This boy was born, right here in Kijabe, Kenya.
This morning I thank God for one of His four greatest gifts in our lives. In honor of the day, I walked into maternity (where I now rush in to revive struggling newborns on a regular basis) and asked a student nurse to take my photo on the very bed where Caleb was born. We had come to Kijabe in January 1995, one of the first flights off our new jungle airstrip, after preterm labor was failing to resolve. We stayed in the Kijabe motel, took Luke to visit the rabbits at the demonstration gardens daily, drank chai at what is now Mama Chiku's, and waited. On Feb 28 morning I walked Barns with Luke on my back and that did the trick. Diane Bannister and Scott let me hold onto their shoulders to climb up on that bed, and Caleb Scott Myhre came perfectly into this windy beautiful place just after noon. We spent the rest of the day in a bed on maternity (what is now the 50's) and then took him to the motel where he slept in a trunk with the lid removed. About two weeks later we drove four days back to Bundibugyo.
This morning I thank God for one of His four greatest gifts in our lives. In honor of the day, I walked into maternity (where I now rush in to revive struggling newborns on a regular basis) and asked a student nurse to take my photo on the very bed where Caleb was born. We had come to Kijabe in January 1995, one of the first flights off our new jungle airstrip, after preterm labor was failing to resolve. We stayed in the Kijabe motel, took Luke to visit the rabbits at the demonstration gardens daily, drank chai at what is now Mama Chiku's, and waited. On Feb 28 morning I walked Barns with Luke on my back and that did the trick. Diane Bannister and Scott let me hold onto their shoulders to climb up on that bed, and Caleb Scott Myhre came perfectly into this windy beautiful place just after noon. We spent the rest of the day in a bed on maternity (what is now the 50's) and then took him to the motel where he slept in a trunk with the lid removed. About two weeks later we drove four days back to Bundibugyo.
Where the Bhana Bhana (4 kids) grew up. With wagon rides and friends and football and hikes and a sandpile and legos and stories and singing and bug bites and pizza and sombe and mountain peaks and funerals and school and gunfire and crises and love.
I would give much to see a smile like this on Caleb today. Thankfully our friends in Colorado Springs have managed to penetrate the Academy with some packages. But this 18 year old continues to hobble a hard road. He's on his 10th week of crutches, and as if that is not punishment enough, restricted to the Academy until he serves 50 hours of sitting in a supervised study hall. He plugs away at physics and Arabic and calculus and spends a couple hours a day going to do physical therapy. He encounters a constant stream of abusive interaction and stress.
When Caleb was born, God gave us the story of Abraham and Isaac to lead us to take some risks with an uncertain outcome. This year it is the story of Joseph that resonates: he also fell in a pit, served hard time, was isolated and challenged. But God used all that evil for good, both for Joseph, his family, and the world.
So please join us in praying for Caleb today. Thank God for his life, his courage, his grit. Pray that he would not lose sight of HOPE. That he would have true friendship and community in an environment that can be hostile. That God will redeem this year of torn ligaments and nose-to-the-grindstone work to mold a man who will bless the world in ways we can not foresee.
