Sarah started walking just two weeks after her first birthday. Now she enjoys walking around, picking up random objects, and then bringing them somewhere else in the house. She babbles a lot in her own language and has picked up a few more words. She can sing parts of two simple songs which is the cutest thing and counts “un, deux, trois”. It is fun to watch her understand the relationships between objects (like pulling out a bowl when she’s hungry) and follow simple instructions (putting something away). She now spends one day a week at Sokolu and Tati’s house and doesn’t cry for me anymore until she sees me again. She is too busy exploring around their compound. Unless Sarah is tired or hungry she is joyful and it is always contagious!
We spent Christmas eve at home with our immediate family this year and then the following day we invited Othy’s parents and grandmother over for dinner. I had fun cooking beef stew, savoury mashed potatoes, and drop biscuits. The first two dishes I cooked primarily in our pressure cooker which was interesting to try. During the holiday we had a lot of lazy evenings and introduced Moses to several Christmas movies including Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. We watched the latter movie in parts and so Moses would say “I want to watch Reindeer”. On boxing day we finally got the kids and ourselves all dressed up to take a family photo. Our digital Christmas card has become a tradition over the last three years which has become a good excuse to get a full family photo which does not happen often! We called over a friend who is a photographer to come help us take them. For the new year we dropped Moses off at the grandparents house and brought on the new year with a group of friends. We brought Sarah’s pack and play and so it was a treat to stay over longer instead of going home early.
Reflecting on the year it has not been an easy one for the world and for Congo. After finally getting through a global pandemic, major powers have plunged into another war causing living costs worldwide to rise even further. The Eastern part of Congo still experiences ongoing insecurity in the form of massacres and terrorist attacks that don’t even make it into the international news. The M23 rebel group occupies a region north of Goma, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, and not much of an effort has been made to remove them. In Butembo we are blocked in on all sides by insecurity on the Ituri road, the Kasindi road and the Goma road. Despite these global and national challenges, I am thankful that Butembo is relatively calm, our kids are flourishing, we are enjoying being close to Othy’s family, and I still have remote employment. Our projects here are going much slower than we planned but we pray that, Lord willing, we will see them come to fruition in good time. We remain hopeful for a more peaceful 2023.
It is easy to think that no one has seen as much conflict and suffering as the world has today, but the world has been suffering since Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden. Despite our fall into sin through our desire to be our own gods, God had a plan from the very beginning to redeem us. He came to us in the form of a baby, in a position of weakness. He grew up and lived a perfect life and then paid the price of death on our behalf so that we may be reconciled with our holy God. Sometimes this story of God’s grace is beyond my ability to grasp, but I see all around me God’s work in creation, in history, and in people’s lives up to today including my own. We live in a beautifully designed world that has been corrupted by selfishness. We continue to pray for the day that Christ returns and establishes the kingdom of heaven. “Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel.”
Our family found a tree this year. It was fun to have a little bit of tradition that I grew up with.
This month Sarah took her first few steps. We thought she would be full-out walking by her birthday, but she is content to take her time. She takes a few steps and then sits back down unless she has a skirt or a finger and then she walks very confidently. She also said her first words in Swahili: “leta” (bring), “nipe” (give me), and “beba” (carry). This month she enjoyed going through Papa’s bedside table drawer, playing Duplo with Moses (and sometimes bothering him by destroying what he has built), standing up and flopping down when with us on our bed, and “driving” with Papa in the car. We can’t believe our sweet girl is already a year old. She has been such a joyful addition to our lives and makes us smile multiple times in a day. We had a celebratory dinner for her birthday with cake and balloons. Our “Big Lady” is now a big lady! We wish you joy and God’s blessings in this coming year, dear Sarah!
On a Saturday in November I joined Othy’s family at one of their farms to harvest peas. It was nice to get out and into a more natural area and do physical work. They don’t tend the field much and so we dug through the grasses to find the pea stalks and pulled them up before picking the pods off the stem. Moses helped a bit but preferred roaming around and found a friend to play with. It rained off and on and so twice I went and sat in the car for a bit. The countryside around Butembo is very lush and beautiful.
This month Sarah is cruising around the furniture and going after any stray object lying around on the coffee table. When Papa plays keep away with her she doesn’t give up easily! She is starting to express herself with gestures like waving and clapping her hands. She likes music and bobs her torso up and down when she hears a tune. She speaks full sentences of her own language that we understand as gibberish. I had to get more creative with positioning the blocks this month as she is at them in a second!
This past four months Moses has started speaking English more to us but still mixes in Swahili here and there. He uses his imagination in his play to take care of his teddy bear Mac like I do Sarah and use his pretend phone and computer to do work like we do. He also enjoys riding his scooter, riding his bike, playing with Duplo, colouring, doing puzzles, reading books with us, and sliding around on the wood stools like they are cars. He picks out his clothes everyday and almost always chooses button up collar shirts (to look like Papa I suspect). Moses is helpful, caring, methodical, silly, and outspoken. It is fun to talk to him and find out what he is thinking as he finds his words.
Life Section 