Remaking

Thursday, November 6

One of my passions is interior design. I am one of those people who would be blissfully happy watching six hours of HGTV a day. Going through model homes or hanging out at Home Depot is my idea of a great afternoon! Yesterday and today Beth and I painted our kitchen, living room and dining area with help from some American women who have come to Lesotho to lead a women's retreat this weekend. We have had so much fun just putting our own stamp on the place where we live, making it our own. 

While paging through a design magazine today, I came across the following quote by Joan Didion: "A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest...wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his image." Immediately that made me think of our Heavenly Father. He claims us harder than we truly comprehend, shapes us, loves us radically, and conforms us to His image. 
  

For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.  --Ephesians 2:10

October 31 P.S.

We have just returned from trick-or-treating at Beautiful Gate. Thought you might want to peek at the little monsters :-)

Mercy the Cowgirl

Faith the Scarecrow

Hello Kitty! (aka Dakotah)

Eli the Dementor

What a frightfully fun evening! 

October 31...

Dare I say it...? Happy Halloween. It is Friday afternoon here and it has been a Pinterest Day for me! :-) Just a reminder, we are going into summer, and it feels hot already. No A/C, so we will be sweating it out. While our minds say it is mid-June, our calendar argues that it's October 31. Now most people in Lesotho don't seem to be paying a lot of attention  to Halloween, but WE have been invited to a Halloween trick-or-treat party with our fellow American friends. To get in the mood, I had a Pinterest Day. Take a look! 

Pumpins made from curtain fabric, plastic bags, and toilet paper

Candle holder made from an artificial plant arrangement

Our house was filled with orange when we arrived! Even many of the dishes are orange. It was looking like a halloween house, and so we are reclaiming our space and will soon be "gifting" our friends with new creations. "Orange" you glad you don't live near us anymore?

We're Home!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

No, we haven't gone rogue! We have been in Maseru for about 12 days now, but have not had access to the internet. Our flights went well and we arrived here on a Friday evening. The international airport in Lesotho had only one small plane when we arrived: ours! Customs/Immigration was a breeze :-)  

We spent the last week working on our house and getting ready for school. The front part of our house will be classrooms, and we live in the rest of the house. Wow! Working at home. It's awesome. 

Front Classroom

Younger Kids' Classroom (work in progress)

There are a lot of things to learn about and get use to: how to pay for water and electricity, keeping your house secure, driving on the right side of the road, etc. We have a water filter attached to our kitchen sink, and that keeps us healthy. Unfortunately, Dakotah has been drinking water from her shower and is now paying the price with a "watery stomach" and a rash on her bottom. Ouch! She's been walking like a cowgirl for the past few days. 

So, this is where we live. Come on over! 

Front Gate to Our House

View of Front 

Door to our "school"

The Carport

View from the backyard

   

1, 2, 3...GO!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Right now we are in a hotel near Washington Dulles Airport, soon to sleep and wake up early to catch a flight to Africa! Well, not just us...we are also taking along over 400 pounds of luggage! Tomorrow we fly to Ethiopia, then down to Johannesburg, and finally to Lesotho where we will be met by the Geurinks from Beautiful Gate. It still doesn't seem real.

2 funny things that happened today :

 

1. After sitting in the Grand Rapids, MI airport for about 30 minutes, Dakotah asked, "Are we in Africa?" Don't we wish! There is still a long journey ahead.

2. I showed Dakotah a Youtube video of BJ Thomas singing "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head." The video shows BJ Thomas with long wavy hair, probably in his early 50's. Dakotah thought it was Pastor Jack (Calvary Chapel Chino Hills)! We all laughed!!  

Thank you to so many who have helped us along the way. Please continue to pray as we transition to a new culture and lifestyle. Although things have taken longer than we expected, looking back I don't think we would change a thing. God knew...

Last Sunday the worship team at the church I attended sang "The Stand." So appropriate. The lyrics go like this:

You stood before creation
Eternity within Your hand
You spoke the earth into motion
My soul now to stand

 

You stood before my failure
Carried the Cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon Your shoulders
My soul now to stand

 

So what can I say?
What can I do?
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You

 

So I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
So I'll stand, my soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours

 

Yep, we're headed to Lesotho. I know I leave home as a selfish, willful person who knows very little about poverty, injustice, or untimely death. I pray that I will learn to surrender more completely and live with heart abandoned, and that God will work in our hearts so that we are ready and willing to do whatever He has prepared for us.

 

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

i finally Mustard the Strength to Ketchup on Times we Relish...

Monday, September 8, 2014

Hot dog! (Charis groans!!) We have made it to Colorado. So many things have happened in the past month. Sorry for neglecting the blog. Highlights:
1. Our house is in escrow. A week ago Saturday we had a "Take it Away" event in which we invited friends to come on over, take what they wanted, and leave a donation. Donated money would be used for our road trip to Michigan. We collected just over $2000 from some very generous people! 

Zion National Park

2. On Wednesday, September 3, we said good-bye to California and started making our way east. First stop: Zion. We stayed in Zion for a few days. Spectacular! If you haven't been there, it is a must see place!

3. After Zion, which we thought must 
be the most beautiful place in the United States, we took off for Colorado. The drive was breath-taking with hours and hours of open land, mountains, rivers, and stormy skies

Colorado!

followed by rainbows. Colorado challenged Zion as the most beautiful place. Beth, Dakotah and I started belting out patriotic songs from ages past. Charis just rolled her eyes and then decided to record our music for posterity. Reaching our destination, we crashed in on our cousins (and most gracious hosts), Melanie and Joel, and their crew of four boys, spending the weekend at their home. 
     Yesterday we were driving around to visit the old places from when from when Charis and I had lived here and we also planned a visit with Uncle Bill.

Uncle Bill and Charis in Denver

Unfortunately, I had set the parking brake earlier that day and neglected to release it when we took off again. Guess what happens to your brakes and brake fluid when you drive around with your parking brake on for about an hour. As we were exiting the freeway, I realized I had no brakes! The signal light turned green at the end of the exit and I was able to veer onto the street without hitting anyone. When the light turned red at the next intersection, I ended up driving up onto a sidewalk between a few trees where our car came to a rest. Good part: noone was hurt. Bad part: no more brakes! Today we are getting the brakes fixed before heading down to Oklahoma City to visit more family. 
Prayer Praises and Requests:
1. We are so thankful for God's provision throughout many unexpected circumstances. Thank you for praying for safe travels! 
2. We are blessed with family and friends who are going out of their way to make this journey a reality and our transition a pleasure. We love you! 
3. There has been some political unrest in Lesotho, and particularly Maseru, the capitol city where we will be living. We are watching the situation and have been advised to wait until September 19 (when parliament reconvenes) before booking our flight. Please pray for the country of Lesotho and the Geurink family with whom we will be working.

Steadfast

I was listening to this verse yesterday: "His steadfast love fills the earth." The news is filled with atrocities going on around the world. Many Christians are being imprisoned, persecuted, beheaded, crucified, burned alive...today. Yet, the Lord loves what is righteous and just; His steadfast love fills the earth. My prayer is that we will all be instruments of righteousness and justice, keeping our eyes open to His steadfast love, serving as conduits of God's love to the world around us wherever we are. 

We continue to be blessed to tears by many who are sacrificially supporting us financially, and even more through prayer. We only have $12,000 to go before we meet our goal. Our house is still on the market, but we have had some interested buyers come through. My pathology report came back clear, and the stitches will be removed next week. We have set a goal to be packed up and driving to Michigan by the end of August. His steadfast love fills our lives.