Want to read our current prayer letter?

 Then follow this link!

There's lots of pictures and a current list of praises and petitions!

"It's hard to believe, but we leave for Quebec in less than two weeks! Lots of changes... lots of unknowns. Please pray our family through this time of transition."

With our two oldest girlies at CBA's Jr/Sr Banquet

Rebekah and friends - jumping for joy!
The end of the school year and graduation was right around the corner!

We actually had two graduates this year: M&M from K5 and Rebekah from high school! 

Wrights Broadcasting Truth to Quebec, Fall Prayer Letter

…He must needs go through Samaria. 

(from John 4)

Does that phrase “must needs go through Samaria” intrigue you? Have you ever tried to imagine the tension that must have existed as Christ walked this earth:  Just how could Jesus be fully God and fully man - at the SAME time?!

That begs the following question: As God, did Jesus already know that there’d be this woman He’d meet at the well and that this meeting would lead to the belief of an entire city? Or, did the God-man allow His foreknowledge to be limited, making Him completely dependent on the leading of the Spirit?...

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To read the rest of this update, please follow this link! 

And...? Thanks so much for caring about our family, taking the time to read, to pray and to consider partnering with us in this ministry! We are so appreciative of you!

Christmas 2013

Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.

~Luke 1.12 ~

NASB

Zacharias had two responses when he recognized he was in the presence of a heavenly being - he was both troubled and afraid. According to Strong’s, troubled is the Greek word tarássō. Properly, tarássō means put into motion, agitated back-and-forth, and/or shaken to-and-fro;  figuratively it connotes a setting into motion that which needs to remain still or at ease. It can also refer to motion causing inner perplexity or emotional agitation from getting too stirred up inside. Phóbos is the Greek word meaning withdrawal, fleeing because of a feeling of inadequacy or being without sufficient resources. According to commentators, it is a word  commonly used in Scripture – sometimes positively, as in man’s response to God’s presence, but more often with a negative significance, i.e. withdrawing from the Lord and His will.

Later when the angel appeared to Mary, her response was troubled – but there was no mention of fear. That observation has led to several thoughts about the difference between Zacharias’ and Mary’s reactions to God’s unmistakable presence in their lives...

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To read the rest of our Christmas prayer letter, 

head on over to Wrights Broadcasting Truth to Niger.

Encountering Jesus ~ Meeting Jesus Changes Parenting Priorities - The Capernaum Nobleman (II)

As a part of this Encountering Jesus series, I looked at the story of the Capernaum nobleman last week. One additional aspect of that biblical account really touched my heart...

     After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.

     Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. 

     “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

     The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 

     “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” 

     The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” 

      Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believe. 

     This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee. (John 4.43-54)

That one other thing that the Lord so impressed upon my heart was the father's dedication and engagement in the life of his child. I pray daily that God continually grows Tim and I to be more and more "those parents."

Most parents will tell you that they love their children and would do just about anything for them and their welfare - but what lengths will I go to to simply talk to Jesus about them, to plead with Him about their welfare, physical, emotional, social, spiritual...???

This story always convicts me...

I need to make it even more of a priority is to truly pray for my children, to spend time before the throne of grace truly interceding on their behalf.

Do I pray? Of course! 

Could I pray more consistently, persistently, passionately, determinedly, fervently and with clearer focus? Definitely! Prayer according to the will of God is an investment into the lives of our children (or the children who the Lord has placed into our lives) with eternal dividends. 

Several years ago, just before Nadia was born, I attended a baby shower where I was given a bookmark titled: "16 Things to Pray for Your Children." I've carried that bookmark around in my Bible ever since - trying to frequently pray through that list for each individual child. I decided to translate that list and share it with the ladies at Bible Study in our Haro Banda church. They loved it! It was a totally new idea to many of them that they could rightfully pray for something outside the immediate physical needs of their children. The ladies who could read asked me to make bookmarks for them to carry around in their Bibles. They also committed to pray for their own children as well as to pray for the youth and children who attend the church or who they have the potential to influence in their homes and neighborhoods.

No, it is not an exclusive list - there are so many more things that could be added... but it is a good start and it is a good reminder for me, today.

16 Things to Pray for Your Children     

1. Their salvation.
2. Their mate.
3. That they would fall in love with God's Word.
4. That God would keep them from evil.
5. That they would have a conscience void of offense before God and man.
6. That character would be more valuable to them than credentials.
7. That they would stand up for what is right even if it means standing alone.
8. That they would be kept from the love of money.
9. That they would be kept morally pure.
10. That they would have the heart of a servant.
11. That eternity would burn in their hearts.
12. That sin would always be distasteful to them and that they would not be broken easily over sin.
13. That they would love each other.
14. That they would trust God with their parents and not allow rebellion to set in.
15. Regardless the hardship, that they may never become bitter against God.
16. That our boys would be glad to be boys, and our girls glad to be girls.

("16 Things..." bookmark was made by Tom Harmon and Faithful Men of Michigan.)

-edited post from the archives;

original post

this week's gratitude list

(#'s 3723 - 3751)

finalizing an important sale

figuring out places to stay as we travel across the States in June/July

friends offering to try and help as we take our road trip

remembering how thankful I am for electricity... not having it tends to do that

remembering to pray for my friends and neighbors who live all day, every day, here in this heat without the benefit of electricity

ever diminishing to-do list

recording is finished for Tim's last movie post-dub

family discussions about finding shoes for this gang for hiking around Scotland

little girl haircuts

"teenage" kitties that endlessly entertain

getting an updated prescription for glasses

sorting, decluttering, giving away, selling... and more sorting

little girl becoming a better reader every day

finishing a book that confronts, challenges and convicts

young adult fiction that makes teens and their parents think

Nadia creating a so totally delish chocolate and peanut butter pudding pie

lego and Thomas the Tank Train kingdoms

really long skype chat with a really good friend

reading Chameleons are Cool with Elsie Mae - it is such a fun, informative book that I love every single time

little girls with sharp fingernails that scratch backs

chicken on a bed of rice and smothered in sautéed onions and garlic and salsa

the joy in giving gifts

this question:  "Has our patriotic spirit caused us not to reach the world?" AMEN!!!

"...that no matter where we are, the presence of God and the Spirit of God are there..."

listening to one of my kiddos say: "God has so much control in our lives... you know, I'm really not worried about anything."

sisters helping sisters grow up

brothers helping brothers grow up

dorm students coming over for the weekend again... soon!

the privilege of praying for some amazing young men and women

Ten most recent posts in this series: 

• Authority and Hind-sight
• Just following the crowd
• When He doesn't seem to be Who you thought He was...
• When I just can't figure it out?
• Time to tarry
• "But, but... THAT MAN?"
• Heading direct instead of heading out of the way... and what that led to!
• When He asks for a drink...
• Jesus encounters just do that!
• The Capernaum Nobleman (I)

Click here for all of the titles and their corresponding links in the Encountering Jesus series

Spring, 2013 ~ Our Current Prayer Letter ~

What about all the rest?

The Son is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn over all creation.

For in him all things were created:

things in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whether thrones or powers

or rulers or authorities;

all things have been created through him and for him.

He is before all things,

and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and

the firstborn from among the dead,

so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 

and through him to reconcile to himself all things, 

whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace

through his blood,

shed on the cross.

-from Colossians 1

So… what about the rest… all that stuff that remains after the best or most important or loudest or highest priority or most prominent or easiest and least resistant has been cared for and/or dealt with?

It could be those two or three dishes that somehow find their way to the sink after everything else is washed up? Or the bit of food that is left after dinner which gets portioned into Tupperware, shoved into the back of the fridge and then forgotten until it starts to either grow again or stink really, really badly? There’s also the junk that remains laying around our girls' bedroom (6 girls in one room really is recipe for a most of the time natural disaster-sort-of-mess). We daily hear: "I've cleaned up my part. THEY can do the rest."

And then we hear or read or even say words like these: "Do your best and then have faith that God will do the rest." Those words are inherently wrong or bad words to say. They do leave us uncomfortable... for we know what they also imply, in our hearts.

They can indicate that what we accomplish is the key and critical part. They can reveal that we’ve set the picture topsy-turvy and that somehow we are in focus in the foreground while God is relegated to the blurry background- maybe interesting or even possibly worse, distracting, scenery. Those words point a finger at our generally unrecognized arrogance - until it smacks us full force in the face.

What God does is never just (just as in by a narrow margin, barely, merely...):

• a less than whole or insignificant remainder,
• a picking up of the bits and pieces we decided we were too tired or disgusted or frustrated to deal with,
• less important or noteworthy or commendable,
• the bit that will later be forgotten and spoil and thrown away because no one wanted it,
• gathering those never ending pieces that otherwise convince the job can never be complete...

Easter unwaveringly proves that He is and does so much more than “the rest.” The truth is: “He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.”

3… 2… 1… and… another recording starts

...but the end of many of the following projects IS in sight!

Tim is putting all of the pieces into place for the continuation of our radio program, “L’heure de l evangile.” Radio technician and colleague Rabo Godi with Pastor Soumaila will continue to record, edit and produce this weekly Hausa/French language program which is airs on the national government station.

Drafting a studio use agreement also occupies a chunk of Tim’s time. This agreement with another missionary will ensure that there is a knowledgeable someone to maintain oversight of the studio rather than simply renting the place to work on their own individual projects.

Yesterday, he worked with the men in the photo below to record a Tamajeq radio program. It is exciting to be a part of Nigerien church (versus missionary) initiated projects and programs....

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To read the rest of this prayer letter, please head on over to our ministry web page... Make sure you are up-to-date with all of our family and project news as well. A list of current prayer requests is also included.

What if my kids start resenting "the work?"

This question must cross the mind of every missionary parent, at least at some point.

I know it has crossed mine… and more than just once.

First, I wonder- What would it look like, their resentment, I mean? Would my child become angry and act out? Would I see sullen and negative with constant complaining discouraging everyone around him? What if my child grew sad, depressed and began to withdraw from life in general? Could her resentment of my calling impact current or future desires to have a relationship with Jesus? Might one of them dislike missions and end up with a deep standing, negative attitude towards missionaries or others working internationally? What if they begrudge the opportunity to have normal childhood experiences? Will my kids feel I’ve somehow deprived them by my choices? Will the hours my husband and I have spent ministering to others spur jealousy and envy of missed afternoons by the pool or mornings spent playing alone in the sand because Mama was busy translating at the computer? What if they are convinced I’ve chosen God and my career over them?...

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And for the rest?

Please join me today, where I'm discussing this missionary parent conundrum

 at a Life Overseas: the missions conversation.

Just in case you missed an update... It's not like there were EIGHT of them or anything...

Over the past three weeks, I've written a post focusing on each one of the Wrightlings, hoping to answer a question I've received from numerous friends and family: 

How can we pray for your children 

as you make this transition?

So, if you missed one of the installments, here's a second chance.

Just click the link below each picture:

Mary Michelle

Brendan

Rebekah Joy

Nadia

Anna

Victoria

Jonathan

Elsie Mae

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And, one final thing, just because I believe it to be some of the best mama-ing stuff I've ever read, hands down. Written by Angie Smith (wife to Todd Smith - of Selah - if you like them, mama to some really cute girlies, writer - of one of my favorite blogs and several books, and speaker), this series of posts deals with the real messages we might actually be communicating to our children by our words and actions, not the ones we think we are or the ones with which we are communicating carelessly. 

Seriously. You need to take a look! And let me know what you think...   

• The Subtext
• Rushing and Pausing
• You're not a Prop

Updating ~ What's up with these kids of ours: Mary Michelle

The French equivalent of the name Mary is Marie... which I hear often and which almost always brings a certain song from The Sound of Music to mind...

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?

How do you find a word that means Maria?

A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!

Many a thing you know you'd like to tell her

Many a thing she ought to understand

But how do you make her stay

And listen to all you say

How do you keep a wave upon the sand

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?

How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

And those words so accurately describe my sentiments about our littlest one... our only one not yet in school... Most days I don't know whether its best to cry, pull out my hair or simply laugh. Most days I end up doing all three and loving every second with this little imp!

It is hard to believe she's only four because she has the air of an older child. It is equally hard to believe she's not still that silvery-haired baby who was the most traumatic for me to birth (not sure if that was because I had to shovel the driveway to get to the hospital, because she couldn't make up her mind if she was ready to brave an Michigan winter on the exterior, because I had to go through it all with Tim on the other side of the Atlantic, or because she is the most recent and so I remember her arrival a bit more clearly).

She's convinced that everything her siblings do, she can do as well... bigger and better, of course. If she thought she could exist on peanut butter alone, she'd do it. She is offended by the fact that she's the only one who doesn't go to school at least for a little while every day and has threatened to hold her breath until Elsie Mae gets home again. And boy, does she have some opinions that - good or bad, nonsense or valid - she'll defend them until it is easier to plop in a Dora video and distract her from the discussion at hand.

Are four year olds supposed to be like that?

She supplies those of us with Facebook accounts an abundant supply of status updates that are sure to garner lots of likes.

She wants to do everything all by herself (except snuggle at night - then she has to be "pinching Mama's face."). She dresses herself, starts the videos herself, feeds the goats and lets them out of their cage herself, puts away her laundry herself, washes dishes herself, dries (sorta) the dishes herself, brushes her own hair and gets her own snack out of the refrigerator - almost always all by herself. Unless, of course, I'm in the middle of something (kneading doughnut dough or something along those lines) and I really can't help her immediately. 

Maybe that's my fault because I taught her that she couldn't climb trees until she could climb up and down all by herself... and she simply expanded that thought figuring she was allowed to do anything she wanted to do as long as she could to it herself!

Yeah! She's a bit of an independent bugger that one.

 

She loves to smile. That's a good thing because it has quite possibly saved her life so many times! She plays hard to get - and of course that makes people work all the harder to win her over. She likes to be the one in control of her relationships. She's very cat-like, that way. But you'd never think it to look at her. The blond hair, bright blue eyes, mischievously darling smile... and two super extroverted siblings right before her... It is easy to assume that she's ready to be friends with anyone and everyone at the drop of a hat.

She prefers to watch people for awhile, until she feels safe with the other person... or until she decides that being friends with their kids makes Mary Michelle-initiated interaction worth the risk.

She's a living, breathing oxymoron... 

• courageous and cautious
• a deadly serious comedienne
• cuddly and prickly all at once
• fastidiously messy... as in "Don't mess with her mess! She's got it just like she wants it!"
• quietly always having something to say
• timidly unafraid
• too-big-for-her-britches half-pint
• malleable while not budging an inch
• enticingly ornery
• irresistibly frustrating
• stubbornly teachable
• a terrifying source of tremendous joy

It's cliché, but: we can't live her and we can't live without her!

She and Nadia have been enjoying Spring Break together: Nadia has been working with her on her phonics sounds and her letters and her numbers. Our little M&M is clearly ready for school and I've been working on and off with her throughout this school year. I'm quite sure that if I'd been more consistent, she'd about be reading short vowel words by now! She's loving all the attention from Nadia.

She is a huge Dora and Diego fan. She also really likes Dr. Quinn, Cars, Spirit, Ice Age 4 and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She has quite an eclectic taste in movie/tv shows.

She does have a clear and distinct style and taste when it comes to clothing - and her idea of matching doesn't necessarily agree with mine. More often than not, she puts her clothes on wrong side out - on purpose - and wears unmatched shoes - by choice. I think it is because she thinks the more pieces and accessories she can add, the better the outfit.

Her favorite food is the drinkable yogurt you can buy just about anywhere... we've finally convinced her to ask for "Solanis" instead of for "Fulanis." (Yes, a bit of W. African humor and yes, you can thank her daddy for encouraging that little mix up.)

She is also a baguette+peanut butter-aholic. Her eyes literally fill with tears on those few days the peanut butter jar is empty. Peanuts will do in a fix. As will doughnuts... but she might ask if she can dip them in peanut butter.

She also loves munching on carrots and cucumbers with her baguette and peanut butter for breakfast. I've seen her plunge carrots into the peanut butter. Apparently cukes are good enough all on their own. She told me the other day that she prefers her cukes with a little bit of pepper.

She likes to help make pizza - spreading out the dough and helping with the toppings. Like all of her siblings before her, she's also discovered the joy of helping Madame Safana make bread: given a tiny ball she'll knead it, let it rise, squish it (the "bestest bit!"), knead a bit more, form it, let it rise again and then set in directly on the rack when the rest of the bread goes in the oven. And beware to any sibling tempted to steal her tiny morsel of bread!

Elsie Mae is her favorite playmate. They dig out in the sand, climb trees, create places for their animals to live and play and work and be. It is so much fun to pretend to read a book and listen to their conversations as they are wrapped up in these imaginary games. She's been known to pray that Elsie Mae would get a little sick so that she could stay home from school to play with her. So, it really doesn't need saying that she's loving Easter Break!

She's a fish... although her sisters claim she swims more like a frog. I think she looks like a puppy trying not to drown. She is up and down and all over the pool - meaning I'm needing to be pretty vigilant, especially when there are lots of folks jumping and playing around her. She is the only one of our kids who makes regular use of resting on her back and just floating when she gets tired. Have you seen those videos on YouTube of the baby who falls in the pool and knows how to turn over and float spread eagle on its back until someone comes to help him out. I never taught her that... I'm wondering which sister did or if she came up with it all on her own. Both possibilities are highly likely.

She told Tim the other day that she knew who she was going to marry when she grew up. Hmmmmmm.... Tim didn't say too much about that.

Her petite size, blonde, blonde hair, bright blue eyes and timid, almost reluctantly reticent smile gives her a pixie quality that many of our African friends find a challenge. They just have to see if they can get "little-miss-playing-hard-to-get." Even the military dudes bearing large arms would wave and smile at her when I'd let her tag along while transporting Anna to and from school.

She's already informed me she wants a tatoo someday - and regularly reminds me by creating designs with a Sharpie marker. She loves to wear earrings - when I take the time to put them in. The only problem is that our pixie sprite also tires of them fairly quickly and takes them out herself - never to be seen again.

She keeps me busy, this Mary Michelle girl... I wonder if she's going to grow up to be a blonde version of Anne of Green Gables...???

And so I'm back to that song I mentioned at the beginning...

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?

How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

I don't think I want to solve this little M&M problem we've been gifted...

Life would be so much less entertaining, interesting, exciting and simply...? Wonderful!

And that little moonbeam - I think I'll just hold her with my heart and watch her shine.

She's sure to... beautifully and brilliantly!

Which brings me to some specific ways you can pray for our munchkin M&M:

1. Pray for her health. She struggles with health issues more than many of our other kids. We went through much of this past year sick for a couple of weeks, well for a few days and then be sick again. It has been exhausting for both her and I. Changing climates, traveling lots ('cause that is what furloughing missionaries do), meeting tons of new people, being in a new home AND starting school, I'm hoping and praying we don't have a similar year this year as well.
2. Pray for our introverted, more reticient around new people child. Bunches of new people, in the past, have been quite intimidating to her. 
3. Pray she takes her cues off of how her siblings are behaving as we reintroduce our family to many people of whom she has independent-of-pictures-or-stories memories... and that includes grandparents and cousins and close friends, people who really love and feel like they know her a bit because they do have memories of her.
4. Pray that she enjoys our vacation on the way home and that it is restful for her.
5. Pray that I'm able to update her immunizations prior to leaving - I'm thankful she's been healthy for a chunk of time and I need to take advantage of that and see if I can locate those immunizations in the pharmacy.
6. And... I know this sounds kinda funny, but pray that she adjusts to wearing clothes every day, most of the time. She doesn't do that a lot, here... and she does, in fact, very much like the fact that she wears mostly nothing most of the time. :-)
7. She has been asking lots of questions about God and Jesus... pray as we disciple her through what has proven to be a tender age for all of our children relative to spiritual issues.

Updating ~ What's up with these kids of ours: Nadia

She's starting high school next year.

When did THAT become one of those right-around-the-corner-things!

Of course, she's always seemed a little more grown-up than she really is, particularly when I could leave her babysitting the two youngest Wrightlings to run to the market and come home and she'd have a meal for the family prepared and the worst of the kitchen mess already cleaned up... and that was 2.5 years ago!

She's also our socialite - extrovert- just can get enough of friends and people girl. So it sometimes amuses me that she and Anna (at the total other opposite extreme) are such good buddies.

Nadia LOVES to read, and devours books like the rest of this family. That certainly is one of the advantages to this missionary lifestyle. Reading rather than television tends to become a preferred way to pass the time.

Other hobbies she's had this term include cross-stitching, making sugar cookies, dancing, playing volleyball, swimming, playing the piano and horseback riding.

This is her first year riding horses, and she recently earned her Gallops 1 certificate. She's had a few scary experiences with the horses, coming home a couple of times in tears either because the horse refused to obey or one night after the horse stumbled and fell with her on his back. Thankfully they were both okay... and she gathered up her nerve to hop back up on his back and keep on riding.

What is it with girls and horses - all three of my big girls are mesmerized by those creatures, but then again, once upon a time, so was I.

She's part of a great 8th grade class at school. They get along really well together, seem to enjoy each other's company and have a lot of fun. I don't think there's an ornery one in the bunch of them - though there are some jokers and great senses of humor! Can't you tell?

Nadia seems to really like school. She is a hard worker, diligent with her homework, loves to learn and research things that interest her, is not afraid to share her opinion or speak her mind. She's worked hard on developing her writing skills this year and has had a blast in her Earth Science class - which I find totally amusing because that was not one of those classes that ever interested me. Give me biology any day!

 

Nadia is an organizer and a planner - maybe that is part of why she does so well in the kitchen. She is every bit as competent as me - unless Facebook happens to be open on the computer and the computer happens to be sitting on the bar playing music out of Itunes. Then she tries to multitask - kitchen work, Facebook and singing and dancing and something gets the short shaft... usually the kitchen floor. !

Based off of what she tells me from the books she reads, fantasy seems to be a favorite genre of literature. That fact was confirmed when she was the most persistent of our children (even more so than Brendan) that we pre-order and then download The Hobbit. After three nights trying to get the 2.7+ GB transferred from our "cloud" to my computer, she immediately organized a party for all the teens in the neighborhood, on a school night, nonetheless, and they watched The Hobbit. If I had to make a guess as to her second favorite genre, it is probably adventure with a dash of romance thrown in. She is a girl, after all, eh?

She might just end up being the tallest of the Wright girls. She's passed Rebekah and isn't too far off catching her mama. She comes to check at least a couple of times each week. 

She has a super soft spot in her heart for our dog Butterscotch. Flies here are merciless when it comes to chewing on puppy ears and for some reason, they like Butterscotch. Nadia's the one who remembers to let her in and who bathes the dogs ears and then coats them with petroleum jelly to help protect them. And Butterscotch will listen to her - the crazy dog actually listens when Nadia calls her to fasten her back to her chain.

Many people who remember Nadia from when she was a tinier tyke will remember that she was the one who always had the short hair. That was because she would scram like I was killing her any time I tried to brush it and I decided it wasn't a battle I felt like fighting every morning. Instead, I'd fight it every 6 weeks or so when it was time to cut her hair. Now? That girl has the thickest head of long blonde hair imaginable. Sometimes I still threaten to cut it if she doesn't at least brush it before pulling it back in her habitual ponytail!

A few weeks back, Nadia the organizer/planner decided she wanted to make a kite and fly it on a windy Saturday. She tried... It was a flop. But I love the fact that she will take what she has available to create or to build or to come up with some experiment or something else interesting. In the process, she kept several siblings entertained and occupied for a couple of hours... or maybe she helped them avoid Saturday morning housecleaning time?

One of the other things that is super cool about Nadia is that she knows herself. At least 6 months ago, she decided that for her birthday she wanted a candy corn birthday cake. So we figured out how to make candy corns (it is actually pretty easy and even fun), invited some friends over and that is what they did. Not many people can put on their resume or college application making candy corns from scratch.

Occasionally she talks about what she wants to be when she grows up. Right now, she seems to be thinking about becoming a teacher. But she just might be one of those kids for whom the sky is the limit. She's smart, learning comes pretty easily to her, she's willing to experiment and try new things, she loves people and is not afraid to be up front (most of the time), she's articulate and on top of all that, she is very will to work hard and carry her share of the load. 

With her littler sisters, Nadia is often the snuggler of choice; and many times when one of the little girls has a scary dream or needs comfort in the night, they'll seek out Nadia, knowing she'll either comfort them or help them find their way down the hallway to Mama and Daddy.

Nadia's not a frilly or fluffy sort of girl. She likes jeans and t-shirts. Sometimes she'll dress her jeans up with a really nice shirt. When she wears a dress, it is almost a very tailored, business looking outfit. If there is something that has lace or any ruffles, it is always a tiny touch and, in my opinion, very tasteful. Of course, her clothing tastes tend to be quite similar to my own!

She's one of those super loyal types, too. She's still wearing the same pair of pj pants she was wearing when we left the States last time. Of course, they just barely come down past her knees - but she "...ain't about to give 'em up!" 

When people who've not seen our family for three years see photos of Nadia, they tell me that she's the one who has changes the most. There's no doubt about it. She's becoming a beautiful young woman, inside and out - and people who know her are sure to say something good about her on a regular basis.

Except for cockroaches. They aren't particularly fond of her. She's horribly antagonistic towards cockroaches. You'll have to leave me a comment and ask me how I know, but I just got a demonstration, even as I'm typing this blog post!

Returning to the States next year is going to be a bittersweet thing for her. She's excited to see family, to celebrate Andi and Joe's wedding, to visit Scotland on the way, give her grandparents hugs and catch up with friends back at Calvary Baptist. But she won't get to see the gal who has been one of her best friends since they truly were just little tykes (our families first met up in Québec, in language school) before we leave. She's really close to the two gals in this photo: one of the girls is from Great Britain; the other is from the States - her family is also heading back for home assignment. Nadia loves living in Niger. She still has friends from her time at Ecole Alliance, friends she may never see again. 

The bravery of these TCKs amazes me. They face more change in their lives on a yearly basis than some face in an entire lifetime. Yet this gal God has loaned us trusts Him for an exciting and beautiful future, whatever that future may be. She's come a along ways from the little gal her daddy and I used to tease about being "Nadia noisey, Nadia naughty or Nadia nice!"

I know our lovely girl will appreciate prayer as she moves through our upcoming transition. Junior high is a challenging time to make big changes. So when you think of her, please pray:

1. she adjusts well into a different curriculum and high school and that we are able to get her a schedule where she's not repeating classes she has already had. That is another one of those MK hazards!
2. she is starting to explore some different ideas regarding what she wants to do in the future - praying that she gets lots of opportunities.
3. she will have to leave with some unsaid goodbyes - and that is always hard.
4. she will continue to be a good friend, that she will work on continuing relationships as she can from a distance via Facebook, email, etc.
5. she learns to navigate guy-girl friendships in a very different world than all of the "brothers" she's grown up with the past few years at Sahel.
6. she continues to delight in life and grow in humility, confidence and her optimistic, hopeful outlook for the future.