First week of school...

We are finishing up the first week of school - the kids started at Rift Valley Academy this week, and Rick and I started Swahili lessons.  There are lots of new things, new places, new people, and new routines.  Sometimes it is the little things that strike you, like the ring binders and notebook paper here only have 2 holes instead of our usual 3.  And the paper is a slightly different size.  Not a big deal, of course, but when you put the paper in with paper from home, you realize it doesn't quite fit.  I think we have all felt a little like that ourselves at times over the last few weeks - we don't always "fit" exactly.  But we function and adapt, and it is good. :)

First day of school

This is the lower gate of RVA, about halfway "there" from our home on lower station.

Climbing....

The view from campus on the way to the lower school (ie, Titchie Swot)--stunning!

Still climbing....

Emily talking to new friends outside of her classroom.  Please note that while our kids are happy not to have uniforms this year, she is wearing 2 different plaids and 2 different polka dot patterns...maybe uniforms aren't so bad!! ;)

We have been to Nairobi this week and to Naivasha to try to get some things to set up our home, and I have realized how very thankful I am to return home each time....not just because I am becoming more comfortable here, but because the roads are so very dangerous.  There are shopping places on the outskirts of Nairobi that aren't too difficult to get to, and Naivasha was actually a pretty easy drive, but there are many road traffic accidents.  I feel like God's hand has been on us each time we return but, in truth, His hand is on us daily...minute by minute.  He doesn't protect us any more when we FEEL vulnerable than when we don't.  Perhaps we are just being cocky or oblivious when we think things just happened to turn out okay.  At any rate, I hope that I will always be thankful that I have another day - another day to live and breathe, to serve, to be a wife/mom/daughter/sister/friend, to enjoy the beauty of the world God created and to recognize that those beauties were created for His glory and so am I.  Let us, like the one leper in Luke 17, always turn back to give thanks for God's provision and protection.

Driving on the side of the road in Nairobi in order to get around an accident.

Ambulance parked at Kijabe Hospital.

Coming back from Naivasha:  it is evidently a common practice for bikes to hold onto the end of trucks in order to get up the hills here.  In truth, the trucks do not go that fast themselves up these hills.

This sign is at a shop in Kijabe - interesting combination of products, but I guess they are both petroleum products!

 Some of the simple pleasures of life that I was thinking about yesterday....hot baked bread and butter, pretty pathways, my children humming, a crackling fire when the wind is howling outside, fresh cookies, sunshine on roses, laughter at dinner, a beautiful view, friends and family that we can love and who love us. :)

Love,

Sarah

Luke 17:11-19