The Best Medicine

It’s been said that laughter is the best medicine. I’ve even seen studies showing the positive impact that laughter can have on one’s health. (I’m not big on reading a lot of studies but the ones that recommend laughter, chocolate, and video games have always piqued my interest!) In the wake of losing Hannah, we have seen repeatedly that laughter is healing. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we have three comedians in the family. I can watch Levi doing almost anything (except for when he performs long call in his pants) and just crack up…the kid is hilarious.  Just the other day while seated on “his horse” (the toilet) for long call, he starts blurting out “Oh, yeahhhh….” with a very satisfied look.

The past several days have been filled with a lot of laughter. Although every week has had some laughter, it seemed like this one stood out for some reason. There were too many individual things to mention in detail so I’ll just give a few examples.

It’s now winter in Kenya. It’s kind of weird that my “summer birthday” is now suddenly a “winter birthday” but I definitely love that I can comfortably wear shorts and a t-shirt during winter. While winter no longer means snowmen and heavy coats (unless you are Kenyan) it does mean that nighttime temps drop to the 50s and maybe even the 40s. While that is not a big deal in a well insulated home in the states, it does mean that things can be pretty chilly here.  This has provided the chance for us to utilize our fireplace, which has been a lot of fun.  Sitting around the fireplace has provided for some interesting conversations with the boys.  Noah in particular has had some interesting things to say.  The night of our first fire, he began asking when he could use the fire to make a sword.  If you find this comment slightly concerning (which I certainly do!) you will likely find his next comment downright frightening.  After telling him that he could not in fact use the fire for creating weapons with which he could maim and kill his brothers he asked “so when can I learn how to make a bomb”.  (Insert uncomfortable silence.)  “Ummmm….never.”  To which he responded “Well, I already know how to do it.  You just take a black ball and put esplodin’ stuff in it and then attach a string that will make it esplode.  I just don’t know what da stuff they put in it is.”  I’m really not sure where he gets his ideas but I’m thinking that Looney Tunes may be off our list of shows to watch.

On Friday, we maintained the Tenwek tradition of having pizza night. Steph rocked out some delicious pizzas as usual. We were able to have our dear friend and mentor over as the rest of his family has already returned to the U.S. (he’ll be joining them shortly). Just watching the goofiness of the boys around the table and then as they wrestled Uncle Ben in the living room was great. I’d like to say that I always enjoy watching their antics (sadly a bad mood on my part is usually all it takes for this to not be the case) but for some reason I thoroughly enjoyed watching the kids being kids that night.  Costumes were donned, walls were scaled and smack downs were delivered.  Oh…and homemade ice cream was eaten!!

Levi is a bit mischievous…and by a bit I mean to an almost ridiculous degree. The kid is absolutely drawn to anything he shouldn’t be drawn to. As Steph and I were sitting on the stairs outside our apartment we watched as his magnet drew him to a pit of mud. At first he just danced around the edge pondering the possibilities…then he dove it. Well it was actually more of a very non-graceful fall but the end result was the same. He was having so much fun that we couldn’t tell him to stop, plus he was already filthy. Trucks and his best buddy soon joined him in the festivities. When playtime was over and it was time to get cleaned up, his magnet focused in on the bucket of water that Peter was using to clean a pack-n-play. “I wanna be cweaned in dat!”  Soon there were three little midgets living it up in the soapy suds. Their laughter was infectious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love Saturdays. The lack of house help on the weekend means more work for us but is also allows us to be a bit lazy. PJs tend to stay on longer and beds don’t get made. This Saturday started with coffee and leftover pizza for breakfast along with Season 5 of the Avengers cartoon with the boys. A knock at the door later and we again had a baby in our midst. One of our fellow missionaries (and across-the-yard neighbor) helps with an awesome ministry at the baby center where she helps to care for orphans. On occasion those orphans spend some time in her home. As we all chatted about various topics, little Joseph made himself at home cuddling and eating some of the pastry goodies we received from France (he seemed to thoroughly enjoy them). It pricked my heart a bit to see the boys interact with him as I had seen it hundreds of times with Hannah. But it was also so good to have a little one in our home again.  Steph and I have known for years that our family wasn’t done yet…adoption has been on our hearts since we were dating. We have looked into the logistics of adoption here and firmly believe that this is going to be something that happens in the future.  No new additions to the Kelley crew will ever replace the loss of my little princess.  And while the laughter will continue and new memories will be made our hearts will always ache from what was lost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still struggle at times with understanding why things have turned out this way but it is at those very moments that we receive another note or message from someone who is drawing nearing to my Jesus because they have seen Him through our story. I don’t understand why we were chosen to serve Him in this way. Those who know Steph and me know full well how introverted and private we are. One of my friends back in the states commented to me that when he hears of some of the things that have happened to us, that he just has to laugh. I truly believe that God has a sense of humor and choosing us proves it. “Lets take the quiet guy who wants to sit in the back of the classroom and who never raises his hand to answer any questions. Lets choose him to start a blog that will be read by thousands of people. He doesn’t even keep a journal because he is so private but this will be hilarious.” He has a track record of making decisions like this. He chose a shy and speech impaired Moses as the man to stand up against Pharoh and lead His people out of Egypt (Exodus 4:10). He chose a small shepherd boy to go against a giant that was blaspheming His name and His people when the big men with the armor and impressive weapons were scared to do so (1 Samuel 17). He also chose to send His son, the Creator of the entire universe, as an unassuming baby.  He was born to a young girl and her carpenter husband in an animal stall found in an unimportant town (Matthew 1, Luke 2).  That is not at all how we would expect salvation to come but that’s the method He chose.  I’m glad God has a sense of humor and I’m glad He created us with the capacity to laugh. I don’t necessarily think it’s the best medicine (the Great Physician has that one covered already) but laughter certainly could come in a respectable second.

 

Praises/prayer requests:
1. I am so thankful for everyone who prayed for the young woman I posted about on Facebook. I won’t go into details but hers was the most horrific case I have ever encountered in my training/career. She has now survived three surgeries, hemorrhagic shock, and DIC. On Friday she was extubated and is expected to recover! Praying that she will make wise choices about how to live her life after coming so close to losing it.

2. Please pray for the many orphans in this country and around the world. There are so many children that deserve so much better. Part of our calling as Christians is to care for the widows and orphans (James 1:27). God loves these kids and so should we. I would urge you to find a way to get involved. Sacrificing time, money or resources for the least of these is so worth it.

3. Lift up missionaries around the world. We continue to hear of significant challenges that so any are facing. We are all called to be ambassadors for Christ but for many of those who are sent around the world, additional obstacles arise. Pray for safety and healing but more so pray for faithfulness in spreading the Good News. Pray that no matter the trial that God will receive the glory.  (1 Colossians 1:9-14)

4.  Please pray for us as we try to determine God’s next steps for our family.  We don’t want to rush into anything but we also don’t want to wait for the timing to “be right” for us and miss out on God’s timing.