Adventures in Disappointment

You ever have those adventures where you've got your hopes up so high and then you get to wherever it is you're going only to be disappointed?  I had one of those adventures today.  But as I've learned through life, you learn to make the most of the situation and try to figure out a way to redeem it.  It usually involves a lot of silliness.

Case in point - I had nothing on the agenda for the weekend but really didn't want to sit around either and do nothing.  So I texted my cousin to see what he was up to.  Nothing.  Awesome.  Glad we're in the same boat.  What do you want to do?  I don't care, whatever you want to do.  Statehouse tour?  Christmas shopping?  Tour of local caverns? (I almost wrote taverns - that probably would have been just as exciting.)  I don't care, you pick.  You're no help.  I have a coupon for the caverns, let's go there.  Awesome.  See you in the morning.

So we roll out of bed and get ready to go on our little adventure up to Olentangy Indian Caverns, about 20 minutes from where I live.  On the car ride up, while listening to Taylor Swift's new CD (my choice), we discuss the merits of her music and try to determine whether she can actually sing.  We have no solid conclusion to that discussion, other than the fact that Taylor gets bonus points for writing her own music. 

As we get closer to the caverns, we're taking bets that we will be the only people there on a cold Saturday in November.  We were pleasantly surprised to find about 5 cars in the parking lot, better than nothing.  We grab our tickets and head underground.  We've got our handy dandy map and I look like I'm about ready to climb Everest.  I've got a ski cap on, my quilted jacket, a polar fleece coat under that, a long sleeve t-shirt under that, mittens, and snow boots on.  Hey, I get cold easily.  I know to be prepared.  So even though I look like an eskimo to the rest of the world, I'm quite comfortable.

We trudge down the stairs into the cave, pushing the buttons along the way that give audio recordings explaining this, that, and the other.  We follow the map to the first room.  Basically stand in one point spot, turn in a circle, and that's about it.  So maybe you're 150 feet below ground at this point and the ceiling is about 50 feet high.  Cool. Okay, next room.  Skinny Man's Squeeze where we find Indian Lover's Bench (no joke - that's what it's called on the map).  And yes, it's skinny.  Even I had to turn sideways to make it up there.  End of that room.  Next.  Turn in a circle, go up a few walkways and we're done.  Next.  A stalactite that looks like a beehive.  Hmm. Could have fooled me.  Crystal Room?  Uh, you might you want to give it a different name because I'm pretty sure these look nothing like crystals to me.  Looks more like moss.  Chief Leatherlips' profile in the rock?  Your guess is as good as mine.  I think maybe this is his nose and those are his eyes.  Or maybe this is his forehead and that's his nose?  Wait, if you stand here I think I see an elephant.   

Twenty minutes later we're wondering if we read the map wrong and somehow missed half of the cave because there's no way we can be done.  

But we were.  And then we were invaded by a Boy Scout troop and we decided to exit stage left.  

So now what?  We drove all the way up here and we've seen it all in less than 30 minutes.  Disappointment was setting in.  Is it possible to be disillusioned with a cave?

What do you do when all else fails? Picture time!  This is when silliness sets in, shortly after you learn to let go of your disappointment.  We trounced around the cave looking for the next great photo op.  But try finding a flat surface in a cave that isn't covered with dripping water or moss so that you put your camera on self-timer.  Not easy.  So we walked back through all the rooms again wondering we where we could snap our next Kodak moment.  Some photos I felt like we were shooting really cheesy senior photos, only underground.  But then we got to laughing so hard we didn't care.  After awhile we decided we could no longer delay our return to the surface because there was literally nothing else left for us to do.  Only so many photos can be taken.

By the time we got to the top of the 3 flights of stairs, we were both breathing so hard and our legs were burning so bad that we had to take a pit stop and gulp in air, right next to the life-size wooden Indian, of course.  (I have never claimed to work out regularly or do any form of exercise.  It clearly showed today.)  We made it back to the car and where we decided we had no Plan B by which we could redeem the day.  So we drove home, watched Ohio State's game and decided that we were glad we had a coupon for buy one get one free because I'm sad to say, Olentangy Indian Caverns isn't worth the $8.50 they charge.  

But I did get a smashed penny out of the deal.  :) 

Rafiki Update

I was excited to receive word from both the Village Director and the ChildCare Director about some recent happenings in the village.  There are moments that catch me by surprise, when I wake up in the morning maybe or when I'm at work and I see a picture of Glen and I suddenly get wistful, missing Kenya and the children like crazy.  I miss Elijah and tutoring him every day.  I miss Kate saying "super cute" in nearly every other sentence (even though the phrase does drive me slightly crazy now to hear it).  There are a lot of things I miss, but I know life goes on and I know the children are doing well and I know God is continuing to do a work there. 

From the Village Director:
Thank you very much for all the photos you have sent.  They are great!  I shall print them off for the children and into their picture books.  You may already know that we now have 96 resident children - 48 boys and 48 girls.  Four new children came "home" from Kitui early this month.  Hopefully, before month-end, the 97th "son" will come home too.  We are asking the Lord to bring us another "son" and another two "daughters".  If He permits it before the end of the year, then we will be 100.  A nice figure to work with - 50 sons and 50 daughters.

From the ChildCare Director:
On Tuesday, three days after we returned (They had been in the States), twelve-year-old Charles broke both of the bones in his left arm just above the wrist. On the way to Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital, a bus side swiped our Village director’s car in which Patty, Charles, and Rafiki Mother Lydia were traveling but it didn’t delay them too long because the local police station was less than 100 yards away. Once at the hospital, the staff took great care of Charles. A theater, anesthesiologist, and orthopedic surgeon all became available for Charles’ three and a half hour surgery at 8 P.M. For those of you who are not familiar with British English, when you’re in a hospital, a theater is an operating room, not a place of entertainment. There was no joy in the break in Charles’ arm but we’re very happy to have good medical care available here in Kenya.

Wednesday evening Rafiki Pediatrician, Dr. Elaine Tan, and Nurse Liz Prince arrived at Rafiki. It’s a huge blessing for us to have them here to do yearly physicals for the children. In addition to tablets, ointments, and syrups, Dr. Tan dispenses smiles, hugs, and encouragement to follow God’s Word.

They ask prayer for:

Patience as we wait on the government for income-tax exemption, the school registration certificate, and our charitable children’s institution certificate.


• Wisdom for the Home Office as they evaluate bids for construction of the senior secondary school.

• Funds to be available to confirm building of the first residence hall.

• God to bring us a social worker, two teachers, and a Rafiki Mother-in-training.

• Court committals and birth certificates for the new children who have come.

• God to direct us to two more orphaned girls and one more orphaned boy to make a full complement of 100 resident children by the end of the year.

• Health and safety for everyone at Rafiki Village Kenya.

• Wisdom and discernment for leading well.

• Consistent supply of water and electricity.

• God’s provision for our next term which begins January 1, 2011.