What Goes Around Comes Around

Day 52--We've known Jenna since she was a baby. Jenna's parents are Dave and Nancy, whom we had just seen in Essex. Jenna's family lived near ours in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, and we spent lots of time together. Our daughter, Alisa, and Jenna, three months apart in age, have been friends all of their lives. Even though they now live on opposite coasts, they still have a rich relationship.

It has been 10 years since we last saw Jenna. She was living in Oakland, California, working for an urban mission organization and investing in the lives of at-risk teenage girls. She had a passion for Christ and a passion for the poor. Those passions eventually took her to Kenya, where she worked at a mission hospital. It was there that she met and fell in love with Dexter, who is now her husband. 

While living in Kenya, they gave birth to their son, Kyalo (pronounced CHA-lo). A year later they moved to the States so that Dexter could attend dental school and become certified to practice dentistry in the US. After graduating in the spring, he accepted a job at a dental clinic in South Paris, Maine.

We had "met" Dexter and Kyalo only through Jenna's blog, so it was a treat to spend an evening with them. Kyalo is a delightful three-year-old--engaging, bright, happy, creative, cuddly. He radiates joy, and he loves life. He loves his baby sister.  He loves his "Bible." And he's already an avid Red Sox fan. Smart boy.

Kyalo also loves his one-month old baby sister, Malaikah Grace (pronounced Ma-LIKE-ah, which means "Angel" in Swahili). Malaikah is the youngest person we have met on our road trip to this point. 

While sipping Dexter's Kenyan chai and munching on Jenna's chocolate-chip-pumpkin muffins, we heard about their move from New Jersey to Maine, about Malaikah's birth, about the new friends they are making in South Paris. As we talked, Dexter cuddled Malaikah, very comfortable with his newborn daughter. He's clearly a natural father, very engaged with both of their young children.

It was fun to share Jenna-and-Alisa stories with Dexter. Thirty-two years ago Jenna and Alisa were Kyalo's age, and the two of them got into lots of mischief together. It is always amusing to read Jenna's blog and to hear her exasperation about some of the things Kyalo does. What goes around comes around.

It's not just michievousness that comes around. When we saw Jenna's love and care for her children and her husband, it was great to see that the grace, faith, and love that her parents invested in her have "come around" as well. 

We're seeing that a lot on this trip. Blessing and faithfulness from one generation to another. 

In the lives of so many of our friends and their children, it's heartening to know that what goes around truly does come around.