Sundays are definitely a favorite at our house. From getting to eat breakfast in your pajamas, to worshipping the Lord at church with all our friends, to having people over for a meal, to family game night – it’s a fun day! And today was no different!

At church, Abi ran off to Sunday school with her friends, and Naomi and got ready to play with “Baby Caleb.” Naomi never liked being in the nursery (which we call the creche here in Malawi) until she was given the mission of taking care of Caleb. She has fully embraced this responsibility, and you can see that she did her job well today!

We had the privilege of hearing Mayamiko preach from Psalm 119:17-24 in the main service today. We’ve known Maya for years, and he’s finishing up his first year in the MDiv program at CAPA, so it was fun to hear him put what he has been learning into practice. I was encouraged through the preaching today to pray more fervently that God would increase my longing for the nourishment of my soul that comes from the Word of God. I so appreciate being a part of and investing in a church that values the preaching and teaching of God’s Word!

Back at home, we were able to have a quiet afternoon with nap time for everyone. Abigail didn’t nap today, but Naomi made up for her lack by sleeping until 4pm. Shortly after Naomi was awake and back up to speed (it takes her a while), we heard Voxer beep on my phone and got to chat with Matt for a bit! What a great surprise, and certainly a highlight of our day!

At 5pm, our friend Barb showed up to have dinner with us and join us for family game night. Barb is a great friend, and has certainly earned family status! Enough so that I don’t feel bad feeding her scrambled eggs, toast, and hotdogs for dinner! =) But we cut the ends of the hotdogs and called them octopi, with coral reefs and the sea bed. That definitely sounds much more exciting, especially if you’re 5 or 2 years old…

After dinner we played Hullabaloo and Sorry! until it was time for the girls to go to bed. I don’t know how she does it, but Abigail can roll a 6 on demand. As 6 was the number needed to start your game pieces on the board, she played the board like a champ. The number of 6s that she rolled was a little disturbing, probably because I couldn’t roll a 6 for the life of me! There were lots of “Sorry!”s, a couple Naomi-sponsored board reshuffles, and plenty of laughter tonight.

I put the girls to bed, then Barb and I chatted for hours. Really, we kind of lost track of time and all of a sudden it was 10pm! She’s one of those friends with whom conversation can swing from philosophy, to silly childhood stories, to theology, to cultural anthropology, to bird watching, all without skipping a beat or needing a segue. I cherish those friendships and really enjoyed spending the evening with her. A nice way to end a fun, laid back day.