Cowgirl boots and flowers.... two pretty good things!

Closeup of a little girl and her mother.

Enjoying the zipline!

Friends.

So today, instead of posting a picture of the day although I did take one, I thought I would make this a "remember you missionaries" day. I would encourage you to earnestly pray for the people on the mission field, and if you haven't talked to them in a while, send them a note of encouragement. I can't tell you how much it means to receive a note. These people here in these pictures are our good friends the Sheppards. Mr. and Mrs. Sheppard have faithfully served the Liberian people for over 20 years. They are an amazing example of what true willingness is. Mrs. Sheppard has written a wonderful book on their experiences as missionaries to the Liberian people. Here is a link to it:

http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Transformed-Heart-Nancy-Sheppard/dp/1453830073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1296445670&sr=8-1-catcorr

(copy and paste all links into the URL box)

I would encourage you to buy this. It is a very convicting and thought provoking book and definitely worth your time.

My good friend Heidi and Jonah, the little boy the Sheppards are hoping to adopt once the moratorium on adoptions is (hopefully) lifted. And by the way. Heidi is one of the most talented photographers I know. Here is a link to her blog: http://theunperceived.wordpress.com/

Joe and his good friend Jared

A Liberian woman and her child.

So I realize I haven't posted in a while. I actually lost the memory card with half of my pictures and only found it today. It never really was lost, just a usual case of me forgetting where I put it! Anyways, I'm a little behind, but here they are!

See that sad little line and the poorly drawn airplane on the map? That's where I'm going and that's the way I'm going. I don't know when, but I'm going.

One of my favorite pictures: she is so cute!

Odell modeling one of the diapers a few wonderful young ladies helped me make last year for the babies at Rafiki Village.

Ummmm... lets just say she likes horses. Kinda sorta.

I love his smile (even with his snotty little face)!

This was Joe's birthday. I bought him this book (Jesus M.D.) and told him that someday, when he becomes a doctor, he will appreciate it. We are putting the pressure on him to be a doctor so we can all move to Africa and live in grass huts and heal people! Sounds good to me. Oh, and by the way, if you are interested in medicine, or even if you aren't, this is a wonderful book! I know the title sounds funny, but it really makes you think about how you serve.

I love this picture, especially how it has the "Jesus" in the background

This, if you were wondering (which I am sure you were), is A Thing That Hangs (for lack of a better name). Usually it hangs over a baby's crib. You may wonder why something like that is hanging in our house. Good question. I've got an answer.

Matthew 18:3 - "And he said: 'Truly I say unto you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.' "

I am trying to remain a child. (Just kidding.)

A young Masai warrior.

Mom and her good friend Mrs. Dowling.

A Liberian woman buying oranges.

I told Iryna to sit on the trailer and look awkwardly at the camera, but she preferred feeding the horse instead.

A Liberian woman preparing the evening meal.

My wonderful mother!

A little Liberian girl. She looks so tired and worn out.

If you're wondering why this one looks so much like one of my previous pictures, I can tell you. It is very simple. I am, simply, not creative! Except once in a while. I guess. Maybe. I need another opinion. You know when writers can't come up with something they call it writer's block? I guess I have photographer's block. If there is such a thing...

Oh and you want to know something? Well, even if you don't I'm going to tell you. I will start with saying that parts of our family were very strange and yes, maybe I should say "are" if you count us, but I try to ignore that side of our family. Anyway, on the verrrrrry strange side we had a few very artsy people (thus the strangeness). One was a painter and painted for Norman Rockwell! And that folks, is the connection between our weird family and this picture.

A Liberian boy in a worn out office chair. During the war, boys this age would be drugged up and given a gun to fight.

Heading out for a fun father/son night!

A cute Kenyan baby.

We finally have had some sun here in Texas which was perfect for Joe!

Masai Man jumping.

How I feel today: like everything is slightly blurry and out of focus.

A cute Liberian girl

We went to the clinic yesterday and they gave us some medicine. Already we are feeling better!

A Kenyan woman weaves a rug.

Our new "ministry" of sorts: baking cookies and giving them to the people at the club. It opens a door for conversation.

Sorry the picture isn't more interesting. Iryna has bronchitis, Mom has something else, Joe has the flu, and I think I have it as well, so needless to say, I didn't feel like being creative.

A widow in Kenya demonstrating how to make yarn. This organization was founded to help widows and single mothers support their families.

It's cold season around here. Poor Joe even has the flu.

A Masai woman

Every night dad reads this to us as we eat dinner.

A Liberian man looking out on a rainy day.

Today I had a wonderful time with Valerie Braymer on a photo shoot of our two sisters! I asked them to read a verse. Any verse. This is the one Iryna randomly chose to read:

"Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?" Job 10:10

Yeah, it was a little random. :-P

A Masai mother and her children

In the rare moments between playing basketball and tennis, you may find Joe studying!

A Masai Grandmother

Let me introduce to you Matuda (Mathilda said in an African accent). I found this poor doll sitting alone in a corner, abandoned. I felt sorry for her because she was so ugly, and so I adopted her. She cracks me up! Her ugliness is beautful!

This little boy lived in the Masai village. Like I said yesterday, flies are considered a good thing, so the little ones are not trained to swat them away. I cannot tell you how many health risks this entails. Due to traditions in the African culture, there are many heath issues that exist because of lack of knowledge. That is why I feel like God is calling me to become a medical missionary. I want to help them physically as well as spiritually.

I just read this and I thought I'd share it...

An excerpt from the latest Voice of the Martyrs magazine:

[Written by an American doctor] "We [Americans] live in a country that is very unique in the world today. We read our Bibles, and we go to Sunday school class, and some of us are even involved in outreaches, and we give to missions and we read stories about heroes of old. When you are going home from work in Nigeria and you are a Christian, it is very possible that you may not come home at night. But it is possible to come home at night even if you are caught, if you are willing to say, 'Allah is god and Mohammed is his prophet.'

"Think about your family at home, and imagine that you are on your way home and you are stopped by a mob of vicious people saying, 'Repeat after me or die.' Suddenly I realize our faith may be fairly broad theologically, but it is not all that deep sometimes. These people, they don't know a lot of answers to Bible stories, and they probably can't give a good discussion on why Arminianism and Calvinism are right or wrong. But I can tell you that when people step up to them with a gun or a knife, and they are asked, 'Will you repeat after me?' and they say, 'No, Jesus is Lord,' their theology is very deep and we need that. I need that."

Photo of the day: How dare he steal my chocolate chips!

And just a little aside... the chocolate chips are all Guittard. Mom used to teach the Guittard daughter, so it's a little bit of family loyalty when we buy them.

This little girl is from the Masai tribe in Kenya. I noticed that the older adults dressed in the traditional fashion, but the children seldom did. I think the Masai want their children to fit in with the modern culture. Anyway, something interesting about how they live... The Masai people are nomads and live off their animals. Their most prized possession is the cow. That's how they make their living. They use the cow for everything from food to making their houses. This house is made from a mixture of cow dung and mud. Inside, they have a sleeping room furnished with a cow hide, and a sleeping room for their goats. Yes, it REALLY stinks in there. They also have many goats, but the cow is a status symbol. The more you have the richer you are. When a man wants to get married he offers the father of the girl a certain number of cows (usually ten). The higher the number usually means the nicer the girl. Because the cow is such a big part of the Masai people's lives, it is considered beautiful to look like one. So, sometimes, when the children are small, they cut their lower teeth so that the upper teeth protrude and resemble the mouth of a cow! (I'll post a picture of that later) Another thing; as a visitor, there are certain things that you should not do unless you want to insult the people. One is swat the flies. They see flies as a good thing. Cows attract flies, so the number of flies that are buzzing around reflects the number of cows you have. If you are constantly swatting flies away it is taken as an omen of bad luck and thus insults the hosts. It was verrrry hard not to swat them away. There are many different customs that we learned about on our trips to visit the Masai people. As I go along and post more pictures, I'll tell you about them.

We just got home from a wonderful trip to Sun Valley, Idaho. God blessed us with some great family time and lots of fun memories. I don't have a lot to say about this post because I am really tired right now. So, all I'll say is I hope you enjoy the pictures!

A Masai wife with her child in Kenya

Joe and I had a wonderful time skiing (and snowboarding) together today!

A few of my favorite quotes: "Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." - C.T. Studd

"We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first." - Oswald J. Smith

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Elliot

(This photo was a snapshot out the car window. I love how peaceful she looks!)