It is amazing how fast time flies
by. With every passing year the phrase: "time goes faster the older
you are," becomes more and more true. We even missed posting in May
because the days passed us in a blur. And to think now we are at the end
of June…already! It’s even harder to
believe that it has been more than 5 years since we began our journey deep into
the heart of a continent that has gripped us and captured our hearts. And
now to see that our son has lived longer here than in Canada is...well to me,
is incredible. I used to dream of this as a young girl. Waking up to the
African sun, raising my children surrounded by different languages, cultures
and ways of life. Not that I know, or think that this is forever, but I feel
very blessed that for at least a season Hayden gets to live in a place filled
with such diversity and simplicity.
And so, as we stand half way through
2014, I thought what better time than to write a bit about how things are going
for us as a family. Let’s start with
Hayden…
Hayden is now just over 8 months old
and is such a busy little boy. He is
eating, crawling (he hasn't yet made it to his knees, but he is the master of
the army crawl and moves like crazy across our slippery tile floors), putting
everything in his mouth and jabbering away most of the day. And while he sometimes fights his naps during
the day (I think he may be like his mama and hates to miss out on the fun!) we
are blessed that he sleeps very well at night.
He has 2 teeth so far (the bottom ones) and loves to chomp on carrots
and apples…even when he chokes on a piece he has bitten off, he still goes back
for more.
Each day we see more of his
personality developing. Although he is
still the same joyful, sweet boy he was the day he was born, having a smile for
everyone, he also has developed his own stubbornness and can throw his share of
temper tantrums when things don’t go his way or something is taken from
him. He is determined and loves to bang
things around, making all sorts of noises and leaving a path of destruction in
his wake. We were given a walker thing (I
believe they are outlawed in Canada which is a shame because they are
brilliant) and Hayden has such a ball in it.
He motors around with such independence and loves finding things to pull
off the shelves. He also has become very comfortable with the community of people
that we live with. There is never a
shortage of people willing to play with him, carry him on their backs and take
him on adventures. I feel so blessed to
have so much support and help.
That brings things to me. In the last few months I have taken on more “work”
responsibilities which has led me into the delicate balancing act of managing
my work load while caring for Hayden and keeping up the house. Some days this has been easy while others
have been more difficult. Currently I am on a small team who supports Nigeria as
they manage the projects that they have running on the ground in 5 communities around
Lagos and Ibadan. And while I love it,
it can be tough going. The distance from
us to Nigeria is far and the cultural differences just add to the difficulties
that come with working with a country that stands alone, far from Hands at Work
leaders and support. Having a strong
relationship with our local office there is key, but again this can be hard to maintain
when you can’t physically be together to work through the challenges and
celebrate the successes. In any case,
this role certainly has its emotional days, but overall I feel honoured to be
involved in supporting work which helps to bring care and love to some of the
most vulnerable and forgotten children in Africa. In addition to this, I have been asked to
step in and help with the hospitality here at the Village in South Africa. I am working with two local ladies, Agnes and
Zodwa, to prepare and cater for all the teams and visitors who keep this place
very busy between the months of June and October. I am trying to not get too
involved with the cooking, but instead am trying to build confidence and independence
in Agnes to do it herself. I just help
manage the calendar and do the shopping for all the meals that need to be prepared. I admit this is not my most favourite role
but there was a need so I stepped in to help.
As for Tyler, he continues to do
project support for Zimbabwe (doing the same thing that I do for Nigeria) and
just loves it. He has such a good
relationship with Farai (our local leader there) and his team, and is eager to
return to Zimbabwe to see them. Actually,
there is a trip planned for us to go as a family (finally!!) at the end of July
to prepare and host a team that is coming from Canada. The team is a group from Toronto who are
supporting a community in Zimbabwe called Pimai, and have decided to come and
see for themselves the work that is happening on the ground…but unfortunately,
us going is on hold until Hayden’s South African Visa is approved. We have been waiting 3 months for his visa to
come in, but TIA, it has been delayed.
We still have just under a month before we need to leave so are just praying
that it will come in before that.
But what really keeps Tyler VERY
busy (especially in the last couple weeks) is planning and coordinating all the
teams and visitors that come to Hands at Work (this year it is over 30 teams). He has been doing this for 3 years now, but
this year he has had the extra challenge of not only coordinating everything
but also doing all the detailed planning for them. This is an enormous amount of work and how
Tyler deals with the pressure, I just don’t know. I really take my hat off to
him as he too has had to learn how to balance the workload with time with
family. How grateful I am to have a husband
who can care for his family in the midst of such busyness!
Aside from work, Tyler and I have
also had a couple opportunities to work together in a way we never really
have. Fist we were asked to lead a study
on Romans 12 here at Hands. Over 4 weeks we met with a small group and explored
in depth a few passages from this very challenging, but rich chapter from the
Bible. The experience of preparing together
was just as remarkable as the time we had as a group discussing the
scriptures. I really feel it took us to
another level in our faith…and it no doubt prepared us for when we were asked
by our church to give the sermon a month later.
Again, we were so blessed by the moments that we had together praying
about, and working on, what we were going to share…so much that we look forward
to the chance of doing it again.
Lastly, there is Phumla. A beautiful young lady we feel privileged to
call our daughter. She just turned 22
and is nearly finished her Auxiliary nursing (similar to an LPN) degree at ASM
college. She has just completed her
second month of practical work at the hospital and during this time has stayed
with us. It has been amazing to be able
to just “live” normal life with her…she has really opened up this year and become
a real part of the family. She is brilliant
with Hayden and has even come out of her shell to get to know some of our
family around Hands. Our prayer is that
she will continue to work hard and push against the odds…that she will, unlike
most of her peers, find a job and eventually a husband, who will love her for
who she is and honour her the way she deserves.
And most importantly, that she can fully accept in her heart how deep infinite
God’s love is for her!
