Safely Home and Pictures to Come!

I wanted to let you all know that my parents arrived home safely and are doing well. I thank the Lord for his protection over them during their 4 month stay in Zambia, and rejoice that they were healthy and strong enough to visit their beloved "home away from home". Although the parting was hard, the Lord answered our many prayers, and Mother didn't even shed tears upon leaving (although she did tell me that she shed a few the weeks prior to leaving!) However, she did shed some tears that morning, but not about leaving....As they were saying their good byes to a number of neighbors, a few dogs attacked their dog, Oliver, who Mother has grown to like very much. Unfortunately, it was a bad dog fight, and very hard for Mother to watch, and she wept bitterly as she stood there watching, in my Dad's arms, hoping that Oliver would be alright. As far as we know, he is fine, but she was pretty exhausted and slept the 4 hour drive to the airport.

Dad and Mother are slowly getting back to "normal America life". Their luggage did not arrive with them, but was delivered to their door 3 days after they got home. It gave Mother a few days of rest with nothing to do, while Dad began catching up in his office. Due to a bad storm while they were gone, their phone and computer were not working, so this past week has spent getting those necessities back and running. As of Thursday, Dad still was not able to connect to the internet.

We enjoyed an evening with my parents this week as we talked about life in Nahumba. What a joy to now share these stories with them, on the other side of our journey. We will help each other keep the memories alive. As we pray for our dear Zambian friends, we are reminded of the many lessons we learned from them. This past Tuesday I had the privilege of sharing some of those memories and lessons learned with the ladies in our church. Thanks, ladies, for your interest and your encouragement....you're the Best!

If you are interested in putting a face to some of the people I mentioned in the blog, or putting a picture to the places we saw, stay tuned to the blog for a bit longer! Next week, I will be spending a few days with Sarah, and beginning with the first story in mid June, we are going to put pictures with the stories, so that you can journey with me once again, not only "hearing" about life in Nahumba, but also "seeing" a bit of life in Nahumba..and Choma...and Macha....and Sikalonga....and Ndola...and Victoria Falls...and yes, even some great big animals in the beautiful land of Africa!

We'll try to have them posted by the end of the week...that is, unless little Baby Mellinger decides to make her appearance a few days early! She is due October 31, but Mommy is ready anytime...and Mimi is on call to watch her big brothers!