God and the Cockroach

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(Our new prayer letter just went out. If you didn't receive one you can read it HERE. If you go to our MAF web site you can subscribe to our prayer letter.)

We started school this week. This year, instead of using a full-blown Bible curriculum from a major publisher, we are changing things up a bit. I opted for a devotion book centered around something my son loves and will be interested in - animals. I wanted more of our Bible time to be spent discussing and praying together and culturing a love of scripture. I felt that all the hours of workbook exercises were accomplishing the opposite. My son was dreading Bible class every day. Yes, he was learning the content, but if he could grow up loving God's Word then he would eventually learn that anyway because he wanted to and not because I forced him to. 


Today our devotion was about roaches. Is that not a disgusting photo? It gives me the creeps. Roaches are not on many people's list of top ten favorite living creatures, but the point the author made in the devotional is that they are everywhere (polar ice caps excepted). Wherever people are, there are roaches. In that sense, God is like cockroaches. No matter where we are, He is there (Psalm 139:7-10). Not only can we not escape from God, we can't be hidden from Him by others either.

We talked about how comforting it is is to know that God is always present with us, thanked Him, and asked Him to remind us all day long that He is with us. Daniel said he would never see a cockroach now without remembering that God is everywhere. Hmmm.

That led to a discussion of the ebola epidemic and the persecuted Christians in Iraq and elsewhere and how we didn't have to ask God to be with them because He already is. We asked Him to remind them that He is with them, to guide them with his hand, and to support them with HIS strength as He did for King David.

I am glad my kids know a lot about the Bible, but I wish I had done a better job of planting and nurturing in them a love of God's Word. 

Party In A Jar

designed by Daniel Burton

We are studying insects in school, so for an art project I challenged Daniel to construct an insect. The only rules I gave him were that it had to have six legs, a head, thorax and abdomen, and compound eyes. He could use any materials and the insect could resemble a known species or be imaginary. I gave him an A on his insect, pictured above. Very cool beans, Daniel. 

Not so cool are the other insects in our home right now. One would think that if no people, food, animals, etc were in the building for over six months that whatever ants or bugs were there would either get hungry and go elsewhere or they would starve and die. Nope. The ants found us on day one.

After a flying roach nearly hit me in the head, one crawled across my foot, daily wiping ants off the kitchen surfaces even when no food was left out, and a poisonous centipede was found crossing the living room, I decided to take offensive action. 

So yesterday I got out my recipes and made ant bait and roach bait. Centipedes like to eat roaches, so presumably getting rid of roaches would give them less incentive to enter the house. 

Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart.

I had to ask Daniel to make the ultimate sacrifice and drink a Coke so I could have the bottle cap. He's such a martyr.

Here is the ants' reaction only five minutes after I put the bait out.  

The recipes are obviously different, but both have boric acid as their primary ingredient. Boric acid is scarce here and I brought my own from the states. We can buy bug spray, but this is much less toxic, less expensive, and smells a lot better. My cats even ate the roach bait once and were ok. I put onion in the roach bait now and Elliot stays clear of it.  

Disney - Snow White's Scary Adventure - Queen Witch (Photo credit: Express Monorail)

Kinshasa Journal 2: Robocops and Refrigerators

Thanks Nick Frey for the photo!

We’ve been here almost a week! Where did the time go? 

Here is a list of highlights and “lowlights” from our first week back in Kinshasa.
We arrived late on Thursday evening. On the way home from the airport, I got to see the traffic robot, aka robocop. These new aluminum and steel traffic officers were built here in Kinshasa while we were in the states. You can see more photos, some video footage, and read more about the robocops HERE.

Upon arriving at the house, we were pleasantly surprised at the work our team had put into cleaning it and stocking it with enough food to get us started until we could go shopping. David Francis had done some plumbing and wiring repairs so that we could have electricity and showers. There was a welcome banner for Daniel from one of his friends. The beds were made with clean sheets. We were UNpleasantly surprised to see someone else’s refrigerator in our living room when we walked in, because it could only mean one thing. Sure enough, our refrigerator that we bought shortly before we left for furlough was not functional. 

It did not take us long to feel like we were back in Congo again. Friday night the car we are borrowing from MAF broke down on a dead end road and we did not have working phones yet. Not that anyone could have easily come to help us because the reason we turned down the wrong road was because our road is under construction and is completely barricaded and we were trying to find another way to the house. The nice thing is that in Kinshasa if you have some francs in your pocket you can always find a couple of guys willing to help you push your car. All we had was a twenty dollar bill so we really made their day. For a lot of people here twenty dollars is more than a week’s wages. Then on Saturday evening we spent nearly an hour stuck in a traffic jam. The kicker was that we were only about one minute from our destination when we got stuck.

We’ve already had several power outages, including one that lasted about thirty hours. David has already repaired the same light fixture four times. Two voltage regulators have fried. I no longer have a dryer, which means scratchy towels and hoping the mango flies don’t find my clothesline. We haven’t found a vehicle yet. 

David jumped in with both feet and started working in the hangar on Monday, but today he stayed home to try to address some issues here in the house. We discovered the refrigerator had zero refrigerant in it, so there is a leak somewhere. If we can find the leak, we can get it repaired and save a lot of money versus buying a new one. We are grateful for the loaner refrigerator while we sort this out. 

This doesn't look like much but it is a big deal to me. Our 12 volt lights, internet antenna and router are set up to run on battery power. The batteries are charged by solar panels, but they are not holding their charge well anymore so when the power is off or it is too cloudy our internet quickly begins to fail, followed by our back up lights. I was running up and down a ladder several times a day to turn the inverter off and reset the router to get internet back, or to turn it off altogether to try to conserve battery power for running the lights. David lowered the inverter today so that I can reach it without the ladder. That beautiful green light means we have internet! No more ladder in the hallway. Yaay! It’s the little things, folks. 

So, we are definitely not in America anymore. But we are doing well. Since this is our second term and not our first, now that the jet lag has worn off it does seem a lot easier to adjust. I know how to cook here already, how to pay bills, how to shop, how to run a generator, etc., so it doesn’t feel like a mountain of stuff is being thrown at me to learn and navigate. I already have friends and acquaintances here, which is a huge thing. During the last several months leading up to our furlough, David and I both had health issues we did not know about until we got to the states, but which were contributing to our mental and physical fatigue and stress and probably affecting how we (or at least I) related to our team. Thankfully, we have a very understanding  team, and we are both feeling much better now.

We’ve learned some things. Firstly, next time we go on furlough or an extended trip we will label where we store the parts for the water filter. That’s sort of important and at 1:00am after a flight across the ocean one’s memory is not what it should be. 


Secondly, I am learning to take better care of myself and to minimize stress as much as possible here so that I have more energy for my relationships with others and for the things I have to do. For example, we have one room that stays cooler than any other room in the house, so that is where we now have our home school day. It’s amazing the difference that ten degrees can make on a person’s overall well being and temperament after several hours each day! 

Robocops aside, life here is just as difficult for most Congolese as it was when we left last summer - maybe more so. The police are destroying the wares and stands of the roadside vendors in the name of "cleaning up and beautifying the city." There are new laws going into effect regarding what parts of the city the taxi buses are allowed to run in. Taxis are the primary mode of transportation for most people here. The prevailing attitude of those in power seems to be the end justifies the means without regard to who gets hurt in the process. Please continue to keep Congo in your prayers!

Standing Out in the Field

We've been focusing on family the last few weeks. Both of our oldest two are now settled into their new school years and we have gotten our home school year off to a good start. Life with only one child at home is very different. And very quiet.

Here are some highlights of our last few weeks.

Playing with my new camera! I'm still learning but so far I really like it. This little hummer and the statue above were in my mom's yard. We had a very nice visit with my folks.







Josh played with my camera and took this one of Emily. Weird.

All five of us together!

Bratwurst!

State Parks!

One of the things I really, really, really hoped to do during our furlough was go to a St. Louis Cardinals game. We drove up early the day before Emily's college move-in day and went to the ball game. We picked a good night -- Cards won!

We had a TON of fun! 

Daniel put his faith in Jesus just before we left for Africa. His brother led him to Christ and Daniel wanted to have his baptism last week when Josh was visiting so that he could be there. 

So that's August in a little nut shell. David has also been busy studying and we've begun working on raising our ministry support back up to where it needs to be: 100%. 

In a baseball game, there are always some players standing in the outfield. We are grateful and blessed to know a bunch of folks who are outstanding in their field.

 Not this field.

Or this field.

They are the people, groups, and churches on our ministry team, and they are outstanding in praying for us, supporting our ministry, and encouraging us. Because they "stand out" in their field, we can stand in ours. We thank God for them continually and pray for them. We are looking for people whom God is leading to pray for us and/or support our ministry with MAF by giving a monthly gift of any amount. Would you prayerfully consider joining us? 

If you are interested, you can sign up for our newsletter and/or give a donation by:

 going to www.maf.org/burton,

mailing a gift to MAF, PO Box 47, Nampa Idaho 83653 with a note that it is for "Burton Family 9059"

or by calling MAF at 1-800-FLYS-MAF.

Make a difference, today!

Last Friday we visited a sanctuary for bonobo apes with some of our home school friends. In the midst of all the horrible stuff that is happening in the east, it was nice to go to a quiet place for a few hours and see some of the beauty that this country also has to offer.

Bonobos are similar to chimpanzees, but their sole natural habitat is here in the Congo, and they are endangered.
This sanctuary offers a safe place for wild bonobos, but also takes in orphans and bonobos rescued from poachers.

"I am the Lorax! I speak for the trees!" 

Ha ha! Seriously, don't these plants look kind of "Dr. Seussish?" We thought they were very cool.

In addition to seeing the bonobos, we enjoyed a long walk and the beautiful plants and flowers that grow here.







That was Friday. I was feeling pretty OK on Friday but Monday I woke up sick. Again. I noticed I was kinda following a pattern, having a day of fever, chills, aching like I had the flu, and then a day or so of feeling better, then sick again, etc - with headaches throughout. So, we are thinking I got malaria. I was skeptical at first since I take a prophylaxis medication. However, when we moved, I missed some doses and we did not have screens on some of the windows for a while. Power was off so the windows were opened to catch a breeze. My family doesn't even wear bug spray if I am in the room because all the bugs flock to me. And that's all it took. I'm on day two of a three-day medication and feeling much better already. My nine day headache is finally gone.

I'm very blessed to have access to good health care, even here in Kinshasa. My family has been vaccinated against all sorts of diseases. I have a box of medications, including malaria treatments, in my closet. I have the means to pay for a trip to the clinic and a car to take me there. Most people here are not so fortunate. Today is "Giving Tuesday." MAF is trying to raise funds to send 100,000 vaccines to children in the Congo who do not have access to good healthcare. A gift of just a few dollars can save dozens of children from suffering from diseases that kill - like measles. Please pray for our Giving Tuesday campaign, which ends today, and all the staff involved in getting these vaccines to the people who need them, from pilots to mechanics to the drug companies to the humanitarian aid and medical missions groups and everyone in between. And consider clicking on my Giving Tuesday button above and donating to this very worthy cause. Continue praying for an end to the conflict in the east and for all the displaced and hurting people there.

Two Tuesdays

Tuesday, a friend offered to watch the home schoolers and help them with their studies while a few of us moms when shopping for Christmas before the prices all go up after Thanksgiving. I didn't really have a Christmas shopping list, but managed to get some stocking stuffers and a few things we needed and had been having trouble finding. I also found some amazing fabric, like this fallish looking print! Once I sew a table cloth out of it, I will have TWO fall/Thanksgiving decorations! 

This one actually was going to be a Christmas gift. I bought it with Emily in mind but I caved and showed it to her already so the surprise is gone.

And then there is this one.

Isn't it obnoxious? Sort of like looking at a microscope slide? I don't know what I'll do with it, but I love it because it's so different. With all those colors it would probably make a cool looking rug. It's too visually disturbing to use for a table cloth or curtains. Imagine trying to eat while looking at something that resembles bacteria.

I know you are recalling that just a few days ago I said I wasn't going to buy any more fabric until I used more from my stash. Well, ...I'm weak. And anyways I have plans for a good sized hunk of my stash: living room curtains. Because we were a group and between us we were buying several fabric pieces, we got a good deal.

While we are on the subject of good deals and holidays, I want to let you know about something dear to my heart: the Giving Tuesday Campaign. During this season of being thankful for our blessings and giving gifts to express our love for others, we have Black Friday and Cyber Monday for shopping and saving money on gifts. Now we have Giving Tuesday. Giving Tuesday, November 27, is "opening day" for the giving season. We can take some of that money we saved on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and use it to help others by giving to a charity of your choosing. MAF is participating and all Giving Tuesday donations to MAF will be used to provide vaccines for children here in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last year over 100,000 cases of measles were reported in DRC, including 1,100 deaths. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that a gift to the MAF Giving Tuesday campaign can mean the difference between life or death and prevent suffering for a child here in Congo. You can find the MAF Giving Tuesday page by clicking HERE or by clicking the Giving Tuesday button in my sidebar. You don't have to wait until Tuesday to make a donation! I know because I already made mine!

Toddler Olympics

I used to post at least once a week and sometimes twice, but for the last week or so, whenever I try to do anything on the internet that takes more than a minute, I get this:

“could not load the webpage because ____________.com took too long to respond. The website may be down or you may be experiencing issues with your internet connection.”  

I’ll keep doing my best. Obviously since I got this posted, persistence and patience pay off in the long run but the posts will definitely be less frequent for the time being. 

Here are the latest news and prayer requests. 

Last Monday my little man turned 11. We had a quiet family party and enjoyed an evening together. This coming Monday is the first day of school. Emily is a senior this year. Daniel is in 5th so he is now a middle schooler. Both of them are looking forward to new classes this year. Emily is happy about having both choir and drama. Daniel is happy about having medieval history. 

Sunday we had the privilege of meeting a couple of families who were coming through to adopt children. We picked them up and took them to church and then ate lunch together. 

We are still searching for a new place to live. I had hoped to find a place and be much further along in the packing and moving process before school starts because of the amount of time that home schooling requires. Please pray for us to be able to be flexible but also to be able to do the things that need to be done. 

Electricity has been pretty bad lately. While getting laundry done is a challenge, we are very grateful that the weather has not been too hot and that we have solar powered lights, gravity fed water, and a little gas stove to make life easier. The rumor is that power will continue to be sparse until rainy season arrives.

Friday, Daniel and I went to the orphanage. We arrived quite a bit earlier than usual and caught them eating their morning snack. All of the kids, who range in age from 2 to 6, were walking around with jars of baby food. It was the fruity stuff, not the nasty vegetable stuff, and they were eating it with their fingers and slurping it from the jars. It was also hair cut day. There were two stations set up for this. A worker would grab a kid, lather his/her head, and shave it with a straight razor. This happens once a month in order to prevent parasites and make it easier to treat ringworm, scabies and mango fly larva.

We have heard that our U.S. team is doing very well in the Olympics. These kids have never seen or even heard of the Olympics. But they do have their own Olympic-style competition on a regular basis. 

• Dot & Dash: A child dips his finger into his baby food, puts a dot onto the bald head of a randomly chosen neighbor, and then makes a run for it.

• Grab & Go: What happens when one child spills his food or drops a toy and other children happen to see it.

• Cling & Swing: A child grabs the leg of the nearest adult, usually me, and holds on tight in hopes of getting a free ride around the courtyard.

• Sit & Shove: A child sits on someone’s lap and shoves all other children off.

Pass the rejection.

I'm so excited!  We've been with MAF since July of 2008, and this weekend I will have my first ride in an MAF airplane!  It gets even better.  We are going on our first visit to the interior, a place called Nkara to visit with our good friends Jim and Nancy Smith.  They are missionaries and we'll get a chance to see their ministry in action.  I can't wait to come back and tell you all about it.  There's no internet there, so you won't hear from me for a little bit.  In the mean time, I wrote this a long time ago and then decided not to use it, but since I'll be gone I pulled it out of hiding. Personally, I think my cartoon drawing is better than what I wrote but I couldn't use the one without the other.


A good friend once told me I need to learn to say no.  I said, “I have to say yes.”  She said, “No, you don’t.” (See?  She knows how to say no.)

I do struggle with saying no.  On the occasions that I force myself to say no, I feel guilty and think I have to justify it.

So why do I have so much angst over that little word?
- I care and I want to help.
- I don’t want to be thought of as rude or disagreeable.
- I don’t want others to feel hurt or rejected.
- I don’t like confrontations and some people don’t like to take no for an answer.
- I want people to approve of me and not be disappointed.

Moreover (I’ve always wanted to use that word!), why should I say no?
- When I should say no and I do not, I become angry and resentful toward the person I said yes to.  It’s     not their fault, but that’s what happens.
- To keep me from being anxious about all the things I have to do that I should have said no to.
- If I say no to what I should, then I can say yes to what I should.
- My first ministry is my family and I should say no if saying yes would hinder that.
- I only have so much physical, emotional, and mental energy.

I need to get it in my thick head that saying no to someone is not handing them a big plate of rejection and saying “dig in!”  It means I am making a decision based on how much time and energy I have and what is best for my family.  I’m the only person who can rightfully make that decision because I am the one managing the home and juggling the priorities.  People have wrongly supposed in the past that because I am a stay at home mom, I have oodles of time on my hands.  Honestly, no, I don’t.  We chose to give up a lot financially when we decided I would stay home.  Even before we came to Africa I spent a lot of time doing things from scratch or by hand to save us money.  We spend a large chunk of our days home schooling.  I have other priorities that are important to me and that I feel God has called me to do.

What’s the worst that can happen if I say no?  I might lose a relationship that is based on manipulation or on the other person being used to getting their own way.  Alternatively - I might get an opportunity to steer that relationship in a healthier direction for both of us.  What is the best that can happen?  Freedom from guilt and resentment, and freedom to focus on what I should.

Six THOUSAND Words

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a recap in pictures of what we've been up to.  There are six photos, so I figure this is a 6,000 word essay.  The photo above was taken at the orphanage in Kimbondo by Daniel.  This week we had great power and terrible water.  As the days went by with still no city water we kept conserving, and the laundry piled up.  Then on Thursday we finally had water coming in again so by default it instantly became laundry day.  The goal was to finish as much as possible before the power or water shut off. We ended up losing both, but not before six loads of clothing were finished!  I am grateful not just for the clothing we have and the ability to get it washed, but also that I don't have as much laundry to do as you see in the photo.  Hundreds of kids means the laundry is NEVER done!

We found a home for one of our kittens (not the one pictured).  We still have four left and really can't keep them so please pray for good homes for the kitties.

Tuesday evening our ladies Bible study group had a potluck with a Mexican theme to celebrate having completed our latest book study.  Two in our group have furloughs this summer and others will be traveling so we are likely taking a break for a while.

We've been reading Henry Reed, Inc. in school together.  Daniel enjoys the author's sense of humor and relates well to the main character, Henry Reed, because in the story Henry is an expat who has spent most of his life abroad.  As a family we've been reading Monster in the Hollows out loud.  This is the third in a series by Andrew Peterson and we've thoroughly enjoyed them all.  They are full of adventure, humor, and virtue.  The author is the same Andrew Peterson who wrote my favorite Christmas album Behold the Lamb of God.

We went to the orphanage Friday and played with the kids! 

Since I couldn't do laundry, I took advantage of the electricity and worked on my quilt project.  I finished 64 4-patches, 16 9-patches, and 64 quarter square triangles.  

Bad Tasting Medicine

photo credit: Reusable Art

Daniel was sick this week.  When you live in or have traveled to Africa, and you develop a sudden high fever, it is prudent to test for malaria.  Daniel tested negative and it turned out to be just a "bug."  He's much better now.  He's a pretty smart kid, getting sick during the school week and then recovering in time for the weekend.  The rest of us seem to have managed to fight off whatever it is he caught thus far.  Emily's youth group is going on a retreat next week during spring break, so pray for their safety and for the speaker.  Last year Josh and Emily came back spiritually refreshed and physically exhausted.  The kittens have opened their eyes and are starting to actually walk, as opposed to dragging their little bodies around with their front legs like seals.  We are really enjoying them.  I can't say the same about their mama today since last night she decided to sharpen her claws on my Bible and tore up parts of John and Acts.  I was tired and left it on the table, opened, when I went to bed.  I should have known better.  She's always had a paper fetish.  

************

I count it a privilege as well as a calling to home school.  Once one of the kids, at a young age, came to me with a question about the history lesson on the life of Abraham.  “Mom, what’s circumcision?”  I explained.  A couple of days later, the same child asked, “Mom, what’s weaning?”  I explained.  The next day, as my child was getting out books and preparing to read a history lesson, I heard this proclamation: “I don’t think I wanna ask anymore questions about history!”  I asked why and my child replied: “cause I don’t like the answers.”

            I love that my kids feel comfortable being honest and direct with me, even if it means telling me they don’t like my answers.  When I heard my child’s statement, I suppressed my laugh and we talked about how even if what we discuss isn’t a fun or comfortable subject, I would always give truthful answers.   

            Sometimes I have to hear truths that I don’t find enjoyable.  Like this morning when I woke up and my husband told me the cat had torn up my Bible.  Or when someone I love was diagnosed with cancer.  Or when God reveals something to me that I need to repent of or surrender to Him.  Sometimes I feel like saying to God: “I don’t think I want to ask you to search my heart anymore.”   Other times I don’t want to ask God what his will is about something because I already know it, or think I do, and I don’t want to hear it.  Sometimes the truth is like a bad tasting medicine.  It tastes awful, and we don't want to take it, but once ingested it works for our good.

            I’m grateful that I can trust God to always give me truthful answers.  He IS the Truth.  I can be confident that even if what He tells me is unpleasant, it is for my good, so I need not be afraid to hear it.

The Truth Will Set You Free (John 8:31) (Photo credit: technovore)

Back in Kinshasa

I'm back! The boys and I had a bit of an adventure getting from Kinshasa to the U.S., with delayed flights, missed connections, getting put on standby flights and booted off several times, lost luggage and stolen/damaged items. We finally arrived in St. Louis twelve hours late and totally exhausted after 41 hours of travel. My sister picked us up and took us home to hot showers and clean beds. My surgery went well. He removed bone spurs from both feet and bursas from the left foot. I still have the bunionette "deformity" but that is purely cosmetic and not painful now that the spurs are gone. I would however, not recommend surgery on both feet at once for anyone who has time to space it out and do one at a time. We got Josh settled in his dorm and he is enjoying college life. Knowing that Josh has lots of nearby relatives who are there for him is a great comfort to David and me. My mom and my friends took amazing care of me after my surgery! I am very grateful for all the prayers that were spoken for our travels, my surgery, Josh's adjustment, and for David and Emily while they were left behind here. Emily has started eleventh grade at The American School of Kinshasa this year. This is the first year she has not been home schooled! She and I both were ready for her to branch out and become more independent and have someone else for a teacher. She loves it and is doing well. Daniel is still home schooling and enjoying the fact that I have more time for him. It's been twelve years or more since I have home schooled only one child! It feels strange. It is good to be home again!

A Couple of Triples

Yes, it's been a really, really, really (triple number one!) long time. I could make a bunch of excuses, such as we have power outages nearly every day, we have internet problems frequently, I'm busy home schooling two kids and cooking from scratch, I got caught up in Thanksgiving and Christmas and potlucks and all that - all of which are true, but whatever the excuse, it has still been a really, really, really long time. I'm sorry. Ok, quick "catch-up", in as few words as I am capable of. All of the windows have been repaired. And the roof. Last month Emily told us her wall, the one between her bedroom and the bathroom (yes, the same bathroom that flooded with sewage and has a broken toilet) was wet. It had been wet for a while and she just thought the spot was a stain from when the roof leaked until she actually left something touching the wall and it got wet. The stain was wider than my arm span and about 3 feet high, and a nice mold was growing. So, the plumber came out and made holes in the walls to fix the pipes. At least he filled in the holes though, and Emily's wall is drying. We celebrated the holidays with our MAF team and other missionaries here. It was hard to be away from family, especially since our skype wouldn't work. Josh played in the orchestra for the school musical in December. We searched for things to buy for the kids for Christmas and could not find anything here, so I bought some local fabric and sewed gigantic bean bag chairs for each of them. We filled them with bags of chopped foam that we bought at the local mattress factory. They were a big hit! We still have power and water issues, almost daily. Once we had no power for 72 hours. A couple of times we ran completely out of water, even in our reservoir, and had to haul water from the Francis house. We had the annual MAF family conference in January. It was our first conference and we really enjoyed it. We have hired a tutor to help us improve our French. There are two things which make French more difficult here than I had anticipated. One is that our vocabulary is too small, we just don't know enough words. We're working on that. The other is the accent here. The Congolese don't pronounce their vowels the same way we were taught, and it has caused some misunderstandings. For instance, when they say "two", it sounds just like "ten". That makes shopping fun. A couple of weeks ago, I asked our guard how his family was doing and his response sounded like "sah vah impay". I knew what the first part meant, "ça va" means "it goes", a way of saying things are fine. I couldn't figure out what "impay" was, but I knew "paix" means peace, so I thought "he must mean all is well and peaceful", so I said that was good news. He looked at me strangely but said no more. Then David asked me a couple days later "what does impay mean?" Our guard had just said the same thing to him, again in response to an inquiry about his wellbeing. I told him I didn't know, that I couldn't find anything like it in the French dictionary, and what I had guessed it meant. He said he had guessed something similar and said "that's good" and got the same strange look. So the next time our tutor came, we asked him about it. He said it the same way our guard did, but when he wrote it out for us, he wrote "un peu", which sounds more like "uhn puh" (short nasal sounds, not long vowel sounds)in International French. Ding! The light was now on! It means "It goes a little", which here means the same as saying it is not going well at all. So our guard was telling us things were not going well for his family and we were telling him what great news we thought that was! I felt even worse when we learned that he had two children with malaria that week. So, that's one lesson we shan't forget and a mistake we won't make again. One more small chink out of the language barrier.
Ever since Christmas, my friend Sandy has been waiting patiently for me to remember to share my recipe for crescent rolls. To atone for neglecting my blog for so long, I'll share it here also. I got this recipe from my sweet mother in law and it makes nice flaky rolls. And the smell! Amazing! They are really, really, really (triple number two!) good! Here you go, Sandy!

Crescent Rolls

4 1/2 cups flour
3 eggs, beaten
1 package plus 1 TBS yeast (so you don't have to look it up like I did, one packet contains 2 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup Crisco (I try to avoid shortening. You know, the whole hydrogenation thing. So I use real butter and it works fine.)
1 cup scalded milk

Mix milk, butter, sugar and salt. Allow to cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and eggs. Add flour a little at a time until dough is too stiff to stir. Let rise, or chill until later. Three hours before baking, divide into three sections. Roll out into circles and baste with melted butter (not too much). Cut like a pizza into 8ths and roll into crescents. Let rise. Bake 6 minutes at 375 degrees.

Lessons learned

Yesterday we graduated from French language school. It's been a long and challenging ten months. It wasn't only challenging because of the French courses we were taking. This was a year of big changes for all of us. Josh experienced his first year in public school at the same time he experienced his first exposure to another culture. That's really like learning two cultures at once. Emily had to work independently in her studies during my class hours and save the rest for when I came home. Daniel sat through hours and hours of church without understanding what anyone was saying because David and I were required to attend a French church as part of our schooling. I had to balance being out of the home half of each day and having studies and homework of my own with teaching Emily and Daniel and managing our home. David had to balance school with being a husband, father, friend and neighbor. All within a new environment and culture/language. We learned a lot about relationships, priorities, flexibility, and faithfulness. When we first came here, one of my kids didn't believe me when I said that God knows our needs and will provide the relationships we need in Québec. Now that child admits being wrong and not wanting to leave new friends found here. But a lesson was learned, and now there is a confidence that God will take care of us. We are busy packing and cleaning our apartment and squeezing in every spare minute we can with our friends before we go. We'll be here a few more days because Josh has prom this weekend.
We have grown to love the people here. They have been very polite and friendly to us and very patient with our bumbling attempts to speak their language. We like our church and our pastor here very much and were just getting to the point where we understood almost all of the sermons. We have made wonderful friends, not just among our fellow classmates but among local people also. There are some things we won't miss so much: milk that comes in plastic bags instead of jugs, cold weather, having to go to several different stores to get things we need because the grocery stores here don't have built-in pharmacies, make-up aisles, toy aisles, etc.; stores that close at 5pm - the time when most people are finally free to shop. But really those aren't important issues as much as they are inconveniences. I would guess someone from Québec might feel overwhelmed by their first experience in a super Wal-mart, as the Wal-mart here is far from that. We have tried new foods and liked many of them: fresh, real maple syrup, tartinade (a meat pie that is traditionally made for Christmas), Cretons (a meat spread often eaten on toast or crackers), and poutine. Our very first week here we were told that no one has experienced Québec until they have tried poutine. Poutine consists of french fries, with gravy on top, and cheese on top of that. Not just any cheese, though. Fresh cheese curds, usually made that same day, that makes squeaky noises when you chew it. There are many varieties, but that is the basic poutine. Last night, to celebrate that all five of us finished a school year here, we went to Stratos'and had poutine one last time.

A Quick Catch-up

Ok. Learning a foreign language when you are an adult with a family to take care of and two kids still homeschooling is a WEE bit time-consuming. And where there is time, there is no energy. SO - I have neglected all of my hobbies, including my blog. We have completed the beginner and intermediate level courses as of two days ago. On Monday, we will begin the conversation course. This course is not quite as intense as the others, so I am hoping to be able to communicate better with my family and friends and maybe even deal with a few photos or do a little quilting. Here is the best rapid-fire catching-up I can give you. In August, on our way from Missouri to Québec, we spent some time with my parents and I gave her the quilt I had been working on for the last five years.


We began school the first week of September. In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is in October, so while our loved ones in the U.S. were observing Columbus Day, we were having our Thanksgiving feast with the other missionary families.

For Christmas, a couple from our church here invited us to spend the day with them. They treated us like family and we had a wonderful time. They can speak English well, but they make us practice our French as much as we can. It is a huge blessing to have friends like them here while we are far from our own families.

In January, we began the intermediate course, what our professor calls "the true French". It was quite a bit more challenging than the beginner course. God blessed us with more friends and more opportunities to practice conversing in French, which seems to be the most difficult part of learning French. Reading and listening skills came more easily.

"Spring break" for us came the first week in March, while it was definitely still winter here. We took a day and drove to Québec city, the capitol. We walked all through Old Québec and toured the parliament building. Québec is the only fortified city in North America.

After exams were over this week, six of the language school students graduated. We have developed close friendships with some of them and are very sad to see them go.

Bragging On My Kids

I know it irritates others when a parent talks constantly about their children's accomplishments, how wonderful they are, how smart, how cute, blah blah blah. So, I will try not to go on and on about it, but I am proud of my kids and this past week and a half they have given me reason. Josh and Emily both helped in Vacation Bible School last week. Emily, though, was in the classroom for 2-3 year olds and worked herself weary every night and kept her good attitude. Daniel, my cautious one who doesn't like to try new things, has been learning new games and actively participating in VBS and children's church. Josh took two CLEP tests and passed them both with very decent scores, earning dual high school and college credit in those classes. I didn't get photos of any of those activities, so in honor of Josh's academic progress, I dug out an older scrapbook page and scanned it into the computer. I had to do it in two parts and stitch the photos together, so it may not be the best quality.

Commissioned!

Believe it or not, even after our encounter with the snake, we went back to Succor Creek again last weekend. This time we took two families with us who had never been there. We had a picnic and did some hiking/walking, and explored a cave. Yes, we did find another rattlesnake, but at that point we had split into two groups and I was in the lucky group, I mean the group that didn't meet up with the snake.

Classes have been interesting but draining this week. There have been a lot of emotions, at least for me. We know that after this we are going off in all sorts of directions and have no idea when we will get the priviledge of seeing eachother again. Most of us were in class together last summer also and we have all grown to care for one another. Leaving will be difficult.

Yesterday we had commissioning chapel. I made a scrapbook page of some of the photos. If you click on the image it will enlarge so you can see it better. It was a joyous occasion because we were being prayed over and encouraged and marking a milestone in our journey, but was also serious because we knew that we still have much work to do raising support for our ministry before we can go. Please pray for God to open doors for us and to raise up people who will want to be part of what He is doing through us. Pray also for decisions we have to make regarding the kids' schooling while we are in language school, and for our visa applications to go through without any trouble.

Let the Driving Begin!

Today we started our big road trip. We are on our way to MAF headquarters in Nampa, Idaho for orientation. We drove to Pleasant Hill, MO and are staying tonight with David's brother and his family. Other than rain, we had an uneventful trip, which is unusual for us. We usually have someone get sick or the van breaks down, or both, so we are grateful. Tomorrow we get up early and hit the road again. We borrowed a car-top luggage carrier and somehow it seems like we have even less space than we had before we borrowed it. Must be some sort of Murphy's law or something. Part of the space problem is because we packed all of our school stuff so the kids can keep up with their schooling. And Josh's guitar. And I MIGHT have purchased too many snack items for the road.

Titus 2 Blog Party

I just discovered Michelle's blog - She Looketh Well - today! Michelle is hosting a Titus 2 blog party, a chance for us to meet other bloggers and have some fun. Go check it out! So, anyway, here is my Titus 2 Blog Party post and introduction. Hi, I'm Nancy Burton. I'm a new blogger, since the first of the year, and still getting the hang of it. In fact, I didn't know how to even put those links above until today and I had to ask someone how to do it. I'm a Christian, a missionary wife, and a home school mom. Right now we are "prefielders", still getting ready to go. We are scheduled to depart for language school in August and are pretty excited about the adventure God has us on. He is using this time to stretch us and grow us. We have made incredible friendships, learned more about the internet, computer programs, writing and corresponding, budgeting, flexibility, trusting, and waiting, just to name a few areas. Trusting and waiting have been in the forefront. The one thing I am constantly reminded of is that I am not in control, nor am I supposed to be. I have been forced to trust God more and wait on Him more than I ever have before. I am sure this will serve me well when I get to Africa. I started blogging because my teenage son kept encouraging me to try it. He was having such a good time with his blog, keeping in touch with his friends from far away that I thought it might be a good way for my friends and family to keep up with me, especially once we leave the U.S. I still haven't decided on a permanent name for my blog (suggestions, anyone?) or gotten around to learning how to personalize my template. Even though I am new to blogging, I have already discovered some cool blogs and benefited from the wisdom that others have been willing to share on their blogs.