Miles In Missions

Saturday we will have lived in Egbe, Nigeria for 3 months. I feel like we have lived here forever. Everything is so familiar now and comfortable. Our cross cultural teachers told us the honey moon stage ends around month 3-4. I am praying we will continue the honeymoon for years but I am realistic. We have all had a few emotions lately about missing home so I thought it would be fun to make a list of what we miss about home and what we love about Egbe.

Jolie
1.Miss Dori and Kokomo cuz they don’t bite. (Bingo our Nigerian puppy nibbles on her feet.)
2.Miss my cousins cuz they are really really fun.
3.Miss our home church cuz here it’s long and I don’t understand them. 4.Love how nice the people are here in Egbe.                             5.Love our house b/c I thought it would be a bad one like the green one at the gate with the washing machines in it, but it’s not, it’s a good one!

Patrice
1. Miss family too. Loved living with my Dad and Minette the months before we left and the long conversations on their deck. Miss my moms hug when it had been a few weeks since I had seen her.                                                2.Miss celebrations. Every month was a birthday or cookout or get together. Miss the conversation with siblings and friends on what is going on in their lives. Miss the food, especially getting to bake the cakes and cookies.       3.Miss a delivery pizza & STARBUCKS!                                                         4.Miss Southeast Christian Church. We get to hear the sermons but we miss out on the worship. I keep praying someone will lead them to record the worship too.                                                                5.Love the Yoruba people and community. I have never seen so many friendly smiles and waves in my life. Everyone here wants to help us and love on us.                                                                                       6.Love homeschooling. The flexibility and getting to find teachable moments in everything we do. I want to strangle Jolie at least 2x a week but I have loved getting to know how she ticks.                                   7.Love all the ministry opportunities everywhere we walk. Watching my kids lay hands on an HIV positive women and pray for her. Seeing them make friends with a boy who has been at the hospital with his mother for 3 weeks to making HELP cakes with orphans is something words cannot describe.                                                                               8.Love my home. I cannot begin to describe how grateful we are for the revitalization teams hard work on our home. I have to step out side the compound daily to remind myself I live in Africa.                                9.Love all my new Nigerian friends from Shola to the girls at the guesthouse, the guards, workers and HELP center friends. They all take care of my family in so many ways.

Lenny                                                                                                                                                      1. Miss the changing of the seasons. Fall temperatures and hunting season.  2.Miss family and friend parties like our Harvest Party.                                    3. Miss Lowes Home Center where you could get anything you needed for construction work at anytime.                                                                        4. Miss good roads with no gallops (pot holes).                                        5. Miss good Mexican food.                                                                         6. Love family machine (motorcycle) rides. Patrice and Jolie to town and Cason in the bush.     

7. Love the much slower pace of life and my calendar not full every second of everyday. Giving the freedom to be spontaneous as everyday is an adventure.                                                                            8. Love seeing progress with the hospital and workshop guys

Cason                                                                                                                                                         1. Miss holidays with family in particular Thanksgiving at my cousins house in Charlotte and Gatlinburg.                 2. Miss Kripsie Kreme doughnuts and taking friends there after sleepovers.

3. Miss going to Poppy’s house and getting slushies with him.

4. Love all my friends and catching lizards with them even thought they end up killing half of them.

5. Love playing pingpong and the dogs at the orphanage.

6.Love my dog Bingo.