How Firm a Foundation

I need to get my house in order. This past week I painted one of my daughter's rooms and let her pick the colours. She was really set on blue, until the way too helpful guy at Liquidation world showed her some sweet pink and said "Are you sure you don't want pink?" Fair warning to you all: there are no meek or mild shades of pink. Full on, in your face is the only way pink comes. I was shocked, and continue to be shocked. I mean, it is just so freakishly pink. Almost gothic pink. And as I painted I got a chance to realize the walls in my house are out of square, the windows are a little crooked, the yard is a little damp, but the building inspector tells us we are okay because "the foundation is rock solid." Apparently he didn't think that even bright pink would bring this house down.

After two months of baby and family updates and Sierra Leone posts, I am searching my mind for something to say that has nothing to do with either. I am not sure I can do it. It may be the tiredness of my life, it maybe that other things I thought important have faded away, or maybe it is just that nothing else can be importat, even if I wanted it to be. I’m not sure if that last statement is a positive or negative assessment; it is just the way things are.

And while some people may not care, but because others have asked, I will give a brief update . Madelyn is now 6lbs 5ozs. This past weekend she passed the 8 weeks mark, which is quite remarkable considering that this past weekend was also her original due date. That seems bizarre to me that she was born Christmas day and weighed under 3 lbs. All our other children were at least a few days late, so it seems that if things would have gone as we had hoped (and how often do they?)that we would be in the midst of some Gretzkyesque betting pool, wondering what day and what time this child would be born. Who knows, her name might not even be Madelyn because we tend to flip-flop on those types of decisions. But here I sit as Bev is feeding this little baby on the couch while my other three daughters are all in bed. The last two months have been a blur: watching Bev being taken away by ambulance on Christmas Eve morning, high blood pressure, with the possibility of seizuring, maybe losing the baby, another ambulance ride into the comforting bowels of Royal Columbian Hospital and Dr. Ubbi and Nurse Darlene. Merry Christmas. Overall, I’ve been quite useless at my work and at home, going from day to day or maybe even hour to hour. There is no doubt that it has been the most difficult two months of my life, but also good. Hard but good. Very good.

Sierra Leone came onto the radar some time ago but took off in late January, mainly because we shared the vision of building a school in Africa with some students, and they hounded us until we actually followed through. For these students, for Danielle and Amelia and Lisa and Karl and Josh and so many others, this was never a matter of “if”, it was only a matter of “when.” And when we met in January and talked about how $25,000 was attainable but hard, Josh laughed and said (and I think this is word for word) “We will have no problem raising $25,000 in three weeks.” Josh is 17 and I thought Josh just didn’t know better. I should have just said “Josh, let me tell you from my experience and my wisdom…” Thankfully I didn’t (Lord, thank you for once in a while giving me the wisdom to shut up, for you know it does not happen often). These teenagers are dreamers and visionaries and only seem to know how to overcome problems instead of create them. These kids "get it", whatever "it" is, but they have a foundation that can not be shaken.

With money coming in from all over North America (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Halifax, Washington, California and points beyond) we currently sit at $31,187. And I could tell you so many stories. Yesterday a five year old boy gave a baggie with $5.16 in it from his piggy bank. Last week Michelle, (who literally has no money) donated all her money from tips on Valentines Day—who does that? Michelle does. And a dear uncle of mine sent money from Ontario in memory of a young cousin of mine name Mark who died far too young many years ago from complications related to Downs Syndrome. And a person we’ve never met sent $28.24 from Crystal Lake, Ontario because they read about it on Mike Todd’s blog and you should go over there and say thanks to him. And a friend donated money to honor a parent who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, so that a parent’s legacy traveled around the world to build a school for Nyima. And you can still give, because we need desks and books and sports equipment and money for teacher’s salaries and... Nyima is waiting, but she won’t have to wait much longer. Soon people will dig a hole, build a form and put in a rock solid foundation that will change the lives of an entire community.

I am tired; my eyes are sore from late nights, early mornings and bright pink rooms. But as I just traveled from room to room tucking in girls and turning on portable heaters, and I sit and realize that there are things in my own life that right now feel way out of square and a little crooked, but I know that the foundation is solid (although a little shaken) and that we will continue to press on as we continue this journey.