There have been many times in Dar es Salaam when I have felt something crawling on my stomach. In alarm, I yank up my shirt, only to find the culprit was a large stream of sweat.
On December 26th, I packed for our annual week up in the mountains. I sat in the kids’ room on the floor, surrounded by stacks of clothes. I was not running a marathon; I was not sitting on a sunny beach; I was not working out in a gym. I was simply sitting on the floor, moving clothes around, under a ceiling fan. And I was covered in sweat.
So you can see why this annual trip is so important to us. We drive 7 hours, up into the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania. There’s no historic buildings to see; there’s no family-friendly restaurants with playgrounds to visit; there’s not even any big safari animals or ocean reefs to snorkel on.
There’s just cold. And really, that’s all we want. We go with friends, we enjoy the mountain flowers and trees, we play lots of games and have lots of really great conversations. But mostly, we put on our hoodies and our socks and we sit around in the 60 degree weather and talk about how cold we are. It’s delicious.
I think the highlight of the week for the kids was that I actually allowed them to wear pajamas to bed.
This is what the girls did: Sit around for hours after breakfast, talking.
This is what the boys did: Play games all day, every day.
Our mission prayer group/Bible study group…..and really, our family away from home. So, so thankful for these guys.
