Hello world!
Let me take this opportunity to at least wrap up the year with an update. First of all, it’s been EXTREMELY HOT here recently. It hadn’t rained for the last 2 weeks or so until just a few days ago. In fact the heaviest rain we’ve had in a long time came on Christmas day. We’re talking a serious downpour for several hours straight. It ended up being a freezing cold Christmas after all.
In other news, we got a new puppy! I don’t even remember if I wrote about giving the other dog away but it’s now with a different owner. It was causing problems between us and our neighbors so we thought we’d try a different one. This one is a girl and her name is Roxy. She’s exactly what I wanted in a dog because she’s social and friendly around most people but can also bark at strangers. Our neighborhood is becoming increasingly dangerous so it will be good to have some extra security once the dog grows a little.
I’m about 8 months pregnant now though still small. I guess I’m just one of those small pregnant ladies. Most people think I’m around 6 months because of my size. Due to her years of experience, Grandma was the only one who guessed I was 8 months! People keep telling me if I was an African I would be so fat by now! I must say for a first pregnancy I feel it has treated me fairly well thus far.
There was one set back the other week which put me in the hospital for a couple days, but it wasn’t exactly pregnancy related. It was food poisoning, made worse by the fact that I couldn’t take any normal medication for it because it wouldn’t be safe for the baby. It developed into some kind of bacterial infection but I was well treated at the hospital. We thank God that the baby was fine throughout and I’m also fine now.
In the beginning I was just nervous about pregnancy because I’ve always heard about how hard it was. I had a picture in my mind of being miserable for 9 months, and though it’s not easy, it definitely hasn’t been as bad as I thought. Now I’m just terrified about the whole delivery thing! I mean, I’ve seen it a hundred times in the movies and watched a live video in biology class, but what is it actually like?! Anyways, I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it, but I feel like time is flying and I’m approaching the bridge very quickly!
Michael is doing well in all of this. He was afraid I would hate him and be annoyed with him through most of the pregnancy but so far it’s been the opposite. I feel really clingy around him now and I get really jealous when he spends his time with anyone but me! Thankfully his job is flexible and we can spend a fair amount of time together. In addition to managing the guest house, he also gets some cake deals here and there. He’s hoping to break through into UCU next year and run a canteen there since there is a vacant building already. He would love to be running his own business rather than working for other people.
I’m happy to say we were able to go to Salama School for the Blind three weeks in a row for music ministry as their school term ended. They don’t resume again until February of next year but at least we are off the ground and running with teaching the kids music. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful team of keyboard and guitar teachers and I really thank God for their commitment. They not only teach but are also passionate about seeing the ministry succeed, and I can see how much they really love the kids too.
So far it has been amazing to see how quickly some of the students are picking up these instruments. I can’t wait to see how far we will get in the next year going every Saturday to teach. In the meantime we are trying to get at least 2 new keyboards and a guitar which we can give to the school so that they have instruments of their own. We are working on finding the best way of receiving financial support from countries abroad because of course, we hope to have many partners supporting the ministry in the future.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We spent Christmas weekend visiting Grandma, my host family from 2008, and Aunt Susan in the village. It was nice and refreshing to get away from the crowded and noisy city for a few days. We really feasted and managed to finish off a whole goat and 3 chickens!
We wish you a blessed and happy new year!
