Dinner with new friends {steak and chicken kabobs on the grill}. Warmer days. The guesthouse patio project continues. Sage green paint to come. Frustrations. Delays. Mistakes. Hire someone else. Two cultures clash. The learning continues. 5 French people staying here. Banana nut muffins in colorful wrappers. Phone falling on tile floor = sad ending. A coke and an ocean view. Phone calls to mom. Les Misérables at the high school for missionary kids. A former Muslim, now believer preached on Sunday. Encouraging reminders and truths are shared. Replacement hosts are found for the guesthouse, for while we’re on home assignment. Preparing a job description manual. Monday morning hustle and traffic. Praying for a place to live in Ohio while in the US for six months. Fresh green beans. Sandy feet. Bird vendor, buy it and send a prayer to heaven. Shawn made me lunch.

Saturday morning muffins. Three cheers for ‘add water’ mixes!

The teens did an amazing job!

We celebrated our loving moms yesterday… from Senegal!

I love when Shawn makes me lunch!

Walking around selling birds.

A mosque in the late afternoon sun.

“If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking!”

Sunday after church at the surf shack with friends. [Wow, try saying that 5 times fast.]

How would you sum up your week / weekend? What were the lowlights & highlights?

 Praying that God will give you extra patience and grace as you face whatever you’re facing this week – - because I know we’ll be needing it!

s&j  

Tuesday morning prayer meeting. Praying for a co-worker with malaria, a team about to teach through Genesis, and some en-route missionary families. Days are feeling warmer and warmer. A weekend of sadness, a weekend of joy. Veggie pizza for lunch. Rooms 7 & 8 window project is completed! Art show. Answered prayers. More sadness as a friend’s dad passed away. {Very} bright African pants. Shawn sick in bed. Soup and blankets. Loud chants at the mosque. Seeing our nephew move inside his mom’s belly via FaceTime. A ‘ham and cheese melt’ bagel for breakfast. Rooms 7 & 8 are painted!  Roxy in the sun. 3 weeks til Germany. Warm clothes needed. Saturday morning coffee with new friends / future Benin missionaries. Thankful for his mercies, day by day.

Pup in the sun.

Those bright new pants I was talking about.

Shawn eating his bagel melt… and sharing 1/2 with me.

On our way out the door to meet friends for Saturday morning coffee.

Thanks for keeping in touch. Thanks for your prayers. Thanks for reading our blog.

In Senegal,

s&j

**How would YOU sum up your day / weekend / week?**

Our egg & corn vendor is here. Windy weekend. Tasted Thai, Indian, Mexican, and South African food, thanks to a festival of tastes. More wind, lots of sun. A package in the mail. Full guesthouse, due to a sporting event between a few local schools. Purple nail polish. Pretty sunflower growing in Julie’s garden. Sadness makes the sweet times even sweeter. Church potluck. Key lime pie, crispy chicken, and fruit, oh my! Praying for those in need. Blonde highlights. Meeting new people. Dinner with a man from Guinea. One of the window projects is done. Phone calls with family. About to begin redecorating two rooms. Ordered some clothes from the tailor [hello, wide-leg pants]. Thinking through how to cover a bunk bed with a mosquito net. Chirping birds. Feels like fall today. Big week ahead.

It came! Shawn’s brother Brandon and his fiancé Abby sent us a box of awesomeness.

Yes, Shawn highlighted my hair. He’s a man of many talents.

A pretty, rare sight for Dakar. There is such beauty in the world, if we look.

Roxy, lounging.

How would you sum up your weekend? What are the good things that made you laugh? The hard things that made you grow?

Middle of January {already?!}. God’s forgiveness & lessons in love. A week of South Americans at the guesthouse. Tickets to Germany are purchased! Water cuts. Decorated and planned for a wedding reception for our Italian and Canadian co-workers who got married. iPod on shuffle. Early and late airport runs for Shawn. Oatmeal raisin cookies for breakfast. Jenn helping the West Africa field with publications. New paintings to hang. A new family has arrived on the field. Looking forward to lunch with them tomorrow. Reading 1 Peter 1. Joking with our guesthouse maid about her stubborn son. Learning more about her life. Reading I Capture the Castle. Shawn wearing his Ohio State hat. Buying supplies for the guesthouse: gas tanks, soap, bleach, milk powder. Fully veiled women walk in front of our building. Classes at the university are back in session, lots of students walking, riding, coming, and going. Another day in Senegal, serving our God + a wide variety of missionaries who pass through our doors.

Congratulating the newlyweds with a reception.

Shawn, his friend Charles, and his namesake, “little Shawn”.

Lots of laughs with the newlywed game.

How would you sum up your week / weekend / day?

s&j

Thanksgiving is this week. Woke up at 4am. Shawn’s homemade hazelnut creamer and coffee. Church and lunch with 3 Germans here on a short-term trip. Humidity is dropping by the day. Having a “Friendsgiving” on Saturday, complete with all the traditional sides. First time having turkey in Africa. Working on the next West Africa Communiqué, a newsletter that our field sends out. 20 guests here right now. Lots of noise. Finding joy in the little things. Avoiding negative thoughts and comments. Praise songs in French and Wolof. Always sunny in Senegal. Looking forward to decorating for Christmas. Roxy chasing her ball. Shawn working in the workshop. Missions comes in all sorts of different packages. Two maids work on Monday. Ravioli. Hope blooms every day.

Sleepy Monday. Focusing on a thankful heart and enjoying Shawn's homemade hazelnut coffee creamer.

We really enjoyed spending the day with our new German friends.

Singing praise songs in Wolof. God understands every word of every language, even if we don't!

Hot days. Cool(er) nights. Brunch date with friends. Senegalese women all talking at once. Visiting a lady who had a baby. Confusion. Cultural miscommunications. Believers working through conflict. Sincere love. Traffic lined up. Sheep ev.er.y.where. Houses built close together. Kids running out to greet us. More sheep. Guesthouse is full again. Stuffed bell peppers for dinner. Missing out on Dad & sister trips to Nashville. Counting down the days until our visitors arrive. His provision. A friend who asks what happened. Alterations at the tailor. Crowded buses. Plants and flowers are planted. Shawn’s sheep {should} arrive today. Visits with our pastor and his family. Trying to embrace the differences.

Shawn has been doing some landscaping. Just like a DeAtley.

Bandanas are cool.

Apples! This is my attempt at a "fallish" picture.

Our tailor.

How would you sum up your week / day / hour?
s&j

Returning missionaries. Filtering water. Making plans for a vacation. Phone calls to Dad {61st bday}. Preparing the end of the month billing {snooze fest}. Day guard. Night guard. Red and yellow plates. Lunch with a friend. Beuf au caramel. Hearing an amazing testimony. Almost September, a great month. Redish orange fabric with zebras and trees on it [room #4 redo]. Two packages in one week. Blessed. Sour Patch watermelons. City traffic. Strange smells. Buying fruit. God will never disappoint. Shawn helping someone move their things to a neighboring country. Doorbell at 10:45pm. Thrills from poisoning ants. Deadly rains. Paint colors. Being a listening ear. Café poster on the wall. Thursday.

How would you sum up your week?

"Give me your love for humanity."

“PEACE is not the absence of trouble, but the PRESENSE of Christ.”

 

 

 

Girls’ night out. Thai food. High humidity. Hélène on her way to Budapest. Senegal [and we] will miss her. A Brazilian guest. A German guest. A South African guest. A new shirt from a new [to me] tailor shop. Roxy gets a bath *shakes water everywhere*. Unwanted cockroaches. Friends from Cap Skirring swing by to visit. Light rains. Wet sand. Ramadan has begun. Framed “Scenes of Senegal” on the wall. Beef enchiladas. People stop by asking for money. God’s patience and wisdom. Dreaming of a shopping date w/ Mom and sisters. Shawn spends his morning loading barrels and supplies for a missionary in a village. Fights traffic. Learns more about the local “shipping supplies within the country” system. A good meal + good friends. A new week ahead.

Hello friends visiting from Cap Skirring!

Shawn didn't plan to spend his Saturday morning loading barrels and supplies in the hot sun, but the opportunity presented itself, the need was there, and he was happy to help. Way to go, Shawn!

Shawn will deliver these supplies to a bus station downtown, and a driver will take them wayyyy out east, where our co-worker lives.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Embracing the “you never know what a day will hold” aspect of our ministry,
s&j

Clementine juice. Little rain drops. Worship on Sunday. Full weekend. Hélène arrived. Our Senegalese church is so happy to have us back. Cloudy Monday morning. Graduation reception for an MK [missionary kid]. One more week to “learn it all” before the current hosts leave. Fruit. Shawn visits Joine [nearby village]. Airport pick-ups. Airport drop-offs. New pace of life in Dakar. Roxy + kids playing. Lots of handshakes at church. Big hugs too. Coworkers leave for Germany. Singing in Wolof [local language]. People coming and going. A new week ahead. God is with us. Sun begins to shine.

Fruit everywhere!

"My house will be a house of prayer" Luke 19. Yesterday was our second Sunday back with our Senegalese church family. It was great to see everyone again, and to worship our God together.

We're adjusting to a new pace of life in Dakar.

How would you sum up YOUR weekend? 

 s&j