Here is our excerpt from our next newsletter from december but the story is pretty funny and worth reading if you haven't heard it yet.

Then Bekah walks out

As I pull into the driveway just completing my inaugural drive on the backwards side of the Kenyan roads, I was feeling accomplished and confident in our survival in Kenya. Then Bekah walks out. Thinking that she is curious about the drive, I wait for the question only to hear, “Kate locked herself in the bedroom.” “What?” confused for a second and processing. She proceeds to tell me that the key on the inside of the room she was playing with while supposedly napping got turned and now she is locked on the other side. What to do now?

Option 1: Find another key. Every key in the house doesn’t work.

Option 2: Push the old fashion style key out the key hole and have her pick it up and put it into a purse slide through the crack over the window at the top of the door. Kate takes the candy from the purse but doesn’t register the rest and by this time has taken the key elsewhere.

Option 3: Get a ladder from the neighbor and have her give the key to us from the open but grated window. Windowpane breaks in process of raising ladder. Kate doesn’t understand. Key is nowhere to be found and Kate goes into hysterics.

Option 4: Take Dakota up the ladder with me squeeze her through the bars and have more communicable and capable kid in the room. Option works, Dakota gets scared at the end of the squeezing but manages to compose her self and search for the key. No key found.

Option 5: Break windowpane above the door and squeeze through the opening to find the key. Success, Douglas, our guard and grounds keeper, breaks the pane and I squeeze through the opening to rescue the key from the bottom of a cardboard box that Kate had dropped it in. Everyone is safe not even a scratch from the broken glass despite bare feet.

Lessons to be learned. 1. Remove all keys before attempting to put a jet -lagged kid down for a nap in a new country with fun old fashion locks. 2. Keep laughing. 3. Trials are better with a Kenyan counterpart that can help. 4. God has unexpected lessons in store to grow us in faith and wisdom.

Life apart from the lock in

Our time here has been good, full of REAL adjustment which hurts and is hard to express, but simultaneously full of unexpected hospitality and blessing. Our reception by everyone has been incredible especially our family, the Bussell’s in Nairobi, who have showered us with time and genuine welcome to Kenya. We have also been blessed by the Staley’s, a South African family, who has helped us get our bank account and graciously invited us to their home treating us to the giraffe center close to their home as a welcome to the continent that they love. The Kenyans we have met have also graciously welcomed us and are genuinely excited that we are here. I will introduce them more fully in letters to come. Thank you for your prayers we know that the transition was smooth because of them.