an overdue update, December 3 2009

Where do I even begin? This is an update well overdue! First I'll update you on little Geoffrey. He is doing wonderful and at home running around being silly as always. He was in the hospital for a few days. We had many people praying for him and believe God answered all our prayers. We prayed one night at church that he would not feel alone, that he would make an impact on all the medical staff that were taking care of him and that he would be healed quickly. From the reports we got, all the prayers were answered! Here is an update we got from our social worker, Humphrey, last week...

Everyone is doing good at Mattaw and I am too grateful to God. Geoffrey is really improving, still on medication. Isaac said that on Friday morning Geoffrey told him that he prayed for every kid in his ward, that God would heal them. That Thursday and Friday at least 6 kids were discharged. I love this. Lucy is growing bigger and stable in her walk. She is becoming very active. Baby Georgie is smart and bright and is walking well. Daisy is growing big and Maureen as well, they are becoming good footballers. You should see them when playing in the field. Sharon and Rose are hyper, our tom boys, and doing good. Sophia is doing really well and becoming more at home. Jose is also good but still a bit forgetful. I saw Aaron and Jefta play like men on the field, they are good at football. God is using us to build his army and I'm grateful to be a part of this big dream. Victor is becoming more responsible and making wise decisions. Euni has now relaxed and getting back to being herself. Noah and Obadiah were cleaned up one day in their nicest clothes and looking smart. Rose was looking after them, some minutes later they were very dirty. Brown all over. We laughed. Those guys are funny, Noah is so talkative now days. His language has really improved. Grace is the most improved right now with bad language being of her past now. Eric is the most improved in his classes. He being the kid that could not hold a pen or speak Swahili. A miracle? Jennipher and Mercy are growing tall and working on growing out their hair to get it fixed, Nelima too. She is still smiling all the time. Top of her class now. Juma did class 1 and 2 exams, he topped in class one and is position three. The teachers are proposing he goes to class 3 instead of 2. Gideon is also doing good and improving. He is finding himself in not as many mistakes. Nehimiah is quiet as ever but plays. Pauline and Rose are about to close school. Rose is position 2 in her class. David too is very fine, very outgoing, and still talkative. I think Noah is learning a lot from him. John is now becoming more active which is a good sign. All the kids are good. Thank you guys for your prayers. Humphrey.

Let me translate some of that for you since the way Kenyans explain things can be a bit different from us. Football is not American football, it is soccer. Actually the rest of the world calls it football too, just is one of those things we feel we have to have our own word for I guess. When he mentioned Eunice becoming more relaxed, he was referring to her adjusting to all the treatment she's had recently. She got glasses and a hand brace. She still goes for therapy for her leg as well. She is improving but I think when she first started wearing glasses and her hand brace, it made her insecure like she is broken. Humphrey told Bud over the phone recently that she is interacting with the children more and becoming more confident. They use the word smart to describe when someone looks really good, not meaning academic smart. Class one would translate to first grade for us. I think that covers it.

Every time we come back we have a part of us that is a bit hesitant to leave, wondering if the staff will carry the vision of Mattaw and the children will excel. Time and time again they make that feeling go away. We're so blessed to have a family there that we call staff, who are raising these children to be children of the King and advance the Kingdom of God with excellence. It's exciting to get reports like this. Of course there's obstacles for them and I think Humphrey has gotten overwhelmed at times but that's where you come in and can be prayer warriors for them on this side. That's what we can do right now and prayer is powerful! I was reading in Acts about a church that was going to be shut down but some head government guy said that if it is God that built it, it will stand, but if not, it will crumble so for them not to do anything. I feel that with us leaving for a period of time we're able to see that it is truly God that is sustaining the vision of Mattaw and it is not built in vain. God doesn't depend on us to fulfill His plans but He trust us to be a part of it! What a humbling thought.

For Bud and I, well, our plans change as fast as the weather changes in Texas! There's a scripture that talks living a life following the Spirit and how the wind blows where it wishes and you're not always sure where it'll go and so is everyone born of the Spirit. Does that scripture ever apply to us! We're on a journey and although we try and map out our plans, it is the Lord that directs them. (that's also a scripture in Proverbs) All that to say that our plans have once again changed. Most of you know but we will now be staying in Texas to have baby #2. She will grace us with her arrival in March and then we'll travel back as a family in May. This was a difficult decision since we already had thought we had set in stone for us to have the baby in Kenya. Sometimes you make decisions that don't make any sense to you till later and this is one of them. We decided about a month ago to stay and now it is making sense why. Our main goal being here is to grow more as a family and have the baby here. Another goal is to be debt free before going back. By accomplishing that, Bud has gotten a few jobs for while he is here. (and that'll also help with the differences in expenses in Kenya and America.. blah) As soon as we decided with the Imagine board and Spiritual leaders in our life to stay here, Bud got on the ball applying for jobs. He was hired quickly too! He has a early morning job with Fed-Ex and then an afternoon job with Family Christian. He's worked fed ex for a few weeks and likes it. This was his first week with Family Christian and he likes it as well. He doesn't say much about them, but a job is a job and he's a hard worker. It has thrown us for a loop to jump from how we live in Kenya to popping back into the American life. I really don't prefer it but I'm learning to find the good in it and be content for this season in life. Some days are easy, some are a really hard transition. God is already using this time for us here to do life changing things for us personally. Just growing more in our marriage and loving on our kiddos.

As for Elisha, if you know him at all, he's one of the most easy going kids there is for his age. He has adjusted very easily! I can hardly believe he will be TWO on Sunday! We're having a little birthday party for him so stop by if you can. It's a Thomas the train birthday party. When he sees Thomas somewhere or on T.V., he gets excited and says "Tommy!" It's pretty cute. He is growing so fast. He is really starting to talk a lot more and understand us. I can sometimes have a decent conversation with him. I mean, at least for a toddler, nothing profound. Some days though I feel I don't have a clue what I'm doing in parenting him but God teaches us as we go. I think its crazy to think we're about to have a second one but God gives more than enough grace and will not every give us more than we can handle. I am so excited for our new baby though. She is growing and dancing around all the time. This has been an easy pregnancy and no problems. Me getting tired easily is the only thing but I had to give up caffeine last week and that's help a lot.

I'm sure there is so much more I could update on but that's it for now. I will find time soon to post pictures. Probably of the birthday party on Sunday. Much love to you all and thanks for still keeping up for us.

Created for this,
Kimberly