it's true! that is, in fact, a pic of mom in the Mara!

forgive me for the silence. my mom and sister are here and i am spending ALL of my time enjoying them! we've been to the Maasai Mara, elephant orphanage, giraffe center, baby orphanage, Church, celebrated Christmas, and they've met tons of lovely people. they leave on Tuesday. it's gone by too quickly. sad...

here are some pictures until i can add words to this crazy wonderful whirlwind of holiday celebrations month!

sunset on the mara

cass and me in the van on a game drive.

mom in the van on the way to the mara. she loved the crazy fast bumpy drive.

so we're having a great time. it's so good to have family here. this has definitely made my first christmas away from home much easier.

i am also really enjoying celebrating Christ in my community on this side of the world right now. today at Church one of my youth group kids was baptized. it was beautiful. beautiful! it is truly an honor to walk alongside these young men and women. most of the time i think they teach me more than i am teaching them.

i hope your Christmas has been filled with love, joy, and the Peace of Christ.

taking it a little slower

this is part of the ropes course. it has actually started to rain out there and it's turning from brown to green!!!

i'm at home alone right now with the back door open and it's raining outside. it's pretty nice: kind of cold, hard rain falling, a little windy. this has been the first weekend in a while that i haven't been crazy busy. i don't quite know what to do with myself. there's no youth group this tomorrow (finals week), i'm not teaching sunday school, and everyone is at home studying this weekend... or that's what they say they're doing. so i've spent today catching up on some reading, had lunch with one student, and laying around the house talking with the teammates. and tomorrow i will actually go to Church and sit inside the auditorium and be a part of the worship experience. and after that i may go out to lunch and maybe, just maybe take a Sunday nap or read some more. unbelievable, i know! this is not my usual weekend. it's weird.

i read some wonderful blogs about youth ministry and how many organizations are slowing things down this holiday season. one youth pastor suggested that we take some time to personally celebrate and enjoy this advent season. i totally plan to do that. i'll also be ordering cheer uniforms, planning the next semester of youth group, preparing for a trip to America, recruiting camp counselors, planning a staff retreat, choreographing a cheerleading routine, making up cheers, working on the ropes course, and entertaining my FAMILY! i will probably find some time for personal advent celebration. and thankfully there are sweet things like podcasts of my home church where i can listen to the advent sermons.

i'm coming to America!!!

a few weeks after Christmas, sometime in January or the first of February, i'm planning a trip Stateside. this is mainly for the summer camp staff retreat in Rome, GA. i'm also going to try to do some recruiting of camp counselors, personal support fundraising, attend a conference or two, and see family and friends. here's how you can help: i would LOVE to talk to any college students you may have an audience with. we really need quality camp counselors for summer 2010 who love God, love kids, and want to see Africa. do you know anyone like this? would they be interested in serving with us this summer? let me know and i'll be there!

also, i still need to raise some significant personal financial support. do you have a church gathering or small group or sunday school that might be interested in hearing about this ministry and how they can help? again, I will be there! :)

i'm also thinking of attending a youth ministry conference in Chicago. know anyone in Chicago who'd like to house me for a few days? ;)

and i would LOVE to spend time with YOU. so as soon as i know my official travel plans i will let you know and we can get some time together.

i'm looking forward to being in Georgia and seeing family and friends and enjoying the Southeast. i can almost taste chick-fil-a sweat tea now...

AND THE COUNTDOWN IS ON for Rhonda's trip to Africa. that's right, folks, my mom and sister arrive on SUNDAY night. unbelievable. i'm wayyyy excited, but trying to have an "i'll believe it when i see it" attitude in case something crazy happens and she doesn't make it. i will have pictures and updates. Kenya isn't ready for my family. it's gonna be awesome. haha! this is us right before i left Georgia on Easter this year. looks like i was really happy.

'tis the season...

... to stuff your face! :)

We had our youth group Christmas parties this past weekend. The high school youth group party was on saturday night at our house. Not our most fun party ever, but it was good. it was a little more chill than usual and a good opportunity to hang out with the kids. the leaders came over early to decorate our house and make cookies for the party. again, LOVE watching their leadership develop. they amaze me. sometimes i wish i was as wise as they are when i was a teenager.

decorating cookies around the table at the high school youth group party

the spread

eric and me at the party

middle school party white elephant

decorating cookies at the middle school party

the middle schoolers got all hyped up on sugar and went crazy. it was awesome! they stuffed their faces and then ran around the yard screaming and playing. i've never seen them like that. parents reported fast talking and hard crashing in the car on the way home. i call that success. :)

youth group meetings are over for 2009. it's a little hard to look back and consider if you've taught them everything you were meant to teach them. it is exciting to look forward, though, and think about the next year. each semester is different out here. some families leave and others return and some are new altogether. i've said goodbye to a few students and am looking forward to seeing others again. and there are some older siblings returning for the holidays that i'm really looking forward to seeing. some i haven't seen in years. it's just another reminder to make every day count.

i'm also looking forward to camp bluesky 2010. i'm headed back to the States in a month or so to recruit counselors and have a staff retreat. our camp staff team isn't very big as of yet. please pray that God would bring the right people to serve at camp this summer. and if you know of any cool college students, send them my way!

i'm still working on my Stateside schedule and will let you all know very soon!

thanks for reading about me!

let us bring Him silver and gold

"In all our trials born to be our Lord

He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger

Behold our King, before him lowly bend!"

(O Holy Night)

last night i attended the christmas concert at rosslyn. i was 30 minutes late and and by myself. i missed the handbells, which i why i went. some of the high school boys are in the handbell choir and hate it. and i really wanted to see them perform. :) but i did get to hear all of the choirs. it was beautiful. so beautiful. the congregation was invited to join in some of the songs. i had had a pretty stressful day (someone came into our house and stole some stuff while our house help was in the basement). let me say, it's been a pretty stressful week. it's a shame that the end of the year gets stressful. and i don't at all feel the stress of christmas shopping and commercialism like many of you in the States. that's one of the things i do not miss and i pray that you will all be able to get past it and truly celebrate Christmas. i just feel pressure to finish up the lessons for youth group, get in all the parties and hang out time before people scatter, and figure out camp staff stuff before college students go home for the holidays. and it seems like people here are falling apart. there are so many sick, tired, and stressed out families. everyone's just pressing on for like two more weeks. and i spent most of yesterday dealing with kenya police (a whole other blog post) BUT, for a few precious hours last night, we gathered to worship our wonderful King.

i wish you could have been there.

middle school, high school, and an adult choir performed and the congregation sang along to familiar Christmas hymns. when we sang the lyrics "In all our trials, born to be our Lord. He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger. Behold our King, before him lowly bend!" I wept with praise. i only thought i was sitting there alone. until i looked around and listened to the voices and realized that i was so accompanied. there were a couple hundred brothers and sisters around me and we were, for a bit, caught up in doing what we were created to do: worship. we were celebrating the most important moment in history: when God came to earth as a human to die for our redemption. everything that had happened in my day pointed to this moment. i was tired and weak and God reminded me that He knows. and that all my days are about Him. and no matter where i am and what company i am in (or not in) this season is about Him. and He sees me. and knows my need and my weakness is no stranger to Him.

let's celebrate Him with grateful and sincere hearts.

tonight is the youth group Christmas party and in a few hours the leaders will come over and decorate my house! we're going to eat pizza, bake cookies, and decorate the house! then everyone else will come over and we'll exchange white elephant gifts, play bingo, eat cookies, and sing songs. all of this to celebrate our King.

this is a picture from a party i went to last year. we spent like 2 hours working on this masterpiece. check out the candles in the windows. i haven't figured out how to do this in kenya. i'm spending some time today working on it.

i really miss all my family and friends in America during the holidays. and that gets me looking forward to the visits coming up! my mom and sis are coming here for Christmas!!! this is the best Christmas gift i've ever gotten! and then at the end of january i'll be headed to the States! stay tuned for details about that trip and how you can help!

i love you all! Merry Christmas!

full and thankful

i know this is a terrible picture! La, don't hate me! it's the best one from our family turkey dinner. lauren was so full and thankful she had a little food baby! and eric says "two thumbs up for thanksgiving dinner!"

we americans here in my little "family" (along with a German and a half) celebrated thanksgiving this past week. my life is so full and I am so thankful.

last week i was invited to attend some training meetings about a successful family camp program in the States. well, the training was at brackenhurst; the camp is in the States. what a blessing that was! almost all of the staff were from the southeast (GA and AL) and it was simply lovely to be around all those southern ladies with their familiar accents. i loved talking with them and listening to the faithfulness of God in their ministries. one of them even grew up 30 minutes from my home! she gave me a hug and a kiss when i left and said it was "from my mama."

-please pray about a potential partnership with this camp!

before the training was even over i rushed home to finish my pies (pecan and pumpkin... yum!) and prepare for our "family" thanksgiving at the minshew's. lauren cooked the turkey and everyone pitched in sides. it was rich.

while at the training, i couldn't get one of my dearest families here in kenya off of my mind. God kept prompting me to pray for them. so after lunch on thursday i called to let them know i was thinking about them and found out that the eldest son has some significant health problems sending the family back to the states. i have known this kid since i've been in kenya and have spent a lot of time with him lately because he's already hurting emotionally and spiritually. he ended up spending the weekend and working on the ropes course with me, which was great!

now, i know that one of the rules in youth ministry is not to pick favorites. but, i've recently learned that that rule is one that should be broken. we naturally have more of a connection with some people than others and there are some kids that desperately need our attention and our time. this has been the case with this student over the past few months. i am confident the Lord put our lives together for this season.

so after spending the weekend with him and all day yesterday (i substitute taught at his school and spent the entire afternoon with him) i said goodbye to him and i have no idea when i'll see him again. he's already been struggling with some heavy things and now who knows what's ahead. and my heart aches. so much.

now, here's the thing: a few months ago i was talking with a dear friend about life, spirituality, vision, purpose. this friend challenged me when he said, "there comes a time when you have to look at every area of your life and say, 'what am i not trusting God with?'" so i asked God to help me do that. i figure: i live in africa and i don't make any money and i'm away from my family, i must trust God a lot. but i don't. i confess.

i have learned that i don't trust God with relationships. any of them. i work so hard at them and i love so much and i don't trust God to take care of me and the people i love. i want to be a wife some day, but i don't trust God to make that happen. so He is constantly reminding me that He knows best.

i want to be a good friend so i try so hard to get people to like me. it doesn't always work and i get stupid and annoying. and God says: "Trust Me."

and i loooove these kids. and i worry myself sick about them. and when they are sick or hurting i carry it around in my heart all the time until they are better. and it hurts me. my heart breaks. it's broken now. and God says, "Trust Me."

and so i see that the only way life can make sense is if i actually do trust Him. i have to trust Him to take care of the ones i love and trust Him when He does things in their lives that i don't always understand (like moving to america and letting them have serious health problems). and i have to trust him to provide for me (wise friends, mentors, and a partner). and i have to trust Him with the friends, mentors, and partner that are and aren't in my life right now and that He will meet all their needs, regardless of how cute, funny, hospitable, interesting, or whatever i else i think they need from me.

so, i'm passing on the challenge to you: look at your life. where are you hesitant to trust God?

and i learned recently that i'm supposed to make my blog posts short or scannable. i'm afraid this is neither. i guess i'm still learning many things. please still read about me, and i won't be hurt if you scan. :)

birthday pictures and thanksgiving

i'm so excited for the holidays! my mom and sister are visiting (less than a month from now) and lots of friends i haven't seen in ages are coming home. it's going to be so good. and it all starts this week!

thanksgiving will be pretty different for me this year. i'm going to be at a training for family camp on thursday and friday morning and our "family" thanksgiving will be friday evening. we bought a huge turkey at mistletoe market at rosslyn and have invited other americans (and south africans, the love it) to join us. i'm supposed to make some pies today because i won't have time on friday. hopefully some of the ones we've invited will be able to make it, but it seems like everyone is traveling this week.

this week is also the last of youth group meetings for the year. there are only like 3 weeks of school left. this coming sunday will be the last "real" meeting and the next weekend will be youth christmas parties. there will be cookies, costumes, and white elephant gifts. i will post pictures for sure.

this past weekend after youth group we went out to dinner at diamond plaza (indian food). so good. i had some pretty significant conversations with some students. i LOVE that i am able to speak the truth of the Gospel into their lives and though it offends some of their beliefs and lifestyles, they still want to hang out with me and tell me all their crazy stories, and get advice. it's truly a miracle and blessing. i love them. and i had the high school leadership team over to our house last night for waffles. i love watching them grow in their leadership. two of them are sharing their stories this week at youth group. they are so nervous. it's going to be wonderful.

today i rode with a dear friend to the airport to collect her lost luggage that'd been found. the airport isn't very far away but it took a few hours. we got to have some really good conversation. Praise God for relationships! what a sweet friend. God is so faithful to provide and place people in our lives to bless us and show us more of Himself.

here are some birthday party pictures and hopefully i'll get some good thanksgiving ones. some day i'll catch the pictures up to go with the blogpost instead of always promising pictures later.

happy thanksgiving! i am thankful for you!

retreating and visioning

is visioning a word? spell check isn't pointing out that it isn't so i'm going with is.

this week we went on a strategic planning retreat. a great friend and amazing leader from winshape wilderness came out to facilitate. sometimes just being in her presence makes me feel better about life. she's someone from home. i love it.

tammy seems to be an expert on teams, vision, strategy, or maybe she's just an expert on facilitating things. at any rate, she did a fantastic thing with us. THANK YOU tammy!!!

we spent about three days talking about the vision, mission and plan for our organization. it's all at once frightening and exciting. we talked about 10-year plans and goals. we haven't talked specifics about that before. it's crazy how it makes the day-to-day easier and more exciting when you know where you're going and why you're doing the things you do. again, thank you.

we stayed at a house in the rift valley. people keep asking me where it was and i don't really know how to describe it. i never remember places and how to get to them when i don't drive there. and i've not driven myself on any of these roads before even though i've been there. the area was beautiful! i love living in kenya so much. we were in the hills so it was cold in the morning and at night and really hot during the day. our last night at about 4:30 a.m. the sky fell apart with a huge downpour. i was sleeping under a tin roof so the loud sound woke me. when the sun rose i looked outside, but couldn't see anything because of the low clouds and the thick rain. lovely. i tried to let it lull me to sleep, but my thoughts stayed with the muddy, rocky roads that got us to the house. the rain cleared up during breakfast at which we celebrated clay's birthday with chapati, eggs, bacon, and chai. delish! and, don't worry, we made it safely down the mountain. the mud was already dry. :)

this is the view from our porch. great rift valley. stunning. God is so good.

after the rain. you can almost smell this picture. ok, well, i can remember the smell anyway.

our retreat was from sunday to tuesday and the friday before was the football (soccer) finals. the school where most of my youth group kids attend was in the final. sadly, they lost the game to a team they've already beaten twice. such a heartbreaker. here's a pic of me giving relationship advice (ha! as if i knew anything about relationships!) during the game. and then all the fans on the field doing the soccer cheer one final time. i LOVE their soccer cheer. it gets me really psyched and i'm not even a student there, nor have i ever played soccer. except that once on the intramural field when i ran AWAY from the ball and then that other time in Western where i just laughed the whole time and ran around.

thanks for reading about me! keep praying!!!