have gifts, too.
We started slowly opening the gifts, one-by-one. A few times, both John and I were really excited, because we had completely forgotten about an object. Pastor Samson just kept looking at us strangely. We went through our odd-looking stockings, too. We had managed to buy a tie for Pastor Samson and slip it in with his other "gifts" and it was quite fun watching him open it. He was quite surprised. John and I thought everything was quite wonderful until Pastor Samson asked us a question...."So is this how all Americans celebrate Christmas? I never knew you all did it like this!" I guess he ddn't "get it". But in the end, we have wonderful memories from our first Christmas, untraditional as it might have been.
Hooray for Charlie Brown Christmases! Hooray for Christmases memories we will never forget!

The Old and the New

2009-12-31T13:11:00.002Z

My heart and head are full.
I have so much to say, so much I want to share!
My mind is going a million miles a minute and a billion directions all at once.
But, I've got quite a bit on my plate right now....LIFE, in fact.
Being a wife, mommy, school teacher, and missionary are keeping me quite busy at the moment. Plus, I want to squeeze every minute of time out of this short holiday time I have!
Life is supposed to be back to its normal schedule next week so I plan on getting back to my normal blogging schedule then, too.
Until then, enjoy this beautiful picture taken by Glenna Gordon over at scarlettlion.com. It reminded me of 2009 and 2010 -- the old and the new!

Over the River and Through the Jungle to the Capital We Go!

2009-12-17T22:08:00.005Z

We all know the holidays are a busy time, but I still wanted to stay in touch with everybody! I've been sick as a dog for the last week with malaria so my dear, sweet husband let me use this post so everybody could at least see a few pics and know what's going on here!

We normally only go to the capital for government paperwork or to pick up teams that visit us on missions trips, but two weeks ago our family took a family trip to buy gifts for Christmas. We left on Monday morning via government bus that departed at 5:00 in the morning. Think Grey-hound with African movies and music, minus the bathroom.
Monday we arrived about noon. After checking into the Baptist guest house, we headed out to town. We went to the mall. The Accra mall is our only mall in Ghana, and one of only three in West Africa. It is really nice. It has stores like: Shop Rite, Game, Mr. Price, etc. These will not make much since to our American friends, since all these are chain stores from South Africa. After a few hours of shopping we headed back to the guest house for relaxation and play. The guest house has a playground that our kids and our friends' kids played on for hours. (These late nights with mosquitoes landed Patty with malaria, but after 6 years of not getting malaria, it's hard to remember it is still here. But that is another story!)

Tuesday our friends watched our kids so that we could go shopping for our kids. I'm sure I never got as many gifts as these kids! On Wednesday, we watched their kids. In the afternoon we loaded up in a taxi and we headed over to Churcheese. The couple that takes care of the guest house told us about it. It is a mini-Chucky Cheese. They have a playland with a ball pit. There is a mini-merry-go-round and some games. The kids loved it.

After playing for about two hours the kids were ready to eat. They had great fried chicken and fries. Mom and Dad got to buy food from a new sandwich shop. We had shakes and smoothies with gourmet sandwiches. It was a really nice treat!
Thursday our kids said good-bye to the Guest House Snowman and we headed back to Kumasi for our Thursday night Bible study. We were able to finish most of our shopping and had a great time of relaxation.

Now that you know what I've been doing......What have you been up for fun this Christmas season?

Giving Thanks

2009-12-02T14:47:00.006Z

I have so much to be thankful for this year! As I spent the day of Thanksgiving in preparation for our feast, I was overwhelmed by how good God is to me!

God has blessed my family and me in so many ways, I can't even begin to count them.
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Some of them are huge things -- victories in our daily walk, the growing of a group of baby believers, the growth of our children, the winning of daily battles involved in understanding and speaking a foreign language, the salvation of those in utter spiritual darkness.

And some of them are small -- hearing my husband pray for the first time in Twi, fun family time with our silly girls, wonderful Ghanaian friends to share the holiday with, leather leaf trees shedding their huge leaves at just the right time so we have something to crunch in as we walk,

bushes on our compound needing a trim so we could build a mountain of "leaves" to jump into, a friend who is willing to push me when I need it so I can progress as needed in the language, fresh pumpkin to be made into pumpkin pies,

time as a family to prepare for Christmas!

I hope you enjoy the pictures of our wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and I hope your holiday was wonderful, too!
I'd love to hear about it!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2009-11-18T13:27:00.003Z

Last week I tried to get a post up about all my hospital visits. I ran out of time. It is still sitting in draft form in my computer. And now, I'm pretty much sick of thinking about being sick or hospitals or the like, so I'm not going to post it!
But I am, by the way, feeling much better! Thanks for asking :)
Now, on with life!
This is my favorite time of the year!
THE HOLIDAYS!!!!

I must be honest. When we first moved to Ghana, this time of the year was my absolute hardest. I and my husband are originally from Michigan -- the Great Frozen North. We always had to wear winter coats over our costumes when we went trick-or-treating. The first day of deer season was frigid, and if there wasn't snow on the ground at Thanksgiving, then something didn't seem quite right.
Enter the move to a country on the Equator. Not only is Ghana on the Equator, but because of our seasons -- Rainy and Dry -- this time of the year is the hottest.
We originally moved to Ghana the end of August of 2003. The weather wasn't too difficult to adjust to at first. We were leaving Michigan at the hottest time of the year and coming to Ghana when it was pretty warm. It was summertime in the States and "summertime" in Ghana. Lots of sunshine in Michigan and lots of sunshine in Ghana. Piece of cake, or so I thought.
September passed and even though it was a little warmer than the summers I knew, it still wasn't too different, kind of like Indian Summer. I was still doing okay until the day I received a package in the mail with Candy Corn inside. Candy Corn!?! It was still summer in my book! Who can eat Candy Corn when it's hot? I decided that people in the States must be getting ahead of themselves. I put the Candy Corn away for later when it was closer to Autumn and trick-or-treat time. The closer we got to the end of October, though, the more agitated I got. Where were the leaves to crunch through and jump in? Where were the cool breezes? Where were the pumpkins? the scarecrows? the corn shocks? AAAAAAHHHHHH! Where was I? What kind of crazy place doesn't celebrate my favorite time of the year?

Pretty soon it was time for Thanksgiving. I kept waiting to see turkeys somewhere, anywhere. Where was the StoveTop stuffing? the cranberry sauce? the canned pumpkin?
I hadn't moved to another country; I felt like I'd moved to another planet!
Now it was time to start thinking about Thanksgiving dinner. What were we going to eat? What about decorations? (At this point I must tell you that we don't exactly have the most common missionary story. Suffice it to say that we were not working with any American missionaries. We didn't hardly know anyone from the States at this point. The rest is a story for another day!) What would we do?
Well, first we needed a table. We didn't have one of those yet. Pastor Samson had a tiny one we could borrow. Then we needed dishes. We didn't have any of those yet either. (To go back to the story for another day, we were living with an African pastor at this point and using the few things he had.) Off to Melcom, our one and only department store at that time.
Now it was time to figure out what to eat. What does one eat for Thanksgiving if not turkey? We ended up with roast beef, which wasn't really roasted because I didn't have a stove. I guess it should have been called boiled beef roast?!? We also had mashed potatoes and Velveeta macaroni and cheese, because a dear sweet friend sent a box of the prefab stuff :) Lastly, we splurged on ice cream and cookies, and I mixed and layered them into something like an ice cream pie. Yum!
We made Indian headresses to wear for the day, too!
Now get in your mind that I was seven months pregnant at this time, we lived on the top floor of an apartment building, and our apartment had no fans. Oh, the memories! All the pics I have from this time are in the States. One of these days I'll scan them into the computer for a good laugh, but for now you'll just have to use your imaginations!
So there we were, thousands of miles from "home" and traditions and culture, celebrating Thanksgiving. And guess what? That is one of my fondest Thanksgiving memories. John and I look back and laugh and rejoice about all God has brought us through and brought us to since that time...

I'll continue with some more holiday memories next week, but until then, what are your favorite Fall/Thanksgiving memories?

Where have I been???

2009-11-03T19:02:00.002Z

Well, it has been a crazy few weeks!
For those of you who don't know what is going on (at this point, I'm not sure who knows what!), I'll give you the rundown.
I started having some health problems about two weeks ago. The doctor I needed to see only comes to the clinic we use on Tuesdays. I'm sure that doesn't make sense to everybody, but that is how it is here. Not enough health care workers. Anyways, on Tuesday of last week John and I headed to the clinic. When we got there, we found out the doctor had traveled for a few weeks. After talking to the doctor and doing some praying, we decided it would be best ot head for Accra (the capital). We left at 5 a.m. Wednesday morning. We were able to get to my doctor there, and the line wasn't too bad!
Side note -- doctor visits don't work by appointments here. It is first come, first served!
He checked everything out, put me on two different antibiotics, two pain killers, and two vitamins. He then told me to visit the doctor here in Kumasi for the follow-up.
So today we headed back to the doctor in Kumasi. He was back from his trip and able to talk through everything with me.
The verdict -- I have to have outpatient surgery on Saturday morning. I will be put under for a short while. After I wake up and everything checks out okay, I will get to go home. A few days after that all should be well. The really good thing is that I was told that this procedure should make sure that this problem does not return.
So there you have it!
Thanks so much for the kind notes and well wishes I've already received. Please continue to pray for the doctor, the procedure, and my husband and family at this time!

Candy

2009-10-21T13:45:00.006Z

Candy.
Who doesn't love it?!?

When first moving to the mission field I thought about a lot of things. Candy wasn't one of them.
After my first visit to the "grocery store", though, I started thinking about candy. A lot. About the fact that all the candy I had grown up with was nowhere to be seen. That they sold strange candy in Ghana. Flavored like ginger, menthol, or black licorice. Nothing fruity like Starburst or Skittles. Nothing minty like York or Andes. Nothing like Hershey's Kisses or Skor bars.
Am I making you hungry yet?
What was wrong with this place? Where was the good stuff!?! Then one day I saw a familiar package -- a Snickers bar!!!
John and I spent way too much money to buy the coveted delicacy, but alas, it was not a Snickers bar! Not really!!! It was from Englad, and in England their chocolate doesn't taste like American chocolate. It tastes like.....British chocolate, I guess. Not very nice. I was so disappointed.
After a while, we got used to eating very few sweets. Unlike Americans, Ghanaians have very little sugar in their diets.
Then one day, I found out about one of their little secrets......Anlo tofe (pronounced on-ra toe-fay). WoW!!!!! I'd been missing out!
It's really quite simple -- cooked sweetened condensed milk rolled with a little butter -- but it is delicious!

As easy as that!
Now that I've been on the field awhile, I don't think about American sweets much anymore. Oh, they are good, no doubt, but my fancy seems to run more to fresh Anlo tofe. And I know right where I can get some!

Blessings

2009-10-14T14:09:00.004Z

I want to be a Proverbs 31 woman. Don't we all?!?
But, to do that, sometimes we have to choose to do what needs to be done over what wants to be done.
Case in point: Proverbs 31:27 -- She looketh well to the ways of her household...
That is my challenge today. I'd like to be blogging, but today I have some other responsibilities calling....

I hope to be here next week!

Signs of the Seasons?

2009-10-07T13:29:00.005Z

One interesting thing about where we live is our seasons. Or should I say, seeming lack thereof?
If you've ever looked at Ghana on a map or globe (do you know where Ghana is? :)), you will see that we are located just north of the equator. I think we are roughly located at 4 or 5 degrees north of the line. Technically we are located in the Northern Hemisphere, so our seasons aren't backwards like those living in the Southern Hemisphere. But, since we are located in a tropical climate, we don't have the normal four seasons, either.
We have four seasons -- rainy season, rain-at-night-dry-during-the-day season, dry season, and starting-to-rain-again season. If we are lucky, we sometimes squeeze in a fifth season mid-December to mid-January called Harmatan. Some years the winds blow from the north and bring the cold dry air from the Sahara Desert during this time. This is the only time of year I can straighten my hair! It is wonderful!!!
This is my normal 'do!

Anyways, to get back to the point, because of the times of year our rain falls, we end up having our hottest weather when most Americans have their coldest, and out coldest weather when most Americans have their hottest.
In the end, it sounds kind of like our seasons are switched, doesn't it???
Now, I told you all those wonderful scientific facts so that I could talk about food again. Hang with me, I'm getting to the point!
Coming from Michigan, I grew up enjoying four seasons (most years, anyways!). Tulips growing in the spring, berry-picking and gardening in the summer, apple-picking, pumpkin-picking, and leaves falling in the autumn, and lots of snow falling in the winter.
I used to love going strawberry and blueberry picking each summer. There is nothing as delicious as strawberry shortcake or fresh blueberry muffins! Every year on July 4th we would make a cheesecake with a strawberry and blueberry American flag on top! Nothing means summer to me more than beautiful sunshine and fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden or Farmers Market.
Fast-forward to Ghana. Berries don't grown in tropical climates. Not.one.single.kind. I was okay with that until I started seeing all the wonderful recipes and blog posts about a million things to make with strawberries and blueberries.
So now, not only is it cold and rainy in the summer (cold, as in like 75 degrees), but there aren't any berries. That made me sad. I refused to look at any recipes requiring berries, because I didn't want to think about how good they would taste. Out of sight, out of mind, right?!?
I was really irritated, too, because in January, THE grocery store got a shipment of frozen strawberries. I should have bought a bag and saved it for "summer time" so I could at least have had strawberry shortcake once!
And as for frozen blueberries, I have never seen them here. Not one time in six years.
But then, the Lord gave me a wonderful knock-up-side-the-head. Even though I was pouting, because I couldn't have strawberries or blueberries, He gave me two wonderful blessings. Nothing like a blessing to show me how much of a sinner I am!
We found these at a little shop in town:

We made strawberry muffins - mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Then if that wasn't cool enough, in the same package from my mom with the little muffin pan, was a package of blueberry muffin mix!

Wow! I needed a major attitude adjustment, and instead of a kick in the seat of the pants like I needed, He gives me strawberries and blueberries!
This all me me really start to think, though. Maybe if I would have just asked for some strawberries or blueberries, what might He have given me then?

What's for Dinner?

2009-09-30T16:07:00.004Z

Ask any American (or Westerner, for that matter) what's the first thing they think of when they hear the word "Africa", and you will get some interesting answers. Jungle...lions...snakes...cannibals...hot...AIDS...disease.
When John and I first started traveling the country on deputation we were warned of many of these dangers. In fact, I had one dear sweet older lady buy me a very large butcher knife to carry in my purse, just in case. I.kid.you.not.
When John and I returned home on our first furlough, we got all kinds of questions. What was it like? Do you live in a hut? the jungle? a tree? Do you see lions on a regular basis? giraffes? snakes? spiders? scorpions?
To be fair, though, the most common question we got asked was, "What do you eat?" I'm not even going to include some of the dishes I was asked about -- and for those of you wondering, we do NOT EAT MONKEY BRAINS. I included that for those who wanted to ask, though :)
So today I thought I'd include a dish we are eating this week -- waakye. It is delicious!
The waakye itself is made from white beans, rice, spices, and red leaves. The stew for the top is made from tomatoes, oil, and ground dried shrimp and herring.

You can add any meat you like (I usually use chicken or fish), and then you add your favorite toppings. Cooked spaghetti noodles, gari (ground dried cassava), lettuce, tomatoes, and shito (our favorite condiment) can all be added.

Mix everything together and enjoy!
So now that I've told you what's for dinner at my house, what's on your menu for tonight?

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

2009-09-23T13:29:00.012Z

For those of you who have never been to my house....(most of you, I think!), I do not live in a hut! I know that must be very surprising since I live in Africa :) I live in a flat. A flat is like a really big apartment -- connected to several other really big apartments. I think you get the picture. Anyways, we not only live in a flat, but we have a wall around the property and almost all the ground inside the wall is covered in cement. I don't live in a tropical jungle; I live in an urban jungle! Since I am surrounded by lots of concrete you would think my little kiddos wouldn't get very dirty when they play, but let me tell you, they have their ways!
The other afternoon the girls were playing out on the compound while I was cooking supper. After about twenty minutes I heard them coming in the door complaining that they were cold. Ummmmmmmmmm, what??? WE LIVE IN AFRICA!!!
They had managed to find a little tiny mud puddle left over from the rain the night before and had rolled in it. At least I think they rolled, because I can't figure out any other way they got sooooo dirty!!!

This puddle wasn't more than a foot square!
Well now they needed a bath before supper. That wouldn't be too difficult, except our water doesn't usually work during the day. So out to the water storage tanks we went!

We filled the buckets...

Got in the buckets...

Then started soaping up...

Some liked that part better than others!
Time for revenge, I mean time for rinsing...

All clean!

Ahhhh! Nothing like a nice relaxing bath before supper!

Out With the Old...

2009-09-20T23:49:00.005Z

I'm back! and with a makeover, no less!!!
I don't know about you, but I was quite tired of my old look! And if I'm tired of it...I'm sure you are too!
I also changed my title -- from JohninGhana to Mrs JohninGhana. Why??? Well, I wanted to keep it close to all our addresses so it was easy to remember, but I wanted it to reflect the fact that it was about Ghana with a woman's point of view! People here seldom use last names, so most of the time everybody here calls me Mrs John. The addres of the blog is still the same, just a little change in titles to go along with the new look!
I'm also hoping to change the writing style up a bit. A little less reporterish, and a little more personal. On the ground. As a see it. Hopefully a little more fun to read, too!
So, out with the old and in with the new!

To Fast or Not To Fast? That is the Question by John

2009-09-05T10:26:00.003Z

That was a question that I was asked yesterday. Two weeks ago Friday marked the start of Ramadan for Muslims around the world. Last year right after Ramadan, Inusah made his decision to become a follower of Christ. This will be the first Ramadan that he faces not being a Muslim.

Since that time, Inusah has been baptized, helped at times with visitation, attends weekly Bibles studies, and has been abandoned by his family. They have not officially called a family meeting and removed him from the family, but they have refused to help him in anyway.

This last few months Inusah has seen that he will have to fend for himself if he plans on getting ahead in life. He has always dreamed of being in the military, but without monetary help from his family, it will be difficult for him to pay the application fees. So, Inusah has gotten a job.

As an American reading those words, that does not sound like a very big deal, but here, it is another matter. Currently, we have about 50% un-employment in Ghana. That means that all employers know that they can get labour cheaply, and that they can have their labourers work many hours, because if the person does not like the arrangement, there will be others that will come in time and fill the gap.

The job that Inusah has gotten is at a lumber mill. He starts work at 5:00 in the morning and works for 12 hours, with a 1 hour lunch break. He gets paid weekly, and receives 3 Ghana Cedis a day, which is about 2 dollars.

I have been very impressed with Inusah and this decision. It would be much easier for him to just yield to his step-father's will, and then ask him for the money. But, he has decided to obey the Lord and take the hard road. Most people in Kumasi will not take these jobs. They say that it is too much work for too little pay.

Back to Ramadan- as I was saying, this is Inusah's first time as a Christian. For those readers that do not know what Ramadan is, it is the Muslim holy month in which all Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset. This month is supposed to teach them how it feels to be a poor person, and also is believed to have power to forgive all the sins of the year before. Ramadan is a central part of Muslim life. Even Muslims that do not live like Muslims at all the rest of the year, fast for Ramadan.

For Inusah this was a big question. He asked if he could fast, but just do it for the Lord Jesus Christ? I told him that the Bible says that we cannot let our good be evil spoken of. If he fasted, even in the name of Jesus, his family and friends that are Muslims would just see it as a Muslim act, not a Christian act. Then he asked me how he should act. To this I told him that he was blessed by having a job. He would leave before dawn, so even as a Muslim he would be able to eat, and when he was at work, he could freely eat. I mainly warned him that he did not need to cause strife with his new found liberty. He did not need to break the fast in his family's presence, that would not be a spirit of love. The Bible commands us to deal in peace with all men. He needed to be a testimony, but in such a way that it would praise Christ.

Please pray for Inusah. Though he wants to do right, it is very difficult. He is the most independent African that I have met. This helps him, but it also makes it difficult for him to open up about his problems. Pray that he will be able to stand as a Christian during this Ramadan time. Pray that he will follow the Lord and continue to grow closer to Him. Please pray that the group of believers will be able to embrace him as his new family and help to strengthen and encourage him.

Monkeys, School, & Big Ball (Life Summed Up)

2009-08-29T06:20:00.006Z

The last few weeks have been busy ones as I've been preparing for the school year and then getting school started!
We took a family trip to the zoo before school started. The first time we went to the zoo, they didn't have any animals. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Kind of strange to have a zoo with no animals, right?!? We decided that in the five years since our first try they might have gotten something to go in those cages, so we gave it another try. Guess what!?! They had animals!!! In fact, we had a great time!

It may not be the fanciest zoo in the world, but you sure can get close to the animals!

We started school on Monday. Carey is in K-5 this year, and Ella wants to be! She wants to do everything just like her sister. So....she is in K-3! And very happy about it!

Once a quarter, we have a youth activity. The number of teens who come to these continues to grow. The kids here have never seen the games we play -- the only games they know are football (soccer), volleyball (a little), TT (ping-pong), dame (checkers), oware (Mancala), and ludo (Sorry). They play these games all the time --at school, at camp, at youth activities. That's it. So when we bring games like big ball soccer or dodge ball, they just go nuts. Literally!!!! We had between 30 and 40 teens come, not including all the little kids in the neighborhood who wanted to watch and hoped to get a chance to play!
(Sorry that the pics are a little blurry -- the lighting is really bad, so I had to use the night exposure function.)

Tomorrow is another exciting day as we will be heading to the river for baptisms. I'll be posting pics as soon as I get a chance!
Have a wonderful week!

Our Flood (#243, roughly) by John

2009-08-15T08:01:00.003Z

Okay, not really flood number 243, it is just that we have lost count after five. Wednesday morning my wife woke up early and was hoping to steal away to her desk to get some work done before everyone got up. But when she put her feet on the floor, she heard "splash". She looked down to see about two inches of water covering about half of our bedroom floor.

We had had a flood. Ella had been playing with the faucet in our bathroom. It is an extra one that we use to hook-up our washing machine. Our water is normally off most of the day and comes on during the night and remains on until mid-morning. So, when Ella played with the tap, no water came out, and she left it on.

After we all went to bed, at about 4:00 in the morning, when the water began to flow, the water began to fill our house. After about 3 hours it filled one bathroom, two bedrooms, and a hallway. Good thing our house is made out of concrete and there is never any structural damage! We just scoop up the water, take it to the drains and turn on the fans.

Needless to say, this was not a fun thing to wake up to. Waking up to two inches of standing water in half your house is not too fun and does not bring a lot of happy thoughts to the mind.

But, God has a way of working on you. After about an half hour of scooping, vacuuming, and fuming, the Holy Spirit was able to break through. He kept bringing this thought to my mind... "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus, concerning you!" To which I would say, "I don't want to be thankful, what is there to be thankful about?"

To this question, He gave me these thoughts. Here is the list:

1. You have a house that can be flooded.
2. Your kids picked up their room last night instead of this morning, so few of their books were destroyed.
3. Your missionary friends bought a ShopVac, and you do not have to do this by hand now, but get to suck up most of the mess.
4. You have people that attend your services, that every time it rains their houses or rooms flood.
5. You have money to replace things that are destroyed, some people do not.

So what else was there to do, but be thankful? Everything has a reason, and everything works together for good. I am glad God just allows me to be with Him during the trip.

Here are some pictures from the flood.

Summer Fun!

2009-08-08T08:11:00.009Z

It has been another interesting week in the life of the Sommer family!
It all started on Sunday with a "special" visitor coming to church -- a dog. Now, when you meet in a room with the doors propped open, it is not too uncommon to have things (besides people) wander in. The problem with this dog is that it was sick. Not just a little sick, a lot sick. The dog had rabies. I kid you not! Several people tried to shoo it out after it started barking during the preaching, but it was acting very aggressive. Finally, John grabbed one of the stones used for a door prop and rolled it at the thing. It left, but kept coming back to visit!

The dog was quite far away by the time I felt safe enough to grab my camera, but I got a picture of him as he headed behind the brick pile at the end of the school building.
Monday is our day off. We head to town to do our shopping and errands for the week. It is also my night off from cooking so we usually buy "chop" (the term used for fast food here). This week John took us somewhere special. We went to On the Run! It is kind of like a food court with three different restaurants, a bakery, and an ice cream spot. The thing the girls like best, though, is that they have a play place! It may not be impressive to those of you who live in the States, but for little girls who only dream of things like this, it is a big deal!!! This is the only public playground equipment in our entire city, plus you can eat pizza while you play!

We all had lots of fun!

On Tuesday, we went with John to help him repair the windows at the school building where we meet for church. We had a great time helping dad and playing with all the kids that came around!

Most of the kids here have very few toys, but they are quite creative. This little boy made a semi-truck from old tin cans and flip-flops!

The kids tried for a while to catch a chicken. They finally managed to catch a chick!

We had a wonderful week and are enjoying the end of our summer vacation. It'll be back to school pretty soon!

New Creatures in Christ

2009-08-01T07:26:00.004Z

First, I must say thanks to all of you who were nice enough to take the time to comment. You spoke so kindly about this blog -- I appreciate it!
Second, I'm going to do my best to follow everyone's advice and include posts on both the ministry and family with lots of pictures! That seemed to be the prevailing theme!
Today I wanted to tell you about some of our new believers and ask you to pray for them!
This is Joe. He is an Asante. He is 14 years old and in junior high school. He was one of the first people that accepted Christ near our meeting place. He faithfully attends every Sunday morning and evening. He was also one of our first converts to get baptized. He has started reading through his Bible with the church reading program. Please pray for his spiritual growth.

This is Dora. She is a Kasina, from the northern part of Ghana and was raised in an animist home. She was raised worshipping idols and going to the "witch doctor" if there was a problem. She found no peace or fulfillment in this so when she moved to Kumasi a few years ago, she decided to attend church. Sadly, she found no peace there either. She tried many churches, but felt like most of them were no different than what she had been raised in - the music was the same, the thinking was the same, the attitudes were the same. The only difference between the churches and her old ways were the use of "Christian" terms for everything! Even though she has never been to school, she bought an English Bible and started teaching herself to read with a little help from the Indian people she worked for.
John met Dora while inviting some girls at a sewing shop to come for the Thursday night Bible study. She started coming to the Thursday night study, and we began witnessing to her. She accepted Christ and was baptized.
Her employer recently moved to the other side of the city so she now lives very far from the meeting area. She still faithfully attends every Sunday morning, but cannot come to any other services because of the distance. Please pray for her to get a job closer to the meeting area, and please pray for her continued growth.

This is Martha. She is a FraFra from the far north, near Burkina Faso. We met her through a bus driver we used during a missions trip last summer! The bus driver quit coming, but Martha didn't! She struggled greatly with fear, a common problem here, until she accepted Christ as her Savior a few months ago. She has not yet been baptized, and right now she is very sick. Please pray for her health, and pray, too, that she takes this important step of obedience at the end of August.

Last of all is Fred. He is half Asante, half Nzema. He is a student at the city's Community College. He was raised in a Convention Baptist church, but had never heard the way of true salvation. He accepted Christ a little while ago, but is really struggling with baptism. He is heavily involved in a Charismatic Baptist Church, and it will be a big step to break with them. He loves coming to the Bible study, and he goes out witnessing every Saturday with John and Andrew (our co-worker). Please pray that he will let the Lord work in his life, and that he will follow God completely, even though that means breaking with his old church.

Would you please pray for these young people? Yes, they are new creatures in Christ, but Satan does not let go easily! Even though he can never take them to Hell, he wants them to live a life of defeat here on earth. He doesn't want them to grow or bring others to Christ. He wants them to "forget that they have been purged from their old sins" (paraphrase of II Pt. 1:9). All of these people carry much baggage already from their past. Pray that they can "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Pt. 3:18).

Need Some Input, Please!

2009-07-25T09:11:00.003Z

I am looking for some input from everybody who reads this blog. Things have been very busy for a while, (that's life, I suppose) and I didn't have a camera for a while, either. Now that I have my camera back, I have lots of ideas of what I want to do with this blog. But, before I do anything, I'd like to know what you all think.
As for technical things, would tagging posts be helpful? an archive search? an RSS feed? (Not quite sure I know how to do all those things, but I could try!) And as far as subject matter goes, are you interested in Ghana? missionary life? food? culture? individuals reached through the ministry? church happenings? prayer requests? Are there some things you would really like to know about, but I've never written about? Would you like more pictures of family? day-to-day life? oddities?

I know there are more people who read this blog than ever post a comment. Even if you've never posted a comment or aren't even sure how to do it, please give me some feedback. You can comment anonymously if you don't have a blogger account. You can drop me a line on facebook. You can even email if you'd like! But please, please, let me know what you think!

I want this blog to encourage people to pray for our family and the ministry God has given us here. I also want it to spur people to think about Ghana's needs and the needs of all Africa!

Here are some pictures from this summer. Enjoy!

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say!

Another Decade Older

2009-07-11T07:29:00.003Z

Strange how one day can change everything, isn't it?!?
I turned 30 yesterday.........

I know that there really isn't much difference from July 9th to July 10th, but it seems different somehow.
Thirty sounds old. Mature. Grown-up.

Not quite sure if I'm ready to be those things or not.

Guess I don't have much choice, do I?

Love of Two Countries?

2009-07-04T08:28:00.003Z

Celebrating America's independence in another country is an interesting experience. The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. I have wonderful memories from many summers past. The heat. The anticipation. The food. The colors. The friends and family. The music. The list goes on and on.
Most of my Independence Day memories are from Saginaw, where I grew up, but I've also spent the Fourth in quite a few different places: Tawas, the Blackhills of South Dakota, Ireland, and of course, Ghana. Each place was different and special, but there is nothing quite like spending the day in the familiar places of your childhood.
It is hard for me to figure out the balance between love for my country and love for my host country. I do love Ghana; this is my home. But I love America; it is the land of my birth, my culture, my family, my memories, my values.
Last night we had a few people over for a small party. We had both Ghanaians and Americans. It was fun introducing our Ghanaian friends to American cookout foods: hamburgers (they wondered why they weren't made of ham), French fries (which they call chips), Boston baked beans (not British style beans in tomato sauce), deviled eggs (they wondered what they had to do with the Devil), and s'mores (which declared much too sweet), and roasted marshmallows (which were all promptly burnt to cinders). They wondered why we were all wearing red, and why I painted my toe nails with American flags. They wondered why we wanted to light off fireworks. They had so many questions, and I didn't really have a lot of answers. The answer to why we do those things is.... because! It's what we do!
That's the funny thing about culture; it's just what you do -- no explanation needed!
Do I not love Ghana because of doing those things? Nope! Do I love America less by living in another country? Nope! In the end, I believe I'm the most blessed. I get to love America, and I get to learn to love another country, too!
I guess my girls had the best idea of how to combine the two. Last night they put on their red, white, and blue clothes, and fun costume jewelry, and then they asked if they could wear their Ghana flag hairbows, too!
I wish you all a wonderful Independence Day!

Where Have I Been???

2009-06-27T07:16:00.002Z

Was I kidnapped by a warring tribe? Nope! Was I suffering some strange tropical disease? Un-uh! Was I eaten by a lion? Obviously not! Where have I been? You may ask.....
Well, none of those things mentioned above have happened, but lots of interesting things have!
It all started about two years ago. We had a national pastor living with us for a while. He raised pigs. What do you feed pigs here in Ghana? Nice pre-packaged FDA-approved pig food? No. You feed them rotten fruits and vegetables from the market and spoiled food from the food vendors. How do you get this food to the pigs? In your car, of course. Now in a tropical climate, even the tiniest bit of food left anywhere will draw.....cockroaches. The pastor tried very hard to keep them out of his car, but that is not possible when hauling pig food every day! How did this affect me? As some of you know, we don't have a car here in Ghana. When we returned from furlough, the pastor insisted we use his car to go to town and market on Mondays for our weekly shopping. Unfortunately, what we didn't realize was that those tricky little buggers were riding into our house on our shopping bags. Every once in a while, we'd see one on the countertops and smash it, but we didn't know that they were finding lots of hiding places in our kitchen cabinets!
Then, about seven months ago, our landlady decided to spray the apartments for bugs. Three of the apartments were sitting empty at that time. We were the only occupants. The problem was that she didn't tell us she was spraying for bugs. We came home to a funny smell and when we called the guy who takes care of the house, he told us that they had sprayed the empty apartments for bugs. My husband told him we wanted our house sprayed too, since all the bugs would flee to our house for safety, but he said he'd do it later. Too bad for us that he never got around to it! To make a long story a little bit shorter, we have been battling them ever since!
We not only had cockroaches, we had three different species of them!!! YUCK!!!!!!!!
Not only are cockroaches disgusting, but they are humiliating! Now, I know that everybody in a tropical climate has some, but growing up in a cold climate (Michigan), the only people who had cockroaches were people with filthy homes.
We have been trying to get rid of them since that fateful spraying day. First I tried natural remedies -- none of them worked. Then I tried some of the local pesticides -- they worked for a little while. Then I tried spraying, scrubbing, dumping, emptying, gassing....you name it, I tried it! After just a few days though, it would look like I hadn't done anything!
Around the beginning of June, we got desperate. We decided it was the cockroaches or us. We decided to make one last stand, and if it didn't work, we would move out. I am not kidding. We were so overwhelmed that we were willing to move to a new place altogether and leave the problem for our landlady to deal with.
Our plan of action was to move out of our house, spray the entire house with very strong pesticides, and then slowly move back in. And if the spraying didn't work, we'd just live outside until we found a new house!!!!
About three weeks ago, we started packing up our house. We had to go through each thing page by page, corner by corner, box by box to make sure no bugs went outside with our stuff. It took two-and-a-half days to go through everything. Just about the time we got everything outside, it began to rain -- African rain (which for the uninitiated is similar to rain brought on by a hurricane)! We got everything covered up with tarps and plastic and prayed that it would stop quickly! It did stop after about thirty minutes, and nothing got wet! They then headed in to spray the houses. They did our neighbors houses first, and then they headed into our house. To put it simply, they flooded our house with very potent chemicals. Our kitchen had toxic standing water on the floor when they were done.
We didn't stay at our house that night, but went to the hotel next door instead. Isn't that convenient! I'm sure we were quite a sight walking into the hotel, filthy and drenched from head to foot, stinking like chemicals!
The next morning we came home, and I began to scrub our house from floor to ceiling. John started the tedious task of going through all our packed things and checking them again for bugs before bringing them back into the house. It was a long day; we all got sunburned terribly and Carey and I both had terrible reactions to the chemicals, too! We got about half of our things inside or on our porch before it began raining again -- African rain! In fact, it rained all night long....we were just hoping and praying that the tarps and plastic would hold. Amazingly enough, when we went to check it all on Saturday morning, very little had gotten wet, and of the things that did, very little got ruined!
Saturday I had to stop cleaning and unpacking to do laundry. Did I mention in this that my washing machine broke the week before all this happened? I got the privilege of washing a week's worth of clothes, all the curtains, all the bedding, and all the rugs by hand? Praise the Lord that my neighbor offered to wash two loads for me!
The following week we finally got everything back into every room in the house but the kitchen. We decided to let the kitchen sit for a while since that was where the majority of the problem was. We finally scrubbed it a week after spraying it. It looked like a nuclear fall-out area. The day after we got it all cleaned, the kitchen flooded and water flowed into half our house. I'm so glad that the flood waters weren't filled with dead cockroach carcasses and chemicals!
So where do things stand today?
Life is almost back to normal! We are going to have to replace a few things, but nothing major. It looks like our problem is almost gone. We needed to keep the kitchen empty so that we could respray at the three-week mark. That's when all the leftover eggs will hopefully be hatched..I know, that's disgusting! And where is my kitchen then? My kitchen is still located on the...porch. I have had the wonderful joy of cooking and eating outside for several weeks now. I guess I'm really becoming one of the locals!
So......that's where I've been the last few weeks! I know it's not a good excuse, but I think it makes a pretty good story!

Hello, World!

2009-06-20T07:56:00.003Z

Hello, World!
Life has been more than crazy lately! I've just not made the time to write anywhere -- not much on facebook, not much on email, not much of anything anywhere. There are a few times I've considered bowing out of the cyberworld, but my hubby keeps encouraging me not to.
I've got plenty of stories, no pictures (I still don't have a working camera), and a very full schedule, but I'm hoping to catch a few quiet minutes this weekend....
I have a hard time writing on the fly, and I like it to be quiet when I do so. That doesn't happen very often with my two girls!
Hopefully I'll write some more today or tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T16:09:00.003Z

To the greatest moms and grandmas in the world!
We love you!!!

The King

2009-05-08T13:07:00.004Z

Two weeks ago was the 10th anniversary of our king, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. A king?, you may ask. Yes, even though our country has a president, and we hold elections every four years, we still have a king! This isn't a king like England has a queen, though. Our king is the ruler of the Akan people. Kumasi is his capital city, and the Ashanti Region (state) is his domain.
Before Ghana existed, many tribes and their chiefs lived in this land. Over time, the Ashanti became a fierce and strong tribal warrior nation. Their king or chief continued to gain more and more power as they conquered more and more smaller tribes. These conquests continued until the British colonizers attacked Kumasi and took their king into exile. Even though the king was taken, the kingdom did not fall apart. The Ashanti believed the power to hold their nation together was in the Golden Stool (the king's throne). The British demanded it when they captured the king, but the keepers of the stool had hidden it away and gave the British a fake.
Even though they did not have a king for some time, as soon as they were allowed, the Ashanti reinstated a king.
Our current king has now been in power for ten years. He is seen as a "keeper of the culture" and therefore, his powers don't conflict with that of our federal government. About 3 1/2 million people live in the Ashanti Region, and about 5 million people claim him as their leader.
In the pictures of his anniversary celebration, you will see many umbrellas. Each umbrella is for a chief - the bigger the umbrella, the more important the chief!
The president, former heads-of-state, and many ambassadors and diplomats from all over Africa came to the durbar.

This is a picture of the king. He is very difficult to see, because the picture was zoomed from verrrrrrrrry far away.

Snake!!!

2009-05-02T12:56:00.003Z

Well, we can finally say that we "have arrived" as missionaries in the minds of all the people that support us. Yes, most people that support African missionaries imagine us daily fording rivers filled with crocodiles, marching through elephant grass, and fighting lions as we go out to preach the gospel, all while we single-handedly have spiritual duels with witch doctors. Though we do not fit these Western mindsets of a missionary, I think that we have finally filled one requirement. John has killed a snake! Yes, this last Thursday night John had the privilege of killing his first snake. I would like to tell you that as he and Andrew were walking to check on some people before Bible study, a green mamba jumped out of a tree in front of them and tried to bite them. I would like to tell you that like Indiana Jones, John pulled out a machete (that people think every missionary wears on his/her back) and cut off it head with one blow. But, sadly that is not what happened.

After visiting some of our people and reminding them about the night meeting, John and Andrew saw a taxi driver stop his car, jump out, and run to look at something. The driver was trying to kill a green mamba that was crossing the road! (Africans do not have the same regard to preserve species as most environmentalist would like them to. Here we have a simple rule: When you see a snake, you do not stop and ask if it is endangered. You know it will be deadly nine times out of ten, so you grab the first stone available and kill it. Find out what kind it is after it is dead). Knowing his social duty, John did his part. He grabbed a big rock and crushed its head!

Overall it was a new experience! After killing the thing with the stone, all the Ghanaians around gave John pats on the back. Then he got to come to the people already gathered for service and retell the story several times. I was not as happy to hear about the presence of the snake as the men were, but it was great fun to watch the men puff out their chests and tell their warrior's story!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-18T08:01:00.006Z

I finally have some pictures to load!!! I didn't get my camera fixed, but our fellow missionaries took lots of pictures this last weekend, so I was able to borrow pictures from them!
Easter is the most-celebrated Christian holiday we have in Ghana. It is much more widely celebrated than even Christmas!
The observances start a week prior to Resurrection Day. On Palm Sunday everyone cuts off palm fronds and attaches them to the fronts and backs of their cars, trucks, tro-tros, and motorbikes. All the children take palm fronds to church with them, often braiding them into elaborate fans.
The last day of school for the week is Thursday. Many churches have Good Friday services, and many people dress in black for the day.
On Sunday, almost everybody who claims to be a Christian goes to church. Most people wear white, and many churches will have combined services so that everyone from their denomination meets together for a huge service. Many groups have Easter weekend programs where the whole family goes away for a church retreat for four days.
The day after Easter, we celebrate Easter Monday, an old hold-over from the British. This is a special time for families and church-families alike. Many churches will have a special day of football and games, and many families will travel to their home villages to see their relatives.

The Aarons, our new fellow missionaries

Our Thursday night service

Sunday School

We had a great picnic lunch together with the Aarons. We ate, hunted for Easter eggs, dyed eggs, and had a squirt gun fight!

We enjoyed a great weekend celebrating Jesus Christ's resurrection!

Another Tongue

2009-04-11T08:36:00.002Z

The Lord gave us another great week!
Thank you all for praying for Dora -- she accepted Christ as her Savior last Saturday!
Even though we live in the country of Ghana and everyone here is technically a Ghanaian, our country is made up of many tribal groups. Of course, each group has its own language, and many times, each language has several dialects. What a joy it is to hear people from these different groups pray to God for forgiveness of sin! When Dora accepted Christ on Saturday, I got to hear a brand-new dialect as she prayed - Kasanin-Nankana. I didn't even know this language existed!
We've now heard people accept Christ in Asante, Ewe, FraFra, Hausa, English, and Dora's language! I'm so glad God hears and understands them all!
Please continue to pray for our brand-new Bible studies we are starting today. We have three groups of ladies and teenage girls we are supposed to be meeting with. Each group has 3-5 people in it!
Also, Inusah and Fred, two of the young men who've accepted Christ, are supposed to start going visiting with my husband and Andrew. Please pray that they will be faithful in coming visiting and that it will be a great time of discipleship and growth for both of them!
We are still planning on a baptismal service the second Sunday of May. Please pray that Martha, David, Fred, Christiana, and Dora will make this important step of obedience.
Sorry there are no pictures, as of right now, my camera is broken beyond repair :( I'm not sure there is a solution coming any time soon.....
I'm going to try to borrow our friend's camera this weekend, so maybe some pics next week!
Enjoy Resurrection Sunday!