Day 2561. The first night back in Vienna went relatively well, given the 9-hour time difference, but I only got 4 hours of sleep. Surprisingly, I was the first one up in the morning, making a nice breakfast, then spending quality time with God and preparing for the service in the afternoon.
Randy and the kids left the house at 10:15 am to go to our friend's son's birthday party. They met with everyone at a pizza restaurant where they made their own pizzas which was lots of fun. They then baked them, and they ate them for lunch. The birthday boy's Mom did a little quiz there about her son.
Then they all went to the park right there and had lots of fun. They even did a treasure hunt. They also had cake and gave the birthday kid his present. At 3 pm they left to come back home.
Back home, I ate leftovers and eventually I lay down for a nap as the tiredness from jetlag and lack of sleep overcame me.
I woke up when Randy and the kids came home around 3:30 pm. I then slowly got up, feeling quite beat from the jetlag, and got ready to leave the house. We left after 4 pm to take the 4:20 pm train, then took the subway and walked to church.
It was great to be back after our two months in the US. I gave my photos to the tech person, got us seats and set up our Mali table. By the time I went inside, the service had already started. I quickly said hello to the pastor, then I went to my seat and started worshipping God. The kids were rather bored and asking about the kids' program. It turned out that there was none because of the summer break. Randy then took them to the baby room where they had fun playing.
After worship, the pastor had his wife come up to give an update. As she was sharing about her health struggle, compassion arose within me. I couldn't let her leave without praying for her, so I asked her whether it was okay, and the whole church prayed for her. Then she left.
It was my turn to share the new testimonies of what God has done in Mali, and everyone loved them. Then the pastor took up the offering. After that it was my turn to preach. I had already been enjoying the presence of God throughout the worship time. There was a wonderful atmosphere in the place. I prayed and started my message. At first, the really bright lights were irritating but I got used to them. I had a great time sharing from my heart, and I could tell my words were having an impact. Once I was done, I prayed over everyone while they played "Glory Come Down" by Jason Upton over the sound system. Then I invited everyone to came forward to respond to God and return to their first love. I then started praying for people, as did the rest of the team. I prayed for quite a few healings, and people's pains were decreasing or disappearing altogether. Praise God!
I was still praying for someone, when Tammy and Emmy were running to me and trying to get my attention. Once I was done, I went outside to our table in the coffee shop where Randy was already talking with people. I then ended up talking with several people as well. For once, it didn't matter what time we were getting home. I enjoyed the conversations. The kids were hungry, and someone actually brought us some of the food they had there which was nice.
It was getting late; it was a 8:40 pm by the time we left. We were lucky to make the 9:01 train and were home by 9:15 pm. It was way after bedtime, so the kids got ready for bed right away and went to bed. As for me, I was totally beat and went to bed right away as well; Emmy actually joined me right there and then instead of coming during the night, and we quidkly fell asleep.
We had no commitments on Sunday - finally a day of rest after our long trip. I had slept well the first half of the night, but the second half was rough. Sammy was waking up constantly and asking for us. Randy stayed with them, then I lay down next to him, but then his siblings in our bed complained that I was not there with them. It was a back and forth with no sleep. Finally all five of us ended up in our bed. Tammy had to lie down sideways by our feet for that to work. That way we ended up getting some sleep after all.
I was once again the first one to get up and make breakfast. Then I got on my computer to catch up on work, later I cooked lunch and we ate. Tammy and Emmy were working on their summer school books. I counted the remaining pages to be done and divided them by the number of days left until school starts. Tammy needs to do a page by day while Emmy has to do three. There was some drama with Emmy but in the end he had done his 6 pages - the three for Saturday and the three for today.
One reason he was motivated to get it done, was that I had suggested we'd go play tennis together, something he loves doing. Where they take their tennis classes now, they have to join the tennis club which means that they can go play tennis for free any time they want to. We hadn't had time to do so together yet, but our time had come!
Tammy didn't want to come, so Emmy and I left the house at 2:45 pm. I was hoping that there were courts available, thinking it would be very busy on a Sunday afternoon. My concern was unfounded as there were only few people there. And so Emmy and I chose a court that was partly in the shade and had a fun time playing together for an hour. Then we returned back home.
When we got off the subway and started walking in the direction of our house, we suddenly saw Randy with Tammy and Sammy on their bikes. Sammy has been impatient to get to ride his bike. Emmy then wanted to join them, so he got his bike as well, while I went home. The tiredness really hit me then. I turned my computer on to take care of things, then I remembered that I had a 6 pm student, so I went to the kitchen to make the kids' dinner. That way they were able to eat while I was teaching.
Around 7:15 pm they went into the bathtub and had fun, then they went to bed. I then made my food and ate before going back to work. I was very, very tired but was able to keep going until 11 pm, then I went to bed.
