Thankful

I woke up Thursday morning not even knowing it was Thanksgiving until Brett mentioned it after reading emails. Thursday was a long and crazy day at the hospital. We did have a Thanksgiving meal as a team on Friday.

One of the things I love most about Thanksgiving is sitting down and thanking the Lord for anything and everything I can think of. I leave with a sense of immense gratitude for His work and blessings in my life.

I'm thankful, of course, for my Lord and Savior. For his faithfulness and patience with me. I'm thankful for his grace and the hope He gives. I'm thankful for His Spirit that lives in me.

I'm thankful for Brett, my soul mate, and to be able to walk through life with him. I'm thankful for my boys. They are full of personality and energy but they are sweet, sweet boys. They make me feel loved each and every day. They are simply wonderful.

I'm thankful for my extended family that supports us and loves us. I'm thankful for our church families who love us as well. I'm thankful for my friends who are with us in Mali and those who are in other places. I'm thankful for those the Lord has brought into my life.

I'm thankful for the hospital and for all the people that has brought into our lives. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be here in Mali.

This year more than others I was really struck by the amazing gift that God gives to us as His Spirit lives in us. Wow. God in us. Simply amazing. I was also impressed with how He calls people to Himself. I thought about Mamine and how He spoke to her and called her to Him even as she was suffering. He opened her eyes to see truth. He does that time and time again. He makes the blind see. The deaf hear. He opens hearts to see His truth. So thankful for a God that is not distant but very present. He is loving and wants others to know Him. He gently calls His children and shows grace a mercy to everyone. Simply amazing. Thankful that he doesn't leave us on our own but loves each of us so much that He grows to great lengths for us to know Him.

A day in the life

Last Sunday was an interesting one for me. I had to go into the hospital and give chemo to our Hodgkin's lymphoma patient. Things went fairly smoothly aside from the fact that he threw up a lot. Poor kid. He starts before we even give medicine. A sweet moment, though, was that he fell asleep on me as I was pushing chemo (you have to give it over 20 minutes so I was just sitting beside him slowly pushing the medicine). He hasn't really been into us at the hospital though his uncle says he is a talkative kid. It was sweet that he felt comfortable enough to fall asleep on me. Maybe it's because for the last few weeks I was giving him chocolate if he smiled or said hello. :)

I came home and a little bit later Jeremie called and said the diabetic girl living with him was unresponsive. I went to her house and couldn't get her to respond even with putting sugar in her mouth. We drove her to the hospital and started an IV and gave her dextrose (sugar water). Within a few minutes she woke up to find me staring at her. The nurses all laughed that I was the first person she saw and that she was afraid she had died and was looking at an angel. ha! Soon she was alert enough to eat and then we were able to leave. I LOVE working on patients with low blood sugar. They go from unresponsive to talking within a few minutes. It's like being a miracle worker. :) Anyway...

On the way home I got to thinking about my day and how I would have never thought I'd be doing what I'm doing now. Cancer treatment was never a thought in my mind. We talked about HIV a little in school. We talked a lot about diabetes- but type 2 more than type 1- and I just foolishly didn't think I would see a lot of that here. I am thankful for where the Lord has brought me. I am fully aware that it is not me who does any of this but it is the Lord. He is working in my weakness. I used to be a perfectionist. I can't be now because if I were, I couldn't function as I'd be so down on myself. Of course I try to do my best but I always make mistakes. Thankfully, the Lord has taught me to rejoice in my weakness instead of being shamed by it.

It made me think of Dawson as he was playing with connected paper clips. He was swinging them like a lasso. They would get stuck in various kinds of designs. One of which was two of the paper clips hanging perpendicular to the chain. He said it looked like a swing without a seat. I heard him later saying to Kenan, "God was helping me make things with my paper clips. He almost made a swing out of it!" With childlike faith he was aware of needing God in everything he did. He knew God was with him as he swung the paper clips. He also didn't see the "almost" as a problem but accepted it as God had done it and "almost"is what He planned. It was a great reminder for me in the light of my day that God isn't seeking perfection but a willingness to give what we have for His use, whatever that may be.

Field Forum 2011

This past week we had our annual field forum in Sikasso where all our CMA missionaries come together for a week of meetings and worship.

It was a fantastic week. The best field forum I've been to yet. David Lane was the speaker and he was amazing. He said he hadn't been given any info on where our team was at but it was clear that the Lord had lead him because his topics were so on target. His messages were so good that I took notes constantly (as did everyone else). Sometimes I wanted to shout out, "hold on!" so my hand could catch up with all the good things he was saying. He talked about rest and how work is not the enemy of rest but unbelief is. He talked through the temptation of Jesus by Satan and how Satan attacked Christ's identity, significance and security. So good. He also talked about how there will be things that we cannot do. Our job is to do what is before us, leaving the results to the Lord. Also, we can't do it all. People will die. That's not our problem. That is on the Lord's shoulders. He will give us the strength to do what He wants for each day. If that means some people don't get treatment, it means some don't get treatment. There have to be margins in life. It was just oh so good. On top of a great speaker, David was also compassionate and caring, humble and kind. He was such an encouragement to us. Thank you, David!

We also had a great worship leader, Beau Church. It is always such a powerful blessing to worship in our heart language. Each day was a wonderful time of worship.

Here is our team. We are in green, yellow, and red because those are the colors of the Malian flag.

The greatest thing I came away with from the week was a sense of gratitude and blessing for this team. I've often said that joining a team is like having an arranged marriage. You don't get to chose your partner but you have to learn to love one another. It isn't always easy, that's why team conflict is the number one reason people leave the field. Especially here in Koutiala where do everything together. We work together, go to church together, have Bible study together, spend holidays together. We live together. However, I can honestly say that this team is filled with wonderful people who each bring special gifts to the team. We are not perfect by any means (probably the greatest lesson I've learned on the field is that we are sinful, messed up people) but this is a good group. I haven't always been able to say that in my heart if I'm being honest. Praise the Lord that I can now. I think the first few years I lost sight of who I was and was afraid to be myself. Thankfully that has changed. I feel free to be myself with this team and accept everyone else to be who they are. That is an amazing thing. We are all crazy. :)

All the boys on the Mali field in their red shirts.

One day we had a scavenger hunt around town. We had to do various things with random people. One was drinking Malian tea. Here is Kenan drinking it (just pretending).

Being pushed in the pushcart by a Malian (Joliene is in the cart- a GREAT team member who took care of the kids). This is as good a time as any to talk about the team that came. They were AWESOME! The first day they came up to the boys and could tell them what their names were! They had prayed for our families and knew our kids before even coming to Mali. They were here to serve. Truly serve. They would stay with the kids at night so Brett and I both could go to the nightly activities with the team. What a blessing! I came back exhausted from staying up too late but I wouldn't trade it for anything! Thank you Jamie, Joliene, Molly and John for being such great encouragements to us. To have someone really love and care for your kids is one of the greatest encouragements a parent can receive. We were truly blessed.

Carry a baby on your back...she wasn't too happy about the random white woman taking her from her mom.

Had to have a picture in a moto taxi.

One of our team members, Carina, goes by the name Gnagalie Bah by people in the prisons she goes and visits. She saw the sign and we had to snap a picture. (Gnagali means joy- fits her perfectly. She is a woman filled with joy).

One of the gifts given to the boys by the field forum team. They were spoiled rotten!

The kids did a presentation at the end of the week. It was a story of a king whose children had been stolen by a dragon who had once been a close friend of the king. The dragon wanted to be kind himself and that is why the king sent him away. Knights came to flight the dragon in order save the king's family. Dawson was the holy knight. Kenan the good night. Silas was soft night or something like that...he had a pillow instead of a sword. There was also Monday knight with a football.

Here they are ready to fight. Silas wasn't into it so much...

until he got to fight the dragon. :)

Great week but it wore everyone out. Here are the boys on the bed (I slept on this bed as well). Two are on top of each other and then you can see the hand of Dawson peeking out from under the covers. Otherwise he was completely covered in the blanket.

And another night. Why sleeping boys looks so cute to me, I do not know, but I love it.

Adding to the family

We have added more animals (just animals, no babies) to the MacLean bunch. If we have two turtles, a dog, a cat, why not add three bunnies as well? So that is what we did.

This is the cage we had built for them. It's big, I know, but since we often have a random mix of animals (the boys still want a pig again) I thought it was worth making a cage that we could use for any animal. It was made in an afternoon. Five minutes after we brought the bunnies home, Caroline had made a hole and pushed her way through so we had to get stronger wire. She's not gotten in it again, yet.

We took the boys to go pick out there bunnies. There is this place that sells all sorts of animals which are used mostly for eating or sacrifices. Probably all of them actually except the ones bought by the white people. It was kind of like taking the kids to the petting zoo at the fair. Way back in the back they had rabbits so each boy got to pick out his own.

This is Dawson's. Name: Brave "because when he stands up and looks out he looks brave."

Sex: Female (though as seen from the sentence above, we call him a he. Our poor animals will have gender confusion since we call our male cat a she and now our female bunny a he).

Kenan's. Name: Strawberry "because of her red eyes." Sex: Female

Silas' bunny. Name: Thumper because he thumps a lot and honestly because I got to help him choose the name. I had a Thumper growing up and this guy looks like a Thumper. (My Thumper growing up was a girl though. I guess the lack of understanding animal gender started early for me. My sister's bunny, Pretty Star, was the male.) Sex: Male

Dawson took this picture with the boys and their bunnies. They have really enjoyed them and play with them daily so far. We'll see how long that continues. I'm fine with any outside animals really as long as it is not a bat, rat, or snake. I must admit, though, I'm actually enjoying these little guys. They are very cute and soft.

Fall Festival

Last weekend we had a fall festival at our mission. It was a lot of fun. Lots of games and candy. This year there was even line dancing taught by Carol. Notice Kenan standing in completely the wrong direction. He tried. He really did. Unfortunately he has no rhythm like his mommy.

There was a cake walk. Easy to win a cupcake when you are the only one playing. :)

Bobbing for apples. Kenan tried really hard and for quite awhile...

Finally got it (with a little help from Marcy).

Getting marshmallows out of pudding only using your mouth.

He didn't win because he was too afraid to get dirty at first. Finally, he decided to really dig in.

Ring toss around drink bottles.

There was also face painting. D wanted to be a pumpkin.

Final products

He's a lion, in case you wondered.

The kids had carved pumpkins and had them line the steps. Very cute.

My pumpkin with the other pumpkins.

The boys' pumpkins. Carved by Anna and me.

What fall festival would be complete without a hay ride? No hay but they had fun in the BUV.

Special time with Kenan

The other week we had to go Bamako with Kenan to renew his passport. Both parents have to be present with the child. Kids' passports have to be renewed every 5 years. Though this is slightly annoying, having to drive 5 hrs one day, present the passport, say yes we are his parents, and then take the 5 hr ride back home the next day, it allows for special time with each child.

When Dawson was about to turn 5 we happened to be in Bamako so we took him to get his passport renewed. Since you are at the American consulate, it seems like America. I'm pretty sure everything is brought from the States. There is a water fountain. Automatic sinks and toilets. It's the real deal. So it is a lot of fun. While we waited with D we played a game of memory with some Dora cards that were there. I can't tell you why it was so special but it was. We enjoyed ourselves. We then took Dawson out to get a hamburger and ice cream before returning to the guest house.

We were excited, then, to do the same for Kenan. He, however, was not. Since it was a quick trip up and back we decided to leave the other two boys in Koutiala. Kenan did not like this at all. He wanted his brothers to come. We told him he'd get the DS all to himself and could watch any movie on daddy's iPod. Nope, he just didn't like it. I kid you not, the kid sat looking out the window the whole 5 hrs there and back (aside from brief naps here and there). The whole way up he would complain about leaving his brothers and ask if we were going home. I was simply dumbfounded that he could sit for 5 hrs two days in a row doing nothing. I assure you his brothers would not have been the same. They would have loved every minute of getting their parents alone and games to themselves.

We got pizza before going to the consulate. Kenan thought this was only ok, though he admitted it was really good later. We played the same Dora memory game while we waited our turn. He tried out the bathroom and was surprised by the sink. It was a lot of fun. We went shopping afterwards to a store we had never been to that has various items including toys. He got to pick something for himself and his brothers. He was happy but he would tell you he still missed his brothers. Then we went and ate cheeseburgers and french fries at Broadway Cafe and ended with a banana split (it's so great to eat out in Bamako!). I think that finally won him over. He was happy and enjoyed it.

Yet he was still ready to go home. He even slept in his clothes so that when he woke up in the morning he just had to get up and brush his teeth and leave. I'm serious. He wore the same clothes both days just so he could be a bit quicker to see his brothers. He was up super early ready to go. We got home in time to pick up Dawson from school. Kenan was so glad to be home and share his gifts with them.

Again, without a doubt, his brothers would haven't given him a second thought had he been left behind. But that's our Kenan. He is so sweet.

So I'm thankful our government makes us be present for renewals of passports. Give us an opportunity to have special times with the boys. Every five years.