Friendship

We are once again a family of six, and I have to say that it feels pretty lonely around here without our parents. I have run to the computer many times, in tears, over the past few days to blog about my loneliness, but luckily for you, my Internet has been down. At first I was determined not to write another blog about sadness (as I'm sure I'm bringing all of you down) but, as always, my emotions got the best of me and I tried to post a blog every five minutes to no avail. I am now in a better frame of mind tonight, and feel as though my sanity is being slowly restored.

The last place we went with our parents before they left was the Masai Mara. We went on a safari and had a great time. The trip is eight hours of terrible roads, and breathing in dust. By the time we got home to Kisumu I was hot, dirty and my lungs were screaming for clean air. You would not believe the amount of dirt that is on you after a trip like that. The scenery is incredible though, vast plane as far as the eye can see, at one point a leopard ran right in front of our car, which was an answer to prayer. Cassie had been praying our whole trip that we would see a leopard, as we have never seen one before. The people we talked to at the game park said leopards are rarely seen because they are very shy. It had been a hard morning, I lost the diamond in my wedding ring, we had to say good-bye to our parents, and the clutch went out in our car (luckily, with Tom babying it and a lot of prayer we were able to make it home). So needless to say, none of us were happy that morning as we were driving home. There we sat with long faces and tears, when right in front of us Cassie spotted a leopard. We stopped and watched him for awhile, stunned that the Lord had granted our insignificant request. I love that God was showing off just for us. It was exactly what we needed to remember that He is in control. That cat didn't make the pain of saying good-bye go away, but it did make us remember that the Lord didn't forget us here in Africa, He knows we are here and He is walking right alongside us.

I wish I could report that I came home with a light spirit and a song of praise on my lips, but it was quite the opposite. I cried for two days straight and didn't stop until last night when our awesome Friends came over and let me rant and rave about the injustices of my life. They let me talk, they shared the word with me, prayed for me and somewhere along the way my burden was lightened. There is something amazing that happens with godly fellowship; it is uplifting even in the most trying of times. Thank you Lord that you have made us social beings and that you are honored when we come together to help each other run the race.