Tiny Pant's Academy

We have been having so much fun spending time with Emma these past couple months.  She is at such a fun age (she will be 15 months old on the 17th!) and loves exploring and trying new things.  We have started a little tot school with her that we have appropriately named Tiny Pant's Academy. We have been soaking in every minute with her.  She is growing so fast!

Tot School lasts about 30 mins in the mornings with reading, singing songs, learning fun rhymes, and lots of dancing. 

The afternoons are our activity times.  We will paint, color, play with rice, water, bubbles, play at the park, play kickball or soccer, etc

She had lots of fun playing with the rice! I think we were out here for a couple hours. And lets be honest, Mark and I enjoyed it too.  For some reason, it's super relaxing.

To say Emma loves painting is an understatement. She could sit there for hours and paint on her paper, belly, hair, and face. 

 It was a blast having Emma help us with pizza night.  She made her own pizza and helped Mark roll out the dough for the other pizzas.  

"Hi, mom!"

We decided to live life on the edge and let her spread the sauce on her pizza!  

{Note: It was a little messy and we all took showers that night, but it was totally worth it even if we got a little sauce on the clothes, in the hair, on the floor....oops!}

Since pizza night she has helped make pumpkin pancakes and banana bread.  Who knows, maybe we have a little chef on our hands!  Bon appetit!

Ahhh....Colorado

We have about a week and a half until we leave for Colorado for our final training!! I cannot believe it's almost here.  I (Kenzi) have never been to Colorado before, so it makes this trip extra special.

Ahhh....Colorado.  I can already feel the cool breeze, hear the wind blowing in the trees, and see more than my eyes can take in.  I can't think of a better place for our last training. I mean, I have never been there, but just thinking about all we will be learning and then getting to hike and play on the mountains in God's awesome creation to have a little adult recess.  Our own giant playground.  It's going to be fun!

I thought it would be fun to share some fun info I found about Colorado.

1. Colorado means "colored red" and is known as the 'Centennial State.'

2. In Fruita, the town folk celebrate "Mike the Headless Chicken Day." Seems that a farmer names L.A. Olsen cut off Mike's head on Sept. 10, 1945 in anticipation of a chicken dinner.  Mike lived for another 4 years without a head. {Whether this is true or not, who knows, but its funny!}

3.  Colorado host the worlds largest elk heard in the wild.

4.  Katherine Lee Bates wrote the song "America the Beautiful" after being inspired by the views from Pikes Peak.

5.  Colorado is the only U.S. state that's ever turned down a chance to host the Olympics.  Denver originally won the bid for the 1976 Winter Olympics but the state's voters later rejected it due to infrastructure costs and environmental concerns.  Innsbruck, Austria, ended up hosting the Winter Olympics in 1976.

6. The world's largest flat-top mountain is the 'Grand Mesa' in Western Colorado.

7.  Denver, lays claim to the invention of the cheeseburger. Denver resident Louis Ballast of the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In names his sandwich the cheeseburger. The trademark for the name Cheeseburger was awarded to Ballast in 1935.

8.  Dove Creek is the 'Pinto Bean' capital of the world.

9.  Colorado has 222 state wildlife areas.

10.  At 14,110 feet above sea level over 400,000 ascend Pikes Peak each year.

****While we are about to leave for our final training, we are still in need of MONTHLY pledge partners.  We are hoping to leave for Kenya in Nov. which only leaves us with a couple months! We are asking 26 people to join us with a monthly pledge of $100 {or other amount if you feel led}.  If you would like to partner with us please click on our GIVE tab for all the information. THANK YOU!!!!!****

Ken'Ya Carry the Jug

We had a blast on Saturday with everyone who came out to Ken'Ya Carry the Jug! It was fun meeting everyone and sharing about what God is doing in Kenya, our journey, and how they can be apart of it.  We were blessed by so many family and friends who helped put this event together. It really felt like the Family of God working together to help build for the Kingdom.  Jesus was there and it was awesome!

We had a fun water walk where people got to carry a jug {or two} and walk along a trail for about a mile.  Along the path were signs that explained more about the water crisis in Kenya.  Many said after the walk that they enjoyed the experience of putting themselves in someone else's shoes for the day and learning what it would be like to walk miles each day and carry gallons of water.  Our friend Dave also played his drum during the walk to help pump everyone up.  It was a lot of fun!

THANK YOU to everyone who helped put this event together and THANK YOU to everyone who came!!

"But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14

Please enjoy some fun pics from the day!

//Excitement//

As it gets closer to us leaving {3 more months!!} we cannot help but be excited! God has been amazing through this whole process and we are pumped to move to Kenya!

A few things that I (Kenzi) am just over the moon excited about are::

I am excited for the day we will FINALLY be able to have our own home.  We have been living with my parents the past year and they have been troopers! It isn't always easy having a one year old run around the house, climb on things, open every cabinet in the kitchen and pull everything out.  My parents have been a HUGE blessing to us and I know Emma has loved spending time with them.  We cannot thank them enough for letting us crash with them during this transition time, but I am sure they are ready {just as we are} to have their own space.  I am looking forward to the day I can unpack all of my boxes, including the ones that have stayed packed this past year, and have a place for all of our belongings {the few we have left}. We are planning to have a two bedroom apartment in Kenya which means Emma will get her own room and will not be sleeping in our room anymore.  It will be bitter sweet but I have never gotten to decorate a room for her and my heart skips a beat at the thought of finally getting to put her little room together :)

I am also excited to dive into the Kenyan culture.  For some reason I cannot wait to go buy groceries at a local market.  It sounds so fun to me! I will get to practice the little bit of Swahili I have been learning and fingers crossed I say everything correctly.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am terrified to speak Swahili because I currently know nothing, but you have to start somewhere right?!  I am also pumped to meet all the kids at the Home of the Good Shepherd, meet the staff with GGFAN, and start building relationships with our neighbors, GGFAN, and the tribes we will get to work with. My heart gets all giddy thinking of Emma playing with all the little kids and building relationships of her own.

I feel like I have been learning a ton of information and just can't wait to put it all into practice.  Our brains have been stuffed with so much great information lately and I feel like the only way I can process it is to do it.  Its like you have all the ingredients you believe you need to make a delicious cake but you have to wait for the One in charge to give you the green light to start baking.  If that made any sense at all :)

Lastly, I am excited to see what we will learn from the locals and from Jesus. I feel like my faith and relationship with Jesus has grown so much since this process started and I know it will grow even more in different ways when we get there. Jesus is just awesome!

Now, of course there are some things that are unknowns and naturally come with some concern, but tonight I am focusing on all things exciting.

Jesus, exciting thoughts, and some lavender oil will aid for a great night sleep!

Storying

Storying. 

 It kept popping up to my attention the past several months. In our Perspectives course, through friends, and at our training in India. Now, when things repeat themselves, it is generally a good idea to pay attention.  So, I decided I would trust the Lord and learn more about it.  

Storying is way for people to experience the Gospel.  It is done through memorizing passages of scripture (stories), sharing the stories with a group (big or small), and letting the Holy Spirit lead the questions and conversation.  All the story teller does is tell the story, ask questions, and help create a time for people to listen to God.  There is no teaching involved just simply asking people to step into the story and see what they think.  It is totally led by the Holy Spirit.  Listening is something else the story teller does. Hearing how people respond gives the story teller a glimpse at their worldview and lets them know how they can pray for that person. It's beautiful. 

I have decided {since the Lord kept bringing it up} to learn the art of Storying and hopefully be able to put it into practice while we are in Kenya.  

The thing about stories is that they go with people.  Everyone remembers stories. It even provides an opportunity for those who cannot read or write to experience God's Word and be able to share it with their family and friends. My thought is if I can share these stories with the children we will be working with, these stories might go with them for the rest of their lives.  Who knows, it may even have a small impact on their families many generations from now.  

We never know what seed we might be able to plant and how the Lord may choose to grow it.  All we can do is simply trust the Lord and follow where He leads us.  

Kenzi

A Letter To Emma

Emma,

Yesterday you turned one! I cannot believe how fast this past year has gone.  People always said the first year would feel like a blink and it sure has.  It has been so fun watching you grow.  I still remember when your dad handed you to me to hold for the first time.  I felt overwhelmed with love.  You were this tiny little person with big blue eyes!  

My prayer ever since you were born was that you would embrace you middle name, Hadassah.  You are named after Esther in the Bible.  She was a very strong woman who loved God and stood up for what she believed in.  She was compassionate towards her people and followed God to help them.  You, miss Emma, are such a sweet and compassionate little girl.  You love to give hugs and kisses to anyone that will let you. You smile and wave at people, cars, mailboxes, trees, pretty much anything you see.  You always like to talk with the child who is playing alone or sitting alone. You like for everyone to be included. I am excited to see how you grow in this over the years.

I love that you are already falling in love with Africa.  You love to watch safari shows on TV.  You are fascinated with the animals. At the zoo you love to see the elephants.  You wave and talk to them and then get mad when they walk away from you :)

 Your favorite word is 'Yeah.' You say it all the time.  Our conversations throughout the day sound something like this:

Me: Emma are you hungry?
You: Yeah!
Me: Emma do you want to play outside?
You: Yeah!
Me: Emma do you want to ride an elephant?
You: Yeah!
Me: Emma did you grumpy (poop)?
You: Yeah!
Me: Emma do you want to take a nap?
You: Yeah!

It's gonna be rough when you replace that word for 'no.'

You have taught me so much over this past year.  I have learned that living in the moment is often better than trying to get a picture.  It is in those moments that God has really spoken to me.  He has used you to to teach me more about His love for us.  An example of this is when you want to play with something you cannot have, such as a large sharp stick.  I see the result of what could happen if you were to play with the stick before you even get it in your hand and because I love you, I want to protect you from falling on the stick, poking your eye with the stick, or anything else.  But since you do not see the big picture you proceed to cry and throw yourself on the floor. This is a lot like life baby girl. God can see the big picture and sometimes He will take away some thing we think we want or need.  During these moments we will want to cry and throw ourselves on the floor, but He will be there to lovingly pick us up and direct us towards a safer path.

It is such a joy to be your mama! I love everything about you.  I might be biased but I think you are a genius.  You bring so much laughter to our family.  Our days are definitely brighter with you in them. I am excited to watch you grow over this next year.

We had a big birthday party for you.  Some people thought I was crazy to have a big party because you will not remember it, but it might be the only one (for a while) that extended family and friends are able to come to.  You enjoyed playing in the water, playing with cousins and friends, and eating the icing on your cake!

 I love you baby girl, thank you for making me a mama :)

Free To Give

It took us two years, down sizing apartments, selling a car, tightening our budget, lots of discipline, saying 'no' to things, and moving in with my parents but we finally did it.

We are debt FREE! 

We waited so long for this moment.  We got serious about being debt free after we knew the Lord was leading us to Kenya, which gave us a deadline.  It became a desire for us.  We had the goal to have our debt paid off before we start living off of support salary. It wasn't easy.  We were newlyweds and wanted to play. Fun road-trips, exciting dates, yummy restaurants, and lots more were at our finger tips.  Why pay off debt when you can take a weekend getaway to the beach? Deep down inside, we knew if we paid it off, then we could do so much more. Now, there were times when we got our tax return back and wanted to use that money for a fun vacation (we obviously like to travel :) but knew we needed to use it to pay off a loan or credit card. It was hard. 

Then we got pregnant.  Having a baby always makes it easier to pay off debt right?! Ha, no. Thankfully, we were blessed by so many with diapers, wipes, formula, and everything our baby girl would need for the first several months.  The Lord was gracious during this time.  We became a one-income family, meaning we lived even tighter. Luckily, when you have a new baby, you don't really do anything extra anyways.  

We had to trust the Lord a lot during this season.  There were times we did not think we would be able to pay it all off in time.  More hospital bills would show up or something unexpected would happen. I found encouragement as I read in Matthew 6:25-26, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air! They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Jesus said He would provide for us.  He said we would be taken care of just like He cares for the birds of the air. When I look back on the past two years, I can see those moments when Jesus showed up. When I quite my job, Mark and I were a little worried about caring for ourselves and our new baby.  Little did I know, the Lord had brought a business into my path the year before that grew faster than I realized.  It helped to supplement what I was making working part-time. The Lord provided.

 In Romans 13:7-8  we read, "Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law." We see in scripture that we are to be debt free.  The only debt we are to continually have is to love one another.

I believe it honors the Lord when we strive to pay off our debt.  "The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives," (Psalms 37:21). When we are free of debt, it allows us to freely and graciously give more. We can share our blessings and be a blessing to others.  If you are feeling overwhelmed with debt or have been trying to be debt free, I want to encourage you to keep going.  The Lord sees you.  He sees the desire you have and I promise if you continue on, He will provide what you need. May we be content in Him, may He receive all the glory, and may we not be bound by the chains of debt.