Adjustment

Many of you (as well as Parker and I) were anxiously awaiting Izzy's reaction to Luke.  If you know Izzy, you know that she is a ham and always takes center stage.  With a new baby in town getting lots of attention, we were wondering how this would impact Izzy.  Well, this picture sums up Izzy's reaction so far. 

She has been an incredible big sister so far.  She loves giving Luke hugs and kisses and calls him "baby."  We know so many of you pray for our kids and we are so grateful for you!  

Luke is here

Just wanted to put up some photos of Luke.  There will be plenty more to come in the next few days, but here are a couple.

imagination station

After being cooped up for a few days because of the snow & cold weather, we packed up & headed to Bowling Green to try our hand at Imagination Station. While it was a little too "big" for Isabelle, she still had a great time ... as long as her Daddy or Gaga were in the inflatables with her!

This kid can't get enough of slides!

A little help, Dad?

Woops ... wrong way, Izzy!

I don't think Daddy minded too much playing inside the inflatables

Good indoor fun when the outdoors are not so fun!

animal lover

Isabelle has developed a fascination & love for domestic animals since arriving in America. She's a little shy with them at first but she wants to do whatever it takes to be friends with the furry folk.

Shaking hands with Chip in South Carolina

She gets so excited around dogs

Isabelle & Chip having a little personal bonding time

Woops! There's the timidity again ... I guess Chip got a little too far into her personal space

She also got a little friendly with a cat outside of a bed & breakfast in Auburn, Ky

... a little too friendly, if you ask me!

snow day

About 6 days after arriving in Franklin, there was a snow storm that dropped almost 8 inches in the Phillips' back yard. Since Isabelle had already been introduced to snow in Richmond, we figured maybe she'd like to actually play in it ... even if she couldn't walk in it. We, of course, did not have snow boots for her so we improvised with trash bags & duct tape. Yes, it seems we are true Kentuckians!

Gaga getting Isabelle ready for the snow.

Isn't this a sight? It may just start a trend!

Unfortunately, she did not like the snow on the 2nd go round.

Mark thought that maybe she'd like it if he threw snow on her.

Nope!

She doesn't mind the cold but she does not like the snow. Our poor little African desert queen!

Those little frosty red cheeks are so adorable!

***PRAY***

"Activity" is starting to happen in Niger and we covet your prayers for our friends that are still there & for the country. Read more about it here. Thank you!

goodbye Ayorou

It was beyond bittersweet to say goodbye to our friends & family in Ayorou on December 20. It was almost harder than saying goodbye to our friends & family when we left for the field in October 2006. When we left that October, we knew that we would see our friends & family again in the near future. When we left on that Sunday afternoon in December, we had no idea if we would ever see those friends again. So it made it just a wee bit harder because, for some of them, they had really become family to us ... and especially to Isabelle.

Ayorou was where we grew in leaps in bounds in our personal walks with Christ and in our marriage. It was where we learned we were going to be parents & where we fleshed it out. It was Isabelle's first home - where she had her first laugh, her first taste of real food, her first crawl, her first big steps, her first best friend ... well, you get the picture.

Now it wasn't all bright lights & a fairy tale life - I never truly enjoyed sleeping outside, I got tired of mopping my entire house, I dreaded having to wash & bleach all of my dishes ... & vegetables, I missed the American conveniences of Wal-Mart & drive thrus and I never quite got used to the African mentality of having an open door 24/7. But, it was all worth it & I'd do it again in a heart beat!

 

All the belongings of our home fit into the living room - all packed & ready to go for the movers. I'm so glad we weren't there to see it all go. They came & got our stuff after we arrived in the States.

 

 A cheesy picture, but I wish you knew how sad we really were to say goodbye to our home.

 

Having a farewell send off from my ladies was a special way to go.

 

Hourey became a very unexpected friend over the last year & I will miss her so much! But I think Isabelle will miss her best friend Nafissa more than anything. I don't know if she'll ever love another kid as much as she loves Nafissa.

 

Hilema is one of my favorite kiddos in the world. Anyone who's been to Ayorou has fallen in love with Hilema. She's a great mix of sassy & sweet and she will always be near & dear to my heart.

 

Now anyone who has kept up with us or this blog knows who this lady is. She is my best African friend & I don't think I will ever have another friend like her. She has loved my child more than I ever knew someone could love a white girl! 

And Isabelle has loved her right back. Isabelle always called her "Mom" in Songhai. She has no other name for her.

Besides my ladies & my home, there are a few other things I will miss about Ayorou. Like this, for instance ... Dura & Yacouba & Hama (not pictured). These kids took huge steps from the get-go in their Christian walk - they were the first to accept Christ in their famiies. They have "got it" from day one & have made many sacrifices ... and they are only 16 years old or less. These are the most genuine guys you could ever meet & I would trust Isabelle with them like I would trust her with family.

 I will miss this street. This is the street we lived on. This is the street most of my neighbors lived on. We traveled it almost everyday. It led us to have some of the most dearest relationships in the world & to some of the sweetest times of ministry in our lives. Isabelle walked her first steps on this road and traveled hand-in-hand with her best friend & African mama on this road many a day. 

I will miss this girl more than all the other little kiddos. I know you are not supposed to have favorites but Bushi was my favorite. If I could've adopted her, I would've! Even our neighbors & friends gave her the name, "Kadija's friend." (Kadija was my African name). They'd call her that instead of calling her by her name. Everyone knew how much I loved this girl.

I will miss our big ole desert of a yard & the many, many soccer games we hosted here. When we had NO language, this is what we did to unwind everyday. We opened up our gate & the kids would come rolling in. Some days we had to keep the doors locked ... for our sanity's sake!! But I will miss this because we will never have it again.

Our home. Enough said.

And our church. What God did in our 3 years in Ayorou is still so unbelievable. To even have a picture like this is more than we could've ever imagined. I will miss everything about this ... God's Word falling fresh on ears that have never heard, illiterate men & women soaking up His words, the simplicity of a indigenous church - singing off key to Songhai hymns, taking the offering in a used spice jar, sharing communion with one cup, listening to His Word & learning insights from each other. There has never been anything like it!

what's next?

We've been in the States for over a month now but, as Mark posted recently, our hearts still long to go home ... to Ayorou, that is. But I think we need to catch everyone up on where we are at (and not speaking about a geographic location). When we moved to Ayorou over 3 years ago, we were sure we would be living there for at least 2 terms (a total of 6 years). However, we had NO idea what God had in store for us during our first term on the field. About this time last year, it was becoming very apparent that God had more in mind than we could ever comprehend or imagine.

Moving into the summer of 2009, we felt confident that our time in Ayorou was coming to a close. A church had begun, the believers of Ayorou were taking responsibilities of their own, more were being added to the body each month & we were just trying to stay out of the way & not mess things up! We knew that by the end of our first term, our time in Ayorou would be finished but we did not feel that our time with the Songhai people was finished. However, at the same time some personal family medical issues were brewing here in the States that needed our attention. We've been praying, since that time, about what our role is in caring for our family during this time.

We moved up our return to the States from May 2010 to January 2010 in order to come home, have Luke & spend much needed time with our family face to face while trying to discern where God would have us next. As of right now, we are moving forward with returning to the field at the beginning of August but we still don't know 100% if that's His will. What we do know is that we will be obedient to whatever God asks of us ... just as He called us to move across the world, we will be obedient if He asks us to move back to this side. We would appreciate your prayers for us during this time as we seek His will for our family.

Just to ease your mind about the believers in Ayorou ... Randy & Susan Saleeby, members of the Songhai team, are the discipleship & church leadership trainers for all Songhai believers in Niger. Their main responsibility is to visit these believers across the country and provide encouragement & discipleship to them. They will either visit the believers of Ayorou twice a month or bring the believers into Niamey for one on one training. They will also host "conferences" every so often to bring all Songhai believers from Niger together.

As for Mark & I, if we return to the field, we will assume the Team Leader role for the Songhai team. This would require us to move to Niamey and we would assume more administrative responsibilities. We would still be able to visit the church in Ayorou as well as the other Songhai churches & believers across the country.

So there's a brief catch up for you! I'll post some pictures tomorrow of our last days in Ayorou but I think this post is long enough in itself. Thank you for all of your prayers for us & the Songhai people. You have not wasted a single one on us or them!

christmas in franklin

We finally made it to the grand ole state of Kentucky on January 23. We spent a week in Franklin with Gaga & Papa celebrating our final Christmas of the year and also encountering more snow ... that still hasn't seem to let up almost a month later.

Isabelle loves Fisher Price Little People and was thrilled to have more to add to her collection.

She also got this fancy little shopping cart. She loves pushing things around & was able to upgrade from a cardboard box to a cart with a handle & wheels!

And who doesn't love a little bit of the green stuff?!

tour of the south

After our week in Richmond, we headed south. We made a 2 day stop in North Carolina, a 4 day stop in South Carolina and an overnighter in Tennessee. By the end of this week, Isabelle had slept in 6 different places in 2 weeks. She is a tremendous traveler!

So excited to see her GB!!

Celebrating Christmas ... a little late. What's this you've got, Isabelle? A Barney DVD? Do you like it?

I think that would be a "Yes!" folks.

Izzy's new best friend - her cousin Emory (who is 4 1/2 months older than she is). They were best buds!

Traveling in style with her Mimi. We were heading into one of our favorite restaurants, The Meeting Place. All southern food, all the time! Yummy!

At Mimi's house, Isabelle fell in love with this little wicker rocker. Mimi said it was hers when she was a little girl & she wanted Isabelle to have it now.

Christmas with Mimi - books, clothes & toys!

Cousin Sambo playing with Isabelle & her new "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" stuffed animal

Waiting for GB & Bebe's flight at the Nashville airport. Isabelle was soaking up her last few minutes with Bebe (and enjoying a Jolly Rancher, too). It'll be 3 months before she sees GB & Bebe again.

Because she is always fair, she gives some special attention to GB, too!