crazy baggott girls

are you tossed around or are you anchored down?

... he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

why would I want to be like a wave of the sea being tossed by the wind? well actually i would like to be in the sea right now but that is not what James was writing about. He is saying to me: believing is not just it.. you should not doubt. doubting will get your blown around which would lead to testing your faith and your and condidence in our heavenly father.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (vs.12)

I realize that we can not really know the depth of our character until we see how we react to trials or temptation. During these times I pray that with the Lords help I can see opportunities for growth. I pray that I can see my character is pleasing to the Lord. It is easy to get discouraged and frustrated during times of... what ever life brings us each day.. but glory to God we are not in this journey alone.

Today I bow at his feet asking heaven to come down and rain on me. Take me and strength my faith so I am not blowing in the wind. Blessed be to God!

i love all yall and remember....we will be home in 3 1/2 months : )

april

squeak, squeak!

Church yesterday was great. Once again we were blessed by one of our Nazarene churches.

So we decided at the last minute to invite our guard and his family to join us for church since Spencer was preaching. They all came so we piled into the cruiser. On the way to church we found the pastor and his wife walking so they got in as well. We were so full that the truck started squeaking. okay so it squeaks with less than 12 too. luke and abby love it. they love being with people.
church is always different. we really like this one in particular. there seems to be a good spirit among the people there.
okay so after they introduced us (again, we have been there several times) spencer preached. the sermon was preached in french and then translated into kinyarwanda. the funny thing about this time was the guy on the keyboard made this funny sound when spencer would say certain things. you know... that sound you would hear when a comedian would say something funny. the sound that was made from a drum and symbols. anyways the first time it happened I laughed really loud. i didn't mean to. so to disguise my laughter i started coughing to cover it up. i think it worked. i guess i will never know... there were several people who turned around. oops!

kathleen (our guards wife) held Silas during most of the service. I was glad that she wrapped a cloth (that she gave silas) around him so everyone wouldn't feel the need to touch his hands etc... i remember thinking in the states why do people feel the need to touch baby's hands. they put them in their mouth. anyways it may just be a status thing but people didn't ask or even take silas. i say status because it seems as if everyone is put into a status level. i guess maybe this is related to your job and family. don't know!

after church we took the crew out for lunch. we decided on Chinese food. i think Gatari (our guard) and his family had a great time. they have never had Chinese food before. their son (who has become like a brother to luke) was so funny. he had several bowls of soup and just laughed every time we gave him more food. i am sure they have never been to a restaurant like that before. we feel blessed to be able to do this. God is good.

finally! i have house help again. she will be coming monday - friday 8-3. this will help free up my days so i can focus on other things and take care of silas :) i know house help to most of you might seem crazy but living here where everything is harder it is a tremendous help. Gutrude helps with cooking lunch as well as cleaning so it is actually helping us financially in that area because she cooks the local food which is cheaper than what i would prepare. everyone seems to have staff work for them. this provides nationals with work. this girl in particular is from a village and was brought in to Kigali by a christian organization. she is taught to be responsible and then attends school at night. part of her pay goes directly to help cover her school costs. it's a good thing!

okay i better go i am getting a skype call.
please pray for us... spencer will be doing a lot of travel before we head home. i think he will be going to 6 different countries from now until then.

love all yall and remember....going to bed with wet hair... makes you wild and crazy in the morning.

april

intentional surrendering

today i am thinking about the word surrender. what am i surrendering to today or tomorrow. being intentional about surrendering is difficult. surrendering in ministry is often hard when you are forced to see the outcome before it happens. sometimes you can't see the outcome but when you think about what might happen surrendering doesn't look so good. my life as a missionary is not only surrendering the... what I call normalcy of life but surrendering my families as well. today i ask for the Lord to carry me through what i need to surrender today. to help me surrender our future and our lives to Him.

Lord I do surrender all.... but sometimes I need help doing it!

i love all yall and remember...... expired yeast is no fun.

feet

So I have decided to try to blog more often. I know at the beginning I wrote more of the things I was going through and this crazy journey the Lord is leading our family on. So... I think i need to begin again. Writing is good. It helps me recognize what I am feeling and helps other know how to pray for us ( or just laugh- what ever you choose).

So we are coming up on being in Africa 3 years. When we said yes to the call we never thought we would live in 3 different African countries and experience the things we have been able to experience. God has revealed himself to us in so many wonderful ways. I also never knew how much we would love changes. Kinda weird. spencer and i just had our 13 year anniversary. when we were dating (the whole 6 months of that) he said we will never be rich but we will always have our needs meet... or something like that. Yes our needs have always been met and then some. we have been so blessed over the past 13 years. i used to think that people who were married for over 5 years were old. i'm not old.... right? anyways...

The Lord has also been speaking to me for a while now. About something I have been putting him off with. :) Don't we do that too often. Well.... as soon as I can get a grip on life... if that is possible especially with just having another baby I will begin the course of study for ordination. I do not feel a call to preach but I do feel a call to a lifetime of ministry. So... I will take the deacon road. I am a little nervous and intimidated about it but.... I will do it. I think actually writing this down makes me more accountable to you. who ever you are and where ever in the world you are. it makes me think we are all called to a lifetime of ministry. i guess what that ministry is and how it plays out in your life is up to you. God has called all of us to something. so..... anyways

to change the subject i will talk about another great gift we have been given. Silas is precious. I know every child is precious but Silas is soooooo precious. we are so thankful we are blessed with another child to love and care for. spencer wants another baby. i think he is crazy. that is all i am gonna say about that. lol

i was just thinking about feet. weird huh? well to me it is a part of the body that can show our journey. how hard life has been or how easy. right now i need a pedicure.. hehee. but what i was thinking is this. where has my feet gone. what kind of things have my feet been through. have they been scared (SP?) from the rocky journey or are they polished with a pedicure that hides our past. i say rocky because life is not easy. especially if you feel persecuted for your faith. our feet represent where we have walked and where we are going. I am not sure if God cares about where we have walked but where our feet are headed. unless He is pleased with your past and unless our feet have been representing Him. representing a persecuted life. I think about the men and women who have died for their faith. we have many nazarenes who have died here in Africa because their feet have walked through it. through the life we are called to. so what do your feet look like? i am asking myself the same question. I am not saying we are called to a life that gets us martered (sp). i am just saying to live is Christ to die is gain (the bible) :) today i choose to die (not literary). to die to myself and to give God my all. to let Him guide my feet and to let Him take away the past that wasn't guided by Him. anyways...

i am not a professional writer and remember i do not spell check or correct grammer or proof read : )

i am just being me and you get what you get.
well i better go get the baby...

i love all yall and remember............. it is sometimes easier to go ahead and mix the powered cheese with the milk before you mix it with the pasta.

april

so what's next?

So i was thing this morning. Haha to what ever you are thinking!
So anyways why do I let things overwhelm me so much? I'm not talking about having 3 kids with one of them wanting to eat every 2 1/2 hours or still having to clean, cook and provide for my kids needs even though i am sleep deprived. I am talking about the things in life that is out of my control. Things like: future, health, money etc etc... I am thinking about ungrounding (I think i just made up that word) myself so I can soar above issues that I can't control or predict. HA! We'll see how that works.
Seriously I know that God is in control of all of these things but most of the time I just want to be there whispering in His ear with my suggestions and yes of course my demands.... did i say that? I would say Hey God what are we doing tomorrow or in one year? or Hey God will my kids love you all their lives? or Hey God when will the next time be that i can eat at Las Margaritas (my fav restaurant)? I have lots of questions without answers but for today that is okay. being grounded in my own ways is probably not a good thing. I need to be uprooted so I can get a different view. A view hand in hand with our heavenly Father. To see what He has planned not what I have planned. If I can believe that He has my future, health and money etc etc taken care of why do i worry and wonder so much. I guess it is normal but it doesn't have to be a way of life. Just maybe a thought passing through my mind instead of a lifestyle of wondering. Maybe I will get a little less gray hair if I can just let go. Ahhh probably not.... thanks to genetics : )

So today i will try not to be consumed with the what ifs... I will just go and find that clothing sale and not worry about it! lol just kidding, well not really. okay really just kidding.
today i will let God be in control of my future! ..... after i tell him what I want. okay just kidding again.

God is good and I trust Him today and tomorrow and the next day and the next...

I love all yall and remember... you only live once (unless you believe in reincarnation, then we need to talk) so go get that fun hair dye and cool boots.

April

Silas Asher Baggott born June 11th at 5:26 am in South Africa - 6 lbs 13 oz 20 inches long

Okay so here is my birthing experience in Africa: sorry for it being so long : )

2 nights ago I woke up around... ? not real sure, anyways I woke up to some contractions. Since I have been experiencing contractions the whole pregnancy I didn't think - oyeah this is it so I just layed there thinking okay if they get harder i will wake spencer up. so after about an hour and after debating on waking him up spencer woke up to me tossing and turning and i said okay after the next big one i will decide if it was time or not. So this was about 2am... i think. the next one was harder so we called our missionary friend Maria and she came over. we got to the birthing clinic at about 3:45am. it was about a 25 minute drive (in the middle of the night).

the midwife was waiting there at the door and she showed us to our room. The room was great and ready for us. The bath had water in it and candles around the huge tub. The room was also dimly lit and very relaxing. So I sat on the bed and she put these electric thingys on my back for an electric massage when i had a contraction. It was only on there a bit since the contractions started to come closer and closer and Henny (the midwife) said okay time for the bath. Oyeah when I arrived at the clinic i was dilated to 8.

I got in the warm relaxing bath and chilled out.... until it started to come. O my - labor hurts!!!! It was too late for meds! although i had already decided against the epidural. so we tried the laughing gas but it really just made me feel like i couldn't breath with the mask on. it did not make me laugh lol plus i think the doula was new and not so great about giving it to me ... anyways back to the pain. It hurt! lol Spencer said during the really bad painful part i asked for an epidural and Henny said no. I said are you sure she said no you can do it and it is too late. and then a couple minutes later I said get me the epidural NOW. I really can't remember that part...lol I do remember pulling on her shirt and yelling. I never thought i was a yeller but I screamed. I was thinking during the screaming."Why am i screaming?" Owell i guess i am a screamer!

During the labor Henny did an awesome job talking me through it. She would say things like... April God designed your body to do this and your baby is not a big baby he is a 2.9 kilo baby... he is small. she was awesome!

Praise God it didn't last long and Silas was here. After we arrived at he clinic he was born 1 hour and 45 minutes later.

Spencer was instructed to take off his shirt and was able to hold Silas while I finished the labor and took a shower. Yes i took a shower right after. It was great! I remember with the other births just laying in the bed for a long time afterward and not ever get to see the baby until after they were cleaned and weighted etc. This birth was all about me and the baby. So cool! There is nothing quite like holding your baby in the tub and being the first one to touch, smell and hold your baby.
So after all the fun Silas started nursing and soon after we had our breakfast.
Later that day spencer left to pick up the kids (locked the keys in the car at the regional office) and came back to pick me up. We got home at about 9pm that night. Wow what a fast delivery!

Luke and Abby love Silas. Luke is really in love with him. He wants to look at him all the time and help with whatever. he also can't stop smiling at him. Okay so last night when we were having our family prayer time luke usually gives me a hug and kiss afterwards. Never on the lips. But last night he kissed me on the lips 2 times. It was the sweetest thing. Abby does love Silas but i think may be a little jealous at this point. Today she played outside all day. Luke was by my side.

Okay so here are a few things funny that the kids have said:
* Luke - I hope he isn't brown... this was said before Silas came. I think because we live in africa maybe he thought he would be african. : )
* Abby - first thing abby said was "aww i like him"
* Abby - his hand is the size of a potato chip
* luke - his pinky finger looks like a Cheeto

Okay now i am so tired i can't remember all the funny things they have said. Owell maybe later.

okay so gonna finish watching the USA vs. England game and then go to bed.

i love all yall and remember... God is good.... I praise him for little fingers and little toes! Kiss your babies tonight!
april