What God is teaching me (Jenny) through this Visa process

I received a call this morning from the South African Embassy. During the conversation I realized that the lady kept talking about our one child. They do not have Madison's passport or any of her paperwork or documents (some of which are originals). I was also told that we will have to pay a repatriation fee of $1,000 each, which is an un-budgeted expense. At first, as usual, I freaked out a little. (I am getting better at not freaking out about this stuff, as God shows me over and over that He is in control. I think that I am slow learner though since these situations keep arising!)
Then God spoke to me and reminded me of a Bible study I am working through right now. It is called "A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place" by Beth Moore. In the study Beth Moore talks about God's supernatural provision for the Israelites while in the desert. He allowed the children of Israel to go hungry so that they would know that it was Him who provided food for them (Exodus 16:1-4). He allowed them to go thirsty, then led them to bitter springs to show that is was Him who provided sweet water for them (Exodus 15:1-21). Their very existence depended on God's provision, not their own strength or effort. God has shown me that no matter how hard we try to get everything in order, and make sure all of our i's are dotted, and t's crossed, ultimately it is Him that is in control. We are completely insufficient in our own strength, and we must depend on Him for our very existence.

Winter camping trip

Jenny and I recently went camping near winter park with our good friend, Gareth. We snowshoed in for an hour and a half and built a snow shelter for the three of us to sleep in. It snowed about one foot outside, but we were nice and toasty inside our snow shelter.
The temperature outside was about 5 degrees, but inside our shelter it was 40 degrees when we went to sleep, and 30 degrees in the morning.
We had a lot of fun and it was great to be able to spend time in the beautiful Rocky Mountains before leaving for Africa.

Lincoln passed his test and had his interview to become a licensed minister. Upon approval from the General Council of the Assemblies of God he will be a licensed minister which is the first step to becoming ordained. This is one of the required steps for becoming fully appointed missionaries, which is what we plan to do when returning from South Africa.
Lincoln also passed his test and received his Master's Electrical license.

Change of plans!!

Last week we were informed that the visa policy for entry into South Africa changed at the end of 2005. Prior to the change we would have been able to be in South Africa for several months before getting our Visas. Now, we have to have our visas before leaving the U.S. So, since there was probably no chance that we would have our visas in time to leave on January 30th, we had to cancel our plane tickets. We rushed to get all of our paperwork and documents in to the South African consulate and we are now waiting to see when our visas will be issued before purchasing new plane tickets. We hope to leave by the end of February. As soon as we get new tickets we will post the departure date here.

We have a departure date (and other updates)!!!

Okay, we haven't been very good at updating this blog! So, here are a few highlights of the past couple of months.
- We were approved to leave for South Africa, and purchased our plane tickets. We leave on January 30th. We will fly to Germany (about 10 hours), have a 10 hour layover there, and then on to Johannesburg (another 10 hour flight.) Please pray for our safety and sanity!!
- Lincoln passed his test for his pastoral license, we are now waiting for our interview before the licensing board.
- We took a trip to Texas over Thanksgiving to visit Lincoln's dad's side of the family. It was great for the kids and I to meet and spend time with this side of the family.
- Lincoln has been studying very hard, and will be taking the test for his Master Electrician's license on Thursday, Jan5th.
- The kids and I have had a great time homeschooling using Sonlight Curriculum. It is a curriculum originally put together for United State citizens living overseas. So far, it has been a perfect fit for our family.
- We had a wonderful Christmas. It was a very special time to be with our family before leaving. The weather here was absolutely beautiful (almost 7o degrees on Christmas!), and we spent quite a bit of time outside playing "Mother May I". Madison initiated the game, but she soon got bored and the adults continued to play without her!

-We were incredibly blessed by Grace Community Church who gave the four of us many Christmas gifts. They are a generous and loving church, and we are so fortunate to know them!!

What's ahead:
- We are continuing to prepare to leave. There are so many details that we need to take care of, it seems like they are never ending! We get one thing taken care of and realize that there are three more things that we didn't think of!
-Our going away party is on Jan. 7th. This will be a bittersweet time.
- We have our last service on Sunday, Jan 8th.

We can't wait to leave! We know that it will go by very quickly and we are cherishing every last minute we have with the people we love.