Whoo-hoo!!! We are blessed!!!!!!!!

Howdy friends!

You know those days when your driving down the road and have to stop because the cart and donkey are in the way? Without anyone guiding them? And people trying to figure out what to do? Oh, really? You haven't experienced that? Well, welcome to Africa!

We've been so blessed in so many ways...Even in just seeing the animals that roam: chickens, donkeys, cows, baboons, and funny little black monkeys trimmed with white flying fur (we thought they were skunks before they began to jump!)...but WOW it's really bringing us all a sense of the wonder and awe of God. We are being intentional about basking in the view of the mountains, the valley and reveling in the amazing artist our God is. Isaac really wants to go photograph the baboons down at the Biblical Training College...somehow that sounds both cool and scary...All in all we think we liked seeing them from INSIDE a car...after all they can be as tall as Megan or I on their hind legs with pretty gnarly fangs to accompany it, not to mention they're NOT shy... none the less, it was really awesome to see them in the wild!

Here's a glimpse at laundry our style... 1) get hot water out of the tap (or if that runs out boil it) 2) Wash the laundry in a bucket...scrub scrub scrub...and try not to get water on the floor! 3) Rinse the laundry in the sink for dear life! And only possibly get all the soap out...if you're lucky 4) Hang clothes on the line and then repeatedly squeeze the water out so they dry faster... and hope there's not an impromptu rain shower! Oh, but we love it. We are extremely grateful that we have hot water from the tap AND that we're not pumping water from a well and hauling it over to do the washing... oh are we grateful!

GUESS WHAT?! It's a little moment of pride...WE MADE TORTILLA CHIPS, SALSA, AND GUACAMOLE!!!!! A little taste of home that Texans and Californians (at the least) alike can celebrate with us. Megan has been making us mouthwatering snicker doodles and I think Isaac is having a hard time deciding whether he likes snicker doodles or brownies more! Yet again, today is brownie day at the edict of Sir Isaac! We aren't complaining!

It's really encouraging to see Isaac hunger for the Bible. We'll sit outside on the porch in chairs and read from the scriptures. We've been looking at Acts, Daniel, and all other sorts of good stuff... the other afternoon he wouldn't even let us get him a blanket (he was shivering, the clouds do unexpectedly roll in) because he didn't want to stop reading. He's sharp in remembering what we've read too. We'll be so excited to see what God's going to do in his life. His future has really been tugging on our hearts, we love and enjoy him so much and want to see God's best for him. We're learning to listen to God and trust him with his future too!

We've been taking walks around the area to help Isaac get his strength up, move around a little, and just enjoy the beauty of Kijabe! I (Robin) was taking the walk the other day and 2 Kenyan girls recognized me from church as being with "the boy with his arm bandaged" so they came back to the motel and played cards with Isaac, talked with us, and gave Isaac an American nickle, and a Kenyan shilling...very sweet! They're going to come over to learn to make snicker doodles on Saturday.

So, speaking of English muffins... we are really really jazzed... not just from eating them (yum!) but the fact that one of the women is going to come over on Sunday afternoon and teach us to make them! Not only will this be a good party trick for us, but more importantly it will be something we hope to introduce to the Christian Women's Empowerment Program at EPC (in Yei). We're hoping the missionary/UN population will gobble up the idea!

Isaac's last dressing change went wonderfully! No pain medication needed for the change and Dr. Carter said he was quiet and just looked at his arm and hand! What good news! We'll see the pins pulled Monday and Isaac is really excited about it. We'll hopefully meet with the therapist to figure out how he can work on getting his arm and hand into excellent working condition.

Isaac's even more excited that we'll be getting on a plane next Wed. (the 19th of Sept. 2007) and flying into Yei! He can't stop smiling! He's anticipating going to choir practice, seeing his sister (who he got to talk to on the phone!), and being back in school... I'd almost put him as giddy! We're pretty anxious to get there too because it will be so awesome to see the people we love and to join them in ministry!

We went down to see Mercy, the children's ward chaplain, and just loved having the chance to love on her, bless her, and talk with her. She was slightly covered in bubbles from playing with the children. God shines through her so much and just a brief visit really brightened our day!

Oh, and apparently there was a show on T.V. that featured something on Christianity in Midland, Texas! Amazing, when you're across the world...

As you read and pray...drink coffee... rumor has it that Starbucks is featuring coffee from the Rift Valley right now, which is EXACTLY where we are...

We keep seeing more and more of God's faithfulness-- he really does watch over all our details and pull things into place in HIS perfect time. HOW AMAZING!!! God keeps bringing different scriptures and ideas up to us in various ways and we know he's trying to teach us lots! Hopefully we are listening as well as we should! It's been great to work together, talk about God, live daily life... The people who he's brought to us are a blessing as well... WOW... God is good... WOW...

We love you all!
Love,
Robin, Megan, and Isaac

P.S. Our respect for our parents, and parents in general, grows in leaps every day!

P.P.S. Isaac is now a champion skip-bo player! wheeeee!!!!!

P.P.P.S. We are thankful for fresh strawberries....Isaac has his FIRST and loved it! In fact, we had a chat with the guy selling who wanted to know about our ministry and really encouraged us in persevering in God! Very cool!