LUKE IS HOME!!!!

NYC, airport, Turkish Air, stopover in Istanbul, then Africa, landing, visas and customs, picked up by the Mayfield Guesthouse van and delivered to the guesthouse in Nairobi at 2 am. We told him to just SLEEP and we'd wake him when we arrived between 9:30 and 10 am. But when we pulled into the Mayfield parking area, there he was, bright and alert and looking at his watch, first words "What took you so long?" Ahh, our impatient restless Luke, still the same. He'd already settled his own bill and checked out, independent. 18. His fresh haircut courtesy of an RVA friend he visited a week ago who had clippers, his old favorite brown travel shirt, and a new pair of jeans he trash-picked. Full of stories, about America and life, Yale and soccer, professors and paper-writing, grades and competition, craziness and cliquishness, the lines of race which have thrown him, the opportunities and choices. Working for two weeks with the janitorial department not only proved financially helpful, it turned out to be a fascinating insight into American culture for this kid, as he went into dorms and cleaned up and picked up all the stuff people threw out, shocked at the waste, and as he hung out with non-students, older men. He unpacked some of his finds, nice button-down shirts, and told us about the fridge and the futon he got for his suite next year. He is so happy to be back in Africa, and we are so happy to have him. The whole family dynamic shifts as he blasts into our life again, energy and opinion, demand and delight.

Praying this summer turns out to be fun and formative, as he interacts with the Ma'asai doing research on traditional medicines. And very thankful for God's provision to bring him back into our home, his home, that he saw for the first time today.