CCCB

We have classmates scattered throughout the world. People we spent years with preparing and training. We have memories of eating Rita’s bread rolls and rice crispy treats while brainstorming in Mike’s office about how to make the missions program more effective. We spent nights preparing for missions emphasis week, hours together on buses traveling to the National Missionary Convention, and many days raising support together for our different fields. Most people we went to school with spent at least one early fall morning in an apple orchard learning about the principles of “harvesting.” More than anything we learned at school we built relationships with people who have a passion for people around the world. We may not always have agreed on where to go, or where the greatest need was, but we were there for each other. Today we have class mates all over the world. All in different stages of ministry. Some are still raising support, some are new to their chosen field, and some are veterans. It has been amazing to be part of the steps that these people have taken in getting to the mission field. With joy we read about the victories, and when bad things happen we know we have a network of people around the world praying for us.
Today I am thankful for the friendship and brotherhood I found in the students and instructors at Central Christian College of the Bible. Take some time today to pray for the alumni of our school as they are spread out all over the world bringing hope to lost peoples.

Week 30/31

How far along? : 31 weeks 2 days today.

Total weight gain: It is just around 30 pounds today! 🙂 It is nice to be able to eat whenever I am hungry and not worry about the weight gain.

How big is baby?: Big enough to give me strong kicks in the ribs! And to let me know when he wants me to change position when I am laying down.

Sleep?: I am sleeping really well most nights. This could be thanks to the six pillows I surround myself with at night. And the 80% of the bed I get to take up. David is being a sweet heart. He spends his nights hanging off the edge of his side of the bed. Last night I looked at him, he was sleeping in a position that looked so awfully uncomfortable. I guess I will remind myself of his discomfort in about 9 weeks, when I am going to want to punch him in the face. Or so I have been told.

Movement?: All the time. As you can see from this picture, taken from my perspective, Reese likes to push out as hard as he can.
Apparently the baby is supposed to have distinguishable sleep and awake patterns right now. HA! I think he takes little 20-50 minute power naps, and then goes back to kicking and rolling. This has been the absolute best part of pregnancy. The best is when David puts his hand on my belly and then yelps out is surprise when a little limb greets him! It is surprising how strong Reese is getting! David and I fight now over who gets to put their hand on my belly. David says I am cheating since I can feel him move anyway. Whatever. 

 
Food cravings?: Chocolate. Vinegar.

What I’m looking forward to: Christmas. We will be at 36 weeks then, and it will be our last Christmas as just David and I. Last year was a difficult year. I remember thinking that I could not do another Christmas without some kind of resolution to the baby infertility situation. Who knew I would be four weeks away from our take home baby this year?

Best moment of the week: Quite a few. We went on a date, while there David left his wallet in the car. He went to go get it, and when he came back he had a present with him. I started crying immediately. It seems the Chinese restaurant will know me as the crying lady. (This was also where I first felt Reese move = tears) When I tore the paper off I cried even harder, it is one of those willow tree figures. The one of the pregnant woman. He went to a specialty store and ordered it. I am so blessed to have him! We also got our baby book 🙂 Also we reached 30 weeks, and 31, which means less than ten weeks to our due date!! 


But the best was seeing David learn how to bathe a baby. Of course we practiced on a doll. But it was funny and heartwarming!

Dr’s Appointment?:  At my last appointment the dr. exclaimed at how big Reese is getting. At 29 weeks he weighed 3.5 pounds! We are having a chubby little guy. My next appointment is on the 24th of November. I did have a little hospital visit again. I was hoping to stay out of the hospital until it is go time. I had some horrible cramps, nausea and continuing braxton hicks. We called the office and they told us to head to Labor and Delivery. We were there for about 4 hours, The dr. concluded that I may have picked up a stomach virus somewhere, and put me on some medication. I did have a non-stress test done. It was amazing to get to listen to Reese’s heartbeat for so long. David did keep it light, he kept making me giggle, and the hospital is very nice. It is the one I will be delivering at. The rooms are private and very nice, like a hotel room. The nurses were relaxed and all seemed to have a great sense of humor. There was a lady in labor in the room next to mine, I asked how she was doing. The nurse said that she was doing great, and that she was vomiting. She said it with such a nice smile and attitude, that is seemed that the lady must have been having a very pleasant vomiting experience. 
They had a poster on the wall explaining how epidurals work, I asked the nurse how many epidurals they do on average, she said in the last year they have done 2. TWO! She also said they do about 6 c-sections a day.  I asked why they had the poster on the wall then? Was is there to mock women in pain. “HA HA! Look what you can’t have!!” The nurse giggled and said no.

Thankful for:  Every little punch, kick, and roll.

Wrapping paper and hot fudge!

Last night some ladies from school came over to wrap the children’s Christmas presents. That’s right, ALL 108 students get a book and a gift, and they all have to be wrapped. Last year I did not get to be part of this wrapping party, so I was pretty excited to get to help this year.
Marye, from Holland, Jodie, from Canada, Naleke from Kenya, and myself put on some Christmas music, set up a wrapping station, ordered some pizza and set off! I thought it would take at least 189723 hours to wrap that many presents. But we set up a good system I cut tape, Naleke and Marye wrapped, and Jodie sorted the gifts. There was a great selection, from board games to a couple of bedazzlers.
It was fun to talk about the kids as their gifts were wrapped. And to listen to Jodie and Marye talk about past Chrstmasses. How they used to have to buy a few gifts, to today when it is a whole operation.
We stopped for pizza after a while.The pizza guy took forever to show up though!

We then had home made sundaes, I made some hot fudge. Probably the best part of the whole get together, loads of hot fudge.
So right now there is one week of classes left, and then the last week of school. The last week will be full of Christmas parties, Disney movies, and the Christmas play.
It is crazy that we have been with the school for so long now. Pray for the leadership of the school, David has been interviewing some new people to fill the open teaching spots, and the open spots in the administrative team. It has been a fulfilling and challenging year, and we have seen God do some great things in the lives of the kids, and our own!

Rango.

Missions and loneliness.

I have to confess the loneliness that comes with living in a foreign country. It could be that now that I am going through something that usually bring gatherings of friends and family, I am feeling this separation more acutely. I woke up feeling sad today. Sad that we are so far away from home. Sad that I left my home country over eight years ago, and with that I have missed out on eight years of life with my parents, my brothers, my childhood friends.
Something I learned very quickly when we decided to become missionaries, is that friends and relationships are, for lack of a better word, “transitional.” We were missions majors in college so many of our class mates are scattered around the globe. People come and go. We throw ourselves into making significant relationships with people, knowing that soon we will be saying goodbye. Of course in today’s world we can skype and email. It’s not like I have to wait for a slow boat to China for news from home. But still in the day to day being without the familiarity of the smell of your mother’s hug, or the reassurance of your father’s smile, or the comfort of your best friend’s acceptance can just make you feel homesick.
When I decided to become a missionary almost ten years ago, I was in the North of Namibia staying with Peter and Ursula De Villiers, they have been working in the North for many many years. I was thinking about everything they had left behind, and I was wondering how they could do it. I was reminded of Matthew 19:2

Maternity pictures preview!

Encouragement.

There seems to be a problem at school. The kids like to tease each other all the time.  I think perhaps it used to be fun teasing, but it has gotten to the point where kids are tearing each other down. They are quick to point out flaws and problems. This has left some of the classes in a bad place, especially the older class. It seems the kids have become experts at hurting one another. David decided to focus his discipleship classes on encouragement and love. In the first week he asked the kids what their ideal class would be like, what it would look like to love one another. The kids came up with great answers, but the challenge is to get them to take it to heart and to act out on what they are saying. He challenged them to come up with a few encouraging things to say about their class mates. There were some rules though, they were not allowed to just say “Joe is nice”  “Jane is pretty”  they had to really think about it. This was last week. He said that is went ok, but that it seemed that some kids really were getting it.
Yesterday he came home from school with a great report. When he he walked into class he asked them how their week had been, and EVERY single student in the class gushed about a single boy who had gone out of his way to encourage everyone in the class. This boy is a known trouble maker, he likes to point out thing other kids are doing wrong to get them in trouble. But the kids could not stop saying how this week he had encouraged each and every one of them. He is helping to turn this class around. David said that many of the other kids now feel like they also want to be like Roberto.
I think it is important for us as adults, and especially as Christians to hold each other up, and to go out of our way to encourage one another. It is such a simple and basic principle, but it is easy to get caught up in our own issues and to forget that there are people around us who need to be encouraged.

Not being at school has been difficult for me, but hearing things like this makes my heart happy. It is amazing to see how one child can make a difference just by pointing out the good rather than the bad. David is doing an amazing job with those kids. Please pray for him, and them. There is only four weeks left in this school year. Next year some of the kids in this class will move on to new schools. And David will not be teaching discipleship next year. This is his last few weeks to really make an impact on these boys and girls. Pray that they will catch a hold of the things that he is teaching them, and that this encouragement bug will bite all of them!