New Roommate

It has taken me a while to get this up, but someone has moved in with us- Bill's sister, Denise!! She came back from Ethiopia in March and she brought her dog, Mia, with her.
Denise has been a veterinary missionary in Ethiopia for the last 6 years. She has come back to the States as there is no close-by team for her to work with and be encouraged by. In a few months, she will be heading out to Seattle to work for Christian Veterinary Mission at their offices. In the meantime, she is staying with us.
We cleared out Ben's room in the basement for her and stacked Ben and Luke together upstairs in Luke's room. Denise resides mostly in her room or the office as all of her work now is done with the computer. She wears fully-flannel lined jeans, thick wool socks, turtlenecks and beefy sweaters and a winter hat with ear-flaps to keep warm down there. Of course, as soon as she steps upstairs, she is entirely over-dressed and starts sweating! (Getting used to Iowa climate and a basement, no less, is taking a while.) Her day consists of sleeping (as you may well know) and then being followed around by Luke, who can't get enough of his Aunt Denise. Denise will entertain him by taking Mia on a walk while Luke rides his bike alongside. The only way she escapes him is by leaving for a physical therapy appointment for her back or by locking her bedroom door and screaming "Leave me alone!" Just kidding, though he can be a bit unrelenting. When she does buckle down to get something done, it is usually on the phone to tech support for her computer that has been refusing to hook up to the wireless internet or updating her Facebook status from our computer. (She started a new FB group: PAINN- People Against Invasion of Nieces and Nephews.) Sometimes she actually just packs up and leaves us, heading off to places like Texas and Arkansas, or northeren Iowa. In those places, she again, lolligags around, benefiting from everyone else's hospitality. Or, maybe she is still a missionary and it is her job to visit the churches that support her and let them know what is new in her life and visiting other family.
As for Mia, poor thing, there just isn't the wildlife here like there was in Ethiopia. Our "compound" doesn't exactly need guarding. I mean, there is nothing here to get excited for and bark about. She gets dragged around by strange children who want her to do things like fetch a frisbee or go through some obstacle course. Occassionally she gets taken on a walk, on which she is completely bored because again, there is no interesting wildlife- no camels, chickens, baboons, etc.  It's a hard knock life for this German Shephard.

Okay, joking aside, we love having Denise here. She actually does work, though her computer has been giving her fits, but amazingly, after sending it it two times in the last 6 weeks, Bill fixed it in 1 hour! She has a blog that is supposed to help keep everyone updated with things and you can link to her prayer letter via CVM from there. She could use your prayers always. Her back is definitely getting stronger, so that is a good thing. Her new position with CVM is for her to be the new short-term missions coordinator. She is still looking for a place to stay in Seattle, so pray for that too. When she leaves, we just might need a new roommate!