Mail Updates & My Hair Cut

Hey everyone!

I just thought I would write with some updated info on mailing & to let you know I’m having the time of my life!

First of all, I am becoming a lot more accustomed to the culture & ways of transport. I have a dear friend, Amanda, from C.A. She leaves in a week, which is saddening, but being able to hang out with her has grown my confidence in Matatu’s, and ways around the city. I still have a lot of ways to learn, but I am able to get farther than the near perimeter of my house. If you can, pray that she has a wonderful last week here in Kenya (after having lived here for 4 months), and that she would get home to Sacramento safely.

As for me, continue to pray for recovering health. It comes & goes, but truly God is healing me. Through my time with Amanda, & other friends, God is restoring my joy. I wish you all could’ve been at work with me on this past Friday! It was awesome because I just felt so at home to be myself. It was the most amazing freedom I’ve felt in sometime. The relationships God has given me at Tanari do not go unappreciated. Seriously…these people are getting a very real taste of who I am, and in ways I think they are helping me discover & love who I am & who God has created me to be. I’m learning to be “ok” with me! This may sound corny, or perhaps you think I’m a semi-confidant person, but trust me I certainly have issues of self-esteem. But God is using the people in Kenya, especially at Tanari, to love who God has created me to be. (Even if that means being ok with the fact that I’m white!)

ALSO: Last week I got my first hair cut! It’s a lot shorter than I asked for but it feels so refreshing to have a fresh cut (even if it is somewhat uneven). It was an interesting experience, and not to be repeated. But I’ll try & upload a picture of my hair before & after! WOW!

If you could be praying for my last 7 or 8 weeks as they are now here, we are very busy at Tanari & it is only going to get cranked up. Pray for patience, diligence, & efficiency. With friends coming soon, I grow anxious but my mind needs to be able to focus while at work.

Also, Mo is coming home tomorrow (Monday) so pray for safety & thank you for all who met him while he was in Indy. We are all looking forward to having him back here!

Thank you for your prayers & love. Here comes the important business part of this update!

If you are going to mail me a package, the last day to send it out would be May 22nd. The reason being it will take about a month & a half to get me. It usually sits at the airport & then I have to go get it & pay. SO…if you want to send me something, I would encourage it, but it must be within the next week.

If you are going to send a beautiful hand written letter, or a card, those can be mail up to 2 weeks before I leave. I have received cards in 10 days. Or I’m told cd’s only take 2 weeks as well. So, those can be sent to Tanari as late as June 28th.

Thanks all of you faithful blog readers. You make my time spent in the cyber worth it. I Hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day & memorial day coming up. I miss you & will be seeing you in less than 2 months. Oh how time flies!

XOXO,
Kate


above is just my long hair (taken by amanda)...I haven't uploaded my short hair yet! soon to come though - AND NOW: The short hair. This picture of Amanda & I at Java House. YUMMY YUMMY!- Java that is...not Amanda & me.

a health update & bug story!!!

Quick update & then to my story!
“What is wrong me
Why do I not believe
In Your ever presence
Watching over me

Lord why I am hiding
You’re everything I need
Now I sit & ask
Father, help me to believe.”

This was a prayer/poem/song I wrote & prayed on Tuesday night. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t being healed, and I believe it was a lack of faith. This was my acknowledgement of that lack of faith, and out of it came Wednesday. He helped me believe. Thank you for your prayers. God is so faithful, amen? He is healing me. Each day my body improves & I am eating normally now & enjoying the chai once again.

Not only is my body improving but my spirit. He is refreshing me ya’ll! I wish I could’ve bottled up yesterday (Wednesday) & had you all experience the amount of joy that was going on in my heart. It was unbelievable! Today is good too, and I am eternally grateful for a good & loving God to refresh, restore, & renew a broken girl- from sickness not only in the body but in the spirit. I’ll never be able to fully grasp the work the Lord has done & is doing, but I give Him the glory!

Last weekend was fabulous, and I have no doubt this weekend will be nothing short of spectacular! I’m going on my first Kenyan shopping trip & taking a Kenyan friend to help me bargain. This way I won’t get ripped off for being white! Many are beginning to believe I’m becoming more & more Kenyan, which is an encouragement as I interact with everyone here.

Tonight Tanari is doing CPR for the University students. If you don’t know what CPR is, you should b/c you’ve all look at tanari.org! RIGHT?! If not, it’s an abstinence program, and from my point of view the most powerful & truthful that’s out there. So it should be a good night.

I hope you are all doing well! I have almost exactly 2 months left. Lydia will arrive in less than 2 months, which means I have less than 2 months at Tanari. It seems like I just arrived! Everyone here at the office says “it feels like you’ve been here forever. In a good way!” And in ways it does. Well, no need for sadness yet because I do have about 9 weeks left here in Kenya, and I plan on living it up with all my wonderful friends here. Ok, on to the story….

Ok blog readers, I’ve got a good bug story for you!

Today at the office I was in the bathroom fixing my hair in a mirror. I am wearing a jacket with a sleeveless shirt, but when I was putting my hair back the jacket moved out of the way, allowing for me to see the side of my armpit! (Lovely so far….I know)

Well, I saw what looked like a tiny little scab. I began to pick at it to get it off & it wasn’t coming off. I tried to pluck it with my finger nails & nothing. Eventually I literally ripped it off my skin & it felt like I pulled a splinter out. When I examined this scab closely I noticed it had legs & the legs were moving. This bug was indeed crawling into my skin or least sucking my blood & it is almost microscopic! GROSS! More than the bug bits, the caterpillars in my hair, and seeing spiders often, this topped it all off! A bug was sucking my blood. And to kill it, we had to burn him!

As I began to write this little story to you, I came up to my office & there was a jumping spider on my headphones. Not a fun bug day apparently!

Well with that said I need to get back to work! Thanks for reading my bug horror story!

Soon,
Katie

Ps- tonight is the night (May 4th) that Mo is at my house in Carmel, if you want to stop by. 1425 Stonemill circle – Be there or be square.