A Typical Day

I still don't know where to begin, but I'll try to get some more details out here for all of you who have been praying for us and following our trip.

Usually, we'd wake much earlier than we'd like to the sound of "Crewster the Rooster" crowing outside of our window... or to a goat bleating (which for some strange reason sounded like a child moaning/crying loudly). On many occasions, I told the kids that I'd like to wring the rooster's neck and have Mommy Sieh fix him in her next "soup" ( -the sauce that is served with rice). The kids at the mission school would already be up and singing in their dorms, doing chores and fetching water from the well. The older kids carry the 5 gallon buckets full of water on their heads... the younger ones carry smaller buckets the same way. Laundry gets done in the big colorful plastic containers and laid out on the dirt to dry in the sun. The dorms are swept out and the kids take their showers with cups of water.
Can I just say that while "cup showers" may seem primitive... they are a LOVELY thing. It was probably my most favorite part of the day because it's the only time I actually felt cool and refreshed! Sometimes we'd take several in one day. Asher was constantly dirty in Liberia. The Africans would laugh and say he looked Liberian... because of his legs being brown with dirt. When you're African and dirty, it's hard to tell... but when you're white-skinned and dirty, you just look... well, you just look filthy! Anyway... cup showers rock. (Although I am beyond thankful for my hot shower here at home. The first thing we all did when we got home is to scrub ourselves silly to get all the dirt/sweat smell off of us!)

On a typical day while staying at the mission school, we'd eat our breakfast as a family and then have several hours of school work for Anika and Asher. Jason would do some math with Kelvin or read to Kelvin and Hawa while I facilitated getting math, spelling, reading, and journaling done with the other two. It was a nice break from the constant craziness of interacting with masses of kids all the time. It served to give us a little routine and give the kids a little down-time in our "house".

Once school was over, we usually had an hour or two before all the other kids were done with school. We usually spent this time visiting staff and the matrons, having Jason go look for things to fix or work on, or doing some things in the house to keep us occupied.

When the rest of the kids finished with school, they'd change out of their uniforms and rest or do chores or come visit us. The little porch of our house was almost always full from that point on. Asher usually played soccer with the boys in the area in front of our house. Anika tickled and played with the little kids, Kelvin and Hawa hung out wherever we were or hung out with friends from the mission.

A good part of each day was also spent just coping with behaviors~ sometimes hours at a time. We tried to be consistent with all the things that popped up... and so we spent a lot of time working through issues, especially with Kelvin, but with Hawa as well. I want to respect my kids' privacy, so I don't want to share all that stuff here... but there are some major things we'll have to work through in the future. It was very valuable for us to see these things and start to establish how we will address them. Anika and Asher saw first hand that adding a new brother and sister to the family is incredibly fun... but it's also difficult and not so enjoyable in certain moments as well. It was good for them to observe this, and to experience the reality of it. I think that seeing where the kids have been raised gave Anika and Asher some compassion and understanding as to why some of these behaviors are so ingrained.

We usually ate lunch around 1:30... the rest of the kids ate around 2 Pm (and that was their main meal of rice with soup). Then we interacted with all the kids, tried to accomplish the tasks that we needed to get done for the benefit of the sponsorship program and future missions trips to Liberia, and hang out with staff as well. At around 6 PM, it was devotion time where all the kids gather at the steps of the school building for prayer, songs, announcements, and preaching. When we realized (the first few days of our arrival) that we would be asked to teach during this time with as little as 5 minutes notice, we started to try to have something prepared ahead of time to share with the kids. Jason taught on loving your enemies, since kids there fight so fiercely for everything they have, as well as the ability we have to bless or curse with our mouths, since words can be harsh among kids there. He spoke on many occasions, and I can't remember them all... I spoke on joy and thankfulness one day, and I spoke on spiritual gifts once... again, taught more often, but can't remember anymore. Some days, Elijah spoke. Dude. That guy can PREACH. He's 25 and back to finish high school... I believe he's in the 11th grade. He's an evangelist though, and an amazing man of God.
After devotions, Asher would race a bunch of kids back to our porch, where we'd all hang out for a bit while it got dark. Then we headed inside to avoid the mosquitoes and to clean up before dinner. Ate by around 8 PM, and got the kids to bed shortly after dinner. Then Jason and I would hit the hay about 45 minutes later, when our 2 hours of generator time came to an end. In bed by 9:30 almost every night... totally exhausted from the goings-on of the day.