Bagels in Africa

CrazyMom and I have a lot to do to prepare for the family move to Africa. When I got home from work today, I saw that CrazyMom had another checkmark done on her to-do list:

✓ Figure out how to have bagels for the family.

There cooling on the counter was a rack full of homemade bagels. The complicated process involved broiling, then boiling, and then some more baking. The results were great, however.

Now I just wonder if it will work in Africa when we are living at 7,500 feet . . .

Packing Christmas Away

After 19 Christmas celebrations together, CrazyMom and I did something different. We purged and packed the decorations rather than simply putting them away.

Lord willing, we will be celebrating Christmas next year in Kenya. To prepare for this, we gathered up all of our Christmas decorations from around the house and laid them out on the table and kitchen counters. The nine of us stood around and decided what to get rid of, what to put into long-term storage, and what we would take with us to Kenya.

The special Christmas box that will go to Kenya with us.

We started the process with about 10 boxes of stuff. Way too much for any home, to be sure, but there has never been any real motivation to purge. We got rid of half of the stuff and ended up with four boxes for long-term storage and one precious box to take with us.

I was really proud of the kids and how willing they were to throw things out. As you can imagine, with 9 people in the family somebody wants just about every item. Yet, people willingly parted with lots of decorations. When the sentimental ties were strong, however, we found a place for the item in a box that will still be a part of our family.

There will be many more good-byes in the coming months and hopefully they will go as well as today.

By the way, if anybody is looking to acquire some Christmas decorations . . .

Impediments to Downsizing: Birthdays with CONCRETE

CrazyMom was explaining to me what we were giving to Little Foot for his birthday and the word CONCRETE came out of her mouth. She was saying something about a tether ball, an old tire, and CONCRETE, but it was hard for me to decipher what she was saying anymore. All I could think about was CONCRETE.

Nearly every hour of every day I am thinking about what we can get rid of. With a target date of July to move to Africa to teach there, I am obsessed with downsizing. Adding a tire filled with four 80lb bags of CONCRETE with a 10-foot pole sticking out of is obviously an impediment to downsizing.

“CONCRETE! How will I be able to get rid of this?" I thought. "I can’t throw it in the trash. Can I find a dump that will take tires? Will they still take the tire if it is filled with CONCRETE?” My head was swimming and I felt nauseous.

CrazyMom was able to calm me down, however. She reminded me that we still have a year of life with our children here in America. Birthdays will still come and we need to make them special for our kids.

She was right, of course. But still, I hope F.G.’s birthday in October does not involve any more CONCRETE.

Adding an eye bolt to the top of the pole.

Filling the tire with CONCRETE.

We duct tapped the pole to the basketball hoop and the truck to hold it in place while the CONCRETE set up.

Little Foot leaving his permanent legacy in the CONCRETE.

Playing tether ball!

The Downer of Having a Downsizing Dad

“Dad! I want to buy these walkie-talkies!” K.D. said excitedly as we walked by a display in our local Home Depot.

“Do you have enough money to buy them?” I asked, hoping that he would not.

“Yes! And I want to buy these,” he said as he longingly looked over the slick packaging. Little Foot was also taken in and started lobbying for K.D. to be able to buy them.

“But I don’t want any more stuff. We are trying to get to Africa and we need to be getting rid of stuff, not buying stuff,” I said with a hint of frustration over the prospect of buying something that was not biodegradable and a hint of guilt about being such a downer of a dad.

“But Dad! F.G. won’t let us play with hers and you won’t let us play with the ones you have,” they started complaining as if playing with walkie-talkies was an inalienable right put forth in our constitution.

Then the idea hit me.

“I’ll tell you what. I will let you boys buy walkie-talkies if you can fill two laundry baskets full of stuff you are willing to get rid of.”

The deal was on. When we got home, they scurried off to their room with the two laundry baskets I gave them. When the baskets were full, I sat down to order a pair online when I had another thought. Why do I want another pair of walkie-talkies in my house?

“Hey K.D.,” I said. “I’ll sell you my walkie-talkies.”

Now, I know that you are thinking I am a bad father. After all, I charged two laundry baskets full of stuff for the right to pay me money for some used walkie-talkies. Maybe you are right, but please don’t tell my kids that this is not how the real world works. Anna is so excited about the program that she filled a laundry basket full of stuff to get rid of and she doesn’t even know what she wants to buy yet.

Rift Valley Academy Video

Since some of you may not be on our email list, I wanted to share a video that I shared with the list. Africa Inland Mission (our mission agency) has this video on their website about Rift Valley Academy. This is the school in Kenya that, Lord willing, we will be teaching at in less than a year. In just 7 minutes it does a great job of not only giving you a feel for RVA, but also for seeing the impact that the school is having in enabling the work of missionaries in Africa.

Click here for the RVA video.

Click here to check out RVA's website.

I keep thinking that the excitement about the move to Kenya may fade a little here in our home, but it has not.  It seems like it is hard to string together two hours in a row where the move is not mentioned.  It is a fun time for the family as we dream about the future.

Hey, Blog Readers!

If you have read our big news, then you know we are looking to move to Africa, Lord willing, next summer.  CrazyMom and I are putting together an email list where we will occasionally send out updates about this move in our lives.  We will certainly still be sharing about some things here on the blog, but the updates will provide another avenue of a slightly different nature to find out what is going on.  If you would like to receive updates from us, then simply send us an email at welovebigfamilies [at] gmail [dot] com and we will add you to our list.  Also, it would be great if you shared a little bit about yourself with us so we can get to know you more.

We look forward to having many of you along for the ride as we look ahead to Africa!

Trip to Rift Valley Academy

On the last day of school this year I attended graduation in the morning where I am teaching and then headed to the airport to go to Africa. As I was sitting with the faculty on the senior quad watching the graduation ceremony, I simultaneously felt more distant and more present. Thinking about my imminent departure made me acutely aware of all of the details around me.

The purpose of my trip was to visit Rift Valley Academy – a large boarding school in Kenya for the children of missionaries all over Africa.  Maybe it was an indicator of my lack of faith, but I was hesitant to head off to candidate week with Africa Inland Mission the next week without having the opportunity to stand on campus and see firsthand the work that the Lord is doing there. So I asked if I could “stop by” to check things out.

The trip was wonderful in so many ways. I had the chance to see the campus and meet a lot of faculty, staff, and students. It was a study of similarities and contrasts for me as I could not help comparing all of the different aspects of RVA to where I am currently teaching.

Here are a few photos of my trip that should help you get a feel for the school.

Above is the main administration building.  In front you can see a commemorative rock that was placed there on their 100 year anniversary.

This is the main academic quad.

A math classroom.  Go Math!

A chem classroom.  Go Science!  (OK, so I am partial to math and science.)

Look!  They even have computer labs.  (Note the nice thin client solution.)

Here is a second grade classroom.

Here is a rugby field.  The school is on a mountain so a field like this has a retaining wall on the left and an apparent cliff on the right.  In the distance is the Rift Valley.  It was great to be there during the rainy season when things were green.  Things get pretty brown during the dry season.

One last shot of a walkway on campus.  Not much is flat and with the 100 year history, they have a lot of beautiful trees on campus.

Big News. Really Big News.

No, we are not adopting.

It is always good to state that right up front and even though I do, I suspect I will still be congratulated sometime soon about our upcoming adoption.

This time it is news of a different nature. No sense in beating around the bush – CrazyMom and I have joined a mission agency (Africa Inland Mission) and, Lord willing, our family will move to Africa next summer.

Now some of you are probably thinking that you always suspected something like this. After all, we are crazy. Others are probably shocked because you never really believed we were crazy. Now you know better.

But, in fact, while it is a bit scary for us, it does not seem crazy at all. It simply seems like the next step that the Lord is asking us to take.

Now you may have a few questions about all of this –Why Africa? What will you be doing there? Have you been consuming illegal substances? Some of these answers can be found at our website here and others I will try to answer over the next few days as I post here.