Musings from the Mother in MN

This will also be in my newsletter...but as I did not blog while I was home...SORRY, I thought I'd give you, by way of mom, an update on my fundraising trip back to Minnesota for the month of May. “We do what we can with the resources we have. At the end of the day it’s all about impact.” - Terri Lee Freeman, President, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region As I sat down to write this, I noticed the above quote in an email I had just received. It seems to fit perfectly with my sentiments as I think about the short and sweet, [albeit somewhat hectic], month I have just spent with my daughter who was home from Kenya to do her annual fundraising. As a mother and as a relatively optimistic individual, I wanted nothing more than for Jessica to have an amazingly successful [well, I really wanted BEYOND successful] mission of raising funds to support her work and the children who are sponsored. I prayed for manna from heaven; for a sugar daddy; for Ellen or Oprah or Angelina Jolie or Mark Zuckerman; for an over-the-top outpouring of generosity from ANYBODY! Jess arrived home on May 4th and returned to Kenya on June 6th. While in MN she spoke every Sunday in a different church; held another Harambee; met with individuals and mission committees; wrote proposals and traveled to remote sights for speaking engagements. She was tireless and full of hopefulness and mission…similar to the Kenyans she describes who live at the margins but are never without hope. I suppose mothers are also supposed to let go and trust that whatever transpired in those early years took root in some way. And so, trusting in God, in Jessica, and in the Kenyans with whom she lives and to whom she is devoted, I let her go again. There was no windfall, Oprah did not show up camera’s blazing, but resources came from many people – hearts were touched. I’ve come to understand that the amount was what God intended it to be, this is His work and, “at the end of the day, it’s all about the impact” and this mother has no doubt that the impact will be deep and wide and long-lasting. I thank each of you for continued support of Jessica on this journey and in this work. And Thank You Mom! For those of you who don't know. Mom just retired from Bethel University. She is now home at the farm "planning" the next chapter of her life with humor and dignity just as she has lived the previous chapters. Can't wait to see what she'll do next. I do hope the plan involves Kenya. Hint! Hint!