Love in an Envelope

I have to say that one thing that has been a huge encouragement to us the last couple of months has been the packages we’ve received.  When I posted the news back in February that we’d be able to get envelopes, I didn’t expect the influx of goodies that we’ve received.  It’s been such a blessing.  We’ve had a package almost once a week since then and every one of them has been met with cheers and smiles. 

I could use a lot of words and I would never be able to communicate all of the reasons why they bring such delight.  As I’ve said before, the fact that people remember us and that they are willing to share with us from their resources to encourage us means so, so much.  Not to mention, Easter is so much cheerier with some of those pink bunny Peeps!

In order to make things easier, I’ve decided to put a little package feature spot on the sidebar of the blog.  That way, I can keep an updated list of things that we could use, along with some basic reminders about how to mail packages.  It’s funny, as we explore more recipes and try to expand our options here with what is available, I’m constantly running into things I’d like to have.  The kids were missing breakfast sausage, that led me on a quest for sage.  Back to school time will have us wishing for new pencils and glue sticks.  Christmas baking will bring a longing for pecans.  So, I thought I would just keep a little spot that I could update without a dedicated blog post and folks who are interested in sending a package could then access it without having to scroll through the archives.  

Thanks so much to those of you who have sent packages. 

DIY Disaster

So, I haven't posted in a while.  There are no less than a dozen reasons why.  One of them is that Ryan and I managed to find ourselves in the middle of a DIY disaster.  We thought we'd take on a little project in our kitchen.  It started when I declared that we were going to replace the countertops.  I did this after spending no less than 4 hours in the kitchen one day when the old tiles kept popping off.  I looked at my husband and kindly explained that I was spending WAY too much time in that kitchen to be dealing with disappearing tiles.  He agreed.  17 years of marriage have made him a very wise man.
The picture above is one of the "before" shots.  Those white tiles on top of the cream cabinets are gone now.  We replaced them with some lovely floor tiles.  (Don't ask, it was the best overall option. And actually, we didn't replace them, we paid Joseph the plumber to replace them.)  The countertops looked really nice.  So nice, that we decided we wanted to plunge into re-painting the cabinets.  Ourselves.  Oh my word, what a nightmare!  We are no strangers to painting.  In America.  We have promised ourselves that we will never again paint in Nigeria.  Ever.  Labor is too cheap and time is too precious to try that again.
First of all, it took Ryan 3 trips to the paint store to even figure out how to navigate the basics here.  Then, he had to figure out where to buy paintbrushes and rollers, because they don't sell those in the paint store. We gave up on paint trays when none of the hardware professionals had any idea what Ryan was talking about.  Ryan brought home the brushes and rollers and we laughed because they were horrid.  But he'd gone to many stores and they all sold the exact same ones.  They were our only option, so we set to work.    It took about 5 strokes for us to realize that we were in trouble.  Ryan looked at me and said, "I wouldn't give this paintbrush to a volunteer to paint a VBS craft with."
Anyway, we persevered through the first coat and began the second and realized that we were totally in over our heads.  36 hours, and a huge mess later, he called in 3 different painters, got quotes on the whole house, and now we've been rescued from ourselves.  It's amazing, Ryan spent 3 weeks trying to get paint for our house only to be told that the colors we wanted weren't available.  The man we're using came for an hour, took our requests and money and came back the next morning with everything we needed.  All the Nigerians keep telling us that everything here revolves around who you know and we're beginning to believe it.  We know Johnny.  He knows paint.  He goes to the same shop Ryan had visited 3 times and comes out with gallons of paint that Ryan was unable to acquire.  Maddening!
Now, we're camping out on the floor of a vacant house on our compound.  Because the paint here smells so yucky that we couldn't sleep in our home.  Not to mention, 5 kids + wet paint = bad news.  So, we're schooling and sleeping in one house, cooking and eating in another.  It's fun, you should try it.
But seriously, I am encouraged.  We've had an electrician in all week as well and it's beginning to seem more personal, more like it's our house.  Things that bothered us are being updated.  And, I am seeing an end in sight.  If we could just get the nice people in Lagos to let us have our crate, we'd really be able to make it ours.  But, for today, I'll take some fresh paint, functional lighting, and fresh countertops.

Patience?!?

One of the things that I’m most struggling with in our new home is the fact that it takes FORever to accomplish the most basic tasks. Want to make pancakes? No problem, just whip up the batter using 12 different ingredients. Make sure you sift the flour to get rid of creatures. Oh, wait a minute...the pitcher of milk in the fridge is curdled because you’ve only had 3 hours of electricity a day for the last 3 days. So, just pull out the milk powder and mix up a pitcher of milk. Now, get out your maple flavoring and whip up a batch of syrup. Well, you get the picture.

Productivity looks very different here. I’m trying to adjust my expectations. Really, I am. I’m making progress. Little bitty baby steps of progress. I haven’t reached the point where it’s not maddening to me. But I will. Soon. I hope.

Anyway, one of the areas that’s been hard for us is getting our house in order. It’s no secret that our house has always been one of our hobbies. It’s been hard to see headway this time, partly because we are waiting for some of our house stuff that is on the crate. Partly, it’s because you can not just go out and shop for what you want. There is no Home Goods, no Rooms to Go, no Target. We have loaner furniture to use while we get our house in order. Our plan is to have our furniture made little by little. While we were trying to decide where to start, we found out that the bed we’re using needed to be returned sooner, rather than later. So, that made our decision easier.

We used a Pottery Barn catalog and Ryan drew a picture of what we wanted with measurements. Then, we met with a carpenter. After that, the carpenter had to purchase the wood. Then, the wood had to dry before the bed could be made. Finally, the bed was finished and the carpenter delivered it. Then, for 2 days we went around as high as kites from the smell of stain that permeated our entire house. Gotta love that Nigerian paint!

I have to say that we were satisfied with our first furniture order. Enough so that we gave him plans to make us a dresser and nightstand too. If those work out, we have a running list of “next” projects. It may take 18 months to gather what we could order in 2 hours at an American furniture store, but that’s part of the adventure, right? Oh, and just in case you're wondering (because I know some of you are) it cost us about 1/3 of what it would cost us to buy it from the Barn, so that's a good thing!

This was before we hung our mosquito net from those posts. It looks much more "Ernest Hemingway"ish now. I know you're jealous! Don't mind the little guy, this was his way of trying to get out of the way so that I could take the picture.

Snickerdoodles

Let me tell you, I am NOT a dog lover. I would never want one to be mistreated, but I have never wanted to actually own one. Of course, the kids have been asking for years when we could get one. I always told them they are welcome to get one as soon as they have their own place. I've lovingly explained to them that there are already a blue million people who need me and adding a dog is out of the question.

Then, we decided to move to Africa. Everyone told us that a dog is an asset for lots of reasons. My kids needed to something to look forward to in those months leading up to the plane. So, we promised them a dog. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Then we got here. And life was even more overwhelming than ever. I kept putting the dog thing off. I came up with lots of excuses each time they'd ask. There was always a really good reason why it would be better to wait just a little longer.

This past weekend, a puppy made it's way on to our compound. Fortunately, it got scared and ran off. Then, on Monday, he returned and the kids managed to track him all afternoon. They kept asking me if we could keep him. I kept telling them that they would have to ask daddy when he came home (thinking that Daddy would say, "No, we're not taking a stray puppy, we'll wait until we can find the right dog for us.) Daddy failed me. He fell for the puppy. My husband is such a sucker for the weak ones!

Anyway, next thing I know Ryan was bathing him, pulling no less than 50 ticks off, scrounging for scraps to feed him, and getting the number of a vet to visit the next morning. The kids quickly chose a name for him, "Snickerdoodles." I knew I was outvoted. I told them that we could keep the puppy only if the vet visit went well.

Ryan and the 4 oldest marched off to the vet with him yesterday and he passed with flying colors. So, we're now the proud owners of and approximately 8 week old "bush puppy." He's currently crying in the laundry room, where we've been making him sleep until we get a kennel.

They came home with various descriptions of the reactions they got on the way to the vet. Apparently, the guy they went to see is way back in the market area. So, after they parked, they walked a good way with the puppy through the streets. They were stopped over and over by people wanting to know what they were going to do with him. They were assured by many folks that they had a better dog they could sell them. Ryan said that after having the same basic conversation over and over, he wanted to just say, "He's our dog. He's going to be our pet. No we are not going to eat him. Yes, I know you have a better dog, but this is the dog the Lord has brought us. Thank you."

I have to admit, I'm impressed with him so far. He is great with the kids, he just follows them all around the yard like he's one of them. He doesn't bark excessively and he seems to be a smart little thing. Thankfully, we took our spring break this week, so they've had plenty of time to run from one end of the compound to the other figuring out just how brilliant he is. That puppy has certainly been treated like a prince these last 48 hours!

Zoo Trip

Last week, we took a trip to our city's zoo. To say that it was different from an American zoo would be the understatement of the century. Fortunately, we went with that expectation in mind, so we found it quite charming in its own unique way.

The first major difference was when the friend that invited us stopped by the produce stand on the way there so that we could pick up some food for the animals. Say what? Then, at the gate, I paid a grand total of about $4.50 to get myself and my five children into the gate. Almost half of that was the camera fee they charged me for bringing in my camera.

The place had obviously passed it's glory days and the habitats were small, unimpressive, and a little sad. A person who has a big animal heart would probably not like it. But, I've never been overly sensitive in that area, so we were able to enjoy it for what it had to offer.

The interaction with the animals made it very fun. Honestly, you could probably experience something like it in the States through some company like Busch Gardens or SeaWorld, but it would be called "close-up animal encounter" and you'd have to reserve it months ahead of time, sign some waiver of liability, and then pay a fortune for 10 minutes of feeding time. Not us. We just marched in there with our sacks of carrots and bananas and fed away. It was unbelievable.

Abe got the hang of it pretty quick and would have stayed at the first cage until the food was gone, but we kept pushing on.

That primate realized Abe's got nothing left, he's not coming down!

These guys nearly traumatized Lizzy. She tried to feed a carrot to one of them and the other one snatched it away. So, she then put in a second carrot, which was again snatched away. But, Lizzy didn't want that greedy chimpanzee to have it, so she tried to pull it back out and the chimp grabbed her arm and pulled it in. Fortunately, she was able to pull her arm out, but she was shaken up for a few minutes. Needless to say, we were all a bit more cautious from that point on. (And here is where all of you socially conscious, responsible parents are thinking that we never should have let her get that close in the first place. I understand and appreciate your concern, so you don't need to leave me a comment.)

This little guy gladly took a banana from Lily.

These two were funny. They were loud and demanding and we really wanted to give them a token for all of their jumping and yelping, but the gap was just a bit too wide. So, we tried throwing bananas, but kept coming up short. Finally Abby realized that if she just walked up the fence a bit, she could hand it to them. So, she convinced them to follow her up the rocks a bit and ...

they made the hand-off!

We can't wait to go back and take Ryan with us. Of course, then it would cost like $5.25, so, we'll have to budget for that! I've been told that if you want to be a really big spender, you can buy a goat and they'll feed it to the lions while you watch. I don't think that splurge is in our near future!

Love in the Details

I’ve said over and over and over and over during this whole process that I have been totally amazed by how personal God has been to me. I look back on every detail and I just see God’s love woven through both the big and the little things. We had one of those “in the details” moments last week.

We have 2 children who have excema. Their skin is really dry and needs lots of moisturizers. We put 100 tubes of cream on the crate for them. But the crate’s not here yet. And the tubes we brought on the plane are gone. We underestimated the “dry” in dry season.

In the 9 years we’ve been dealing with this, we have tried a gazillion creams. Cheap ones, expensive ones, prescription steroids and compounds, petroleum jelly, crisco, mayonnaise, coconut oil, and a variety of other quacky suggestions. But, the last 18 months, we’ve been using a moisturizer made by Avon. We never would have thought to try it, but a friend insisted and it has been the best we’ve found.

So, here we are in West Africa with nothing left except a few tubes that we’ve cut open so that we can dig out what’s stuck in the corners. We weren’t sure what we should do. We decided we’d just see what was available locally and we’d have to make it work until we could get our crate here.

Imagine our surprise when we went to the local store to look for some alternative and there on the shelf between the Jergens and the unfamiiar local brands we should find 6 tubes of OUR Avon cream. Can you believe it? Ryan and I stood right there in that aisle and cried. About the time we dried it up, Isaac came around the corner, gasped in unbelief, and we cried again. Then, we headed home to where the girls were and they pulled them out of the bag and shrieked with joy and I teared up again. Personal, that’s my God!

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:7

Beyond the Wall

Right now we're in this stage of our process where we are formally "language learners." For the first year that we're here, our main responsibility is just to learn the Hausa language. Everyone who goes out with our agency is required to learn language. Their past experience has shown them that the type of work we do is significantly more effective when our people learn the local language. Even for folks that speak good English, they tend to talk about heart issues in their heart language. It was explained to me that when people are broken, when they pray, when they wrestle with the deep things of life, they don't tend to think their national language, they use their heart language.

Our situation is unique because language here is different than what many of our friends are facing. The good thing is, many, many people in our city speak English. The schools operate in English, the street signs are in English, the national language is English. So, I can walk out my gate and go complete any errand I want to complete in English. In fact, I sometimes have trouble finding people who will speak Hausa with me. We both now that we can communicate so much faster in English. Plus, some people here don't speak Hausa, they speak other languages. Many of them want to practice with their English instead of the other way around.

Many people here have told us that we don't need to learn the language. Even Nigerians here have said that we will not need it to do the job we've come here to do. Ryan's main task will be running the logistics and support end of things, so he will spend many days in his office or working with our American personnel. Other ex-pats have told us that we won't ever use it if we do learn it. And it is hard. Language learning is hard. So, all of this is really discouraging.

We're tempted to quit, to make excuses, to throw in the towel. Until we venture out of our comfortable little compound or our comfortable little ex-pat circle. When we go beyond the wall and walk in the areas where the white folks rarely go, even if it's just for 30 minutes, we see the motivation for learning the language. Because, just beyond the wall of our compound, there are streets filled with people who don't need for us to learn the language if we simply want to purchase tomatoes from them. But, if we want to share the Living Water, that's a different story. When we use our pitiful handful of phrases and we see them light up, it's worth it. When we are able to greet the folks who are older than us, folks who are inching toward eternity, and they have little or no English, we find motivation. When the throngs of small children follow us pointing and shouting, "Bature! Bature!" and I'm able to smile and ask them "How is mama?" and they giggle, I am ready to run home to my voice recorder and flash cards and chip away at a few more phrases.

We call them our "language walks," but maybe we should call them our "motivation walks?"

Photos taken over the top of our wall, in the area where we take our language walks.