Dear friends and family,
Hello! Hope you are all
doing well. I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last newsletter, but I’ll try
to catch you all up to date now!
I spent last November
working on a research project and finishing up my second year of Biblical
Counseling studies – the halfway mark! It is a lot of work (especially when you
work full-time, have a social life, and are a chronic procrastinator...) but it
has been worth it and I have been learning a lot! The rest of the year end was
filled with a lot of activities – Thanksgiving, parties, our 11-year church
celebration (we were supposed to have a 10-year celebration last year but
things kind of got derailed), cookie-baking with friends, and so on. South
Africa has been hit hard by the coronavirus, but we moved to level 1 lockdown
last year in September or October and life was the closest to normal it had
been for a long time.
I was blessed to be able to have a coworker (and friend) live with me for six weeks while she was in between living situations – that was really awesome. Oh – and I got a different kind of housemate, a two-month-old kitten, who has been quite the source of entertainment. I’m really enjoying him. His name is Naartjie, the Afrikaans name for a clementine – he has ginger patches. He’s snoozing next to me as I write this. It’s fun to have a little companion who wants to hang out with me all the time, although I look forward to the day when he can no longer fit under the bathroom door!
Unfortunately, the infection numbers for SA began to rise and several days after Christmas, the president announced a regression to a level 3 lockdown. We are now no longer allowed to have church services or any social events. We are at least allowed to meet in restaurants (they have really pushed to keep the economy open this time). The regulations are confusing and and difficult, but we are trusting that God is still sovereign and praying that we are allowed to get back to normal soon. Meanwhile, it is very hard. I understand the importance of keeping people safe – I have quite a few friends and family members of friends who have been sick – but it’s really very hard to not be able to spend time fellowshipping with others in person.
Life at the baby home has continued more or less normally. I’m thankful that I still get to see my coworkers every day, and I’m enjoying doing a lot of fun things with the kids. We currently only have three babies, although we could get calls for more any day. We have two seven-month-olds (if you remember Sweetpea and Daisy from my last newsletter) and Babybear, who will turn three in a couple of months. In addition, our house parents’ children are 5, 4, and 6 months. Makoena (the house mom) homeschools her 5 and 4 year old, and I am able to help with some of that, including Babybear in it as well. We do Bible time, memorization, science experiments, art projects, alphabet activities, music class, and a lot of reading books together, among other things.
I’m also working with B on his colors, shapes, counting, etc. He enjoys “doing school” and fun activities like sorting his cars out by color or matching his shape blocks. He’s very smart and is learning a verse for each letter of the alphabet – he can officially say up to F, although he knows a lot more when he’s reciting with the older kids. (I’ll never hear James 1:19 the same way – “slooooooowwwww to speak, slow to ANGER!” as he makes the cutest angry face!) He’s also learning the same catechism as the others, and he knows the answers to at least the first eight questions. I’m sure that he doesn’t understand everything that he’s committed to memory, but I’m thankful for the chance to help him hide these things in his heart while he’s young, and we pray regularly that God will save these kids as they grow older! Please pray with me – it’s such a burden on my heart.
As 2021 has rolled around, the time rapidly approaches for me to renew my 3-year visa. I’ve had to face a lot of decisions regarding this – what kind should I apply for? Should I attempt a work permit? Should I renew here? Should I apply in the States? Should I renew my passport since I only have two years left on it? Visa issues have been an ongoing temptation to anxiety for me, ever since I had some problems the last time I applied. I really struggle with not having an assurance of permanency. Please pray that I can trust God with everything and live the life He has for me now, instead of spending time worrying about the future – that I can put my hope in Him and not in the government or a piece of paper. There have been a lot of chances to grow in this over lockdown, as so much is out of my control. But, it is slow going! Practically, I am thinking that I will probably try to apply for my visa here, then come home later in the year when I have a new visa and I can relax and enjoy my family and friends a bit more, without paperwork stress. Of course, this all depends on what travel restrictions look like. Right now, the US just put a ban on travel from South Africa. US citizens are exempt, but I would need to quarantine, and that would eat up a lot of precious furlough time, so I’d like to wait until that is no longer necessary, if possible. Please pray with me that I can get everything sorted on a practical level.
I hope everyone is doing
well. I love to hear from you all – thank you to everyone who replies to my
newsletters and blog posts! I will definitely do my best to answer anyone who writes to me.
P.S. My phone was stolen through my bedroom window (while I slept in my bed!) in December, the week before Christmas. Thankfully they didn't access any sensitive data such as bank accounts, etc., but it has proven to be quite the headache trying to get everything sorted - not to mention expensive, as they stole it shortly after I bought a new phone to replace my very old, very junky one! Anyway, I just wrote my quite belated quarterly newsletter, got on my email to send it, and realized that for some bizarre reason (maybe they had no idea how to wipe a phone) the thief had deleted my group of newsletter contacts. I know it was them, because at the time, they also deleted the email in my inbox - although I found them in my trash, since I checked right away. I still have a number of email addresses, but I have NO idea if I have all of them. I'm going to build a new list from scratch, so if you aren't on it and you want to be, or you are on it and you don't want to be, please let me know.
P.P.S. Thankfully, someone had a list of my contacts from one time when I forgot to send my newsletter BCC, so they have been recovered! But still, if you haven't been on the list and would like to be, let me know! =)
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