Wedding Pictures!

I finally have some wedding pics for you! The photos are much more beautiful if you are looking at them off of the USB from our awesome photographer. Unfortunately I had to decrease the image quality a lot in order to post the pics online, so I wish that you could all see these pics in their original version... but at least this will give you an idea of what the day looked like.

For the most part, I think I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. It was a wonderful day, full of lots of joy! We were so blessed to have so many people jumping in to help in all sorts of ways. We continually praise God for the way he provides for us and blesses us.

Morgan - My hair and makeup artist

The cupcakes that were served at the wedding. A good friend of ours named Joy made 300 cupcakes! She also made a beautiful cake, which I don't have a picture to show you... but it was beautiful. 

The Gym at the college - where the wedding took place. 

The reception hall is connected to the gym so we just walked from the wedding ceremony right into the reception area

Before the wedding we took some pictures, so these are, "The first look."

Ladies from Mphosi Church, the church that we pastor. 

Pastor Shongwe was our M.C. for the day

Clark Cheney and Nondi Mazebuko - they threw sweets instead of flowers before the bridal team came in

Mapile's cousins - Sithembiso and Temavulane

Mathias Croft and Sibonelo Langa

Mgcini Magwaza - the coordinator of all the dancing

The ladies from Mphosi

Dad prayed with me before we walked down the isle

Rev. Mngometulu did our wedding vows

Olivia Cheney - Basically she was the maid of honor. She did so many last minute things - like carrying the cake table and holding my microphone, along with many other things. She was so helpful and willing to jump in and do what needed done. 

The Bridal Party

The guys Mapile grew up with - His brother and uncles

Mapile's sister & uncles

September in Swaziland

September is the end of winter and the beginning of spring in Swaziland. Today we had our first hard rain, and I always love it when the rains start to come. I never get tired of smelling the fresh rain on the dusty, dry ground. It’s one of those things that takes me back to growing up. The jacaranda trees are also starting to bloom and even drop their pedals, and that’s another piece of life here that reminds me of growing up. As much as I miss my home in America, there are so many things here that feel like home.

Speaking of home, I wanted you all to see what our house looks like now that we’ve been living here for awhile.

The ramp coming up to our house (Good exercise on a daily basis)

The veranda leading to our door

Looking inside the living room

 Kitchen

View from the kitchen window

Bathroom – We have all the buckets because there is not hot water, so we boil water and use the buckets… .Though I’m not complaining – I’m just thankful for running water!

Bedroom

It has been a great blessing for us to be able to stay here. This place has been a safe place, and it is starting to feel like a home.

A big part of what I’ve been doing is settling into our home. Making curtains, buying home-making stuff, establishing a supply of things to use in the kitchen, etc. I also participate in the things going on at the Bible College. On Wednesdays and Fridays there is a morning chapel service. I attend a discipleship group on Wednesday evenings. Usually on Wednesday afternoons when the most of the male students play sports, I get together with the ladies on campus for a cooking lesson. One of the students named Faith has been teaching us different recipes that she learned growing up. I spend lots of time doing laundry, sweeping the floor, cooking, baking, and studying Siswati. I still have a lot to learn in Siswati, but I’m definitely gaining in my knowledge of it. In the evenings during the week I usually go for a walk with Dorcas Croft – one of the missionaries on campus.

Sometimes when I bake I will take some of what I cook to a friend’s house and visit with them. Yesterday I took some scones on a trip with Rev. Thabsile Thwala (The director of the Fortress & Children’s home), out to a rural area where some of the kids at the children’s home came from. I also spent some time helping Rev. Thwala in her office since she does not have a secretary.

In the evenings sometimes Mapile and I play volleyball together. I have also been able to help edit some of his assignments for school. Also sometimes I go over to the girls dorm and hang out with the Bible School students there.

As far as my work/nursing license paperwork goes, there has not been much progress. The nursing council in Swaziland only meets twice a year, so I am still waiting for them to meet. They said that they will meet sometime before December, but they are not for sure when. I am enjoying being a house wife and staying at home, but at the same time I’m anxious to find work.

God continues to be so good to us. It is such a joy to be married to Mapile and to be living in Africa.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Our Wedding

I can hardly believe that August 15^th came and went already. So much planning and preparation, many late nights and changes in plans… and finally we are married.

The night before the wedding we had a rehearsal. It was mostly so that our bridal team could practice their dance steps. Yes, here in Swaziland, the bridal team doesn’t just walk down the main isle, but they dance! They practiced until about midnight to make sure they had the steps down.

The wedding was a beautiful day. It was a sunny Saturday, without too much wind. My day started early… mostly because I was so excited that I woke up before my alarm clock. A newfound friend of mine named Morgan volunteered to help with my hair and makeup, and she was such a joy to spend time with! My mom helped me get my dress on in the morning. There were many, many people who blessed us and helped us with all the wedding preparations. A friend from South Africa named Joy made us a beautiful wedding cake, the Bible school students helped us clean the building, Dorcas Croft (one of the missionaries on campus) did the decorating, many ladies helped cook in the kitchen, and many more people spent lots of hours helping us.

The wedding was supposed to start at 10:00AM. Since things weren’t quite ready for the wedding to start on time, we took pictures instead. We had a real photographer to help us with that. She’s a really sweet American lady who has been living here in Swaziland for almost a year now.

 

 

We ended up getting started about 11:00AM. A whole team of ladies from our church marched down the isle first in their traditional clothes. Then the bridal party danced in as practiced. When it was time for my dad and I to walk down the isle, he stopped in the doorway, held my hand, and prayed with me over this marriage. That will always be one of my treasured memories from the wedding.

Then, as most weddings go, we said our vows and exchanged our rings. Maphile lifted the veil and kissed the bride. We signed our marriage certificate and lit our unity candle. After that, we took our seats with the bridal party in front of everyone. Many beautiful songs were sung, my dad preached, we took up an offering (a normal tradition in a Swazi wedding), our parents exchanged words of appreciation to one another and gave each other gifts, we cut the cake, and we danced out!

 

The whole wedding took about 3 hours. Right after the wedding had a lunch reception: where we ate together. There were no best man speeches, toasts, or dancing at this reception. We just ate our food, took a few more pictures, and then it was over!

We had been praying that our wedding would be glorifying to God. We wanted it to be more than our lifelong commitment to one another. We wanted those people who came to the wedding and didn’t know Jesus to hear about Him. We wanted those who are struggling in their walk with the Lord or in their marriage to be encouraged and challenged to seek the Lord. God gave my Dad a wonderful sermon to preach, where he shared the gospel and encouraged everyone to obey the Lord and go deeper in their walk with Him. I trust that many people were challenged that day, and I know that God answers our prayers!

After the wedding we went to Johannesburg to catch a flight to a place called Plettenburg Bay. My grandma blessed us with a beautiful timeshare at a resort there. We spent the whole week on the beach, and rested after all the hectic wedding preparations.

On the way to the honeymoon!

 

One of our most exciting days on the beach was when we went with a group of people to snorkel with the cape fur seals. We got geared up in our wet suits, jumped in the boat, and rode 15 minutes to where the seals live on the coastline. We went up and down the coastline looking at the seals, but we didn’t get in the water. After some time our guide said, “You may be wondering why we haven’t gotten in the water yet, but we’ve been looking for unwanted visitors, and unfortunately we’ve seen three.” Then she told us to look down in the water, and there was a great white shark beneath us! We could see it through the clear water, and we watched it try to attack some seals, but the seals got together and chased it away. There ended up being a total of four great whites that we saw on the coastline, so needless to say, we didn’t go swimming with the seals. On the way back to the resort, we saw two whales (which I prayed that morning that we’d see!), and many dolphins. Some of the dolphins came and swam right by our boat!

 

Now we are back in Swaziland. We got back this past Sunday afternoon. Maphile has been busy catching up on his schoolwork, and we have been settling into our home. This week we bought a futon, a dining room table, and a washing machine, so our house is coming together quite nicely. The days go by so fast. I am enjoying spending time in my new home and organizing our things. I hope to eventually work at a clinic in Manzini, once the paperwork all gets sorted. I need to have some type of a work permit and a valid practicing nursing license for Swaziland.

These photos are mostly the ones from facebook that you have probably already seen. When I get new photos from the photographer I’ll try to share those with you.

Thanks for your prayers. Though this has been a fun and exciting process, I sure do miss my family and friends back in the States who were unable to make it to the wedding.