A Summer Without Africa

For the past three years Rick and I have had the blessing of spending 3-4 weeks of the summer in Africa. But this year Rick will be taking his bar exam in late July, so because of that and some other circumstances we will not be able to continue our tradition this summer. I am, however, still sending a team of North Central students to Kenya. I've begun working on a tentative schedule for them and the thought of not participating in the days I'm planning is a little heart breaking. I'm feeling sad and disappointed, not because Africa needs me, but because I need Africa. It has been one of the places where I experience Jesus most intensely and sincerely. I hope that these new life circumstances are only a break from and not an end to our opportunities to travel there. I am so very grateful for all the African people I know and for all they have taught and continue to teach me. Even though I will be home in Illinois this summer, a part of my heart will always be in Africa.

Winter at Bryan House

The kids at Bryan House have found ways to enjoy their very first winter in America. This is a picture of Rick throwing snowballs at eleven year old Nahom. They also built a snowman for the first time, but they gave-up quickly on shoveling the sidewalk, ramp, and driveway to earn a little extra money. Too cold : ) They sometimes wear their coats and hats inside. But it's still hard to get them to wear socks and real shoes instead of sandals.

Now that it's February, I am getting winter weary. I'm ready for the sunshine to melt the snow. Except that there's a little problem with the roof at Bryan House in some places and melting snow means leaking water. Unfortunately you can't fix the roof while the snow is still there, so some leaking this spring is probably unavoidable. Ah the joys of owning a one hundred year old building! I don't know whether to hope for early spring for the sake of my state of mind or to hope for a long freeze for the sake of not dealing with any extra weeks of drippy ceilings and filling buckets. We did have someone shovel part of the roof. But it is probably not done snowing yet.