Last Tuesday Chuck and I decided to go for a walk and take Bella with us. She’s been wanting to get outside but since she’s still pretty small and can’t really defend herself we’ve been keeping her inside.
She doesn’t look too thrilled does she? She cried the whole time so we took her back to her sanctuary and went back out. I had my camera, tripod and remote all ready to take photos (hoping to get a few with both of us in the shot) but when we walked past our neighbors drive (I say drive but they have no vehicle so it’s actually a walk way to their home) we found Martha (the grandmother) and Jackson (her grandson) on their way into Tala to purchase a few items.
We walked with them for a bit then decided to walk into Tala with them. That wasn’t in the plan and at first I was a bit miffed because I was looking forward to getting some shots on our walk. That feeling lasted for about a minute then I opened up my heart and said “God help me enjoy this time”. And you know what? I did! While Chuck learned a bit of Kamba from Martha (that’s her mother tongue) I had a great conversation with Jackson (he is a student at Nice View).
Jackson and his two brothers live with Martha while his mother works in Nairobi to help support the family. He says he works very hard in the shamba (garden) helping to plant, weed and harvest what they grow. Jackson said they plant maize, beans, avocado, papaya, banana, peas, sweet potatoe and a few things I didn’t recognize. I told him what a blessing it was for them to have such a wonderful shamba and God was providing for the family through his hard work in the shamba. He also told me his favorite class is English but listening to it is the hardest part because he says we talk too fast! I said the same about Kiswahili…people talk too fast for me to understand.
We usually take a few sweets with us on our walks…just in case! It’s a good thing we were prepared because we walked past another neighbors and the kids came running out.
Chuck even got the little one to take a sweet from him (sometimes he has to give the sweet to the mom and have her give to the little one) but not this time. I love the look on this little girls face!
We reached Tala
and helped Martha with her purchases, ingredients for chapati – flour, sugar, salt and eggs.
Also we were able to hand out a sweet or two!
On our way home we ran into one of our secondary students (Anthony) heading home to his aunts for the holiday. We talked with him for a bit about his grades and the end of the term, got a phone number where we can reach him and invited him to our home during the break for a visit.
Whew, it was a great walk and God blessed me during it…great conversation with Jackson, purchased items for a treat (chapati) for the family, saw some smiling faces and talked with Anthony. Even having Martha tell us bad news of a man who was robbed just meters from our home the previous evening didn’t put a damper on the walk (she pointed out the spot and his blood was still on the ground-Lord help the family and the thugs that they may see Your face, repent and come to You).
The next day I was reading my devotional and read this:
So, do not let sin control your life here on earth so that you do what your sinful self wants to do. Romans 6:12 NCV
If I would have gone with what my “sinful self” wanted I would have missed out on the wonderful experience of walking to Tala with Martha and Jackson.