Ngente Pictures part 2

Now it is time for us to start to get ready!!! We each had 2 different outfits for the day.

Pape is ready.... and being silly with his "piggy face"

I take my own picture in the mirror, but without my Grand Boo-Boo

Lisa is getting her make-up on in the bathroom....I like it!!! (Yes, I grew-up in the 80's!)

Mariama is waiting to get dressed.

I just told her that she was as beautiful as her mother

Ngente Pictures part 1

The neighborhood ladies are preparing the food the day before

They worked all day to get the food ready!!

They cut and pealed EVERYTHING by hand...it was a LOT of work!

The morning of the ngente, they started back where they left off. This is our househelper, Odet, helping on the left.

Another neighbor hand peeled and cut several pounds of cucumbers.

This is the man that does the call to prayers at the local mosque. They are the ones who do the big cooking for events like this.

My first audio post....with help from William!!

A view from the field.

Hello there, I know it has been a while since I have written, but allow me to share my heart with you. Let me start by saying a sincere thank you for all your prayers. Those of you that have spent some time overseas, especially in Africa, have an idea of the struggles that we can/do face on a daily basis. The language is different and no matter how well you study and learn it, it STILL is not your language and you will have days that all you want to do is find other Americans and hear nothing but your heart language; English. Then there are the cultural differences, and these involve Religious cultural differences as well. No matter how well you study the differences and TRY not to make any mistakes, you still will. And you will have, almost daily, things happen that make you say “Why in the world are they doing this that a way?!?!” All you can do some times is just bite your tongue and just say that this is NOT America, and there ways are not always wrong. If you watch close enough you might even learn something new or a new way to do things. The physical climate here can also be brutal. While the temps here are similar to what we knew in the States, back home we had air conditioning…EVERYWHERE! Here you have it in some of the big French stores and some government buildings and doctors offices, and if you are lucky your car has it and it works well. So what is missing from that list? That’s right…IN OUR HOUSE!! None of the houses here have it in every room, and those that do have A.C., only have it in the bedrooms. Our house you ask…NONE, only LOTS of fans!! So when the heat rises, we sweat!! Then of course there is the reliability of the electricity here. I had to stop typing this in mid paragraph because the electricity went out…again! Now for the last 2 days our phone has been out. And everyday the phone company says in the morning they will come out in the afternoon, only to change that in the afternoon and say in the morning. We will see.

These are all facts of life for living overseas for anyone. But on top of all that, we as believers have the added stress and pressure of the daily and constant spiritual struggles to deal with. While I know that there are these battles in America, they are NOTHING like what you face when you are in the enemies territory. They tag team with all the other stressors at times to make them that much worse. Sometimes it is just the little things here that can affect you in big ways. Sometimes it is some of the issues and personal things you face in America, only here, well as the mission board truly says “What bugs you in America will buffalo you overseas.” The anger, tension, depression, loneliness, fear, withdrawal or whatever else is dealt with back home comes up and can bite you in the hinny and REALY effect you and your work here.

All of this is where YOU come in. You are our support network, and without you, we would NOT stay here!! We can NEVER say that enough nor explain everything we deal with on a constant basis for you to get the full impact that your prayers have on and for us. You are part of our life line and we thank God for you OFTEN. And we pray for a lot of you by name as God lays you on our hearts, which He does OFTEN. So together we are each others support system and for that, I am TRULY grateful!!!! So keep the prayers and words of encouragement coming!!

Pictures!!!

Here are some pictures for you to see!!!! Our first family picture!!!! Taken at the hospital.

William LOVES his new sisiter!!

Daddy and Pape and Mariama

Pape giving her kisses, he does this ALL THE TIME!!!

"...This little piggy stayed home..."
He was actually playing this with her, with our help, but he started it.

My time with my son

I now want to tell you about what this weekend was like for me without Lisa. This was not an overly fun weekend for me. Let me start by saying that any time in the past that Lisa and I were apart, I have been pretty pathetic!! While I have used those times to watch some of the movies that Lisa is not interested in (horror flicks and stupid comedies), the night times were ALWAYS the worst time for me as that was when I settled down with nothing else to occupy my mind. All that to say this I love my wife and miss her when we are away from each other for a long length of time. This weekend was only made slightly worse with a son who had a fever and was also missing his mother. He missed Lisa almost as much as I did. Then he had a fever, and here, one of the first things most people do, and we were encouraged to do so, is to treat for malaria. Well, William did not want to take his medicine for malaria, and actually threw it up..ALL OVER THE BED AND HIMSELF!! Then while trying to calm him down and clean him up, the phone started to ring. After getting everything somewhat restored, we tried to eat and I tried to get William to take his medicine again, which he refused, and almost threw-up again. I was at the end of my rope and was ready to lose it do to the frustration of it all. Fortunately, God settled me down and my son woke up from his nap and ran to me and loved on me, as if nothing happened.

We were then able to go see Lisa and that helped us both A LOT!!! We had a fun time that night with bath time and going to bed. He and I prayed and I helped him ask God to bless Mommy, Daddy, Sister and himself ( the next night I added Gamma, Gampa and others), and he went to sleep after taking something for a fever. Sunday was a LITTLE easier as his "missy" grandparents took him for the morning and I went to see Lisa. She though was running a fever and the night nurses seemed oblivious to it. After making Lisa ask about it, they gave her some medicine for fever and started malaria tests (they were negative!!). William and I saw Lisa that afternoon and played some that evening back at home.

Monday, I had Odett, our houshelper!!! That was a BIG blessing!!!!! She took care of Pape that day while I visited Lisa. Fortunately I was able to bring Lisa home on Tue. I also had William checked out on Tue. and the doctor said that he was fine and he probably had the virus that was going around coupled with missing his mother.

Birth of my daughter!!

WOW!!!! I have a daughter!!! Lyle Sasser's prayers worked, and as he says "Let the finger wrapping begin." Don't get me wrong...I LOVE MY SON! But there is something about a daughter that I know will touch my heart in a different way. She is a true blessing from God and I know that I will treasure her forever. Here are some of the ways that our/your prayers have been answered in her birth.

1. Quick conception: It took Lisa and I almost 2 years to get pregnant with William, and after trying ONE month, we get pregnant.
2. We were blessed with a great doctor that speaks English and was trained in France. Also, we were blessed with a good hospital as well. A very modern hospital with well trained staff (FYI: this is the hospital that all of West Africa uses for births and other medical issues if/when needed).
3. God blessed us with good language skills so that we were able to go through the entire process without any other helpers. Even though the doctor spoke English, the nurses did not and neither did Mariama's doctor. THIS IS A MAJOR THING FOR US AND OUR WOLOF!!
4. The whole birth process was fairly smooth, and the rough areas God carried us through.
1. Lisa started labor in the morning of the 22nd and was given some Pitosin to help induce. We were then sent home after about 2 hours and told to try again later as the contractions were not strong enough and she was not fare enough along. After attending a movie night that the missy school put on, we returned home and William was not feeling well and woke-up every 5 minutes crying, even in our bed. Then, about 11pm, the Pitosin starts to really kick in giving Lisa severe cramps and pain. After an hour of this, she is on the floor in the bathroom in tears and pain and William is scared in our bed. We called "grampa Johnson" and go to the hospital, thinking she may have a virus that has been going around, to find out that she was having contractions. They gave her some medicine to slow down the contractions and the waiting game begin (it is now 2am). When the big time comes, as Mariama is being born, I saw the doctor doing something with her head and he keep saying "Oh my...Oh my!" I found out after she was born why, the doctor told me the cord had wrapped around her head 5 TIMES, and had even tried to knot as well. She was quite, which scared and concerned Lisa, but soon the doctor came back from checking her and said that she was "perfect."
   

There were other things from the next couple of days, but I will write about them in another blog. Thank you for ALL your prayers and keep them coming!!