ahhhh hard tacos for lunch!

today was the first day of school. luke is now in the 4th grade and abby is in the 2nd. abby woke me up this morning ready to go at 6:30. she didn't want to eat breakfast she was so excited. silas is now 14 months old and is as loud as a 2 year old. he is getting 8 teeth at once. not sure if a child his age should have so many teeth! i think this makes 16 teeth for that boy. crazy days in the baggott household!

the team from lakeland, florida left last friday. it was sad to see them go but they did leave behind some really great snack foods! for some reason they thought they would be eating rice and beans for every meal so they brought some great goodies for us to eat! i think from now on i might give that impression to teams so this can happen again. heehee!
the team was such a blessing to us and to Rwanda. they began construction on a primary school which is now called "Highland Park Nazarene School". they also built a bathroom for our guard and his family as well as a lot of painting and repair work on the compound we live on. this place looks really different!

spencers parents come in a few weeks. we are very excited since this is our first visit from family in the 3 1/2 years we have been in africa. we are looking forward to sharing our life here with family!

do you ever feel like something is about to happen? well today i am having this strange feeling like God is really up to something. so i sit here listen to music and try not to get anxious about my feeling.
maybe its just the hard shelled (thanks to the HPN team) tacos that i will be eating for lunch today! : ) can't wait!!!!

okay i love all yall and remember.... Jeremiah 29:11 (and a plan for tacos too)

me

cheick... or how ever you spell his name

Sometimes all it takes is praying. friends, family, food….. can’t replace the peace you can get by just praying. I wonder why I wait until I am so frustrated with “stuff” that I then take it to God in prayer? Hummmm I guess I am just distracted with what I think I can do and handle. Praise god he is waiting for me. Wait to give me that daily peace I need.

Spencer was gone all day the other day out in a village called Mbare. We will begin construction on a school there in a couple of weeks. I am so excited for the team from Lakeland, fl to begin this project. They really have no idea what they are getting themselves into ☺ o yes I can’t wait. They will have to take a bus to the village then take moto’s down a foot path just to reach the church. they are really goona experience Africa in a way most people don’t.

Some days I dream of the water. I just know one of these days we will live by the ocean. Ahhh! Maybe I am just in need of a vacation. We are planning on taking one in October. The kids will be on a break from school so we are gonna take that week and do something. Who knows where we will go. We would love to either go to south Africa or Kenya but it all depends on what that will cost. The hard part about living here is trying to find a place for vacation. It costs an arm and a leg just to get a way… but we are gonna try and do it. We need it for sure!

The other night we got a phone call from our old guard in Senegal. When he said his name I was in shock. I couldn’t believe that it was him calling. What an exciting call to receive! We sure do miss him. I just pray that the seeds we were able to plant in his life will one day change it. He is a Muslim.

So today I pray for mercy. mercy on cheick’s life. I pray that he will find God.

Okay I love all ya’ll and remember……go lions beat the panthers!

oooops it was MSG instead!

there are just some days where i would rather just be in the states. yesterday was one of those days. the church next door played their loud music for hours and yeah just one of those days. the kids were driving me crazy and i was just in one of those blaaa moods. thank goodness for friends who understand those times. my friend jen called and told me she was picking me up for the novetel. the novetel is a nice hotel with a spa and gym. she is a member there. anyways i enjoyed an hour massage and a steam room. i am now thinking about having those bad days more often.... if you want to know how you can sponsor one of these bad days just let me know!!!!!
so today luke and spencer went to a church about 2 hours away. luke was so excited b/c he was able to take the moto taxi into town for a 2 hour bus ride. i packed some water and a baggie of cereal. abby, silas and i are staying home. so now i am trying to listen to some good music for worship today. (while silas is taking his morning nap). this afternoon our mechnic is picking up our truck for some much needed work done on it. they are repairing some body work and then painting it. then we will get some new tires! it was be a new truck. can't wait to get it back.... especially since they will have it for about a week. good thing we have a scooter now.

so today i choose to have a good day. i choose to be thankful for our call.
i love all ya'll and remember....... just because it looks like salt in a bag it just might be a bag of MSG!! ewww

no title

So life seems more and more normal living in Rwanda. sometimes i can't imagine living in america with my kids. it's weird. that's all i have to say about that. we love the sounds, smells (most of the time), the people, our friends, the food etc....

we finally got our scooter. i absolutely love it. we are so thankful for Ridgecrest Church of the Nazarene in Ridgecrest, CA for raising the funds for us to purchase it. I don't know if they really understand how they have really helped us. The scooter saves us tons of moula in gas. it also comes with free parking everywhere in town and it is wonderful for stress. you can get anywhere really fast. no - i'm not driving crazy fast in it. well just a little. traffic is sometimes bad and you can most of the time get to the front of the line :)!

so life has been a little busy. lots of things going on! God is good and it seems as if we are finally getting back into the swing of things.
in a couple of weeks we have a team coming from lakeland, fl! it is the church i grew up in. we are very excited. luke has a friend that will be coming with the team. he is i think 8?! the team will be building a school. this school is out in a village called Mbare. the whole village is excited and the government is actually helping supply the teachers when the school is finished.

the ONU team that was here in May helped with building a church in Gitarama. this church is on a hill top where they were worshiping in an open field.
God things are happening in Rwanda!

tomorrow the kids and I will be visiting the local nazarene school. it has been a few weeks since we have been able to go so we are ready. between me being sick, the truck breaking down and a conference held here on the mission compound it has been a few weeks since we have been able to read to the kids. as they would say in Senegal.... enchalla! God willing we will there.

my life as a missionary today consists of: finishing up the finances for the mission, doing personal finances, watching our friends children (a missionary couple with YWAM) while they go visit a site for a water project, looking to find milk (the stores near by have been out of the good milk for a few days), looking for mosquito nets for the team coming, taking back my curtains to be fixed (they are not straight), laundry, and all the other stuff of the normal life here in Rwanda. the '"unknowns" that happen so often here are becoming "normal". what i mean is, things happen everyday that would probably make you think "what? did that just really happen?" well those things are more normal than not normal. if a normal day happens here it feels kinda weird. maybe i'm not normal? yeah that's probably it. i admit it!

okay i love all ya'll and remember........ happiness is contagious... eat more salsa!

yep that's right... i finally posted!

So it has been forever since I have posted. I have no excuses. well i guess just being a mother of 3 (sometimes 4) is a big enough excuse. not including our crazy home assignment travels and..... everything else.
anyways life is good. we have settled into our new home (the house next door) and are getting back into the swing of things. 1 week after we arrived back home in Rwanda a team of 16 from ONU came. We had a great time with these students. but life was a little crazy for a while. I am really gonna try to blog more now that my desk is clearing off.

Oh - Spencer finished his Masters! yay! i actually am thinking of making me a certificate of graduation. I think it will read something like this: "Masters of putting up with husband during his studies". actually i think i may just throw myself a party. that's it i am doing it!

The kids are now on summer break. when we arrived back into country we decided that the 3 weeks left of school was worth putting them back in. they were happy about that. but now it is summer.... booooo! i just got them back in : )

Okay so here is what is on the agenda for the weekend and week.
Saturday (today) - birthday party with friends at a local hotel pool and pizza restaurant, finish getting the rooms ready for the PLNU students that are staying with us for one night, hang my new curtains (after the lady delivers them. they were made for the whole amount of 2,000 RFW which is about $3.33)
Sunday - church, rest (my parents always made me lay in bed on Sunday afternoons growing up and now... i just can't stop)
Monday - daily/weekly shopping, bank run for Rwanda finances
Tuesday - find material for bedroom curtains
Wednesday - Luke and Abby begin volunteering at a local Nazarene preschool. they are reading and singing to them.... in english
Thursday - find a scooter or moto to buy!
Friday - who knows!
Saturday - SILAS turns ONE!!!! wowzers
Okay so everything is subject to change. that is the flexibility of living in Africa!
okay all for now. i need to get busy while Silas is sleeping.

love all ya'll and remember........ your hands will smell like cheese... if you don't use a knife! (for all you tv watchers)

april

an air trip!

as i sit here (in between making hot chocolate for the kids and loving on silas) i am beginning to become excited and overwhelmed at the same time about our next few weeks. monday we begin our air trip. i think i just made that up. instead of road trip it is an air trip... hehehe

anyways as i am writing this i am listening to my favorite group Selah. the song is Precious Lord take my hand/just a closer walk with thee. what a great song! the past week has been really trying for us here and now as i sit here and listen to this song i am encouraged. Take my hand Lord! lead me home. lead me to you, everyday! if only i would grab onto that hand everyday. humm now there's a thought. daily walking with the lord, that's what it's suppose to be about... right?

as i think about what life will be like while we are in the states, today all i can think about is the rest i need. i think that sometimes i get caught up in the different life that i live here that i forget why i am doing it. I need to spend some time away and regroup.:) once again don't read too much in what i am saying.. k!
i am just saying i think it is easier to find that resting place when you are not faced with lots of unknowns. (of this different life i am talking about). even Jesus needed to get away!

Jesus Walks on the Water
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

My hope for our home assignment is that I (we) can have a time of rest with our Lord. To regroup if you know what i mean.

until then my prayer today is.... lord deliver me! when i feel like i can't make it through the day, deliver me. when i feel like the road is straight and things are going well keep me holding on to your hand.

okay love all yall and remember.... xddbfdbxvbfgnfscvcdbnd vdvcvv - that was from Silas!

april

a little song he wrote

My son Luke told me he wanted to write a song today. So he did and this is how it goes:
(he is typing it himself)

He's the one (3 x)
Jesus(2 x) you rose from the dead
you healed the blind man
you answer my prayer
you say yes, Satan says no
you have blessed me
you watch over me
Jesus(2 x) ya


luke