Boys will be boys...

Blogging sometimes reminds me of writing in a diary - I always had good intentions, but rarely kept it up :).

But at least an annual post would be good, so here goes....

We are staying in North America for another two years. Yup, grieving not returning to Cameroon this year, but otherwise feeling this is the right decision. Christy will graduate from high school next year, then Jenny the following year. Our current plan is to keep helping with the Oroko work from here until Jenny has graduated, then return to Cameroon.

Meanwhile, our kids are enjoying the luxuries of life here - as Kenneth so vividly portrays!!

Another year...

Wow, yet another year almost "gone". No, not "gone" as in wasted. You can't call a year of school, sports, music, translation help, and recruitment for missions a waste. And what can you say to 4 relatively healthy and happy kids, a larger house (thanks to renovations which are still on-going), the gospel of Luke in Oroko being published, and the book of Genesis in Oroko nearing publication?

Yes, we are still in Canada. Yes, Jenny is still struggling with her Lyme Disease. And yes, we still don't know what the future will look like, let alone this coming year. But we serve the God Who knows everything!!!

Over a year later, and so much has happened. Let me just summarize...
--many visits to Children's Hospital in Calgary, all test results coming back negative
--some stays for Jenny in the mental health ward at Children's, to give us some respite and to try to shed some light on her condition.
--our insistence that something physical was causing these psychological symptoms seemed to get less and less acceptance (January 2009).
--a suggestion from a friend led us to more research, sending to California for a blood test kit, and finally a positive diagnosis - LYME DISEASE (or in Jenny's case, neuro-Lyme)
--treatment - no more psychotics, but rather mild medications - doxycycline and plaquenil (March 2009)
--rapid improvement for Jenny; her teachers said it was like getting a brand new student!
--Jenny plateaued and then started to regress in May. So now she has switched from doxy to Clarithromycin in June, and is in the middle of a "herx" reaction (common when the new medication starts working, breaking down the poisons; symptoms get worse for a time before improvement begins).

We continue to be thankful for God's leading this year, especially as Jenny's relationship with God has reached a new level (she was recently baptized). It has been a very tough year, and we are definitely not "out of the woods" yet, but God has been faithful.

Trust vs. Hope

We trust in God and believe that He can heal Jenny at any time if He so
chooses. But in reality we do not have that hope/expectation, because
it might not be God's will now or ever. So are we being disobedient in
not "hoping in God"? Are we realists because we don't want our hopes
dashed? But if He does heal Jenny right now, I don't think I would be
surprised; but I sure would be grateful!!

A Day for Memories

Yesterday was a great day for the kids. One of the benefits of being
back in Canada is being able to participate in community events (vs.
community work days in Bekondo like fixing the village road).

We enjoyed the Kneehill Museum open house, including home-made ice
cream, rides on a horse-drawn wagon and old-time cars, and a petting zoo
(Laura is petting a baby alpaca - VERY soft!! They also enjoyed the
soft black baby bunnies, the guinea pigs, the pug puppies....).

Our amazing body

God our Creator has done an amazing job with our complicated bodies.
This has been brought very vividly to my attention these last few days
as we have seen our 11-year old daughter, Jenny, deteriorate before our
eyes. Possibly having PANDAS syndrome, she is now unable to walk, get
dressed, or eat without help; we are on our way to get her some help,
which might mean leaving Cameroon for the time being. Contrast this to
our 3 other children who are, at the moment, very healthy. It's amazing
just to watch 4-year-old Laura at effortless play, when every movement
is such an effort for Jenny right now!

Internet comes to Big Bekondo!

It's here!!!! Today we were able to get on-line at our house in Big
Bekondo! We're all celebrating!!!

A furry baby

Holding this baby chimp was a lot of fun! A hunter finally gave some of
our missionary friends permission to give this little gal to a zoo; he
had shot the mother and wanted to sell the baby.