Happy Fall to all my friends in the Northern Hemisphere! I
am missing fall colors and pumpkin spice lattes as we welcome November and
rising temperatures here in Jo-berg. We are heading into our summer complete
with super sunny and hot days dotted with beautiful thundershowers closing out
many of our afternoons.
So many wonderful things have happened since I blogged last…
here are the basic highlights and a brief rundown of all that God has been
doing with me and at El Roi, our new baby home in Lanseria!
New Home
On September 27th we had our official house
opening of our new El Roi Baby House! El Roi is the name given to God by Hagar
in Genesis 16 when she says in verse 13: “You are the God who sees me”. We
believe that it is our God that sees every abandoned baby He is going to bring
our way.
A few days later on October 1st I spent my first
night in my new home! It is a HUGE and beautiful home with 9 bedrooms, 5
bathrooms, 2 kitchens, a lovely playroom, isolation room, laundry room and
office! We are still in the process of getting all of the parts of the house
livable and are dealing with some minor inconveniences like the toilet that is
constantly leaking in my bathroom and a lack of hot water because the hot water
heaters are too old to work anymore! Thankfully we have competent (but super
busy) people who are helping us get all of the minor issues like these sorted
out. One of the best parts of my new home is the fabulous oven that we’ve
received. I have been baking up a storm and have the privilege of hosting a
volunteer dinner on Monday nights.
New Babies
Our plan here at El Roi is to start with 6 babies for the
next 6 months as we get all the kinks worked out of our new home, training new
Staff and getting find our footing before we begin to fill up the house with
the 28 babies between the ages of 0 – 3 that we’ve been zoned to eventually
house. As of today we have 4 babies! Our big sister is a sassy and sweet
soon-to-be two year old who is a wonderful big sister to our 6-week-old little
man, our 2-week-old princess and our 5-day-old sweet baby girl. We have 4
amazingly sweet Aunties who are scheduled around the clock to help care for our
babies and help keep our home running smoothly. We also have had 2
international volunteers who have been staying at the house and helping with
day-to-day needs when their schedules allow. We are anxiously awaiting the
other babies that our Father is going to set in our home in the next few weeks.
It’s weird to think that I’ve only been living here on “the
farm” for only a month or so. I am used to the roosters’ crows, the donkey’s
hee-haws, the bleating of the two baby lambs that often munch on the grass in
our backyard and that sounds of the hundreds of school children who walk the
dirt road outside of our house to and from the school that is directly across
from our front door. I am feeling connected to the community here at Refilwe
and excited about all of the good things that our God is doing in the community
as a whole.
New Dog
I decided to embark on a brand new adventure by adopting a
puppy the weekend before I moved to El Roi. Her name is Thabisa and she is a
3-month-old mutt that I was able to adopt from a community that my dear friends
and missionaries, Mark and Sara Williams, serve a few hours from here. Thabisa
is an African name meaning “one who brings joy” and she lives up to her name
most of the time! She is super friendly, energetic and sweet when she isn’t
chewing up everything in sight! I often feel like I have a second toddler in
the house! I do appreciate her and am thankful for the new depths of patience
and mercy that the Lord is using her to develop in my heart! I have never had a
dog before and I am still working on becoming a good puppy owner but Thabisa
has grace for me!
Love and Support
I am often humbled by the amazing ways that our Father works
out blessing and refreshment for His kids right at the perfect time! Just a few
days after I moved into El Roi, my friend Cynthia Stafford traveled 24+ hours
to be that perfect blessing to me! Words really can’t describe how perfect our
time together was… she served us tirelessly helping us get set up by washing,
hanging, folding and sorting load after load of laundry, planted California
poppies in my backyard, purchased and hung bright and cheery curtains in the
babies’ rooms and helping me fetch and care for our first baby the first 72
hours he was home and before we’d trained the Aunties to start working. Cynthia
blessed me with news and stories from home as well as a whole suitcase full of
love from the babies and me! Cute outfits, desperately needed thermometers and
other baby supplies, cans of pumpkin and birthday presents and letters sent
from my family! God arranged for her to be here over the weekend of my birthday
and she and her family blessed me with 3 days and 2 nights on Safari! I really
can’t explain how spoiled and treasured I felt… we were treated like princesses
the entire time we were there and got to see display after display of our
Creator’s ingenious and beautiful handiwork. It really seems like a dream when
I think about how wonderful it was… it was a once in a lifetime experience and
truthfully one of the best birthday presents I’ve ever received. I was sad to
see her head back home but grateful for the stories and experiences she was
sure to share with people back home. Thanks for coming to see and bless me,
Cynthia! Baby “P” and I miss you and send you lots of love and hugs!
Thank you for all of the ways you are continuing to love and
support me and the adventure that our Father has set me on here in South
Africa. Please pray that I will find my footing in our new home and in the
community here at Refilwe. Please pray that our Father will continue to watch
over us at El Roi and that He will be the Lord over our new home. October was a
hard time to be away from home. Please pray that I will be able to trust God’s
timing and hand in the lives of my friends and family who are going through
difficult times. I love being here in South Africa and I know that I know that
this is EXACTLY where I am called to be but I often wish that California and
South Africa were only 10 miles apart rather than 10,000! Thank you Jesus for
modern technology like email and facebook! I feel loved and upheld by each
email and comment sent my way. Thank you for holding us in your prayers!
Much
love from Nicole and the babies at El Roi
Sweet big sister and little sister.... our first infants together.... our first baby's hospital tag
Such a good "mommy".... our precious newest baby "A".... our big girl coloring
Our little man on his first day home.... our big sister playing outside... Thabisa helping check my email
Being spoiled by Cynthia... this is how close the animals came to our jeep!!!
