Father's Day

This morning, after saying "goodbye" to Bruce, Jenny and I hopped onto bikes and headed to church. It was a tough 40 minute ride-mostly uphill. To give you a mental picture, there I was wearing a long skirt that continually got caught in the spokes of the bike causing me to jolt backward until I could "one arm" the steering wheel long enough to get my skirt out of the spokes and not get hit by oncoming traffic. That is so typical of something that would cause me to get yet another concussion. Good times. We got to the 9 o'clock service (which lasted until 11:30) and enjoyed singing and reading in English. It was a fun change of pace.

The service was about Father's Day. In the bulletin there were bulleted points under the heading "How to be a good father". Such items were: know your children, love their mother, and talk to your children, etc. It was sad to realize that many men here have affairs resulting in children being raised never knowing their fathers. (While I realize that this happens everywhere in the world, I am certain that the percentages here are quite higher than in most places. And, when there is no father in these very poor families, it makes living situations all the more desperate.)

At the end of the service, they asked the children to come up and each said what they love about their dads. One child, probably around 12 years old, muttered his response too quietly for anyone to hear. Then he put his head in his hands and began to cry. The Pastor said that the boy asked for people to "pray for those children, like himself, who don't have dads and to thank God for being our Father in Heaven". That precious boy cried with his head in his hands until we left the service about 20 minutes later. What a heart breaker. Jenny and I both had tears running down our faces thinking about what a common thing those feelings must be for children in Tanzania.

Again, I am full of thankfulness. I am thankful for my amazing Dad and thankful to the Heavenly Father who gave my Dad to me. Happy Father's Day, Dad.

On a completely separate note, I have figured out a way to post video to another site. Here are a couple of video clips I took last week:
(If you can't get the videos to appear, it might ask you to download software. It is free, and easy to do.)

Jenny and Bruce both are in love with this little one. I "interviewed" them on Friday to see what their thoughts were on who would take best care of him if they took him back to the U.S. (Since Bruce left, we needed one last effort to see his dedication to this little guy!) Who would take better care of him?

motiono.com/watch/iCeNuRMi

Speaking of wanting to take a child back, that brings me to Mwadenny. I took a little bit of footage of him coloring on Friday...check out the dimples and cheeks on this little angel! He smiles all day long. How can I resist?

motiono.com/watch/mseNoueC