Day 2551. I had gone to bed late so it was very hard to get up at 8:15 this morning when my alarm went off. But I had to. I turned my computer and got ready for my 9 am student. I taught until 10 am, then we got into the car to drive half an hour to a coffee shop to meet with a friend.
We got there right on time. The kids took their tablets inside with them to keep themselves busy while we were talking. We had a great time catching up. After an hour my friend had to run. We got back into the car and drove 35 minutes west to meet with another friend and her family at a McDonald's playground. She was actually one of my two bridesmaids and has been a friend for the past 25 years. It was so good to see her again, and with a fourth child born since we'd last seen each other. We got some food and ate and talked while the kids wanted to be enjoying the playground most of all, and they did. Randy took Sammy over there, and he had lots of fun by himself and playing with his brother.
After an hour, at 1:30 pm, it was time for us to get moving, especially as it takes a while to get all three kids strapped into the car. We then drove 20 minutes to an escape room. None of us had ever done one before but since the playground we wanted to go to was closed, we decided to do this. It was scheduled to start at 2 pm; we got there 2 minutes before that, before our friends arrived a few minutes later. Thankfully it didn't matter as it was completely empty, with no other customers there at all. Once we were complete, I went inside the room with Tammy and Emmy, and my friend's husband with their three older kids. My friend and her baby, and Randy and Sammy, stayed outside and waited for us.
It was an escape room for kids but it was very challenging. We had 60 minutes to solve all the riddles and make it out of the room. It was called "The Lost Treasure" so our task was to find the treasure and make it back out. There was an option of pushing a button to have a hint displayed on the screen, and we had to use it quite a bit as it was hard to solve those riddles. The kids were having lots of fun trying to solve everything and playing around with everything. A few times Emmy and Tammy got a little scared. They had three rooms, and in the third room, there was the treasure and a skeleton which was supposed to be the explorer that had been shut in. Tammy did not like the skeleton and was kind of crying, wanting to get out. The door was always open so I told her she could go outside if she wanted to but she stuck it out; it was nearly over at that point. Thanks to the hints we completed the room in about 50 minutes.
We returned to the lobby where the others were waiting for us and spend some time there together. The kids were playing tic-tac-toe, and Emmy got to hold the baby. Emmy really likes babies and is great with them. Then we took a picture together before leaving. It was already time to say good-bye again; we hadn't had as much time to talk as I would have liked, but it had been fun to spend time together again.
It was 3:30 pm by the time we drove off, and by 4:15 pm we were back at the house. I was really tired and lay down on the bed and closed my eyes for a while. Tammy couldn't find her tablet so Randy went to the car but couldn't find it there. We were wondering if she had left it anywhere in the course of the day.
Just after 5:30 pm we left the house again - without Tammy's tablet. We drove just over 20 minutes to a church I've known for 25 years but that is a different church today. I was thankful that we had received permission to use a room there tonight, thanks to our friends that we are staying with. When we got there at 6:10 pm, there was only one person there, sitting outside in his car, and that was our friend we had seen in the morning. He had come way too early as he had remembered the time wrong. I had been trying to reach our friend who had gotten the room for us to find out when he'd get there, but to no avail. The meeting was scheduled for 6:30 pm.
After a few minutes, a couple arrived, also friends of ours. It was good to see them again. And the husband had a key and unlocked the door for us. We then walked to the youth room. I was gonna use the TV screen but didn't have a cable. I set up my Mali table, while a few more people were arriving and sitting down at a table. When it became clear that there wouldn't be many more people, I decided to sit down at the same table and show the pictures on my computer screen instead of the big one.
Looking at the people around the table, I was so overwhelmed by the quality of the people that had come, people I look up to and honor. There was only one lady I didn't know, and another guy came later that I didn't know either. But there was the one who was the pastor of this church 25 years ago, then there was an older couple that are powerful people of prayer and healing, and then of course, Jill Austin's right hand woman who's been a friend for a long time, and the man who was in charge of intercession at Jill Austin's conferences. All those I have now known for 25 years. Then there was another couple who's known me for nearly just as long, and our friends we are staying with who we've known the shortest but also for over 10 years. Their children were with them and ended up playing with our children which got them away from the tablets, hallelujah. Tammy actually sat down next to me at one point and told me what story I should absolutely tell everyone.
When it was time to start, I started at the beginning as there was one person who knew nothing about me. And I shared a whole lot more about my time in Kansas City because of the people from back then who were there to hear it. But then I shared testimony after testimony of what God has done in Mali, and everyone loved the stories. I have no clue how long I spoke as I never looked at the time.
When I had finished speaking, the former pastor of the church suggested they'd all pray for us. So they put down two chairs, one for Randy, one for me, and we sat down. Someone took a picture of all of us, then they surrounded us and started praying. Those were precious prayers, and the power of God filled me, and His presence made me giggle and laugh a bit. Again, I felt so honored that all those people had come to hear me speak.
Then it was time to say good-bye to everyone, to each one of those precious people. What a wonderful evening it had been! We packed up and went outside. Our friends hadn't eaten yet either and suggested we'd go to a nearby pizza place. I told them we'd stop at the place on the way where Tammy might have left her tablet in the morning to check for it.
It was 8:30 pm when we pulled out of the church parking lot. A few minutes later we arrived at the place. I walked in by myself, and some nice employees looked for the tablet anywhere but it was nowhere to be found. I left my phone number, and the guy told me he'd send an email to all employees in case someone had found it.
Tammy had had high hopes that it was there but those hopes were shattered when I got back into the car empty-handed. A few minutes later we parked by the pizza place and walked inside.
Our friends were already there. There was a table for the kids, and a table for us adults. Tammy didn't want to sit with the kids but sat down with Daddy and started crying that her tablet was gone. She told me it was because of all the precious videos she had taken that were on it. I then suggested to her that we pray and ask God to show us where the tablet is and return it to her. After that she felt better and actually ate some pizza and was able to have some fun.
We had a great time there, getting to talk to our friends and eat great food. It was getting quite late, and at 9:50 pm we left to drive home. It was only a 20-minute drive. Sammy was very concerned about Tammy's missing tablet and also prayed for God to bring it back.
It was after 10 pm when we arrived at the house so it was high time for them to go to bed. Tammy put her pj's on the fastest and went straight to bed while the others were still getting ready. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. It was the Dad with Tammy's tablet in his hand. He said it had been on the table. I gave it to Tammy who hugged it with joy and gratefulness. As nobody had carried the tablet into the house from the car, we are wondering whether an angel picked the tablet up where it was and carried it to our house and put it on the table for Tammy. God had answered the kids' prayers to bring it back! Tammy was able to fall asleep a happy girl.
It was time for me to turn my computer on and start working on the pictures and the report. Now it's 2 am and time for bed.
