Christmas gift from Betsy

Isn't it a super cool blanket?!

Betsy brought a Christmas package when she visited in October. On Christmas morning, I opened it and discovered this beautiful, fun blanket.

One day not so long ago...

Naomi made us pizza for dinner.

It was so incredibly WONDERFUL to be home with my family for countless meals while I was in Michigan.

Good News!

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. 

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 

Titus 3:4-5

One time we went to Mulungushi

The Balancing Rock out in the distance (sort of to the left in this photo)

Back in October, Heather and I took the bus up north through Lusaka (~5hours) on up to Kabwe (another 2 or 3 hours) to visit some of Heather’s friends. Her friends graciously invited us along on a mini camping holiday to their cabins at Mulungushi Dam. Nine of us piled into their Land Cruiser and bounced out to Mulungushi.

There was swimming and boating and hiking and fishing. Mostly, Heather and I just soaked in the beauty—the lake, the rocks, the sunsets, and the moon at night.

On Monday morning, Heather and I and a Kiwi couple went exploring. We went through a cave (yes, there was a bat in it. Ahhhhh and eeewe.), climbed over a gate to visit the water shed, and army-crawled under another gate to follow the path. The Kiwis and I hiked up on top of the balancing rock. Well, “hiked” is a stretch of the term in my case—I was pulled up the rock and pretty much tumbled off. Hmmm. Good thing I don’t have my heart set on professional rock climbing. The good news is that the horrific bruise I got on my knee faded within a few weeks! I had a blast on our morning trek.

me, under the balancing rock

on top of the balancing rock

Visiting Mulugushi was grand. It was so kind of Heather to let me tag along to visit her friends, and so gracious of her friends to welcome and include me :).

time to go...

a little toad came to visit the kitchen one day

Visit to the Mitten (take 2)

Thanksgiving table at Dad and Mom's

Figured you might like an update of that crazy list I posted a few weeks ago of things I was anticipating during my brief Michigan visit. The check marks represent accomplishments. The italicized words are a few details. I abbreviated this list, but I did get to enjoy almost everything from the original list. Plus, I got to do all sorts of other amazing things, like play a duet with Libby one Sunday morning for offertory. 

ü  Sunday dinner—salmon, baked beans, special salads and breads, good company… need I say more??

ü  Christmas caroling—at Dow Gardens AND for church friends and neighbors’

ü  Thanksgiving together—at home. bliss.

• Lake Michigan

ü  Big Apple Bagels (or any bagels!)—score. Amy had blueberry bagels ready for my first breakfast home, and we ate Big Apple Bagels for lunch on my birthday :)

• My bicycle (riding it, of course—as long as the snow isn’t too deep! Haha.)—well, so… that didn’t really work out with all the snow we’ve had…

ü  A date with Brian in his new car (munching Wheat Thins on the way)—oh yeah!

ü  The Cookie House—my garage, our heat stove, the wood floors, lovely decorations, and the shower box!, waking up and knowing Amy’s right there—in the same room—not a crackling skype call away. i.can’t.wait.—I forgot just how LOVELY it really is.

ü  Foody stuff… like dill pickles, a Subway sub, pretzels, fig bars, sliced meat and tuna sandwiches, graham crackers, and American ice cream—check.check.check.

ü  My sewing machine and washing machine and waffle maker :)

ü  Applesauce… jars and jars and jars of unsweetened and wonderfully delicious Michigan mom-made APPLESAUCE. -how I miss thee- and I wish I could pack thee and take thee back with me…

ü  American shampoo and conditioner. Luxury.sheer luxury.

ü  My sweatshirt (why did I think I should leave it behind just because it’s bulky when I packed for Zambia?!?)

ü  Shopping at Salvation Army, Beyond Measure (bulk food), and our favorite shops in Clare with my mom and sisters—we even went on a girl date in downtown Bay City and visited the Sweet Boutique… a dream of mine for years!

ü  Hosting guests at the Cookie House—I’d say this was a success: 17 the day after Thanksgiving, 25 after Christmas caroling, 6 for a girls’ night…

ü  Snow. Though I didn’t miss it at all last winter, I do enjoy snowy days—Lots of beautiful, bright snow!

ü  Drinking tea with Amy—every.single.evening. It was so grand.

ü  Michigan fruit—cherries, blueberries, peaches, raspberries, and blackberries.

ü  Meeting Charlie, Amy’s dog—we’re friends :)

ü  Muffins just the way I want to make them—raspberry white chocolate chip the day after I arrived… followed by bran, pumpkin chocolate, berry, and ginger...

• The Nature Center Trail/s—Dow Gardens instead.

ü  Calling Mom or Betsy or Dad or Amy or anybody in the US whenever I want and talking for as long as I want… because all those minutes are included in the monthly cell plan

ü  Rediscovering my closet, especially all the sweaters—oh it’s been fun!

Do-it-yourself: Organize-that-shelf Box

After visiting my Michigan home, I was inspired to continue my efforts to spruce, purge, and reorganize the house here at Nahumba. There are plenty of things I’d like to change/update. Heather and I accomplished quite a few household projects last year, but “life” happens and I don’t always take time to make cute/fun/practical changes once the every-day routine is rolling.

So, Friday morning’s project was: conquer the second shelf in the bathroom closet… looking at that shelf has left me feeling a bit batty every time I open the closet door (multiple times a day).

If you’d like to do your own bathroom closet re-make, or if you need a cute organization box somewhere else in your house, here’s what I used to make mine:

• 1 old whisky box (boxes are hard to come by here…) shored up with duct tape
• 1 piece of used pink wrapping paper from, well, maybe 8 years ago (just a guess)
• Scissors
• A pen
• Clear tape

Instructions:

1. Once box is reinforced with duct tape, use pen to trace box shape on paper. Cut paper, and tape into place (one piece to fit the bottom of the box, a strip to wrap 3 of the inside sides—or 4 if you have enough paper!)
2. Trim “V”s in the corners and fold paper to the outside of box, so the inside of the box is fully finished. Tape to secure.
3. Use remaining paper to wrap the top of the box (cut “V”s, and tape to inside of box at top and sides)
4. Put your new box in its new home!

Wallah!

I hope you like your box as much as I like mine. All throughout the day Friday, I kept reopening the bathroom closet to admire the reorganized second shelf :).

Merry Christmas from Nahumba

Since I grew up in Michigan, I always think of Amaryllis as indoor Christmas flowers. Here in Zambia, we had gobs of Amaryllis blooming in September and October. Plus, we have two large Poinsettia bushes in the orchard. Though the Amaryllis and Poinsettias in our yard are finished blooming, they remain Christmas flowers to me.

I'm Home!

Praise God for a safe (though long: 2.5 days) journey home.

It's so good to be back to my Zambian life.

(and, true to Zambian form, the internet has been out since well before I returned, so sorry for the silence. I have lots of fun posts to share...)

Ford 500

One day last week Brian took me on a date in his Ford 500. We drove the snowy back roads an hour north up to Clare Starter and dropped off an alternator for repair. Then we proceeded up the road to do a bit of Christmas shopping at the Amish hardware.

On the way home, we stopped in Mt. Pleasant to buy Wheat Thins at Meijer.

Then we drove home-- munching on Wheat Things, chatting, and stopping a couple times to check out a truck along the road and a farm that was for sale.

One time when we were kids, Brian threw away my pair of new shoes because he was annoyed with me. One time we fought each other over the vacuum cleaner (true story).

It's great to be grown up friends. My brothers are so good to me, and (not to be overly gooshie, but...) I truly do love them.

Return to Zambian Life

another Zambezi sunset shot

A while back I posted about all the things I was looking forward to during my 40 day visit to the States. Now, here's a list of things I'm looking forward to when I return to Zambia. I'm sure I could make a longer list, but I'm busy packing...

• Warm weather :) :) :)
• Wonderbake
• Fresh groundnuts
• Mangoes, avocados, bush bananas… and incredible fresh tomatoes
• Greetings—all the time, from everyone
• Driving the stick-shift Isuzu double cab
• Friends
• Walking wherever I want
• My gym
• Sunny days
• Singing at church
• My yellow rain jacket
• Cheap messaging on my phone
• Friendly neighbors I can visit any time
• My office

Full house

what a bunch of shoes

 

It's been a fun privilege to host a few guests with Amy at the Cookie House while I'm in Michigan. The day after Thanksgiving, we hosted 17 for a soup and salad supper. Since I arrived in November, our guest door has collected at least four new signatures :).



cookies, cookies, cookies

lemon almond biscotti

 

chocolate mocha cookie balls

 

orange cranberry biscotti

 

 

My mom and sisters and I hosted a Christmas cookie exchange Saturday afternoon. I had fun preparing two kinds of biscotti and a plate of cookie balls for the event :)

Sparrows, Lilies and Toothpaste



²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6

beautiful blue birds we have in Zambia (Google Images photo)

Lately, I've been doing lots of collecting. You know-- a purse, new socks, flax seeds, kitchen utensils, chocolate chips... My suitcases are filling up with items from my lists of things I'd like to take back to Zambia with me next week.

Recently as I was rooting through racks of clothes at a used clothing shop my mind drifted to the future. I thought about being away for another year, about the things I need, about what I'll need in the next year... and, yes... about my bank account. One way for me to create stress within myself is to start thinking about the fact that I'll need new socks and shoes, hair ties, and toothpaste next year-- when I don't know if I'll have a job or where I'll be or what I'll be doing... ahhhhhhhhh...

Flaming Lily in Zambia

This stress is unnecessary and unbiblical. Periodically, I turn to Matthew 6 to realign my focus. It's easy for me to get sidetracked thinking about not having a retirement fund, how expensive health care is, my old car, property taxes, and house projects that need to be done... not to mention necessities like toothpaste. Sometimes, I allow material needs to become distractions in my life. I'm so thankful for a patient, loving, caring Heavenly Father who always provides for my needs. He always has, and for those who trust Him, He promises He always will (Matthew 6:33).

Experiencing God's provision and needing to refocus on His promise isn't new for me. In January 2010 I was in a serious auto accident that left me in the hospital for six weeks and in rehab and recovery for most of the year. For the first six months of the year, I didn't earn a penny. I couldn't work and had no income. But God met every one of my needs. Abundantly. In fact, He even sent me a special, unexpected blessing to remind me that He knows my situation and cares. In April, I received notification from my alma mater that a paper I wrote won a cash award of $200! It's not that I had a specific $180 need right then, this was just a reminder. A reminder that my Heavenly Father is my Great Provider.

When I refocus on Jesus and His Kingdom, I rest in His provision. I trust His promise-- that for those who seek first His Kingdom, He will provide their physical needs. He knows my commitments, desires, bank balance, and the amount of toothpaste left in my tube. He knows. He cares.

He provides.

YouTube link for a song about God's provision: Consider the Lilies

Prayer

We pray out of our ignorance, but God answers out of His omniscience.
We pray out of our impotence, but God answers out of His omnipotence.
God has the ability to answer the prayers we should have prayed but lacked the knowledge or ability to even ask.

~Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker

after 13.5 months...

2013, 3rd grade

My visit back home wasn't long enough to connect with all my friends and family... but I made sure it included a visit to Lydia's new house. When I left for Zambia, Lydia (and her family, of course) lived four minutes away from the Cookie House, and six minutes away from the House 'n Barn. But while I was on African soil, Lydia and her family moved to Indianapolis!

 

On Tuesday morning, I visited Lydia's 3rd grade class and shared about life in Zambia. What a treasure to spend time with Lydia (and her family, of course!)-- visiting the Indianapolis Children's Museum, enjoying ethnic food, meeting church and school friends, shopping, playing Uno, and just having a great time together.

 

Thanks, Isley friends, for an amazing visit!

 

July 2009- Two days after I arrived home from two months in Malawi



August 2007



Lydia and I have always been special friends. She was born just before I graduated from high school. All through college (and beyond) I babysat Lydia once or twice a week. We had all sorts of fun times together. This week, it was so great to be able to make some more fun memories together, after an entire year apart!