Restored

There are times that I wish I had my camera in my hand to capture a moment that I don’t want to forget. However, Sunday was a day I don’t think a camera could have captured all the images that will be forever embedded in my memory….images I pray I will never forget.

With much on my mind and struggles in my heart, I was not focusing well on worship. The days ahead seemed to be heavy with work and concerns for the future were plaguing my thoughts. I remember praying on the way to church that the Lord would help me concentrate on His attributes as I worshiped. Never would have I have guessed how He would answer that prayer……

We arrived about 8:25AM for the 8:00 English service (right on time, Nigerian-style). The church was filling quickly and we were about 5 rows from the back. I am not good with numbers, but there were over a thousand people, I feel sure. The children sat on laps and the congregation was asked a few times to scoot together so more could be added to the wooden benches. There were still many who were left standing due to lack of seating. Naomi and I shared our laps to hold three Nigerian children. Don’t know whose they were, but they clamored to be in our laps and we happily obliged. What I thought would be distractions quickly became answers to a prayer. As I watched Mattie and one of the little girls smile at each other and hold hands, I was reminded of how unconditionally the Lord loves us. When the little boy beside Naomi climbed up in her lap and put his chubby arms around her neck, I thought of how we are called to have the faith of a child. As we sang in Hausa and English, I was amazed by how many characteristics of God were mentioned and I was able to focus on Him.

The Lord created us to worship Him and I am so thankful that He used the actions of a few children to remind me of His faithfulness and unconditional love. When I focus on how magnificent He is, all my concerns seem small and I am restored. He is my security, my comfort, my hope, my joy.

Did You Know....

* It can get cold in Nigeria….like tonight! As the rains come in the late afternoons/evenings, we wrap up in sweatshirts and blankets to stay cozy. We are so thankful to some prayer partners in Springfield who sent sweatshirts and other friends who sent blankets!

* When going to the hospital, or even visiting the doctor, you must profess your religion. Yep, on our hospital (registration) card, we wrote “Christian” right beside our name.

* In Nigeria we drive on the “right” side of the road. Technically that would be right (as in opposite of left), but in reality we drive wherever we can get through without hitting or getting hit by cars, motorbikes, and potholes.

* Two “simple” things we enjoyed the most (beyond people) while in the States were water and ice. Water-we drank from the tap, showered a few times a day, enjoyed the constant stream of water from any sink, tub or shower we turned on without pumping or filtering it. Ice-due to lack of constant electricity, we don’t always have ice here. I know it must be a cultural thing…to enjoy iced drinks so much, but we do! And that crushed Sonic ice…Glorious!

Every Now and Then

As I walked through the open market today in Jos, not much seemed to phase me like it all did less than a year ago. But every now and then I am transformed back to our first few months here in Nigeria…such as when I trekked down the muddy paths for the first time when the fishy odors about caused me to lose my lunch. The extremely unsanitary meat section fascinated me and I watched for almost an hour as numerous animals and fowl were slaughtered and butchered. I was overwhelmed by the fabric choices and had no idea what a “fair” price was. Mudo (bowls) of rice, black-eyed peas, milk powder, etc. were being sold at every corner and I couldn’t imagine buying my staples in such a way. I felt very uncomfortable with the color of my skin as I heard “bature” (white person) being announced with shouts as I walked among the Nigerians. My eyes were always drawn to the little children who were happily playing in the filth of the sides of the market and I wondered how babies were able to be content on the backs of their mothers. To me, everyone looked similar and I wondered how I would ever acquire all that needed to be learned.

Today, it all seemed so normal…so very familiar. We greeted our Ibo friends at the fabric area and petted a goat that must have been headed to the meat market. We bartered for some fabric, but were confident to walk away when we knew the price was too high because we were “bature”. With just a glance or a quick greeting, I could often recognize who was from which tribes. As live chickens were thrust into our faces, we only laughed and moved on. Two mudos of rice, 25 kilos of sugar, one kilo of meat and two small sweet melons (similar to cantaloupe) that Naomi bartered down for the change she had in her hands were the fruits of our shopping day.

As a family we were talking about how our comfort level and contentment MUST be the Lord’s work because every now and then we remember when we would cry ourselves to sleep, thinking we wouldn’t make it another day here. Here…a place we now call home…home sweet home.

Saturday

Today was a day of rest. Perhaps our last “free Saturday for quite a while, so we took advantage of it by not doing too much. We waited for the guy to come fix our internet (who never came) and we caught up on laundry while we had electricity. Lauren sat outside to get some sun, but the rain clouds came too quickly for a tropical tan to appear! Jon and the girls played a game of Settlers, watched Home Improvement and cleaned their rooms! We played a few games of Uno -how can that game last so long?

We stayed outside with some friends for a while, discussing how crazy the compound will be in a few days (when the hostel kids arrive) and what a joy it will be to have them all back. We talked about how often we are stopped by nail boys and what type of batteries we use to generate emergency light in our houses. We laughed about the various parasites we’ve all had.

After dinner, Jon and Lauren and a few friends headed out to the school to play indoor soccer. Now that Jon is feeling back to normal, he is playing three nights a week with about 30 guys. He loves it!

It has been a good day….perhaps it was the quietness before the storm! School starts in three days……

Back Home

We arrived in Nigeria about 2 weeks ago from a quick trip to the States.

After many doctor visits, procedures, and medications, Jon is feeling well. He was medically cleared to return with us!! Praise the Lord! Thank you for your many prayers. He spent much time in the States visiting doctors and trying to rest as much as possible. We are so glad he is back to good health.

We arrived to find electricity and internet out, of course. Electricity is back and we are hoping for internet to be working today (we've said that for days now, tho!) When we get it back up and running, we'll be sending out our newsletter and many emails that are just waiting to be sent.

We truly enjoyed out time in the States. We wish we could have seen more people and eaten more cheeseburgers! But we were able to spend some time reconnecting as a family and getting some much needed rest.

Jon was happy to get back to work soon after landing. School starts August 1, and I think we are all ready to get back. (Except for the homework, of course!)

We'll get photos and stories up soon...whenever internet is back up.