Day 2526. It was so extremlely hot in our room that it was hard to sleep last night. We had three single beds, and Emmy shared one with me, while Tammy shared one with Randy at first, then moved to the bed Sammy slept on. At 8:15 am the alarm went off - that was 6:15 am in our last time so it was pretty hard given how exhausting our trip had been. In fact, Tammy was so extremely tired that she did not want to get up, nor put on acceptable clothes. We went to the kitchen to eat, and she refused to eat and went all the way until lunch without food. The rest of us had breakfast, then it was time to leave the house.
We had planned to leave at 9:15 am but it always takes some time to get them all strapped in. We drove to Life Center which is my favorite church in the whole wide world, and Randy let us get off with all our Mali stuff by the door then drove off to find a parking spot. And so the kids and I made our way inside; it was hard carrying the heavy bag. We found the table assigned to us to put our stuff up, and I started getting everything out and onto the table. At 10 am the service ended, which was just a few minutes later, and people started coming out. The missions guy of the church had said in the service that we were there and told people to come see us at our table but very few people stopped to see us. Ten minutes before the 11 am service started, we left to take the kids to kids' church.
They were awaiting us and printed out their labels to put on their T-shirts, then we went inside. The teacher there recognized me as I had spoken to the kids at their church once a long time ago. He welcomed the kids, then we took them down the stairs to the front row where Sammy could sit on the ground. Then we left to return to our table. That's where we finally got to see the senior pastor who has been to Mali and married Randy and me and who has just retired as a senior pastor. It was so good to see him again and talk to him. It was 11:15 am before we made it into the sanctuary and to our reserved seats.
Worship was in full swing, and it was just wonderful. God's presence was just as tangible as it's always been, and I greatly enjoyed it. When it ended, the missions guy went on stage and prayed, and God touched me. Then he let everyone know about us, saying really nice things, and told everyone to come to our table. He had us stand up and then started praying for us. The former senior pastor's wife came and put her hand on me, and again God touched me powerfully. Then we sat down, and the service moved on.
At 12:15 pm I got a text from kids' church that the kids were tired and wanted to be picked up. So both Randy and I left to go get them. When we got there, it was only Sammy that had had enough; we had known even before that he was very tired and would probably not make it to the end. We then took Sammy with us and went to our product table. At 12:45 pm the service was gonna end anyway.
People started coming out, and Randy left to pick up Emmy and Tammy and then joined me. Very few people stopped to talk with me, and Emmy started crying because he was so hungry. All three were hungry. I then told Randy to go ahead to the potluck lunch and that I would join them there once I was done. After they had left, I had the best conversation of the day with a lady.
I then packed up, left our stuff in the corner there, and went downstairs to join the others for lunch. Our friends and the kids were all at the same table. Randy was already in line with Tammy and Emmy; I thought they'd be eating by then. I joined them in the line and helped with their plates.
There was one other person at our table that I didn't know. We had a good time eating and fellowshipping with everyone, and the kids were having fun with the three ladies. Sammy was with one, looking at pictures of her dogs on her phone, and Emmy sat down on another one's lap. First he pretended to sleep, then he actually fell asleep.
Most people had left by the time we got up to leave as well. We went upstairs to get our stuff and found the area locked up. We contacted the missions guy who said he'd try to find someone to let us in. A few minutes later someone came to unlock the area, and I went in to get our stuff. Randy had already left to bring the car around, while I walked outside with the kids and our stuff. It was already after 3:30 pm when we drove off to return to our house.
And we only had half an hour there - just enough to get changed - then we returned to the car to leave. However, there was an issue with the car seats so it took Randy 20 minutes and a lot of nerves to get it done, and we ended up at the park way later than we should have been. It was 4:50 pm before we parked there.
Our two friends were already there and waited for us. It was quite a fancy playground that was part of a church and free to use. The kids were having lots of fun. I was sitting down for much of the time, so tired I could hardly do anything and barely think. At 6:30 pm we decided it was time to leave.
On the way back to the house we stopped at Walmart to pick up a few items. Tammy and Emmy wanted to come inside as well, so the three of us went through the store to pick up all that we needed. We didn't realize how long it was taking us even though we went as fast as we could. It was 7:45 pm before we were back at the house.
Once again everyone was hungry so we sat down to eat right away and had a good time together. Our friend then came by to bring us two fans to use to help us with the intense heat which was very kind of her. We finished eating, then went up to the third floor to our rooms. Everyone got a shower, then put their pajamas on even though it was really too hot to wear any. However, the two fans were helping big time. Sammy was asleep immediately while the other two needed until 9:45 pm to fall asleep. I was on my computer working on today's pictures and the report. Now it's 1:20 am, and I'm also going to go to bed.
