The weekend.

It was a busy weekend round here.

All day Friday I was busy making preparations for a baby shower that I was having here on Saturday.

Then in the evening we had some good friends Justin and Tara (one of the only other military families stationed at the embassy)...over one last time before they depart Burkina and head back to the States. It was a laid back night with pizza and a movie, final laughs and stories. This family has grown very dear to our hearts since we've moved here and we are going to miss them so much!

(hate that I didn't get a picture of us all together!)

After everyone left I was up till 1am making more food for the baby shower.....

...then I was up at 6:30am to go out with the youth group and photograph their group service day.

This youth group about two months ago participated in a 30 hour famine, and raised money far and wide in support of their project to abstain from food for over a day in order to get a better understanding of what it means to feel truly hungry. They raised over $13,000. Then they donated all the money to two local mission organizations. And on Saturday they visited those two organizations and spent the day serving them. The first part of the day was spent at the Baptist Mission's sight, helping them tear down multiple walls and carry off wheel barrels full of bricks to help clear the site to have a new wall built. This was back. breaking. labor. For the two hours that these kids worked pushing over walls, using big ole pick axes to chip apart cement, carrying off bricks and dumping barrel loads of rocks...there was not a single complaint. No one whined about wanting to go home. No one complained that the work was too hard. The girls worked in skirts right along side the guys. They were sweating bullets and using every muscle in their bodies....all for the name of Jesus.

Now ya see it.....now ya don't!

That's how you tear down a wall Burkina style.

After that we went to the Kids of Hope site where they then spent the rest of the morning hanging out with the Garibou children. Every Saturday Kate Royal, a missionary with Go To Nations, has a club where she presents the gospel in their local Fulfulde language, does a craft, and feeds the children lunch. She has a tire swing hanging from a tree in the courtyard, along with puzzles and games for the kids to use while they are there. Many of the kids now visit the site on more days than just Saturdays and some of the children sleep there as well. While the youth were there they organized a lively futball match and just spent time engaging with them as they would their own friends. Kids of Hope is very special....it is one place where these kids can come and simply be children. Not beggars. Not Garibou. Just kids. And Saturday they got to engage with other kids, just like them.

And the Burkinabé kids totally won the futball match. Even wearing no shoes these kids are great at futball! I'm pretty sure soccer skills are part of their DNA.

Super fun time. So proud of these kids for their willingness to serve and be flag bearers for Christ!

After I left the youth, I hurried home to keep working on setting up for the baby shower. Nathanja and Nicole came over and helped decorate and by 3pm I had a house full of ladies celebrating the upcoming arrivals of Julia's and Heather's newest babies. (Isaak got out of dodge and went with Matt to go race cars! Smart guys!)

We found a fun theme thanks to Pinterest, Mom to Bee, and decorated the house in all things Bee inspired.

We had a lively time filled with ridiculous games like Tinkle in the Pot where you have to walk with a balloon in your shirt and a quarter between your knees and then drop the quarter in a jar. We fashioned each other in toilet paper diapers, played baby charades and stuffed ourselves full of sugar.

We ended the evening praying over the mommies....something I've never done at a baby shower, what?! How is that possible?!? We should do this every time! New tradition, no matter where I live.

It was a great time. Love all the women God has placed in my life over here and for the opportunity to gather and support and bless each other. 

We wrapped up the night with dinner at our place with Matt and Megan and then made Sunday a total lazy day! After church I came home and napped, napped!! something I never do! Followed by a mommy and Marvi swimming date while Isaak and Syd went to ISO to play frisbee and play.

Fun. And full. And Monday came calling bright and early but hallelujah I woke up refreshed!

And hooray for a break mid week thanks to a local Burkina holiday....no school or work on Wednesday! Love living in a country where we get to celebrate so many holidays, both ours and theirs!

cardboard creations

It doesn't matter that we have a doll house.

If there is an empty box to be found around the house they will convert it to a living space for their toys. Yesterday it was a Saltine cracker box. And the girls played with that little cardboard row house all evening.

sweatin'

If it gets hot enough....your eyes will start sweatin'. FYI.

Crying over culture challenges

It's been one of those weeks. One of those weeks where it just feels like the challenges of living in Burkina are heavier.

My heart is flustered.

I go through days and weeks where I will be fine...living our life and embracing and accepting the difficulties present. But then there are days and weeks where I struggle more. Where I cry over spilled milk. One thing will go wrong and it's as if the whole house is caving in. I am still learning about culture shock. And the adjustment that is needed, continually, in learning to live in a developing country. It is not easy, this life. 

But I know from the past eight months of living here that my heart will settle, in time. That the Lord will speak peace over the clashes and challenges and walk me through them. I know that He will teach me further how to live in grace, for myself and towards others. 

This was a week of learning further how to live in and extend grace, for myself and towards others.

When some good friends of ours returned to the States recently for vacation we asked if they would be willing to bring us back a small bag of grass seed for our yard.

Seems like a weird request, but you can't buy grass seed here.

Just another item on the long list of things that you can not buy here.

You can buy grass....but not seed.

They have these little "landscape" businesses on the side of roads and they sell little patches of grass in small baggies that you plant....kinda like a hair plug for your lawn.

(makes you wonder how they grow the grass in the baggies without grass seed? where is the grass seed? who is hording it?! why can't we buy any?!?!?)

But the grass plugs are very expensive.....because people don't have yards here.

We have a very good sized yard and the left side of it doesn't have much grass....it's just dirt, and in the rainy season it floods really bad and turns into a muddy mess. And after spending too much money on a bunch of grass plugs that didn't even end up remotely covering a small patch of lawn that's shriveled up and died..

...in enters our request for our friends to bring us back some grass seed.

They very graciously said that they would and indeed brought us back a bag of grass seed in their luggage. It was a happy day! I never knew I'd be so happy over a bag of grass seed. The convenience and availability of everything in the United States is not to be taken lightly.

I placed my new unopened bag of grass seed on our back patio. Thinking, that, my unopened bag of grass seed would be safe on my screened in patio. The plethora of creatures that live in my yard wouldn't tear the bag to shreds trying to eat the seeds inside.

Safe on the patio I said.

A couple days later Odette carries in the bag of seed, looking curious, asking me if it was tea. In french the word for tea is thé.  She asked because on the bag was the word "the" in english but in her mind it read thé....tea. I told her that it was not tea, thé, but that the word "the" in english is an article meaning "la" or "le" like in french.

The curious look turned into confusion so I scrapped the language lesson and told her it was grass seed. Not tea. But grass seed.

To which she then asked if it was grass tea.

Noooo, I replied, it's not grass tea, but grass for the yard. To plant. 

She nodded her head and said, "okay, okay" and to my knowledge put the unopened bag of grass seed back out on the patio.

Except, two days later when I went on the back patio to get the unopened bag of grass seed...it was gone.

I asked Odette where the bag was and she replied....

"poubelle."

Meaning garbage.

It was one of those moments where I literally had to struggle to maintain composure and not start crying. It just caught me so off guard. Why she would throw away an unopened bag of grass seed after I told her very clearly that it was for the yard, to plant....I don't know. She just stood there and stared at me. Like, "what's the big deal?"

I have never been so visibly upset in front of Odette. I asked her why she threw it away, to which she just stared at me in wonderment. Which just added to my frustration. And because I was getting frustrated, I started losing words in French, and I struggled through trying to tell her our friends gave it to us, but couldn't articulate it well, so I just blurted out "trés cher Odette! N'est pas bon!" I didn't have the words for, "Our friends who are missionaries bought this for us from America because you can not buy it in Burkina, and they paid for it out of the kindness of their heart and refused to let us pay them for it, insisting it be a gift! And you threw it away!!" I couldn't say that. It's probably better that I couldn't.

She went outside to look in the garbage to see if it was still there, but of course it wasn't. Then she shrugged her shoulders and walked away. She didn't apologize. I just imagined her thinking, "what's the big deal you silly American, you've got boat loads of money just go buy some more!"

I have no idea what she was really thinking. Not having the super power of mind reading makes that somewhat difficult.

Also not speaking the same language makes this difficult as well.

Clearly, something got lost in translation. Not to mention the cultural differences.

I went into the pool after that with Marvelly, and I let myself cry over our brand new unopened bag of grass seed that got thrown away.

I cried because of the language and cultural challenges that makes communicating and understanding each other difficult. I cried over her response. I cried, knowing that she likely took the bag of grass seed home with her, not really throwing it away, as she daily brings our garbage home. I cried because she digs through our garbage. I cried that I couldn't just go to Walmart and buy some more. I cried because nothing is convenient here. I cried, because in that moment whether rational or not...all I felt like doing was crying.

And then I started praying that regardless of whether or not Odette was sorry, that I would forgive her. I prayed that regardless of whether or not Odette understood what transpired, that I would forgive her. That I would be able to offer forgiveness in my heart and not hold it against her or let myself feel bitter.

When I went back in the house, Odette told me that she was sorry. I'm not sure if she was sorry for throwing it away, or that I was upset...it doesn't matter. I was calm and apologized too. We mended what had transpired.

But it's been one of these weeks. Where the challenges of living in Burkina are weighing heavy on me. Feeling the frustration of the language barrier, the cultural differences, the fact that every time we went to the store this week there was no bread, or yogurt...or anything that I needed. That I had to bake bread at 6:30 in the morning in order to have sandwiches at lunch time. That the sliced chicken I buy is slimy and reeks of of the most questionable odor. That after the exterminator came twice to spray for ants in my kitchen I still have ants all over my kitchen. That the cheese they sell also comes with mold on it. That I get school kids ringing my bell non stop every day asking for water and after going through twelve sets of door to see the kids at the gate, going back inside to get water, and then going back outside to the gate to distribute it....there are now more kids waiting. That the thermometer outside our pool reached to 114 degrees on Monday.


So yeah. Just one of those weeks where the challenging feels even more challenging.

Sometimes there is nothing to do but pray and ask for grace to endure it. To pray and ask for grace to feel the frustration and accept that it's okay. To not dismiss it. To not play "strong". And act that all is well. To allow myself the grace to admit that I am weak. To pray for His strength to be present in me and all my weaknesses. To start over. Pray for a better attitude. A new start. Allow myself good cry.

I am far from perfect. I don't have living here figured out at all. I don't think I'm suppose to. All I know is that through leaning on Him, He supplies me with all I need. He will equip me to handle the challenges and rough patches. He helps me to see the beauty in being broken. He helps me to follow Him better. 

And that's been this week. It's been frustrating....but He's always been present.

The sweetest sound

I stand in my kitchen at 6:30am baking bread and listening to the rain come down harder and harder.
Like a drum gaining tempo. The rain gathers strength and comes down stronger and stronger until that is all I can hear.

Isaak opens up the windows. They creak after months of being closed to keep out the heat and dirt.

But now as I stand kneading the bread, listneing to the rain, I can feel the cool wind swirl around my face, I can smell the smell of freshness. I hear the thunder crackle.

These are the smells I love. These are the sounds I love to hear.

Since I was a little girl, rain storms have been my most favorite thing. My dad would open up our front door and keep the screen closed so that we could listen and enjoy the rain.

The thunder I never found menacing. The lighting I found intriguing. The rain would lull me to sleep.

In Nebraska we experienced some of the strongest storms of my life. There we many days and nights where we would be hunkered down, taking cover in a neighbors basement or huddled under the stairs. The danger very real. Destruction from tornadoes close by.

But even in the midst of the threat these storms posed....it could not block the excitement. The sirens could not drown out my love for this weather.

My love for rain and storms....it is a part of me. It makes my spirit light. It makes my heart beat with a deep joy for my Maker.

There is one sound that I will never grow weary of for as long as I live...and that is the deafening sound of the rains pounding down onto my roof.

This morning, that is the sweetest sound.

Jean Luc's going away party

Last night we said goodbye to Jean Luc at the orphanage. His new parents are here and ready to bring him home! They left today, back to their new life in France, but as a family. Forever.

I love this boy so much and I will selfishly miss him dearly. But I am equally overcome with joy that he now has parents to call his very own. That he will be raised in a safe and loving home. That there will be people to fight for him and advocate for him and nurture, care for, and mold him into an incredible man. I am overcome with joy that he will have a future and a hope for a better life surrounded by people who love him.

Jean Luc, or Martin, as you will come to be known by....it has been a pleasure knowing you and loving you these past five months.

Here is a little video of us singing over him before he leaves for his new life. So special how they bless and celebrate the children here as they prepare to leave.

*(To Bekah....you can see my bracelet in the picture...since you asked. :) )

Sacred Crocodiles

We visited the Sacred Crocodiles in the village of Bazoule just outside of Ouagadougou a few weeks ago. It was a Monday holiday. Isaak didn't have to work. So we went with some of our dear friends, Matt and Megan, and got up close and personal with some crocs.

These Nile crocodiles (considered one of the most viscous predators) are very sacred to the residents of Bazoule, and because the locals hold them in such high regard they have lived side by side for over 600 years, sharing a very close relationship with each other. The crocodiles are known to walk into residents home, the children swim in the lake where they live, play by them, the residents feed them, sit on them, and offer sacrifices to them. And perhaps unlike anywhere else in Africa these Nile crocodiles in Bazoule have become incorporated into the community and both reptile and human enjoy a peaceful co-existence with each other.

There are over 100 crocodiles that live here, in this lake. In rainy season this area is covered in water, but now the lake has shrunk down in size. We started here and had to walk clear around the lake to almost the very far corner on the right side. 

It was well over 100 degrees ( I mean, it is everyday) without any source of shade and we were soooo hot from that walk but the girls were troopers.

The ground was so cracked and broken and thirsty from water and as we walked on the ground it sounded just like walking on crunchy snow during the winter. I had flashbacks to Nebraska winters as my feet crunched over this dry land, except I was about as far from a Nebraska winter as I could get!

As we started to round the lake we spotted a cluster of village kids filling up water containers and swimming in the water. The same water that the crocodiles live in.

There was another group that arrived the same time as us and once we reached the desired spot for croc sitting they lured out the she-croc with the promise of chicken.

Here she comes....

and she wastes no time gobbling up her meal.

After that the guide told us we could come and sit on her. But everybody just kinda stood there....looking around at everyone else, waiting to see who would be brave first. And then Matt, who's done this five or six times, marched over there to show everyone how it's done.

After Matt sat down you could see everyone start to let the fact that he just sat on a Nile croc sink in. And not only was he not eaten but the crocodile literally just sat there and let him do it! As if it was totally normal to be sat on by a human! Incredible! After that everyone started to follow suit and the croc didn't so much as move an inch.

Isaak went first, but he hovered, not wanting to sit down all the way. After Isaak I slowly walked over and tentatively stood over the croc....I mean, I couldn't believe we were getting to actually do this!!

Oh my gosh, I'm standing over a crocodile! Do I dare sit down?! Oh my gosh I just sat down all the way on a crocodile!!!!

Then I figured...while I'm standin' here, I might as well shake her hand. So I did. I shook a crocodiles hand. It was squishy and very oddly textured. Cool points for me.

Yup. That's right. Parents of the year for sure. I figured if the local kids were swimming in croc infested waters and me and Isaak survived, I would give our girls the option to get close to them as well. And they did. Isaak was very close, not taking his hand off Sydaleigh in the event that the she-croc moved.....but dude....that croc did. not. move!! I've never seen anything like this! It goes against everything we know to be true about crocodile behavior. It was absolutely amazing.

After we had our adrenaline rush, our guide took us back around the lake and had the crocs do some "tricks".

For having such small arms and legs...those suckers can get some height!! And despite the fact that they look really slow, they are actually really fast.

We were really this close. There were probably over a dozen crocs in front of us at this point, creeping out of the water all around us to try to get a bite of some chicken. Looking at these crocs I felt like I was looking at a species of dinosaurs. With their plated tails and armored bodies....you really get a feel for just how ancient these creatures are when you are this close to them.

They are quite remarkable. Nile crocodiles are between 13-15 feet long and weigh 900 pounds. Seriously...the things I have come to learn about since moving to Africa! I never would have thought that I would come to find crocodiles more fascinating than terrifying. I mean, they are still scary....but they are so fascinating!

Such an awesome experience to see crocodiles this close!

*(And while I'm aware that others may look at this as totally crazy, I can't help but compare it to some other equally reckless and crazy things people do but have become so accepted in our society they are now considered normal.

Take for instance.....

Sky diving. Seriously, you are jumping out of an airplane to your near death with your life in the hands of a little pull cord. Crazy? Ch-yeah! .

Bungy jumping. For real, people go leaping off bridges and buildings to their near death putting any hope for a future life in the hands of a little bungy cord. Crazy? Uh huh. 

Swimming with sharks. Sharks have the highest testosterone levels of any living creature. And yet people willingly swim along side them. Crazy? Yup.

Siegfried and Roy and their Las Vegas show with white lions and tigers was the most visited show in Las Vegas, earning them awards and ranking them the 9th highest paid celebrities in the US. People paid good money to watch them perform with wild animals. Crazy? Some might say.

Dream World in Australia allows people to wake up and walk with Begal tigers. Crazy? Probably. 

Galloping on a horse that rides up to 40 mph with nothing holding you on except for some feet straps. Crazy? I'd say so.

Downhill ski racers can travel up to 60mph and Olympians skiers can travel downhill up to 90mph, which is faster than the legal speed limit on highways where we have seat belts and air bags, yet they have nothing to keep them from becoming one with the mountain of snow they are traveling over except their skill with a thin blade fastened to their foot. Crazy? The craziest!

And then there's sitting on a crocodile. Crazy? Doesn't seem as crazy to me and some of these other risky adventures. The problem is that is seems crazier because we don't do this in our society. Whereas sky diving, bungy jumping, shark swimming, skiing, and watching wild animals perform with no barrier between stage and audience are crazy adventures that have become riskfully acceptable in our society.

I'm not saying it's not risky. I'm just saying that it's no riskier than all the other crazy things that people do. And perhaps maybe less....)

 To an unforgettable experience! Only in Africa I tell ya!

I have TWO swimming girls!

I have two swimmers. And I am one proud mommy!!!! Since moving to Burkina and having our own pool Sydaleigh has really become a very strong swimmer. She can now swim almost the length of  the shallow end to the deep end holding her breath, Isaak taught her how to dive, she likes to swim down to the deepest end and touch the bottom, she retrieves dive sticks, does hand stands, swims on her back, and is just a swimming machine!

And three weeks ago Marvelly conquered one of her biggest fears of her young life and has not looked back! For the past five years of her life she has been big time scared...I'm talking death grip around my neck yelling at me, because she does not want to put her face in the water. She is my very cautious girl and while she loves to be in the pool she likes to play it safe always wearing her arm floaties careful never to let her nose touch the water.

But three weeks ago while we were all swimming in the pool as a family, with some encouragement as always, we asked her if she wanted to put her face in the water and then she just all of a sudden did it. She dunked her head under. And then she came up. Realizing that she held her breath and hadn't drowned. And then she did it again, and again, and again....and that was it! She never looked back! I will never forget the thrill she had for herself. The absolute pride she felt for overcoming her fear. She hasn't stopped glowing and smiling over her accomplishment yet. She loves having this new skill. It's like a whole new world has been opened up to her.

And each day in the pool since then she has been getting braver and braver  trying new tricks.

One week later on Saturday evening around 6pm we were all outside sitting around the pool, dipping our toes in while Isaak cleaned it before Easter the next day. The girls had asked if they could go swimming but I said no because they had already swam earlier in the day. But while we were out there I felt like being spontaneous, and despite the fact that the bats are usually up and circling the pool at this hour they were hanging tight in the trees. So I told the Marvelly next to me that if she wanted to go swimming she could take her clothes off and go in her underwear. She was SO excited. She called to Sydaleigh on the other end of the pool, "Sy. da. leigh!! Mommy said we can go swimming in our pan. ties with no clothes on!!"

And so they did. And it was this evening that Marvelly said goodbye to her arm floaties realizing that she could swim better without them. Together my two girls swam and laughed and practiced hand stands and giggled in their delight of doing something spontaneous and silly.

And since this evening swim Marvelly has been swimming like a champ in the pool. She has been hesitant to jump in the water despite the fact that she can hold her breath and swim. Standing at the edge of the pool looking down seems like a great height to her. But yesterday she stood at the edge in the shallow end and did a cannon ball and could not be stopped after that. She has grown in so much self confidence.

As has Sydaleigh. Her body is much stronger and she can hold her breath for longer and swim farther than she could just a few months ago. She loves to race me and swim after me. If I sneak away from their play in the shallow end to do some "laps" Sydaleigh will spring into action after me, racing to catch up. She's getting quite fast that girl. She is fearless. She stands on Isaak's shoulders as he goes down into the water and as he springs up she leaps off flying high into the air back down into the water. She holds onto his neck and together they swim down to the deepest deep end to touch the bottom. She loves the water.

So now I have two swimming girls. It makes my heart happy to know that from learning this skill, it is teaching them to be confident in themselves. To have pride. I love seeing them beam with self confidence. To conquer fears. To try new things. To have fun. And make childhood memories.

Thursday's thoughts

Journal entry today.....

1 Samuel 4:5

"When the ark of the LORD's covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, " What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?"

As much as the Israelites got it wrong, as many times as they betrayed the Lord and worshiped other gods, as much as they whined and complained and lived in doubt and disbelief.....one can not say that they weren't a passionate people.

The Israelites had passion. Scripture makes that very clear. It seems like whatever it is that they did, they did it with everything (even if it was wrong!).

I look at the Israelites and then to my own life and culture and generation and the same can not be said for our lives. We live in a society where people don't get excited for much of anything. We're too busy to get excited. We're too busy getting stuff done, living to make a buck, lives jammed full of activities and programs and school activities, working overtime, volunteering at PTA and church events.

Even when the stuff we are doing is good....we have become so distracted by it that we forget to even enjoy it.

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!^" “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Even when something great is staring us in the face...we often times miss it, not appreciating it. Jesus was in Martha's home, but she couldn't enjoy the moment because she was too distracted. 

I have been Martha. I still struggle to be a Mary. To live in the moment. To enjoy and see and recognize and feel what is in front of me instead of thinking about what will be in front of me later. 

What good will all the accomplishments be in our lives if we are too busy making accomplishments that we never stopped to enjoy them? 

Where has all our passion gone?

The Israelites had passion. They were fervent. They were SO excited that their praises shook the ground and the Philistines took notice.

Do I have that kind of passion for the Lord? Does darkness perk up and take notice of my victory shouts? Do I even give a victory shout when the Lord has done something in my life? Or just because He is God?! Does my zeal and fervor for the Lord create such a commotion that others feel it too? That the ground shakes under my dancing feet?!

Or, I am just living politely passive? Never to get too excited, or show too much emotion because people will think that is weird. Never to utter praises higher than my talking voice because I am self conscious that others will hear. Do we hold back in church when inside we want to raise our hands and shout for joy or cry at His goodness, but we hold it in...because that would draw glances?  

When did we start placing other people's opinion of us higher than the Lord's opinion of us? When did we start living more for man than for God? 

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." Romans 12:11

Fervor-great warmth and earnestness of feeling , or intense heat.

Many years ago I came across this verse and immediately the Lord gave me a mental picture of those old Looney Toons cartoons from my childhood with Tweetie Bird and Roadrunner and Bugs Bunny. In my head I saw the Foghorn Leghorn Rooster getting his butt lit on fire and running around frantic and shouting with a smokey backside until he sits down in a bucket of water and the fire sizzles out. 

That's how the Lord wants me to live out this verse. That's what it means to me. To be so on fire and passionate for God that I can't sit down, that I can't stop shouting! His Spirit and goodness just compels me to run around like a crazed rooster with my butt on fire! 

Before I moved to Africa Bekah and Holly covertly bought me a leather bracelet and inscribed on it are the words..."Girl on Fire." 

Yes, on the surface it appears to have a Hunger Games reference (fancy that!)....but really it is to daily remind me to be a Girl on Fire for God. Like Foghorn Leghorn. It is my Romans 12:11 reminder.  

That's how I want to live. I want to dance for the Lord like David. I want to sing boldly, just like my children, even if I'm out of tune. I want to make a great stir for the Lord. I want the ground to shake and reverberate from the sound of my praise! I want darkness to tremble when they hear my great shout. 

Because no one else is more deserving.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday we had a big ole celebration at our house in honor of our risen Lord!!!

It was over 100 degrees and the party was outside but that didn't stop anyone from coming! We've got hard core friends who will bare the heat with us!

 We had over 90 people come over throughout the afternoon and they all pitched in and brought food.
When I was planning on what to bake I had been listening to In Christ Alone and the lyrics prompted me to bake...

a red velvet cake (which turned out hot pink! Dude, how does one make frosting RED!) to represent his death....

"Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live."

A cake with chocolate ganache frosting for the grave....

"There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:"

And a carrot cake with white frosting to represent victory.....

"Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ."

  We grilled out hamburgers.

 Talked and fellowshipped....

 We had an easter egg hunt for all the kids.

Easter in Burkina. Where we celebrate in our bathing suits.

And there was swimming. There were so many people in the pool that you could hardly swim, but it sure was refreshing! And everyone had such a good time. Large gatherings like this are pretty easy here. Everyone pitches in with food and we had plenty of people who stayed to help clean up afterwards. We are blessed with a wonderful community of friends here!

He is Risen....whoo hoo!!!!!

Great Easter or Paques as they say in French!