National Siblings Day

Last week I saw friends posting pictures of their siblings and I did not get to it on time. National Siblings Day came and went and I didn't post anything about mine--but neither did they so we are cool.  :)
Don't get me wrong, I love my siblings...but instead of digging up an old photo of us as kids, I want to tell you about my sister Christine! 

Christmas Day 2017

Christine and her family live in our barn.  Well, we call it the barn but it is our old garage transformed into a small apartment.  We started transforming it about a year ago and at the same time, Christine contacted me to tell me they were moving to Texas and were looking for a place to rent. 

We insisted they stay with us.

So this beautiful family of 7 moved into the barn August 17th just a few days before Hurricane Harvey.  (How we endured, or rather, escaped Harvey will be another post!)

I am grateful for how we share our lives, families, meals, carpool, walks, prayers, and faith with each other. Christine, you are a gift. 

Our friendship began almost 8 years ago in Rwanda...

Rwanda 2010

Christine was our translator on our mission trips to Rwanda in 2010 and 2011.  She has quite a story to tell of how her family came to the States and all the adventures they have had the past 6 years, and maybe she will do that one day here.

For now I want to share how our lives intersect.

Some people wonder how we are doing with our families living so closely, so the truth is....we are abundantly blessed. 

It is awesome!

I don't take that for granted.  I know this could be really bad.  But by God's grace our families are better because of one another.  Isn't that amazing?  4 adults and 12 kids--different cultures, different colors, different backgrounds, yet we live in community with one another, sharing, learning, and helping each other.

By God's grace our families are better because of one another.  

Maybe it's because her kids are not annoying.  Haha!  You know if you opened your home to friends you would fear the same thing!  They are actually quite sweet, respectful, kind and loving.  I know this would be much harder if our kids did not get along, and if I had to worry about how they behaved or what they talked about.  But I love how her kids are rubbing off on all of us.  We could all use a good dose of kindness.

Supper--I think I have hinted on my blog how dinner time can be difficult.  With picky eaters, some getting easily annoyed, some dominating the conversation, we would not make sitting together at the table a priority.  It kinda ruined the rest of my night.
But with the Ngogas, we share suppers every night.  Christine takes 3 or 4 meals a week and I take 3 or 4 meals a week.  What I love is that I can enjoy dinner at the table again.  My kids may not appreciate our meals together for years but I believe this is the kind of thing that is impacting us in some ways we don't know yet.

I don't know how long we will get to live like we do--together--but I am grateful for each day we have.  I am learning some lessons from my East African sister that I don't want to forget--a few I will share here in the coming days/weeks.  And the memories we are making are changing us.