Last Day!

Today was our last day in NYC! We decided to sleep in, because it will also be our last day to do that! So we slept until about 9:30am and then hit the city again! (By the way, I must put that Blu’s favorite part of our whole vacation has been the strawberry iced donuts that our hotel serves every morning for breakfast…)

Anyway, the first thing we saw today was Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. Those were neat to see!

See the ice skating rink at Rockefeller?!


It was really cold and raining outside, but we still wanted to see Central Park, so we took a subway up to the north part of the Park and then walked through. The view from Belvedere Castle was so gorgeous!!



Bow Bridge in Central Park




The building right at the top of our umbrella with the triangles is where John Lennon was killed!


I was so in awe of Central Park. Even though it was dreary and rainy, and BLu’s socks were wet so I don’t think he had the best time, I absolutely loved it. I expected there to be people everywhere, but it was so calm and quiet….you could easily forget you were in NYC! There were tons of different walking trails and it was just beautiful, with fog hanging over the tall trees!!! I LOVED it!!

I am trying to eat at various “unique” places while we’re here, so today we ate sandwiches and soup at an Italian deli called Caprese. (Blu wanted to eat at Wendy’s—we don’t eat there often so he said that was unique enough!)

We were both soaked by then, so we headed back to the hotel for dry clothes and a couple hours of rest! Then we headed back to Ground Zero, because I really wanted to go to the Tribute Center and read the stories of people. It was so incredible….there was an older man in there who was just weeping as he walked along and read the stories—it was so sad.

Then we headed back to Chinatown, because we really liked it the first time! Blu went to a watch repair shop to get his watch fixed, and I got a Dolce & Gabanna purse for $15!!

We decided to go all out on our last night here, and we actually spent $75 on a meal!! Just the two of us!!! It was an Indian restaurant called Sapphire and it was SOOO good! They checked our coats when we went in and we had no clue what was going on!!

Ok, I think I’m done blogging about NYC!! I promise after a couple of days at home, I’ll return to my Zambian stories—I still have one to tell about The Green Crayon!!

Thanks for reading this week!

GMA and Broadway!!!

This morning started bright and early as we left our hotel at 5:15am to head to the ABC studios to get in line for Good Morning America! It was very cold as we waited until almost 7am!! We were starting to get frustrated as they just had us standing inside the studio until 8:30 when they did a segment indoors!! But in the midst of all of that, they talked Cameron Mathison (Ryan on All My Children) into coming down and greeting the studio audience, so that was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!



(I know you don’t know who he is, Jessica, but he’s famous, I promise!!)


Then they did a weather segment at 8:30am, and they did it directly in front of us!! So our families back at home who were watching were able to see us waving on tv!! My mom recorded it and then played it back over and over again for Caedmon and he waved at us!!

Then, Robin took some pictures with us! (notice how my smile wasn’t as big as the previous pic with Cameron!!)



Finally, they told us to go outside for the last 2 minute segment, so we all ran outside, and right as I walked up to the rope Diane Sawyer came over and started talking to the people next to me!!! I was just staring at her! I did get a good picture though!



After this celeb-filled experience, we decided to head uptown to an upscale café called Sarabeth’s. (Thanks for the recommendation Brandi!!) Reese Witherspoon was there 2 weeks ago, and the waitress told us that Julia Roberts is a regular, along with Nicole Kidman (who always sits at table 22), and Lisa Kudrow! I couldn’t even carry on a conversation with poor Blu because my eyes were on the door on the lookout for celebrities!!

From there, we came back to the hotel and took a 2 ½ hour nap this afternoon!!!! We were exhausted (celeb-watching does that to you!!)

At 4pm, we headed out to eat supper at Bedouin Tent. Because I planned all of our meals ahead of time, we are really getting to see different parts of the city, as opposed to just eating on 5th avenue or Times Square. So, we headed all the way down to Brooklyn and got to see different neighborhoods. The food was from the country of Jordan, and it was SOOO delicious and very cheap!!

From there, we headed to the Majestic Theater!!!





We really enjoyed The Phantom of the Opera, although I really think we would have enjoyed it more if we had read at least a summary before we came. We spent a lot of the time just trying to figure out what was going on!! But we did really love the stage/set/curtains—they were incredible!!

When we finished Broadway, we headed out to yet another recommendation of Brandi’s, Max Brenner. I was expecting a little chocolate shop, but it was a huge restaurant with chocolate as its specialty! If you know me at all, you know I was in heaven…



It was a great day, but our feet are starting to ache…. More tomorrow!!

What a Day!!!

Today was so much fun! First of all, our luggage arrived at 4:30am, so that was great! (even though Blu had already gone to a pharmacy for contact solution and toothbrushes!!) But we were glad to have it anyway!

We headed out this morning around 8am. It was FREEZING!!!! The wind was so cold, so the first thing we did was go and purchase 2 beanies and a scarf, but we still froze all day, as you can see in the picture!! Those big smiles are really clenched teeth saying, “Take the picture it’s cold!!”

Our first stop was at Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. We were so grateful that we got here on Sunday to acclimate ourselves to the subway system of NYC, because this morning was CRAZY! There was a St. Patrick’s Day parade downtown, so that made the subway crazy. I really wasn’t as frightened as I look in this picture!


At Battery Park we boarded a ferry (for a cheap $12 per person!) to go visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty was really neat—we had monument passes so that we could actually go up into it and take pictures and see how it was constructed! We had to wait in line for about an hour, and then we went through this incredible security system! You step into like a chamber and they blow puffs of air at you! It was SOOOO cool!! We both giggled like 8 year olds when we went through it!


Did you know that the Statue of Liberty is green but was once copper? Copper erodes when mixed with air, so it has turned green over the years—I didn’t know that! We enjoyed a nice lunch at the café on the island—cream of broccoli soup and chili in bread bowls!


Then, we headed over to Ellis Island.

It was so incredible to see the place where our ancestors first landed in America. We saw the big room where they stood with their baggage for processing, and then we saw the three separate stairwells where families were separated depending on where in America they were going. Then, we went and searched the computers for my great-great grandfather! We found some confusing info, but I can’t wait to take it back and share it all with my grandma!



After we took the ferry back to New York, we headed over to Ground Zero. It was so amazing to see the wall of tribute and to see people just stop and stare without saying anything. There are fences up so it’s hard to see, but it is really just a HUGE whole in the ground where they doing tons of construction. It looked like they are working on the subway part of it right now. As we walked all along the site, I couldn’t help but think of my Uncle David, who worked 4 blocks from the towers and came out of the subway just as the second plane hit. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for New Yorkers that day.

After Ground Zero we headed to Wall Street and the financial district. Blu enjoyed himself way too much….




Our next stop was Chinatown...shops were crammed together, everything was written in Chinese, and people were everywhere!!!

They sold fresh fruit and veggies on the sides of the road, and Chinese women would pull me aside and whisper “you want Coach handbag? You want Chanel purse?” I’m not much of a bag person… But we did see a LOT of shops that had recently been shut down due to “trademark counterfeiting!” We enjoyed a Chinese meal of Big Wong King in Chinatown, and now, even though it’s early, we are ready to call it a day!!

We both noticed how much walking New Yorkers have to do!! There is tons of walking, climbing stairs, and you really have to be in shape to get around. I know I said this before, but the multicultural part of the city is just amazing. I have to fight the urge to ask every African man, “are you from Zambia?!!” We also noticed that people look at us funny when we say “thank you” or “I’m sorry!” People have been very friendly and willing to help us though! (except for one man on a bus...but that's another story...his New York accent was so thick I thought he couldn't serious talk like that!!)

Good Morning America and Broadway are tomorrow!!!

A few glitches, but all is well!!

A few glitches, but all is well!!

We have survived our first day! We got to NYC just fine, but only to find that our luggage did not fare so well! But they assured us that it was on the next flight and would be delivered to our hotel tonight…we’ll see!!!

Ok, we are way too cheap to ride the “Air Train” from the airport to the subway stations (costs $5/person) so we decided to take a bus!! It was definitely an INTERESTING bus ride….nobody on the bus looked quite like us---we were in a side of New York I never thought I’d see!! But it was fine, and though it took awhile, Blu was really glad that we got to experience Jamaica, New York.

Ok so by the time we get to the subway stations from the bus it’s like 1:30pm and we are starving! We didn’t eat breakfast (did I mention we RAN to our gate due to long lines in security for Spring Break) and all they gave us on the plane was a small bag of chips. So we find a Subway, only to realize that there’s no chairs to sit down!! And it was COLD and RAINY outside! So we load up our stuff and head back to the subway station. We finally get to our hotel 3 hours after we landed!!

Blu had warned me that our hotel might not be in a great area, but it is! It looks like a random brick building on the outside that someone superglued a La Quinta sign to, but surprisingly on the inside it is quite nice!! We have a view of the NYC skyline, a continental breakfast, and a McDonalds and The Grind coffee shop next door!!

So after dropping off our carry-ons, we headed on another bus to downtown Manhattan. It’s kinda weird—I printed off all the directions we will need on hopstop.com (which works great!), so we’re not looking at maps, just my directions. So we have no concept of like where we are in the city or anything like that! But anyway, we hop on a bus and I get more and more excited as we pass 2nd Avenue, 3rd Avenue, Lexington Avenue, Park Avenue, and then arrive at 5th Avenue!! The first place we headed was to the Empire State Building. Did we go up? NO WAY!! $21/person! A picture does it justice!!


Then, we decided to just hike our way up 5th Avenue. It was so amazing…all the people, the taxis, it is just like the movies—there is no way to describe it! London and South Africa aren’t even in the vicinity of describing the craziness, and today was SUNDAY! So we found a souvenir shop that sold CHEAP tshirts, so we got most of our souvenirs taken care of 


Let’s see…a few other cool things we did—visited the New York City Public Library, visited St. Thomas Episcopal Church for their 4pm service, and visited FAO Schwarz toy store!! It was so cool to see the big piano from the movie Big!!


Blu enjoyed the roasted peanuts on the street!


I didn't really go in!


We finished off our evening with a HUGE slice of New York City pizza from Sbarro. It was great!!


We headed back to our hotel after stopping for some cocoa—it’s COLD!!! We called the luggage people, and they said our suitcase was on the truck to be delivered, so hopefully it’ll be here soon!!

Ok, the funniest story of the day is when we were standing beside two girls wearing the same jacket at a crosswalk. Blu whispered, "Look! It's the Olsen twins!" So he held up his camera to take a picture. Well, as we crossed, a girl saw him and stopped and said "Excuse me!!! Do you know who those girls are?!" She was so excited because she thought they were really famous!! Blu is so mean! :)


More adventures to come tomorrow!! Oh yeah—there are SOOOO many different cultures/races here!! It’s amazing to walk down the road and hear the different languages and accents!!

The W

Now I realize that some of you may not be interested in EVERY detail of our Spring Break vacation, but I know my mama is, so the next few days will be detailed!!

Blu's cousin, Jeff, works in Acapulco and has a condo at The W Hotel in Dallas. So he isn't here, but we are his guests tonight since we fly out early tomorrow morning! They valeted our car so that was exciting! :) His condo is AMAZING... The pictures don't do it justice..there is a sound system in every room and tvs in every room including the bathrooms over the huge bathtub!!! We enjoyed the great room service dinner-we had a smoked turkey sandwich and a roasted chicken dinner with potato puree!! We'll probably order dessert later. We feel so spoiled!!


The living room and kitchen


The bedroom we are staying in


Blu was impressed with the statue!


I had to finish my book!!

OK, we fly out in the early morning so we'll post again tomorrow night about our first day in New York City!

Vacation!!!

It's HERE!!! I'm driving the kids to the grandparents tomorrow and our vacation will begin!!! On Saturday night, we head to The W Hotel in Dallas to stay in the top-floor condo of Blu's cousin. Then, early Sunday morning, we fly out to NEW YORK CITY!!! We are so excited!! We will be there 4 days and will see the Empire State Building, Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street, Chinatown, the 9/11 Memorial, we have tickets to be in the studio audience of Good Morning America on Tuesday morning, we have tickets to the Phantom of the Opera on Tuesday night, Wednesday in Central Park, and back home on Thursday!!!!

We'll blog while we're there so be looking--I know you're dying to see how these Texas hillbillies survive NYC!! :)

Virtual Prayer Walk

Anyone want to go on a virtual prayerwalk in Zambia, Africa? You're just a click away!

Journaling from a Women's Retreat

So this weekend I went to a women's retreat with my mom at her church. I kinda went just for her. It was a big deal--this lady I'd never heard of but who is pretty famous I guess named Barbara O'Chester came to her church with their team. But you know how it goes--you go in with hesitations and not completely enthused, and God pretty much knocks you over with what He teaches you. I wanted to share some of my journal entries from today here. Not sure why--just felt I needed to before I go to bed...

You can read your Bible every day, talk to God every day, and still have a cold heart toward Him. It's called "Treadmill Christianity." You walk a lot, but you don't get anywhere.

Every crisis/tough thing that happens in my life is for one of 2 reasons - to make me trust Him more, or to conform me to His image.

Being filled with the Spirit isn't like having a half full glass of water (representing the Spirit), and you pray that God will fill you more. When you get saved, you have all the Spirit you're gonna get. The question is, how much of ME does the Spirit have?

Do I TRULY hate the sin in my life?

Christianity is not a self-guided tour.

People tend to feel guilty (I know I do!) if I read the Bible but then don't remember what I read a couple of days later. It's like lunch 3 days ago, though. You may not remember exactly what you ate, but you were nourished!

You may not want to wake up early to do a quiet time because you will start your day sleep-deprived. Would you rather be sleep-deprived or God-deprived?

(I'll skip my entries on the session titled "The Act of Marriage") :)

Submission simply means choosing to live my life in a way that will make other people successful.

Godly children don't just "happen." I have to LIVE and TEACH holy to my children.

Don't teach your kids that God is an activity. Don't teach them checklist Christianity.

Being a mom is not a job, it is a ministry.

Marinate in the Word of God. When a piece of meat is marinated for 24 hours, there is a chemical change that takes place. You can't go back later and decide that you want to "un-marinate" it...it is changed. Marinate in the Word of God.

Aside from sitting next to my mom during the sex session of the conference, it was an amazing and refreshing time.

Don't forget to set your clocks forward!! Night! :)

We have a lawyer!!

So Tuesday we met with our newly hired lawyer. We drove to downtown Fort Worth and went into this huge TOWER--I guess a skyscraper is the word. Now, please don't think that we are some hillbilly Texans with cows in our front yard and we'd never seen a skyscraper! But, we are definitely um, low maintenance? That might be the word. SIMPLE! That's a good word. Anyway, I digress.

So we walk in and just stand in the lobby looking lost until a guy in a security uniform helps us. (We are wearing jeans, tshirts, baseball cap (Blu), and a ponytail (me)). So we go up to the 15th floor and there is a FANCY law firm--listen to the name...Bourland, Wall, and Wenzel. Say it and let is just roll off of your tongue...sounds fancy huh? So anyway our lawyer guy and his lawyer lady assistant or something come out and they are dressed in like suits, and then they usher us into this BOARD room, with HUGE rolling chairs around a mahogany table. They proceed to offer us coffee or water that has been set up. I wanted to take a picture SOOOO bad!!! I felt like I was in Erin Brokovich or something!

Ok, now that you really think we're some hicks.. the meeting went fabulously!! Our lawyer is a Christian who works with religious non-profits, especially churches, but he has done several missions non profits as well. They knew exactly what to do, what is going on, and the fee is lower than we expected! So basically, the ball is rolling! We will be setting up our Board of Directors, writing bylaws, and submitting our "stuff" to the IRS to become a 501c non-profit organization!! (Yes, we realize we can do all this ourselves on LegalZoom for cheap, but we (and especially our big donors) felt the need to have a lawyer backing us for added accountability.)

So that's the lawyer update! Oh!!! I have a little plug!! I rarely do this, but our sweet missionary friends who worked in the same town as us in Zambia wrote and produced a film using Zambian church members. It's a pretty neat little play called Detective James Tembo, and I especially love the Zambian music on the film's soundtrack! Check them out here!

And finally, a picture to get you through your weekend:

Our home church in College Station, Texas, did a dime drive when we were in Zambia. Back then, one dime would buy a pair of flip flops for a child, so we got to go to a school and pass out flipflops to all the kids! It was AMAZING :)

An Update on Life

Wow! Lots has happened in the past week.

First of all, I did get an update on Baby Lily. Last I heard, she was out of ICU and in a room of her own, breathing on her own and swallowing on her own, which was GREAT news!! Your prayers are working!! I'll post more when I know more!

This past weekend was our long-awaited, long-planned Disciple Now Weekend. Basically, this is a weekend for youth filled with food, Bible teaching, staying up late, crazy events, etc. We decided to make this D-Now a True Love Waits theme, so we also did the whole commitment service/ring ceremony thing. We played broomball on ice (SOOOO fun!) and it was such a great time with our 35 youth who attended.

After gearing up for all of this, though, we got news that Blu's grandma passed away on Friday morning. So we had to leave our Disciple Now weekend in the hands of parents/youth leaders and spend the weekend with family at the funeral. Now, the funny part. We left our True Love Waits (sexual purity) weekend, and stayed in an old brothel! It was a place called Coupland Dance Hall that they rented out for the family, where the brothel/inn was above the dance hall. So you climb these narrow stairs and there's poker tables, blackjack tables, sitting areas, and TONS of bedrooms. It looked like what I pictured a brothel to look like back in the day! (ever read Redeeming Love??) So we went to visitation, ate, and then us youngsters all headed for the dance hall and did some two-steppin' late into the night. :) What would our youth think?! I'm sure they all pictured us sitting around in dresses mourning the loss of his grandma (which we DID!), but as we played Texas Hold 'Em and later did the jitterbug, I couldn't help but laugh!

Anyway, between these two events, we are exhausted! My KIDS are exhausted! I will definitely spend this week detoxing them back into MY schedule of eating/naps! Speaking of kids, I know that I have been negligent in posting pictures of them....So here's the most recent..



And if the purple bow got such attention for sister, he had to try it too...


Have a great week!

Questions Answered..

Wow! I guess I'm surprised by all the interest, support, and questions about the Zambian Orphanage! I shouldn't be, but I am! So let me answer some of your questions as best I can at this point!

We plan to call it the New Day Orphanage, from Isaiah 43:19: "Behold, I will do something NEW, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert."

We plan to be in the Southern Province of Zambia, because we feel strongly that God has called us to the Tonga people group. We especially like a location out in the bush called Mapanza, but we'll see where God leads us. The plan is to move there and first secure a tract of land. Sounds easier than it is! We can go through a chief, but there's the possibility that when he dies and a new man becomes chief, he can take our land. We can go through the government and buy the land, but that can offend the chief, so it will be tricky!

We plan to build all of our facilities. A dormitory, a cafeteria/auditorium/church, housing for Zambian staff, lodge-type housing for volunteers, and housing for us with a large attached guest room.

Things you can start collecting: We are projecting the orphanage being up and running (as far as school) in January of 2011. That is so far away it makes me sad! I hope we can do it sooner, but I know how time/building projects run in Zambia. It took 3 months to build our small hut! But there are still things you can start collecting! Crayons, glue, scissors, construction paper, toothbrushes, old books your kids don't read anymore... *Idea* You could just ziploc up some of your kids crayons and explain to them that they are for some orphans in Zambia...if 25 people did that, each orphan would have his own "set" of crayons...which you don't realize how SPECIAL that is..(I've got a great crayon blog that will soon follow..I promise!!!)

And, finally, I have no updates on Baby Lily, but I will try to find something out this week. Thanks for praying!

Zambia Orphanage Update

I know some of my blog friends have been wondering where we are in plans for the Zambian Orphanage! Things are still moving along, but very slowly. We have contacted a lawyer who will set us up as a non-profit organization and file all the paperwork we need so that people can give us tax-exempt donations. This process can take up to 6 months, so we realized that we really needed to get started on it! Once we are set up as a non-profit, we will set up a website and our plans will move along rather quickly.

On a personal level, many of you know I am the queen of lists. I already have very detailed lists of what we are selling, what we are crating, donations of things for the orphanage, things we are buying, homeschool curriculum for my kids (who are currently 2 and 1.. :) So I am busy working on it, but it's all still a ways away--tentative moving date to Zambia is still January 2009!

Prayer Request

Yesterday, our neighbor came over and asked us to pray for a little girl they know. Lily is 15 months old, and while staying at a babysitter last week, she choked on some macaroni and cheese. They cleared her airway and began CPR, but there was some macaroni aspirated into her lungs, and she was without oxygen for some time. The doctors are saying there is brain damage but they are unsure as to the extent. We don't know much about the situation, but we do know that our God is a God of miracles, and He can heal this baby girl completely if it is His will! Please pray for the Johnson family, for baby Lily, and for the babysitter as well!

Thanks!
Darbi

Tagged!

So I was tagged by my blog friend Charity (2 weeks ago--oops!) to list 5 weird things about me. I could list way more than that, but here's my 5.

1) I am completely obsessed with calendars and the passage of time. I have calendars all over my house, and I can't wait until the last evening of the month, when I change them all. Sometimes I try to make it to the actual 1st of the month before changing them, but I can't. I have a wooden day calendar in my kitchen, and the first thing I do each morning is change it. When we go on vacation, the last thing I do before I leave is change my wooden calendar to the day we get back, so that when I get home I will see it on the right day. I also have calendars in my head. I can tell you what day March 27 of this year is on, etc. (Yes, I am VERY OCD)

2) I work in our garage doing construction with Blu (we build theater doors and windows for high schools in Texas), and I am a pro at operating a planer, miter saw, and radial arm saw. I know that's just weird!

3) I hate brushing my teeth. It's the worst part of the morning. It's just so time-consuming and such a pain overall! Whenever I finish each morning (and YES I do it every morning), I smile at myself in the mirror with relief that I made it another day...

4) I'm deathly afraid of hippos. See previous post. Is that weird?

5) I've been told this is weird, though I find it quite normal and it keeps me sane. Every week, I take a different cookbook and plan out the week in meals. I then go to the store once a week to buy what I need for that week's meals. I rarely cook the same thing twice--my husband never knows what we'll be eating. I LOVE crock pot meals, because I really hate to cook! But yeah, the planning out of the meals by the week, people think I'm crazy for that!

Ok, not sure who's been tagged and who hasn't, but I tag Rachel, CeCe, and Tama (since she hasn't blogged in forever!) So come on girls, let's hear your 5 weird things!

Hippos

Have I mentioned that I am deathly afraid of hippos?? I mean, terrified. The thought of being anywhere near water in Zambia terrifies me because of hippos. We were on a safari once that was a 1/2 day river safari and 1/2 day land safari. The land part was awesome...we saw lions and elephants WAY up close, and even had a mom elephant stomp at us and get ready to charge because we got close to her baby! Too fun! The river, however...

For those of you who don't know, hippos can travel 40 mph underwater. We are on the river in a tiny little boat (holds about 15 people) and we see tons of hippos in the distance.

Here's a picture of one of the boats. (That's my sis and bro-in-law on the left!


Our river guide thinks it will be fun to get close to the hippos. This one hippo kept looking at us (I'm serious!!!), and then it started making hippo noises at us. (dogs bark, cats meow..I have no idea what hippos do, but it was doing it!) Suddenly, it went underwater, and reemerged a moment later closer to us. It was swimming towards us underwater! It kept getting closer and we all start to say "Shouldn't we leave??" Our river guide tries to start the boat, but we were STUCK. The engine would not start!! The hippo kept disappearing, and I was sure the next thing we would feel would be the overturning of the boat as the hippo flipped us and tore our flesh apart! It was AWFUL! I couldn't get off that boat fast enough!

The Joy of Being Fat

Many of you who have been to Africa know that to Africans, Americans are very fat people. And that's ok! They view being "fat" as being healthy--you obviously have plenty to eat and are well taken care of! I met so many thin girls with sculpted muscles who wanted so badly to be fat!

One lady in particular, Celia, LOVED to point out to me EACH AND EVERY time she saw me how fat I was getting. It would never fail...I would walk into the village and she would put her hands as far apart as they could go and exclaim "Oh Darbi! You are getting so fat!! Your hips are this big!" She, of course, thought she was giving me the biggest compliment, but I quickly began to dread visiting this church and hearing about how fat I was getting!!

Celia and her husband, Pastor Robinson


Another "fat" story--soon after moving to Zambia, I hired a woman to make me a chitengi dress (fancy African dress for special occasions). They are very form fitting and the women look beautiful in them! When my dress was finished, I was shocked to see a HUGE elastic waistband with a long drawstring. They are meant to be tight and zip up, but mine had weird elastic and was all bunchy around my hips. I must have looked confused, because the seamstress smiled real big and exclaimed "We made it so that you can wear it when you get fat!!" Gee, thanks...

Regrets..

I have always told myself that I want to live my life with no regrets, but sometimes that's not possible. I have many regrets about our time in Zambia, but one in particular stands out in my mind.

We had just moved to the "bush" and of course we were the talk of the town. We couldn't communicate very well yet, and people would walk by, stop, and just stare and talk among themselves. It was a very odd feeling that I hated!! I used to mumble to Blu, "I wish they would just stop staring at me!!"

One day, a few ladies walked across our "property" with huge baskets on their head. They greeted me and we exchanged the small talk that I knew in the language. Then, they told me that they were going to the river for the day to fish! They invited me along. In a moment of panic, I told them no. Thoughts ran through my head--what if they just laugh at me all day? What if a Zambian man gets me? What if they don't bring me back here and I get lost? What if there are hippos in the river? (I seriously thought this..I am TERRIFIED of hippos!)

So, the ladies kept walking, and I remained in my kitchen hut, sitting alone, wondering what purpose God had in bringing me to the bush. My "purpose" had just walked by. If I could do it all over again, I hope and pray that I would have invited myself along before they could even ask. I would jump up, grab a bottle of water and my chitengi (long skirt wrap) and yell at Blu to come look for me if I wasn't back by dark.

Maybe one day God will give me another chance.. :)

Sophia

What words are there to describe sweet Sophia? Her husband, Aaron, was the pastor at one of our largest Baptist churches in the Southern part of Zambia. They were such a nice family. When we went to visit, Pastor Aaron would have his girls serve us drinks on their knees as a sign of respect for us. Unlike other Zambian leaders, Aaron never criticized us for not coming around as much or for not giving him money. He knew that he was the leader of the church, and that it would do no good in the long run to be fully supported by Americans who would just end up leaving. He was an amazing pastor.

Sophia used to walk a 3 hour journey to a rural church in the bush, to support and teach the women of this church. Everyone loved Sophia. One day, she was late coming home. Her husband began to worry and left home on a bicycle to find her and bring her home. This expression of love is quite unusual to see between a Zambian husband and wife.

Pastor Aaron died of AIDS in 2004. We attended his funeral and the outpouring of love was just amazing. How does a pastor end up with AIDS, you may ask? There was a time in his life where he and his family fell away from the Lord, and he was unfaithful to his wife. He contracted the AIDS virus, and after he died, Sophia knew it was time to be tested. She tested positive.

We spent a lot of time with Sophia, but we really invested in her children. She has 4 girls, who are now ages 20, 18, 16, and 12. Annie, Mary, Elizabeth, and Memory. They were just a remarkable family. When our own families came to visit, we took them to Sophia's house to visit and share a meal. We loved this woman.


This was the last time we saw Sophia, along with her daughters Annie and Elizabeth.

We learned yesterday that Sophia passed away. We were shocked to hear this, though we shouldn't be. We knew when we hugged her goodbye that the next time we would see her would be in heaven. News travels slow from Zambia, and Sophia actually died last September.

These 4 girls are now AIDS orphans. Though they were raised in a Christian family, and their father was a pastor, Satan found a way into their family. The girls were most likely separated and sent to live with different family members. A family ripped apart.

I know this post is heavy, but my heart is heavy. It seems that no one is immune to the AIDS crisis in Africa.

Rest in peace sweet Sophia. I have no doubt that Aaron met you with his huge smile at the gates of heaven and walked with you to meet your Savior.

Spring Break!!!

Ok, ok, I realize that it's freezing outside, and Spring is probably the last thing on anyone else's mind.. BUT we are going on a kidless vacation in less than 2 months!!!!! We are using our airline miles so it's only costing us $10 to fly there. And we got a hotel on priceline for $65 a night! You really want to know where we're going don't you??!! It's definitely not in Texas, it will be COLD, and we've never been there before! More hints to come! :) (Jessica, you can't guess, but I still love you!)

Caedmon Funnies

If you're a faithful blog reader of mine, or you know me in "real life", then you know that my 2 1/2 year old, Caedmon, says some FUNNY things. The other day, he had a little gas. Right about the same time, a piece of grass fell from his pants to the floor. He looked down at the grass in awe, bent over to pick it up, and with his eyes SO wide he said, "I tooted grass!!" He immediately stuck his hand in his pants to see if he could pull out any more grass! Now, everytime he toots, he looks down on the floor and says "I toot grass??" to see if he did it again :)

Thursday Thankfulness!

So a few things happened today that caused me to be really thankful, so I wanted to share them with you, so you can be thankful with me! :)

1) God provided for us financially in an unexpected way the exact amount needed to pay for Blu's seminary classes this semester!

2) My little boy (age 2 and 7 months) is potty trained!! It kinda happened overnight, and I'm loving it!!

3) I got a really long email from my sister in Zambia!

4) The kids slept til 8am this morning!

5) Plans are in the works for a Spring Break childless vacation...place to be announced in the future--I'm leaving you in suspense until then!

6) I got Chicken Express for supper!

7) My Jessica - who knows all of my struggles and loves me anyway!

8) I got a one hour nap!

9) My little girl said "owie" and pointed to my bandaid!

10) Blu looked really good in his new jeans today.

Sometimes it's fun to stop and focus on the "little things" that can make a day pretty good :)

The Story of Fred...

I want to tell you a story today..a story of a man named Fred. Funny that though he was only a part of our lives for about 4 weeks, I can still see his face. We were trying to start a church in our small village, and every week we had a few stragglers that we had never seen before, who usually came because they wanted something. Fred was one of those. After church one day, he introduced himself and told us he had been coughing up blood. He said that he went to the local clinic and they told him his "blood was bad." They gave him a few pills that didn't help. Blu offered to drive him about 45 miles away to an American clinic that is set up by John Hopkins out in the bush. We didn't ever do this for anybody else, but Blu just felt he needed to do it. They kept Fred for a few days and did lots of tests (we assumed it was TB) but they came back negative, and they basically told him there was nothing they could do. Fred returned home and we promised to pray for him.

We didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks, when Fred just showed up at our hut one day. He was so excited because he said he was doing better. His friends had told him that what ailed him was not a physical problem, but a spiritual problem, and he needed to visit the witch doctor to take care of it. The witch doctor told him that he had been "cursed" and that someone had placed hair and fingernails in his chest (causing the coughing and blood). He then unbuttoned his shirt, and Blu was shocked to see an actual hole in his chest. The witch doctor had cut a hole and "removed" these fingernails and hair. Fred was now feeling better. Blu tried to make him understand that only prayer and Jesus Christ could heal him, not a witch doctor. Fred seemed remorselful for going to the witch doctor, but you could tell he was happy to be feeling better.

We soon left for South Africa to have our baby. When we returned 1 month later, Fred had died. Fred left behind a wife, who is blind, and a sweet little boy.





Please pray for the people still living in darkness in Africa.

Chicken Killer

Gosh, some of you girls are so needy!! I go out of town for a couple of days and you freak out when there's no blog!! (lol just kidding Bran!)

Anyway, someone asked after my last post if I actually killed a chicken. BUT OF COURSE!! I actually have the whole thing on videotape, but I probably killed and cooked about 3.

WARNING: The following description is not for animal lovers or the weak-stomached!

What you do is first catch the chicken. That's the hardest part. Then you just lay him on the ground and hold his body with a foot and his head with one hand, and then cut his head off with your knife with the other hand! Then you plunge him (or her) into a big pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes. Then you take him out and pluck the feathers. This was my favorite part! When the feathers are gone you can tell a lot more if it's a good, plump chicken! Anyway, then you cut him up (kinda difficult) and we usually boiled/fried him. It took about 4 hours total to cook. When it's almost done, you add tomatoes and onions to the pot and they fry in the bottom too. So yummy! One time I made my own homemade barbecue sauce and that was good too!

My stomach is growling for a good ole' Zambian chicken right now!!

Bibles for Chickens

Michele (see my previous post's blog comments) has inspired me to continue my stories from Zambia. For some reason, the first one that came to mind was our chickens!!

In Zambia, our mission agency had the policy that we do not give away Bibles. This is very controversial to some. The reasoning is that if you just give away free Bibles they become something not very precious, that someone will just sell and most likely use the money to get drunk. However, if you "charge" something for the Bible, it becomes something precious that they will treasure. So we would give out a list of Bible verses that they could memorize in exchange for their Bible, or they would most often bring a chicken for a Bible. Soon, our hut was surrounded by tons of chickens!! We got roosters that crowed at 2am, laying chickens, and all sorts of ugly things!! We cooked a couple of them, gave some to friends in neighboring villages, but I'm sure all the other people in our village called us the Chicken Bazungu! (chicken white people!)

Our hut with a few of our many Bible Chickens!

Final Adoption Update

Following you will find an excerpt from a letter to our adoption agency. Please pray for our family as we prepare to embark on our journey to Zambia.

Our family entered the Acres of Hope Liberia adoption program in July of 2007. During the time since then, we accepted and lost a referral for sweet Samuel, and we are currently awaiting a new referral.
We are very aware of all of the “turmoil” that Acres of Hope has gone through recently. We feel that the staff at Acres is taking the necessary steps to evoke change that will make adoptions even smoother, and we appreciate this.

However, we know that change takes time. We also know that the Minister of Health wishes to slow adoptions in Liberia. If our family were going to remain in the USA for a few more years, we would sit back and eagerly anticipate our new referral from Acres of Hope, though it may be months away.

Our family, however, is in a situation where we do not have the luxury of this time to wait. God has called us and has amazingly provided funding for us to return to the country we love, Zambia, to open an orphanage and school to minister to HIV and AIDS orphans. We plan to move our family to Zambia in the coming year to begin this exiting endeavor.

Things are falling into place; however, after much prayer, we have seen that due to the changes being made at Acres of Hope and the Minister of Health’s new changes as well, God is closing the door on our adoption at this time. Some ask if we are sad, or if we feel that we “heard God wrong” about our adoption. Instead, we just feel that God is taking our dream of helping one African orphan and saying, “I have something bigger for your family.”