{"id":1038,"date":"2012-05-23T21:55:49","date_gmt":"2012-05-23T21:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=1038"},"modified":"2012-05-23T21:55:52","modified_gmt":"2012-05-23T21:55:52","slug":"the-craziness-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2012\/05\/23\/the-craziness-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"The Craziness Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1039\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1039\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5056.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1039\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5056.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5056.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5056-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1039\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sometimes Life is a little crazy here<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Showers of Blessings<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong>Our tanks are now both set up! \u00a0I go to the sink and turn the nob and&#8230;..WATER COMES OUT!!! \u00a0This is a literal shower of blessings for our whole family. \u00a0Having running water again has reminded me how nice running water is. \u00a0We are just so excited and it has made life a lot easier. \u00a0We will always have to be conscious and careful about the\u00a0quantity of water we use, but it is so great to have water in our house. \u00a0We are still learning about how to keep our tanks clean and running properly, but Joel is amazing at figuring all that out and putting all the pieces together with the limited resources we have.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Normal Life or African Adventure<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yesterday we traveled home from a day trip into Dakar. \u00a0Our last three trips home from Dakar have been have been full of adventure.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trip 1 : Joel&#8217;s Motorcycle breaks down leaving me stranded without a house key<\/li>\n<li>Trip 2: The bus we take breaks down and we are left on the side of the road to find another means of transportation<\/li>\n<li>Trip 3: Our taxi gets lost, making us miss the train. \u00a0Joel gets stuck in traffic leaving me stranded once again without the key (maybe we will learn our lesson someday) and I get\/have to hang out with our neighbors for an hour while I wait for him to get home. \u00a0The highlight of this was\u00a0definitely\u00a0watching the neighborhood kids try to teach Tyler how to dance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each trip has been an adventure with many unexpected bumps in the road, but each time we all eventually made it home. \u00a0As I was looking back at our traveling adventures and the flexibility that I need to have for travel in Africa, I began to realize that these would not be considered adventures to most Africans. \u00a0These would just be considered normal life. \u00a0There are days that I wonder if it is worth walking outside of the house, because usually the unexpected happens. \u00a0 Yet leaving my house is what ministry and growth is all about. \u00a0 I need to learn the art of flexibility, that will allow me to not only to put up with things as they happen but also to see the new open doors these obstacles\u00a0present. \u00a0It was not just being stuck outside of my house for an hour past the boys bed time, it was an hour of forced bonding with our neighbors. \u00a0Normal life is in the beginning stages of taking on a new meaning for me.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1043\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1043\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5327.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1043\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5327.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5327.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5327-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1043\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Our Neighbor&#039;s house, where Tyler is now a frequent visitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Language Sessions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We began language sessions today. \u00a0This now occupies 6 hours of our days and quickly has increased the complexity of our daily schedule. \u00a0Pray for us as we adapt to the new schedule and the new mental requirements in our day. \u00a0Learning a new\u00a0language\u00a0and culture is exhausting and I am daily reminded of the toll it takes on our strength. \u00a0I was, however, very encouraged after the first day. \u00a0It was great to see \u00a0how much we were both able to do even after a 2 month break from language sessions. \u00a0Praise God for the strength to progress and grow!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1041\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1041\" style=\"width: 333px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5323.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1041\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5323.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"333\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5323.jpg 333w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5323-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1041\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One bonus recently has been the cool evenings (you know in the 80&#039;s)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1040\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1040\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5322.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1040\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5322.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5322.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5322-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1040\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">When the boys have enjoyed playing outside<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1042\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1042\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5325.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1042\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5325.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5325.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/05\/DSC_5325-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1042\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">With whatever they find laying around<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Showers of Blessings Our tanks are now both set up! \u00a0I go to the sink and turn the nob and&#8230;..WATER COMES OUT!!! \u00a0This is a literal shower of blessings for our whole family. \u00a0Having running water again has reminded me how nice running water is. \u00a0We are just so excited and it has made life [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":830,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2545],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-updates-and-news","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/830"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}