Tsunamis at Bedtime

We took a road trip to Dar es Salaam so that Nelly could see her friends and so that we could get some visa work done at the Kenya Consulate. We spent two nights down there in a very lovely home that sits about 60 meters from the ocean. There's nothing nicer than the sound of the waves and the feel of the breeze as you climb into bed with big windows open beside you.

Our first night was like that.

Our second was a wee bit more troubled...

"There's a tsunami warning for all of the Indian Ocean," Dyan announced as we began to make our way toward bed. She had just been on the news site and found out about the quakes in Indonesia and the subsequent wave warnings. A few moments after she said this, a blaring public address system (speakers on the back of a truck) drove by shouting the news up and down the road that we should all be ready to leave by 11pm as a tsunami warning was in place.

The kids were already asleep and the five adults in the house wondered what we should do. We looked on-line again and now the warning was saying that a "massive" wave was expected to hit the Kenya coast and that both Kenya and Tanzania had issued warnings to evacuate the beach areas.

Byron had already climbed into bed but I went in to tell him that the word "massive" was being used. We thought about "massive" and we thought about the 60 meters between us and the sea. We tried to get the foggy disbelief to dispel out of our brains so that we could make a plan of action.

The wave was expected at 11:39pm, they said.

Just as we were concluding that we really better move, Dyan came back with more news. She had called a friend at the U.S. embassy. Yes, there had been strong warnings issued but those were now lifted. We didn't have to back up and roll out of there after all.

Ninja Nelly stayed up late supposedly making her video but REALLY standing guard in case we were all wrong to turn in. We appreciate your vigilance, Jenelle! We should always have you with us on road trips.

Go to the site of Mz Nelly and view her darling 3 min video log of our journey. I wish I was as clever as she is!

Too Small, My Words

I am trying to call up the words to talk about this last week away on safari with our kids and the Wild Hope summer crew, but it's all too rich and wild and good and big to figure out which words will paint for you this most excellent time.

Plus, I'm dead tired. Dead tired but very happy :-)

I think the beauty came from the mixture of traveling through dramatically varied landscapes, having deep conversation around the issues of being whole and free, launching into adventurous exploits, cross cultural friendships, exploring Creation and discovering the bigness of God.

Were there any troubles along the way? A few. My emergency pit stops by the side of the road on the final long day of travel without "facilities" reminded me that it's not just visitors to Africa who need tummy soothing meds from time to time. But over all, it was pretty dreamy.

Our first day's (very dusty) drive delivered us to the foot of the rumbling volcano, Oldonyo Lengai, where we pitched our tents on the somewhat stable shores of the saline Lake Natron. We lost track of how many tremors we felt and wondered which part of sanity told us to make camp at the epicenter of recent quakes that are making news in East Africa.

We traveled on from the heavy heat of those prehistoric vistas (where we thought it would be fitting if a dinosaur appeared from behind a big pile of rocks) and made our way through wide open plains, up into softly rolling hills and into forests that still befuddle many a wanderer.

And that's just the geography of where we went. In community we went into honest, raw conversations and prayer times, looking together into the unspeakable love of God and finding such freedom there to become ourselves, the selves He has been dreaming of.

He dreamed us, as he made us. He dreamed us free and full and givers of grace and life to those around us.

This wild safari we call life is getting us there. These final ten days with our summer team gained us all new ground and we are grateful.

The house is quiet in a sad and restful way as Tommy, Dane, Carly, Christian, Gabby and Joel are no longer here with us.

What good traveling companions they made!

(Photos: Jesse Borden)

Zanzibar (or Trevor and Dane's Manly Trip)

Trevor and Dane (Uhler) took a little side excursion to Zanzibar last week. It entailed a bus trip to Dar es Salaam and then a ferry to the island. I confess to being nervous about pick-pockets and accidents and youthful forgetfullness, but they had a trouble-free journey.

Carly (Dane's sister) called it their "Manly" trip because it was their own adventure to celebrate graduating from high school. Dane and Trevor met as little kids but really became good friends during our six years in Portugal.

Congratulations, boys, on your graduations!

Looks like their trip was pretty fun.