Lots of Praises!

August Edition

Hi Friends,

How are you? I hope your July was not too hot and had some rain. Mine was pretty busy, but really great! I have spent the month driving, going to Ohio, taking driver’s ed, shopping, preparing, packing, eating at Chick-Fil-A (I never liked their food until I discovered their nuggets), praising God, and more.

-Parents: My parents have been quite busy this summer: packing up their house, getting me ready to go back to Senegal, getting Susanna ready to go to college, freaking out while either Susanna or I were driving, getting back in contact with family and friends, and more. Please pray that their next month will be a bit more relaxing. Pray that they will be prepared for September when they go down to North Carolina. Pray also that they make a decision about where they are going to live after they are back from North Carolina: an unfurnished ready to move in house, or an unfurnished house that needs a lot of work.

-Siblings: Danielle has been spending her summer getting prepared to be a dorm parent to 15 girls. Even though she is still at DA this is completely different from teaching. Pray that she will be able to welcome them with ease when school starts. Pray for her as she transitions into a new schedule and way of living. Pray also for Danielle as she prepares to go to the States come December. Susanna and Benjamin are preparing to go to college, Susanna for the first time, and Benjamin as an RC (Resident Chaplain, or RA like in many other schools). Please pray for them as they make this transition. Pray that they make wise choices in how to spend their last month before things start up again. Pray that Susanna has good roommates (something that has not happened for her older sisters and brother), and that she will be able to adjust to living in the United States – a few weeks ago, we figured out she has spent 80% of her life overseas! Pray that Benjamin and Susanna will make a point to spend time with each other.

-Mali: Mali is still having problems. CNN recently devoted an hour to talk about the issues that are happening there. The current leader, Jeancounda Traore, just returned after being in France for two months due to being beat up. The MNLA Touregs who had originally joined the radical Islamists are now saying that they no longer want to be independent of the rest of Mali, they no longer want Azawad – because the radical Islamists beat them up and kicked them out. The radical Islamists in the meantime are enforcing strict laws on the people in Azawad, they are not allowing people to smoke, drink, have premarital sex, and women must be covered up. They even go so far to enforce these rules as to stone couples to death for having premarital sex. As a Christian, I don’t believe what the couple did was right, but I also don’t think stoning was the solution to the problem. Please pray for Mali. Pray that the leader will have wisdom to know what to do in this situation. Pray for the MNLA to continue to not support Azawad. I don’t really know what the prayer should be, so please pray as you feel led. Pray that the Lord’s will will be done in this situation, even it is something we don’t want, it will bring about his kingdom. Pray also for the famine that is happening at the same time as all these political problems. Pray that food and money will come in to the country so that the people can be fed. Pray also that it will rain enough this year so that the country will not have this problem two years in a row.

-Me: Well, as I mentioned above I have been pretty busy. But God has been really amazing this month. Here is a story. So driver's ed in MD is composed of two things, 30 hours in the classroom (3 hours on 10 days), and 6 hours of driving with an instructor. On the first day of the classroom the teacher told us that we couldn't start the actual driving part until after we had finished the class and that it was a 2 to 6 week waiting period. My family had assumed that the 6 hours was part of the class (we had a lot to learn!). So then I was really discouraged thinking that I would not get my license and my little sister would get hers before me. But then the teacher told me about this option where you can pay $50 and do the driving part whenever it can be scheduled, called "fast lane". She also told me to look online to see if there were any openings to take the final driving test. So I looked and most of the openings were for mid-August and beyond. My mom told me to check every day in case an opening would come up and said that they would drive across the state (like 3 hours away) if necessary. Then my computer was not connecting to the internet, and the website I kept checking was not working for a few days, and then the internet stopped working. So I was getting even more discouraged. I also called the fast lane program but they would not even think about fitting me in without me having an appointment to take the driver's skills test. Then all of a sudden one afternoon I had an inspiration to move my computer to another place in the house where it would be less in the way. As soon as I did that I was able to connect to the internet (through a different connection than the one we have been using which at the time was not working), and checked the schedule right away. And when I did there was an opening for August 1!! I was so excited!!!! I ran up to tell my mom and she said to take it even though it was like up to 2 hours away. So I did, then I called the fast lane people and they were able to fit me in!! So now all I have to do is pass the driving test. But it was just all so incredible how God worked everything out! Sometimes I don't have enough faith, but God has been faithful to me so many times in my life, such as now, that I should never doubt. I now need to have faith that I will pass the test tomorrow, and that if I don’t the Lord has a purpose for it. Please pray that I do pass though, because then I may have to go through this whole rigamarole again in a few years! I mentioned that my computer was having problems up above, pleasepray that I will be able to keep my computer running for at least one more year, that is all I want to get out of it, because by then it will be four and a half years old, which is old for a computer these days! Pray also that the internet will start working on it. On Tuesday I fly to Senegal. Please pray for my travels: pray that my luggage will not be overweight and that it will make it to Dakar without too long delays, pray that the trip will go smoothly and that I will make the one transfer I need to make, and pray that I don’t forget anything when I leave. I will be having a roommate this year for the first time in about two and a half years, please pray that we will get along and be friends. I have not had good roommate situations.

Well, I think that is all for now. I pray that you are getting sufficient rain wherever you are in the world. Please write me if you have any prayer requests of your own. Have a great day. Ruthanne