Seasons of Growth & Divine Appointments

I'm going to see Mapile this week. THIS WEEK. It has finally come. I'll fly down to Capetown on Wednesday, and see Mapile for their closing ceremony at ALICT on Thursday. We get to spend the weekend in Capetown before we come home together.  Simo is going to stay here with some dear missionary friends of ours. My heart is so full, and I'm so excited that I can hardly bear it!

I've had some time to reflect on the last 3 months of Mapile being gone. This season has been extremely difficult, but in a super good, growing kind of way. One of my goals was to invest in friendships here during this time. God has allowed me to make new friends, and go deeper in already established friendships. I specifically prayed for God to bring Swazi lady friends into my life, as I have a tendency to always spend time with my western friends. It's been cool to see some of my Swazi friendships go to a new level too!

It's also been neat to see God's abundant provision in my life. I've bumped into so many people at just the right time... whether I was crying in my house after I put Simo to bed and someone knocked on my door, or friends being free to go out for lunch after church, or bumping into people at the grocery store, a phone call or message at just the right time... I feel like God's really seen me, even though I know He always sees me, it's nice to FEEL that way if you know what I mean.

There's also been big ways that God has provided for me - like a week ago when I got to attend a missionary ladies retreat in the southern part of the country. Someone was generous enough to pay for me so I could just attend the retreat, and a sweet missionary family was able to watch Simo so I could attend. The retreat was called Renew Me and it was such a blessing! I really felt renewed and encouraged after that weekend. I also made new friends!

The ladies who attended Renew Me

This has also been a cool season of me being able to connect with my Swazi relatives. I've been able to visit Gogo at her house 4 times. I think it's been good for our friendship because even though Mapile's not around, Gogo can hopefully see that I love her anyways. I was also able to have the kiddos from Gogo's house come up (5 of them) for a week in August during their school break. It was fun to have them here - we baked lots of sugary treats and celebrated 2 birthdays (Lungelo's 11th, and Mapile's 30th - we baked a cake for Mapile & ate it in celebration). They are a huge help with Simo, and we had a great time together. The week that we were together with the kids, Simo got sick with typhoid & a chest infection and was admitted for the day at Mkhiwa Clinic. She was discharged and able to receive IV outpatient treatment, but that made the week a little extra hectic.

Simo with the 4 boys from Gogo's house

Also, Mapile has had a great experience at ALICT. The training sounds like a very wholistic training - focusing on developing the individual along with the ministry. I believe that the classes he has taken will not only impact our ministry, but they'll be hugely beneficial in our family! I look forward to hearing more from him in person this coming week.

My heart is full, and the Lord has been so close during this time. You know, right before Mapile left I felt like God was speaking to me about idols in my life. He was reminding me that He needs to be my #1 in life. I've loved attending Liberty Church, and one specific Sunday the message was on heart idolatry. They asked us to pray & ask the Lord to reveal to us what our idols have been. I felt the Lord gently nudge me that sometimes Mapile is an idol in my life. It's been interesting to see that right after that, Mapile left for 3 months! It's also been really hard to communicate because of the tight schedule he has at ALICT, and so many times when I want to talk, or feel like I need to talk, we just haven't been able to. The Lord has reminded me often that HE is enough for me, and I can run to HIM with all of my issues.. and in fact, that's what He wants me to do.

I have a lot to praise God for! He is my abundant provider, my best friend, my faithful Father. There's absolutely nothing in life like knowing Him and following His ways. I've had so much peace through this season, my God is the Prince of Peace!

Thanks to so many of you who've thought of us & prayed for us! God has graciously answered your prayers.

Here's some pics of the kids visiting, and of course some extra of Simo. She'll be 2 years old on November 1st!

Sithembiso helping wash the car

Lungelo

Melokuhle & Simo

Likhwa

Celebrating Lungelo's birthday

Temavulane - the only girl in the group

Simo loves playing with her baby

Modelling the diaper & rain boots look

"LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure." - Psalm 16:5

Home Alone for 3 Months - the Ugly and the Beautiful

Mapile getting on the shuttle to Joburg 

Today marks my 4th day since Mapile left. So far it's incredibly more difficult than I had imagined. 

I'm a flood of messy emotions, and my thoughts have gone down some of the wrong trails. I've been missing my family so much lately, and now that Mapile is gone the loneliness is even more intense. My mind has gone everywhere from I want to quit to I want to give up. It's not easy leaving your home land and marrying a foreigner... finding work, having a baby, so many real struggles of everyday life.  I'm just so tired of everything being different, taking forever, and now trying to manage it on my own feels like the straw that could break this camel's back.  Mostly I just want to give up and go home. But then again, where is home? 

I guess I am home, and at the same time I won't be home until I get to heaven.

I got to talk with my parents the other night, and they encouraged me so much - to seek the Lord, to make the most of this opportunity, and to NOT let my thoughts go down all the wrong trails. My dad reminded me of Phil 4:8 "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." 

I feel like God has been encouraging to seek Him, and to put my hope in Him. Yesterday while Simo took her daily 30 min nap, I had a chance to read my Bible. I "just so happened" to open my 1 year Bible (which I've been reading for nearly 3 years now), and to one of my favorite passages:

Hebrews 11: 3-16, "All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Yes, indeed I'm a foreigner here on earth, and I'm longing for my heavenly home. 

But you know, life is short, and we've got to make it count. So as much as I feel like quitting, I press on. As much as I want to go home, I am home, and I need to make the most of where God has planted me. 

I have a goal while Mapile is gone to invest in the friendships God has given me here. I'm very thankful for the community of friends that God has provided for me to walk through this season with me.  I want to be intentional about hanging out with old friends and investing in new friends. I don't want to mope around - I'd rather pull up my big girl socks and make the most of not having to cook as much food or wash as many clothes as usual. I want to be more intentional about seeking the Lord and meeting with Him, because He is all I need.

I'm also very excited for Mapile to study at ALICT (African Leadership Institute for Community Transformation). I believe this is an ideal training for the work God has placed on his heart - our hearts. While I'm sure he's having a good time, I'm also sure he'll have challenges and difficulties too. 

So here's to making the most of every day, to hoping in God, and pressing on. 

Hannah

We've been missing our walks with Daddy!

Family Pics taken in June

So thankful to have this little stinker with me to hang out with!

Simo loves carrying toys around the store! (She especially loves kid chairs)

Simo at work - they had a jumping castle for a few days and Simo love jumping.

Attending a soccer game with the Liberty church team just before Daddy left

"No, I didn't have any frosting!.."

Simo with Uncle Mathias - she loves him, and loves when he plays guitar. 

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:14

Lots to Be Thankful For

These days there is so much to be thankful for, and I want to focus on the many blessings we've had in the last 3 months since I've written an update :)

I’m so thankful for my mom and dad – they got to visit us here in Swaziland during the month of March. Dad taught an expository preaching course at the Bible College, and Mom hung out with me most of the time. It was really fun having mom come to work with me. That way she got to meet many of the people that I talk about, and she got to see how cool my job is.  We had a really full schedule while they were here, because we all kept up with our regular work schedules. It was just great being able to do life together. We have lots of treasured memories. It was also perfect timing for Mom and Dad to come at that time because March is when Simo started walking! Dad was really excited to help her walk, and by the end of their visit she was walking around a lot.

We’re thankful for our daughter, Simo, who will be 18 months on May 1^st!  She continues to be such a joy to us, and it’s so fun watching her grow up. She has lots of teeth now and eats almost anything. Now she’s walking everywhere and often trying to run too fast for her little body to keep up with. She loves helping with anything that involves water or bubbles. A few weeks ago she got a cough and cold, and seemed to also be miserable from teething. Thankfully after about a week she got back to normal.

Zodwa & Simo

We’re also continually thankful for Zodwa, the auntie that I pick up and take to work with me to watch Simo. Zodwa is a blessing and Simo loves being with her.

We’re thankful for our jobs too. Mapile has been busy this school year keeping up with his classes, running the library, doing accountability group, and all sorts of odds and ins for the college. We love living at the Bible College and hanging out with the students.

I’m also thankful for the work that continues for me out at Project Canaan. We currently have 188 children. Lately we have been getting lots of severely malnourished kids. I continue to learn a lot from our doctor who visits twice a month, and just from working with so many kids. I love the staff that I get to work with, so that’s also a big blessing.

We’re thankful for car repair shops – and the guys who helped us out at Mega Glass in Matsapha to order a new window after our back left passenger window shattered on the way home from work a few weeks ago. It proved harder than we thought to find a window to replace it.

This season hasn’t been full of change or big things in our life, but it’s been one of those steady seasons where we just keep pressing on.  I’ve had several times of homesickness and sometimes aching so much for the life I knew in Indiana, but I know it was God that led me here, and I'm thankful for the life he has given me here.

With that being said, I have a few more things I’m thankful for: Mapile – he’s a great dad, and a wonderful husband. He is kind and patient with me, and continually forgives and loves me.

Most importantly I’m thankful for the Lord – for His presence in my life, and His word that continually corrects, rebukes, and encourages me. I’m so thankful that Jesus died on the cross, so that we can experience freedom, peace, and forgiveness from sin.

I'm thankful for friends who bring goodies from America! 

“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins, and heals all my diseases.”

– Psalm 103:1-3 NLT