Month: September 2020

Reality

Leave a comment

Sometimes it seems like you can do the same work from a distance. We’ve all been trying it. It appears to be working. We are getting things done and work is moving forward, in all sorts of ways. This is wonderful and a new normal for us all.

Yet, when you are able to be back doing the work in person again, things are different. For me, I am able to see, appreciate, and find missing parts and pieces that I didn’t realize were even missing from a distance.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

This is a little bit what it was like when I went to church in person for the first time after the lockdown. Even though we were spread out and wearing masks, I hadn’t realized what a difference being together made, singing and listening, in the same space.

It is also a bit of what I’ve been experiencing as we are returning to Yaoundé and our work, in person. The reality of the various crisis situations around the country is much harder and more bleak than what I could hear or see from a distance. There are pieces of my life that are being revived, and I hadn’t even realized they had been dormant. I am able to see and appreciate things up close that I wasn’t able to from a distance.

From a distance, sometimes what seems to be is only part of the picture in reality.

The Last Time We…

Leave a comment

We just left the season of lasts. Last Times. Or what we would call “the-last-time-we…”. Or, at least, Last Times for a While.

We said it so many times over the past month that I think the kids became tone deaf to the idea, but it’s important to mark those times as they happen and allow everyone to say goodbye in their own way.

We heard it a few times, “I didn’t realize we wouldn’t see Aunt Jen’s house again.” Sometimes you miss it and your opportunity is gone.

Here are some of the last times we noted:

  • The last Chick-Fil-A meal.
  • The last visit to Shannon’s Aunt and Uncle’s.
  • The last time they saw their cousins, and Aunts and Uncles.
  • The last time we saw Grandmas and Grandpa.

And these last times are hard. What’s important is that we get a chance to note it and a chance to say goodbye.

We turn now to “first things”.

What is the first thing you’ll do…

We Have Arrived

Leave a comment

Thank you for your prayers! After a long journey from Detroit, we arrived safely in Cameroon late in the evening on Tuesday. We received our negative Covid-19 test results in plenty time to be printed before we left. The trip was smooth and all of our luggage arrived. God went before us each step of the way!

We are also thankful for the warm welcome we received to our quarantine apartment in Cameroon, with transport, groceries, and a meal waiting for us.

We are returning to our work and studies remotely and settling into our new routine. We hope to move into our home in Yaounde in two weeks.

It is a joy to be back on the field and be able to continue to support the life-changing work of Bible translation in Cameroon. We could not have gotten here without you! 

Thank you for being partners with us on this journey.