The BIG DAY has arrived!

I do not think we could do anymore to get Tori ready for school.

All that was left was for her to go.

My heart is filled with emotion this morning. We drove the 2 blocks to school this morning. Tomorrow I think we will walk. The traffic was amazing. As I turned the corner and began to see hundreds of kids and their parents going into the building, tears immediately filled my eyes.

As we walked into the building holding hands Tori said, "I just wish I knew at least one person." I said, "The great thing is, that tomorrow you will!"

When we walked in the principal said, "Good morning Tori!"

Those words were a welcomed surprise for us both!

We made it into the classroom and Tori found her desk and sat down.

I could tell she was nervous but I know she is also thrilled to be there!

The Lord has answered some very specific prayers and already shown us that we are in the right place. What a comfort it is to know that this morning while I am talking to the Lord about my precious Tori, his eyes are on her.

We can't wait to hear the afternoon report!

Watching Tori and I leave for school was just almost too much for the remaining three to take!

They sure will be happy to see her this afternoon.

My Precious Tori

Tori and I had a night out tonight and it was FUN!

I don't know if you noticed in the pictures so I will point it out, we dressed alike!

We went to finish up some school supply shopping since tomorrow night is Meet the Teacher night at her new school and she is supposed to bring all of her school supplies.

We then went to Starbucks where Tori requested that we go through the drive thru so that

"we could listen to music and just talk." I absolutely love that!!!

My heart is walking around in this little girl. Oh I love her so much!

Tonight I presented Tori with a very special plate.

We talked about 2Timothy 2:21 that says in the Living Bible,

"If you stay away from sin you will be like one of the dishes made of purest gold

- the very best in the house-

so that Christ himself can use you for his highest purposes."

I knew that Tori would not be really excited about a gold plate but I was right that she would be excited about a special cowgirl plate! We talked about running away from anything that gives us bad thoughts and staying close to anything that makes you want to do right.

2 Timothy 2:22 says to "Have faith and love, and enjoy the companionship of those who love the Lord and have pure hearts."

Tori and I have been praying daily for over a year about her third grade school experience. We know the Lord is in the details and that he has selected her teacher that she will meet tomorrow night. We know that she will make special friends and that she will be a special friend to someone who is needing one.

School starts Monday. We are gearing up for this day in a BIG way.

Thank you for your prayers for every member of our family as we transition into American life. There is nothing easy about it.

A New Reality

Obviously I did not make it back to this blog as quickly as I had originally hoped. This week began a new reality..Randy (Daddy) went to work at Freedom Tire and Wheel. He leaves for work in the morning at 7:25 A and we do not see him again until between 6:30 and 7P every night. Wow! This is a huge adjustment.

Randy and I have had the incredible blessing of daily being together for 11 of our 12 years of marriage, and we have LOVED this kind of life. Sure there have been many days that Randy had meetings out in the village or days of teaching at our house with church leaders, but he has been accessible and usually we had either the morning or the evening together...not so with the new job. I am so thankful that Randy is excited about his new job and senses a purpose in being there ....at moments when I truly have a second to have a focused thought, this encourages me!

This week the scripture that would describe the condition of my heart is Psalm 61:2. "From the ends of the earth, my heart cries out to you. I cry as my heart grows faint; lead me to a rock that is higher than I." I have been overwhelmed. I miss my husband. I love him so much and I am truly thankful for what he is doing right now to provide for our family. He started work in what has been the hottest week in Texas so far. He is physically working harder than he has ever had to do and has an amazing attitude.

Parenting this week has been hard. I am in the midst of learning how to parent 4 small children on my own during the day and how to live life in America at the same time. This is just part of the transition of returning to America. I am where I want to be. I am not longing to return to Benin. I am missing the family time and the way that our family was able to function together. Even so, I know we will push through this and figure it out one day at a time.

Last week in Littlefield we had a wonderful time. When we returned home I quickly realized that I had lost my Bible or at least misplaced it ...this was a big deal. I looked through everything and spoke with all of our family that had been there and no one had seen it. I was literally sick at heart and was mentioning it a lot around my family. One night Tori said, " Mom I just don't understand what is so precious about this particular word of God." She really thought I should just go out and by another one. I did consider this but my heart was aching for my Bible! My Bible has been through a lot with me, in some ways it is like my journal, marked with special dates and worn pages that make it easy to find comforting words in time of need. I AM IN NEED! Today I received a great word from my mother in-law that when she arrived at church this morning, someone handed her my Bible. She is putting it in the mail tomorrow!!! I am overjoyed!!!

Last night after church, my parents offered to take Tori, Timothy, and Jonathan to their ranch in Baird! This gave Randy and I some very special time with Lael this weekend because this weekend marks 2 years since Lael came to our family! We have been so blessed by this absolutely precious baby girl! She has been a daughter of peace! I was teasing her tonight about how peacefully she came to our family and now she is becoming so sweet and sassy! This girl is FULL of personality! We are crazy about her and know that the Lord's plans for her are great!

A lot of fun in West Texas!

We just returned last night from a wonderful week in West Texas visiting Randy's family!

There were many sweet memories made as you can see from these fun pictures.

I plan to post some text tomorrow explaining some of the pictures.

Expect blessing this week! The Lord is good!

34 days in America . . . but . . .

. . . it feels like we've lived 340!


This American life is full of activity, fun, fellowship, community, opportunities, and a host of people to share it with. It is shocking to us that we just passed the ONE month mark since our departure from Africa. It feels like it was another lifetime ago. We've used it before, but I continue to go back to the "Chronicles of Narnia" imagery of the wardrobe. We have now been thrust out of the wardrobe and back into American life. To think of our life in Africa is almost like thinking of a dream, another life, a fairy tale, and another set of characters. I think of a different me.


My one month analysis of myself is this: when I lived in Benin 40 days ago, I knew my role, I understandood (for the most part) the language and culture around me, I grasped the purpose of my days and I knew how to channel my unique God-given gifts and abilities for His purposes. On the other side of life, the American me seems completely stupefied by America.


On the higher spiritual side of things, I must rejoice in God's continual purpose at work in our lives, no matter where we live, no matter our occupation, no matter our circumstances. So, in general terms, we are humbly walking through these days of re-entry, looking for ways to give God praise. We want to continue living our lives for His glory. For His mission. To share the love of Jesus with people around us. That's the mission that transcends all us.


On the lower reality side of things, I astonish myself (and others I'm sure) about how little I know how to do. It's comical. We received some generous gift cards to Home Depot recently, so I thought I'd run out one night and stock up on some tools since I left every one of mine in Benin. I drove to HD with a giddy anticipation (I'll add that I find myself more loyal to HD over Lowes if anyone cares). Who out there wouldn't love a bunch of gift cards to buy new tools?!


I did well with the first few items, yet increasingly feeling the threat of choice hovering around me on every aisle. So many choices! I turned the corner to look at cordless drills. I had even done this trip to Home Depot a few weeks earlier, simply looking and exploring with Donny. But now I was all alone, facing a wall full of colors, brands, specs, and prices. I was overwhelmed! Yes, so much that before I could go any further in my shopping spree (and before I welled up in tears in this very testosterone-feeling place), I pulled out my cellphone and called for backup! I called Donny and he had to walk me through this selection! In retrospect, it is humorous to me, but I was aware at that moment of my awkward feeling of being out of touch with this life. It has revisited me several times (Donny always seems to be around to witness these breakdowns, too). This weekend, I mowed and edged my own lawn for the first time in over a decade. I felt I should have 911 on my speed-dial as I examined myself attempting to manipulate all these high-powered gas motors and complicated equipment.


Perhaps I exaggerate my feelings, but it does illustrate some of how we are feeling at this point (I should speak for myself here I guess since Kelly and I will navigate these waters differently). Not too long ago in Africa, I was sure of who I was and what I was doing, where I lived and to whom I ministered. As we re-enter our homeland, even with all its familiarities, I feel like a stranger in a foreign place. In funny ways, the simplest of tasks seems almost complicated or overwhelming. In other ways, the newness of our life here breeds excitement and anticipation. Still in many days, we are just barely wet and it seems like the freight train has taken off even before I could settle in and get adjusted to my seat. That's the exciting part, but the terrifying part as well. When we left Africa, we left behind a pace of life that is so unique and one that I will always cherish. It seems virtually impossible to mimic it in this place. It's sad to me, yet I don't wish to linger in the past, but rather embrace the future.


So after a week of visiting family in West Texas, I will jump right in and start my new employment. I am equally energized and equally terrified at the same time. It's the same as any new job, new experience, or new opportunity. I totally expect God to walk with me each day in this new environment. Kelly and I were talking today about whether we feel "peace" about where we are at and how it is going. It's difficult to have peace be defined by one particular thing. Can you feel physically tired and still feel peaceful? Can you feel terrified about what's ahead and still feel peaceful? Can you almost dread the day yet still feel at peace about where God has you? As we relived our memories of our opening days in Benin back in 1999, I would say a resounding yes to all of the above. The peace that I'm talking about is not the peace that is defined by the at-the-moment emotion or feeling. It is a peace that does transcend all understanding. It is a perpetual peace that sustains us through times of fear, inadequacy, or the feeling of being lost and out of place. It is a peace that carries us at all times. This is the peace that drove us to Benin, carried us through the ups and downs of life there and the same peace that allowed us to finish strong. So now, we continue in this same peace here . . .


OK, enough for now. I've included some pictures of the kids and also one of us with Tessa Tunnell. We enjoyed a special evening with Tessa and her parents. Tessa will be leaving to spend the fall semester in Zambia, Africa (through Harding University). It was a thrill for us to have them in our home and hear about Tessa's excitement and faith. We had the privilege of sharing our experience with her and praying for her and Todd and Gail. Thanks guys for letting us share in this moment with you all!

We'll try and blog a little over the week as we visit my folks, my older brother and his family, my Granny and alot of other wonderful people.


-Randy

A fun trip to Searcy Arkansas!

We just returned from a wonderful 2 day trip to Searcy. Our main reason for going involved eye exams with Dr. Bailey, however, there was much more to the trip! It was a great family get away in our new car...we loved the smooth roads and the gas stations with clean restrooms and fountain drinks and fun snacks! We loved the beautiful trees and opportunities to see cows and horses grazing in the fields. We absolutely loved staying with Dr. Bailey and Ms.Betty! They also happen to be my sister in-law's (Emille) parents which makes them extra special!!! They treated to us great food, slip and slide fun for the kids and Ms.Betty treated Tori and I to a tour of the best places to go shopping in Searcy! We had a blast! Last night after dinner we all went to walk around the Harding University campus. It has changed a lot since the last time we were there and is even more beautiful than before! Our dear friends Monte and Beth Cox live close to the campus so we took a chance and knocked on their door, wondering if they might be in town. They were!!! We were able to have a great visit and introduce them to our entire crew! The picture at the bottom of this post is of me and Beth. This is a dear dear friend who has been used by God to impact my life in big ways! I love her so much and her wonderful husband Monte too! Walking around the Harding campus
Sweet fun at the Baileys' house...

also includes a picture of Lael wearing her DVD headphones in the car!

Beth Cox and Kelly

Beth and her husband Monte are former missionaries to Kenya.

I had the opportunity to intern under them in 1990.

My life was forever changed after that summer.

The Lord's plans are good! His ways are beyond tracing out! I had no idea what the Lord was orchestrating when I agreed to go to Kenya that summer. I love being able to look back and see the trace of his hand, especially during a time of my life when I tended to think that the decisions of my future were up to me and anxiety often filled my soul. The Lord was there, leading me into the lives of people who were equipping me and encouraging me about the days to come. Thank you Lord!

Our kids continue to adjust well to life in America.

They are having fun with cousins and friends and even having the thrill of making new friends on our street! We are seeing the Lord answer many prayers!

Who needs toys when you have a laundry basket?

The Lord says in Hosea 11:4

"I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love..."

One of those cords of kindness in my life is my friendship with Kelly Christian.

Words are inadequate to describe her preciousness to me.

I still can't believe that I am less than 5 minutes from her house!!!

Fun Girl Friends!

This weekend Randy's parents were in town! Sunday evening after our housewarming shower, Randy had been given many tickets to the Texas Rangers Baseball game. He took Tori and Timothy, along with many other Dads and their kids, as well as Randy's parents. These tickets were provided by a good friend who has a Suite at the Park. They had such a blast! Lael has such a great time with Papa! He had the special thrill of hearing her say his name!
Here are some pics from the Ranger game as well as our trip to ride the train at Forest Park on Tuesday! That was a lot of fun too!
Here are some pics of T and T with their new bikes! As well,we had the opportunity to celebrate Nana and Papa's 42 years of marriage!! We did this on Tuesday night with ice cream and swimming at Donny and Kendra's house!

Overwhelmed with generous love!

This weekend Richland Hills gave us a Welcome Home shower. It has been such a generous outpouring of love and we are blessed, honored and beyond my ability to express, we are thankful! We feel the Lord's love and provision through the hearts of such dear wonderful friends from Richland Hills. Some of these people I have known my entire life, some have come to Richland Hills since we left and know us through our brothers and sisters and parents and there are even some that I just met yesterday who have been praying for us and the work among the Aja for many years! What an unspeakable joy to be in the body of Christ!

Thank you Lord!

Here are a few fun pictures from yesterday!

Our moms!
Aunt Becky and Sweet Lael
Best buds...Timo and Payton

Texas: There's No Place Like Home!

It's been 2 weeks now and Kelly and I are enjoying a very blessed re-entry experience. Our friends and family have overwhelmed us with generosity, love, encouragement and have also given us the space to just live life and be a family. It's been great. We are so blessed by our church family, too! Everyone has been so good to us. Tori was in her bliss today, getting to enjoy a new cowgirl hat, and get a pedicure with Precious, her grandmother. Kelly's mom is so fun with Tori! Tori was excited to get the Texas flag with stars painted on her toes! While a Dad may never fully appreciate the art of toe painting, I can tell you Tori loved it! Isn't she just beautiful!?!!!!

Life in America is full of choices and more choices. We bought a car last week and it was almost too much...in the end, I test-drove only 2 different vehicles (my pre-States mindset was to test-drive a dozen different models, but in the end, I felt like asking someone else, "just pick one for me.") We are not like the missionaries of yesteryear who walked off a boat after being in far-off Africa for 40 years. We are NOT seeing life in America the first time. Thus our culture shock is probably not as severe, traumatic, or overwhelming as it once was for missionaries. We will no doubt encounter our personal experiences when this "new" culture offends us, frustrates us, or even drives us crazy. Probably right now, we're all in that "honeymoon" phase where everything seems just wonderful. BUT, even though as "modern missionaries" (made-up term), we still find America overwhelming with all its options, choices, and personalized selections. If you want pancake syrup, you'll need to know decide in advance:
(1) brand-name or generic brand,
(2) made with real butter or just butter flavored,
(3) original or some flavor,
(4) the strong stuff or light syrup,
(5) reduced sugar or sugar-sweetened with Splenda,
(6) big bottle or little bottle,
(7) little bottle or travel size,
(8) travel size for multiple servings or travel size for single use
and on and on.......

Choices. Wow! While I've been to Wal-Mart and Target countless of times on furlough, I never cease to be amazed by the aisles and aisles of choices. Not so much the amount of stuff under one roof, but rather the number of CHOICES on each aisle (our African friends would never get past the front entrance...they'd be in too much awe of our American SUPER "markets"). My goodness! There are 2 different brands of bottled water in Benin. Pretty easy to pick (and the one we preferred is the default one that is brought if you don't specify the other). Here, I couldn't believe all the various brands, bazillion flavors, and now there are new protein waters with extra vitamins and minerals. Cereal choices in Africa are like 5 (and 4 of those are stale generic corn flakes). Here's there's about 65, enough for 2 aisles! Drive-through fast-food is too much for me at this point. I have to go INSIDE because I feel too much pressure staring at this large board with all kinds of pictures and prices, all the while feeling the honk bound to be coming from the fella behind me because I'm taking too long. That's why we also like Sonic. We pull up to our own drive-up parking spot with our personal little choice-board and just STARE. No pressure. Somewhere about 10 minutes later, we finally get around to pushing that red button (meanwhile the car that pulled up at the same time we did already has their food and is gone!)

The days are long here; so long that it feels like we've been here a whole lot longer than 2 weeks. One reason is the hours of daylight. In Benin, it was black dark at 7:30p and the kids were all in bed by 8:30p at the very latest. Here, it is 9p before it is dark and our kids are having trouble finding it reasonable to be in their PJs while it is still daylight (that'll change next month when school starts!) Our energy level is twice what it was in Benin simply (I think) because our minds understand everything we say and that is said to us. When you live and work in one or more foreign languages, your mind and body are naturally more fatigued by the end of the day. In Benin, when we would eat out at a restaurant in the capital city, I would tune out any other conversations at nearby tables simply because without concentrating heavily, I couldn't really make out the context of what they were saying. But here in the U.S., I find myself eavesdropping on all the conversations around us, simply because I can understand everyone! (by the way, not all conversations are worth listening in on!)

Today I am aware of the uniqueness of American privacy and seclusion. In Benin, life is lived out in the open. In America, we live so much of our lives behind the walls of our home (of course, lovin' that good ol' reliable AC!) We now live in this small town north of a large Texas city. If I moved into a small town in Benin, we'd know everyone in that village by the end of the day. It's been 2 weeks now and I have met (and SEEN) only 2 of our neighbors on our street. People drive in their cars, pull into their garages, and all you really see of people are their heads. I'm so thankful WE enjoy the community of our church fellowship and the rich blessing of family. There are plenty of people in this country who have neither one and are very lonely (and subsequently engage in all kinds of sordid activities to fill that void). One of most powerful witnesses of the American church is for us to share this rich community and fellowship with other people!!

I was talking with an African friend one time who himself had a friend who had visited America once. I asked my friend about his friend's most memorable impression of life in America. He told me that his friend said, "in America, people don't get their feet dirty. They live in clean homes and then get into clean cars and drive to clean stores and back home again. Their feet never touch the soil." While this one-time visitor only gleaned a partial truth about life in our culture, it is interesting to view such a way of life when we just left a place where the red dirt permeated your feet, sandals and clothes! This African brother wasn't necessarily even referring to hygiene, but rather proverbially having doubts that we lacked a strong fellowship between us as people because, to him, Americans don't spend alot of time walking down to their neighbor's house to visit and fellowship. While I hygienically prefer cleanliness over dirty feet, how do I challenge his perception and actually engage my neighbors in conversations about their lives? God has called us to dwell in this house in this small town. How do we dwell here? If dwelling is more than just eating, sleeping and playing, how do we minister the love of Jesus from this home into the lives of those people around us? Do we invite these strangers into our home? Do we take our very active household of 4 kids into their house? How do you get to know people, minister to them, and share life with them?

OK, that's enough for today. We're experiencing new stuff everyday and having lots of things to talk about in our home. Thank you to all of you local folks who are bringing us meals! What a blessing that is!

-Randy

Randy and I are finally connected to the internet! We hope to begin blogging regularly again soon. We have been so generously blessed since our return to America! Yes we are daily overwhemled with choices and decisions to be made but this is life in America. Just as it took much time to orient ourselves to the Benin culture, it will take a lot of time to re-orient ourselves to this culture!
Our kids are doing wonderful. They have been surrounded by cousins and friends since we arrived and they absolutely LOVE our rent house.

Yesterday we celebrated Lael's 2 year old birthday! What a sweet surprise gift from God she continues to be in our life! It is such a joy to finally be able to share her with our family and friends.

Funny ! ! !

This cracks us up! Called "The Mom Song" or "William Tell Momisms", here's the author's personal website so you can find out more:

http://www.anitarenfroe.com/index.htm

We're Home!

It is wonderful to be back in Texas, surrounded by family and friends! We have been showered with love and blessings! It was so good to enjoy a great 4th of July day with our family...just hanging out, visiting, laughing, sharing stories, and enjoying ALL the kids...15 kids under one roof!

Our days are full already but we are loving it. We are so rich to be covered by the prayers of so many...many in America as well as so many of our friends in Benin. We are blessed.

We arrived to a beautifully furnished rent house and we absolutely love it. Thank you to any of you who had a part to play in making it feel like home!! The kids love their rooms and all the special touches that people put into them to make them great kid rooms. It is a great place to be and we feel very at home here already!!

So much more to say in the days to come, as well as a thousand pictures. Here's a family photo from this morning!

Blessings!

Randy & Kelly
Tori, Timothy, Jonathan and Lael

* email us for our cell phone numbers....

We are on our way!!

Today has been a FULL day of goodbyes and parting gifts. We decided to spend our last night at our favorite hotel. This place has been a special place of rest for us over the past 8 years and we have become very close with the staff. Some of them have even made it out to Aplahoue to stay in our home. We wanted to do something nice for the staff so we had some cakes made and presented them this morning. Randy and I both took a turn at thanking them and then they had some very kind words for us and then they sang a song to us about thanking the Lord for the good things that he has done for us! Amen!!

At this moment we are taking showers, having Lael's hair done one last time by Laurance, and waiting for Randy to return from his last meal with the church leaders who traveled to Cotonou this afternoon from Aplahoue to see him one last time.

This is an amazing transition for our family. We are so thankful for our former teammate Jim Kennell who has been with us this weekend to share in the final days. We are on the same flight tonight! And we are SO thankful that my mom has endured these final weeks with us. What a blessing it has been to have her here. That sentence seems too small to say what it has meant to have her here. Thank you Dad for sharing her with us.

Our hearts are full of emotion and thoughts of the days to come. We are so thankful for your thoughts and prayers!
We will see many of you very soon and we can't wait!!!

Expecting blessing!!