Go well, Owlie

 I'm a bit late in posting this update, due to Internet malfunctions and lots of busyness. Oh, by the way, God miraculously fixed the baby home internet, or so it appeared. There was a storm, and all of a sudden it started working again...Also, I'm home now. Next post about that!

But for now, I want you all to know that this sweet one, our Owlie, is in her forever family!

She looks pretty happy about it.

We are happy too although we will miss her greatly! Especially her auntie Joy who insisted that this naughty baby was an angel!

Actually, she's a pretty happy baby...now. Most of her early pictures looked like this:

She wanted to be held all the time! She usually got her way. =)

Sweet, lovable, squishy baby girl! You are loved. Your mama cried tears of joy when she met you for the first time.

It's been a pleasure watching you grow from this smushy-faced newborn...

...to this big, smiley girl!

I love you, Owlie! Go well!

~ Auntie Abbie

Updates!

So, the long overdue update post!

The big news is this: we now have HOUSEPARENTS!!! They are being screened right now, which means that we will be able to accept babies again when the process is finished! That probably won't be until January, but still, there is hope on the horizon! I have yet to get a picture of them, but Sbu and Sihle are an awesome couple from City Baptist Church, one of our sister churches, and I think it will be fun to live on the same property! I have known Sihle for a while - she volunteers at the baby home.

It will be good to have new babies again! Since Owlie's and Small's departures, we are down to just two babies. Don't get me wrong, we are always overjoyed when our babies find their forever families, but there are so many more babies out there needing care that we haven't been able to accept. It is so hard knowing they are out there and we can't take them! So hopefully soon, we will be at full capacity again. Even if Roo and Lullaby don't leave in the next two months, I can't imagine getting FOUR newborns in a short time span! Babies' arrivals are usually more staggered. I guess night shift will actually be a "real" shift then...=P Right now sometimes we sleep all night if the babies do as well! They are both older and such good sleepers.

Don't think our small number of babies translates into us sitting around twiddling our thumbs! We've been busy with AWANA, evangelism, volunteering at a school, spending time with people from church, and the list goes on and on, including a great mix of ministry and some fun activities as we wrap up our time here.

Last Friday was our last AWANA. Janelle and I ran the AWANA tuck shop.

 I got some pictures with some of the kids from my small group. It fluctuated a lot throughout the year, but I really enjoyed getting to know a more steady group of children the last few months. 

I was struggling - everything was really crazy and stressful and I would dread each week - but then I prayed desperately, "Lord, please help me learn to love this!" and He did! 

(It didn't really get any less crazy, though. LOL.) These three are a really fun bunch of girls.

Uncle Vinson single-handedly ran games on the last day.

Everyone was very eager for the tuck shop to open (even if they didn't have any AWANA bucks).

I've been doing some crochet, including these converse baby booties to sell when I get back in the States. If you're interested in a pair (or any crochet item - I do custom orders) check out Happy Heads Helping Hearts on Facebook. I'll be crocheting to raise support to come back next year.

I've started crocheting with some of the ladies from Salvokop, a local refugee community where many members of our church live. Unfortunately, we've only been able to have one lesson so far, but they want to learn to make all kinds of things, so hopefully we will pick up again when I return!

Mama Linda is such a huge help when it comes to crochet, especially with the language difficulties. Many of my friends speak English quite well but crochet is very technical! I am learning a little Shona (the language many Zimbabweans speak) but I haven't really gotten beyond greetings, polite phrases, and simple sentences like "I am cooking pap" and "Joy is naughty!"

Cute baby =). Not one of ours.

Toddlers happily playing during Bible study/crochet time.

Jacaranda season is almost over! I've enjoyed the purple cloud over the whole city.

I've also enjoyed spending time with our Gospel Community (Bible study group). We had a braai (cookout) a week or two ago (not when this picture was taken) and everyone had to tell about their week in a different language and have a friend interpret. I think we had 20 people there and 14 languages represented (including my pidgin Spanish...) Then it started to rain and we all had to squish into our little house!

Where....we ate chicken feet. They were...squishy.

Christmas decorations were up when we went to the store on October 20th. WAY, TOO. EARLY. Of course Themba was eager to point out "Christmas!" the entire shopping trip!

I found a lovely little thrift shop just a mile or so from our house! I was SO happy and immediately started accumulating things for next year...

Well, that's about all for now! I have more to write, if you all want to see a few pictures of our sightseeing and such. I found an ethernet cable, so I now have some internet access, at least enough to blog. I can't believe Alyssa and I leave in a week! Time has flown. I hope I am able to come back quickly. I miss my family SO much and can't wait to see them, but I love my life here. =)

From one set of hands to another.

We haven't had internet for about a week, so I haven't been able to tell you all the news going on here at the baby home!

Our sweet "Small" now has a forever family! (Owlie does too, but I'm waiting on pictures that I forgot to load to do a goodbye post for her...)

I got to write him a letter to send with his forever family. This isn't it (I didn't save a copy) but the same sentiment is there!

Dear Small,

You were so tiny when you came to us! You weighed less than four pounds. You quickly earned your nickname.

You came four days after me, you know. We have been here almost the same amount of time. I love you. You have been my special little buddy. I didn't get to take care of you much after they created a preemie room, but I enjoyed my weekly shifts with you when the caregivers left to go to Bible study. I would sit and snuggle you and love every minute. 

When you were four months old, I stayed with you in the hospital for a week - your other auntie stayed overnights and I would stay all day. You were really feeling under the weather and I did everything I knew to make you feel better. I rubbed your tummy when it hurt and fixed your oxygen tubes and fed you little sips of formula at a time so you wouldn't throw them up so much. 

Mostly I just sat and held you all day. It was a long week and the nurses were cranky. Some of them said some not very nice things about you when they learned your story - things that made me want to cry.

To try and help you feel better faster, we did some kangaroo care. You liked being snuggled up next to me. I have to say, it shocked a few people, particularly the ones who wondered if I was breastfeeding. =) They really did a double take when I pulled you out from under my shirt!

We have all loved you just as if you were our own. I loved to carry you around on my back!

I know your Mama probably is very sad that she couldn't be there for so much of your first year. 

But I want her to know that I (and everyone else) have loved you just as much as we possibly could, and hopefully we laid a good foundation for you to receive her love next.

I hope and pray you will grow to know Jesus someday. 

I have been so blessed to have you in my life this year! 

I will miss you.

Love,

Auntie Abbie

Support raising

Some of you have asked how much support I will need to raise. That is something I should be hashing out in the next few weeks. Unless I have a wealthy relative die and leave their inheritance to me very soon, however, I'm not in danger of meeting my goal for a while. =) So I have again put up a donate button on the side of my blog...if any of you feel led to give, that would be a blessing! As I already mentioned, I am trying to raise enough for a (used) car this time...which means paying for gas/petrol, insurance, and (hopefully not) repairs, so my support will be more per month than last time.

As I figure out exactly how much I will need to come back, I hope to break it down and do a post so you can see where the money is going. 

Updates:

Baby home screening - I can't really post much but keep praying for us as a lot of changes and challenges are ahead. 

"Roo" has earned two nicknames. (I need to get a new picture - this is an old one. He has short hair now. *tears*)

#1 - Stinkomazi. Inkomazi is this cultured, buttermilk-type drink that Africans are fond of. (I'm not really a person of culture, myself...unless it's yogurt. Or cheese. Remember how much Americans like cheese? A lot, according to my African friends.) Roo vomits ALL the time (I think he has/had acid reflux, according to our resident nurse) and every time, Auntie Jeanne would be all, "Inkomazi coming up!" His clothes are always kind of stinky, thanks to the vomit. Hence, Stinkomazi.

#2 - The Pillsbury Doughboy. (Actually, I've modified this to include his real name, but I can't post it here.) This is because he giggles like crazy! If I can get the internet to work speedily, I'll try to post a video of him laughing hysterically! Janelle was trying to remember what the Pillsbury Doughboy makes. "Cresent rolls? Biscuits? Sticky buns?"

"Yeah, he makes plenty of sticky buns! You just changed his nappy, remember?"

"Eeeeewwww!"

Pray for two of our babies as well - they should have some exciting news to share in a few weeks! 

Funny moment of the night: Joy is standing on a very wobbly rocking chair, trying to dust the fan.

Me: Joy, be careful!

Joy: Don't worry, if I fall you can just give me milk! Milk makes people stop crying!

Our beloved Auntie Jeanne has left us - she inherited a shop in Limpopo when her nephew, who owned it, moved back to Congo. She will hopefully be able to earn more money there to save for her eventual return to Congo. We miss her terribly - it was a very sudden departure and we only had a few days' notice.

Continue to pray for "Buddy," the little one who was in our care for only a week. We received some news on him, that was good in many ways, but it's a hard situation still, so keep him in your prayers. There is hope, and that's a good thing. God is working.

Sorry, guys, some of those updates were pretty ambiguous. =) Such is the nature of working with the social services system. Just wanted to let you know things are still happening! I'll do a post with lots of baby pictures soon. 

Exciting news!

So, I am excited to tell you that I GET TO COME BACK!!!

When?

Hopefully the beginning of next year sometime. I will need to fundraise before I can return.

I leave here November 9th, so I will be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas! I wasn't looking forward to coming home, at all, because it meant I had to leave. But now I'm coming back! (I'm really dreading saying goodbye to my roommate and now sister, Alyssa...not thinking about that.) So I'm pretty stoked about seeing my family soon. Not so happy about the winter weather back in Ohio. It's just starting to be summer here!

For how long?

Right now, it is a one year commitment. I was desiring two, but I can see the wisdom in one year (for both parties). In a year they told me we will reevaluate. So, there is certainly a chance that I could stay longer than a year, depending on how things work out (and whether or not I decide I desperately need to go somewhere else, but I'm not so sure about that....I'd have a hard time picking Bulgaria or India over here, now that I've put down some roots).

Why?

Because I've made family here. Because there are so many chances to work in orphan care. Because although I'm not always the best at determining this, I think it's God's will. (That I was here this year was OBVIOUSLY God's will, it was SO random and ridiculous how I ended up here.) Because I love it here? Because my passion is orphan care - hands on - and I have so much direction here, whereas I was kind of aimless at home.

(What, did you think I was staying for the chicken feet and mopani worms? =) Maybe someday I will get brave enough to try them.)

Fundraising - how much will I need, and what are my expenses?

Ehhhh....I'm not sure yet. We are going to sit down and have this conversation soon. Rent is $250 or so a month. I also pay for internet, food (the food prices here are cheaper than home, I think), and other extra things that I need. I will be on my dad's health insurance for the next year - after that, I will need to buy my own if I want to be allowed to stay in the country. (Thankfully it seems to be cheaper here than at home.) I am looking at buying a (used) car, so that will include all the expenses that come along with it - insurance, gas/petrol (you think prices are bad at home? you should check it out here!), maintenance, etc. (I am thinking about selling my car at home to help pay for one here.) Those are the basic ongoing expenses of life. I will also be buying a plane ticket, and paying the numerous fees that go along with applying for a volunteer visa. I don't have a set goal yet, but I will soon.

I will be opening up my crochet business, Happy Heads Helping Hearts, as soon as I get home to help raise money. I'm not sure I can crochet enough hats to buy a car, but with the exchange rate, every dollar goes quite a ways. =) I will be taking pre-orders in a few weeks so I can hit the ground running.

Prayer requests:

- We are still having trouble with our screening of a house mom. Now they are saying they don't want to screen single ladies at all, even South Africans, even though single moms can adopt and foster without a problem. We currently can't take in any more babies and have to keep turning them away, which is really hard.

- Our Gospel Community has been doing evangelism on Mondays. This prayer request is twofold - for the people we speak to, and for me (the rest of us too, but I am the one who is absolutely the most terrified, hands down).

 My thoughts are not very cohesive as it is, and even less so when I walk up to a stranger on the street. Evangelism is probably one of my worst fears, although I don't lie awake dreading it like I did at the beginning of the year...is that progress? I'm learning to love the Gospel deeply. I'm witnessing to my AWANA kids. (Not very effectively - half of them run around in circles while I talk, and the other half say things like, "But God will forgive you, because He knows you're trying," or "Surprise hit me! Make her stop!") But walking up to random strangers still terrifies me. The culture of evangelism at Living Hope has helped normalize it a little for me, and the culture of Africa is far more accepting of this sort of thing than American culture. Please, just pray for me! I am definitely the weakest link. We go out at 4:30 on Mondays - 10:30 AM back home in Ohio (EST). If you want to pray for us then (or any time!) I would really love it. I would also really love to know you are doing it. Please?

- That God will help me to trust him with this next step of coming back. I like being in control of my future, and although knowing a year ahead of time is great, and way farther than I knew a month ago, I tend to skip forward and say, "What about after that?" I'm also nervous about leaving my grandma again - she's really old (although still alive and kicking...) For someone like me, there are infinitely more things to worry about, as well...many of which are ridiculous.

- Fundraising makes me itch.

- That applying for a visa goes down without much trouble.

- Homesickness - I foresee having some of this.

- Saying goodbye to some of the people here (fellow interns, etc.) who won't be here next year.

- When I go home, I need to learn to drive stick shift. Probably in the snow and ice. Please pray I don't die or wreck the car and that I get really good at it before I come back here with all the super aggressive African driving!