Day 1413. First night in a new place. Both Tammy and Emmy came to me during the night, and Emmy also returned to his bed, but it meant waking me up repeatedly during an already short night, as the alarm went off at 7 am, which was 6 am for our body clocks. It woke us all up. Tammy sleeps really well, and so she got to continue sleeping for a short time, while we got her brothers ready.
When we went outside, our friends were in the middle of making breakfast, and we enjoyed eggs and bacon and fresh muffins having breakfast together. But time was short. We put their Malian clothes on the kids, got ready ourselves, and left the house at 8:15 am. It was a half hour ride to church, a church I've known for a long time and that has been a friend for that long. When we got there, we walked in, greeted everyone, and I immediately started putting my product table up. Then it was already time to start speaking.
The church is probably the most unique of the ones I speak at. They have Sunday school for everyone the hour before the service, and that's where I was going to speak. It was a small room that was filled with chairs, and most of the chairs actually had people in there. Most people already knew me, but after over 4 years there were also a few new ones. Tammy and Emmy sat down in the first row, right in front of me. The pastor introduced me, and I showed my video presentation, then it was time to speak. I'd had no possibility to print, so I had to use my laptop with my notes on it.
I started by telling how special this year was for me, as it's my twenty-year anniversary in Mali, and then my voice broke and I couldn't speak because I was overcome with emotion. Tammy pulled on my Iclothes with a worried face saying, "Mommy!", and I had to tell her it was alright. Finding my voice again, I continued by saying that I'd have never thought that I'd not be in Mali celebrating that special time but exiled. For the next 50 minutes I then quickly shared my story and told many testimonies of what God had done in Mali. Time went by really fast. By the way, they'd taken the kids to the playroom only minutes after I had started speaking.
After the meeting, I went to my product table, but the service was already starting, so I only had some brief conversations. And then I found out that I had 20 minutes to speak at the service, which my friend had forgotten to tell me.
We went into the sanctuary for some worship songs. Emmy sat down by the pastor for some time, while Tammy was with Daddy. And then it was already our turn. I played the presentation again, then I got the mic to speak, and I even said things I had not shared the previous hour. Randy had the last 5 minutes sharing some healing testimonies. When I tried to show off the kids, I found out that they had already been taken to the playroom.
After we were done, the service continued and went until noon. At one point I left to see where the kids were and found just our three kids in a room with toys and a TV with the pastor's wife and another lady. They were having fun, but when I left again, I could hear Sammy calling my name and even knocking on the door. The service wasn't even over yet, when Tammy and Emmy came running to me in the sanctuary, all excited to see me again. The service then ended, and I walked outside to my table to talk to people. It was great to sell a few books and to see people wanting to get our email newsletter, and I got to have a few good conversations.
When most people were gone, we packed up and left.
It was nearly 1 pm, and the kids were hungry besides being tired. There was a Wendy's right there, so we decided to go there to eat, together with our friends and hosts. We were having fun there with them. However, Tammy and Emmy needed to move and were running around playing loudly which bothered some people. After about an hour we left. It was time to get to the house for their nap. Randy still needed some gas, so we stopped to get some on the way, then continued on. I could see that all three kids were getting pretty tired and asked them not to fall asleep. Of course today Tammy fell asleep, when I asked her not to, while she would not sleep yesterday, when I asked her to. I was able to keep the boys from falling asleep. Once we got to the house, I put them straight to bed. Tammy woke up, when I carried her inside, and of course, now it was hard to get her to fall sleep again. Sammy fell asleep right away, while Emmy needed quite some time. I lay down with them, then lay down on my bed, only to realize Tammy was still awake. I then invited her to join me on the bed. She needed some more time before she fell asleep again. She had finally fallen asleep, when Sammy woke up, so I never got take a nap myself.
I took Sammy out of the room to the living room, where the others were. After some time I woke up Emmy and Tammy as well and took them to the living room. Emmy wanted his headset that tells stories, and actually fell asleep again listenig to it. I had to wake him up again. Tammy also needed some time to really wake up. The whole time I was trying to get some work done, but was not getting far. As they were becoming more awake, they started playing with the dog.
Then our friend suggested we'd go visit some newborn donkeys, and they were excited about the suggestion. At 5:45 pm we left the house to drive the few miles to the farm.
They had three donkeys there that the kids petted and fed first. Then the farmer himself who was a vet in a wheelchair took us to the cows and even got some special feed to give them. Then he allowed us to go see the chickens and turkeys, which the kids also enjoyed. They were having a great time, and it was getting later and later. It was nearly 7 pm before we left there.
Just after 7 pm we were back at the house, and the kids were hungry. Our friends made dinner, and it wasn't long until we sat down to eat together. Emmy has already lost his fear of the dog and now pets him a lot, and Sammy also wanted to pet him. They were having fun playing with him, and playing with each other, but then it was already bed time. They finally got to hear a story again tonight, then I put them to bed. It was close to 9 pm, and for some reason it was Sammy who was wide awake and asking for Daddy. I finally got Randy to come into the room, and also stayed, starting to work on the computer. I was way behind on reports and pictures and wanted to get some stuff done, so I kept working and working. Now it's after 1 pm, and I need to join the rest of the house that is all asleep.
