Smile big

God has provided for us in so many ways. As Abby's mouth continued to get worse, we stumbled upon a different dentist. This young dentist helped us heal the infection and then pulled the third tooth that had been damaged. Abby was quite nervous about having the tooth pulled, but the dentist was so gentle that Abby never felt a thing! She was so pleased with her first trip to the dentist . . . even if it meant have 3 front teeth missing!

Sorry, no fireworks!

An American holiday . . we almost forgot. How quickly God can help the familiar become distant and the here and now become a reality.
Abby's mouth continues to have problems. She's developed an infection and continually runs a low grade fever. We are asking God for guidance; see a new dentist, keep the same one, or wait a little longer. We're just not sure what to do.
On a happy note, the house is getting unpacked. We feel so privileged with the home God has provided. The girls love the yard and the space is incredible! What a blessing!

Feeling unsettled

Have you ever felt that Satan is unhappy about the current events?
The first 24 hours up here in Richards Bay have been incredible . . in a negative sort of way. To God be the glory for the trials, it will strengthen and help me rest in Him. Might as well start off our time in Richards Bay on the right foot . . completely dependant on God!
None of us feel very well, the day has been very cold and rainy, and Abby had a horrible accident. She slipped on a chair and fell face first on the tile. There was blood everywhere! Only after Henry came out to see what was happening did he see the 2 teeth lying on the floor. She had completely knocked out 2 front teeth, pushed back a third tooth, and was in so much pain. My heart just ached for her!
We'll look things over in the morning and take her to a dentist.

All Packed

Moving day (again!)
Because of our steep driveway, getting our belongings up to the truck was quite an ordeal. Kyle decided it best if the girls and I took the car and did something fun. Praise God for his insight. The girls and I left mid-morning to go watch an outdoor children's play. The day was beautiful and we all enjoyed some laughs. The play was "The Princess and the Pea" . . . African style!
When we got back the work wasn't quite done, so the girls and I watched a movie on the computer. The day was long, but God provided in so many ways; the great weather, pleasant moods with the girls, smooth truck packing, etc.
By 4:30pm, we turned our keys over to the new renters and headed north for Richards Bay :)

Moving again

Praise God things are moving so quickly and it seems to be in His perfect timing. We've rested on Him to open doors and they are "flying" open!
We spent the first couple days of this week up in Richards Bay looking at houses. There is a perfect little place a couple doors down from Henry and Shirley (South African church planters on our team).
Paul (a teammate) sent our proposal to move to Richards Bay out to the Church Planting committee. No cries of outrage have returned, so he is notifying the team of our move. The comments he has received back have been very positive. This felt like a big hurdle for us. We had no idea how the team would respond to us making such a big move so shortly after arriving in the country. We continually thank God for the road He is laying out!
We did find out today that getting someone to take over our lease is VERY important. Breaking our lease means remaining responsible for the full rent until a new renter is found. We still have 9 months left on our lease! My heart just sank. How would we cover rent on two places? Kyle and I first took this to God. He can provide a renter, or He can provide the funds. Still, the worry was hard to suppress. I might need to lay this at His feet minute by minute! Kyle worked diligently to post pictures of our house on South African reality spaces online and now we wait.

Winds of Change

What an incredible weekend. Our hearts are restless in anticipation of what God is doing and how He will lead . . . .
Every new missionary spends the first couple months visiting the existing church plants on our team. This is a fun time getting to know missionaries and national pastors, seeing the diversity of ministries and looking for a potential place to minister.
This weekend was our scheduled time to visit Richards Bay and because it is a 2 hour drive, we went up on Saturday and stayed through until Monday. Secretly, we were quite excited! Back on our survey trip we had really enjoyed Richards Bay. We almost immediately felt a connection to the area and the missionaries. But back then, the area was predominately white and not directly impacted by the Aids pandemic. 2 years later, the population has completely shifted and the need for HIV/Aids ministry is huge!
We sat down with Henry and let him share his vision for Richards Bay. He's watched the town's Zulu population grow very quickly and with it the HIV infection rate. The rural areas surrounding the town have a higher infection rate than Durban and more orphans. His "dream" would be to see Richards Bay become a training hub for many different types of ministries reaching out into Zululand.
One of the main things we discovered was the potential for better language learning, an area that we had been struggling with in Durban. This really excited us and it was hard not to let our hearts get ahead of the path God intends for us. In the next couple days, we'll try to sit down with some leaders in Durban and ask for guidance!
May God very clearly lead us!

Still Gotta Eat!

Cooking! . . . I thought I knew how to cook :) The grocery stores here are full of different foods. I shouldn't have any problems making meals my family enjoys. But, it seems the foods are just different enough that it changes the whole taste of a recipe. We sit down to the meal and start with a laugh; will we like it tonight or will it be a grilled cheese night?
Tomato based products are tangy, the cheeses all have different name, condensed cream soups are a quite different, although I can't exactly put my finger on how they are different! I've started to sort through all of my "from scratch" recipes and work at finding substitutes. I'm sure eventually I'll get the hang of it!

In the picture, Emily and I are making tortillas for tacos! You can find them here sometimes, but they are REALLY expensive.