Christmas In Moulton

Christmas Eve we headed North to spend Christmas with the Osborns.  The boys love going to Moulton, especially when Aunt Betsy and Uncle Michael are there. They get lots of attention and are spoiled rotten :) We cooked dinner in and sang Christmas carols on Christmas Eve.

It was the first year Lane sort of got excited about the whole "Santa is coming concept". We really didn't talk about it much at home, but at school they colored pictures and sang songs etc. I tried to be intentional on not playing up Santa, and talking about celebrating Jesus's birthday. Lane knew it was baby Jesus in the manger, and his parents are "Mamie and Joef". Close enough :) He understood we give each other presents to celebrate Jesus's birthday like you receive on your birthday. I really want to emphasize the true meaning of Christmas but also allow for the fun and make believe of Santa. Is this possible? I am not sure. I know when I was growing up it was. These days I feel like there is so much commercialism of Christmas..elves, trips to the North Pole, etc. that it can get overwhelming. I am just praying that we are obedient as Jesus shows us what is right for our family. 

Santa (aka Dee and She She) did come in Moulton, and they LOVED every second. 

Holden showing off his "choo choo twain"

Lane loved the work bench and tools, "just like daddy"

tractors are ALWAYS a hit

as are guns and ammo

Can you tell we are surrounded by all things BOY!!

We took a break from killing things and went to Papaw's for lunch.

Happy Birthday to Jesus!

We had a very blessed Christmas and Christmas season. 

More to come!

Loving Fall

This morning I crawled out of bed at five am to meet some friends to run. (thanks Angie and Kea!) The weather was perfect running weather. Cold enough to feel great when working up a sweat and not so cold that my throat starting hurting. Anybody know what I mean? Summer is my favorite season, but the older I get the more I appreciate fall. The crispness of the early mornings, the vibrancy of colors in nature, and of course the bounty of fall flavors. Here are some things that I have been enjoying lately:

the perfect shirt...soft and comfortable. 

by Bella Dahl

This sheperd's pie. Have I mentioned I have been eating Paleo? I really owe a whole post on it, but the jist is I just completed the 30 day Paleo challenge at our Crossfit gym. Everyone put fifty dollars into the pot and the winner took home the cash. The winner was rewarded based on percentage body fat lost. I lost three percent body fat, and 10 pounds. I was very happy with the results as I have been "meaning" to lose that last ten pounds of baby weight for let's see, Holden is 15 months old :) I also won the cash! Definitely a win-win. Everyone has asked, "will you keep doing Paleo?" YES. The great thing about Paleo is that it really is a lifestyle change, not a diet. I will probably take the 80/20 approach to just maintain and enjoy the benefits of how it makes you feel. I have more energy, sleep better, and am mostly just more balanced throughout the day. I think what I learned the most the past month is how much sugar I was ingesting was UNHEALTHY. I had sugar almost after every meal... maybe it was just a couple of Reese cups, a cookie, or a brownie, but it added up. Really one might call it a sugar addiction :) Does this mean I will not enjoy desserts now, ummm no...but everyday not so much. Now it is more of a "treat".  The biggest challenge is meal planning for our family dinner. This veggie pie recipe is what James says, "Is one of the only good things you have made so far". So there you go, give it a try!

Reading Domino, Holiday edition:

pictures taken a couple of weeks ago of the boys by my favorite, Catherine Mayo:

and last but not least, Hearing the Voice of God Bible Study by Mark Virkler. 

It is a really practical and easy to remember the four keys:

1. God's voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts.

2. Become still so you can sense God's flow of thoughts and emotions within.

3. As you pray, fix the eyes of your heart on Jesus, seeing in the spirit the dreams and visions of Almighty God

4. Journaling, the writing out of your prayers and God's answers brings great freedom in hearing God's voice 

Here is the link to the PDF that explains this in more detail and gives the scriptural foundations. 

Our homework this week was to "practice", and I had some really fruitful time with Jesus. 

I think the hardest part for me was getting STILL and quieting my mind. The neat thing was though, once I did, it didn't take long for him to begin speaking. He was ready and waiting, all I had to do was ask. 

More Africa

A few more things I don't want to forget... 

Church in Meto was amazing! These ladies are the choir, and their music is beautiful as are there tribal outfits. They do a cool shoulder move that gets their tribal collars moving in rhythm, unlike anything I have ever seen. 

The prayer chair. We had some awesome prayer warriors on our team. After a patient would see either the doctor or the dentist, they would then rotate to the chair. Isn't that how it should be every time, modern medicine and faith, hand in hand?

I love this picture as it depicts another aspect of their sweet giving spirit. This lady, Elizabeth, was a patient of James earlier in the week. He extracted a couple of teeth that were infected. The day we were leaving, she stood outside our mission center for over an hour until he awoke to give him beaded necklaces she had made just for him. She said (through the translator) that he showed great kindness and compassion.

She also presented me with one as his wife. 

Ashley, Julie, Caroline, Steven, Matt, Charles, Alan, and Joseph 

They hiked to Tanzania on our afternoon off of clinic. I took a nap :)

The last night, Bishop Moses and his wife Agnus invited us to their home to eat dinner. 

We enjoyed lamb (ok I might have just nibbled a bite as I saw them alive a couple hours prior), cabbage, beans, rice, and a delicious fried tortilla bread. The cabbage was the best I have ever had. James ate so much I thought he would be sick. He LOVED it. He is part Maasai at heart. 

The last leg of the trip was a night at Serena Amboseli. Amboseli is a national park that is near the Tanzania border and Mount Kilimanjaro. It is a beautiful place with every animal you can think of. It was a great night to enjoy each other's fellowship and reflect on the week. 

My Aunt Elon is the beautiful brunette that I am standing right behind in the picture above. I was so blessed that she was on the team. There was one particular moment in the church service that I just kept picturing my Aunt Meg. (who passed away of cancer several years ago, but was on the very first trip to Meto and who the library there is named after) I could see her smiling her infectious smile, and picture her loving on the people I was now meeting. It was very emotional, and I was thankful to have Aunt Elon (Meg's sister) there to experience it with. 

James enjoying the safari

The Sams, Osborns, and the Bobos

wonderful ladies on the morning safari

Just some of the amazing animals on the morning and afternoon drives. 

If you can tell, it was a trip of a lifetime, except I hope to go back again (and one day take the boys!) 

My heart has a new love for my brothers and sisters in Christ in Meto. 

The Lord loves all of his children everywhere and to experience that first hand is hard to explain, but forever imprinted on my heart. 

Thanks again to Ashley Johnson for all of the wonderful pictures!!!

A Wedding and Meeting James

When we arrived in Meto after a five hour drive in from Nairobi, we were just in time for the wedding of Phillip and Naomi. Phillip is Bishop Moses's son. Bishop Moses is the leader of the Charismatic Church locally (CEC), and also Integrity's local representative. He is a wonderful Christian man and has been blessed by the Lord for his obedience. They scheduled the wedding date and time in hopes that we would be there. It was a blend of the traditional Maasai ceremony and the Christian covenant of marriage. 

(all photo cred: Ashley Johnson)

She looked stunning with all of the handmade bead necklaces.

They immediately ushered the whole team to the front seats by the bridesmaids and family. It was a complete honor. I had never met them, and they were showing honor and love to their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. 

An even more humbling moment is when they served us cake. Their tradition is to cut the cake and then feed not only each other, but people of importance. For example, the wedding party, the church leaders, their parents, and the tribal leaders. They then served us! I knew if this was a glimpse at how the rest of the week and relationships with the people in Meto would develop, I was in for a supernatural blessing. 

They are such colorful people. The first thought I had was, "they are beautiful!". It was not just their physical beauty, but an inner beauty that only comes from knowing Jesus. They have such JOY.

The next day after church (more on that in another post), we toured the small village of Meto. 

Little did I know we were in for the best moment to me of the whole trip. 

We have been sponsoring for the last year, a University of Nairobi student, named James. 

Last year, Integrity held an Impact meeting, asking for sponsorships of students to allow them to continue their education. Some were for primary students, some secondary students, and a handful of University students. We had asked God to show us a specific person to help, and He made it very obvious. James was the first story we read, and not only did it prick our hearts, but his name is the same as my James and he is the exact same age. 

Here is a snippet of his history:

James is one of the brightest and hardworking students in the area. He scored a 440 on the high school exit exam (equivalent to our SATs), the highest in history in the village. To attend school, James would have to work for three years saving to have enough money for one semester of college. Because of the bad drought two years prior, all of his family's animals died, destroying any income he had. Because of this he said, "I almost gave up." He stayed at home to help his family recover. He has 9 brothers and 3 sisters. Only 3 of them are in school. 

We were hoping to meet him, but didn't know when in the trip it would happen as he also teaches at the secondary school to supplement living costs in the city. The first day while we were touring around, he comes up to Alan Jr (who leads the trip, and is accepted as family by the whole village). Alan says "Hello James!" and looks at us with a smile...I knew immediately it was our James. I tried really hard to hold it together as I also knew he didn't know that people were behind the Integrity sponsorships. Alan did a great job of introducing us saying, "James and Rayne in America read your application, and saw your potential and wanted to help"...it then hit him that because of the Lord we were able to help him go to the University. I couldn't hold it in any longer and the tears came. What a sweet moment it was to give him a big hug. I love that Ashley captured it, even though it is a moment I will never forget. He said later he couldn't believe that people would believe in him that much. 

We were able to spend some time with him the next day and really got to know him. He has such vision and wants to change the way his village sees education. He studies sociology and education. I know he will help change their world for the better. He is a believer and gave God the glory in every conversation. It is moments like this you see God at work in a clear way. His plans are much bigger than ours, yet he is in each detail. What a blessing that we get to be apart of it with our relationship with James. 

our friend James

Feeding the Children

There are so many things I want to share about our trip to Meto, Kenya, so I have decided to break it up in installments.  One of my favorite experiences of the whole trip was the opportunity to feed the primary school children lunch. I have already shared this picture with you after the killing of the animals for their feast.

We arrived to around five hundred children ages five to twelve getting ready for the meal. The first thing that struck me is how well behaved they were. The younger ones wash up first and get in line, and the older children wait patiently for their turn. Let me back a bit...these children do not get lunch everyday. The school (and Integrity, the organization we were with) helps feed them three times a week. A large number of them live ten plus miles away so they don't walk home every night and literally spend the night out in the "bush". This means they also don't eat much for dinner. No going home for an after school snack or a warm meal before bed. So, if I only had three hot meals during the week, I would think I would be charging the food line :) 

All photo credit goes to Ashley Johnson:

The meal we helped serve consisted of rice, beans, and a stew (which was potatoes, beans, onion, and goat). Having meat in the stew was a real treat, and described as what a Christmas or Easter dinner would be like. 

melt. my. heart. 

This is Dennis, he is a mess. 

Each child brings their own bowl/cup for their lunch to go in. Another thing that amazed me is that some didn't have one, and would come up to be served with a friend. To these children, we would serve a double portion. They then would go sit and share their meal. No fights, tears, struggles...quiet, equal sharing. My sweet wonderful children fight over who gets to drink milk out of which color cup at meal time. 

Another observation, was that if there was any left over, you can continue serving until there is nothing left. The younger children are usually first in line for "seconds" and again no complaints or grumblings from the older kids. I think the point I am trying to make is that they are content with what they have though by our "standards" it is not much. 

It is also a privilege to go to school. The Maasai people of this area historically are herdsman. The children as young as three or four are out herding the goats, sheep, and cows. They are not always able to go to school as they are in charge of the animals. So if you are able to send your kids to school, you are doing well. 

The church women preparing the meal

Stay tuned for more installments...