Keep On

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Colossians 4:2)

Have you ever grown weary of praying for something or someone? The apostle Paul says we should "devote" ourselves to prayer and be "watchful" in prayer. Our persistence is an expression of our faith that God answers our prayers. Faith shouldn't die if the answers come slowly, for the delay may be God's way of working His will in our lives. When you feel tired of praying, know that God is present, always listening, always answering - maybe not in ways you had hoped, but in ways that He knows are best.
-Life application study bible, NIV-

Happy 6th Birthday Samuel Sullivan

God has an awesome plan for your life, Samuel! He's already using you to accomplish His work in Ghana, and I know when you come home God's glory is going to be displayed here, through your story, for all to see. We love you and can't wait until you get to be with us!

Robert Kennedy once said, “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why……I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” Isn’t it all a matter of perspective? What do you see when you look at the pain and suffering of the world? Do you see a malnourished child - or a future farmer? A child without schooling - or a potential teacher? Do you see a frightened child huddling in a refugee camp - or do you see a prospective leader? When you look into the faces of the poor, the marginalized, and the downtrodden, do you see hopelessness - or people made in the very image of God, with the prospects of a hope-filled future ahead of them? We, as Christians, can look at our broken world, shrug our shoulders, and say, “That’s just the way things are.” Or we can instead embrace a vision of what could be - if we’d each pitch in. Isn’t it better to light a candle than curse the darkness? And what could be accomplished if we lit not one candle but many? The light of even one challenges the gloom, but the light of a million could obliterate it.
~The Whole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns~

~Don’t fail to do something just because you can’t do everything.~

Down on the Farm

The other night over dinner Nana was asking Jake about farming in Iowa. Since Jake isn’t exactly an expert in this area….ahem….he decided to take Nana to a farm so he could experience it firsthand! So, yesterday we headed out to Mitchellville to Dave & Karen Bruxvoort’s farm. The Bruxvoort’s have 4 boys, 3 of which play in the Kingdom Hoops program. Oh man we had such a great time on the farm! In fact, after the evening was over Esi said it was her most favorite experience so far since being here! And actually, it was a really fun experience for JJ and Jayla too! Of course they’ve been to the country before, but they haven’t really gotten to experience the joys of farm life! Enjoy the pictures!

Chatting with Farmer Dave….

Jayla gets adventurous!

Found a cowgirl hat!

This hangs in Karen's kitchen.

Aku has wanted to swing since they got here last week, and now she finally gets the chance!

The farm wouldn't be complete without an old hound dog sleeping.


Esi checks out the tractor!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nana also sat in the tractor and took it for a spin down the driveway!!!!!


Tree house


My favorite part....this swimming pool!


What a view!

While the kids swam Farmer Dave took Nana & Esi around in his pick-up truck to show them the land and his fields. They also got to visit the Pioneer seed plant and the John Deere distributor. They were gone with Dave for about an hour and when they got back they were full of ideas for starting some farming in Ghana. Jake and I were joking that once they get back to Ghana they will have some farming up and going in about a week! Esi and Nana are very industrious and hard working…..and the wheels in their minds are always turning!

After the tour of the farm we got to taste some good ol Iowa ham. YUMMO! MY FAVORITE!!!!!!



And the perfect ending to a perfect afternoon……a bonfire and some marshmallow roasting!

We had such a GREAT time!!!!!!!!! Thank you Bruxvoort's!!!!!!!!

Little Tidbits

Two things that Esi has seen at our house and wants to find when we are out shopping are

1) My little dishwand scrubber thingy. You know, the scrubber with the long handle on it that you fill with soap….then the soap comes out of the scrubber when you press down and wash the dishes. WOW do they love that thing! Esi wants to bring a few back for her friends! :)

2) She also really loves my Kleenex box holder/cover. We checked at Wal-mart and surprisingly they didn’t have any or were out. So we are on a mission to find a nice one for her to take back with her.

She also wanted to bring back some Pillsbury Toaster Strudel breakfast scramblers. However, I told her they had to be kept in the freezer, so that one won’t work out. She and her husband LOVE them! :)

By the way, have I mentioned who is doing the majority of the dish washing?

That’s right, Peprah!!!!! As soon as the meal is over Esi asks him to get washing, and he does it with a huge SMILE!

On this trip Esi brought with her a new item on the market in Ghana….shito-packs. In Ghana they make this hot pepper sauce called shito sauce and it is served with EVERY dish! Normally it is mixed in with the rice. Since they eat the shito sauce with everything, it has become hard for them to do without it! Well, apparently they just started producing these shito-packs for travelers! So nifty! Here is Yaw trying it out….

Ghanaians are really good students of people. What I mean is that they really study people to understand personalities, temperament, strengths, weaknesses, etc. After the first day of being here, Peprah told his mom that I am ‘very organized’. :) Esi also has observed that Jake and I are exact opposites in just about everything. She laughs about it and says that somehow it works out perfectly though because we complement each other. Right on. :) Along these lines, Esi and fam are really able to share a lot about Samuel because they have all studied him and really pay attention to the details of his personality. I just love hearing them tell me things from their point of view. Apparently Samuel has gotten VERY close with Peprah. I am SO happy to hear that…..Peprah is a great role model, and a very patient person. Esi says that Samuel is also very helpful. She said in the morning when she sets off to work Samuel puts her bag in the car for her…..she doesn’t ask him to, he just does it because he likes to be helpful. As she leaves for work he will say things like “Did you remember your phone?” Esi says that you also only have to show Samuel how to do something once, and that he will remember how to do it the next time. She has said he is a fast learner and very smart. He is learning how to be on the computer now, because Esi owns an internet café with computers across the street from her home. All of Yaw’s family has also noted that Samuel’s English is getting so good! We can really tell on the phone….his sentences are complete now and he can understand our questions much better than even a month ago. The one thing Esi always says about Samuel that I love is “He is most likely to succeed in whatever he does. God has a plan for him. He is a very special boy.” The day before they left to come to the U.S. apparently Samuel was having an extremely hard time and had a bit of an emotional breakdown. He was crying in his room and Esi said that Peprah went in and gave him a big hug and told him everything would be okay. Esi said all of their hearts were so heavy leaving him, but that Samuel understands he has to have his visa to come to the U.S. She said that whenever company comes over to the house, the first thing Samuel tells them is that he is waiting for his visa so he can go and live with his American mom and dad. ♥

We do have another opportunity coming up for Samuel to be chaperoned to the U.S. :) One of the other families in our adoption program is traveling to Ghana to meet their son August 16-23rd. They have graciously offered to chaperone Samuel home if he gets his visa by then. I’ll be asking God if August 23rd is the day Samuel gets to come home. :)

We love you Samuel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Much Fun!

Boy are we having fun! I better start sharing some pictures before they start piling up!

Day 1 I took the crew to Burlington Coat Factory….Des Moines’ best-kept secret of rockin’ name brands at great prices. Esi & fam HIT THE JACKPOT at Burlington! We spent almost 2 ½ hours there!!!!! Wow – that was some major shopping – such a great place to find something for everyone in the family! Esi is such a true mother….she bought something for everybody (including a list of about 30 people back home) except for herself!!!! So, we said we will have to go back another time when she can take some time to look around more in her section! After Burlington we went out to Jordan Creek mall to get some chicken and rice at the food court. We did a little more shopping and walked around outside and took some great pictures….

That evening I had recruited my mom & grandma to help me with the cooking, so they brought over a meal. A few minutes after they walked in the door Esi had them outfitted with some beautiful new Ghanaian jewelry.

The selection.....

Trying to decide.......

Esi likes this one on Great-Grandma......

We made our choices!

We all had a great time chatting and catching up! Soon after dinner Esi & fam called it a day….it is so hard to get accustomed to the change in time!

Day 2 started with a meeting with our adoption coordinator of our Ghana program. Esi & Nana are in the middle stages of starting their own foundation in Ghana to help deprived children. I will blog more on this at a later time, but this will be a great connection for our case worker to have. Esi & Nana have hearts that want to help the needy….it stems from deep inside their souls….God is really orchestrating some things right now, and I believe they will be able to help identify children in need of homes for adoption in the future.

After the meeting we went back for round 2 of Burlington Coat Factory and did some more bargain shopping. Then we were on a mission to find the African Market. Esi wanted to pick up some things to help with a little of the cooking over the next few weeks. Well, we found the market, and just guess where the owner is from? Yep, GHANA! As soon as we walked in the owner took one look at Esi & Nana and asked if they were from Ghana! Then they started talking their common language and had a good time asking each other questions of how on earth they got to Des Moines, IA! It was so cool!

Here they are with the owner….

Love it! Later in the evening Jake, JJ & Sam returned home from the last tournament trip of the summer. And, after two 10 day bball tournament trips, what do you think you would want to do when you get home? Well, play basketball of course!

Ezekiel stopped by for some driveway ball too! From the left it is Ezekiel, Sam, Peprah, & Yaw.

One VERY TIRED little boy.....

And then we get to Day 3 which was yesterday. And - WOW did we have an awesome sermon at church. I am still thinking about it and I think I will have more to say about it soon. Here is the big family after church…..

Not sure where Sam had run off to, but he didn’t make it in that one. After church, we had some lunch and played some UNO.

(That is Sam’s friend Tyler in the orange & black shorts) Then we were off to the aquatic center in the last rental day for the 16-passenger van (Jake had it rented through the weekend for the tournament)! JJ was SO excited that we were all going to ride in the van!

EVERYONE was really looking forward to this trip to the pool…especially Aku (Yaw’s sister). Esi had always been very afraid of the water, so she had not ever let her children go swimming. I think this has made Aku want to swim even more! On this morning Esi said Aku woke up and the first thing she said was that we were going swimming today!!!! Luckily the aquatic center we go to has some great 0-foot entry sections, so it worked out well.

Waiting in line.....

And ready to roll!!!!!!!!!!!!

Esi wanted me to take a picture of her relaxing in her chair. :)

After swimming Jake wanted to show them the Kingdom Hoops gym....

And we had one VERY TIRED little girl!

Esi handled the cooking for me last night! On my last post you saw how our dinner started out :) Then Esi did some major cutting, and scraping and seasoning. Last night she grilled the fish and Jake was SO EXCITED because I don’t ever make fish or any seafood for that matter…..but Ghanaians love their sea-food and Esi told me to watch carefully how she prepared it because Samuel REALLY likes fish! Yeah, I don’t think Samuel is going to be much of a mac n’ cheese kind of guy…..his palette has tasted such rich and flavorful foods! I hope my cooking can measure up to this…..

It’s been SO MUCH fun having this family around. I just love listening to Nana & Esi talk about their country. Jake still has so many questions for them, and they’ve really gotten into some deep conversations. I also love Esi’s little thoughts about how God has really brought us all together. It really is quite amazing all of the neat little ways that our lives have become so intertwined. We certainly don’t look like it from the outside, but on the inside, we are indeed FAMILY. :)