Packing madness.

Our house looks downright chaotic right now. I mean, it's really impressive. We have stuff strewn everywhere. Bombshells, twisters, and freshmen college students could be described as neat and orderly in comparison with our upstairs hallway. I'm not joking. For me to make it to the bathroom, for example, I have to dodge the precarious stack of sweatshirts, maneuver around my barricaded closet door, pick my way past the imposing pile for Goodwill, and squeeze through two enormous boxes brimming over with clothes. All this without slipping on the growing mountain of trash.

It's really interesting the things you throw away when its time to move. Yesterday I chucked a massive folder that had housed my elementary school awards for the last 2 decades. Somehow, you just don't quite feel right throwing out such an archive of ancient commemorative stuff, you know? Now granted, no one is ever going to care that I was student of the month in October of my fourth grade, or that I received a certificate for most original poem in Mr. Frank's writing class, but still, my hand hesitated to throw that pile of fading papers away. Lots of fun memories came rushing back to mind, and it was good. Yet just as I was admiring myself for how accomplished and mature I was for ditching all of these petty, insignificant, outdated relics, I broke down when I saw my middle school basketball team picture. I just couldn't part with that photo of the impressively tiny, skinny kid with the comb-over and braces who had a vague resemblance to a beardless me. That portrait got tucked into the trunk right next to my 5th grade report on the Apache indians, which was fully illustrated, I will have you know. Everyone has their weakness, I guess.

The other thing about packing is that you realize you've been keeping some pretty crazy stuff for who knows how long. This can be eye-opening and mind-boggling. I'm giving a stack of clothes to Goodwill that is two feet high. Why the heck do I have two feet of extra clothes? Where in the heck did they come from? Why do I still have a stack of receipts from 2005? And why is that expensive silk tie hiding underneath my muddy workboots? What do I do with a Discman CD player these days? Since when did I think that a fourth pair of jean shorts would be a good idea - like I just couldn't stand having only three to sit unworn in my closet? Why do I literally have nine different types of socks that have no match? Nine! It is baffling to see the bizarre items that are hiding in the cracks and corners of your home.

The most ironic thing about it is that we are going to box up all of these items, cram them into a 16 foot long truck, haul them over 17 hours of interstate, and eventually pull them all out in a reverse sort of mayhem where instead of too much excess, we will be unable to find this or that, we go buy more items, and wish we hadn't sold that extra George Foreman grill. Mayhem. Madness. For the moment, however, these cramped passageways that we used to call "halls" are still mocking us. There is more packing to be done, more package tape to fight with, more trips out to the dumpster, more bubble wrap, more dust bunnies...

...and less time remaining in this good home.

So much to tell...

So we are back in Lexington now but there is still so much to write about with the closing of our trip. So this is my attempt to not let the last two weeks disappear without letting you know some of the things that went on. There were definitely some very exciting things at the end of our trip.

Exciting event #1- The most adventurous weekend of my life! Josh and I and 5 other friends travelled to Jinja, Uganda to white water raft the Nile. This trip came about because of our good friend Joe Stone very excitedly told me before we left that we "had to do it." The combination of my own love for adventure, Joe's excitement, and the chance to have a lifetime experience were pretty much irresistible. So, the planning began. Two goals of the trip were- to do it as cheaply as possible and have a blast. This combination is what made it an adventure. We used the busing route from Kenya to Uganda, which involved a 7 hour bus ride, in a huge bus, on a little road. To say the least I was very tense about 80% of those 7 hours. The place that we rafted was definitely a hippie/ place for young people to hang out while they figure out what they want to do with our lives. Don't get me wrong it was a good establishment, just interesting. Then rafting.... WOW, crazy, huge, large, rapids that were very powerful. Josh and I felt that power first hand. On the first rapid Josh was thrown out of the boat (along with the rest of us) but then proceeded to be pushed to the bottom, scraping and bruising his back and ankle on some very mean rocks. He came up dazed, shaken up, and hurting /bleeding a bit... but he was ok. The last rapid was my turn to feel the power. We were all thrown out of the boat again as it flipped, but this time the rapids wanted to hang on to me a little longer than I and my lungs were comfortable with. I got stuck in a "washing machine" of sorts where I got sucked back into the rapid 3x before by the grace of God it finally spit me out and let me see the light of day. I came out very shaken up, coughing, and scared.... but ok. Oh yeah, my helmet and pants got ripped off too, I hope my pants are of good use to some Ugandan out there right now. After our rafting and another "exciting" bus ride we finally returned safely with quite a story to tell.


Exciting event #2- So way back in my first or second blog I told you about how my "project" for the trip was to build the rehab dept a standing frame. In the first two weeks I brainstormed, planned and tried to recall what I had worked with at Cardinal Hill. A standing frame is used by people who have difficulty standing on their own- whether they are completely paralyzed from a spinal cord injury, partially paralyzed from a stroke or brain injury, or just have other medical conditions that make standing difficult. So the plans were turned in and on the day before we were to leave the standing frame was completed and started to be put into use. It was so exciting to see plans come together and a tool be created that will greatly benefit the rehab team. The plans were definitely from the Lord.

I had been working with a patient who had been attacked in his home and almost beaten to death. He had a brain injury and we had been working with him gradually from initiating range of motion, to holding his head up, to sitting up in a wheelchair. The entire time I was working with him I knew that the standing frame would be perfect for his condition and was hoping that it would be done in time for me to demonstrate to the team the benefits behind this therapy. The Lord fulfilled that desire. I brought David to the PT room and he stood up in the frame wonderfully! We had to help him of course, but in the time that he stood we saw him become more responsive to commands, more intentional with his actions, and even got a smile out of him.

Exciting event #3- Kijabe hospital. On Wed of our last week we packed up all our things and travelled to Kijabe hospital to meet Dr. Bransford and his wife Millie. Kijabe hospital is where many of Josh's aunt's and uncles have served as missionaries. There is a long heritage of Schuits (Josh's mom's family) there and Josh's grandparents were very good friends with Dr. and Mrs. Bransford. Rift Valley Academy- a 6-12 grade private school for missionary kids, was also on our list of things to see there. We were very impressed by facility and were able to see where Josh's mom and several of his cousins went to school. Josh had visited Kijabe hospital in '94 with his family so he had lots of reminiscing and fun memories. Dr. and Mrs. Bransford were incredible hosts and it was great to see their ministry there and the joy of the Lord in them as they continued to expand his kingdom. Dr. Bransford has been an inspiration and role model for Josh for some time now as we have been able to follow his ministry through his email updates. Josh spent one day with Dr. Bransford on the ward and OR and I spent the day with one of the therapists in the hospital and then with another one at Rift Valley Academy. It was a great time to see a different setting for a mission hospital, gain some new friends, and for Josh and I to debrief and reflect on our time in Africa as a whole before we returned to all the decisions that now need to be made.


So now we are home. We had a wonderful greeting from our great friends the Lindemann's that has been just one of the many, many, things that we have been able to praise God for and marvel at the blessings he has placed in our lives. It has been incredible to have our eyes opened to how much the Lord has given us and how he has poured so much grace on us as we have appreciated his blessings so little.
I just finished running with my good friend Leslie, and I have a day ahead of me of preparation for our big move to Vermont. The next adventure. We will be moving on May 31st. The Lord's faithfulness will continue, we are so grateful for that promise, and we plan on attempting to continue to blog about all that He is doing in our lives. So, stay tuned!