Lucas

What a week this has been. First, thanks to many of you for the kind notes regarding Namushi's death - can't tell you how much those have meant...Thanks too for the many prayers that no doubt have sustained us and encouraged us to take the steps that we have.

After talking with Namushis' family members on Friday regarding the plans for the kids, it became clear that there were not many options for the youngest, Lucas. Both Molly and I (and the kids for that matter) felt like we should step forward and agreed to take in Lucas for this interim period while long term plans take shape.

On Saturday morning we were in Namushis' traditional village picking up Lucas which was surreal at so many levels. It felt like being taken out of the audience of the tragic play we were watching and being thrust onto the stage (more on this later...)

The good news is that Lucas seems to be doing quite well. He is very aware of what happened, but he is engaging in life, laughing, playing and doing what 5 year old boys do. (Thanks to Brad, Lucas also goes by "L-train" to go with "Mac-attack, C-money and B-town") Our kids have, for the most part, embraced the opportunity to care for Lucas. It has been hardest for Bennett who has had to share his "Lone Little Brother" role, but they have also had a lot of fun together. Our belief is that this is a temporary arrangement, but in the back of everyone's mind is the possibility that Lucas could become part of our family. We have always held out this possibility (adoption) but have never actively pursued anything. At this point, it is a day at a time and we are mentally looking at this as foster care for a little boy in trauma. Anything more than that overwhelms one or both of us depending on the hour. We'll see what unfolds.

During this window of Namushis death and Lucas moving in we have been dealing with a more mundane but serious issue. When we returned home last Tuesday we learned that our land-lord had used a toxic paint (and paint-thinner) to cover the inside of our water storage system. The water running through our taps smelled (and tasted) like, well, paint and paint thinner. The tank was drained and the tank was properly painted and treated and the pipes were flushed out. We spent Thursday through Sunday in hotels and came home Monday morning thinking things were resolved... Unfortuneately, the water still smells (and presumably taste) like paint and paint thinner. Our land-lord has washed his hands of the problem and I am working with our operations manager trying to get to a solution. If we can't figure out how to get the toxic materials out of the water system we would obviously have to move which is not what we are looking to do right now.

Given all this in the last week, it is safe to say that we hit a low-point yesterday. Today was a new day and we are moving foward. I think one of the blessings of trying windows in life is that things boil down to their essence. We live with a more singular focus and an understanding of what is important and what is not. We take Jesus' words "Don't worry about tomorrow....each day has enough trouble of its own..." to heart.

I mentioned above the feeling of being on the stage when we only meant to be in the audience. This is a confession of sorts. I've realized as the challenges of this world have come crashing into our home that I never intended to get this involved or certainly did not mean to get my family this involved. Using the play analogy, I wanted my kids to have a good seat, to see the world, meet some actors, maybe serve them some popcorn at intermission - I did not want them (or me) thrust into the scene where all hell breaks loose - who would? But here we find ourselves trying to trust what we saw clearly in the light, but that fades in the dark. We are also remembering that we are not here on our own and that we are here on behalf of many of you. We are caring for Lucas and the others in your stead. We feel this and believe it.

I also think in these challenging windows we are more open to hearing God's still voice when he speaks to us. There have been doubts these last 4 days about taking Lucas in...A sense of what are we doing and just wanting things back to normal (whatever that means...) So, in the midst of this we get an e-mail from a list we subscribe to with the following quote from Henri Nouwen,

"We become neighbours when we are willing to cross the road for one another. There is so much separation and segregation: between black people and white people, between young people and old people, between sick people and healthy people, between prisoners and free people, between Jews and Gentiles, Muslims and Christians, Protestants and Catholics, Greek Catholics and Latin Catholics.

There is a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the street once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might become neighbours."

Namushi and Lucas used to live across the street from us. In another window I would have read this (or not) and missed the point. O.k. God, we hear ya.

Overlaying this last week has been a great visit with Molly's brother and his wife, Brad and Carrie. It was wonderful to have them here and to give them the steroid version of our life here. The first week we got them acclimated and then travelled to Victoria Falls and Botswanna. We had several good adventures including not having lodging after-all in Botswana and camping in the back yard of the guy who picked us up at the border. Hats of to Steve in Chobe. We also crossed the border from Zambia to Botswana at the only place in the world where 4 countries come together - Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Nobody but me seemed to care about this despite my bringing it up several times (so I am told.) Having them here as we have dealt with this last week has been a gift. We posted several pics from their trip here.

Thanks for reading and thanks for walking with us from a distance. We are grateful.

Jeff and Molly

p.s. Several of you have asked if you can financially help Namushi's children. The answer is yes. Quentin's education is covered right now, but if anyone is willing to help cover the costs of the other three kids that would be great. We are sending gifts through the TFC account. Checks can be made out to Brad Lounsberry and sent to:

1824 Clinton Ave. S #4
Minneapolis, MN 55404

Just put "Namushis' Kids" in the memo line. Thanks.