A Glimpse into the Secret Life of....

As we've been travelling quite a bit lately, we've been blessed to visit with so many new and old friends.  We are grateful when others open up their homes and share their lives with us. (1 Thess. 2:8)  We get a glimpse into their personal lives - the ups and downs, challenges and joys, struggles and victories - and we are humbled by that.  We sometimes want to shout out, "Hey! I have a solution for that!  Let me tell you how to do this or that, etc."  But mostly we listen, learn, try to encourage when we can, pray for you, and thank God that He is "...at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13)  We thank God for you all!
   A glimpse into the secret lives of Attah and Jessica and kids right now would reveal that we are being stretched, growing, sometimes unsure about the details, most of the time extremely excited about the future work we get to do in Ghana, and still somewhat anxious for tomorrow. Yes, yes, some of you would want to shout out to us, "Hey! I have a solution for that! Let me tell you...." But mostly we are hopeful, happy, and humbled by all God is doing to us and through us.
 Some of our UPs:


Playground breaks

Going with the flow on a parade float

 

Getting to be at VBS

Feeding horses

Ours is the secret life of a gypsy!  Being on the road, living out of suitcases, eating anything, changing oil, filling out paperwork and not being sure what to put for an address, pumping gas, cleaning up vomit from motion sickness, trying to catch up on correspondence, fixing the van, trying to make arrangements for places to stay along the way, and then of course there are all the unforseen mishaps, mistakes, and missed turns along the way.  It can be tough and challenging.


Sleeping cuties even with strep throat and an ear infection

   After we had to find a place to take the kids to a doctor last week, we felt a yearning to just retreat - just go home for a few days - but where would that be?  Where is home?  This world is not our home!  There is a show on TV these days about modern day Gypsies (or Rom) in America.  I don't think it is worth watching, but seeing an add did pique my interest enough to read up on them.  Pretty fascinating!  They maintain a cultural separateness even in the midst of the "gaje" or non-Gypsy America.  They have interesting customs.  "They avoid using the left hand during meals, either to eat with or to pass things...Weight gain traditionally means good health. The measure of a male's strength, power, or wealth is in his physical stature. Thus a Rom baro is a big man physically and politically....Their traveling itself sets them apart from other cultures, as does their common rejection of international borders. Another area of difference from mainstream America is attitude toward formal, public schools. Until recently, many Gypsies sent their children to schools only until the age of ten to keep them from being exposed to alien practices and teachings."Read more: Gypsy Americans - History http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Du-Ha/Gypsy-Americans.html#ixzz22nqJVbu1
   We are God's gypsies!  Homeless with a flair, with panache, and because we choose to be!  Everywhere we go is home and we have our own culture - Kingdom culture!  A positive way to look at our gypsy life right now!



Lunch stop