Back in Nairobi

 Last weekend we drove back to Mwingi. I lasted 2 nights and felt contractions again that were coming despite being on three different medications to stop them. We have now been in Nairobi for a week and baby is still staying in and growing everyday. I almost feel like the boy who cried wolf but still feel so much more comfortable being close to the hospital. We are staying in a fully furnished apartment and have been able to book it for the next 3 weeks. It ends up being cheaper than staying in a guesthouse- where we would be having to eat out almost every meal and there it is nothing more than a room with beds inside. Once again I give God so much praise for providing for every single detail- no matter how small they seem- He has shown Himself to care for it all.

We are currently in rainy season. Everyday it rains for a few hours. I have to take this into consideration when washing laundry because all our clothes dry by clothesline. Another blessing with this apartment is a washing machine! It is amazing how our clothes have really worn down with being hand washed. Although handwashing gets the job done, washing machines are really able to get clothes clean. I am already so excited about these next 3 weeks and this is just one of the reasons.

 I am glad we got to go back to Mwingi even if it was only for 2 nights. One of our interns had her 21st birthday so we all transformed the dining room to a mini- bar all non-alcoholic of course. Jason was the bar tender and came up with all the drink names:

Arusha Appletini
Halaalada Koolada
G... Sunrise
Mama Rita Margarita (Mama Rita is the woman we have cooking our dinners and doing our laundry)
Shinko Slammer (Shinko is the birthday girl's last name)
Oh Gosh (What the Birthday girl says all the time)

I think Jas thought of a few more drinks but I cannot remember them. The team also made the birthday girl a newspaper. We all took a different section and personalized it for her and even used our passport pictures to show who wrote each section. Someone did, Sports, the How to section, Dear Abbie, Advertisements, Movie reviews, and Top 10 places to travel in East Africa. Even with limited resources it is possible to make a birthday special. Takes a lot of work and a lot of thought but is always worth it. We were able to have a variety of fried finger foods- all made from scratch. In the picture below are mini corndogs that we cut up hotdogs, insert toothpick, battered, then deep fried. Also on the menu was cheesticks, boneless buffalo chicken, beef quesasadillas and a vegetable platter.

 We attended a Catholic church for Easter. It was mostly all teenage boys who attend the high school during the week. The singing sounded was so beautiful, sounding similar to songs in cathedrals in the States but all in Kiswahili. Along the walls of the church were painted murals of Bible stories, all the people painted as Africans. As I take time to think of how unpredictable our lives have been since returning to Kenya now 7 months ago I have two major securities. First who God is. He "laid the earth's foundation, gives orders to the morning and shows dawn its place. He cuts a channel for the torrents of rain and sends the lightning bolts on there way. Hawks take flight by His wisdom and eagles soar at His command." Job 38 and 40. God is the creator of all things and He is fully in control. Second I know who I am. A sinner deserving death. Because of Jesus sacrificing His life for my own I will have eternal life. I want other to know what He he has done. I am free from being enslaved to sin, my own selfish desires and I live for the Lord. I want others to find this freedom. Francis Chan has a sermon where he points out how Paul prays for other Jews like him to truly grasp who Jesus is and what He has done for them. In Romans 9:2-3 Paul writes, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race." How I want that same passion to love people that much that I can say - let me be cursed for the sake of someone else. While we are in another waiting season, for baby to come, I am trying to be prayerful throughout the day as different people come to my mind and heart. To take a moment and go before Almighty God and petition on behind of them. Some for their salvation, others to be overcomers in what they are battling with. God will be glorified.