The only day of the year when everyone should know exactly what they should do! On this day, every baby should be birthed, every soldier be deployed, ever missionary begin their journey to whatever country they are setting out to "save", every person go outside and walk five million miles. Everyone who has ever dreamed of a road trip should set out to find themselves, every child verging on walking should stand up and stomp around, every person confined to a chair with wheels should rise and run this way and that. Every pet should find a way of escape and be free in the world, every sick person should become magically well, everyone who is sad and withdrawn should become happy and go out and meet someone new. March Forth!! March FORTH!
Almost three years ago, we got Lucky from the pound. He was not a good indoor dog, and we had nowhere for him to be outside. We gave him to some friends from church, who gladly took him in. He lived with them until very recently, when they offered him back to us now that we have our own home and a fenced-in back yard. One of the problems with Lucky is that he is terrified of being groomed. When our friends had him, they took him to professionals, who knocked him out in order to groom him. Both times, his heart stopped, and it was very traumatic for everyone. I do not have the desire or the money to take that rout, so I have decided to try to groom him myself. First, to cut the hair away from his eyes, I muzzled him, and had Jonas hold him for me. It went okay (okay being, he didn't try to bite me!) for awhile, with the dog whimpering the entire time. The last snip sent him into a frenzy, though, and we were finished with him for that day. Today, I decided that his dreadlocks really need to go. I thought, "What if I drug him with some Nyquil? He'll be sedated a little, and I'll be able to groom him myself!" Well, HA. First, I offered him the Nyquil on it's own. He sniffed it, then trotted off. Then I put it into his food dish, and threw some food in there with it. He came over to inspect it, and decided that I was trying to trick him. Next thing I knew, there was Willow with a mouthful of Lucky's dog food! She spit it out, but it made me very nervous. So, out went the dog food, along with the Nyquil. My next try will be to truss Lucky up like a roasting-pig, and include the muzzle in the mix.
Okay, so I've been having a blast changing my hair with the Splat line - It's gone from my natural color of boring old brown, to purple, to blue, to blue/purple, and today I wanted it to be pink. I had to soak my head for a long time to let the blue and purple go away, and then added some lightener to my head. Once it had been rinsed out, it turned into a strange hue of very light purple and pink... I threw in the pink Splat, and Ta-DA!!! PINK! Okay, but the problem is this. While I was lightening the hair, I decided that it might be fun to also lighten my EYEBROWS. They now look non-existent. Gone. But they are still there, just... basically the same color as my skin. Looks like they're shaved off. Oh dear. Good thing hair grows back!!!
The mission that we grew up in is finally being held accountable for their vicious inaction and horrible treatment of the kids at one of their boarding schools in Senegal. The GRACE team has been hired as a Third-party investigative group to hear everyone's story, and to make sure that action is finally taken on our behalf, and that we can find resolution. The group is amazing. They all have PHD's in one thing or another - there are 2 former child sex abuse prosecutors, 2 psychologists and a pastor. The thing that affected me the most was this huge love and acceptance that they showed us all. There was no judgment of us, there was no looking down on us. They just embraced us and loved us no matter who we were or what we looked like. That is something that I personally have NEVER experienced in my life coming from a group of "adults"... It was powerful. Our interviews went very well. They listened to us intently, they shuddered at some things that I had to tell them, they were righteously angry at other things... they asked each and every one of us what we recommended in regards to NTM. They wrote it all down, and they promised that the things that they recommend to NTM would be carried out. They told us that they would not just go away after giving their final report, but that they would follow up with NTM and make sure that the recommendations were implemented. One of the GRACE team took my hand as we were leaving, and very quietly but firmly said to me, "we are not going away. we are not quitting. this will be resolved, I promise." What an amazing team of people they are. Their desire over the weekend was to make all of us as comfortable as possible. When I walked in for my interview, there they all were, all these "adults" looking at me - I said to them, "Wow. This is very intimidating!" They all got very upset and wondered how they could make it less intimidating... they didn't realize that for us, from our past, if we ever had to sit down in a room full of adults it was only because we were in trouble. I explained that, and they were sad... I came away from Lynchburg with a feeling of being valuable - something that I have never before experienced. Ever. What an amazing gift to receive. Please, if you have any questions, ask and I will share with you. For more on our stories, you may visit http://www.fandaeagles.com
When I reached the age of eleven, my mom and I formed a coded message for me to send her over the CB radio if I were to get my period while I was away at boarding school. The day finally came. I was twelve. I scribbled on a small scrap of paper my message to be delivered to my mom. "We should have named the dog "Marmaduke" on Sunday." She heard about her daughter's first period over the radio, with all of the other missionaries listening in. Do you think they knew what the message meant?
