refreshment

refreshment |riˈfre sh mənt|noun- the giving of fresh mental or physical strength or energy
The last month has been a time of refreshment for me. My parents came for almost a whole month in September! It was wonderful. It's always nice to close the gap between your life in another country and the people you hold so dear. I often feel like I live in two different worlds that don't ever intersect, so it's really nice when they do.
Some highlights of my parents trip. 1. Going on safari w/ them to Murchison Falls. We didn't see any Lion, but it was great to get away with them. 2. My dad making my garden beautiful! He was out there everyday working, and wow, what a difference! 3. Going on a last minute get away to Sipi Falls. 4. Having them lavish their attention on the kids. It is so wonderful to have not only someone else entertain the kids for a while, but i love just seeing the kids playing with my parents. 5. My dad's birthday dinner. We were able to go out without the kids for a nice dinner, and it was a great night of some good adult conversation! I could go on, but you get the point. It was good for me to have them here. It refreshed me.
Secondly, we are very blessed to work for a wonderful organization who takes really good care of the people who work for them. Just 2 weeks ago, Jesse and I got to go to Malindi, Kenya (on the coast) for some R&R. There are 4 offices in Africa, and all the directors and spouses were invited to come. We stayed here. It was a small group of us, but we had a great time. The mornings we listened to John Ortberg and his teachings on FLOW. Then we had 2 hours of solitude. Yes 2 HOURS! It's very, very rare, when I have 2 hours to just spend with God. & I can't even tell you how much it refreshed my soul. The afternoons were filled with eating, drinking, laying out by the pool, snorkeling, reading, & swimming. WONDERFUL!
I was overwhelmed at how good God has been to me this past year. I feel very undeserving, but oh so loved. Life is not easy, but God is good and faithful, and it was so nice to be able to look back and see that.
And I just have to say that we have some wonderful Interns here that were willing to watch our kids for the four days we were gone! The kids had a blast, and we didn't worry about them a second!