Friday, February 20, 2015

Time keeps marching on ...

It seems like I just sat down to write a blog post yesterday but in actuality it has been over a week…

Here is the highlight real of our week and a peak at what’s to come:  

Getting to see our little one during our Doctor’s appointment and finding out that our little one is a little BOY!  We are very excited and blessed.  The baby is doing great and growing exactly the way he should be!!

Continue to teach at Nazarene Theological College (NTC).  Since the end of January Wednesday’s now find the Heath family spending the day at NTC.  Joe is teaching Intro to Psychology, and I am teaching Christian Education 2.  Both of us are really enjoying teaching and enjoying connecting with the students, faculty and staff at NTC. 

We are preparing to move to a different office just down the hall next week.  Joe has been working hard at getting it all ready and it will be painted today. Joe knocked out a wall so it would work better for our set up.  We hope to be moved in and settled by the end of next week. 

We are also preparing for several big events on our Field and Region.  Would you join us in prayer for these events.  March 3rd – 5th we will be having a South Field District Superintendent’s Training for new and newer DS’s on our field.  We are excited about this time of training and connecting with those who have recently accepted the role of DS.  From the Evening of March 5th through March 8th there will be a Leadership Development Training for all the District Superintendents from our field and several surrounding fields.  From March 8th through March 12th we will have the Regional Conference here in Johannesburg.  The Conference starts with a special service followed by a ordination service.  We are excited to be a part of these events and for the connections and friendships that will be built and strengthened.   You can be in prayer with us for all these events and for those planning and leading these events. 

We continue to work on learning Zulu.  Pray with us that we will be disciplined in continuing to try to learn and that we will be patient with ourselves and each other as we learn.

What has your week been like and what is on your schedule for the next week.  We would love to hear from you.  Let us know how God is working and moving in your life and what is filling up your days.

Until next time:  Remember to buckle and Unbuckle your seat belt when entering and exiting the car.  Getting out without unbuckling is…well difficult but does make for a good laugh. 


Monday, February 9, 2015

Playing basketball during a soccer game

Sometimes in life you feel like you are marching to the beat of a different drummer.  Now mind you are trying to stay in step with the rest of the band but somehow you seem to be lagging behind or half a step ahead.  If you ever have been in a marching band or marched with a drill team you know that being in step is key. 

Recently a group of us have been getting together to play soccer.  Some have played soccer at different levels and some like Joe and I have never really played before.  Everyone is gracious for us newbies but every once and awhile when the ball is coming for me I reach out my hands to catch it, which is a not allowed in soccer.  I played basketball and softball, the coaches drilled into our heads CATCH THE BALL so sometimes that training from over 20 years ago comes out. 

Joe and I have been here for almost 8 months now.   Which is hard to believe in some ways and in some ways it seems like longer.   We have truly loved our time here and consider our flat in Wilro to be our home.   We are forming our community here; some who look like us and some who do not.   We are enjoying planning for the future and being a part of what God is doing here on the Africa South Field.  At the same time I miss home.  The other home, the one that doesn’t really exist anymore.  I miss our “framily” and our church community.  I miss being able to call my family without doing time zone math.   And all of that is natural; it is a part of the process of learning to live outside of your passport country. 

I have been realizing that lately I have been going through the frustration/ disintegration/not so fun stage of cultural adjustment/shock.  Now one could partly blame the pregnancy hormones; which I am sure don’t help matters much.   But it is more than that.  I feel like I’m a few beats behind everyone else in the band; that I’m playing basketball on a soccer field.  That there are some things that I should just know how to do or understand why they happen that way, but I do not. And/or that I should be further along in this or that.  The wonderful thing about this just being a stage is that it will pass.   But until it does I have to remember to be gracious with others around me, with Joe, and the one I struggle the most with being gracious with, myself.   

I also have to remember that the God who was with me in Kansas City, is with me in Johannesburg,  He is marching right beside me and He is trying to show me how to get in step if I will just follow Him.  That is true no matter what country you live in, no matter where your passport is from.   I am so thankful to be serving a God that is with us, that never leaves us or forsakes us.  A God that is with us where we are, but is always calling us to be more like Him.

In other news:  We will hopefully find out this week if our Jelly Bean (what we have been calling our Little One) Is Blueberry or Bubblegum flavor J.  And we are gearing up for the Africa Regional Conference that will be hosted here in Johannesburg. 


Until next time: Remember that the umbrella is only useful when you remember to take it with you when it is raining.  Otherwise it is just a weird dust collector.