“Momo…MOMO” Ahmesow yells.

“What Ammesow?” I ask.

“Are you a good boy?” Ahmesow inquires.

“No, I am not a good boy because I am not a boy.” I patiently explain.

“Momo….MOMO” Ahmesow yells.

“What Ahmesow?” I ask, while trying to concentrate on the post I am writing.

“Are you a good girl?” Ahmesow bellows.

“Yes, I am a good girl” I say.

“Momo..look at me!!!” Chowin shouts.

I stop what I am doing and see that Chowin is now in the rafters, swinging merrily. I ask her to come on down, so she comes and jumps onto my lap.

“Momo, are you a good girl?” asks Ahmesow.

“Good girl, good girl”,  Hannah chimes in.

“Momo, Hannah kicked me!” states Meme. “And Memewah is not doing her work.”

“Hannah, don’t kick your sister, that makes Jesus sad. Memewah, what are you supposed to be doing?” I ask.

“Momo, I need you to help me.” Pawkuhmooeydee says.

“OK, let me finish what I am doing first.” I state, while trying to get Chowin’s sharp bones into a more comfortable position.

“MOMO…” screams Ahmesow, “Are you a good girl???” (he is learning English really fast, but it is still pretty limited)

I frantically look around….where are Jason, Daddy and Travis when I need them? There must be someone to rescue me. Ahmesow needs some good hard work to do, and Chowin is leaving bruises on my legs, and it looks like Hannah needs to go to the bathroom again, and Meme really needs help with that English paper she is trying to do. Daylowtoo is playing the guitar and singing loudly, Thunduh is brooding over something, and Memewah is still not doing her work!

This little explanation of what it is like here takes only about 30 seconds to happen, and a lot longer for me to type out. Yesterday, this took place for HOURS. I was getting desperate for a break, but when I go someplace, I suddenly have all of them enthusiastically hanging onto me asking where we are going next! ” I am going to the bathroom children” “Oh goody” they shout, and off we go! Yes, Jason, Travis and Daddy have their hands full too. The problem is that so many kids can take turns with each one of us, never wearing out. I think that they have a system all planned out to keep each one of us busy at all times. Each and every parent of more than 2 children should be nodding their heads, knowing exactly what I am talking about! I must admit to having the advantage of a full time Dad in the house, and two grown boys to help me…plus our student missionary will be here a little longer! There are more than enough of us to be able to maintain our sanity…but there is just something about being the Momo that can be extra exhausting, no matter how much help you get.

It is really clear to us how important the early training of children is. Some of the problems that we face with the kids are staggering. Like how to teach them not to steal, cheat and lie, when that is all that they have ever known. If you have one child in a home, it is not that hard to be where you can keep an eye on things, but here…they have all the buildings, plus the jungle to hide in if they want to be bad. One of the habits that all of them have is to beg. They beg and beg and beg for things, and don’t quite  know what to think when we never give in. Their whole concept of how life works has been challenged. Teaching reverence, to keep their voices down, to work instead of hide, to actually learn what we are teaching them instead of just trying to get the paper done…these are some of the challenges.

Meme is the one who is giving me hope right now. She came to us less than a year ago, and she was a dirty, lying, cheating little girl. Today, she is neat, clean and ambitious. She still has her troubles, but she is not the same person she was when she came. She has found joy and satisfaction in work, and keeping things nice, and she is doing her best to help me with the others. She loves Jesus and does not want to make Him sad anymore. She has learned that it does no good to beg too, which is so refreshing!

Life here is far from hard all the time. We do have our days…but when you have that many kids, you also have to multiply the blessings and fun. Sometimes, everyone who is able is swinging from the rafters, and shouting with laughter. Tag is not confined to the floor. I think that Ahmesow’s first English word was “monkey”.

This morning we agreed to expand our work somewhat. Our wonderful neighbor came over and introduced us to a poor old blind lady. When she lost her sight, she tried to get help from a different church group here. They helped her for a little while and then just quit. So, she went to live with her daughter. Two weeks ago, her daughter was killed in a motor bike accident, so once again she is looking for a way to survive. God has told us to help people like her, so there will be another little hut going up on our land, and another mouth to feed. But, we are praising God for giving us the opportunity to help.  I think that having a Grandma on the place might be a brilliant plan anyway. My kids loved it when Grandpa lived with us.

So, as always…keep us in your prayers. Pray especially that GOD would maintain our sanity…He is the God of miracles you know!