an air trip!

as i sit here (in between making hot chocolate for the kids and loving on silas) i am beginning to become excited and overwhelmed at the same time about our next few weeks. monday we begin our air trip. i think i just made that up. instead of road trip it is an air trip... hehehe

anyways as i am writing this i am listening to my favorite group Selah. the song is Precious Lord take my hand/just a closer walk with thee. what a great song! the past week has been really trying for us here and now as i sit here and listen to this song i am encouraged. Take my hand Lord! lead me home. lead me to you, everyday! if only i would grab onto that hand everyday. humm now there's a thought. daily walking with the lord, that's what it's suppose to be about... right?

as i think about what life will be like while we are in the states, today all i can think about is the rest i need. i think that sometimes i get caught up in the different life that i live here that i forget why i am doing it. I need to spend some time away and regroup.:) once again don't read too much in what i am saying.. k!
i am just saying i think it is easier to find that resting place when you are not faced with lots of unknowns. (of this different life i am talking about). even Jesus needed to get away!

Jesus Walks on the Water
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

My hope for our home assignment is that I (we) can have a time of rest with our Lord. To regroup if you know what i mean.

until then my prayer today is.... lord deliver me! when i feel like i can't make it through the day, deliver me. when i feel like the road is straight and things are going well keep me holding on to your hand.

okay love all yall and remember.... xddbfdbxvbfgnfscvcdbnd vdvcvv - that was from Silas!

april

a little song he wrote

My son Luke told me he wanted to write a song today. So he did and this is how it goes:
(he is typing it himself)

He's the one (3 x)
Jesus(2 x) you rose from the dead
you healed the blind man
you answer my prayer
you say yes, Satan says no
you have blessed me
you watch over me
Jesus(2 x) ya


luke

i'm not headed to south africa... my ticket says Kenya!

over the past few years, well actually we have been with global mission for about 3 years and 3 months now, i have learned a lot. God has blessed us with many things. he has given us joy and grace beyond anything we could have asked for. my life as a missionary has been wonderfully challenging. is that possible? lol
God has delivered us through our ups and downs with His love. we have seen our children grow and become the most awesome and flexible kids. God has been so good.

yesterday luke told me that he wasn't ready to accept Jesus in his heart yet. at first i thought what?? so i asked him why he was waiting. he then responded with " i am not ready, i still do things i'm not suppose to do" wow! isn't it awesome to know that God doesn't want us to wait until we are perfect. he wants us to come to him now... just as we are. i explained that to him and he was listening. i pray that luke comes to know the lord in this way in his time. until then i will continue to do my part. i will love him and be the best role model i can be. we all need to disciple our children... no matter their age!

okay so we head home in just over a month. not really sure the dates yet. spencer has been so busy lately but this week we should nail down a date. please pray for us as well begin to prepare for home assignment.

love all ya'll and remember....... when you are about to board a plane... make sure you are headed to the right country (you might wanna ask spencer about this) : )

april

power of the tongue

Okay so for a while now in my devotions i have been reading quite a bit about the power of the tongue. Good and bad. I feel like i have been slapped in the face. I am trying to to think about times when i might have used my tongue in a way that was not pleasing to the Lord.
You know those times when you have convinced yourself that you have a right to say what you want. whether it is with your spouse, your kids. other family members or even co-workers.
God has given us a powerful tool and this week i am faced with the reality that i may have used that power in the wrong way. BUT i know i have also used it in a good way. with the grace and forgiveness from God i know that i can look ahead and not look back. Isn't that what He does with us? Praise God for that!

Proverbs 21:23 says Whosoever keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

"Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!" - Psalm 141:3 (ESV)

i say this all to say... i know there are times in my life when i just want the truth to be clear. I want my perspective on life and situations to be known. sometimes i think the lord is saying...April what's the point. "If i want justice to be served or a situation to be known let me handle it" guard your mouth and your heart.

so today i will enpower my tongue with the word of my God.

i love all ya'll and remember...1 cup of white sugar plus 1 T of molasses = brown sugar

april

waiting... why?

some days i wonder why do i wait? what am i waiting for? God is there waiting for us to come to him with everything. good and bad. why do i consistently wait until i am completely at the end of the rope to call out to my God? I know he wants all of me not just the ashes from the fire i let burn. or from the victories i experience.
today i am gonna walk on water with Him, I am gonna watch him... heal the blind, cleanse a leper, cure a bleeding woman, turn water into wine, calm the storm, feed hundreds with just a little bread and fish and .. and... and...

living in the presence of God and answering the call to holiness isn't just for the saints or the "educated", it is for me too. for everyone! even my children. today i call out to God to help me be holy. holy in my thoughts and in my actions. i want to see all the miracles happen not just read about them.

today i want to change the course of someone else's life. change the course of my life. God has given us power to do so. even if it is just changing my tongue. to speak encouraging words. to experience holiness through the life He has given me not the life i create myself. anyways this may not make sense to you but hey... today i understand.

i love all ya'll and remember....... move your tea to a safe place when it is raining. you don't want the roof leak in it.

april

where do you belong?

christmas is almost here. okay i know for some of you your thinking christmas? but this year we get to see my parents and spencer's parents... yes of course all our other family members! i am so excited this year. it seems like forever since we have been able to spend the holidays with the people we love the most. i am also excited to see santa. i have a huge list... i mean my kids have a huge list : )

during our family prayer time last night abby said the 13th commandment was we believe in the triune God. lol i guess she is getting a little confused with the articles of faith and the commandments. it was pretty funny.

okay so i have a lot on my mind today. my thoughts keep moving me from one thing to another. thinking about life and what each day holds for us. to be quite honest i sometimes think about what life would be like if we were living in a more comfortable place. would any other place be more comfortable? i am sure if you are reading this and you are in the ministry you can relate. "what would another assignment be like" "if only we could lead that church"??? Today i am at peace that God has brought us here for today. that He will give us peace and the strength to live for him today and here where i am (right now it is in the washer/dryer/my office/tool area office).

i think about what my kids feel. actually they don't really know too much of a difference between living in africa or america. yes they know that target.com and walmart.com has cool toys but they are living where we are. they have no choice to but live in the place where their parents are. it makes me think... i need to always live where my father is (no not FL) my heavenly father. I need to live the same whether i am here or there. so today i will live in the presence of the Lord here in Rwanda. it's where i belong.

okay i love all ya'll and remember........ November 21st is the WEF PLUS offering! Or you can donate online at http://web.nazarene.org/site/PageNavigator/Challenge_2010_Home

Help keep our missionaries on the field!!!!!!

WEF PLUS!

Challenge 2010 – A World Evangelism Fund PLUS offering
In November, Nazarenes from all over the world are being challenged to give the single largest offering for World Evangelism in the history of our church, a WEF PLUS offering.


The goal of this Challenge 2010 – WEF PLUS offering is to raise an extra $6 million U.S. dollars for World Evangelism.

www.nazarene.org/challenge2010

Okay everyone do your part! We are!
I love all yall and remember..... okay i am too tired to remember... need sleep.
april

need to go to Zambia!

so this morning on the way home from taking the kids to school there were 2 different motos that made me do a double take. the first one was carrying 3 kids. and the 2nd one was carrying about 300 eggs. sorry i didn't have my camera. they would have been great pics!

anyways so i had a dream last night that i was pregnant. wozers that was fast! in my dream i was at target and was able to by maternity clothes so that made it better.... okay every one it was just a dream!

somedays i dream of living near the water. i am looking forward to some how being close to the water during our home assignment. i can just smell the water, the fish and suntan oil. i say suntan instead of sun block because just because i live in africa doesn't mean i have a tan. i need a tan!

okay i know my thoughts are pretty random today. i guess because i am a little tired. tired from being the only source of Sy's nutrition (but wouldn't have it any other way) and tired from just life. Don't get me wrong everyone.... just being a little open here. being a missionary can be exhausting. you know going to 10 different place to get food and having to drive on roads that make my truck make all kinds of noises and move all over the place. we are looking forward to rest during our home assignment. although we will be traveling all over the place during our stay.
but even through all the tiredness i drive around looking at the people and love my job. yes sometimes it isn't fun but God didn't say ministry was gonna be easy. i can't believe we have lived in africa for almost 3 years.

today is half day for the kids. so i am thinking about going to the store and getting abby a bike. i just hate spending $50 on a bike that is junk but she has been begging for a long time. right now luke rides his bike and abby just chases him. well either she is chasing him or she is riding on the back of his bike.

spencer is going to DR of Congo next week. either 3 or 4 nights. i guess it all depends on when he is able to fly to where he needs to go. you never know about the airlines here!

in november we are going on our field retreat/meetings to Zambia. since it is coming to the end of our contract our funds are very limited. it is gonna cost a fortune for us to go and we are having to borrow from our personal funds in order to go. we don't want to not go so that is our only choice... unless there is a millionaire out there who wants to help us not borrow from ourselves!!! : ) you know i would love you forever... whoever you are.

okay need to get some work done before early release day.
love all yall and remember........... if your pizza doesn't rise... you may have old yeast!

april

Love

The things that I love... other than God and my family.

rain in the dry season, spicy foods, taco bell hot sauce packets, mail, laffy taffy (the big ones), the ocean, sleeping through the night, fish, finding american products in africa, thinking about all the fun stores i will get to go to soon, my avocado trees, clean floors, laughter, the sound of rain on metal roofs, skype, sound of africa, riding on motos, running with spencer, new mascara, cooking, my kitchen aid mixer, giving gifts, internet, prayer time with family, christmas music, easter baskets, sour candy, hard candy, pecans and almonds from a mixed nuts can, root beer with a straw and ice, hearing my kids speak in french or any other foreign language, a new tube of tooth paste, homemade chips, the smell of a clean baby, ugly betty, getting up in the morning and the coffee is already made, romans pizza (south africa), Senegalese food, hard tacos, flip flops, jeans and a t-shirt, music, hymns, smiles, open windows, my pampered chef baking stone, homemade lasagna, Rwandan tea, those red clearance stickers at target, work & witness teams, goat cheese, fresh clean sheets, traveling, finding money in my clothes, nursing, and life.

love all yall and remember.... when buying hot dogs. go for the beef. stay away from the chicken

april

crazy baggott girls

are you tossed around or are you anchored down?

... he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

why would I want to be like a wave of the sea being tossed by the wind? well actually i would like to be in the sea right now but that is not what James was writing about. He is saying to me: believing is not just it.. you should not doubt. doubting will get your blown around which would lead to testing your faith and your and condidence in our heavenly father.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (vs.12)

I realize that we can not really know the depth of our character until we see how we react to trials or temptation. During these times I pray that with the Lords help I can see opportunities for growth. I pray that I can see my character is pleasing to the Lord. It is easy to get discouraged and frustrated during times of... what ever life brings us each day.. but glory to God we are not in this journey alone.

Today I bow at his feet asking heaven to come down and rain on me. Take me and strength my faith so I am not blowing in the wind. Blessed be to God!

i love all yall and remember....we will be home in 3 1/2 months : )

april

squeak, squeak!

Church yesterday was great. Once again we were blessed by one of our Nazarene churches.

So we decided at the last minute to invite our guard and his family to join us for church since Spencer was preaching. They all came so we piled into the cruiser. On the way to church we found the pastor and his wife walking so they got in as well. We were so full that the truck started squeaking. okay so it squeaks with less than 12 too. luke and abby love it. they love being with people.
church is always different. we really like this one in particular. there seems to be a good spirit among the people there.
okay so after they introduced us (again, we have been there several times) spencer preached. the sermon was preached in french and then translated into kinyarwanda. the funny thing about this time was the guy on the keyboard made this funny sound when spencer would say certain things. you know... that sound you would hear when a comedian would say something funny. the sound that was made from a drum and symbols. anyways the first time it happened I laughed really loud. i didn't mean to. so to disguise my laughter i started coughing to cover it up. i think it worked. i guess i will never know... there were several people who turned around. oops!

kathleen (our guards wife) held Silas during most of the service. I was glad that she wrapped a cloth (that she gave silas) around him so everyone wouldn't feel the need to touch his hands etc... i remember thinking in the states why do people feel the need to touch baby's hands. they put them in their mouth. anyways it may just be a status thing but people didn't ask or even take silas. i say status because it seems as if everyone is put into a status level. i guess maybe this is related to your job and family. don't know!

after church we took the crew out for lunch. we decided on Chinese food. i think Gatari (our guard) and his family had a great time. they have never had Chinese food before. their son (who has become like a brother to luke) was so funny. he had several bowls of soup and just laughed every time we gave him more food. i am sure they have never been to a restaurant like that before. we feel blessed to be able to do this. God is good.

finally! i have house help again. she will be coming monday - friday 8-3. this will help free up my days so i can focus on other things and take care of silas :) i know house help to most of you might seem crazy but living here where everything is harder it is a tremendous help. Gutrude helps with cooking lunch as well as cleaning so it is actually helping us financially in that area because she cooks the local food which is cheaper than what i would prepare. everyone seems to have staff work for them. this provides nationals with work. this girl in particular is from a village and was brought in to Kigali by a christian organization. she is taught to be responsible and then attends school at night. part of her pay goes directly to help cover her school costs. it's a good thing!

okay i better go i am getting a skype call.
please pray for us... spencer will be doing a lot of travel before we head home. i think he will be going to 6 different countries from now until then.

love all yall and remember....going to bed with wet hair... makes you wild and crazy in the morning.

april

intentional surrendering

today i am thinking about the word surrender. what am i surrendering to today or tomorrow. being intentional about surrendering is difficult. surrendering in ministry is often hard when you are forced to see the outcome before it happens. sometimes you can't see the outcome but when you think about what might happen surrendering doesn't look so good. my life as a missionary is not only surrendering the... what I call normalcy of life but surrendering my families as well. today i ask for the Lord to carry me through what i need to surrender today. to help me surrender our future and our lives to Him.

Lord I do surrender all.... but sometimes I need help doing it!

i love all yall and remember...... expired yeast is no fun.

feet

So I have decided to try to blog more often. I know at the beginning I wrote more of the things I was going through and this crazy journey the Lord is leading our family on. So... I think i need to begin again. Writing is good. It helps me recognize what I am feeling and helps other know how to pray for us ( or just laugh- what ever you choose).

So we are coming up on being in Africa 3 years. When we said yes to the call we never thought we would live in 3 different African countries and experience the things we have been able to experience. God has revealed himself to us in so many wonderful ways. I also never knew how much we would love changes. Kinda weird. spencer and i just had our 13 year anniversary. when we were dating (the whole 6 months of that) he said we will never be rich but we will always have our needs meet... or something like that. Yes our needs have always been met and then some. we have been so blessed over the past 13 years. i used to think that people who were married for over 5 years were old. i'm not old.... right? anyways...

The Lord has also been speaking to me for a while now. About something I have been putting him off with. :) Don't we do that too often. Well.... as soon as I can get a grip on life... if that is possible especially with just having another baby I will begin the course of study for ordination. I do not feel a call to preach but I do feel a call to a lifetime of ministry. So... I will take the deacon road. I am a little nervous and intimidated about it but.... I will do it. I think actually writing this down makes me more accountable to you. who ever you are and where ever in the world you are. it makes me think we are all called to a lifetime of ministry. i guess what that ministry is and how it plays out in your life is up to you. God has called all of us to something. so..... anyways

to change the subject i will talk about another great gift we have been given. Silas is precious. I know every child is precious but Silas is soooooo precious. we are so thankful we are blessed with another child to love and care for. spencer wants another baby. i think he is crazy. that is all i am gonna say about that. lol

i was just thinking about feet. weird huh? well to me it is a part of the body that can show our journey. how hard life has been or how easy. right now i need a pedicure.. hehee. but what i was thinking is this. where has my feet gone. what kind of things have my feet been through. have they been scared (SP?) from the rocky journey or are they polished with a pedicure that hides our past. i say rocky because life is not easy. especially if you feel persecuted for your faith. our feet represent where we have walked and where we are going. I am not sure if God cares about where we have walked but where our feet are headed. unless He is pleased with your past and unless our feet have been representing Him. representing a persecuted life. I think about the men and women who have died for their faith. we have many nazarenes who have died here in Africa because their feet have walked through it. through the life we are called to. so what do your feet look like? i am asking myself the same question. I am not saying we are called to a life that gets us martered (sp). i am just saying to live is Christ to die is gain (the bible) :) today i choose to die (not literary). to die to myself and to give God my all. to let Him guide my feet and to let Him take away the past that wasn't guided by Him. anyways...

i am not a professional writer and remember i do not spell check or correct grammer or proof read : )

i am just being me and you get what you get.
well i better go get the baby...

i love all yall and remember............. it is sometimes easier to go ahead and mix the powered cheese with the milk before you mix it with the pasta.

april

so what's next?

So i was thing this morning. Haha to what ever you are thinking!
So anyways why do I let things overwhelm me so much? I'm not talking about having 3 kids with one of them wanting to eat every 2 1/2 hours or still having to clean, cook and provide for my kids needs even though i am sleep deprived. I am talking about the things in life that is out of my control. Things like: future, health, money etc etc... I am thinking about ungrounding (I think i just made up that word) myself so I can soar above issues that I can't control or predict. HA! We'll see how that works.
Seriously I know that God is in control of all of these things but most of the time I just want to be there whispering in His ear with my suggestions and yes of course my demands.... did i say that? I would say Hey God what are we doing tomorrow or in one year? or Hey God will my kids love you all their lives? or Hey God when will the next time be that i can eat at Las Margaritas (my fav restaurant)? I have lots of questions without answers but for today that is okay. being grounded in my own ways is probably not a good thing. I need to be uprooted so I can get a different view. A view hand in hand with our heavenly Father. To see what He has planned not what I have planned. If I can believe that He has my future, health and money etc etc taken care of why do i worry and wonder so much. I guess it is normal but it doesn't have to be a way of life. Just maybe a thought passing through my mind instead of a lifestyle of wondering. Maybe I will get a little less gray hair if I can just let go. Ahhh probably not.... thanks to genetics : )

So today i will try not to be consumed with the what ifs... I will just go and find that clothing sale and not worry about it! lol just kidding, well not really. okay really just kidding.
today i will let God be in control of my future! ..... after i tell him what I want. okay just kidding again.

God is good and I trust Him today and tomorrow and the next day and the next...

I love all yall and remember... you only live once (unless you believe in reincarnation, then we need to talk) so go get that fun hair dye and cool boots.

April

Silas Asher Baggott born June 11th at 5:26 am in South Africa - 6 lbs 13 oz 20 inches long

Okay so here is my birthing experience in Africa: sorry for it being so long : )

2 nights ago I woke up around... ? not real sure, anyways I woke up to some contractions. Since I have been experiencing contractions the whole pregnancy I didn't think - oyeah this is it so I just layed there thinking okay if they get harder i will wake spencer up. so after about an hour and after debating on waking him up spencer woke up to me tossing and turning and i said okay after the next big one i will decide if it was time or not. So this was about 2am... i think. the next one was harder so we called our missionary friend Maria and she came over. we got to the birthing clinic at about 3:45am. it was about a 25 minute drive (in the middle of the night).

the midwife was waiting there at the door and she showed us to our room. The room was great and ready for us. The bath had water in it and candles around the huge tub. The room was also dimly lit and very relaxing. So I sat on the bed and she put these electric thingys on my back for an electric massage when i had a contraction. It was only on there a bit since the contractions started to come closer and closer and Henny (the midwife) said okay time for the bath. Oyeah when I arrived at the clinic i was dilated to 8.

I got in the warm relaxing bath and chilled out.... until it started to come. O my - labor hurts!!!! It was too late for meds! although i had already decided against the epidural. so we tried the laughing gas but it really just made me feel like i couldn't breath with the mask on. it did not make me laugh lol plus i think the doula was new and not so great about giving it to me ... anyways back to the pain. It hurt! lol Spencer said during the really bad painful part i asked for an epidural and Henny said no. I said are you sure she said no you can do it and it is too late. and then a couple minutes later I said get me the epidural NOW. I really can't remember that part...lol I do remember pulling on her shirt and yelling. I never thought i was a yeller but I screamed. I was thinking during the screaming."Why am i screaming?" Owell i guess i am a screamer!

During the labor Henny did an awesome job talking me through it. She would say things like... April God designed your body to do this and your baby is not a big baby he is a 2.9 kilo baby... he is small. she was awesome!

Praise God it didn't last long and Silas was here. After we arrived at he clinic he was born 1 hour and 45 minutes later.

Spencer was instructed to take off his shirt and was able to hold Silas while I finished the labor and took a shower. Yes i took a shower right after. It was great! I remember with the other births just laying in the bed for a long time afterward and not ever get to see the baby until after they were cleaned and weighted etc. This birth was all about me and the baby. So cool! There is nothing quite like holding your baby in the tub and being the first one to touch, smell and hold your baby.
So after all the fun Silas started nursing and soon after we had our breakfast.
Later that day spencer left to pick up the kids (locked the keys in the car at the regional office) and came back to pick me up. We got home at about 9pm that night. Wow what a fast delivery!

Luke and Abby love Silas. Luke is really in love with him. He wants to look at him all the time and help with whatever. he also can't stop smiling at him. Okay so last night when we were having our family prayer time luke usually gives me a hug and kiss afterwards. Never on the lips. But last night he kissed me on the lips 2 times. It was the sweetest thing. Abby does love Silas but i think may be a little jealous at this point. Today she played outside all day. Luke was by my side.

Okay so here are a few things funny that the kids have said:
* Luke - I hope he isn't brown... this was said before Silas came. I think because we live in africa maybe he thought he would be african. : )
* Abby - first thing abby said was "aww i like him"
* Abby - his hand is the size of a potato chip
* luke - his pinky finger looks like a Cheeto

Okay now i am so tired i can't remember all the funny things they have said. Owell maybe later.

okay so gonna finish watching the USA vs. England game and then go to bed.

i love all yall and remember... God is good.... I praise him for little fingers and little toes! Kiss your babies tonight!
april

a yummy find!

so we found a few fun items yesterday. Dr. Pepper, Root beer, liquorish straws, hubba bubba gum, mounds and a couple of other things. the kids were as excited as I was... okay maybe not : )
today we are off to the Doctor. humm I wonder what he will say????
Right now I am sitting in a conference that our regional SDMI director for Africa is holding for our countries. I am actually at our house in South Africa. Spencer is at the regional office with the speaker. Right now we have people attending live via the internet in Reunion, Madagascar, Rwanda, Burundi, DR of Congo, Zambia and Congo Brazzaville. Isn't technology awesome! God is good.
Okay so i think my kids are great. I know everyone probably thinks that but they really are good. they just offered the gardener for the compound water since he was mowing the grass. I love how willing they are to serve others. i just hope they are willing to help with the baby comes!!! lol - just kidding i know they will be great helpers.
okay all for now.
i love all yall and remember.... drink 8 glasses of water everyday!

got flood insurance?

I can't believe that in a few weeks we will be starting over. Seriously, Luke and Abby can now take adult medicine (for the most part), bath themselves, get their own drink from the fridge and many other things. Now we will be back to diapers, feeding in the middle of the night and all those other things that require our full attention. Praise God for his blessings. Although we are like starting over we are very thankful to be able to expand our family. We are still working on the name however. You can email any suggestions :) We are 99.9% sure on the first name but still working on the middle.
Anyways - we are living out of 4 suitcases which is very different than living with a house full of furniture and nick nacks. Sometimes it is easier to just live simpler but i do miss some things. It is amazing though all the things back in Rwanda that i have forgotten about. Even Luke and Abby are doing good with the little toys they have here. Although I do allow them to get the happy meals at McDOnalds here just so they can have a junk toy to play with during the day.
The weather here is starting to get cool. Well... haha at least spencer says it is. I am 8 months pregnant and am very hot. Sometimes i have to step outside to cool down. lol
Oyeah did i tell you about the very cool swatch i got for my birthday? It is turquoise! love it... do you remember swatches? who ever you are! lol
okay i know this blog isn't so exciting... but i am trying to do something to not go crazy. I am having too many contractions to be doing anything so I am bored!!!
okay love all yall and remember.... get flood insurance (especially if you live by a river in TN)

april

we are in South Africa.... for now!

So today I noticed it has been 2 months since my last blog. oooops my bad : )
okay i will try to catch you up in just a couple of paragraphs. I am sitting upstairs in our flat in South Africa. We arrived about a month ago because I was experiencing some pregnancy issues that we thought would be best treated here. After a visit to the Rwanda hospital we were on the next plane here. God was so good to get us all on the place together.
The pregnancy is going well. We are excited about the place where we will deliver and as of today I am 33 weeks and 5 days pregnant. If we can just hold out until 36 1/2 weeks our midwife can deliver. Luke and Abby were both born at or around 36 1/2 weeks. The health care is great here and we have enjoyed being in a place where there are malls and fast food! good thing i am pregnant... i can eat all kinds of stuff : )
with all that said I am starting to miss home... Rwanda! I have always wondered what it would be like to leave here but now that i am for a few months I am missing the things that seemed challenging before. I miss going to the market or small stores. I miss everything being homemade and I especially miss my kitchen aid mixer!!! I miss our guard and his family and i miss every window in the house open.
God has been so good to us over the past few years. He has given us children that love changes and that are very flexible. luke and Abby are doing so good. I pray that they will continue to grow in the Lord and continue to be flexible. actually i'm not sure if they realize how BLESSED they are. they are experiencing life that most kids will never experience. God is good and we feel blessed to be missionaries for HIM!
our work continues here in south africa. since spencers job is mainly in front of the computer he is able to continue here. my job (other than being a mom) is going well. I am working of developing resources for our children's departments across the field.
not sure if all of you readers know or not but our home assignment is coming up. We should be home in Jan. through April ahhh it will be cold i am sure.
okay i will try not to wait too long before i post again... but can't promise anything, i am about to have a baby!!!! lol

okay i love all yall and remember... mothers day is sunday.... if you live close to your mother love on her.... you are blessed to be near her! i would love to take my mom out for lunch. boohoo

an almost fire

I almost caught my new maternity dress on fire. yesterday at the Chinese restaurant. i was in the bathroom and there was no power. So they had a small candle to use. The room was really small and dark and i had to carry it with me into the stall. I sat in on the ground and there almost went my dress. Luckily the dress just swooped over the fire and all was good. I would have been pretty upset if it would have caught on fire. I love this new dress : )

Speaking of maternity clothes. i have been able to find 2 pair of pants, 2 pair of jeans and 1 pair of shorts at the local market. Sooooo excited! I can now feel comfortable in clothes. I am 24 weeks today. Larry (not really his name) is getting big and I can feel him all the time. I still can't believe how hard it has been to find a name. Girl names are so much easier for me to decide on. Okay so here are some names we are thinking about.
Silas, Seth, Elijah, Ezekiel, Titus, Asher, Judah and everyday we think of another. What do you think?

Things have been really busy here. New volunteers that moved in next door, Spencer finishing up a demanding class with NNU, homeschooling, first theological class taught via the internet and keeping up with every day life.

I have begun the process of trying to find and/or create Sunday school/discipleship materials for our children on the field. There are 4 main languages that these materials need to be in so it is a challenge. But God is good!

There is a Sara Groves concert this friday night Our house help is staying late so spencer and i can go. it will be a fun time.

Okay all for now, i know this one wasn't so exciting... hey there's always tomorrow :)
I love all ya'll and remember..................when you know it is going to rain while you are sleeping, go ahead and lay out the towels!

April

got a name?

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." 1 Peter 1:23-25 (NIV)
Today i read this and began to Praise God that he does stand forever and hasn't failed me!. Even though i may get discouraged from this world I can always stand on the word. Not saying it is always easy but when you actually live in the spirit life is just better!

Today i woke up to the kids coming in my room. Usually on school days i have to get them out of bed. Someone must be praying for me. The reason i say this is because spencer is out of town and you know the joys of getting the kids ready for school by yourself. Not exactly fun. So we all got ready and it wasn't bad at all. Although I did give in to giving Luke frosted mini-wheats. We were waiting to open this box of cereal until we finish at least one of the other open boxes. Ha o-well the things we do for a little peace and not hearing the boohooing from kids. lol

Spencer has the truck so I had to call James the taxi. he actually got here a little early so i was pleased. So today i need to clean my house, do laundry and take a nap.lol i love the excuses of being pregnant.

So the other day we finally got our christmas packages in the mail. After a whole 2 months that it took. They arrived in fairly good shape. After getting the ants off of my laffy taffy and scrapping them off of my Velveeta cheese life was good. Yes i still kept the cheese and candy - I figured hey - ants can't be that bad, i once ate a chocolate covered ant and survived and cheese is way more important than chocolate. :)

Spencer is with the General Superintendent for the Church of the Nazarene - Dr.Graves. We ate a late dinner with them the other night and really enjoyed being with them. Him and his wife are here for a conference with our field. That is where spencer is today and yesterday and tomorrow.

Okay all for now I am online about to watch the conference.
Love all yall and remember... still looking for that one of a kind, cool name for our baby boy! : )

thanks for bringing fruit roll-ups Blake and Lindsey!

So it is raining cats and dogs here... well maybe monkeys and giraffes. Seriously it is raining here like never before... or at least we have never seen it rain like this before. We have a million leaks in our house. Okay okay maybe about 20 or so.
Okay so I got the weather conversation out of the way.

Tomorrow we go for our ultrasound to measure the baby and ya know see what we are having. A boy or girl that is :) I am just about 19 weeks along. I am beginning to start to feel the baby although not very strong yet.
We will have to taxi there because our truck is in the hospital... i mean shop. Not sure exactly when we will get it back. Hopefully Monday or Tuesday. Not fun being without wheels. But i guess i am getting more exercise this way.

Life here seems to be getting easier. It is nice to have new missionaries on the compound with us. As i think back on how far we have come I give all the Praise to God. Moving and transitioning life into yet another culture is... well hard to explain. Life is different but also the same. I serve the same God in every culture. Although the worship maybe different in our churches I serve the same One and only God.
Continue to be on this journey with us. Be in prayer for us and with us. To God be the Glory!

Okay love all yall and I do promise to get back into blogging more often. Really I do!
and remember...... make sure you take all the paper off the fruit roll-up before you start eating the yummy part.... the plastic isn't so yummy.

april