Babies are growing and leaving and new ones are arriving! Right now we still have Littlebug (2 1/2 years), Special K (15 months), and Babybear (14 months). Our new arrivals are M&M (2 months) and Pipsqueak (5 weeks). In addition to our five, we also spend a lot of time with our houseparents' kids, Big T (3 years) and Little T (2 years). The MBH toddlers are into everything - and testing as many limits as possible! - and the little ones are at the age where they want to be held 24/7, so we are very, very, VERY busy, even with two caregivers on shift a large part of the time.
"Where's Littlebug?" Hmm, I don't know, certainly not under the screaming, giggling pile of almost every pillow and book MBH owns...
Umm, I think you're a bit big for that, Littlebug!
He insisted this green tomato was an apple, and took a giant bite to prove it. He wouldn't admit he was wrong, either...
Special K's sass level is off the charts. She learned how to say my name yesterday, and spent a good chunk of the afternoon repeating it over and over and whacking me as hard as she could to get my attention (like I couldn't hear "Abbie! Abbie! Abbie!" on repeat!)
Making a joyful noise after church - a very noisy joyful noise!
They can be pretty sweet, though!
"Huggies!"
Several kiddos had birthdays since my last blog post...
It's SuperBabyBear!
Recently I had the chance to take Big T, Little T, and Littlebug (with the help of several friends) out to the farmer's market on a Saturday morning. They had a blast. They all enjoyed the "train" but were too afraid to go on the pony ride.
Afterwards we stopped by the German butchery and bakery, where they were entranced. I'm not sure what everyone around me thought when I walked in alone with three toddlers who were all shouting "Salami! Salami!"
We had an Easter egg hunt.
Some of us seemed more excited than others...
Life with my housemates (pictured below) has been nothing short of wonderful. We have been staying together since October, and have had zero conflicts - they are so easy to get along with! We really enjoy praying together every night and talking about our day - as long as we are all home, we don't skip, even if it's 10 pm! Life and ministry can be stressful and to have your home and family as a haven is such a blessing.
Unfortunately, our intern, Luise is only here for two more months. If it were up to me, I'd keep her in SA forever!
We finished our gallery wall forever ago, but I guess it's been so long since I posted that it's still "new news" here. I just love it! I did most of the pictures, but several were done by church friends.
I also flipped this dingy-looking, lidless box from the thrift store...
...into this blanket chest for a corner of the dining room. The mirror was one of my projects too. I broke my full-length mirror, so I had it cut and made a frame to fit out of pallet wood.
This last month has been rather challenging, due to my (questionably) faithful car, Sunshine, needing some major repairs. Something was wrong with the engine - I don't understand the inner workings of cars particularly well, but I am thankful that I have several friends who do, and were willing to talk to the mechanics and help me figure out what to do. The first repair shop gave me several quotes, one a little over $1000 that would only last for a couple of months, and another one, closer to the original price of the car (!!!) that would thoroughly fix the problem.
I hemmed and hawed for a while - by no means was I paying that much to fix a 12 year old car! I didn't know whether to try to fix it and sell it - that seemed like I would be losing money, but I didn't think I'd get very much for it as-is. I ended up finding someone who would fix it better for much less, but I have decided it's time to sell. Sunshine has been costing me an enormous amount in repair bills, several hundred dollars at least every few months - and even if this problem isn't an issue, I'm sure there are many more expenses right around the corner.
So I am going to have it repaired, but then start car shopping (and simultaneously trying to sell it - hope the timing of that works out...)...but this time, for a minivan, or at least the closest South African equivalent, a MPV. The trunk is very small, but it seats seven people. (If anyone would love to donate toward this expense, you can check out the link on the side of my blog!) It will unfortunately be more expensive when it comes to gas/petrol and probably insurance as well. However, our church community in our neighborhood is growing - but most of them don't have cars - and a larger car is a real ministry need, both for my job at MBH and for church. I often have many more people needing a ride than can fit in my tiny car!
In the meantime, I've been car-less for about three and a half weeks. I've been surviving catching rides with others and using public transport, which has resulted in many enjoyable adventures. It IS possible to get around this city without a car, and it's not overwhelmingly expensive to get where I need to go. Despite this, being without a car is not a good long-term solution - I've mostly been living out of my pantry and freezer instead of doing much grocery shopping, I can generally only get where I NEED to go, it's far more time-consuming, it's much more expensive to go out at night, and my ability to help others with transport is now pretty much nonexistent.
Luise and I taking all five of the babies to church - Living Hope has a 16-passenger van, but counting kids, it's more like a 24-30 passenger van...
One of the biggest reasons I've been so bad at updating here, is, as I mentioned in my last post, that I started school. I'm going to Theology of Biblical Counseling class every Tuesday night. Luise is auditing alongside me, but I'm doing the homework...and the homework load is pretty heavy, especially when I am working full-time and heavily involved in my church community. I haven't done any sort of school in 8-9 years, so getting my brain muscles back into shape has been pretty painful, particularly when I already struggle with time management! I've managed to turn everything in on time, but by the skin of my teeth, and it has meant a lot of late weekend nights - due dates are on Sundays. However, I am sort of almost done with my first module, out of eight, so I can see progress! I'm learning a lot, most importantly that most of the issues we have are because we are believing something about God that isn't true. It's hard, but it's been very worth it! Please keep praying that I can learn more and apply more to my own life, and that I would be able to help others - also, that I'd be able to manage my time well.
Thank you so much for all your love and support! I love hearing from you all!
