A lot going on lately...

WOW! It's been a busy, busy two weeks. On June 11th I turned 28. It was a great day. The day started off with Arnett waking up and getting Zeke, which allowed me to sleep in. Then he surprised me with breakfast in bed. We didn't do much that day but that evening we were able to go out on a date which was great too!! The following day, Saturday, we had planned to go to the grocery store and out to eat. We woke up to really hot weather and no power, so I came up with the idea of going to the pool first, then to the grocery store, and then to eat. Arnett said okay, so I started getting ready. Well about 10:15 or so a group of the ladies we work with show up at our house. He had arranged a ladies day at the pool for my birthday. So, they were a little shocked when they arrived and  was already in my bathing suit but it worked out perfectly. One of my dear friends, Krista, made me a deliciously, yummy chocolate cake. So, before we headed to the pool we ate cake. It was a great day and we had lots of fun!! The first picture is of me and the baker and the second one is of me and Alyson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The week following my birthday we went out to the village. It was supposed to be the week I started meeting with the ladies. Well, it didn't go as planned, which normally nothing does in Africa. At 9:00pm none of the ladies had showed up. I decided to go find my friend, Mandy. She was at her house shelling peanuts. I asked her, "We aren't going to study tonight?" She replied, "Well, we can." I could tell she didn't want to so I just let things stay as they were. I did tell her that next week I wanted to meet with them, she said "Okay." Then, she and our village mom agreed to tell all the ladies about it. I was a little disappointed at first but God assured me He was in control. I also learned that these ladies aren't used to meeting so I'm going to have to be pushy with them. So, even though it didn't go as I had planned, it was an okay trip.

This boy rode Zeke around for an hour or so. Zeke loved it!!

 

 

 

 

 

Our cute little bush baby!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weekend of the 18th, our entire team went on a team retreat. We went to a place on a lake that's about 2 hours outside of town. We had a great time. We had a hot dog roast, played cards and lots of board games, watched some movies, and just hung out. We had a great time!!

Arnett and Zeke

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zeke and I

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zeke playing in our trunk aka our suitcase

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past week was another good but busy week. Arnett and Mitch left on Monday for the village. Praise the Lord, they were able to get a lot accomplished in getting things ready to begin planting. Zeke and I went out on Wednesday. I made sure this week that the ladies knew we were going to study. Of course, after dinner, I still had to go get Mandy. However, on our way back to our hut to do the study, they started telling all the other women to come. Praise the Lord 9 women came!! The story time went great. I was able to  tell the story and ask the questions. However, the majority of these women aren't believers, so my original plan of just walking through the stories with them is having to be refined. So, please keep that in your prayers. I'm seeking the Lord's direction in exactly how He wants me to lead these ladies.

On Thursday, of this week we had a birthday party for Zeke. I know it's a month late but on his actual birthday no one was in town. This past weekend we had a big meeting for everyone in Mali, so EVERYONE was in town. He was not a fan of all the attention, he gets that from his Daddy! So, the whole, giving him a cake of his own didn't go like I had thought it would. He did finally get into some. Here are some pictures of the day.

Zeke's cake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before the party started.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's not too sure about this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to show him how to dig into the cake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See it's good!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still not so sure...

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Mom are you crazy? I'm not sticking my hand in that!"

 

 

 

 

 

"Daddy, I just want out!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He finally got the hang of it and enjoyed his cake!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past weekend we had a Mali Meeting with all the people in our company that work in Mali. It was a great time of fellowship and worshipping in our heart language.

Praises:

1. The work in the village continues to go well!!
2. A great team retreat!
3. We are all healthy!!
4. Zeke is a happy and growing 1 year old!
5. The time we had with our colleagues and the ability to worship in English!!

Prayer Requests:

1. Rain for the village.
2. The men and women's storying groups.
3. Direction in leading the women's group.
4. Continued good health.

Thank you for walking on this journey with us!! Until next time...