March 1st 2012 Update

Wow, time just seems to by flying by these days - I can't believe it's already March!

Much has happened since the New Year, and I will do my best to summarize it all here.

At the end January I had the opportunity to fly home for a brief 10 day visit. The purpose of the trip was to visit my Grandparents in Florida. I celebrated my Grandmother's 75th birthday with her, and I was able to spend some time with my grandfather who has recently been diagnosed with stage four brain cancer. I'm so grateful I was able to go home to spend this time with them especially since my gandfather's health is so precarious right now.

Even though the trip home was very short, it came at just the right time for me. It had been almost 5 months since I first came to Kenya, and I was going through a bit of a culture shock low and really missing home. Getting to see my family and spend some time on "my turf" was so refreshing. I am grateful for that time at home as I was able to take the time to refocus and refuel for the work the God has for me here in Kenya.

To say that I hit the ground running upon my return would be an understatement. Since being back in Kenya I've been busy hosting service and vision teams, working on our Easter sponsorship projects, catching up on newsletters and reports, developing new procedure policies for different aspects of the ministry and assisting in the Advanced Education program - crazy!

One very exciting thing that has happened since my return is the installation of a water storage tank on our house. The tank is a huge answer to prayer as the water table near Karundas has dropped drastically in recent months/years, and we have not had consistent access to water in our house for more than 2 months. After carrying jugs of water and taking bucket baths for so long, to turn on the tap and find clean, flowing water, or to be able to finally take a hot shower, is such a luxury! (It's funny what makes me excited these days)

I've also been preparing to move into my new office, AND I bought a Car! It's a beautiful 1999 Honda CRV, and has been SUCH a blessing to me. Having a car has been so helpful to me as Karundas, the home where I live, is about an hour's walk from the nearest town. In the past if ever I needed to go anywhere I would have to call a taxi or beg someone to drive me. Being able to drive myself where I need to go, when I need to go has been so wonderful and is helping me to feel less isolated out here in the interior.

This week I am VERY excited because my sister Ginny is coming to visit! She is a sophomore at Wheaton College, and is coming over her spring break. I'm so looking forward to having her here and spending some good quality sister bonding time :)

More thoughtful posts to come. I thought a general "what I'm up to" post was most needed now.

A Few Prayer Requests

• Please continue to pray for my relationships here - I'm working very hard to build real, strong frienships, but it is taking longer than I had originally expected
• Praise for our water tank and my new car! God is truly taking care of us.
• Please also pray for my role here in Kenya as it is currently changing. Pray that the transitions would go smoothly and that the Lord would be glorified through these changes
• Please pray for the upcoming life-skills training weekend that Ruth and I will be hosting for our Advanced Education students - Pray that the training would be effective and that our students will be able to leave feeling better prepared for life outside of the Kids Alive homes.