Well, we are two weeks out since my kids left for Africa! It really feels like a lifetime ago in many ways! This week was better because I have had communication with them almost daily. There is 7 hours difference so we can at least talk while the other is still awake! I actually have been doing REALLY well! Many tinges of missing them but SO much better than last week when we had no contact! They were in the bush so there was no way to get a signal. That was HARD! I was doing really well UNTIL today...
Today was hard! INCREDIBLY hard! My daughter is SO VERY homesick! It broke my heart! There is NOTHING I can do to help her! The hard part is, as she said, "There is nothing to do to even help me feel like I am home! I am in a 3rd world country mom! Not even a mall or a Walmart to go to!" AND to make it worse, she said it is not like America where you can FIND something to do! After their classes are over at around 3pm, they really just go to their host-home and read or something quiet! Which is not all bad, just different! She misses her brothers and sisters, making meals for everyone and all the things she does at home! EVEN chores! :) With that being said, she said today was the worst day she has had so far with being homesick but she knows she will make it through and she is really enjoying the school and the villages and her time with the people! I told her to enjoy her time there because in a few months, she will regret not taking it all in! (EASY for me to say!) I just feel like she is having to grow up so fast! I also know that God is there with her and He will hold her up!
They will return to the villages on Monday and will be out for an ENTIRE week! No electricity, plumbing, "normal" food or home! A tent and blankets! The last village they were in, my son killed a goat with a knife, (because the villagers insisted! It was an honor to be selected!) and then they ate the stomach, intestines, eye-balls, and everything in between! My daughter, who HATES bugs, noodles and looking at raw meat, ate it also! I was so amazed! They are my heroes! I don't think I could do all the things they are doing! They are so brave! They said that the interpreters that are with them, are amazed that they STAY in the villages! Most missionaries that come, just stay for a few hours and then choose to go back to their hotels to sleep and eat! They were shocked! My daughter said that she can't imagine really REACHING these people without being there to live their life even for for a short time! She said we in America, are just so used to comforts that we just don't get anything about life! She was not angry about that, it was just a realization! My son is taking everything all in and even chased a giraffe the other day!
(He is very adventurous! :) The people in Malawi are so amazed at "white skinned" people that the native kids will yell with fun and point at them as they walk by. He said that is VERY strange! The other thing that is very strange, is their bus they commute to school in. It is a 12 passenger bus but has at LEAST 18 people in it every morning and double that in chickens! Pictures of that coming soon!
I am going to close now...so much I could write! The sleepless nights are endless, the ache in my heart to hold them and see there faces is SO deep! God has still been showing me how His heart longs for us in that way! I know God is holding them but I want to hold them SO bad! I can't imagine what it will be like at the airport when they step off that plane! Maybe a touch of what it will feel like when Jesus sees my face in heaven some day! Just as my daughter is longing for her home in America, we should be longing for heaven! This earth is NOT our home! Someday, I won't send my kids to Africa or out into the big world!
We will all be sitting at Jesus feet and hopefully with these people they are witnessing to in Malawi! That is our focus! This time on earth is only a vapor in the wind and what we do with our time on earth DOES matter in eternity! What an awesome thought!
Love your kids today as if they are leaving for Africa tomorrow! Oh how I wish I could hold mine!
Today was hard! INCREDIBLY hard! My daughter is SO VERY homesick! It broke my heart! There is NOTHING I can do to help her! The hard part is, as she said, "There is nothing to do to even help me feel like I am home! I am in a 3rd world country mom! Not even a mall or a Walmart to go to!" AND to make it worse, she said it is not like America where you can FIND something to do! After their classes are over at around 3pm, they really just go to their host-home and read or something quiet! Which is not all bad, just different! She misses her brothers and sisters, making meals for everyone and all the things she does at home! EVEN chores! :) With that being said, she said today was the worst day she has had so far with being homesick but she knows she will make it through and she is really enjoying the school and the villages and her time with the people! I told her to enjoy her time there because in a few months, she will regret not taking it all in! (EASY for me to say!) I just feel like she is having to grow up so fast! I also know that God is there with her and He will hold her up!
They will return to the villages on Monday and will be out for an ENTIRE week! No electricity, plumbing, "normal" food or home! A tent and blankets! The last village they were in, my son killed a goat with a knife, (because the villagers insisted! It was an honor to be selected!) and then they ate the stomach, intestines, eye-balls, and everything in between! My daughter, who HATES bugs, noodles and looking at raw meat, ate it also! I was so amazed! They are my heroes! I don't think I could do all the things they are doing! They are so brave! They said that the interpreters that are with them, are amazed that they STAY in the villages! Most missionaries that come, just stay for a few hours and then choose to go back to their hotels to sleep and eat! They were shocked! My daughter said that she can't imagine really REACHING these people without being there to live their life even for for a short time! She said we in America, are just so used to comforts that we just don't get anything about life! She was not angry about that, it was just a realization! My son is taking everything all in and even chased a giraffe the other day!
(He is very adventurous! :) The people in Malawi are so amazed at "white skinned" people that the native kids will yell with fun and point at them as they walk by. He said that is VERY strange! The other thing that is very strange, is their bus they commute to school in. It is a 12 passenger bus but has at LEAST 18 people in it every morning and double that in chickens! Pictures of that coming soon!
I am going to close now...so much I could write! The sleepless nights are endless, the ache in my heart to hold them and see there faces is SO deep! God has still been showing me how His heart longs for us in that way! I know God is holding them but I want to hold them SO bad! I can't imagine what it will be like at the airport when they step off that plane! Maybe a touch of what it will feel like when Jesus sees my face in heaven some day! Just as my daughter is longing for her home in America, we should be longing for heaven! This earth is NOT our home! Someday, I won't send my kids to Africa or out into the big world!
We will all be sitting at Jesus feet and hopefully with these people they are witnessing to in Malawi! That is our focus! This time on earth is only a vapor in the wind and what we do with our time on earth DOES matter in eternity! What an awesome thought!
Love your kids today as if they are leaving for Africa tomorrow! Oh how I wish I could hold mine!
2 comments:
WOW! I need to carve out some time to call you soon...I can't wait to hear all the details...!
Wonderful post. Your last 2 paragraphs brought tears to my eyes. You are right ~ our reunion w/Jesus will be so remarkable. I'm expecting our little Jessica to be my welcoming line right behind Him!
Blessings from Ohio...Kim<><
Post a Comment