*This post has been written over many different days!*

Well, that month sure flew. I can’t believe that we are nearing the end of April. I guess it probably passed quickly because we have been so busy. Jeremy started teaching. It has been going very well. I have been really busy with schooling the kids. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have been helping teach a music class that they do for all of the students. One day, I showed up to class only to find that the Pastor in charge was not there. I ended up having to lead that class. It was very exciting. Come to find out, the Pastor was out of town and didn’t have cell phone reception. You learn to be ready for anything here :)

Jeremy has been working on printing a few books for classes here. I have been able to help him some with this task.

We are very thankful for cooler nights. The days have been very hot. People are saying it is because we haven’t had the rain that we normally get.

We went to the market the other day. Jeremy wanted material to get African shirts and some pants made that he could wear for teaching and for church. There is a younger kid that works in the market selling material. I had bought some from him before to make Emily some dresses. Here, you can ask them how much material you need to make a shirt, etc. They are very knowledgeable and are able to tell you exactly what you need. So, I asked him how much I would need to have pants made for my husband. The kid got all embarrassed. He was shifting in his seat, not making eye contact, and I could tell he wasn’t sure what to tell me. Oh no, I then remembered that pants here means underwear. I died laughing and apologized. I explained I was very sorry that I was looking to have trousers made for my husband. The kid laughed and we got that all figured out. It was very, very embarrassing J You live and learn!

We had to say goodbye to our wonderful dog Lady. She was such a great dog. Lady had cancer that had spread to her lungs. She refused to eat one Friday and by the next Saturday she passed away. Lady would have been 12 this year. She lived a long life and was faithful. We are thankful that she didn’t have to suffer. Teddy is learning to live without his best friend. He likes to bark a lot at night. We figure that he is missing his security. He also misses biting Lady, and her just letting him hang on her with his teeth. Humans really don’t like that! We will be looking for a new female puppy. Please pray that God once again chooses the right one for us! Teddy is doing great though.

We really do appreciate people praying for us. It always seems like if it is not one thing it is another that you deal with. I had sinus issues for almost three weeks. Emily ended up getting an infected bug bite. Then, Jeremy came home saying that he was very tired. He went to rest. By Monday night, he was not feeling well at all. His teeth were chattering.  He said that he was freezing and shut the fan off. Then, he asked for more blankets….. Yes, while I was lying there hot! Tuesday, he had to teach a class. After class, he came home and was in bed ALL day. That night he was up in the night with major stomach issues. By lunch time the next day, he had decided it was a good idea to go to the clinic for testing. So, here I sit typing this little update as he sleeps in the hospital bed next to me. He was diagnosed with Typhoid and an amoeba. Life here is always exciting. The building that we are in is very nice. It is clean and has tile floors. It is a newer building. Our room has a sink in it…oh, but it does not have the faucet! There is a shared bathroom right outside our door…annnnndddd that doesn’t have running water! There is a bucket there to flush the toilets. I went to ask the nurse for a bucket in case he needed to throw up! Oh lovely, they handed me a metal bowl that was wet and said when he is finished to throw it out the gate (window). Imagine my face…I couldn’t believe my ears! So, I guess we have a whole new meaning to “Look out below”! I am praying that he heals quickly. He has been one sick guy. We are very thankful for friends here. The Webbs are taking care of the children for us. You see, in Africa, you have to stay with your friends or family members. At least here, you must bring the patient food as well. They do not provide food for anyone in the hospital! We are praying and trusting God to touch him so that we can get back home!

We were in the hospital for 3 ½ days. It has been a week now since we came home. Jeremy is doing much better. They had him on an oral medicine that was making him very nauseas. He would take the medicine and feel sick until the middle of the night when he would throw it up. He would then feel fine until it was morning then we got to go through it all again. I went to the hospital to talk with the Doctor. I explained and asked if there was something else that he could have. The doctor felt that he had been treated and would be fine so he took him off all medicine. The hospital was very impressive for over here. They kept everything clean (at least for the standard here). They wore gloves to do IVs, etc. They also used a clean needle every time that they were working with his IVs (from what I understand this is really good for here.) The head doctor is a professor and was trained in Canada. He was very kind. The nurses were really nice as well. It was nice to have one come in the room singing, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus”! It was very refreshing. Jeremy still has times where he feels light headed. He will go rest and he then feels fine. We had a follow up appointment and the Doctor officially gave him an official discharge. We are thankful for this. Please pray for a complete healing.

I was a little concerned one day this past week. In the morning, Andrew was complaining that his bladder was hurting. Then, Emily stepped on a piece of broken glass that was randomly on the floor in our room. I went to wash her cut in the tub. The handle for the hot water fell off and the stem that goes in came flying out as water began to pour out of where the handle would normally be. Here I must say that I am very thankful that I am a plumber’s daughter! I pushed the stem back in place and got the water to stop J Thank you Dad for letting me watch you fix things all of these years. (I do wish he was here to fix it permanently for me. I don’t know how to do that. Also, I don’t think that we have the right tools. Jeremy will be making a call to the plumber J I had Andrew drink a lot more water that day, and he has been fine. I am glad to say that the Lord really helped us through these past days.

It is times that we don’t know why or what the reason is for things that we pass through, but I am slowly learning that it is at these times we can know our Heavenly Father in a new way. Through Jeremy being in the hospital, I learned God’s peace. I was very anxious as I sat in the dark of the hospital at 7pm. I was in a very strange place. I knew no one in this hospital. To top it all off, we were the only white people in there. I had a lot of time to pray that night. God’s peace was with me, and I was able to sleep. It was a very hard week, but we are thankful for God’s grace and strength to make it through.

Jeremy and I just celebrated 15 years of marriage. It is hard to believe that it has been that long. It seems like just yesterday that I said, “Yes” to him! We celebrated by having pork chops on the grill with mashed potatoes and mango sauce. It was amazing. It felt like I was home. I enjoyed the meal soooo much! We are anticipating all that God has in store for us in the many more years together!

We are looking at another very busy month. Jeremy will be finishing his class. Then, he just found out that he will be teaching a class in a week that he wasn’t scheduled to teach! Life is always exciting! I will be working on printing a book for a seminar that is being held in the capital city. We got a little behind in the printing with Jeremy in the hospital, but we will get it done! The children are working on finishing up school. It will be very nice to be done and for them to have a break.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. They mean more to us than you will ever know.