2005 Ghana- The Whirlwind year

Whirlwinds constantly blew through our lives, but I think 2005 was an especially windy year. We started off with a new baby coming to live with us. It changed our lives. He was so precious. Someone discarded him like trash at the side of the road and thankfully he was found before the dogs devoured him. He needed a temporary place to live and it all worked out for him to come and stay with us. Malnutrition hampered his natural growth. Regular meals and proper sleeping times brought about such a change in his development.

Aside from the baby's entry into our lives, we battled a serious case of pneumonia with Cassandra. She almost lost her life. Daniel battled malaria before, but that year he got one of the worse cases he had ever had. Both of them recovered and life went on. We had our share of snakes sneaking into our yard from the overgrowth behind our house.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the two girls left Ghana to reside in the US. Little "Prince John" left us to go and stay in a children's home. We so wanted to adopt him but there were legal restrictions which were insurmountable. He took a bit of our heart with him when he left.

The winds of change blew us into a new house. I think the change was good. As with all life's storms, when the wind and rains died down the fresh smell of new beginnings filtered through.

2005 June- birds leave the nest

Did someone wake me up and tell me, "Your life will never be the same" ? No!

Life was going along merrily with me living in Africa. I simply stepped into a new phase of life. A step which would forever change the dynamics of my life.

My son, Sean, lived in the United States studying for his Physics degree. Now it was time for my daughter, Katrina, to follow her brother's footsteps. She would go and stay with her brother and do her final year of high school. It all seemed like it was going to be so easy until we realized there was no way to separate Katrina from her younger sister Cassandra. Cassandra ended up following Katrina to live with her brother.

A 19 year old young man took his 17 and 15 year old sisters in to live with him. His parents were all the way over in Ghana. Some people have asked me how in the world I trusted my 19 year old son to take care of his sisters. It never was something we gave a second thought about. He was so trustworthy. The two girls were also very trustworthy. All three kids went to school and worked after school and went to church. They said they never had time to get into trouble because they were too busy.


They made it through the year. We don't talk about the year though. If we do refer to it, we call it 'the dark year.' No one knew the tears I wept over in Ghana. Katrina and Cassandra said they never got used to arriving home to a cold apartment and not having parents to greet them. Sean says he grew into an old man that year. We made it through the year, but I doubt I would make the same decision again. My children say they are better for the experience, I think they are the type of kids who take any experience and use it to become better.

Helpful People- Ghana = January 2005

What I love the most about Ghana is the people. They are full of laughter. They don't mind sharing their thoughts on any subject from politics to daily life. They are helpful in times of trouble.

In January 2005, Kat, Cass and Carlin King wanted to go to Tills Beach and I just felt uneasy about them going. The road going out to Tills Beach was a bit dangerous and I wanted to be sure they would be safe. I opted to drive them myself. It was a pleasant enough drive out - around 1 and a half hours. Once I dropped them off; I turned the car around and headed back to Accra. The road leading from Tills to the main road is so deserted-- it really looks like "Africa"...just long elephant grass and trees in the distance and no body--not a soul-- if you saw a Giraffe or some wild animal it would look just normal in such a habitat (except it wouldn't look normal in Ghana! hah)

I was driving along enjoying myself mulling over things. The night before I kept being woken up with the words to a song that says "Look what you've done for me..Yahweh, Yahweh..look what you've done for me" and so that was sort of going on in my head. I cheerfully turned out onto the main highway leading back to Accra and I was on there for only about 5 or 6 minutes and POW...my left back tire blew out!! It was a major blow! I wasn't sure it was the tire I thought the whole engine had burst or exploded. The car careened on the road (the very road that Ps. Raymond and Ps. Felix had their major head on collision) I managed to pull to the side of the road and got out.

It was the tire. There was some men at the side of the road working so I motioned to them. They came over and I asked them to help me with the tire- they were more than happy to do it and it took less then 10 minutes. I was back in the car and on my way thinking how great God was to

1) not to allow it to happen on the long deserted road

2) to let there be willing gentlemen to help me to fix the tire so speedily

Those gentlemen did not have to stop what they were doing to help me- they were being kind. They exemplified the Ghanaian population. Whether it is to help with changing a tire, pulling a car out of a ditch, or rushing someone to the hospital they are always willing to help.