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.

Presenting . . . the first book

The Oroko translators were proud to present a copy of the book of Ruth
in Oroko to the translation consultant, Urs Ernst, and his wife, Gerd.
This is the first complete book of the Bible in Oroko to be published.

Reptile Pets

Here is a picture of Buddy, the chameleon that Jenny had as a pet for a
few weeks. She let him go when he started shedding his skin - in case
we were harming him in some way (diet, etc.). She wants another one soon.

Sawhorses on top of the Roof Rack?

Yes, Mike (on the right), with the help of Dan and Bob, is pictured
working on our solar set-up. We especially appreciated Bob's help (he's
the TALL one) as well as his vehicle. We were changing the set-up so it
could hold 12 solar panels instead of 10, which meant taking the mounts
down, transporting them to Kumba (about an hour's drive on muddy roads),
getting additions welded on and different holes drilled (several hours),
coming back from Kumba (another hour), and putting it all back up (the
next morning). But it's done!!

8th Grade Graduation

After being delayed a couple of days because of unrest in Cameroon,
Christy's 8th grade graduation went well. Here she is giving her speech.

What kind of animal??

Here are some cute civet cats from one of the plays the kids were part of during the home-schooling gathering. Christy (top right) was the mother civet cat, and Laura (bottom left) one of the babies.

Surprise

Becky said I should post something and surprise her. Well I don't know how much this will be a surprise, but it has been really fun and productive to have good internet access these last few weeks. We're still not that much closer to getting satellite access ourselves, but hopefully within the next few months it will be a reality. Oh, and I also changed the color of this blog--

Living a "normal" life??

A house; access to good roads; working in a garden, weeding raspberry plants; playing with a dog on the grass; getting cold enough to wear a jacket; while traveling, the opportunity to take bathroom breaks at gas stations; phone and internet service in your house; doctors you can call, appointments you can make.

These are some of the things I've observed during my "break" here in Canada that has part of me longing for a "normal" North American life. But life is never "normal", no matter where you live, and I wouldn't be happy here for long if God's plan was for me to be overseas. So I'll enjoy these things while I'm here, and next week I'll be back in Cameroon and can enjoy a different set of "luxuries"!

Family picture March 2007

This is us - back row Mike, Kenneth, Becky; front row Christy, Laura, Jenny.

sleep?

Douala, Cameroon, 11:40pm, in an SM Brussels airplane: I sat down next to a lady fast asleep, sprawled over 3 seats. She amazed me - in the middle of the noise and confusion of loading passengers, she slept on, waking long enough for the take-off, then back to sleep again.

High in the air, 3:30am: Yours truly still can't sleep. How many different ways can you find to try to sit, lean, scrunch up, or half recline in an effort to fall asleep? I think I tried them all, looking enviously at my snoring seat-mate and at many others who were blissfully unconscious of my failure to slumber.

Of course, the whispers from the area by the toilets didn't help any. Some kind of concern over a male passenger apparently unwell. A lady approached the restroom and was greeted by a crew member... "Ma'am, are you all right? ... Did you eat the fish or the beef? Oh, the fish...." I think I'm glad that I don't generally like eating fish! This was followed soon afterwards by the general announcement, "If there is a doctor on board, please identify yourself..."!

On the positive side, everybody walked off the plane - no medical emergency that I could see. On the negative side, I never did get to sleep on that flight. But that's not unusual....

Malaria vs. malaria treatment...

Headache - like your head is caught in a vise
Bodyache - like you just got run over by a truck
Fever - a continual process of watching your temperature rise, until it spikes near 104
Stomach unrest - food is unnecessary; sometimes breathing deeply is necessary.

Yup, that's malaria once again. Ok, time to take some of that strong medicine. Now what's going on?

Head - no aching, but very dizzy
Body - no aching, but very lethargic
Fever - gone
Stomach unrest - definitely - food definitely unnecessary, deep breathing and frequent bathroom trips a necessity.

But at least it is only temporary!!

opposites

Kenneth (6 years old): the sides of my bread go in at the sides.

Jenny (10 years old): the sides of MY bread go OUT at the sides.

Kenneth: Your bread is the antonym of my bread, and my bread is the
antonym of your bread!

(I guess he really IS listening in school!)

over 104

Tears slowly seep down her face as I wash Laura(3 1/2) down with cool water.

Christy (12) sings praise songs in the shower after a 5-minute cold
shower as she takes her temperature, praying it has gone down from over 105.

Jenny (10) takes her turn in the shower, as well as manning the timer
for Christy's cold showers.

Kenneth (6) bravely throws off the covers and turns on the fan, even
though he is shivering, to try and stay out of the dreaded cold shower.

***************************
Those acts of bravery took place over the longest 4 days I have had in a
long time, if ever. All 4 children with spiking fevers, and Mike out of
the country; fortunately, no two spiked at the exact same time! God was
sufficient, as Christy kept reminding me. But I sure am glad it's over!!!