5 years 10 months 21 days

Day 2151. Yesterday morning I taught from 10 am to 1 pm. Randy and the kids were upstairs for most of the time where they were playing.  After I was done teaching, we warmed up some leftovers to eat for lunch. Randy left the house before 2 pm to take the car to a shop to have the oil changed. The rental agency had given us a voucher to get that done. His appointment was at 2:30 pm, but I didn't expect him to get home that late - it was 5 pm. And so the kids spent the afternoon downstairs with me and spent way too much time on their tablets. At one point I told them to turn them off, and we went upstairs where we did piano practice. Unfortunately the kids of the house were not home to play with them. At 5:30 pm we got ready to leave the house.

We only drove a few minutes to a nearby Mexican restaurant where we were meeting up with friends. We had met at that same place two years ago. We were there first and got a table, then our friends arrived. It was great to see them again. I picked out the food for the five of us and ordered, then we started talking. When the food arrived, I split it up for everyone. It was really good. And we continued talking. Sammy then started crying; he was not happy at all. Randy then left the restaurant with him and had him push the buttons in our car to make him happy, and it worked. 

Time had flown by, and it was time to leave. At one point I had my phone in hand to ask a waiter to take our picture, but then the conversation continued and I never got to do so. I was very annoyed with myself when that picture was never taken. We said our good-byes, and they left, while Randy still had to buckle the kids into their seats which takes a while. Then we drove the 3 minutes back to our house.
It was 7:30 and time to get ready for bed. After story time and a prayer, they went to bed, while I turned my computer on. 

This morning I had to get up pretty early - for me anyway. I started teaching at 9 am and taught for three hours. After I was done at noon, we warmed up the leftovers from the Mexican restaurant last night and ate them. At 1 pm we left the house together.

We drove 20 minutes to a new church that a friend of ours started attending. He had set it up for us to meet the couple that is in charge of missions at that church which was very encouraging. Finally new people and a new church to meet! We got there first and stood outside of a locked entrance. Then the couple arrived and opened the building. We got to see the sanctuary and went downstairs where they had a large room with tables. There was also an area for kids to play. They stayed there right away, and Randy stayed with them. I sat down with the couple at one of the tables to talk. 

They already knew a little bit about me from the brochure and from what our friend had told them. I then told them my life's story in a few minutes, as well as what God is doing in Mali. We had a great time talking with each other. No promises were made, but we had a great first meeting with potential for a future connection. They prayed for us, then we got up to leave. We took a picture together, then we went upstairs and said our good-byes.

As we were strapping the kids into the car, our friend happened to come by. It was great to see him. Then we continued on our way to the next church meeting at 3 pm. We got there a few minutes early, but the pastor was there. I was a part of the church that met in that building my last few months in Kansas City before going to Mali in 2003, and it had meant a lot to me. They used to support me, but then a new senior pastor took over, and now it is like a different church, even with a new name, though I still know a few couples who attend there. I was very happy that the new pastor agreed to meet with us.

The kids went to the baby room, but there was not much there. Thankfully they had brought their tablets along. I sat down with the pastor right outside that room. Randy tried a few times to join us but Sammy needed him. And so I was the one connecting and catching up with the pastor, telling him what was going on in Mali, and we also cleared the air about the church having stopped supporting us a few years back. It was a great meeting. He prayed for us, Randy did get to talk to him a little in the end, then we took a picture and said our good-byes. There's also potential for a future reconnecting happening.

It was 4 pm when we left and started our 20 minutes back to the house. Randy got gas, then we stopped at the grocery store, and this time we all went inside. We picked up quite a few items, then we drove the remaining 3 minutes to the house. It was 5 pm, when we got there. I immediately started making the microwave rise and heating up the peas, then taking apart the cooked rotisserie chicken and putting all the food on paper plates for everyone. It was our dinner, and it was good.

I was pretty tired but at 6:30 pm it was time to leave again. The church were I went to school here over 20 years ago had a fellowship night that we wanted to go to. I don't think anyone really wanted to leave the house again. We drove the nearly 30 minutes and got there just after 7 pm which is when it started. This time we got the wheelchair out so Sammy would be mobile.

There were already a good number of people, when we walked in. They had icecream set up, and we all got a cup. The kids were most excited about the bowls of toppings they had there and added them to their icecream. The lady serving at the table was someone I knew from back when I lived here.

We sat down at a table where I knew another person, and I started talking with him. The kids didn't stay long as they saw games set up in the distance, so they went to check them out. I talked with some other people, including someone who was in class with me there, then I walked over to where the kids were. They were enjoying throwing bags into holes. Sammy was actually doing very well throwing them in. Emmy tried from way too far away so I encouraged him to go closer to throw them, and that way he got a few in. The boys really enjoyed the game. Then I was called away and actually got to talk to the pastor's wife who I always talk to when I return to visit. After that, the kids checked out a dart game and had fun there, and we talked to another lady there. Randy also talked to a photographer while I was talking to someone else.

I had talked to all the people I knew, and it was bedtime for the kids so we decided to get going. It was 8 pm. As we were leaving the building, I was shouting good-bye to my old friend, when I suddenly noticed that he was actually talking to the pastor, so I said "hello" and "see you Friday". Then we left.

Leaving the building, we could see the storm that had formed in the sky. I had a thunderstorm warning on my phone. The kids were scared, when they saw it, but I told them we were going the opposite direction, away from the storm, and not to worry. I told them to command the storm to dissolve. They were still a little worried. We started our 25-minute ride back to the house. When the storm was next to us, I could actually see a hose from the sky going down to the ground. It looked like a tornado which scared the kids even more. I told them that now they could say they had seen a tornado with their own eyes - how cool that's gonna be to be able to tell the other kids in Austria. We reached the house without the storm catching up with us, and we never got a tornado warning on our phones.

We got the kids ready for bed right away, and I agreed to still read them a story, then I prayed for them. It was 9:20 pm before they were actually in bed, which is much later than 8 pm. But they were asleep fast. 

I turned my computer on and started working. Now it's 1:20 am and high time to go to bed. Tomorrow I have to get up even earlier - just 6 hours from now.