Back at New Day!

One week ago, we headed for DFW Airport to board 3 flights to Zambia!

First stop - donut shop in Brownwood!

This was probably the worst trip, in my opinion! Our kids are getting older, so that makes it easier, but adding the one extra flight and just the layovers..blah! That's why we only do it every 2 years, so we can forget how awful it is! Here is Caedmon in the Johannesburg, South Africa airport. This is where he was born, so he proudly shows off "his" flag! :)

This is your first glimpse of our intern this Spring, Jenna from Nebraska! Her background is in music and theater so she will be teaching music classes and writing an Easter play for our kids to do!

At this point (one flight to go) our kids were SOOOO wired and my patience was SOOOO gone!

Finally, Saturday afternoon on the bus headed to New Day!

Whew! The water had gone down enough for us to cross!

But right before we made the final turn to New Day, we came upon this "puddle!" Blu had to check and see if we could cross - welcome home!

Sunday and Monday were a fog of unpacking and sorting 25 bags and cleaning my house! But on Tuesday I was able to get the curriculum delivered to the teachers!

Jenna's classroom will be the library, so we worked together to get it ready and organized!

Meanwhile, Niki & Kelsey Cook help with lunch in the dining hall since Kalenga is on vacation!

My sweet friend Prisca, who is severely hunchbacked, came to visit. New Day has the privilege of sending Prisca to school - she starts Grade 11 next week!

Time for prayer & praise! Cambree & Laurie, best friends reunited!

Ben & Phillip being silly

Kefi, still as cute as can be :)

Kelsey gets some love from Axer

Mweene, off in a corner by himself. :) I made him come and sit by me!

Jenna and some of the girls work on Cambree's hair :)

We are slowly getting over jet lag, and Blu has already made 2 trips into Choma! Back at it, full swing! Laurie left today to join Wes in the USA, but they will return in a few weeks and then New Day will be fully staffed for awhile! School starts on Monday, and I am teaching 3 subjects, so things will be a little busy for awhile! Thanks for your prayers!

Trust Without Borders

This furlough, there was a song that seemed to follow me. We heard it at numerous churches, and each time I felt God tugging at my heart. Because we packed up everything we owned and hauled our 3 small children off to Zambia to start an orphanage four years ago, I guess I have always thought I didn't really have trust issues with God. But hearing this song - "Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders..." - yikes. Ouch! I immediately thought about the borders in my life. It reminded me of the country of Zambia. It has a clearly defined border that is surrounded by seven other countries. I pictured my trust INSIDE of these borders. As long as things go as I have planned, it's easy to trust God. I realized that I have trusted Him only if it is on my own terms, within my own borders. I pray this 2014 and this next two year term in Zambia that my trust in God will be massive, it will be huge, but most of all it will be without borders. Regardless of what happens, regardless of my own plans, I will trust Him. Easy to say, harder to do. But with God, ALL things are possible. :)

Last Pics from USA!

Here is what we were up to our last days in the USA!

A gingerbread house - our kids were WIRED this day..

My two cousins, Kaysi & Tommy, came up for a visit! Kaysi is working on her master's in international business in Switzerland and is engaged, and Tommy is engaged and about to finish up his business degree! So proud of them!

That night, my great-aunt and great-uncle came for a visit! Uncle Don & Aunt Jennifer are retired and traveling the USA in their huge RV!

Just a last selfie :)

Poor Caed started our furlough with surgery on his toe, and he ended it with a fall down a hill on his scooter!

Some last reading time with Mama Dee!

Mom sewed a million things for me these past few months! Cason even got a hole in his sock and said "Mama Dee can you sew this for me??" Here she is sewing my ripped suitcase!

My amazing parents made a last trip to our mission house to help me detail clean! Dad is the window man!

Mom was super focused on getting that rug clean! :)

We ended our time with my parents with a Chinese lunch, gourmet coffee & brownie, and a search for where my Grandma lived in 1940 when she was 14 years old. We found it!

We spent New Year's Eve with Blu's family - a party at Shade & Caity's house! Here is the cake Blu brought :)

What an awesome game! Gig 'em!

Paw wanted to try some of the kids' applesauce, which I found funny for some reason :)

The Walking Dead...

Some last snuggles with my A.J. :) He will be FIVE next time I see him!!!!

Cambree got a good pic of B-Maw :)

And that's it...24 bags ready to go!

2013 Book of the Year

It's that time again!! Time for what, you ask?? Time for me to give you my book recommendations for 2013 of course!! :) I read a LOT of books this past year, and I read a lot of GOOD books!! Looking back over my list, the Matched Series and the Divergent series stands out. (If you haven't read Divergent, read it!! The movie comes out in March 2014 and you know you have to read the book first!!) I REALLY liked Divergent, and Blu did too! But if I can only choose ONE...then I would have to go with....(*insert drum roll*) And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini.

I loved The Kite Runner, and this book was even better. A sign of an outstanding novel to me is that I could read it again tomorrow. So read it and let me know if you love it!
And of course, I can't leave you without a nonfiction recommendation! Every other year, I read through the Bible. This past year, Blu & I read through it together chronologically. We read this one:

Most days we read separately, some days we read together (in the car with me reading out loud), but we always discussed what we were reading. We loved it! If you haven't read through the Bible, I HIGHLY recommend it!!!

I read tons of non fiction biographies this year, but my favorite was probably Elizabeth Smart's story. It was amazing, and I think you'll love it too.

Did you hear? I was also busy in 2013 writing a book of my own!

A young boy is abandoned in a maize field in the heart of Southern Africa. He experiences horrors in an orphanage and later on the streets, filled with anger at a God that he's not even sure exists. A childless African pastor with a heart for the lost tries to break down the walls this orphan has so carefully constructed around his heart. A story of loss, hope, and above all, Love.

It is available 2 ways RIGHT NOW:

1) Go to amazon.com where you can purchase a paperback for under $6!

2) Go to amazon.com where you can download it on your kindle for $3.99!

Happy reading in 2014!

Fun day after Christmas!

We had a fun and very busy day after Christmas! Here's what we were up to!

A visit to the Waco Children's Museum with Mom & Dad! Yes, I do realize that most of the pictures below are of the adults and not the kids.. :)

Blu loved the bubble room!

We laughed and laughed at Blu "flying!"

Here he is writing me a secret message in Hieroglyphics!

Getting ready to get back to New Day and milk Martha the cow again!

Ugh...nasty tarantula...

Cambree makes a bubble around herself

The pioneer room was so fun!

We used to do this in Zambia...

Everyone wants to be like Uncle Shade.. :)

Rinsing clothes!

An old historic church building

Dad & Blu were fascinated by the floating ball :)

Love him :)

My little (and big) drummers

Dad said, "Dee, go stand there and I'm going to show you something.." She was a little bit leery :)

Mom gives a news report

The train exhibit was amazing!

We met Marie, Johnny Boy's sister, for lunch at a Lebanese café - yum! I can't believe I didn't get any pictures...probably because my kids were being hooligans...

After lunch we drove to Alvarado to see Jessica, Landon, and the new baby, Miss Addie Jane!

So sweet!

Brindley stopped by to say hi! She's gorgeous :) Both of them. :)

We hung out at Mrs. Kelly's house and then had supper with some of our good Alvarado friends.

It was a fun and tiring day! Please lift up Wes and Laurie in your prayers as Wes flies back to the USA due to his mom's sickness. She is not doing well at all and the doctors did not give a good prognosis. He will arrive in Missouri on Saturday morning at 9:20am, and Laurie will hold the fort down at New Day until we arrive in 8 days.