Baptism is a sign that our sins are washed away and that Jesus has taken us to be His own.

Charis present list for her birthday.

 It has now been a decade since Charis was born 5 weeks early in our bathtub in Kenya, Africa. I can still remember that night as if it was yesterday. We had three American visitors who had come from Nairobi to stay with us (Becky, Katie, and Dan Germo) The Bethany interns came over to our house that evening for a meal to spend some time with these visitors. I went to bed early because some "false contractions" were bothering me or so I thought at the time. I remember waking  up to the "real deal" contractions and began arguing with the Lord to have them stop, because it was way too early to go into labor. I reminded God that we had planned to have our baby at a better equipped hospital than what was available in our area. As I continued to communicate my worries to the Lord and indescribable peace came over me as if I could hear Him clearly say "every thing was going to be okay and I could trust Him fully". After that I had no more doubts. I shook Jason awake to let him know I was in labor. He immediately told me to stop pushing so we could go to the local hospital. I reassured him no, we were not going anywhere. I asked him to go on Facebook and ask people to pray. I moved to our bathtub in the hallway (which is such a gift that God ordained because I have never seen another bathtub in any other home in our town). When Jason returned he was just in time to see Charis head come out. From watching my other two births, this was happening in the exact same way so he knew the shoulders would come out after my next contraction and catch Charis. He was able to clear the airway for baby Charis to start breathing and wait for the placenta to make its exit. Jason had woken up Dan sometime during all this and asked him to go pick up an American doctor we had just met a few days ago. This doctor was only staying for a few days more in Gtown, and was staying at a hotel 5 minutes away. The doctor brought a razor blade and let Jason cut the umbilical cord. He checked on me and baby and said what I already knew to be so, we were fine.

   I have gotten to share this story a countless amount of times to our neighbors in Gtown. It has helped to break down the barriers of our differences and made me able to relate to the many Mommas who have also delivered their babies in their homes. I always emphasize on How God provided Charis with a healthy body even though she was just over 4 pounds, no hospital care was needed. When we meet someone new and they find out that not only were most of my daughters born in Kenya and their birth certificates show this, their faces light up even more when they hear that Charis is Gtown born. In some of their minds I know they might see she is destined to have a faith like them for they strongly believe they were born as a Muslim. Religion is not something they will get to decide on for themselves but it has always existed in their families and therefore will be passed on from generation to generation. We have witnessed how people practice the 5 pillars of Islam day in and day out. Outwardly there is so much dedication. I always wonder what goes on inwardly- within the deep matters of the heart. Those hidden secrets are what we pray that truth of Jesus can penetrate through the religion that has always been apart of their lives. It has also made us not want to force our beliefs onto our daughters. We do raise them to know what the Bible has to say and we show them what it means to follow Christ with our own lives. But we do not pressure them to make the same choice we have made. That has to be their own. I have told my daughters that if they grow up and decide to walk down a different path, I will always love them. As of right now, as they live in our house they will get to see that we fall into sin everyday but we ask God to forgive us and our desire and longing is to be about His business for His Kingdom. I know God has entrusted us as parents to raise these daughters and we are humbled by this and take it very seriously.

This past Saturday Charis turned 10. She wrote out a present list, starting from what she wanted most to least. We were overjoyed to see that at the top of her list she wanted to be baptised-much to our dismay that it was not spelled correctly. (Number 14 on her list was to get matching clothes for the whole family!!!) She did not want a theme. She did want to be able to ride some ponies if it was possible. She requested authentic Chinese food for dinner and icecream cake after that. We were able to do all these things but by far the most memorable was Jason baptizing her in the lake behind Ashley's house. Me and the rest of the relatives stood on a teeny tiny dock to watch this take place. Charis had a radiant smile afterwards and some of her sisters and cousins jumped into the lake to join her and see how the water felt. I do not know what is in store for Charis` future but I do know she is not bound to live a life of her own, but has a new one given by God.

Jason fully submerged her.

Spectators on the small dock.

Cuddling a small puppy that came with the pony party.

I am NOT an animal person but did my best to brush the ponies so that they would look nice and presentable.

Charis getting up on the saddle. 

Erik taking her for a spin.

The crew.

The skies turned dark and the rain eventually poured out on us, but this did not ruin the day.