Not in a Hurry

The days float by, some lazily drifting, some quickly.  I thought it would be good to update on day 75, but the date came and went without notice.  80 would be good, but missed that milestone also - so here I am on day 84 in Nakuru, finished with day 51 of school.

My Swahili has not greatly increased-polepole, kwaheri, asante, karibou-and a couple of more I recognize when said to me.  When I walk down the road to the Sammon's house I am often greeted by those I pass, so am learning a greeting or two.  It is a slang spoken by the people, not the formal Swahili my app wants to teach me.

I have greeted new babies and now said goodbye to two, Liam and Peris.  Both reunited with family, which is the goal and purpose of this ministry, for each child to have a forever family.  Peris with her mother in the top picture and the bottom is the first picture I took of Liam.

I have been doing some baking - banana muffins, apple muffins, and banana cookies-which were much better than the kale chips.  The oven and I still are not on the same page - I usually guess at temperature and amount of time, checking often to try and avoid lumps of coal.  It means that the first pan of muffins/cookies may be overdone, but eventually we reach an agreement on time and temperature.  

Cooking meals is fairly easy when it is just for me.  The Nakumatt has plenty of choices in produce and meat.  I am still not very good at coming up with something to make to take to Wednesday night Bible Study.  Actually putting something together without every ingredient I am used to, or without a recipe is not always easy.  I have googled a few recipes and have been able to make substitutions to produce something edible, at least for me.  I have chicken breasts, minced meat (ground beef), fish, and hot dogs in the deep freeze right now.  I keep apples, oranges, carrots, and beans on hand as well as pasta, onions and tomatoes.  Last week the Nakumatt had Betty Crocker cake mixes - stocked up a few of those for the future - they might not appear again for months.  That is often the hardest thing to remember - if you see something you could use - get it and get it in quantity - because it may not be there next trip to town.

School days fly by.  This week we went on our first field trip with a homeschool group.  One of the fathers is a doctor so arranged a little tour of one of the hospitals.  The girls enjoyed the tour and having snacks afterwards at the home of the doctor and his family.  The next day we drew pictures and wrote a few sentences about the part of the tour they liked best.

Looking forward to next week - some supplies collected by some of my fellow workers at my school and church in Texas are being brought to Kenya by our church's mission director.  So excited - because much of it will be supplies we need in the classroom.

Living here has been a growing time for me.  Time to learn about the people who work in this ministry, the city itself, the culture, the language (which I am not so successful with), and to spend in study of God's Word.  Picturing the crazy traffic of vehicles, goats, cows, pedestrians, bikes, etc. or hunting shelves for some item I would like to get for cooking or worship at a local church or the joy of Monday morning fellowship here at the baby house - all makes me smile with thankfulness and contentment.  God has given me this opportunity and I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.