An African-themed Weekend

Pretend I wrote this at the beginning of the week instead of the end, ok?  It was a fairly busy week, though not quite as busy as our first week here and not as busy as next week is stacking up to be.  However, we’ve covered a lot of ground, met with a lot of awesome people, and – yes – added new people to our ministry team!  We are at 70% of our ministry support goal!

But, what I wanted to tell you about was our fun weekend, because the theme was drawing us back to Africa and how much we miss it and how amazed we are to be called to such a special place on this Earth.  Friday night we celebrated our anniversary a few weeks early.  We scored a neat dinner-and-a-show deal a few months ago and got to go on a double date with Matthew’s brother, Andrew, and his wife Amy.  Andrew is stationed overseas with the military at the moment, so it was a fun surprise that our paths crossed at all on our visit to the US, so it was extra special to be able to go out with them.  (And thanks to Matthew’s sister and her family for providing Levi and Amelia their very first sleepover – they had a blast!)

Dinner was at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse – a fancy place with a special dinner.  Four courses of the most amazing foods we’ve ever eaten (seriously), matched with a wine for each course and described by a sommelier.  We sat with another couple who shared many of the the same interests as our dinner party.

After dinner we walked the block to the Paramount, a historic Seattle theater and sat for The Lion King.  If you haven’t seen it, I highly HIGHLY recommend it.  It had so many authentic African elements that took us right back, even if the scenery in Kinshasa is a bit different than the safari.  Even Matthew, who is not a fan of musicals OR Disney films really enjoyed the show.  The only downside was missing Africa so acutely when it was over!

Fast forward in the weekend to Sunday morning where we attended church at my parents’ home church where there was a visiting children’s choir from Uganda.  It was so special to hear their stories, the awesome music.  And a fun side note – Matthew was wearing one of his Congo shirts and it shared a pattern with some of the costumes of the singers!  What are the chances!?

So, in short, last weekend made us miss our home across the Atlantic.  We REALLY want to go back.  We love being in the US and seeing so many friends and family and sharing about the vision of how God is working in Congo…but we would truly prefer to be working and living in the place where God has called us to be.  Last weekend was a distinct reminder of that.