Beginning

We have begun this task of making a home in Ghana. We are no longer homeless, we joke, but neither do we feel really at home! We have taken tiny, beginning steps and know there is likely to be steps backward (Flee, thou homesickness!). Our week was routine & as varied as the pictures I'm posting. I'm still holding out for the street view to be more finished before I give you the big pictures. So, for now, here is the close up of our week.

This lovely cockroach was helping himself to our snacks. He skittered off the shelf right in front of my face as I was reaching onto a high shelf. My fearless husband played exterminator. And yes, they crunch quite loudly! We see more of the smaller ones. So many, in fact, the children enjoy squashing them before they jump in the shower!

The next two pictures are of work that did get done here. These two guys have been working on our pavers. They have finished this area, but still are not done in front at the main gate. They are quiet and respectful. And they even use my washline. ;) They arrive in nice button downs and dress pants or jeans. They hang them on the line and change into work clothes and shoes. When they are done for the day, they strip to their boxers, use the faucet at my back door to wash up, redress and tro tro home. Seems like a good plan to me!

Jon & Ron altered the drain of the washer for gravity drainage. The concrete gutter they made and open drain hole prove too much of a temptation for little hands, so Jon took it on himself to mix a little mud and patch it up. He and Max had a good time doing it.

A glimpse into what is on my mind in an early,quite house. I mean these words deeply. As a mother my discouragement falls on everyone else, if I allow it to flow in my words & attitudes. In this place of the cheap, the unreliable and the unpredictable, we are learning quickly the necessity of an honest time alone with God. How often He changes my spirit, how rarely He changes my circumstances! ;0)

This is Mercy.

Audrey introduced Mercy and I a few weeks ago. She is a quiet 16 year old who stops in to play with my children, & volunteers to help clean up and do laundry. She has a beautiful spirit of gentleness and love for Jesus. She says she is going to teach me Twi. :) Hmm, maybe I'll pass that on to all of you sometime. Cool stuff like having three names. A home name, a school name and a day of the week name based on the day of the week you were born. I'm Akusia (Sunday), by the way. I'm enjoying the learning!

So, while I post about the mundane, I am gathering some great pictures from the CFC churches for the next post. Baptizing in the jungle, folks! It is exciting!

I also would like to pass on some exciting reading. Kristi and Nikki are working at a hospital in Saboba, up north. They give honest and heart wrenching views of rural life. Check them out!

kristi-lifeisajourney.blogspot.com

goinggoing-ghana.blogspot.com