Life in general…
Well, hey! Welcome to another installment of the life and times of the Kenyan Enns?! Here?s a few facts and stories about how our lives are progessing on the African continent during the past few weeks.
Life at home: what can I say about our home life? First of all, the people that we get to live with in our home are just simply terrific. It often occurs that Jean and I laugh out loud at the antics of our two crazy boys, their trials and tribulations, their joys and excitement about life. For those of you that don?t know, Ezra is in grade 1 this year, and is doing quite well. We know he is a conscientious worker, who prides himself on doing good quality work. His teacher has said that he has quite the eye for details, and is serious about doing a good job. We knew that about him, but its nice to see this personality trait show up positively in his schooling so far. Zay is attending a playgroup for Rosslyn family kids this year, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings ? he said to me today that it is amazing how much hard work he does during these times?but as usual, he manages to balance his tough schedule with liberal amounts of laughter, hilarious behavior, slaying dragons, and just being his goofy self. Jean is enjoying the rare pleasure of a few hours of alone time during the week, and is also doing another round of Bible Study Fellowship out at Parklands Baptist here in Nairobi. Between taking care of all of us, trying to keep us all healthy, running the home, working out every morning and doing some volunteer work for the school, she has a full plate. We recently purchased a clay outdoor fireplace (could be called a chiminea, depending on what wording you are familiar with), and so that is a source of excitement for me. Our home goals for this year include moving more of our life outside in order to enjoy the beautiful weather around here. Life throughout the week is comprised of homework, grading, and reading, as well as the usual playing lego, cars, and knights. It is usually a fun week, but one that leaves us breathlessly anticipating a weekend of relaxation and renewal.
Life off campus: Jean gets off campus more than I do, what with regularly weekly grocery runs, BSF, and some visiting with friends occasionally. But, this weekend we managed to get out and see some more interesting sights just outside of the city. Friday was staff retreat, and so we went to a tea farm about 30 mins. away from Rosslyn. It was one of the original tea plantations from the days when Europeans came to Kenya, so it was a beautifully old place, with lush grounds and gardens. We took an amazing guided walk in the forest, where one of the workers who has lived on the farm all his life told us about the various trees and things that live there. It was quite a great day, and we hope to have some pictures in the gallery soon. Saturday, we went to a place called Paradise Lost with some friends from Rosslyn, the McGee?s and the Beyers. Fun place ? with a real MaoMao cave behind a waterfall! We walked up and up and further into the rock, what a cool experience. We had some picnic lunch, punted around the lake on a paddle boat, had camel rides and played on the swings. All in all, an interesting fun-filled day ? again, pictures to come soon. Other off-campus pursuits include Karura Community Church, where we?ve attended since last year, and where I?ll be doing some ushering off and on. A good church, with solid teaching, and a great Sunday school program for the guys. Doesn?t hurt that its about 5 minutes away from home too. I guess I?ll be also heading off campus this year to continue my Masters studies at Pan Africa Christian University here in Nairobi. I?ve in an online course right now, but will do another in-class one in November. Anyway, things will come up this year again, and we?ll try to keep you all posted and pictured with the happenings as they come our way.
Life at work: let?s not talk about it ? not because it?s bad (its quite good actually), but because it is still the weekend, and the work week is too fast approaching?.so suffice to say, my new English department mate and next door neighbor Mike Neufeld is doing splendidly, and we?re helping each other out daily with new ideas and ways to push our students. That makes this year another fun one so far.
Life with purpose: well, I?m going to wrap this up. But before I do I just wanted to let you know that we are happy and mostly healthy, and are trying to live beyond the mediocrity line in order to live what we?ve been given with purpose in mind. We know that God has equipped us all for his purposes, and so we invite you to live yours today with all that that entails for you. Sometimes it seems like an almost impossible task to find purpose and then actually live it out, but we covet your continued prayers on our behalf, and send us an email so we can do the same for you.
Till next time!
Wes (f or Jean, Ez and Zay)