May 2, 2012

Stable electricity at our house today and everything is fully charged and ready for use (including my back-up small travel computer), PLUS I’m finally feeling much better, so I’m eager to write today’s Update!  Thank you for your prayers for healing.  Turns out, I nor my doctors knew how sick I was!  But, when they finally realized that I was dealing with asthma and not my normal whacky allergies, things have quickly improved!  Now, it is just a matter of increasing my energy level so that I can catch up from the many times I sat to work and accomplished very little!

Thank you also for prayers as we continued dealing last week with lots of lengthy power outages.  Our upstairs neighbors are ‘at home’ for a few days from their temporary assignment where there is NO electricity and even they have laughed – YES, you must find a bit of humor – about how not having it when expected is much more frustrating than not have electricity at all!  The good news is that, the rains are continuing, which will lead to more outages, but will also lead to lots of good things such as a return of milk products, butter and cheese, etc. on the shelves, as well as water in the taps of more city residents!

This has definitely been a week of with real lows and special highs.  As I chose the photos for the week to add to this blog – which was difficult as I’ve been grounded and had only one opportunity for new photos – I realized that God provided many ‘perks’ to bring us joy and a sense of His awesome creative care!  One thing which might seem a little odd to some of you (but not to other Americans living away from home) is my excitement yesterday when I spotted my favorite comfort food, American sweet potatoes, on my first ‘real’ outing away from home in weeks to my favorite green grocery.  Kenyan ‘sweet’ potatoes are good, but not sweet or colourful, and although I have often added orange coloring and brown sugar for a special treat, it is NOT the same! 

Now for the week’s low.  As Jack traveled to church Sunday morning and I hibernated at home, we received text messages alerting us to a bombing* of a Nairobi worship centre.  As often happens, sharing our reaction to this is complex.  First, we had been warned earlier of new local threats. Second, checking on-line news, I was quickly reminded that these things are happening in many parts of our world.  I also remembered co-workers assigned to other countries who can’t live in the place of their ‘heart’s desire’ at the moment due to daily insecurities.  In recent months in Kenya, we have experienced the increased security checks that these co-workers in other places deal with routinely – things such as watching armed guards police outside your church as you worship or beginning a service with what to do IF there are problems! And, YES, it is also a bit disconcerting to face security checks when you enter a store to buy groceries! 

So would you join us in praying for peace, not just in Kenya, but in our world – especially in the parts where people do not yet know our FATHER’s name and fear HIM (1 Kings 8:43). And as I shared in last Monday’s (April 30^th) Prayer Nudge from East Africa, “ For Believers, pray for a strong sense and assurance of being ‘cocooned’ within God’s care and love!  Pray that non-Believers will open their hearts to the peace and comfort that can only come from our Heavenly Father. Why did she pray these things?  She is a Mom who has experienced this before!” AND YES, I’m that Mom and although it does sound wrong to add, “Been there, done that,” this experience does help Jack and I face current problems and our prayer is that it will equip us to strengthen and encourage others.  BERT  

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* Grenade blast kills one… (The Standard, 29/04/2012) – http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000057253&cid=4&ttl=Grenade%20blast%20kills%20one,%20injures%20at%20least%2010%20in%20Nairobi

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