It’s Happening! (Dedicated to the Ladies of LBC)

  

The Sunday before we left to return to Niger from our furlough this past summer, the ladies in our home church gave me a gift.  It wasn’t a gift for me.  It was a gift for me to give away.  They had spent hours gathering supplies, then measuring, cutting, and sewing, dozens of beautiful little dresses for the beautiful little girls of Niger. 

 

It's a Sewing Bee at LBC!

 (all LBC pictures courtesy of Lauren Webb - thank you, Lauren!)

 

 

"African Dresses for Niger"

 

 

My friend, Abbi, working hard!

 

My incredible Mom, who taught me all I know about sewing.  Thanks, Mom!!!

My friend, Tabby.  Hi, Tabby! :)

 

It was an emotional moment for everyone  involved when these ladies, so dear to my heart, presented their labors of love that Sunday, 8 months ago. 

 

My friend, Lucky (pictured above), who had spearheaded the project, told me,

“Our hope is that one day, you’ll drive down the street and say, There’s one!  There’s a dress from Lawrenceville!'' 

And now, it’s happening.

 

Here are two of the many precious moments...

 

What a little lady!

 

Those smiles make ME smile!

Dear Ladies of LBC, this one’s for you!  Your extension of love, your hugs to the daughters of Niger, now DO catch my eye from time to time.  Each time it happens, I smile, and say to myself, “There’s one!”  And I think of you. 

 

Thank you! 

 

I love you and miss you, and think of you all so much.  Thanks for being an incredible, loving and supportive sending church. 

You are amazing to me.

 

Love and Hugs from across the miles, 

- DANI
 

Happy First Birthday, Grace!

Can you believe it?  Gracie turned 1 today.  Wow!  This sweet little girl has brought so much joy to our family.  We are so thankful for her.

 

The birthday girl!

 

Ready for our birthday dinner of honey mustard chicken over rice.  Yum!

A very excited big sister, who is showing off our birthday napkins (Thank you, Grammi Dawn!).

Wahoo!  Grace is 1!!!

Proud big brother...

Check out what I have, Mom!  Is this okay?!!  Am I really allowed?

Yessss...  My VERY OWN balloon!  This birthday thing really does have its perks!

 

Just a year ago, I held this wee, newborn babe in my arms.

 

How quickly they grow...

 

Happy Birthday, Gracie!  We love you, and are so thankful for you.

Easter, Unplugged

Did you ever listen to an unplugged music album?  Honestly, I didn’t even know what an unplugged album was until I received one as a bonus feature along with a CD I had purchased.  Even then, I had to listen to it before I knew what the difference was.  An unplugged album is one in which there are no “plugged in” instruments.  It’s usually just an acoustic guitar or piano – no digitalized, souped-up add-ons.  There aren’t any electric guitars, base, loud drums, or digital sound effects added.  It’s just the raw, real deal.  Unplugged recordings are softer, more natural sounding.  I read that it’s easier to hear the real talent that an artist has in an unplugged recording, because there aren’t all of the extras to make it sound just right.  I came to realize that I really enjoyed my unplugged music CD sometimes more than the original with which it came.  The simpler worship music has an ability to pierce the soul.  Often, the unplugged music is what I choose to listen to when I want to really connect with the Lord in a quiet time of worship, and unplug (so to speak) from the louder, demanding life-situations around me. 

This Easter Sunday was an incredible day.  I felt like I lived Easter for the very first time.  It was Easter, unplugged.  The feeling blew me away. 

The setting?  We spent our Easter morning in the village of Alfari.  Over 3 months ago, this village had been unreached with the gospel.  When Jonathan and a team of Nigerian pastors and Christians first traveled there to share the gospel, the hunger and response to the love of Jesus was incredible.  Now, just weeks later, we had the privilege of joining the new believers of Alfari as they celebrated their first Easter as followers of Jesus, the Crucified, Risen, and Exalted Lord.  It was the experience of a lifetime!  To sit with them, to see the joy on their faces, and hear the passion in their prayer and worship was incredible, especially in light of the fact that less than 3 months ago, they had never heard about Jesus.  Now He has changed their lives forever.

 

Jonathan had the privilege of sharing the Word, and spoke about how Jesus' death on the cross made salvation available to us, by faith, as a free gift.  The people sitting under the straw structure are mostly the brand new believers, while other curious observers gathered in groups all around the compound, inside and out, to hear and see the service.

 

Over a hundred children came this Easter Sunday. 

 

As I sat on a mat on the ground, my children cuddling around me, looking around at group after group of people clustered around, inside and outside, the rough, mud compound, I couldn’t escape the feeling, “Wow!  This is the REAL deal!”  This was sitting with people who had never heard about what Jesus had done for them until someone came to their village to tell them.  This was sitting with people whose lives had been dramatically changed in just weeks.  This was sitting with hundreds more who had not yet heard, but were hearing NOW, where hearing TODAY.  Jesus died to take the punishment of our sin.  But He’s not still in the grave.  On the third day, HE ROSE AGAIN!  Death has no power over Him.  He is alive, and He cares.  He has made eternal life, His love, His joy, His peace available to us.  It’s a FREE GIFT. 

This is what Easter is really all about.    

This group of curious ladies listened to the gospel, probably for the first time, over the compound wall.  Note how everyone (under the tree) edges into the shade as much as possible.  With temps hovering between 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit, it's hot!  We all avoid the direct sunlight like the plague.  :)  

 

Most people have never seen a guitar out in these remote villages.  Jonathan's Scripture songs catch everyone's attention.  Here he is singing, "Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE" in Hausa.

 

So much has been added to the Easter holiday that in celebrating we often forget the original reason why we celebrate - the REAL reason.  I know, I know we don’t really forget, but in the past I’ve found that it’s so easy to get caught up in all the fun projects, the decorating, and the dazzling consumerism, that before I knew it, I’d poured hours into doing all the "fun stuff", and oh, yeah, on Friday and Sunday, let’s take a few hours to think about Jesus.  My experience here in Niger is stripping that away from me, because there IS nothing here BUT Jesus.  In such great poverty where all the razzle-dazzle of our Easter traditions are obsolete, I have found great wealth.  It is in the simple devotion to Jesus, our Resurrected Lord. 

 

This Easter, I am thankful for the people of Niger, who are teaching me and showing me, once again, what really matters.  I am still carrying the wonder and the beauty of Easter in my heart.  The raw, real deal - no extras added.  Nothing but Jesus, and Him, crucified, buried, resurrected, exalted. 

Jesus in all His power.  Wow. 

 

That’s Easter.

Unplugged.

 

Our family is standing in the brand new church compound with Alfari's two Bible School Students, Yakuba and Issufu.  These young men are growing incredibly in the Lord, and are already assisting their pastor with what they are learning in the Bible School.  Directly behind us is where the new church will be located.



To Have Your Cake, And Eat It, Too!

I seem to have inadvertently picked up a new profession.  I never would have imagined myself in the WEDDING CAKE trade, but it seems to have fallen into my lap, and I enjoy the challenge of making something beautiful out of just about nothing.  Cake-making is no small feat in Niger.  Not only are supplies hard to come by, but the heat (we're up to 100 - 110 degrees Fahrenheit now!) certainly adds to the challenge.  As I mentioned, I basically stumbled into this.  A friend asked me to do one for her wedding, knowing I loved to bake, and  knowing that I had a stove in which we could bake a cake (most Nigeriens cook over a fire).  I thought long and hard about it, of course thinking at first, "There's NO WAY that I can make a wedding cake!  I can't even make a wedding cake in the States, much less here in Niger.  It's just not my thing! 

I'm just doing good to decorate CHRISTMAS COOKIES!"

 

But then again, how could I say no?!  I wanted to give my friend a lovely wedding gift, and I did know how to bake a cake, and could it really be that hard?  And thus it began.  I've done four since then, two of which were in the last 3 months!  You see, word gets around here, and before I knew it, another dear friend was getting married, and he had seen the first cake, and he hoped that perhaps I could make one for him, and so on and so forth...  "Professionally made" cakes (whatever that means, and whatever it means here is most certainly different than what it would mean in the States!) are very expensive, and the average person cannot afford to have one at their wedding.

 

This weekend we celebrated the wedding of a very dear friend of ours, Issufou (Joseph).  We have known Issuf since just after he had become a Christian 3 years ago.  He went through the two years of Discipleship Bible School and Leadership school here in Maradi, and is now a pastor.  Wow, and are we proud of him!  We couldn’t have been more thrilled when he shared with us that he was going to be getting married.  We knew and really loved his future bride.  She had just graduated from the Discipleship Bible School this last year.  The wedding came up quickly, and sure enough, guess who was asked to make the cake?!!   I wanted to contribute something special to this incredible couple, so I said yes.  Here’s the journey…

.

Making a beautiful cake from scratch may sound exotic, but the realities are far from it - especially here.  I’ve simplified things down to making one or two 9 x 13 cakes, then cutting what I need from them.  Having just gotten home from a 10 hour trip from Niamey, Niger’s capital, I was running low on supplies, had no time to shop, and just a day to spare when Issufou asked if I could make a cake for his wedding.  I only had enough supplies for one 9 x 13, and knew I’d just have to just make do.  Considering the 100 - 110+ degree temps we've been experiencing, I try to get the cooking done ASAP so we can get it over with and TURN THE OVEN OFF!!!  Please!!!  Then the cake goes in the freezer.  Frosting, once made, goes immediately into the fridge so we can avoid puddles of sugar and butter melting all over the counter top.

 

Forming a solid base is pretty important.  Questions I ask myself about when making one include:  Is it strong enough to hold the cake?   Is it made of completely disposable things?   I don't want to have to wait all day at the wedding to get my (you name it) back.   Does it fit in my cooler? (HA - forgot to ask myself this question this time and ended up cutting off two inches from my board on the wedding day as we're running out the door to the wedding. Ooops!  Because of the heat, if we don't store the cake in the cooler when we go to the wedding, we will have one soggy, saggy mess by the time cake-cutting time comes!

 

 

Here's what I've come up with.  Niiiiiiiice, I know.  :)  But covered with some aluminum foil, it looks great!

 

Time to gather more supplies...

 

I gather whatever can be scrounged up from around the house.  Just about anything will do...  artificial flowers, ribbons, cookie decor, candy, confetti, and stickers to name a few.

 

Time to cut and layer the cake! 

 

I think three will do this time.

 

Oh, let's make it four, with this perfect little heart to top it all off.

 

Frosting!

 

Now we're getting somewhere...

 

By now, I'm in danger of losing my frosting.  It's starting to melt and absorb into the cake.  Time for a little "Time Out" in the freezer.  No, not for me (I wish!) - for the cake!

I will probably resort to sticking my head in there for a few moments at some point, though...

 

I think it's time for a snack!  And, after all, the cook should most definitely taste the cake (yes, some FROSTED cake) just to make sure it tastes good.  Someone has to do it, right?!

 

 Yummmm.  Okay.  Taste-test passed.  Back to work.

 

And what's a busy mom with 3 small children to DO with her little ones while in this tedious, time-consuming process?  Well, a picture's worth a thousand words!

 

Here they are, chillin' just outside the kitchen door where I can keep a close eye, and hear those adorable giggles!

 

Gracie thought having her own bucket was pretty cool!  Everyone had a limit of one bucket of water.  If you splashed out all your water, that was it.  So conserve and enjoy!  Great way to keep the kids close to Mama, cool, safe, busy, and HAPPY!

 

Here's my finished product for the day.  As you can see, my favorite accents are ribbons and flowers.  Ah, and you also get lovely view of my back yard here!  Completely off topic... but we just discovered we have owls living in our eucalyptus trees (the ones you can see on the right), and we can see them almost every night.  Yes, very cool!) 

 

Back to the wedding!  And our Bride and Groom with their cake...

 

It is truly a privilege to take part in one of the most memorable days of someone's life.  

 

Cutting the cake

 

  Not only is having a cake special, but it gives everyone the opportunity to lighten up a bit and laugh.

 

This girl's got a GREAT sense of humor!  She had everyone laughing.  What a perfect way to break the ice.

 

This little wedding-goer thoroughly enjoyed her rice and stew, which is traditionally served at many weddings. 

She wasn't the only one.  We all did!

 

  These days, whenever I am approached to do a wedding cake, I tell Jonathan, “I’m only doing this because we're really close to so-and-so, not for everyone!”  He just gives me that smile and says, “But we’re close to them all!”  Yes, it’s true.  All these Nigerien young people - in the youth group, our young Bible School students, and our friends from here and there - have become very dear to my heart.  We’re thrilled when we hear about one of them getting married, and I know, deep down inside, that I’ll probably be asked to make the cake, I’ll probably feel a little overwhelmed at the time, and I’ll probably (most definitely) say yes!  All because I (secretly!) really enjoy doing it, and am excited to be able to give them a gift they could otherwise never have had on their wedding day.  It’s a privilege and honor to be able to take part in the celebration of the joining of our Nigerien friends, most of whom are the first generation of Christians in their families.  What an honor to be there as they join their lives together…

 

It is at times like this, when I'm watching the lovely Bride and Groom on their wedding day, that I feel like I'm having my cake,

and eating it, too!

  

 

 

 

 

Valentine's Reflections, Now and Then

We made pink frosted sugar cookies this week for Valentine’s Day.  Mmmmmm…  Not only are they yummy and beautiful, but they bring back so many memories of years gone by.  My mom made these for us when we were growing up, and I love to make them each year now for my family. 

 

Big Helper

(who probably got more frosting in her tummy than on her cookies)

 

As I savored my scrumptious treat, licking the deliciously pink frosting, I realized that we have now celebrated Valentine’s Day here in Niger for 3 years.  Wow!  As I looked back over some of my pictures from the last several years, I could barely believe how much the children had grown from year to year, and how much had changed in just 4 years.  Our location, culture, climate, day-to-day life experiences...  We've been stretched and grown more than I could ever have imagined possible.  Join me for a quick walk down memory lane. 

.

Four years ago at this time of year, Jonathan and I were preparing to move to Niger.  Isaiah was 2, and Anna was about 10 months old.  I enjoyed reading through this entry that I had posted on Valentine’s Day that year.  Here's a few pictures of the Wee Bitty Bowdens back then.

 

A proud little boy with his freshly made Valentine's Day box.

Anna enjoying a gift from Grammi...  Forget the crackers - paper tastes way better! 

 

Continuing on, as I looked through my pictures from 2011, I was surprised to see that I hadn’t taken any pictures on Valentine’s that year.  Then I remembered why.  We were still in the throws of learning Hausa, adjusting to a new culture and climate, setting up house, and Jonathan had just begun teaching his first course in the Discipleship Bible School the month before.  Even though we’d been in Niger for over 7 months, we were still in transition.  I did find some pictures of the children that I took within a few days of it, though.  Here they are: 

 

Miss Anna (19 months old) discovered a can of cocoa drink mix, and enjoyed as much as she possibly could before Mommy found her. 

Who can blame her, though?  What girl doesn't love chocolate?!

 

Daddy's Helper - Jonathan built many shelves to help me make our then bare-bones house more homey.  The children loved helping whenever they could.  Precious memories.

 

Thinking of last year, Valentine’s Day of 2012, brings back really special memories for me.  My closest childhood friend, Mary Anderson, came to visit us for 3 weeks.  I was 7 months pregnant with Grace, and had nary an ounce of energy for celebrating a holiday.  Mary made the day shine, though, doing crafts with the children, making cookies, bringing candy from the States, and babysitting the children so Jonathan and I could go out to dinner together that evening.  Thank you for the memories, Mary!  We were thinking of you this Valentine's Day!

 

Mary with Her Little Helpers

(one of whom, I'm pretty sure, was snitching in the flour)

 

This year, our 3^rd year in Niger, brings with it another special guest.  Becca Cavari has been with our family for 5 weeks, and will be spending a total of 3 months with us.  She came to Niger to serve the Lord by blessing our family in any way she could, and, wow, has she been a blessing! 

 

 

We are all enjoying Becca’s time with us.  She has such a sweet, joyful, helpful spirit, and has been an incredible help to me.  Since Jonathan has been away from home more than ever before assisting with church planting in a previously unreached village, as another year of Bible School begins, as we host teams and missionaries who are traveling through Maradi, and as I home school the children, Becca’s assistance and companionship have been an incredible blessing.  If you are friends with me on Facebook, you have Becca to thank for most of the fun family pictures that you are now seeing! 
Like this sweet one of me and my Valentine...

 

 

  While Becca baked our sugar cookies with Isaiah and Anna, I made the frosting, and then we all enjoyed eating those yummy bits of heaven, made with many treasured ingredients.  

 

Frosting time!

 

Check out the "this-looks-so-yummy" tongue.  Priceless!

 

I couldn't help but put up this picture from last year, because, as you can see, the "this-looks-so-yummy" tongue is ever present when making sugar cookies.

 

My mom, ever so thoughtfully, sent a Valentine’s Day package from the States with cards and gifts for all of us.  How fun! 

 

Daddy reads Anna's card from Grammi to her.

 

Even Baby Gracie had her own card.

 

My sweet, resourceful husband gave me this beautiful bouquet of flowers that he gathered from around our yard.  This is no small feat as Niger is hardly known for its flowers!  But Jonathan, knowing that I LOVE flowers, made me this bouquet of desert blooms. 

 

I am so blessed.

 

The last 4 years have been an incredible journey for us, and they are only the beginning of a longer, unfolding life-story.  If you look back, you will see the same beautiful hand of God working in your life.  I love seeing how the Lord takes the situations, circumstances, people, and events in our lives and shapes them into something bigger, something different, and something more beautiful than we could ever have imagined.  Think about baking a cookie, like our Valentine’s Day cookies, for example – so many ingredients go into them.  Some sweet, some bitter, some salty,
some blah, some savory, some ugly, some beautiful. 

 

 

It’s then all mixed, jumbled, molded, reshaped, and lastly, put into the heat of the oven.  It comes out something new!  Our lives are often like this.  The Lord takes everything, working it together, the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, and makes something from seemingly nothing.  He adds His beauty, His love, and His grace.  Is there anything more beautiful than a life that has been carefully shaped by the hands of a loving Heavenly Father?  
 I don't think there is.      

 

 

 This week, before bedtime, the children were talking about heaven.  Isaiah said, slowly and thoughtfully, "I'm thankful that Jesus has bigger hands than us, and can hold us."  Anna piped up a minute later, adding, "And I think when we go to heaven,

we might find out just how big His hands are!"

 

What a delightful thought.  One day, we'll be able to stand in eternity and see just how big those hands are, and just how many times they were holding us.  Even though you may not be able to see what He is making yet in your life, my prayer is that you would be able to feel the tenderness and love with which the hands of Jesus are taking all of the "ingredients" in your life and forming, working, shaping, creating - something beautiful.

 

Happy Valentine's Day. 

Let your heart rest safely in the hands of Jesus.