Striving for a God-honoring daily legacy amid life's beautiful adventure.
I love catching those moments of just the raw normality of learning to fit into a new space.
A new people.
A new friendship budding through vulnerability.
How I am blessed to encourage and witness the brave steps of these little ladies.
Friendships are worth the challenges of crossing languages and cultures.
It’s so beautiful to watch the Lord care for each of their hearts.
Thank you, Jesus, for answering this Mommy’s prayers for her loves.
Through the grace of God, we saw the first evangelical church launch among the Chopi (show-pea) body of believers. What better way to launch a church of 30+ new believers than to baptize most of them?
Our city church came out to support and launch the first Chopi church service. They’ve been there all along this process, faithfully sending at least one member down to the weekly Chopi Bible studies.
Before baptizing one new believer, he brought his old witch doctoring items handed down from his father and burned them as a powerful testimony of Christ’s newfound freedom in his life.
Then we trekked the 2k’s to the river and rejoiced in 21 baptisms.
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(Check out Eden cheesing big time as my happy freeloader. Hehe.)
2k’s back to the church tent and the celebration was on!!! Complete with the new believers’ first Lord’s Supper.
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Then came a post-service feast.
Please continue to guard your Chopi brothers and sisters in your prayers as they take off on these first steps of the adventure of Sunday morning church services. And as for their wonderful hearts? They’re already bringing to Matt a desire to press out to the next village with the Good News. We love their urgency, “Now that we know the truth, we have to go and tell them too because they don’t know yet!”
Thursday Bible studies are still going strong (even when we have guests, the girls and I are still heading out 2x a month for the Thursday study times) and now that Sunday services have begun, Matt is no longer doing the study on Mondays. So that puts our Chopi visits at Thursday’s and Sundays instead of the previous Monday and Thursdays. With Matt’s Monday time now open, he is looking to start a new work among other Chopi in another village.
We will keep you posted as God opens more doors, so please do join us in pounding the throne for the salvation of the Chopi people.
June came with some exciting stuff. One of which things was a visit from our Wilkins!!!!
You all, I can’t possibly express how much this moved all our hearts. They’re just our people, you guys.
They just fit like family and it was great just doing our normals together again.
Our Wilkins, you make our hearts so happy. Thank you for being you and tolerating us being us. We CAN’T WAIT until it’s our turn to come see you all in South Africa and do your norms together. Until then, you’re continually on our hearts and in our prayers. See ya soon on the flat screen. 🙂 Air hugs and air kisses!!!!
Ok, so I have some catching up to do here in blogland. First and foremost is one incredible kid that I owe a birthday post.
Our incredible Abi Grace turned 8 back in June and due to all the wonderful chaos of our schedule, I failed to get her up a birthday post.
Abi, my dear Abi.
You are a hoot and I am so grateful to get to be your mom. You are an absolute blast. I love your comic timing, your dry wit and your spunky personality. I love how you are not afraid of quiet and yet you sure love to tell a good story. I love how you run absolutely wild in the backyard and yet can sit so quietly and respectfully when you need to be. You are a great mixture of Merida’s wild freedom and a quiet lakefront watercolored on a blank canvas. Abi, I just love you and your awesome self and I am so thankful to have gotten 8 years by your side. Can’t wait to applaud you more as you grow and mature into new layers of awesome.
May it be filled with more reckless-abandonment hugs, wild wrestling tickle fights, and homemade bows and arrows in the backyard.
Love you so. Happy Birthday!
P. S. Way to improv on birthday candles.
Today our baby turns 4!!!
Eden, you are an absolute delight and we love your sweet little snuggling ways. Your little heart is just blooming as this fun-loving character is emerging.
I love how you have begun to see other people, especially little ones who need a friend, and while you are initially shy, you warm up well in hugging love. Even though you are now a huge four year old, know that Mommy and Daddy will always pick you up when culture feels too uncomfortable and uncertain. Also know that we see how you are flourishing in your quiet, but sweet little heart. Eden, we all love you so and even though your birthday is and will be celebrated in three different countries over the next few weeks due to travel, know that regardless of where we are or will ever go, you are treasured so in our hearts.
Eden, it’s a privilege to be your mommy.
I love you, Happy birthday.
(And yes, I will read you this to you like I read all the other birthday messages to your sisters, even if they can read. 🙂 )
Settling back in after a trip to South Africa finds me sitting in a quiet napping house with newly mopped floors. The week’s homeschool lessons are complete on this freeing Friday and the new trampoline is all set up to the squealing delight of four little girls.
Today our neighbor’s chicken decided to begin hatching her seven or eight eggs under our little “garden of Eden” tree. Little did mother hen know that we would be returning home with a pouncing seven month old puppy when she laid her happy little eggs under that quiet tree. You know mother hen was thankful I packed the toddler play pen gate in the crate so she and her little chirpers can live to see another day behind their fence of protection.
After completing week four of homeschooling things are starting to feel a little less crazy. We’re still working out the dynamics of six rambunctious girls in our home (with the addition of our two friends to our school day), but we are enjoying learning together. Patterns are sinking in so I no longer have to be everywhere at once. That right there is lovely, friends. Now I only need to multi-task two to three of these ladies at a time. That’s much more manageable. 😉
I’ve found myself in a state of quiet lately. We have been working through news of dear colleagues going on to see Jesus face to face after a bad car wreck in the Congo. They already are and will continue to be sorely missed, especially here on Sub-Sahara African soil. We held our breath and sent out continual prayers as we awaited news of another couple that we hold dear who were also among the wreckage. We reached out to ‘hold hands’ with our precious friends in Uganda as we all waited to find out when the dear couple would make it to hospital care. And as God answered our prayers in them arriving safely, they have begun to navigate through the shock and the trauma of all that unfolded in the horrible accident. In the quiet, we too begin to sift through it all.
I wish our arms could really reach across countries. Just to hold your friends and sit in the quiet together. And just pray. Just so they’re not alone.
We are just so thankful that while we are far, our prayers cover great distances in a mere second. God is not limited by time and space. He has proven Himself to be Enough. In all circumstances.
These past forty-eight hours have been more quiet in heart. Prayers continually going up. And between the giggles of bounding little girls’ education, I just find myself stepping back for a minute here and there and saying “Thank You, Lord. … Thank You for the gift of another moment.”
Thank You for the gift of another hug from one of these wonderful little girls.
Thank You for the gift of hearing my husband share an encouraging conversation with his accountability partner. I can hear the joy bouncing in his voice as he shares of what You have been teaching him lately.
Thank You for the gift of colleagues that are there to support us, even researching and sharing tricks on how to get rid of ants for a friend.
Thank You for the gift of friends in our city that help teach our kids responsibility and share in deep conversations about life.
Thank You for the gift of a well-trained, tongue-bouncing dog trotting beside my preschooler as they run in the wind.
Thank You for community and the feeling of home.
Thank You for friends at church and encouraging each other through life struggles.
Thank You for long car drives to just hold Matt’s hand and laugh about old stories while the girls sleep in the back.
And yes, thank You for even those little chirpers in the backyard that arouse such curiosity and delight as we feed them over the fense before retunring them to the neighbors.
Thank You, Lord.
I don’t deserve it.
It really is a gift.
This very moment You have given.
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