Learning about American History in Kenya

This month, I have been teaching my fifth graders about American History - specifically, pioneers and the Civil War. It has been an exciting time, but I do have to laugh at some of my non-American students - "Why are we always learning about AMERICAN history? Why not _________ history?" (fill in the blank with their home country.  Or "Why do you keep saying us? I'm not American!" Of course, they will learn so many other histories as they go through school, but most Social Studies curriculums are not geared towards international students.

During the Pioneer Unit, we were able to do a Pioneer Simulation of buying goods at a general store to take on our journey West, keep a Pioneer journal, and make and eat pioneer stew and cornbread. Even the international students were quite happy to partake in the food!

We have been keeping a timeline of events in our classroom to keep straight ALL the names and dates of this time period.

One thing I have really enjoyed about being back in the classroom is being a learner again. History is so fascinating to me as an adult - even more than when I was a kid! I hope to make it come alive and be exciting for my students too.

Rain....a blessing and a curse

I awoke at 6:30 am yesterday morning to the sound of rain on the tin roof. I remembered hearing rain throughout the night as well. This was the day we were to head down to Samson and Mary's house to install rain gutters and a rain tank, and I was pretty sure the weather could affect our plans. The other family who we were joining with was the Dubber family and they had suggested this service project as they knew this Kenyan family well.

We decided to postpone our departure by a half hour, hoping the weather would improve. By 8:30 am, the skies were still cloudy, but the rain had stopped. We headed out in our two vehicles, towards Mary's house, which should have taken about 30 minutes.

About half way down the hill, we realized the roads were much worse than we expected. In fact, one of the vehicles got badly stuck in this mess.

 While the men sorted out the mess, the kids decided to have a little fun. (Note: Megan had signed up for a different service project at an orphanage, so she was not with us.)

We finally got out of the mud and inched slowly down the hill, fish-tailing this way and that. 

In the midst of the mud and mess, I was struck by God's beautiful creation springing forth from all this rain.

We finally reached Mary's house, only an hour and a half after we started out. :) We got right to work. Out came the saws, hammers, drills, and nails. Everyone pitched in and did a great job.

As you can from these pictures, more rain is on the way! We were hoping to get finished in time, so all the lovely rain would end up in the new rain barrel. 

The kids each found ways to pitch in.....Lyndsey was able to help install the faucet on the water tank....and Ian made some new friends with Mary's grandchildren.

And here are Mary and Samson....you will notice Mary recently broke her leg. We were happy to help them out in a tangible way. 

And....we went home by another route! We didn't want to mess with that mud a second time!

The Badge of Busyness

I have been pondering "busyness" lately. It seems that most interactions with others involve the word busy. RVA is notorious for its hectic schedule. Missionaries who serve in the "bush" visit RVA and while we marvel at how they can live without running water, electricity and a local supermarket, they will often look at us at comment, "I could never keep up the pace you do here!"

Life is full, there is no way around it.  We have children to raise, jobs to do, houses to be cleaned, etc. But I have noticed that sometimes we can take it too far. We can wear our busyness like a badge of honor. "Look how busy I am!"

I am guilty of this too. This year has brought a new pace of life that I am not used to. I was caught off guard those first few months of juggling teaching with being a wife and mom. I  felt slightly envious, and a little judgmental of others who didn't carry the same load as I did. I felt the need to tell everyone how much I was doing. "Look how busy I am!"  Yet, aren't we all busy to some extent? Who am I to judge who has the heavier load?  

Yesterday I was granted the gift of a day that did not have a to-do list driving it. Amazing. I left school on Friday, feeling prepared for the next week. I could hardly believe it. Whether I was living in denial or it was truly the case, I reveled in the fact that my weekend looked surprisingly open. It was such a gift to pull out crafts with my children on Saturday morning, go for a run with a friend, hang the laundry on the line, and read a good book without a nagging guilt that something had been left undone. If I had been wearing my busyness badge yesterday, I may have formulated some tasks to quickly accomplish to feel as though my day had been productive, instead of just enjoying a day of rest.

A song that has ministered to me lately talks about how we keep striving so hard to earn grace (or please others), yet God is enough for us.  Here are few of the words:

                                    "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching
As if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

'Cause I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

'Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, yeah I'll love you
I'll never let you go

What Have We Been Up To?

It seems my blog posts have been much fewer and further between than the early days of this blog. I guess it's a little thing called teaching full time! I do find my days to be very full and busy, but then again, who doesn't?
At this moment in time however, I am enjoying a rare moment of quiet on a Saturday morning. This morning, I tried to be diligent in grading some online assessments for my students.....but alas, the sketchy internet didn't cooperate. So here I am, enjoying the summer sunshine of a beautiful Kijabe day on my porch. It's a great time to update the blog!
Mixed in with our little update are a few pictures from this half term. Read the captions to see what we have been up to.

Megan running a race with some other girls on New Year's Day, otherwise known as "Community Day" here, where we join with those in our community to play games.

What have we been up to?
Well, second term started up again on January 5. Everyone headed back to school and work and the weeks have flown by. Jeff has been tackling long over-due projects on his to-do list (such a trophy case for the school) in the midst of his regular responsibilities. He just finished leading the first series of "Men's Fraternity" on campus for a group of staff men. My fifth graders and I have been digging into studying England's history (King Henry VIII and his 6 wives!) and are now researching famous early European explorers. Megan is busy with friends, homework, field hockey, drama, band, and piano - yes, she's a busy girl. :) Lyndsey and Ian are enjoying the carefree pace of life that elementary school offers.

Some RVA girls playing with the kids at House of House Home in Naivasha on our Service Day.

Our kids had a great time playing the kids at House of Hope.

Some of our girls colored Bible Story pages with the little ones.

Other RVA girls painted nails with the bigger girls at the home.

Before we left, the little ones sang us a song.

We look forward to next weekend - a long weekend break for everyone. Mid-term! I know the staff and students alike are looking forward to catching our breath.
Would you pray for our school as a whole? It seems many people I have interacted with this week are feeling tired, discouraged, or overwhelmed. Pray that we can look beyond our own busyness and take time to encourage one another!

Lyndsey playing games at our Water Field Day last weekend.

Ian enjoyed the waterslide on Water Field Day.

Look Up

About a month ago, a high school friend of mine visited us. It was fun to walk down memory lane with her as she snapped photos all over campus and we talked about our many memories here at RVA,  as students. She lives in the US and is juggling the roles of mom, wife, and employee. And it struck me: Our lives are not that different. Sometimes I wonder if people think our life here is different just because we are missionaries. The answer - not really! We get up, go to work, come home, try to fit in the kids' homework with our dishes, emails, and other business. We have good days and bad. We can easily get caught up in the mundane, the nitty-gritty, the boring. Many days, my head is so bent down to my task in front of me, I have to remind myself to look up and see what is around me.

Thankfully, there are those moments that I remember why we are here - the bigger picture. The moment when a student has a prayer request for his family's ministry and I remember that we are part of the big picture of reaching people for Christ. The moment when we witness a dozen students taking a stand for Christ in the waters of baptism and I remember that we are investing in the lives of these kids.

There are also moments I remember we live in Africa. When we hit our Christmas vacation and after catching our breath, we pack up our tents and coolers and head to the wild for a days. We feel the warm African breeze, smell the dust and earth, and savor God's creation.

May we all remember to look up today and see what is around us.