Home at Last

I am finally back in the US of A. 

My flights home went well, I have been busy like a mad person since I got back. 

Thursday I came home to my entire family, Loriann, Sarah, and Cody. It was wonderful. We had the best lasagna I have had in the last 5 months. And....DR. PEPPER! Delicious!

Friday was spent running errands. I was reminded how much I love Texas and about all of the in your face TX stuff that is out there. I picked up Skylar from daycare and she gave me a typical kids say the darndest things... "Hey Cathy-guess what!-There was a brown girl at daycare today ....but she wasn't from Africa."

Texas display at Walmart

Saturday Cody and I went up to T Bar M Camp Travis and saw some of my old campers and our friends. It was SO great and I miss camp so much. But it was a little bit weird to be on the other side of camp (more of the parent side). We got to hang out with some of my friends from SACS at the Goudge's lake house which is like a summer tradition for us. It was a GREAT day. 

Saturday was also a big day in the Bean family because Skylar lost her first tooth!! She was so excited she carried it around with her everywhere.

Skylar's first lost tooth!

Sunday Cody went back to Dallas. My family and I celebrated my dad's birthday and father's day. We had a great afternoon with the family hanging out and eating cake. And we made homemade ice cream!! YUM!

Monday morning mom and I packed up my car (mattress and all) and I went to lunch with Abbey then started my trek up to Dallas. I beat the traffic and made it into Dallas just in time for Cody to come help me unload my car as he got off work. 

My full car including my queen sized mattress

I am living in a town home that is pretty new and absolutely beautiful. I love having a garage I can park my car in every night. It's night and day from where I was staying in Arusha...I have a big, huge couch and a comfy mattress and comforter. I feel so spoiled.

Tuesday was spent running errands, getting groceries, and meeting my new bosses. 

Wednesday was my first day at work at LibertyLinked which is a grassroots site which provides networking tools and a place of community for conservatives to get active and do something about the government. It is a great place for discussion and gives you the opportunity to see all of the political events that will be occurring--all organizations-- all on one page. Check it out and join! --Really, do it.

Thursday and Friday was work, work, work. Friday night Cody, Mitch, and I babysat which was ... let's just say.. full of laughs. 

Saturday Cody and I went garage sale hunting and I found some cool mason jars which are now my drinking glasses. I also found great old books and a cute dresser! I need to repaint and give it new hardware. Cody had a great find and got a $150 racket for 5 bucks. He was on top of the world. 

My new dresser! It was 60 bucks -- i love the old timey look to it

Sunday I got to go to the RANGERS GAME! It was my first Rangers game and one of the things I really wanted to do while I was here. Even though we lost and it was incredibly hot, it was really fun! Thanks Chris and Rachel!

After my first Rangers Game which was a VERY hot and sunny afternoon.

We also drove by the billboard Cody created at The Richards Group for Patron congratulating the Mavs win. For all the Dallas people it on the Tollway at I35. (He came up with the tag line) I'm so excited for him!

"A basketball comeback five years in the making. Perfect." GOOD JOB CODY!!!

Monday was a really cool day at work. I had the opportunity to attend a meeting recapping the 82nd legislature that was held by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. It was a very informative meeting. Then I went along for the ride and ended up at David Barton's personal office. If you don't know who he is, click HERE because you need to learn. He wasn't there but my two bosses, a fellow grassroots activist from FL, another grassroots activist from the DFW area, myself, and one of David Barton's historians got to spend some time with his personal collection of over 100,000 historical artifacts. The room we were in just smelled full of history and age, it was beautiful. The historian, Tim, gave us tons of information and let us have some hands on learning with Bibles, documents, and letters from the late 1700s. We were also able to handle some of the weapons from war that were used in the 1770s. This experience was absolutely amazing to me and I am so thankful for the opportunity.

Today was another busy day at the office. We were able to attend another meeting, this one held by Americans for Prosperity and America's Next Impact about the need for reform in higher education and the problem with tenure. Did you know most college grads graduate with at least $20,000 in debt? Also, the debt accumulated through college loans is $829.785 BILLION. Pretty scary, right? 

I have been trying to learn how to play tennis in my free time with Cody and his roommate, Mitch. I definitely need more practice. 

My adjustment process is still something I am dealing with daily. I have times where Swahili is the first response that comes to mind. Times where I am confused about what side of the road to drive on. Times when I have no idea about the conversation of the new (or old) movies, TV shows, and music that is all the rage right now. I have moments where I just want to cry (or have cried) because I don't know when I will be going back and I miss the simplicity and community of the East African lifestyle. Times when I forget that I can drink water out of the sink or pet a dog I see. Times when I get so excited because of grapes, Icees, mac and cheese, ice cream, couches, comforters, Reeses cups, hot/full pressure showers, salad, LUNCH MEAT, and carrying a sweater with me at all times. I have been finding JOY in a lot of little things lately.

All in all, I have not had time to sit down and dwell on my last few months. It won't be for a couple more weeks till that happens, but I suppose it is better than sitting and moping all the time. 

I cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers, thoughts, and kind words that have given me courage, encouragement, and endurance over the last couple of months. I am going to try to keep blogging... at least for a while. So if you want to keep reading, add me to your RSS feed or keep checking my blog! 

The end is near...

The end is near! Yes, it is near as it always has been that Jesus is coming, but no that's not what I am talking about. About my time in Africa, THE END IS NEAR!

Africa is winding down! It is blowing my mind. I am both happy but sad. I am excited to come home and see everyone I have been missing these last few months. It will be weird coming home and people being at different places in their lives. Sissy will have finished school, Cody has a job, people will be working this summer, and Loriann is on leadership at Laity Lodge. However, I am also beginning to count my time as even more precious than I have been. I am leaving this place that I love, not so much Arusha, but East Africa. I have never liked living in the city here.

I will be leaving people who bring me such joy with the simplest of conversations, smiles, and handshakes. Leaving people who I have been building relationships with for the last 4 months even though there was always a major language barrier. And leaving my wonderful roommate who has continually built me up and been an encouragement and friend as we cling to the Lord together. With out the roomie, this semester would have been a lot harder. Leaving the church and community I have been so blessed to have found there. Leaving the beautiful nature that surrounds me. Mount Meru has become a sight of home for me. When flying in from Nairobi or driving in from any trips, I can always see Mount Meru before we get into town and it always puts a smile on my face. No matter how many days in a row I see it, I still continued to be amazed at it’s beauty. The smell of crowded people and sweat has become a smell I have learned to love. A smell of hard work, determination, and a challenging life. Similarly, saying “shikamoo”  (i am lower than you) to people oder than me on the street or in greetings has become a term I truly endear. I will miss my attempted conversations in Swahili with the most patient and loving people. Conquering the daladala and the market still brings me a sense of accomplishments. I will reflect more after I get home, but I can easily say this has been a semester of learning, in all possible ways. 

Even in this time of transition I still find such joy in knowing that God and His love is BETTER THAN LIFE! There is truth in that, what a promise!! CBC sings a song, Better Than Life and it brings me joy each time I hear it. Psalm 16: 2,9-11 (NIV/The Message) “I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.’ I’m happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I am fully formed. You cancelled my ticket to hell--that is not my destination! You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with JOY in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” 

And as this semester is coming to an end, I am prayerfully trying to seek what the Lord has in store for me for this summer. Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. As the roomy and I have been talking a lot about living to please and exalt God instead of focusing on what we think life should be like, Psalms 46:10 is a perfect reminder. 

    “Be still, and know that I am God; I [God] will be exalted among the nations, I [God] will be exalted in all the earth.” 

Oh, what encouragement and peace that brings me. It is our responsibility to obey and live a life that is honoring and pleasing to the Lord, but in the end God has power and control of everything and really doesn’t need us, but let’s us be a part of the process of showing the world His amazing love. I just got off on a tangent, but I just need to be still and know that God already knows what is planned for this summer and in his perfect time, he will let it be known and give me a perfect peace about it.

 Isn’t He just SO amazing to us? I think so---about 500xs more than I deserve. 

Today was a day of passing on kindness. While running errands in town, I ran into one of my friends who owns a tourist shop. He walked me to phone shop where I bought a phone for a friend (more to come on that later), then to the grocery store. He doesn't ask for money when he helps me, he just walks around with me and takes me where I need to go. 

Then on my way back to the house I ran into this hopeless looking European girl who has probably not been here for more than a day. She was standing on the corner hopelessly holding a painting that a man had shoved into her hand. She obviously didn't want it and was trying to tell him that but he was pretending he didn't know English.  So I walked up to her and told her she doesn't have to buy it, she looked at me with a look of relief. I explained in Swahili to the man that she didn't want it but if she changed her mind she would come back later. She handed it back to him, he wasn't happy with me, she gave me a huge thank you and a look of "you just saved my life" and went on her way. I hope that she will return the favor to someone else today. 

 So here is my moral of the story: do a selfless act of service today and encourage them to do one for someone else. It is simple. And it just makes the world a better place. 

The day the camel trip failed...

We all woke up extra early this morning to be ready to go on a camel safari where we would spend the hour riding on camels...COOL, right? Well we were in the bus about half way their and our driver got a call saying they couldn't take us today, so we turned around & went back home. We are hoping we can make it happen tomorrow.
It has been a great day though! We took our fabric we bought to a shop that is owned by a Ugandan lady from church and we are getting skirts made. We then got to go grocery shopping in the first somewhat normal sized grocery store I have yet to see. This was MARVELOUS. I bought apples, cheese, butter, snack mix, and pasta. I have been waiting for today to come so I could stop having eggs and toast for every meal. We then ate pasta at Maasai Cafe. I think it is just normal pasta with a gorgonzola cheese sauce which was pretty good. (Oh, the walk from the supermarket to the cafe was a good 35 minute walk literally all the way across town and we almost got hit 3 times). But they stop for us mzungus (white people), so don't worry! Then came home to a voicemail and email from Loriann which made my heart so happy.

I just wanted to share some verses the Lord has really used for me these last few days to be refueled.
Psalm 16:
1-2 "Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. I said to the LORD, 'You are my Lord: apart from you I have no good thing'."
 How true is that, with out God I have nothing. I am so thankful that I know that I can take full refuge in Him. I would be lost and hopeless with out Him, searching for satisfaction and feeling ultimately disappointed after finding failure.

9-10 (the message): "I am so happy from the inside out and from the outside in. I'm firmly formed. You cancelled by ticket to hell- that is not my destination!" ---THERE IS POWER IN THAT!
  I don't know about you, but I find such joy and peace and hope in these simple promises. God cancelled MY ticket to hell just as he has cancelled yours. You won't ever get that ticket back, but even better-- we don't ever need that ticket. What an amazing gift that is to us!! Then after Loriann encouraged me to read 1 Peter, I was even more encouraged by the way these chapters just complement each other.

1 Peter:
1:7..."your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and result in praise.
Sit and think about that for just a second.... Our faith, our simple belief in our Heavenly Father, is worth more than GOLD. Gold, which is a solid commodity in the world today. Gold, something that is only increasing in value. Gold, which can be used anywhere even when paper can't. Gold, which people traveled across the country or even the world to find so they would be rich. Our faith is worth more than all of that! Peter then goes on to agree with David ....

1:8-9:"Though you have not seen him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.
The joy that I find cannot be explained, it truly is inexpressible. I find my joy in the Lord and he is the soul provider for my hope and happiness I have that provide for me day in and day out.

3: 14-17"Even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. ALWAYS BE PREPARED to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the HOPE that YOU have. But do this with gentleness and RESPECT, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."  Or as the message says: be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are.
And this is somewhat random to add in here, but a much needed reminder: "Beauty should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

I know I am so blessed to be here and living what has been my dream for months now. We will be starting our volunteering next week after our director gets back into town. I honestly CANNOT wait to go into the villages or go hold the hands of the children of this beautiful city. Please be in prayer for me to see the Lord's guidance for this semester for me and that I will be patient and respectful to those around me. There are lots of opinions and we are all getting along, but at the same time we are learning a deeper level of respect for each other. I'm praying for you and I appreciate your prayers for me!

JOYfully His,
Cathy