Clinging to...what?

Yesterday, Anna celebrated the first family birthday in Kenya!  She had 3 friends sleep over, and what is commonly eaten at a sleepover?  You're right!  Pizza!  So, my Kenyan friend Elizabeth who sells various foods supplied me with a pizza crust for each person.  (Here is a mini econ lesson, for those so inclined....The crusts are 80/= apiece.  /= is the symbol for Kenyan shillings, which are in the range of 82-84 per US Dollar.)  I got tomatoes, a green pepper, onions, and garlic plus pineapple and bananas from the women at the market.  Then, I found strawberries from Iris, who gets them from somewhere near Kijabe and sells them (usually) on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  Those were for a fruit salad with half the pineapple and some bananas.  Let's see....then I ordered some mozzarella cheese for the topping from a woman named Njoki who gets it from the Happy Cow cheese factory (?) and delivers it to people's homes.  It arrived quite warm, but it is less expensive than getting it in the store in Nairobi.  No one is sick yet!  I tried to get some pepperoni this week, but I was unsuccessful in finding any.  No worries, because the girls wanted Hawaiian pizza anyway (the other half of the pineapple). :)  I found chocolate ice cream (definitely not Blue Bell, but it is a frozen dairy concoction nonetheless!) at the school store (called the arcade) after 3 trips to the Supaduka turned up only vanilla.  And we made the cupcakes and homemade icing (of course!).  That is sort of typical for collecting items for a meal. :)  It is quite an adventure! 

Making pizza!

Anna was serenaded by the 2 children in the other half of our duplex - Happy Birthday on violins! :)  Okay, here is another one of my new joys....Daniel (the boy in the photo) practicing his violin every afternoon.  He is amazing!

The girls decorated cupcakes...yum!  Rick found birthday candles at the Supaduka. Duka is the Kiswahili word for shop, and supa is a nod toward American slang...not really, but it sounds like it!

Here is the famous Supaduka (the door on the left), which stocks so many staples.  It is Kijabe's MiniMart!  Just like if you forget ketchup on a camping trip, you will generally pay more for it at the MiniMart, but at least you can get it.  By the way, Ketchup is called Tomato Sauce here and "tomato sauce" (as we know it) does not exist!

This photo simply illustrates some of the very minor annoyances that come with moving to a new country/system/I'm not sure of the category....but I know what kind of paper towels, and napkins, and TP and such that I like at home.  Here, we have to try several kinds (yes, there are several brands)  to find the ones that don't tear like this, for instance.  These paper towels  are perforated, but I am not sure why they bothered!!!

Bobby Johnson, one of our friends from our home church, came through Kijabe on his way to M'fangano Island in Lake Victoria on Friday!!  It was great to see him and show him where we live.  He has been to Kenya numerous times, and he and his wife recently started a ministry named Interlocking Ministries.  Read about it at http://www.interlockingministries.org/

The flower above is taken in our "new yard."  I may have mentioned that we are being moved to a different house and have just been waiting for it to be ready (maybe soon!).  Since we can only rent furniture from the hospital for a few months, we have spent a lot of time trying to find affordable or used furniture/appliances/linens/kitchen stuff or find where to have it made (which is often less expensive but also poorer quality).  Finding things is a giant challenge without a car!  At any rate, we are looking forward  to being settled into a more permanent place where we can unpack our things, stop shopping, and devote more time to the hospital.  I was emailing a friend last night, and I mentioned to her that I was so ready to be settled....that even getting some kitchen items that are ours makes me feel more settled.  Not having a good way to explain that feeling, I mused that I guessed it was because it was something that wouldn't change.  What?!  We brought our family halfway across the world, leaving people/jobs/schools/church/etc that we love dearly...and I am clinging to used kitchen pots??!!  I know I am being a little dramatic, but I do long to cling to something permanent, stable, constant, unwavering - do you?  Our God is all of those things!  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)  And He loves us!   (John 3:16)   He will go before us and never forsake us. (Joshua 1:5)  And He has proven it in countless stories throughout the Bible, and in numerous ways in my own life.  I do not need to cling to used kitchen pots, money, airtime/scratch cards, chocolate, my passport, or anything else but the God of the universe who loves you and me and is watching over all of us.

Love,
Sarah
Hebrews 13