Uncle John

On November 7^th, my uncle John went to be with the Lord. He had gotten up early to ride around a lake in their area. Soon after that, a runner found him in the lake. Most likely he had an arrhythmia that caused him to die instantly and roll on his bike into the water. According to the autopsy, he did not have a heart attack nor aneurysm, nor did he drown. This was obviously a shock and a terrible loss for our family. He leaves behind his wife, Patricia, and two sons, David and Ben (wife Sarah) and grandson, Eli.

John was one of a kind. He could lighten the mood in any room. He was full of joy and laughter. He was always positive and encouraging. He was fun. He was always ready to play any and every game and would always try with all his might to beat his opponent, even if it was a little kid. He was athletic and full of energy. He loved NC State and often wore red with pride. He was highly intelligent and always curious and interested to learn new things. I feel like he never stopped seeing the world through a child’s eyes. He found the wonder in even the smallest of things, like monitoring the weekly growth of his tomatoes or keeping track of how much rain they had gotten with his rain gauge. These things and many others would inevitably end up on his blog so that everyone could join in excitement. His favorite invention had to be the digital camera. He could take as many pictures as he wanted without paying for developing. His camera was always in hand and he was always ready to take a picture of you doing whatever activity he felt was picture worthy. And these, of course, would also end up on his blog. He loved music and would often just start singing a song.

One day he was out taking a picture of his newly painted mailbox for his blog and realized he was capturing his shadow in the pictures. So forget the mailbox, he started taking pictures of his shadow. Like I said, he saw the joy and fun in the small things. :)

John loved his family deeply. He and Patricia were inseparable. They were best friends who did everything together. As Patricia says, they were best buddies. They truly had something special. He loved Patricia well and served her in every way.

He loved his boys as well. He passed on to them his intelligence and desire for knowledge. Both ended up at Duke University. He was proud of his boys and never failed to support them. Whether David was working for Flyswat, Yahoo, or Kiva, you could find John wearing a hat or shirt supporting his son’s work.

The family grew a little over a year ago when Ben and Sarah had Eli and so did John’s love. He was so proud of his sweet grandson and would be sure to tell you a story or show you a picture.

I love his face in this picture.

He loved his great nephews as well.

John with Zachary, my sister's son.

More than a love for his family, John had a love for the Lord. He was a true servant, always willing to help anyone with whatever task they had. He always served without grumbling or complaining. He loved everyone and always made people feel accepted. John understood that this life was only a foreshadow of what was to come. He was willing to tell anyone about the Lord and ask if they knew Him personally. He was a man of prayer. Even his prayers at dinner became a moment for him to pray for the lost and that we would be servants of the Lord who would faithfully share His love with others. There are many verses that can describe John because he was a man who lived for the Lord. He lived out Christ’s example, humbling himself and becoming a servant. Another passage that I believe John lived out well is Romans 12:9-18

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

John lived out these verses. He was a peacemaker and a servant.

John was like a second father to me. Patricia and he were very much involved in our lives growing up and even now as adults. They came on our family vacations. We talked to them regularly. I always knew that they loved me, cared for me, prayed for me and supported me. When I was home for his funeral, I had to look for something in his wallet. There were pictures of course, of his sons, his wife Patricia, his daughter-in-law, his grandson, as well as of his nieces. I feel privileged to have made his wallet. I love John very much. John taught me several things. One, to enjoy life, even the simple things. One should never lose sight of the wonder of things. Two, how to be a servant. John constantly gave to others and served with his whole heart. It was impressed on me at a young age that John and Patricia were servants. Though they had all they needed, they weren’t wealthy, yet they gave generously to others. They were always helping this or that family, giving their time to some group or volunteer organization. Their love for the Lord poured out onto others. That flows into the third thing his life taught me- to love unconditionally. John never met a stranger nor ever felt that he was above another. He was willing to associate with people of low position. Or any position. He didn’t see color or status or political affiliation or anything but the person and he loved them.

John will be dearly, dearly missed. As I have said before, if you had to be stuck in a room with one of our family members, you’d want it to be John. He was a joy to be around. He made any situation better. Life just won’t be the same without his camera catching every activity, even if it was you sneezing or asleep on the couch, and without his smile and laugh that could warm any heart. We love you, John, and though we know you are rejoicing with your Father in heaven, we on earth are left with a void that can’t be replaced. There is no one like you, John. You are one of a kind, an amazing husband, wonderful father, terrific uncle, a beautiful child of God who knew His Father well and shared His love with others.

Thanksgiving

Though Thanksgiving is not a holiday here in Mali, I feel like I must at least comment on the fact that it did occur. The missionaries do actually get together for a meal, but it’s just not the same as being at home. Since I was in high school, I have had a tradition that my quiet time on Thanksgiving is only that of thanks and praise. It has become one of my favorite times (I also really enjoy the end of the year and I look back at all the Lord has done in the year). It starts out with the obvious: God, family, friends, home, etc and then always gets into even the smallest of things- the trees in our yard that provide shade, that I’m finally losing my baby fat, that I now have two potty trained kids, that 80 degrees in the house actually feels cool, etc. I am always left amazed at the kindness of the Lord and all that he has blessed us with. So here are a few things I am thankful for this year:

My God and Savior who loves me. He is faithful when I am faithless. He does not treat me as my sins deserve. He is patient and good. He is love, hope, joy. He is the giver of all good gifts.

My Brett, he stands beside me, pushes me to be better in whatever I do. He is my best friend.

My boys. They bring me so much joy. My heart melts each time they give me a hug, flash a smile or give me a kiss. I love that Silas can now lean in and give me a kiss! Love it!

My family. I love that we are close and support one another. I love that when my uncle died it was never a question of if, but when and how I would get to the US and I knew without even talking to my sister that she would be on a plane from Korea as well. I am so thankful for a loving and supporting family who are not just family but my friends.

Mali. I am thankful for being here, for the people, for our work, for this being home.

Help. I am thankful for our house help- Jeremie, Marthe, and Bocar. They are fantastic and they add to our family. Don’t know what I would do without them.

Hope

I feel like a theme the Lord has been teaching me this year is hope. I’ve actually written about hope before but just feel the need to do it again. We have this wall hanging that says “faith, hope, love” and one day Brett just asked me why I thought hope was included in the three the Lord mentions in 1 Corinthians 13. He completely understood the faith and love but always wondered about the hope as I myself have in the past. As we were talking it hit me, though, that hope is what separates us from those who don’t believe. We have hope in Jesus, in his death and resurrection, and in the glory that is to be revealed, which is heaven. So when tragedy happens, as has just occurred in our family with the sudden death of my uncle (or the sudden death of Brett’s dad the year before) or miscarriages or job loss or whatever, we can have hope. Hope that Jesus has not nor will He ever leave our side. He walks with us through every single pain and hardship with us. Hope that this is not all there is. Hope in the life eternal in heaven where there will be no pain and no suffering. No tears or sadness. Hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Each time we go through a hard time, especially a family death (which often seem to be sudden in our family), I am reminded again of how thankful I am that we have Jesus. I cannot fathom dealing with tragedy without Him, without his hope.

Romans 8:22-25

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Isaiah 40: 28-31

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

We have a walker

We (finally) have a walker! (and yes, I know the picture doesn't show him walking, but I haven't gotten one yet, so this cute smile will have to do). He has been taking steps since 12 months but really hasn't been interested in walking. Crawling is much faster for him. Two days ago he just started walking, I mean 20 + steps and standing for a few minutes at a time. Yeah! I personally find it wonderful when the boys start walking here as it decreases all the dirt that cakes up on their legs and feet. It's really quite gross. So here's to a little less dirt on the legs!

Happy Birthday Brett!!

Happy Birthday Brett!!

I love you with all my heart and I hope that you have a wonderful day! Since I am here in America and you in Mali, I can't do much today but I wanted you to know that I am thinking of you and thanking the Lord for the WONDERFUL BLESSING of YOU!!!

You are my best friend, an amazing father, an incredible teacher, a man of wisdom. I love you so much! You make me a better person. You fill my life with joy!

I hope you have a good day and that you feel the love we are sending you today!!

Love,
Sheri

Harvest Party

Last night our team had a harvest party. It was so much fun. The moms here are so creative and enthusiastic when it comes to stuff like this. They put the whole thing on. Parents and people from the visiting team manned the booths. Since our boys are little, we didn't have to work but just walked around with the kids. There were about ten games. Smash the bottles, ring toss, cake walk, Frisbee toss, face painting, popcorn pop, bean bag toss, licorice race, marshmallow game, a water game where you shoot the bottle down the tube with a water gun, then a game with shooting little men with a bow and arrow, and throw the sponge on a person. The kids had 15 tickets each to play the games. It even rained a little which really made it feel like fall. We had loads of fun! Thanks to our team for putting it on! We enjoyed it!

Me trying to explain the smashing can game (just throwing the ball to knock over the cans).

Ring toss

so excited to get the candy

Kenan really enjoyed this game. I just love watching his expressions.

And the face painting. Batman wanted a spider web with a spider on it.

D likes getting all tatt'd up.

The marshmallow game. so cute. You are supposed to suck the marshmallows into your mouth and then spit them out and place them on the circles on the paper. This is to be done without hands. (for the older kids, the marshmallows were mixed with dream whip to make it more challenging). But sweet Kenan didn't quite understand and used his hands to pick up the marshmallow, put it in his mouth, then take it out and place it nicely on the paper. so cute.

Dawson knew what to do.

The final seconds...it was a perfect tie! :)

Silas just enjoyed eating. Here's the cupcake from the cake walk.

then a crunch bar. Ok, he ate two crunch bars, but they were little.

It was such a fun evening. We then roasted hot dogs which a team member had gotten from Dakar. For a little bit, we felt like we were back in the States enjoying all the fall festivities!

The hazards of living in Africa

We enjoy living in Mali but the job does come with some occupational hazards. Poor Silas has had to deal with a lot of them in his short life.

1. Having your mommy's "special friends" (HIV positive) follow her home, come pick you up and kiss you on the lips all before mommy is out of the car. (I've mentioned this before, but still deserves to be in the list).

2. Getting abcesses. Not sure what breeds them so well here, maybe it's the heat, but so many kids have them. Silas had several during hot season from where his heat rash became infected. Last week (or maybe two now) he had a huge abcess on his leg. Brett had to cut it open with a scalpel and stick scissors in it to break up all the pus and get it out. Yuck. I wasn't allowed to be there with him when he did it, though I heard it over the entire peds building because he was screaming so loudly. So he's just gotten over this and finished his antibiotics.

3. Cutaneous Larva Migrans. You get little parasites that bore into your skin and then start crawling around. The entry point is on the right and then you can see the little worm-like line which goes left. (the worm isn't that big, that's his path). thankfully this is easily treated with one dose of albendazole that went down nicely with some jello.

4. Cuts. Our house is a child proof as possible for a house in Africa. Our windows, which are made of metal, open into the house and are just at a child's level when standing. Our chairs that sit outside are also made of metal and do not have nice rounded edges. Both Dawson and I have had stitches in our head thanks to our windows. Today Silas joined us, but because of the chairs outside. I was sharing my breakfast with him and he was coming to get another bite and just slipped and hit the corner of the chair. I knew before I even saw it that it wasn't going to be good. Thankfully we have an in house pediatrician and he was sewed up (2 stitches) in no time.

He wasn't too upset about it...at least a few minutes after the fact. (this is a terrible angle for him, so he looks kind of funny, but I wanted to show proof that he was in fact happy after the stitches). He is a cutie, just look at the above picture. :)

You can even get a "I'm 1!" picture. Really, he was just pointing at the camera, but it looks like a good first birthday picture! :)

This isn't related to the hazards mentioned above (unless you say he is still nursing because his mother has become too accustom to seeing children nurse until they are 2 or 3 and thus 14 months isn't really a big deal) but we've decided it is time to wean. I actually don't mind the normal feedings but the problem is he thinks that I am his own personal drink machine and he can get free refills whenever he wants. Even this isn't too bothersome but the problem is that it makes him too attached to me. Brett can play with him all morning and he is fine, then I take him and he just cries all the time because he wants a drink. Or when we are with people, he won't go to anyone but me. So I need to cut the cord a little more. I really have no desire to do it but I agree that it is best. So pray he does it easily. Except for the morning feed, the others are really more for comfort in my opinion as he doesn't drink a lot, so it is really dealing with the comfort/ soothing issue when I will no longer give the breast. I'll start tomorrow. No more on demand feeds and I'll drop the afternoon feed. Will see how it goes.