August

It's been a busy month here in Pretoria at MBH! I always say I'm never sure quite how many people I live with. These are the people who actually stay in the same house as me:

Five babies (give or take)
Makoena and Garakai, our house parents, and their two children

But these are the people who are always here, or frequently in and out enough that it almost feels like I'm living with them, at least to some extent:

Britt, one intern, and another girl who is staying "downstairs" (in the back cottage)
At least two interchangeable nannies
An endless procession of volunteers, church family, family of nannies, friends, friends' children, people taking tours, social workers, foster parents, adopting families, visiting biological families, etc, etc, etc.

So, technically, I live with nine other people in our immediate house but it feels like more!

Sweet boy J1 was adopted today! Our loss is his gain. Please pray that he will know and love Jesus as he grows up.

I won't have TWO boys anymore as baby girl C is moving from Room 1 to Room 2 to balance things out. 

I will miss all the twinning...

...and the peaceful naptimes!

Baby J2 (now just baby J) is finally holding his head up, and smiling more! 

He is so chubby he has earned the nickname "Baby Oros" after the fat cartoon on the Orange Kool-Aid type drink that is popular here. (Only this is from an Oros Lite bottle and J is NOT light. Ha!)

Baby C is growing and not crying QUITE so often. I found out she really likes to be swaddled when she is sleeping.

From top to bottom: L, Auntie Patricia, M, and C. L and M are growing as well! L is starting to crawl and sometimes we find his adorable face peeking into the kitchen, so we have to keep the gate shut! As you can see, they keep Auntie Patricia busy tending to their needs and helping them with development exercises!

We made a lot of trips to the clinic for immunizations this month! It's crazy how many appointments we have some months.

The two T's on a grocery shopping trip. They got free balloons. They bopped all the things. Their mom, who has a paralyzing phobia of balloons (because they might pop and scare her, not because they are a choking hazard) was very happy that these ones quickly met their demise.

A number of us from church made a trip to visit the observatory in Johannesburg this month. We listened to a talk about the solar system and looked at Saturn through the telescope. (I saw two rings!)

1Hope had a team "hike" this month. It was actually a walk, but it was nice. Someone had a selfie stick and we used it a lot! We wandered around Rosemary Hill (which wasn't a hill, but a farm) and then had lunch. We finished up with a braai (cookout) at the deWitts' house and sat around talking into the evening. 

Mama Linda is going home to Zimbabwe during her vacation this month, so we went shopping last Saturday. This is Marabastad, which is probably the most African part of Pretoria. Hang onto your handbag!

We drove into the parking lot next to the questionably cooked meat, but did not find a parking space despite sitting in the queue for a long time. I was about ready to give up, but we eventually found parking in the lot next door. This place will exercise ALL your combative driving skills.

Like this intersection - it was kind of a joke. I'm not even sure what was happening there...

...but it involved a lot of taxis and one large bus.

We did, however, make it out alive, intact, and with no possessions stolen - so it really isn't that scary. ;)

That's about all the news I have for this month! My goal this month is to journal regularly so I have more funny stories to tell you! 

Enjoying singleness

I think at one point I had a really snarky and clever title for this blog post...it's probably just as well I forgot it, ha ha!

I am 27, and I am single. This alone causes a number of people to feel sorry for me, or at least feel the need to reassure me that "don't worry, someone will come in God's time!" Well, maybe they will, or maybe that time could be "not at all," but either way I'm not sitting around pining, twiddling my thumbs, and feeling sorry for myself while waiting for my life to begin.

Let me clarify here. I think marriage is wonderful! God created it and it's a very good thing. In fact, I do hope I am married one day. And I look forward to loving and serving God alongside someone for life. Marriage is great. Kids are great. I hope I have both someday. (And I'm not opposed to single mom adoption, either, in fact I'm a fan, although I'd have a lot to think through, plan, pray about, and talk through with a lot of people in my life.)

But singleness is also great. This is actually in the Bible, yet some Christians act shocked when I tell them I thoroughly enjoy my current status. I had this conversation recently...and although my memory may be a bit fuzzy on the exact words exchanged, I am not exaggerating...

Me: So, I do want to get married someday...in the future...but I really LIKE being single.

Newly Engaged Friend: Noooooo!!! That's wrong!! You can't enjoy it!

Me: But...Paul says it's a good thing in Corinthians.

NEF: But still! You can't ENJOY it!!!

My naturally stubborn nature says...why not?? If you tell me I shouldn't enjoy it, I will enjoy it even MORE! Ha. But seriously though, I'm single and I don't particularly enjoy being pitied for it. I actually love my life. 

I love working in ministry, and if I married, I'm not sure I'd want to leave it. I love caring for babies that need a home.

I would say I love my independence, but in my situation, I depend on others, and I have a LOT of people who depend on me for everything from rides to church to finding the sugar (like a mom, I'm apparently the only one in the house with x-ray vision). And although it may be tiring at times, it is good practice in laying my life down for others. I don't think people are meant to be as isolated as we are in the States. 

I love my little room, even when I'd rather have my own place, because I'm learning contentment.

I love my church and the fact that my adopted family is as real as any biological family.

I love the future, the potential of years ahead of loving and serving alongside these people, and the unexpected things God brings into my path.

I love living in South Africa, early morning walks in the neighborhood, trying to learn languages, finding new things and places to love.

I love the good, the wonderful, the crazy, and the obnoxious about living in the baby home...New babies arriving.  Bengu dancing in the sitting room. Four people trying to cook four separate dinners. "You wash, I'll dry." "Can I borrow an onion? Cooking oil? Sugar?" The endless requests to "show me how you cook that!" Embarrassing lessons in cooking pap - which seems like it would be easy, but taught me a very humbling lesson in patience for the next time someone asks me how to scrape a bowl with a spatula. Seven-minute workouts. Saturday morning scones and dancing as people run in and out. Rapping into a bottle of soy sauce about grasshoppers and mice. Earnest conversations, tears, laughter. Endless, endless Psalty, Steve Green, and Slugs and Bugs songs filtering over from our slowly dying TV. Piles of laundry loading into our washing machine that constantly sounds like it's readying for takeoff, no matter how many times it's fixed. Gertrude's stories of her childhood. Labor advice for pregnant moms. ("Scream really loud.") African and American dishes cooking side by side. Babies crying. Babies laughing. Learning to love each other well.

I love my good God. I love the fact that He is my dwelling place, my family, my joy, my ENOUGH, whether He brings someone into my life or not. And I hope He does. Just maybe not quite yet.