Now, 2 months later and half a world away, life goes on in America without us.  Close friends are pregnant; family is traveling home for Thanksgiving; nieces and nephews grow up; summer turning into fall.  It is strange and bit sad to participate in the life we have always known in person and touch  by facebook and Skype (but we are very thankful for those fantastic avenues of communication. )

Here, we make a new “family” and friends, and life happens as well.  Connections and relationships and common purpose are forming. . .we have friends and allies, both Kenyan and American.  We receive texts about cranberry sauce on sale in Nairobi and invitations to a thanksgiving feast, and though we are in a new world, we are so grateful that we don’t feel alone.

Tragedies of life happen as well – our houseworker Ruth lost her brother-in-law yesterday when a church bus overturned. Eight men were killed, all pastors and elders in the church.  We grieve with her, as we do with our friends at home who have struggled with illness, loss, deep sorrow, and tough situations in the past months.

But thankfully, some lives will go on because of our life here as well.  Arianna had her first night of call, bouncing back and forth from home to the hospital until midnight.  She went to sleep for a little while and then bolted awake at 2:30 am.  No phone call or page, just a strong feeling something happened to her patient, a teenager with severe chicken pox. She returned to the hospital and hunted him down, discovering that he had been moved to a different room and his blood oxygen saturation had dropped to 69 and his heart was beating dangerously fast – which meant his lungs could have completely failed or worse by morning.  She put him on oxygen and fluids, and a day later he is improving.

Today, on Thanksgiving, our lives seem both stretched and full, definitive and uncertain. We are adjusting to the dichotomy of our lives  – trying to be present in some real way for midnight crises and continued celebrations in the States while building relationships here that will grant us the same trust and familiarity.

Life will go on, in its fantastic whirlwind. . . and for that, we are thankful.

-David

Thanksgiving at the Hansens – the day itself was normal, the kids had school and Arianna worked, but we did get together for dinner with new friends and in keeping with tradition, ate ourselves silly.