A Return to Normalcy

I think we have actually arrived at a week that was so normal that there is really nothing to say.  I had wondered if this would ever happen here and now after nearly 4 years it has.  I am thinking though that it might have more to do with me no longer having eyes to see the really unusual things we experience daily as more than just ordinary.

Talking to Rebecca to pick our brains about what was interesting, we could only remember a few social events.  We had pizza with Scott and Danika at Ubuntu on Friday night, then baby-sat their kids on Saturday so they could go on a date night.  We will get an exchange on that this Thursday.

On Saturday afternoon we went over to the house of Jan and Ann.  She is an American friend of ours who is actually a real Mennonite!  She is here with her husband who serves at the Dutch Embassy.  She had been away for the birth of their third son.  They have a beautiful house with a swimming pool and Oren is friends with their oldest son Bassie (Sebastian).   We had a very nice afternoon swimming and chatting with them.

Sunday was church and we spent a quiet afternoon at home.  Jodi and Yolanda were both in town over the weekend and we hosted them.

The work week was focused on getting end of year reports and new plans into our database which it will be for the next several weeks to come.  Not the most exciting work, but it does give us an excuse not to travel and have some nice daily routines like swimming.

We have added two more elements to our weekly ritual.  The first is afternoon tea.  Now that Noel is no longer a puppy we like to go out and sit on the front porch as a family and have tea.  The kids love this ritual already and we have a nice porch with a view of the mountains of Eastern Congo in the rainy season.

Tea is served at about 5 when the one of us who is working gets home.  Admittedly a bit late for tea, but we get to enjoy the sunset on the porch before supper that way.

The second new ritual we will be adding (again), is the revival of our Sunday afternoon prayer and share group.  Our church is getting us to revitalize our small group ministry so we will start again next Sunday at our home.  Hopefully we will be able to build a more cohesive group this time around.  We do see a need for an anglophone group for the church and that will be our niche.

I think that is about it for the week.  Not great blogging but satisfying enough to live.  Actually David just started throwing up (after being well all week) so this is probably a good place to stop.