Today they are going to be in a mall where they were hoping to have internet and/or phone access. Beth actually popped online and saw that I was on too, so she asked me to call her mom and ask her to get on. Evidently the phones they were hoping to access must not be available. She said that Haley was in a different group, so I could expect to hear from her later on. I'm feeling a little compelled to stay glued to my computer until I hear from her, but there are certain things that must be done around here, so I'm not sure how to handle that. We haven't heard anything from her since last Thursday, so the thought of missing out on my one shot of communication is not fun. I'm praying that she calls or "chats" soon! Tomorrow they are supposedly going to a typical African church and then heading to a lion park, so I'm thankful that they are allowing them a little down time.
Val shared with me that Beth has asked for prayers for strength. There has been some strep throat and flu, the food has been a little interesting, the shack-to-shack evangelizing efforts feel a little weird, and the lack of communication has been difficult. Beth was in Uganda last summer, so her expectations for this trip were a little different than what she's experiencing this time, so it's been a little bit more challenging. Haley went into this without really knowing what to expect, and she's in a different group than Beth, so it will be interesting to hear Haley's perspective. Please keep praying for ALL of them as they continue to adjust.
For us back here, it's been a fun and full week. We spent three days in the Pella area showing Charlene all kinds of things and introducing her to some of our family. My nieces happily gave up their beds for her and Kelsey and even greeted them with signs. You can't read it in the picture, but in addition to the greeting, it says, "You can sleep with this." They each gave up a stuffed poodle for the night! Charlene has three new little friends who adore her!
We visited our dear neighbors who live just half a mile from where we used to live, and they graciously let the girls tour their farm on four-wheelers. Charlene had never been on a farm or on a four-wheeler, so they had a great time exploring!
The afternoon was spent "swimming" in a farm pond complete with paddleboat, a floating thing in the middle, and fish, and then we went to my niece's softball game in the evening, which was also a first for Charlene. We got back to my sister's house, and my folks joined us for a yummy meal and a nice night of fellowship.
Wednesday was designated as the day to visit Des Moines! When is the last time you've been to the capitol building? May I urge you to go if you haven't been in 30 years like me? It's a gorgeous building and so much more meaningful to visit as an adult, and yet I think the girls thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of it too.
We even got to climb the 92 steps to the "top" of the building!
Once the tour was over, we decided to hop on the downtown trolley for a free ride to the State Historical Museum.
We enjoyed a nice girly lunch at a little cafe in there and then took in the sights of the city from its balcony. It was there that we discovered that all of us were either low on memory or battery, but it didn't stop us from taking just a few more pictures.
When Kelsey and I learned early on that our French guest was a gymnast, we knew it would be really cool for her to be able to tell her friends back home that she visited the studio where Olympian Shawn Johnson trains. We attempted to keep it a surprise, but her eyes lit up when she overheard a conversation Harris was having with a clerk last weekend. In his defense, he didn't know it was supposed to be a big secret! Photography was prohibited at the studio, but they were very gracious about letting us sit in their balcony and watch all the training that was happening for as long as we wanted. What fun it was for all of us! Unfortunately, Shawn was not there at the time, but we did get to see her instructor.
We traveled back to Pella and had another delicious meal at Smokey Row. The girls enjoyed their own booth while I was able to meet up with Beth's mom. It was so good for both of us to just talk about our daughters' passions for Africa and missions and work through some of our thoughts and emotions together.
Before heading back home on Thursday, we made a visit to Harris's folks' farm where Harris had been working on a tractor. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES John Deere green!
His dad's cancer has been really debilitating, and prayer is appreciated. It was good to have lunch and some time with his parents and his brother. The girls explored this farm too, but this time Charlene was at the wheel for the first time in her life!
The girls are serving with the youth group at the air show this morning, and Keaton comes back home this afternoon! We've missed him! My guys are at the office, and I'm still patiently waiting by the computer for some communication from Haley. Pray with me, would you, that somehow we'll be able to chat today? Your prayers are so appreciated! Thanks!
UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!!
Just as I was editing this, my mom called, and I went into my email to send something to her, and I noticed an email from Haley that she sent a while ago already!!! Praise the Lord -- I can now get in the shower and move on with my day! It's not quite the same as hearing her voice, but it's written in true Haley style, and I can "hear" her voice loud and clear when I'm reading it. I'm just so thankful to hear from her at this point that I'll take anything!!! I can assure you that she's really very good at grammar, spelling, and punctuation, but she tends to like to type emails this way, probably just to get on my nerves a bit because she knows how I hate it, but in this case, I'll take it! If she weren't writing like this, I'd probably be worrying what's wrong!
After just a tad bit of editing, here it is:
Well hello there! So excuse any punctuation stuff because my keyboard here is whacked... im kinda mad at the moment bc my fb isn't working here and this could be the only chance to catch you up... another reason im mad is cuz there is absolutely nowhere we can call home and i have screamo blasting in my ears. grrrrr... other than that what's up? so im in africa... crazy stuff! it's been awesome and crazy and amazing and heartbreaking all at once... the emotions in my head are overwhelming but i'm doing alright! i am hearing from people that home it's warm and 95 degress! well we are here freezing our butts off! leg warmers, two pairs of socks, pants, underarmor, two or three long sleeve shirts and both jackets and we still freeze in the morning! in the middle of the day though it's hot hot hot... the children here are freakishly adorable and i almost packed phelli with me... don't ever let me forget to tell you about phelli and justice! they are the loves of my life and i miss them dearly. we have spent most of our time in diepsloot! crazy poverty... this is the first day we aren't out on a full day of ministry. we are at a "big mall" and doing our first bit of shopping. it's all kinda expensive so im waiting to do most of my shopping at the market. tmw we go to african church and then to lions park! excited for down time. i have showered i think three times! we could shower every day but psh that's lame... we are in africa! and only the girly girls are bc they are brave enough to get all their clothes off and actually hop in the shower. dude it's cold and there is nowhere to actually go to be warm... missing those meals too! we have had some kind of hot dog concoction for breakfast about three times and let me tell you... i don't stomach that meal very well! at least we are eating though and im still at the point where i am enjoying pbandj. the guys here are amazing and such gents and the girls are only now starting to be a bit annoying! lol it's all good though.. .considering we are together all the time i think it's going alright! i ahve made soo many new friends and am loving it here! my soccer skills are improving but this trip is absolutely not like i thought at all! yesterday i led four women to the lord but they were laughing at me the entire time but come to find out that they were just overwhelmed and overjoyed that we would come and share with them this kind of news! if i only had a picture for you guys of these peoples faces when we ask if we can do their laundry and dishes! lol well im journaling as much as i can! ill try and write again but i gots to go for now. i love you all so incredibly much and miss you more! hope you are enjoying your peace and quiet dad bc its not very long before im back full force! im loving the notes so keep em coming! and plz tell me more/anything about gpa... love love love... tell everyone hi!
byes!
haley
No comments:
Post a Comment