The Last 7 Months!

Hello! August 2012 I want to share an overview of what’s been going on with us the last 7 months. RVA has 3 terms each school year. We missed 1st term from Sept-Nov. But we did experience 2nd term (Jan-Mar) and 3rd term (May-Jul). Arriving in December with the holidays, jet-lag, and moving into a new house was exhausting. I began my new job on December 30, went from being a full time mom to a full time working mom. I love it. God used the last 2 years to prepare me. I worried I wouldn’t have the stamina I needed. But He supplies. I wake up ready to work, feeling clear headed, and even excited. My free time was spent unpacking, transporting the remainder of my household from Nairobi to RVA, getting the house painted, hanging curtains, stocking the pantry, and sleeping. I was driven, I wanted to be moved in by April and we were. For my kids, 2nd term involved the boys going to school, making new friends, roaming the campus, and coming home late for dinner. Frequently I would hear ‘mom, I don’t ever want to leave, move again, can we stay here forever.’ God didn’t just call me, he called my whole family to return to our Kenyan home. I would ask the kids ‘Can you believe we are actually here?’ Chloe attended pre-school twice a week. She doesn’t deal well with transitions and not having mommy home was hard on her. She wanted to be home when I came home and not out playing. She was intimidated by the size of the campus. She is the only one that occasionally talks about our life in Michigan. I gave her the time and space she needed to be home. I took her for walks everywhere and then would ask her to lead the way home. It was a goofy game. She did learn how to get home from Ethan’s house on her own, and added other friend’s houses to the list. Now she goes out and isn’t anxious. My house is connected to Student health by one door. She comes to visit daily. Esther, the secretary, commandeers her to roll cotton balls and then pays her with a pop-cycle. Seth and Chloe often play dominoes in the sitting area. Ours is the only office on campus with a fireplace in the lobby and kids will hang out just to warm up. Our time off in April was spent resting, updating charts at Student Health, organizing my garage sale stash, and selling home school books. We did get away for a week to Sunrise Acres, cottages on a farm, with two other families. Ryan and I took the kids to Sunrise Acres many times to rest and regroup as a family. We needed to revisit it and experience the joy and sadness of what we had and how that has changed. Third term was intense. Physicals are required for anyone leaving Africa. We did physicals on all 90 seniors, other students and families who were going on Home Assignment (furlough), or leaving permanently. I now know how to do eye charts, hearing tests, lab work, and physical stats. Each person got updated on their immunizations and received a TB skin test. Several students and staff turned up with a positive reaction. I soon took over the care and treatment of these folks. Each one got a chest x-ray, a family history, and received 9 months of treatment. None of them had active (contagious) TB. Instead it’s latent TB which means at some time they experienced a strong exposure to TB and their bodies made antibodies. The TB skin test reacts to those antibodies. They are not contagious, but we don’t want them to develop active TB. The 9 months of drug therapy treats their latent TB and they should never develop active TB. I have become quite knowledgeable about TB, as you can see. I counseled each person about TB and the medications. To finish such a project well, boosted my confidence. My kids and I all struggled emotionally. Coming in ½ way through the school year was tough. Students and adults had their friends. All were open to us but finding time to get to know people is tough. We experienced loneliness, anger, and disappointment. Thankfully God placed counselors and other supportive people around us to help us navigate how much our lives have changed without Ryan. I shared in a chapel for junior and senior high, about being a servant. Ryan had the spiritual gift of being a servant. The characteristics I saw in Ryan that equipped him to be a servant were humility, deep convictions, commitment, and doing everything with excellence. I showed them a 5 minute video of Ryan being a servant as a husband, father, and aircraft mechanic. I had their complete attention, they met my husband, my kid’s father, and experienced a bit of what our life used to look like. Many had no idea who I was or where my kid’s dad was. That chapel helped me fill in the blanks. For the next week, students thanked me for sharing, gave me hugs with no explanation, and just greeted me with understanding on the sidewalks. They now knew who Mrs. Williams is and about her journey with God through grief. I was truly blessed. Graduation was amazing. Too finally meet many of the parents of the boarding seniors helped put more pieces of the puzzle in place. I saw how close the senior class is, how much most are going to miss RVA and Africa, and how broad their world view is. I felt truly concerned for them as they go to colleges that won’t understand them. These men and women are not materialistic, selfish, or disrespectful. They are world-changers, with something about them that attract or repel people because others won’t know what to make of them. It is God raising kids to be different. Through the ceremony I gained courage. To see the seniors turn out great after experiencing adversity, gave me courage that my kids too, will turn out great. I want my kids to graduate from RVA and have the whole experience of the adventures and spiritual influence that RVA brings. First term begins the end of August and I feel prepared. Going to the coast for a week always helps. I have projects to do during the break at Student Health, but it is manageable. It’s just nice not to be on-call for a couple of weeks. My verse for this season is from 2 Samuel 7:18, “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” I see how hard the 5 of us are trying to grieve well and find Joy. But it’s only because we allow God to carry us, that we have come this far. Be Blessed, Dawn, Caleb, Levi, Seth, and Chloe