This is our home for the next 8 months. This is the third time we have stayed in this home while on furlough. We are so thankful for this ministry that Highland Baptist Church has.
I didn't realize I had cut Justin's head off in this pic. but I thought I would still put it in here.
We have been back in the states for one week now. I think we are adjusting pretty well. Jet lag was not too bad either. We have been busy just doing lots of little things that have to be done when you first get here like getting a phone and having our drivers lisence renewed. We tried to get Zach his drivers lisence but he needed his actual SS card which I have lost. We have the number but that wasn't good enough. So, we have started that process and it should be here in 7-10 days. Not soon enough for Zach. (Praise-right after I wrote this I went and checked the mail and his SS card was in the mail after only two days. Yay!)
We moved into the mission house this past Friday. We are so glad to be in a place we can call home and out of suitcases. Everyone has been so kind and helpful. Hannah is a little bored since she hasn't started school yet and there aren't any kids her age near us. She has enjoyed shopping with me though. Of course, I have enjoyed that too. Justin is enjoying fast internet and tv. I don't think he is quite ready for school yet. Anyway, I thought I would share a few pics. with you of our first few days.
Hannah with her cousin Micheala enjoying a fudgesicle.
We had a special meal and cake to celebrate Zach's graduation at my parents house.
Michaela, Hannah, and Macey enjoying their cake.
Zach had several cards and gifts to open.
This is a big laundry bag with his initials on it.
My dad is enjoying all this little girl attention!
Zach is too! It did take a while for the girls to go to sleep. All 5 of the grandkids slept in one room.
playing the wii
Justin
My sister played hair dresser and fixed everyones hair.
The day after graduation we slept in and then went to the Kellers house for a graduation celebration. Kevin Keller has been Zach's roommate for a couple of years and they are really good friends. Kevin's girlfriend and her family came too. They fixed barbeque chicken with lots of fixins. We had a lot of fun getting to know these families better.
Zach riding Hannah on a dirt bike.
Kevin and Zach riding together and then they did a trick where Zach grabbed a rope and was pulled off the bike. Didn't quite have the camera ready for that shot.
Kevin, Sarah, and Zach
Monday evening we went to have dinner with friends of ours, Orville and Suzan Bryant. They have been our boys guardians. We had a delicious meal with them too! They have a pet monkey named Rafiki. He was in a storage room for a while so the kids just handed him some food through the window. He was adorable!
After we had eaten Suzan got him out and fed him. Isn't he so cute?
Suzan was holding on to him tight because if he were to get loose he would make a terrible mess in the house. I thought it would be fun to have one as a pet too until I thought about him getting loose in my house!
Saturday, July 17th, Zach graduated from Rift Valley Academy. It was a beautiful day! The ceremony was a blessing and I didn't cry too much at all! We are so proud of Zach. He finished with a final GPA of 3.6.
Zach with two of his friends.
Zach is second from the left on the first row.
RVA choir did a marvelous job singing.
Keynote speaker gave a very encouraging message to these graduates.
Zach receiving his diploma
Zach with his diploma
Kevin congratulating Zach!
Zach and Hannah
Zach and Justin
Kevin and Zach. Kevin has been Zach's roommate for the last two years.
Our family
Caleb and Zach. Caleb is Zachs good friend and music buddy.
I read this devotional today from Oswald Chambers. It really spoke to me so I thought I would share it on here. Enjoy!
"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord." Isaiah 6:1
Our soul's history with God is frequently the history of the "passing of the hero." Over and over again God has to remove our friends in order to bring Himself in their place, and that is where we faint and fail and get discouraged. Take it personally: In the year that the one who stood to me for all that God was, died-I gave up everything? I became ill? I got disheartened? or--I saw the Lord? My vision of God depends upon the state of my character. Character determines revelation. Before I can say "I saw also the Lord," there must be something corresponding to God in my character. Until I am born again and begin to see the Kingdom of God, I see along the line of my prejudices only; I need the surgical operation of external events and an internal purification. It must be God first, God second, and God third, until the life is faced steadily with God and no one else is of any account whatever. "In all the world there is none but thee, my God, there is none but thee." Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
This past Friday we attended the wedding of Ezron and Mercy Musonda. Ezron has been a friend of ours for many years. So we are so happy we were able to go and be a part of their celebration. One of our missionaries, Franklin Kilpatrick, officiated the marriage and did an excellent job. He and his wife, Paula, are about to retire in a few months so this may have been his last wedding in Zambia. Please pray for Ezron and Mercy as they begin their new marriage together.
We are proud to announce that our son, Zach, will be graduating from Rift Valley Academy next Saturday. The announcement and picture are below. Plus there are some pics. of him in high school and when he was younger. We will be leaving Zambia this Thursday to travel to Nairobi, Kenya so we can be there for this very exciting event in his life. We are so proud of how God is molding him into such a fine young man!
Zach's first hunt, killing a reedbuck.
In this pic. Zach is dressed up like the Joker for a carnival at school. (10th grade)
Frodo(Zach) and the witch king(Kevin-his roommate) at carnival in 12th grade.
This was taken at one of our visits this past year.
Zach dressed up like Jack Sparrow in 10th grade for carnival night.
This is painted on the wall from Zach's first dorm he lived in.
As you can tell from my previous two posts I have been reading a lot about what it is like for our kids(and even us sometimes) to go and live in the states during our furlough or stateside assignment. Especially, since Zach will be graduating in a couple of weeks and will be starting college in Aug. He is going through a very difficult time right now as he is/has been having to say bye to a lot of friends, family, and even places. I'm so thankful for how he feels free to share with us all the emotions that he is going through. It is so difficult and probably no one can fully understand except for another TCK(defin. below). So, when my child hurts, I hurt.
Zach was able to go to a pre-departure seminar for a weekend last term. As I was packing I found his notebook and have been reading a lot of what they learned which was some really good stuff(with his permission of course). At the back of the book some former students at his school wrote some responses to questions to help the students understand what it might be like. Most of you who know me, know that I'm pretty emotional anyway. So, I'm sure you can imagine me just weeping as I read all these pages of what these TCK's had written. I read many pages but I'm just going to include a few of the comments so you can better understand what it is like for TCK's as they leave Africa and go to live in the states.
TCK (Third Culture Kid): An individual who, having spent a significant part of the developmental years in a culture other than the parents' culture, develops a sense of relationship to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Elements from each culture are incorporated into the life experience, but the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar experience.
The hardest thing about leaving Africa....
"Leaving a place that is the closest thing to home I’ve ever had, and likely ever will have."
"Leaving my dear home, the incomparable beauty of it, and the comfortable feeling of knowing I was loved and accepted there.I knew what to expect at every turn."
"I was mostly afraid…it felt like I was never going to come back.. I remember crying in the airplane cause I was scared."
"I really miss the dirt, the people, the food, the smells, the way of life."
"Losing the sense of belonging."
"Leaving a continent where I understood what was going on culturally."
"When you leave, you’re leaving your entire life, and transplanting it into a place where you know no one very closely, and nothing about current life there.It’s so easy to want to just curl up, go to sleep, and realize it’s all been a dream, and you’re still in Africa.In one blow, your life has been shattered, and you don’t know if humpty-dumpty can be put together again."
"Knowing that this time, I might never be back."
"Feeling like your heart is being barbarically ripped out and stomped on. I felt like I was being sold into slavery and everyone, everywhere, and everything I had ever loved was being taken away from me. At the airport it was all I could do not to hop the fence and run away from it all."
"The way your heart tears when the plane lifts off can't even be described. Leaving your home and your pets, and family behind feels different when you're going to a different continent! But! It is better to have loved once, than to have never loved at all. Even if you're leaving your heart in Africa, remember that God has a plan for you, and He will use your love for Africa in ways you never dreamed."
"leaving my friends behind."
My transition has gone well because.... "I know this is where God wants me right now. Also, I've figured out that there is no place on earth that could ever be my home. God has designed us to long for heaven, and we won't be satisfied until we're with Him. So I have given up trying to claim a plot of land as my home, and have found my identity as a child of Christ. I know that I'm going to get home when I die, so life is just one long journey. Knowing that has made me realize that leaving Kenya hasn't dragged me away from my home, I've just taken the fork in the road, which will eventually lead me to my heavenly home. No direction is wrong, it's just fun."
These sound like some pretty smart young people to me. So, as you think of us over the next few months please pray for us as we transition back into the states. For Zach, he will be starting his life in the states. For us, we will just be there for 8 months and then we'll all come back to Zambia.
You know when you first have children you think about how short of a time you have them to raise them but it seems like it is so far off before they go out on their own. You just do the best that you can to train your child in the way that he should go. You teach him along the way to be independent and to stand on his own two feet. They just grow up too fast!! It is all building up to the time that he goes off to college for the first time. Now, we are at that point in our life. Am I ready for it? NO! Is Zach ready? Yes, I believe he is. It doesn't make it any easier on me though. I know many moms and dads have dealt with this in the past and many will deal with it in the future but right now it is my turn and it is a hard place to be. Please pray for us as we go through this difficult stage of life.
This is our home for the next 8 months. This is the third time we have stayed in this home while on furlough. We are so thankful for this ministry that Highland Baptist Church has.
I didn't realize I had cut Justin's head off in this pic. but I thought I would still put it in here.
Hannah with her cousin Micheala enjoying a fudgesicle.
Michaela, Hannah, and Macey enjoying their cake.
Zach had several cards and gifts to open.
This is a big laundry bag with his initials on it.
My dad is enjoying all this little girl attention!
Zach is too! It did take a while for the girls to go to sleep. All 5 of the grandkids slept in one room.
playing the wii
Justin
My sister played hair dresser and fixed everyones hair.
