The Final hours

Gosh…. It’s crazy preparing for such a huge trip, packing all the kids and preparing to leave for 16 days. You should see my house (maybe not). Its chaos and clutter with a purpose.  Toys for kids, snacks, clothes, medications on and on… it covers our entire upstairs. 

Months of waiting has come down to 24 hours. We now have some final preparations, a half a day of school, a band concert and then sleep. We will then get up at 3:30am to travel to New York City.  In NYC we will stay in a hotel right in Times Square for 2 nights before we head off to Kenya.   

Last night our friends Suzie, Dave (Wingman) and Karen came over for dinner.  They all are seasoned travels and have traveled extensively with Compassion International.  They shared their wonderful stories of Kenya.  Suzie told my girls about one of the very special projects we will be visiting.  She said the drive is wild and bumpy but incredibly beautiful.  She said we might see zebra’s and giraffes as we head out to this Maasai village.  The project serves children in a community where the average monthly income is $8 a household.  Does that just blow your mind???  I can’t even imagine.  All of this is hard for me to wrap my mind around but I know we are in for an incredible experience.

Another special day will be the day we meet Hannah.  She is one of our sponsored children with Compassion International.  She is 12 years old and beautiful.  Hannah lives in an area that has been heavily affected by HIV/AIDs. That means she has felt the loss of friendship and family to this disease.  We will get to spend the day with Hannah and learn all about her. 

I know that many of our friends, family and our church are praying for us and specifically for our girls.  Thank you!  Also, our teachers have been wonderful to excuse the girls from a lot of homework!!  Thank you.  Our church gave us some money to give to a family in need in Africa.  What fun that will be for us.  Thank you.  The Jones family is feeling the love and we are grateful.