Beach Day at School

We're in the middle of Beach Day at our new homeschool, which I hope to make a weekly event. You may think I blog an awful lot about the beach and/or ocean, and it's true that we are here quite often. But that's largely because it is the main place to go here for any kind of variety/entertainment/refreshment. The Indian Ocean has become our park, Children's Museum, Conner Prairie, Zoo, Eiteljorg, canal, White River and everyplace else that we enjoyed in Indianapolis. And really, who wouldn't like to have school with tide coming in twenty yards away? I am so excited about how well this is going!

Ruby and I came prepared with a couple of school books (The Tale of Three Trees and The First Christians) and worksheets, some observation activities and our Bible, which is bin one each day at home.

However, our day has been hijacked by a tiny, one inch long gecko lizard that somehow landed on my backpack, which was sitting upright between our lounge chairs near the beach. This little guy, named Echo by Ruby, has spent the last 45 minutes shedding his skin inches from our noses.

Beginning with his tiny toes (which Ruby reminded me are covered with thousands of tiny hairs), he used the zipper seam of the bag to slough off his leg skin, then rubbed his nose against the zipper until it looked like he had on a Lone Ranger mask. Seriously, this little lizard has performance in its future...it just keeps staying on the backpack while we watch it.

Ruby is faithfully noting each event:

"He has four toes on each foot!"

"It is EATING IT'S SKIN!!!"

"Do you think that lizard will go to heaven when it dies?"

"How many fish will those men catch today?"

"Why did God make crows? Just to steal our food?"

"I'm going to catch that crow and get my food back!"

"Is that boat sinking?"

After a short break with the mask on, Echo continued pulling off the rest of his old skin, pausing several times to eat loose skin around his legs, and to just plain rest. For a lizard smaller than a child's finger, this is hard work!

I wish I had my camera here with its macro lens to take photos of all this action. It's been a perfect school day for us, with fishing boats showing up just at the right time in The Three Trees when they build the boat from the second tree, the gecko providing a great observation opportunity, and Ruby and I having great talks about all of it.

The last of the old, dull tail skin is being eaten by Echo, and he's now looking quite fresh and dark brown. We're back to rhyming words, reading books, counting ants and stones and sorting shells, and describing the beauty around us as the tide rolls away. And I'm very thankful for this time with my daughter and that we jumped into homeschooling with both feet.

First Day of School!

After a bit of a rough start, our first day of homeschooling was fabulous.


It seems that Ruby, despite our numerous talks about the mechanics of schooling at home, thought there would be more students present in our home today. And she was fine, right up to my, "Let's get going, Ruby!" to begin the day. The meltdown was intense but short, and I was thankful that the first box of the day held directions to read Proverbs 3 and had a worksheet/discussion sheet we enjoyed going through.

Ruby loves reading the Bible, and to assert her free will in the matter, she insisted on reading through the entire Old Testament, up to Proverbs, before we could begin. Thankfully, it was a children's Bible, but it still took us about 90 minutes to get to Proverbs, as we read each story and she asked questions. But really, who's going to tell their child, "No, honey, you can't read any more Bible today."

One funny detail: Ruby and Henry have been wearing "laser zappers" on their forearms this weekend, and Ruby made mysterious drawings on hers each time she completed a task today.

We talked Proverbs, practiced handwriting, reviewed math, started a lapbook about fruit of the Spirit, read to each other about the Greeks, and really enjoyed spending time together. We have two weeks until we begin the Tapestry of Grace curriculum; we're starting in unit three of Year Two (pre-colonial America), which should tie in nicely with our scheduled trip back to the States in the middle of the school year. Our survey of history from creation through the Renaissance has been cruising right along, and we should arrive in Jamestown right on time. :)

Several people have asked about curriculum; these are guidelines for the year:

Tapestry of Grace - History, Geography, Art, Literature
Legends & Leagues - Love their map-building exercises!
Apologia Zoology 1 Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day - Science
We are also doing quite a bit of Ocean-themed science this year - one good thing about living here!
A Reason For Handwriting
ReadyWriter (we need a LOT of handwriting help at the moment!)
Calculadder - Math review/mastery of tables
Math-U-See - Math building
Drawing With Children - Ruby loves to draw and wants to learn more about art
Draw Write Now - Did I mention we need handwriting practice? :) With great drawing lessons built in.

Ruby has also decided she wants to learn Spanish, so we are putting together a curriculum for her. Seriously, I wanted to teach her French, or at least Kiswahili since we live in East Africa. But she insists that Spanish is the only language she is interested in. So Spanish she shall learn! And so shall I!

We certainly aren't going to do each of these daily. Between swim lessons, play time, music of some sort (still working that out), service learning and living, I think we're going to be as busy as we want to be. Armed with the state standards and a slew of great ideas, it looks like a grand year from where I sit.

Happy Friend Day!

One positive side to living in Dar is that every day is like summer. As long as you love summer weather, you're gonna do great here.

Henry and Ruby spent one such recent day with dear friends Sarah and Meshack, hanging in this great Mexican hammock in the banda, and generally having lots of giggly fun. It was SabaSaba, or seven seven in kiswahili - a national holiday where local trade is celebrated with a big trade show downtown.

To sweeten the mix further, we added more dear friends, Hannah and Zac, with their precious daughter Zara, and we all went to a local hotel so the kids could splash in the pool (it DOES feel like summer, even if it is really the middle of winter here).

Seriously, I mean precious!

Len was able to join us for part of the day and the kids took full advantage of this by sitting on him as often as possible. It helps that he works across the street and can wear his swim trunks and rashguard to work, instead of his previous uniform of a suit and tie.

 The hotel we were at brought in a small inflatable climber/slide and also had a plastic slide there...this is big news for Mbezi Beach where we live! Kind of like Camby, IN installing a roller coaster.

SO thankful for a special day with friends! It's been a heavy kind of summer (will write more on that when it's processed a little better) and we need days like these to laugh and unwind a little!

Ruby's Heart

Yes, another bug post. We found this gorgeous, but mortally damaged, moth in the back yard, and spent some time studying it. Its wings did contain every color of the rainbow, and some I've never seen before.

The tips of its wings never expanded and stiffened properly, so it couldn't fly. But Ruby spent over an hour watching over it, shielding it from the wind and hungry birds. I love that little girl's huge heart.

After going in to find a suitable container to keep it in, we returned to find it was gone...Ruby prayed for it and seemed to handle losing it well. There will be many, many more creatures to love and protect in her future, I'm sure.

Bugs Are Really Swell

They don't grow 'em like this in Indiana, folks.

Bugs may seem like a lame blog topic to you, but if you have young children and live in insect-dominated area, you probably spend a fair amount of time checking out their discoveries, or investigating what "Hey! Look at this thing!" means when your son shouts it from outside. Someone once said that bugs will someday rule the world. They obviously haven't visited our yard.

The camera couldn't pay enough respect to this line of ants so thick they were carving a valley across the hard ground. They are carrying several dead-ish bugs along with them:

One day, there were about 20 of these moths playing around our yard:

This guy was in the throes of death when we found him. Which is the only reason I got this close for a photo.

The kids love dragonflies...they are abundant here in all colors of the rainbow. Ruby's favorites are the purple and pink ones, and Henry likes the blue ones. Seriously creative creation here!

Lizards are common and welcome in our house - they eat mosquitoes and other pests. We see them on the walls every day, but this patriarch is noticeably huge compared to most. Live long and prosper!

For about a week, I found several large spiders around the house. Not as large as the mothership, but large enough that the kids felt proud to have trapped them. And yes, Mom, we released them unharmed into the wild.

This praying mantis was praying its last Hail Mary one morning before we took Len to work. When we returned home later after running a few errands, the ants had taken over. This was about an hour before they carried off its head. Before dark, the entire body was gutted. Pretty efficient and another very cool science lesson.

Alive and Tapping My Toes

Wednesday, June 1-Morning
Neck deep in the rising tide, fishing crew after fishing crew pulled in empty nets on their final cast of the morning. Usually on shore by this time, they had stayed out longer than usual and still came in empty-handed. As I watched them and did my Bible study I thought, It feels like one of those days.

When Len returned from Malawi a few weeks ago, I was exhausted. It didn't seem that out of place; he had been gone for almost a week and I was thankful for his return. I hadn't been feeling 100% for several weeks, but every so often came a really good day when I felt better and we were functioning well as a family. When you're mostly content and everything is getting done, it's easy to overlook fatigue or a headache.

However, after Len was home and I had a day to really rest and go to bed early, I was feeling worse, not better. I started canceling anything that wasn't mandatory. Len started picking up the kids from school for me.

Wednesday, June 1-Evening

Barnabas quit. It was definitely one of those days.

The next afternoon, I took Henry to the clinic for a blood test. I took a blood test too. He was fine, I had a bacterial infection and started on antibiotic that night.

However, I woke just before midnight and vomited violently until just after 6. Len took me to the clinic that morning and they hooked me up to an IV with fluids and antibiotics. Six litres of fluid and one day later, they finally unhooked me (Saturday night) with the promise that I come back Sunday for more. My appendix was hurting, which made us a bit anxious, but we soon learned it was just from all the infection and vomiting. Thank God!

Monday they gave me more IV antibiotics and took my IV port out.

Tuesday I had an ultrasound that showed kidney stones and an infected kidney, as well as pockets of infection around my abdomen.

Now, four antibiotics later, I'm feeling a little better. Last night we went to a dinner for the school, and I am exhausted. Len has taken the kids for some fun and I'm resting and catching up with you who have loved us with your prayers this last week!

There have been myriad blessings these last weeks as well...friends to help with the kids, we've all learned a lot about kidneys, old and new friends blessing us with prayers and medical and diet advice, new worker possibilities, singing songs from the "Kidney Now" episode of 30 Rock and laughing so hard, and having lots of extra time (I'm in bed much of each day still) to pray in depth, to name just a few. Each day, I am a little better and a little stronger and thankful for the tiniest mercies.

Today I'm just tapping my toes, but soon, soon I hope to be kicking again.

Twin Day

Ruby and best pal Happiness on Twin Day at school

In the Meantime....

As eventful a month as it's been healthwise, life has mostly gone on as usual. Power cuts continue almost daily (as I write this we are four hours into what I hope will be a shortish cut), the kids are finishing up the school year, we continue to prepare to homeschool, and ministry opportunities abound everywhere.

Also of note this month, Ruby's best pal Happiness celebrated her birthday at Dar's theme park, Fantasy Land. This is extremely nice for Dar; there are five inflatable games, two trampolines, a small electric train and a place for parents to sit. It has become party central for the Kindergarten crowd, and the girls had a great time together celebrating this delightful child.

Ruby also took part in her first protest. We are so proud!

That's NO RAIN. She was assigned the role of Ahab in the Kindergarten assembly and shouted out her lines like a true Baal-worshipper. Fortunately, she realizes she is not a Baal-worshipper.

(A note on the protesting front: Len did ask me to back off on telling the kids about some of the things I'm passionate about, after Ruby lectured him that cow milk is for cows, not people, as he ate his milk-drenched cereal one morning. Thank goodness she didn't bring up genetic modification!)

This was one of the more involved assemblies. We were proud of our girl's hard work!

Yesterday, the kids got a lesson in waste management when the sewage removal guys came to clean out our waste wells in the back. They were pretty interested to learn what happens when we flush the toilet.

Don't look too closely, kids!

The men with the pump truck were pleased to be sewer heroes for a day. You can almost hear Chariots of Fire in the background.

We also found one of these huge beetles that had died in a drain, and Henry has been checking its demise several times a day. Pretty interesting forensic stuff going on there. It is about five inches long.

One morning we found a baby bird on the ground; I went into the house to get a box for it but when I came out, another bird was eating it. Circle of life, kids, circle of life. It keeps going on, and this month has been a good reminder to each of us just how small we are in God's big picture.

Milestone-Henry!

The Secret to Happiness - New Mercies

(Disclaimer: the author does not claim to have mastered the secrets to happiness conveyed in this or any other blog post; she only invites you to join her in the pursuit)

For some of you who have known me in other phases of my life, you might be surprised to learn that I am striving to find happiness. Yes, I was one of those people (and still can be) who thrives on being miserable, and letting everyone know about it. "I'm so busy." "I'm so tired." "I just can't get ahead." "Why is this happening to me?" Whether you call it a "Case of the Mondays" or "I'm Too Busy-itis" or something else, it's just not pleasant to be around.

One day, I decided I was tired of being tired. I was tired of being miserable. I saw the foolishness in thinking that being so busy I made me look more important to others. No, I only looked out of control of my life. It was ridiculous to actively engage in more activities than I enjoyed and then complain about it.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail." -Lamentations 3:22

My mindset of thinking I could coach God by giving him ideas on how not to mess everything up seems ridiculous looking back. Yet how often do I flirt with that line? HIS compassions never fail. My compassions are only occasionally compassionate.

And happiness, well, that's mostly a choice. It comes and goes, but we have a lot of control over that. I was always asking God for help, but not even taking what was offered. Didn't get a lot of listening in; too much to say. I wore my exhaustion like a medal, proud to be busy, overworked, underappreciated and tired. All. The. Time.

Here is the first thing, maybe the most important thing I've learned about being happy: It's right in front of me every day. And it is in front of you every day, too. God has promised us new mercies each day. They are yours and mine. If I don't trip over them on the way to the kitchen in the morning, I'm going to go looking for them. They're mine! I want them. Like treasures found on the frequent nature walks I take with my children, sometimes you have to keep moving and actively looking to find the good stuff. The approach of wanting all life's goodness to plop in our laps with no effort on our part will result in a lot of disappointment.

If we take the additional step of seeing God's mercies as God's faithfulness, we see that providing mercies anew each day isn't something God does, it's who God IS. He is faithful every day, and most of the time, when things aren't going well for me, I have to stop and consider that my will and God's will might not be lined up, and one of us is going to have to change our ways.

Does this mean life will be sunshine, lollipops and rainbows every day if God is doing his job? No. It means we need to trust God's faithfulness in every circumstance; our position is always to be one of humility in the face of our God who has eternity under control.

Back to new mercies - receiving them isn't enough. I can't say, "Good job showing up, God" and be done with the day. I have to receive those mercies. Own them. Make them part of my life each day, all day long.

"I will sing of the LORD'S great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations."  -Psalm 89:1

God gave me the Book of Faith project out of a conviction to make this happen in our family and in our church and wherever else people will do it. We must be intentional about passing on our real-life stories of God's goodness to our children and their children. In doing so, we are passing on a key to happiness and joy in their own lives as they grow to recognize God's mercy themselves. It's right in front of us; we only must practice seeing.

Hilarious and Must Be Shared

Henry's screaming must have drowned out the security alarm that went off a couple of hours ago. We have a private security company that provides a guard, panic buttons in and around the house, and a seriously shrill siren that is conveniently attached right outside the kids' room.

With Len out of town, bath time is my task, and I took advantage of the kids being wet in the bath (think of a small shower stall with a 5-centimeter lip) and pulled the three-day-old band-aid off of Henry's leg. A band-aid that was not required in the first place. Anyway, it was soggy and starting to fall off (memo to Johnson & Johnson: BACK OFF on the band-aid adhesive!). So I removed it.

Henry apparently thought I had removed his big toe, and began screaming and holding his foot. This continued throughout the bath time.

As I was marching my sweet children (with Henry still howling) back through the house to their room (Len, if you're reading this, Ruby wanted to have a bath in their old bathroom), I noticed several men standing in my back yard dressed in black. I shooed the kids into their room and closed the door, not wanting them to see their mom go Sydney Bristow on some poor intruders.

Fortunately for me and them, they were from the security company. Apparently, the guard, who is filling in for our regular guard, was feeling ill and wanted to go home. So he pushed the panic button, which brought a swarm of guards armed with all kinds of fun toys. And they are not allowed to leave until they speak with the house's tenant. Finding the doors locked and hearing screaming and wailing from inside, they weren't sure what to do.

So, they called Len. In Malawi. Which prompted him to call and text me several times to see if we were all dead. After I assured the security guys we were ok, I was happy to call Len and report to him that our marriage will not end on our anniversary this year.

The power is out tonight, but I'm thankful for our inverter keeping the lights and fans on. I've seen three new varieties of creepy crawlies in our house tonight, and the mosquitoes are as grumpy as Henry. Going to call it a (very funny) day!

Fourteen Years - For Better or For Worse

May 1997

So there we were, getting ready to walk down the aisle and be married in front of 300 of our closest friends and family. We knew that we were destined for eternal happiness, with laughter and dancing around every corner. Marital bliss...happily ever after.

Whatever.

Don't get me wrong, we have had and continue to have enormous amounts of fun and laughter, silliness, some dancing and even bliss. Happiness comes and goes, but we are learning the secret of constant joy, which is not dependent on circumstances.

Above left, at the first church we served together in 1997; Len was appointed to Fairview when he was 18. Fairview was just down the road from Grandview, which had a grand view of the Ohio River. Fairview overlooked acres of corn and beans.

Above right, ready for a night on the town in 2009.

Marriage, we have found, is a lot of hard work woven into the bliss and rose petals. We have learned are learning to communicate wisely - not too much and not too little, being aware of a dozen factors that determine if it's a good time to talk about the good or bad things we have to discuss.

We've learned that we are very different people. Okay, we knew that going into this union. Although back in that first year, it was exciting to be around someone so different. He is so organized and together! She is so fun-loving and spontaneous! He is such a hard worker! She is such a free spirit! These are all good things, but in those early years of marriage, we had to learn how to appreciate each others' differences and not apply labels of good, bad, etc. The variety of strengths in our marriage is staggering, and when we support each other in our strengths, we can really thrive as individuals and as a family. When we pick each other apart for our weaknesses (we have a wide breadth of those as well!), misery abounds.

Christmas 2007, after adding two to our little love nest

But what we've learned through all of our ups and downs is this: we are in it together. For better or for worse, right? There is no plan B. We are committed to doing life together no matter what the day holds. And what we've found surprising is how much control we have over what each day holds. We can choose to look for God's mercies new each day, or we can complain about what that goes wrong. Every day brings both. We choose mercies. But it takes practice, and we're still learning every day!

2011 in Tanzania. Photo by Kevin French

And since we're in it together, we may as well have a good time, right? I have seen couples who are miserable together, mainly because they choose misery over joy every day. I want to grow old with smile lines at the corners of my eyes and lips. Now that the lines have appeared, it's a good time to really train them to point the right direction. Enjoying doing life together is good for us AND our children. It's a lovely road!