Nicole's Hopeful Adventure: Nicole's New Digs

Hello, friends! We have officially entered our summer months here in Lanseria and that means temperatures hanging out around 90 degrees and (prayerfully) some rainy weather heading our way more regularly. Per usual, it has been several months since I’ve checked in blog-wise and I wanted to update you on life!

Dining Room table -- Rachel matching my newly painted door

When I last wrote, I shared with you my desire to move out into a new place and asked you to pray about joining me in that new venture. God’s kindness through YOU showed up and in July I moved into my new “hobbit hole” just across the river from the Baby House. By June God provided the money needed to start the renovation of my new space and He showed up in His perfect timing and could wrap up the renovation by July. I moved in on 16 July and have spent the last few months working on making it cozy and functional. It has been fun learning how to live in a smaller space (with limited cupboard space) and have enjoyed waking up each morning to a different kind of noisy neighbors. Instead of 16 little voices waking me before my alarm I now am greeted with rooster calls and school transport horn hoots. It is a different kind of wonderful – and have mostly enjoyed carving out my new normal of life outside of the Baby Home.

Bedroom -- Living Room

Ever since my first walkthrough of my new place I kept referring to the space as my “hobbit hole”. Mostly because I was losing some square footage and it was a bit musty from unused. My first weekend home I spent some time journaling the journey and asking Jesus to use the space as His own. I decided to look up the bit of The Hobbit where Tolkien described a hobbit hole and this is what he wrote, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” I believe the Lord allowed me to move into this space with the desire for it to be a place of comfort – for others and for me! I pray that if you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods that you will be able to sneak over for a cup of coffee and a snack in a place where you can rest and meet the comfort of the One who loves and knows you best.

The toddlers breaking in the couch -- New washing machine!

I spent my first two months working hard to carve out a routine that had me up at the Baby Home at varied times and then promptly had it upended with the arrival of our newest little, baby boy M. Baby M came to us via our Baby Safe and was the first little to spend his first weeks with us sharing his time with us and in my new home during the nights and on weekends. Baby M is proving to be a relaxed and happy little man who was happy to go with the flow. We bonded easily and even with 3-hourly feeds it was a joy to have him as my first official house guest! September also brought my first grown up guests when I had the privilege of hosting two Dutchies over a long weekend. It was a jammed packed weekend full of catching up over tasty breakfasts and dinners out. We busted out the air mattress and shared my space in funny and creative ways. It was such a joy to have them over and look forward to having them again (2021, right girls?!).

Sweet friends -- Baby M enjoying an afternoon stretch

One of the fun parts of my new space is having a kitchen to cook with and a living room to host people in. One of our new weekly events is a Bible Study for all the female residential volunteers. We meet on Thursday nights and have coined our gathering “The Garden” because saying we are meeting up for “The Garden” somehow sounds more apropos than meeting up for a mere Bible study. My new kitchen is tiny (but mighty) with open shelving and a newly donated washing machine that arrived last week! My friend, Megan, had told me about another expat blogger who was running a fun series in October called This Global Kitchen and my little kitchen was invited to participate! We will be featured on the blog on the 27^thof this month alongside 30 other perfectly imperfect kitchens from all over the world. Check out the amazing list here.

My little kitchen -- my first dinner in my new digs

Thank you for everyone who helped make my moving into a new place a reality! I continued to be blown away with the Lord’s kindness and love exhibited to me through you. I will be in California this Christmas and hope to connect with many of you then! I am also going to be sending out another update via email with some info that I feel needs to be shared in a less “public” arena. If you are not receiving those emails (and would like to) please drop me a line at nicolegillette@gmail.com and I will happily add you to the list. I pray that whatever season you find yourself into today that you will look for and be able to easily see the deep love that the Father has for you.

Hope to have you over for coffee soon -- An encouraging word

P.S. One fun thing that happened since we last spoke is that our Mr. T met his Forever Family last week! He has been with us since he was 5 days old and it has been a joy watching him learn, grow and love these past 3 years together. It was an honor and a privilege to introduce him to his Forever family and I am happy to share that they are all doing incredibly well and are enjoying their time in South Africa as a family before they head home to Sweden. Please join us in praying that more of our kiddos will be able to celebrate Christmas with their Forever Families. Mr. T’s adoption is only our second adoption this year. We are asking God for at least four more adoptions this year because we have four kiddos who are matched with families and we are just waiting for all the legal things (like court dates) to go through. Adoption is under attack here is South Africa – to learn more about this hard reality you can read about it here.