David's birthday and other tidbits

Hello to those of you who are still checking my blog even though I am failing to update it regularly!  I don't want to begin every post with an apology, so I won't, but I will trust that you understand that life is busy and I really, really WANT to write more often than I am able to. 

I will start by sharing about David's birthday which was last Saturday (14 May).  We had a fun gathering in the morning with our colleagues here at the College, numbering 9 adults and 8 children including ourselves.  I spent 4 days baking treats for the occasion - there was banana bread (homemade), peanut butter cornflake bars (homemade), cocoa cookies (homemade), jello, cheesy soft pretzels (homemade), and popcorn (cooked on the stove) for the snacks. . . and TWO kinds of birthday cake.  Raspberry chocolate brownie cheesecake, and peach yogurt cheesecake.  With icecream!  It was my first time ever making cheesecake and they weren't 100% perfect but everyone seemed to really enjoy them.  In the end I think I made too much food because there was a lot left over, but I was able to share it again  the next day at our potluck supper on the Lord's Day evening. 

So we stuffed ourselves with food, and then David and I introduced to our friends the game "Apples to Apples."  If you have never heard of this game, it is such a fun group game especially for a party!  It is an American game but what makes it fun was that you don't have to have any special "skill" - even children can play - and because the point of the game is to define words (very subjectively!) it also made for really fun conversations with our friends who are not native English speakers!  I think everyone had a good laugh.

For David's birthday I had secretly arranged for an African shirt to be made for him at the tailor in the boma (town) and also a matching suit (skirt and top) for me from the same material.  So that we would have special African outfits to wear particularly when he is preaching in local churches!  To do this, one day I snuck one of his dress shirts out of the closet and took it with me to the boma when I went shopping, and gave it to the tailor so that he could use it for David's measurements!  David of course never noticed what I did.  I found the material in the market - all you need is a chitenge (Zambian long piece of cloth which the women wear as warp skirts but which are multi-purpose material!) to make a shirt, and two chitenges for my outfit.  I found a nice African pattern in blue which I thought David would like.  When the outfits were ready, I hid them in Marjanne's house until David's birthday.  When he woke up on the morning of his birthday, I gave him another present which I had bought for him, which made him think that there were no more presents coming.  Then just a few minutes before our guests were scheduled to arrive for the party, I suddenly said to David,  "Now, this is the time when you have to go into the toilet and close the door and stay there until I come back!  And you are not allowed to look out the window!"  He protested, of course, but I insisted, so he finally went into the toilet.  Then I quickly ran to Marjanne's house and changed into my new African outfit, carrying David's shirt behind my back.  Marjanne came along to take photos of the surprise with our camera!  I called David outside to surprise him with our matching outfits, and he WAS surprised!  It was a lot of fun.  :)  We got a couple of really fun photos but they are on David's computer so I will need to try to upload them later.  I love finding ways to surprise David with nice gifts.  :)

The day ended with a yummy birthday dinner. . . I think David really enjoyed his special day.

In other news, we now have two new additions to our family: brother and sister kittens!  We are still deciding on names for them but they are settled very nicely into our home.  One (the male) has long hair (black, grey and white) and two white paws, and the other (the female) has very short plain hair and grey and black markings very similar to her mother.  They are so much fun to watch!  May they catch many mice, bugs and another unwanted critters and may they guard our property from snakes!

Last week was the Women's Conference hosted here at the College for the wives of our students and graduate students.  I will also share about this in our upcoming newsletter at the end of this month.  About 50 women attended.  It was an encouraging 4-day gathering to minister to these women, many of whom, like their husbands, have not really previously received any training from the Word of God to encourage them in their roles, and some of whom (like many Zambian women) cannot even read or write. During these 4 days Mirjam led the main Bible study in the book of Ruth, which some of these women had never even heard of.  So we were introducing them to the historical context of the book, the significance of the book, and what it was pointing to: Jesus Christ, our kinsman redeemer.  There was much opportunity for discussion in large and small groups to make sure that the women understood each passage.  The program also included health classes, craft times and supplies for knitting, lots of devotionals, and time to fellowship over food.  I especially appreciated the opportunity to meet these women for the first time knowing that I will see them again at future conferences and this was the first step in building relationships with them.

Elijah of course keeps every day very full and very fun.  He is very close to taking his first steps and he wants to talk but mostly just grunts very enthusiastically when he is trying to communicate, although he does say "da da da da" (not to David though) or "goi goi goi goi" when he is really excited!  He loves to play in the sand and the dirt (no shock there). He claps his hands and has recently learned to click his tongue - fascinating himself with the new noise.  He plays "catch" with Daddy with his little yellow ball  - one of his favorite games - and yes, he does throw the ball back to us each time, amazingly!  He has a good healthy appetite and especially loves to eat nshima, the Zambian staple dish of boiled maize porridge. Some of his other favorite foods are rice, pasta, cheese, guava, banana, raisins, and yogurt.  We think that one or two of his molars might be slowly working its way through - fun times.  Of course we are always struggling with the sleepless nights but always hoping that somehow a good night's sleep is just beyond the corner!


So that is some of what has been keeping us busy recently. I hope to blog more within the next day or so. . . and of course I am already starting to compile our May newsletter which will be sent out by the end of the month.