A Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful day in Cape Town...about 75 degrees and sunny.  I think we'll head to the beach this afternoon.  We did end up buying that car I mentioned.  It doesn't have power steering or AC, but it is very clean and in good condition.  It was a staff friend's car, and he has maintained it very well.  Christian took me for a driving lesson yesterday morning in a neighborhood nearby.  I got in the driver's seat and thought "I can make it to the end of this street".  I found first gear and off I went...all the way home!  It turns out, driving wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!  I just kept thinking "left"...stay on the left side.  It was stressful and unnatural, but doable.:)  I was excited to have hurdled the obstacle I was most fearful of upon coming to South Africa!  Thank you for your prayers!  I'm still not jumping at the opportunity to get out and drive, but at least I know I'll be able to take Lily to school.
Speaking of, Lily starts Kindergarten next Wednesday, the 11th.  The same day that the rest of our Stint team arrives!  The school won't be open until that day, so it doesn't look like it will be possible for Lily to see her classroom and meet her teacher until then.  Please pray for peace in Lily's heart.  She gets anxious and fearful when she doesn't know what to expect.  If anything, we can go the first day, meet the teacher, see what it's like, and then leave and come back the next day for the first full day of school.  We'll see how it goes!
We made a South African friend!  Yesterday we were eating at a cafe nearby and I commented to this woman about her baby bijorn thing...it was a wide belt with this platform thing on the hip where you can carry a baby or the baby can stand up while you hold on to it.  It was really cool!  Anyway, it turns out she and her family just moved back to Cape Town from England, and she used to work as a personal assistant for one of the national Campus Crusade staff in England!  Small world!  She has a daughter that is 4yrs, and a son that is 7 months, and invited Shannon and I to meet up and let the kids play sometime.  She and her family lived in England for 11years, and just moved 3 weeks ago, so we are in the same boat in many ways.  I'm excited to get to know her!  Oh!  And, we also sat down by at the same table as a pastor, and visited with him at lunch.  God is so good!
I've been learning different words that are used here.   Here are a few:
Refuse (SA)= trash (America)
Napkin (SA)= diaper (America)
Serviette (SA)= napkin (America)
Petrol (SA)= gasoline (America)
The expression "shame" is used like we would say "Oh no" or "Oh wow!"
Night frill (SA)= a bed skirt
Robot (SA)= traffic light
We've been learning that you tip 10% at a restaurant, and a few rand (some change) for people who stand along the streets to "watch" your parked car while you are gone.  It seems these parking attendants are self assigned to areas, but are trying to make a living.
The more I learn about Cape Town, the more I come to realize how popular shopping is here!  There are HUGE malls, and a lot of nice shopping centers.
We also discovered that there is a mountain biking trail right from where we live!  Christian hasn't found a good, affordable bike yet, but when he does, this will be his highlight I'm sure!  And it sounds like there is a mountain biking club on campus, which would be a great way to meet students.
Life is calming down a bit, as we are feeling more comfortable each day.  If you think about it, here are some things we could use prayer for:
~Pray for Tyler and Shannon to find a good car, from a reliable source at an affordable price
~Pray for housing (2 apartments) for our 4 Stinters arriving next week
~Pray for peace in Lily's heart and mind as she starts school next week
~Pray we would be able to get wireless internet hooked up this week

Thank you for your prayers!

Highlights and Changes

Has it really only been a week since we left?  It feels like it's been a month!  Each day has come with its ups and downs, but overall, we are really liking it here.  Yesterday we finally got a rental car (highlight)!  It was amazing how it lifted our spirits to have freedom to get out and go!  College students are on summer break until the end of the month, so we have some time to get settled and explore Cape Town...we decided to start with the beach (of course!).  Though it was a stressful experience for Christian to drive from the right side of the car, shift with his left hand, remember that turn signals are on the right side of the steering wheel,  and drive on the left side of the road (a big change), he did a great job and we made it to Camps Bay beach!  It is actually a little stressful being on the passenger side too...especially turning right in oncoming traffic. Yikes!  But the beaches along the base of Table Mountain are BEAUTIFUL!   Lily and Anya loved the beach!  Especially finding sea shells.  The water is freezing and full of sharks, so we let them get their feet wet as the tide came in, but avoided swimming.   It was a fun adventure!
Another change that has come has been the humidity.  It's not super humid, but definitely more moisture than Colorado!  This means a few things...1.)  Anya's hair is full of tight spiral curls and is oh so cute.   2.)  My hair is frizzy, wavy and a bit unpredictable every day and 3.) It can be blamed for the zit on the end of my nose, which is still looming.  However, I have had a much more positive outlook on life here in spite of my hair crisis and break out since my last blog.:)
God is answering so many prayers!  We have enjoyed time with our staff friends who are here (Leon and Melanie Best and kids (American), Rose (American), and Nicholas and Pravani Kelderman (South African).  Melanie and Rose took Shannon and I on a 5 hour shopping adventure for home decor and food.  They were so helpful and patient with us as we looked for what we were needing.  The first thing I learned at the home store was that there were only two big shopping carts and they are called "trolleys".  I asked a woman as she was leaving if I could have her trolley and she graciously gave it to me.  I stopped to look at duvet covers and all of a sudden my cart was gone!  I looked around and didn't see it anywhere.  Finally, I noticed a man pushing a cart that had the catalog in it I had put in there, and so I graciously confronted him and got the cart back. It was not a big deal, but I felt a little like I was on a shopping game show or something!  It was fun to get some things to make our place feel more like home.  By the time we got to the grocery store I was a little overwhelmed.  It was getting mentally draining to convert rand into dollars, and to make decisions.   Plus, I hadn't even thought about what to cook, let alone the groceries we need.  It seems like we won't be going without too much...their food is very similar to ours.
Today was full of highlights!  We have our own temporarily unlimited internet!  We have to have a bank account in order to get wireless internet, and after doing a lot of leg work before we came, Christian and Tyler were able to get us bank accounts here in South Africa!  It is very difficult to get bank accounts here...our director has tried for the past 3 years he's been here.  So this is a huge praise!
We had our friends Pravani and Nicholas over for "tea" this morning.  We are enjoying the Rooibos tea, and the girls like it too!  Christian would say the donuts he's had here are the best he's ever tasted.  I would probably agree. :)
We were able to have bars installed on our windows and get a dead bolt for our door today, which makes us feel that much more secure in leaving our windows open at night.  However, we closed the door to go to lunch and were unable to get back in!  Tyler crawled over from his 3rd floor balcony to ours to try and crawl through the top of our patio windows...which didn't work.  But he got the door unlocked with a broom handle- pretty impressive!  Ends up something was wrong with how the lock was installed, and we got it fixed.
I also got first hand experience in the South African way of walking around town barefoot...though not on purpose.  My favorite flip flop broke as we were walking outside along the waterfront...so I walked with one shoe on and one shoe off.  It wasn't as bad as I imagined, but I don't think you'll catch me walking around barefoot in public places again.  We've seen people walking around in the mall and outside without shoes on.  The girls have already tried it!  We've been told that everyone goes barefoot at school.  I think Lily will do well with that.
After doing a few loads of laundry and having the drying rack take up our entire living room (we don't have a dryer), I decided to try out the laundry service that many people use.  It's just down stairs and they wash (and do stain removal), dry and fold your laundry and charge you by weight.  Today I picked up my laundry and carried it home folded and bagged...and I was almost giddy with excitement!  This is the BEST service EVER!  Then, as I was coming home, there was a man washing the windows of our apartment!  And I thought "when does this happen?  Someone washing my windows and doing my laundry in the same day?" It was a total highlight!
A few last highlights...1.) Skyping with Paul and Kathy  2.)  We may have found a car to buy...we know the owner and it's been VERY well maintained...but it doesn't have power steering, which makes me even more nervous than I already am to drive.  Many of the cars in our price range don't have power steering.  Please pray for wisdom and that I will overcome my fear of driving here, and go for it!
Thank you for all of your prayers and encouraging words!  I've got to get to bed!  "What time is it" has become my most frequent saying these days...I've got to get a watch and a clock for our house!

Keep in touch!

A New Year in Cape Town

It is the first day of 2012 and once I glanced in a mirror this morning I saw that I had a zit on the end of my nose.  And my thought was "this is just like how I've been feeling".  On our first night in Frankfurt, the girls woke up at midnight their time, and would not go back to bed...until 8am (midnight our time).  Then they slept until 4pm!  So we didn't end up going into Frankfurt, but enjoyed the culture from the airport.  The German I learned in high school started coming back to me (a tiny little bit), though I keep wanting to speak Spanish.  We boarded the plane in Frankfurt at 10pm.  The airplane was huge and the individual touch screen TV's were a life saver and highlight of the trip for the girls!  They slept a little bit, and then were served there "kids" breakfast, which consisted of hot chocolate pudding, chocolate milk, and Nutella spread for their bread.  Basically their breakfast was a plate full of chocolate, which I knew wouldn't help us throughout the day!  But it must be fun to be a kid in Germany!  Thankfully they gave us extra yogurts for some sustenance.:)  We got to Johannesburg sometime in the morning.,,by this time I don't know what day of the week it is, let alone the time.  Once we got off the plane it was like running yet another marathon.  We got through passport control,  loaded all of our bags (12 in all) onto two carts, walked to the other end of the airport and checked the bags back in, went through security, and found our gate right as they were boarding the bus for the flight to Cape Town.  Whew!  The flight to Cape Town was only a couple of hours, but our patience and energy were running low.  When we touched down, I felt a mix of excitement and nervousness...thinking of all the next steps.  It was sometime mid-afternoon, and as we rolled our carts of luggage through the gates we were welcomed by our South African Cru staff family.  I teared up.  It was so nice to know we had help and that we didn't have the stress of driving ourselves to our apartments!  It's summer here, and beautiful!  We arrived at our apartments and my first impression was...that it is REALLY small, needs a lot of decorating, and felt a little dumpy.  A little depressing.  But our friends had put some groceries in the fridge for dinner and breakfast (such a relief), and Leon (our director) took Tyler and Christian to get their phones working, and internet (though it's not working on our computer :()  The first thing I did was put the girls' new sheets on the bunk beds and tried to make their room feel like home.  There isn't a closet or dresser in their room, but there are two closets in our room.  They were excited about their bunk beds and played on the top bunk for a long time.  As I was unpacking and girls were eating dinner, Anya went to the potty...which was great until I went in to help her and somehow there was a poopy mess all over the toilet, floor, her back and hair.  I went to give her a bath, but had to find which suitcase had everything I needed...plus I didn't have any cleaning supplies in our apartment.  On a normal day this would have been a little bump in the day.  Yesterday, it pushed me over the edge.  I got her bathed and found some clothes to put on her, and went next door to Shannon's apartment...and cried.  I was tired, overwhelmed, and struggling in liking our new apartment...especially since the Williams' apartment is completely renovated, bigger, decorated well, more secure, and was move-in ready.  I had a little break down, came home and tried to empty a few more suitcases while still being completely oblivious to what time it was.  Christian was falling asleep eating his dinner, the girls were starting to break down and I realized it was 9:30pm!  Lily threw a fit, which was expected in her overtired state.  She fell asleep right when her head hit the pillow.  Anya was excited to be in her new bed, and was asleep in no time as well.  Christian went to bed, and I sat in our living room thinking about how I could make it better when the restaurant across our "lake" who was throwing a very LOUD New Year's party played my favorite song "Footloose".  I chuckled at how it made me feel a little bit more at home, though normally I wouldn't be able to hear it without dancing!  I headed to bed knowing my perspective would be better with sleep.  Anya woke up at 3:30am, but after an hour of her trying to go back to sleep in our bed, her bed, and back to our bed, she finally did and still didn't want to get up this morning at 9:30am.  I woke up with some inspiration to settle in and make our apartment feel like home.  It's a beautiful day...the breeze is cool and the sun is warm, and our apartment feels light and fresh.  It's a new year!  And that's when I looked in the mirror and saw the zit on the end of my nose.  The zit is like this apartment...at first it's a very visible bummer.  But after I took care of it, it's barely noticeable.  I think we're going to be just fine.  I'm thinking of it like I'm on a TV show on TLC or HGTV...kind of excited about the challenge.  And I'm finding more places for things.  Plus, the mall is actually a beautiful little walk away.  We walked over there with the Williams to get lunch and pick up a few things.  Since it's New Year's day, most of the stores were closed, but the mall is HUGE!  Plus, when it's "holiday" and school isn't in session, they have a place in the middle of the mall where I can drop the kids off to do crafts and play for FREE while I shop!  And the employees are all back ground checked and safe.  So great!  It's also encouraging that shopping (even for groceries and Walmart type things) is so accessible and close.  We don't have cars yet, and the public transportation is dangerous to use with the kids, so I've felt a little paralyzed in how we are going to get anywhere.  We'll get rental cars tomorrow and will begin the adventure of driving with the steering wheel on the right side of the car and driving on the opposite side of the road!  Lily is excited to see the beach, which I guess today is the busiest beach day of the year in South Africa.  It's like 4th of July here.  We'll wait and go tomorrow.
Thank you for your prayers!  Really, I think it's going to be great!  Sleep makes such a difference in perspective:).  The girls are having fun and doing well!  Please pray for us as we settle in and make this home.  Pray also that we'll find a great affordable car, be able to set up a bank account, and enjoy this time!   Happy New Year!!   

Prayer Request...

Travel is stressful, and as we remembered our trips to Spain the Jet lag is hard to overcome.  Yet, we did not realize how hard it would be with kids.  Our girls handled the flight well, and they have had moments of fun, but we always used to see Spiritual attack in our marriage as we spent time in Spain, and our daughter Lily needs your prayers.  She has a hard time processing her emotions in general, but in the past 12 hours it has reached a "fever pitch."  Please pray for God's "peace that surpasses understanding," for Lily.  Then for Mia and I would you please pray for wisdom in how to speak and parent.  Thank you very much.  We love all of you!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

It's hard to believe we are leaving TODAY!  Our flight leaves at 4:40pm...and there have already been so many answers to prayer!  We found out we can each take two checked bags for free (I was packing with the mentality we'd each get one), AND we get to move right into our apartments when we get there (we were told we couldn't move in until Jan 2nd)!  It is really starting to sink in that we are leaving...and it's been hard to say goodbye.  Yesterday I mentioned to Lily how we are leaving "tomorrow" for South Africa and she cried.  We are going to the unknown for her (and all of us), and that is a little scary.  But God is with us and so are your prayers.  Thank you!  It is so comforting to know our friends and family are praying!  I wanted to give you our schedule for the next few days.  We'll post again as soon as we have internet access.
December 28th at 4:40pm~Fly from Denver to Frankfurt
December 29th~ Arrive in Frankfurt, check in to hotel and sleep/recover
December 30th~Go into Frankfurt and experience Germany, board the plane to South Africa at 1pm MST.
December 31st~ Arrive in Cape Town around 7am MST. 

Please pray that all of our luggage arrives on time and with all it's contents.  Pray also for us to depend on and react out of the power of the Holy Spirit in this time of stress and lack of sleep. :)

We're so thankful for you and will miss you!  Blessings to you in 2012!  Here we go!

The 14 Days til Cape Town

Here we are on the day of our support deadline...and God has provided our FULL support!  We are overwhelmed...I don't even know what to say.  Thank you, Lord!  And thank YOU!  Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and generous and sacrificial giving!  We are so humbled, grateful, overwhelmed and excited!!!   Praise God!

14 Days til Cape Town...and we haven't started packing.  But we have a plan!:) Here's the rundown of our upcoming couple of weeks...
This weekend we'll celebrate Christmas with my family in Goodland. Then we'll pack our suitcases and apartment, move in with Christian's parents in Greeley, celebrate Christian's birthday (the 22nd :)) celebrate Christmas with Christian's family in Greeley and Scottsbluff, NE, make any last minute preparations and say our farewells, and then board the plane (with as many snacks and forms of entertainment we can carry) on December 28th.   We'll be off on our Amazing Race Adventure!  We have a 10 hour flight to Frankfurt, where we'll cart all of our luggage and crash in a hotel for a day and a half.  The night of the 30th we'll fly to Johannesburg (14 hour flight), and then finally catch the last leg of our flight to our home town for the 2012...Cape Town, arriving just in time for the New Year!   We will move into our new apartment on January 2nd.  And then we'll breathe!:)

Please pray...

• That we will be wise and discerning as we pack our bags...that we will bring what we will need and want, and trust we can live without the rest!  We each get one checked bag and one carry on.  How is that going to work you might ask?  I'm wondering the same...but know it will (or we may have to break down and pay to bring more bags).  Pray for a "less is more" mentality!
• For our teammate, Lauren.  She is still in need of 15% of her support in order to come.  Pray for the Lord's complete provision by January!
• For rest and quality time with family and friends before we go. 
• For SMOOTH travel and for the fruit of the Holy Spirit (peace, patience, joy, self control, etc) in the midst of stress and lack of sleep.
• For Lily and Anya as they transition to so many new things.  That they will experience the Lord in a very real and personal way when they are sad and missing "home". 

Thank you, Friend!  We feel so blessed and "sent" by you .  Praise God with us for His provision!  He is so GOOD!

Gratitude and Praise!

God is so GOOD!  He is answering prayers right and left and continues to confirm His call for us to go to Cape Town! 

~A week ago, the tenant of our house in Greeley said she may need out of her lease.  This sent us into a bit of a panic, as we are set to leave December 28th.  We showed the house to a prospective renter, and it didn't pan out.  But a few days later, our tenant said she decided to stay for the term of the lease!  Praise God!

~We have housing in Cape Town!  Exactly what we prayed for.  Two furnished apartments right next to each other and close to Lily's school.  The other family (the Williams) coming will be right next door!  There is a grocery store, shopping complex, a big mall, and the best mountain biking trails in Cape Town right outside our door.  Something for everyone, right!?:)  The only draw back is that the apartment is only 750 square feet.  Yikes!  Two bedrooms and one bath...but no dining room.  The dining room table is the kitchen counter.  BUT, we can live anywhere for a year, right?

So, we needed to wire our deposit and first month's rent to secure our apartment.  Christian went to the bank the other day to do just that.  Last time we wired money for Lily's school, it kind of got lost in cyberspace for a little while.  So, we were a little gun shy.  Christian prayed that if God didn't want this to happen that day, that He would stop him.  He sat down with the banker and immediately something smelled like burnt plastic.  They looked up to see smoke billowing out of the light above them!  The banker called the fire department and they were tromping through the bank within minutes.  Needless to say, Christian took this as a clear sign that the wire was not supposed to happen that day!  However, we've skyped with the apartment complex and gotten everything settled since then and feel secure about wiring the money.

~The other day we headed to Holyoke for a support dinner and to speak at AWANA and FCA.  We were wanting to trust the Lord to provide the remaining $10,000 we need to cover our flights, in country transportation, and one time expenses.  But, we asked for less...in faith, of course.  We figured God would want to keep us trusting Him until our deadline.  Trying to read God's mind never works out very well...thankfully it doesn't stop Him from acting!  Within 24 hours, God provided the TOTAL amount!  Our hearts have been full of praise, humility, gratitude, and excitement!  I guess I was holding back in my heart and mind before...just in case our support didn't come in.  In my unbelief, I had a back up plan.  But God is so gracious, and performs the miraculous in spite of my lack of faith and self protection.  Of course God will provide all we need for where He's called us to go.  That's who He is and what I've experienced of Him throughout my life.  So we are boldly trusting Him to provide the remaining $700 in monthly support we need to be able to go.  I know it's going to happen!

We are so grateful for all the caring, generous, faithful, and Godly people and prayer warriors we have in our lives.  We are so blessed!