Back when I was in the Fifth grade my Mom threw me an April Fool's Birthday Party and the crowning moment was the beautifully decorated birthday cake which I cut into and suddenly realized was nothing more than a beautifully decorated cardboard box. Someone caught me right in the moments after. It was a pretty spectacular joke!
And apparently, I'm rather susceptible to it.
My friend Karen, who was at that first birthday party, had told her kids about that cake and they wanted to try their hand at it. I stood in the kitchen and watched Karen make a cookie cake in a 9X13 pan so I did think it pretty strange that the cake came out in a square but you know maybe it was double stacked!!! Anyway, here's the video proof of my falling prey to the joke a second time.
Did you hear me say, "How do I approach this? (referring to the cutting of the cake) I don't know what's under here." Oh, the irony!
My take away from this is that...
1. I have some awesome people in my life who always help me celebrate the life that God has given me in fun ways and
2. I'm never going to trust another birthday cake that doesn't come out with chocolate icing on it! And especially not if it's pink...don't mind me while I stab this thing to see if it's real. :)
There is a mother I know. She has three children who play nearby on most days. She sits listening to the happy voices of her children and the varying beats of feet moving by her. As I pass her, I often think of how I wish I had the words in her language to tell her how beautiful her children are - how they are growing taller and stronger each day. I want to tell her these things because she cannot see them with her own eyes. She is blind.
Today as I passed her, she sat alone, her children nowhere to be found. I wondered again at how difficult it must be for a Mom not to be able to look up and see her children and know that all was well with them. How, for example, could she come to their aid if just one of those passing by intended them harm? These thoughts often turn to prayers that God himself would watch over them for her.
My feet walk on.
Suddenly, I hear the frightened cry of a child and the pounding of little feet on pavement. Her toddler is running furiously and crying out for her. He has wandered inexplicably far from her and yet, surrounded by a sea of grown up legs, he runs toward his mother's place, absolutely sure that she will be there.
I stop and watch, concerned that he may not know the way, unsure of whether I should help him. In the sea, one hand reaches down momentarily stopping him but it is not the hand he seeks. He pushes it aside and continues on as do I, confident that he knows exactly where he is going.
My feet follow the path once more around the stade and there, at the other end, my eyes seek out his mother's place. She is there. Resting safely in her arms is her little one. He is comforted by her whispered assurances and her gentle hand tapping his bottom. There is a mother.
Dedicated to my Mom and Dad, who, just like this mother,
No sooner had school ended for the Christmas break than I headed out with some friends to Burkina Faso. People always talk about Burkina admiringly because it has quite a few more stores than we do and often has treasures that we only dream about getting here in Niger. But one thing that is not better is the road! It was full of potholes and 70 something speed bumps by our count. However, a change of scenery is always interesting because just a country a way, they can do things so differently.
For example, women ride bikes. There are bike parking areas and they neatly line up motorcycles and bikes on the top of buses and vans so that the people can ride inside.
Here we all are crossing the border out of Burkina and back into Niger.
After our quick trip to Burkina, it was time to get ready for the annual Christmas with the R family. That equals fondue and family fun - like a nativity. I think this year might have been my favorite as the story of Jesus birth was told via song styles through the ages. Here we have the wise cowboys serenading the baby Jesus.
We ended the evening with a reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Grandpa R to his grandchildren. Those naughty boys in the background!
After Christmas, I returned to my apartment only to find that something unexpected and quite unwanted had come to visit - A RAT! I was standing at my kitchen sink when I heard a rustling in the cupboards that was quite unusual so I threw open the door and came face to face with a rat. We scared each other. While he ran to a dark corner of the cupboard, I retreated to my sink leaving the door hanging open. After a few minutes, I came to my senses and realized that leaving the door open was quite a silly thing to do because technically, I had him trapped if the door was closed. So I closed it and began to consider my options. A trap - that had been wholly unsuccessful the last time there had been a rat in my apartment. A cat - what cat wouldn't want a free meal? That seemed like the sure solution so I called my friend Jeannie and asked if she would kindly lend me hers. And that was how Puddy came to visit on Boxing Day.
Look at those claws, doesn't he just look ready to kill a rat?
Was it performance anxiety? Was it a shrew and not a rat? We will never know. But we can say this for sure, Puddy wasn't too keen on killing it. The rat ran back and forth directly within the sight line of Puddy multiple times as I chased it back and forth between rooms. Puddy sat calmly in just about this position even during the moment etched in my brain where the rat scurried across the floor, hit my green tupperware bowl and went airborne. I've not seen or heard from the rat since that day so I'm hoping that the mere presence of Puddy scared it away for a long while. And that my friends was Christmas 2014!
Christmas in Niger means I get to hang with the R family for at least a full 24 hours and when it's Christmas Eve that means there will be Cheese, Chocolate and a Children's play. I didn't take any pictures of the cheese or the chocolate that was a part of our fondue Christmas Eve celebration but I did take pictures of the Children's play. Due to a last minute migraine, there had to be some minor adjustments to the roles but these kids are pros and the show went on.
The angel visits the shepherds.
You've got to love Carrot Top, the wise man.
Moe, the rabbit. filled the role of the Baby Jesus.
And the cast takes their bows.
I'm so thankful for the gift of this friendship at Christmas and every day, for that matter!
Do you remember when cheese came in a can? During my earliest years growing up in Nigeria, if we had cheese it had either crossed the ocean with us on our return from furlough or it came from a can just like this one. (At least that's the way I remember things...I wasn't exactly doing the shopping!)
We have no lack of yummy cheeses here in Niamey but I was in a little store on Saturday that happened to have cheese in a can so I decided to buy some just for old time's sake. You know how the nostalgia of things from your childhood can get to you sometimes!
It was just as I remember it and the only thing that would have made it better is if I had been pulled over somewhere alongside a road eating cheese sandwiches under the shade of an African tree with my family. Mom, Dad, Kent, I can send you a can....on second thought, perhaps you should just go out and buy yourself some Kraft cheese slices. It's about the same thing!
Last July I began The Great Experiment. You may remember I left my recipe box behind and determined to try new recipes. Though I didn't try as many as I envisioned, I still had fun. One of my favorite blogs for finding new recipes is The Recipe Critic. Since I'm very visual when it comes to cooking, I love her photos and the ratings she gives in the categories of taste and difficulty. I decided to close this experiment with two of her recipes.
We were having some very special guests over for dinner so why not experiment? (My mother said that only brave women do that!) I decided to try The Recipe Critic's Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas . I would post my one picture but frankly, I don't think you would want to try the recipe after looking at it. But I will say this recipe got my Father's nod of approval which is why I deemed it a home run. I tried to get him to follow in my brother's footsteps and give his critic on camera but he wasn't keen on that. I can't imagine why not!
Anyway, taking pictures of the guests was more important than taking pictures of the food because....
I got to see the Malletts for the first time since 2006!
And let me tell you, they have some very sweet kiddos - ones that like to read books
and don't mind getting a wash down by our family's compulsive licker, Miss Iya, herself.
Thursday night found us dining with the Schmidts, fellow members of the SIM Niger family. It was great to catch up with them! It was unfortunate that my camera was tucked away so all I have to show for this visit is the dessert we ate. I made Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Blondies.
I made some changes like using crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth and adding some peanut butter chips into the mix too. Overall, they were good but a little bit on the greasy side.
Tonight we had some more visitors. This time from Canada. Bet you can't guess what brought them down south!
In fact, these kids found out they were going to Disney World only moments before they hopped in the van to go. Surprise vacation - now that's an idea I love!
It was great fun to catch up with the Armstrongs, friends since Parkway Bible Church youth group days!
Anyone else want to drop in for a visit? There's plenty of leftovers! :)
The other day Iya and I were having a conversation. It went something like this...
ME: Iya, did you know that you are really quite symmetrical in appearance. In fact, I think I'll take a couple of pictures of you so that I can use them in math class when we talk about symmetry.
IYA: Really, I don't get what the big deal is about symmetry and frankly, I'd rather not have my picture taken. In fact I think, I'll just turn to the side and thwart any attempt on your part to take a straight on picture.
ME: You know it's for the children, right?
IYA: Ahh, you had to go and play the Kid Card. Fine! I'll give you one but that's all you are getting!
IYA: You did hear me say I was done, right?
IYA: Jeepers, you won't even leave me alone when I'm eating.
IYA: ALRIGHT! THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT! I'M ABOUT TO MAKE YOU LOOK SYMMETRICAL!
Last Friday Kent's church had a tailgating party before the Charlotte Knights' baseball game. I've heard a lot about tailgating parties but I must confess I had never been to one before. It's pretty much a barbecue in a parking lot but in this case, we got to visit with a lot of Kent's friends from Lakeshore Christian Fellowship. Then we all went in to enjoy the baseball game together. It was a double header so we caught the end of the first game and enjoyed taking some pictures.
Then we caught the big event which was Pastor Gil throwing out the first pitch. He got a great big round of applause from his own personal cheering section in the cheap seats.
Then the second game began and just about everyone headed for home but we, Botherases, stuck it out until the very end!
Travelling with a gps (aka a global positioning system) can definitely lead to some interesting adventures. In my travels this year, I've found that the further one gets away from civilization, the more likely the gps is to steer me wrong. Such was the case on my way into the hills of West Virginia. I didn't have a good state map with me so I was pretty much relying on the gps to get me up into the hills where we were staying. It began by taking me down a nice two lane paved road. But then it insisted that I turn left on Hinkle Mountain Road. With one look to my left, I quickly ruled out the possibility of ever ascending the steep gravel road with my little Saturn. So I resolutely set my eyes to continue on the paved two lane road all the while listening to my gps recalculate and continue insisting that I turn around and take Hinkle Mountain Road.
Days later, my brother was kind enough to take us all out on a drive through the country and down Hinkle Mountain Road just so I would know what I missed.
Loaded Up & Ready for Our Adventure
It is hard to tell in this picture how steep the road was but it was precisely at this point that the wisdom of staying off this road with my car was validated. I mean for goodness sake it was so steep that we were sliding forward in the bed of the truck!
My brother calculated that it was roughly a 1200 foot drop.
Beautiful sights to be seen along the way.
But heed my warning, no matter what your gps tells you,
All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us
All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us
You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us
Right about now you are probably saying to yourself, "Now, Beth, that doesn't look very beautiful! In fact, it looks like it might have gone from bad to worse." But what I see is a beautiful opportunity that has risen from the dust. You see this is Sahel Academy's dining room. Pre-flood it was
the lunchroom,
the snack shack,
the holder of assemblies,
the theater,
the music room,
the kitchen,
the dance floor,
the reception room,
the conference center,
the church sanctuary
and the beginning and ending
of the school year room.
Perhaps you could compare it to the heart of your home - a place where the family meets to participate in all the joys and sorrows of being a family. Though it appears that it is in the process of being destroyed, what is actually happening is that the roof is being raised. It's an opportunity that probably would never have been possible with a campus full of students - a beautiful thing that has risen from the dust. It will make the heart of our school more comfortable as we
eat together,
snack together,
assemble together,
perform together,
make music together,
cook together,
dance together,
celebrate together,
confer together,
worship together,
greet one another for the first time
and say goodbye for the last time.
Thank you, God, that you make beautiful things out of dust!
