Week 19

Week 19

Big Boy J Leaves

The beginning of the week big boy J left us. He has moved to a special needs home and he will still have the possibility of being adopted. This was a hard day as J was Katy’s favorite baby here. It is so hard to say good-bye to these babies and when the baby is your favorite it is just too much. It is also hard to know that he is moving to a different home and not going to his forever home. We continue to trust in the plans that God has for J’s life and are so blessed by the time that we got to spend with him here at the baby house.

Baby T is a Toddler

Baby T from big babies moved downstairs this past week. He is handling the transition all right. Everything is different and at first he just wanted to go back upstairs. When he realized that we get to spend time outside later in the day his mind was made up that he is happy where he is. He loves to be outside. He will turn 1 at the end of the month and we are excited to continue watching him grow and change with the rest of the toddlers.

A Day Away

This week Wednesday all of us had off except for Katy. We were able to get her off as well (thanks Auntie Mary and Auntie Sylvie!) and we headed off for a day of fun. When we were at Monte Casino after the Rhino and Lion Park we really wanted to get back and spend more time there. Margie said that she would be able to pick us up some morning and drop us off for the day. We talked to Lisa as well and she was able to come to. Margie picked us up around 9:45am and first we headed to a jewelry store near the airport. It was too fun to make this detour as this store is located in a 5 star hotel. Margie has bought many different pieces of jewelry here and many of the Door of Hope girls want to make a stop after seeing what she has. I decided to get a necklace in the shape of Africa that is zebra print. The stripes are silver and black. The black in the stripes are giraffe hair. I really love it and it did not break the bank. After this stop we started the trek to Monte Casino and took another detour through Alexandra. Alexandra or Alex as it is known around here is a township that is near Joburg. Margie asked if we wanted to drive through a part of it and just she was the living conditions were like. It was very eye opening and something I really enjoyed. I did not take any pictures because I wanted to respect the people living here and because I wanted to see Alex in person and not just from behind the camera lens. It was funny though as we were leaving we saw a guy pull out his phone to take a picture of us. 7 white women driving through Alex must not happen very often! Finally we did end up making it to Monte Casino. The first thing on the agenda was to find lunch. After checking out a few places we settled on an Italian place. I ordered pizza and it was really good. Then we headed off to explore more. We found out pretty quickly that Monte Casino is more of a place to eat and then come for entertainment. There was not a lot of shopping or things like that to do. There is a casino that we passed by, a movie theatre, bowling ally, theatre and outdoor bird gardens. We walked through the few stores that were there. One of the stores was a candy store and it had lots of American candy. There were even a few different American foods. We got some candy that was a bit over priced but skipped the extremely overprices box of Lucky Charms. Really who is going to pay $14 for a box of cereal?!? I did end up finding a skirt in one of the stores that I bought and I just love. There were a few more that I would have bought also but they were a bit pricey. After our day Margie met us for dinner. We went to Gourmet Garage and it was delicious. I had the best cheeseburger that I have had in South Africa so far. The last stop of the night was to Super Spar. We needed a few groceries and this Super Spar is known to have a few American things every once in a while. It always depends what they have but we went to check it out. It ended up being a miss on some of the things that we were really missing but we were all excited to find pop-tarts. The next day when we had some during teatime we all agreed that they were some of the best tasting pop-tarts we had ever had despite not being our favorite flavors. Overall it was a great day. It was so much fun to hang out together away from the baby house.

Bible Study and Mary Kay

This week Thursday Margie was not able to come to Bible Study. She watched another missionary couple’s kids last minute. The rest of us went on with Bible Study but threw in an extra bit. We had vegetable soup with bread and brownies for dinner and then shared in the Word together. After that we indulged in a little Mary Kay party. Cassie’s sister sent us the supplies. We all did the facials complete with mask and ridiculous make-up. We also tried some different hand products. It was too funny but we had lots of fun laughing at each other. So if you happened to run across any weird pictures of us looking crazy on facebook that is what went down. I am really loving the community of volunteers here and it will be very hard to leave them. We have formed friendships that we pray can continue to cross oceans.

Bachelorette Party

This past Friday we went to Little Italy to celebrate Lisa’s upcoming wedding. Most of the volunteers have to work on the day of the wedding unfortunately so this was nice to be able to celebrate with her. It was us from Door of Hope, some ladies from her Bible Study, girls from another baby home and some of the ladies from Jason’s family there. It was a fun place to be as there was live music and great food. We did get to experience what it is like to eat out in South Africa with a big group of people. We got to the restaurant around 6:45pm. We did not order until around 7:15pm and our food to did come out to us until around 8:45pm. Talk about a long wait! We did not end up leaving until around 10:30pm. I said I am not sure that I have ever sat in a restaurant for that long before. It was a fun night and very chill because that is what Lisa wanted. We all just had to comment that it was so fun to be part of a wedding celebration while we are here in South Africa. Lisa and Jason get married on Thursday in a private ceremony for only family and then will celebrate with family and friends at a picnic reception. We wish them nothing but the best and many blessing on this new journey.

Vacation…Again!

I am heading out of the country in two weekends. We are going to Swaziland with Margie. It will be Cassie, Candice, Katy and I. We are super excited! The whole reason for the trip is that my passport was only stamped for 5 months when I got here and I did not notice that or know how to handle that when I got here. You are able to enter South Africa for 90 days without a visa. We are leaving and then going to reenter so that my passport can be re-stamped for 90 days. If I did not leave I would be in trouble at the airport and would probably be facing a big fine for being in the country illegally. Margie has made this trip before and has everything all planned out for us. We are going to visit a glass factory and an African market in Swaziland and then will drive through Kruger Park on the way home. Hopefully we will see some great animals! It will be nice that we can all get away for the same weekend and this will be the last big trip that we make together.

This and That

-       We found the toy that my girl S is afraid of this week. It is a plastic cow. It is brown and has horns. She is terrified of it and I am not sure why. I was calling her to come sit in her chair for lunch and this guy was in her way. She took one look at it and her eyes got huge, she screamed and ran to hide. Finally I did get her in her chair. We have showed it to her again and the reaction is the same. Well it is sad there is something that is a bit funny about the whole thing as well.

-       We played cards again this week. Phase 10 was the game of choice. I love this game and sometimes it can be hard to find people that want to play all the way through with you. I won. This means that every game I have played here I have won. The girls think that I am just so good at games and I said that I am just lucky with this crowd. Better quit while I am ahead I think.

-       We got a huge donation of baby food this week. Around 2700 jars! It was a grand total of two flavors the kids are going to be mighty sick of it pretty quick.

-       I have to wish Aubrey a big Happy Birthday! I am so thankful to count you as a friend. I pray that this year is filled with unexpected blessings and beauty. Love you girl.

This week I ran across a poem while I was reading blogs. It really stood out to me and was what I needed to hear. I am not sure what is next and continue to seek the Lord for what it is that I am suppose to be doing when I get home. I know that I am suppose to be in Holland but that is as far as it goes. I don’t like the whole waiting for answers thing, but I guess that I have not yet run into someone who does. This poem said it really well.

Wait

by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, lovingly I cried

Quietly, patiently, lovingly He replied

I pleaded, and I wept for a clue to my fate

And the Master so gently said “Child, you must wait.”

“Wait? You say wait?” my indignant reply

Lord, I need answers, I need to know why

.Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming your Word.

My future, and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me ‘wait’?

I’m needing a ‘yes,’ a go-ahead sign,

Or even a ‘no’ to which I can resign.

“And Lord, you have promised that if we believe,

We need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:

I’m weary of asking: I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied once again, “You must wait.”

So I slumped in my chair; defeated and taut

And grumbled to God; “So, I’m waiting, for what?”

He seemed then to kneel and His eyes met with mine

And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, darken the sun,

Raise the dead, cause the mountains to run.

All you see I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.

You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.

You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair;

You’d not learn to trust, just by knowing I’m there.

You’d not know the joy of resting in Me,

When darkness and silence was all you could see.

You would never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,

But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of my comfort late in the night;

The faith that I give when you walk without sight;

The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

And you would never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’

Yes, your dreams for that loved one o’ernight could come true,

But the loss! If you lost what I’m doing in you.

So be silent, my child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of these gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all... is still... wait.

As I wait on the Lord I learn so much more about Him and have to rely on Him so much more. What a beautiful opportunity this is and something that should not be wished away. My new prayer is that I take joy in waiting in the Lord. He has everything planned and I need to let Him reveal plans on His time and not mine. Just a few thoughts from this week for you!

Love from Africa! (I still can’t believe that I get to say this sometimes!)

Emily