Shilling Tales from Kansas

14 Pounds Lighter, Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually!

2011-05-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Weight Watchers weekly meetings have been very helpful. It feels so good to be 14 pounds lighter. My clothes are fitting better, and I can picture myself much slimmer. The more pounds I loose, the more self-control I have. Accountability is the key for me from the weekly meetings as well as, from God. The daily time in His Word and prayer has made a huge difference. I am also planning on walking two 5Ks. One of them in June, while visiting N.C.

Angela is working hard as an orphan in the Orphan choir, of "Annie", a Christian Youth Theater production. She attends dress rehearsals daily. She will be in two shows a day starting on Thursday and lasting until Sunday, with a total of 8 shows. I have really admired her ability to stick to this and in some ways, reminds me of the Weight Loss mountain that I am climbing right now. Tough at times, beyond my comfort level at times, but incredibly worth it. Angela's rewards are lots of new friends, that she is getting to know, like family, and the confidence of working hard at something and seeing it through. Not to mention the ability to sit quietly for hours at a time, as she waits for her parts in the production.

I too am making friends at my Weight Watcher meetings, and deepening friendships while on walks with friends, instead of lunch dates. Loosing weight has also given me more energy to work on de-cluttering our home, and more time with friends and family.

Christina is finally finding her way, and is making new friends and spending time with old friends. Our relationship has improved so much. She is working hard at Cheer, and has just finished her track season at school. She spends a lot more time on her homework, and is happier all around. She attend Fellowship of Christian Athletes weekly and has been so inspired by the movie, "Soul Surfer". She is also reading her devotionals daily and applying what she has learned. Our family time is so much more peaceful.

Stan loves his job and is starting to travel overseas. We are thankful that the trips are short, and we get to see him, much more than when we lived in South Africa. He even has every other Friday off, which is such a blessing. He has installed new windows in most of the upstairs and has started refinishing our basement in his spare time.

We are so glad to reunite with our KC friends and family and to make new ones.

So, yes, I am feeling lighter, physically, emotionally and spiritually! How blessed I am and how thankful I am to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for without Him, I would be nothing.

Today is the Day!

2011-04-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, April 26, 2011, I joined Weight Watchers. I had to ask myself, what is different now? Why would this attempt at losing weight and getting fit work for good this time? What must I do differently?

I knew that the missing element was prayer and time with God, and asking for His help. So I prayed about it and the Lord put a friend's name to my attention, Kim M., from N.C. So I obeyed Him and contacted her.

Kim is such a Godly Woman and a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. She also works for Weight Watchers as a leader. I told her my plan to join Weight Watchers and to also include God in this goal of getting fit and feeling better. She was very excited for me and encouraging, but also told me that she had just started a bible study using the book, "How People Change", by Paul Tripp.

Their goal was to be more aware of food and fitness. They also had a goal of doing a 5K together in June. Since our family was planning to visit in June, I asked if I could be part of it. She agreed to include me in the study via e-mails, Skype, etc. and also to try and coordinate the 5K with the group, at the same time I would be visiting.

Only God could have prompted me to call Kim, and knew the exact timing on this study and how much I needed it to succeed at lifetime weight loss and fitness.. How could I think that I could do anything without God's help? Why must I always be reminded of this fact?

So yesterday, April 26, 2011, marked the first day of a new beginning. Feel free to come along this journey with me. I need all the help and encouragement that I can get!

Shilling- 1 1/2 years in review-South Africa July 2010

2010-03-04T23:05:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that it has been almost a year and a half, since The Shilling Family arrived in South Africa. We have had some wonderful opportunities to go on many family vacations throughout South Africa and abroad. Although Stan works 10 hour plus days, he is always home on the weekends to spend time with our family.

Here is a summary of our trips/events:

Feb. 2009 Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa (family)

May 2009 Pilanesberg, 1st game drive, South Africa (family)

June 2009 Italy (family)

July 2009 Paulette & Stan's 20th wedding anniversary, South Africa

July 2009 Sugar Bay Camp, Durban, South Africa (Christina)

July 2009 Mauritius (family)

October 2009 St Lucia/Durban, South Africa (family w/Stan's sister, Lillian)

Sept. 2009 Daddy/Daughter Bush trip with Church, South Africa (Stan and Christina)

November 2009 Cape Town, South Africa (family)

November 2009 Cats' Broadway Show, South Africa (family)

December 2009 Pilanesberg game drives (family w/Paulette's Mom and Auntie Jean)

December 2009 Cinderella on Ice Show (family w/Paulette's Mom and Auntie Jean)

January 2010 Christina starts Private neighborhood South African school

February 2010 Underberg (Drakensberg Mountains), Lake House, South Africa (family)

March 2010 Daddy/Daughter, Madikwe, South Africa, Eco-Bush Camp, Game Drives, (Stan & Angela). No running water or electricity.

March 2010 Elephant Sanctuary, South Africa (family with our visitors, Dwain and Cindy Camp)

April 2010 Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa (family)

June/July 2010 Kansas, U.S.A.

July 2010 Angela starts private neighborhood South African school

July 2010 Daddy/Daughter weekend Bush trip, South Africa, with Church (Stan & Christina)

Additional Planned trips/events for 2010

August 2010 Kruger area, South Africa with more game drives (family)

October 2010 Garden Route, Western Cape, South Africa (family)

October 2010 Mama Mia Broadway Show, South Africa (family)

December 2010 Return to the U.S. to live. Goodbye South Africa, we will miss you!

Since we live in a rented house here in South Africa , Stan is no longer busy doing home maintenance and improvements. No ponds to dig, no leaves to clear, etc. Our house rental includes a weekly gardener and for a nominal fee, a 5 day a week, domestic worker.

Every day observations from a friend

2009-09-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

An American friend of mine works here in South Africa and wrote about what she sees as she drives to work and back every day. I thought this was excellent and worth the read to get a glimpse of what life is like here in South Africa from a different perspective.

Top Things I see going to work and coming home everyday.
Sept. 11, 2009 from a friend

10. I see the same little African boy walking with his Mom to work, trying to keep up everyday. He is maybe only 3 at the most and his Mama keeps moving to get to work on time. So he runs, runs and then he has to walk a bit. But he never stops and he never cries, he just keeps going until he catches up with her.

9. I see little girls at the traffic lights with their moms. They have paper cups to fill with coins. Braids in their little heads and dirty mismatched clothes. The bad part is the exhaust pipes on the trucks are just the height of their little faces so they get blown in the face with exhaust all day long.

8. I see women walking to work in their high heel shoes, you know they were hand me downs from someone that had 1/2 size bigger or smaller than the right fit for her. The shoes are dusty as they walk in the dirt on the side of the road. The poor blisters that will be there by the time she gets to work and then has to turn and walk the same way home.

7. The guy with the pink and purple jacket. I have to chuckle when I see this guys, but he loves that jacket because it is the only one he has.

6. The babies on the back, and the bags on the head. It is amazing to me how much a African mom can carry. They wrap the babies probably up to 18 months with bath towels around their bodies. they carry bags in their hands and then will balance another on their heads. Now that is one strong woman!

5. The guys in the back of the trucks. The construction companies or any manual labor seeking workers and will pick up guys and let them in the back of a truck, They will sit on the edges, they will squeeze in tight so their friends don't to have to walk. And maybe they will end up someplace they can make a little money. I have seen Africans that looked as tall as my husband all jammed up sitting in traffic and know they are not even close to their destination.

4.. The guys that pass out the fliers (advertisements) on the side of the road. Well I can't say I always take a flier because I am just not sure it is always smart to roll down my window, but I do always smile, wave and say no thank you. But I see the disgusted looks on their faces of the people who are rude and ignore them or say something rude to them. They always smile when I smile.

3. My fruit salesman that sells fruit outside our complex. This guy makes me laugh every time I see him. He is a really hard worker. I always pay him a little extra and he always tries to give it back. When you can buy 7 beautiful fresh Papayas for the equivalent of $2 bucks, I feel like I can at least can give the guy .50 for his trouble! What a nice guy and he always responds with Thank you Mommy! Even though I am not his momma!

2. And on my way out I see our gardener, swiping his card to come and tend to the garden. I think that our domestic worker, makes him some tea and bread before he starts his work. But every morning I try to wave, but our gardener, is what I would call a little skew. Don't know if he is looking at me or not. But even though he never waves, I still wave every morning I see him just in case one of those eyes is looking my way.

1. And every morning as I am pulling out of the drive I see our domestic worker, running out the door yelling Mommy, Mommy, you forgot your cell phone or you forgot your coffee, or you forgot your laptop. I would forget my brain if it were not for her! One morning I tried to walk outside with my fluffy lamb slippers, lucky she did not let me get in the car that day. I never have been much of a morning person.

Have a good day, and be thankful for where you are and who you are. Best Wishes

September Reflections

2009-09-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

Angela feeding one of the Lipizzaners after the show. These horses originated in Austria and were transported years ago to South Africa, near where we live in the Kyalami area.

The Lipizzaners Show & Welsh Male Voice Choir. I loved the horses and Stan loved the choir.

Angela during her first horseback riding lesson. This stable is actually close to where the Lipizzaners train and show.

Angela at a cooking birthday party. She loved it.

Reflections from Paulette

I cannot believe that it is already September. We have been here in South Africa almost 7 months now. I never thought I would feel so comfortable driving around town on the, "other side of the road". When making a turn, instead of right on right, it's left on left..... You have to re-train your brain. I will need to re-train my brain again when I return to the U.S. or I will be having some near misses.....

It's springtime here (remember the seasons are opposite from the U.S.) and it will be close to 90 degrees today. Spring does not last very long.

Picnics are a huge deal here. It is not difficult to find a reason to gather people together outside with food. Just last night we met our church small group at the park overlooking one of our beautiful ponds in our community. We were the only Americans there and sometimes, the South Africans would start speaking "African" to each other and realize that we did not understand a word they were saying. It sounds a lot like Dutch, but still very foreign to us.

The slow down of the economy is felt all the way over here in South Africa. People are struggling everywhere, it does not matter where you live. On a happy note, we are excited about our up and coming visitors. Stan's sister Lillian and husband Alan will be here at the end of this month for 2 weeks, and my Mom and Auntie Jean will be here in December for 2 1/2 weeks to spend Christmas with us. Lillian will be celebrating her birthday here as well as My Mom. Lots of special memories.

Christina's 12th Birthday Memories with her family

2009-08-29T04:33:00.000-07:00

Christina blows out her B-day candles after we returned home from dinner. Her favorite Black Forest cake. Angela is in the background.

Christina tried on the family birthday hat. This hat must be worn at some point during your birthday.

Christina eats homemade gnocchi with red sauce at Boscos, an Italian Restaurant. For those that do not know what Gnocchi is, small pastas with potatoes in it. Major carb loading....:)

Christina goes to the spa after school on her birthday. She has one lady doing her pedicure and one lady giving her a facial. She also got a manicure. After that, Stan met us for dinner.

This is Christina on her way to school on her birthday. She wore a tiara at school. She got a lot of attention. Some high School boys said, "Hey Princess", when they passed her in the hall (her middle school is on the same campus as the high school). After that she took the tiara off.

Mom's reflection: Where did the time go? It seemed like only yesterday that I had an emergency C-section in a hospital in Dhahran, Saudi Arabic. Christina was born in 1997, the same time that Princess Di died. I remember the nurses all standing around the TV in my hospital room watching the news. She was the only non-Arab baby in the baby viewing room. I should of known then, that she would always stand out. She was also born 2 days before my birthday. I continue to say that she was the best birthday present I ever rec'd.

I remember friends visiting me in my hospital room for my birthday bringing gifts, balloons, etc. and all I could think about was, how much pain I was in from the surgery and wondering when my next dose of pain medicine was coming (I had some complications, after the delivery).

The end of August records many worldly happenings such as Princess Di's death, Hurricane Katrina (on my exact birthday), and Michael Jackson's birth (the same day and year, I was born). But the most important (to my memory) was the day I had our first child, Christiana Grace Shilling. A heritage from the Lord!

Stan and I waited 7 years for Christina to come into this world. Before then, we were both focused more on ourselves then others. God brought us to Saudi Arabia, to change our hearts, and grow us in Christ. He was preparing Stan and I to be parents (thank goodness for that).

Many of our friends had children already and their children were even in elementary school by the time we had our first child. Our friends, told us that, "children would change our lives (which scared us at the time)." Little did we know that having a child would be one of the biggest blessings in our lives (the other blessing was having our second child, Angela which is another story).

Christina is 12 now and becoming more and more independent every day and depending on Stan and I less and less. We are now her life coaches, guiding her as she makes many of her own decisions. My helicopter Mom tactics have had to cease and I have landed my helicopter. I now stand on the landing pad and praying for Christina and her heart. I pray that she will grow closer to the Lord, and seek Him as she goes through her day. I pray that she will have a servant's heart and focus on Jesus rather then herself. Stan and I learned that later in life, but we hope and pray that Christina will always have her best friend Jesus by her side and will turn to him during the storms of life.

Stan and I have started praying together every day again and most of our prayers these days are focused on Christina and her heart for others. It is so easy for pre-teens to focus on their outer beauty with all the media messages that present themselves as well the modeling from some of their peers. We pray for Christina's inner beauty and that others can see that as well. We pray that Christina's faith would be her own and not her parent's. A lasting faith that stays with her throughout her life.

We thank God for Christina and her life. God has big plans for Christina. Stan and I continue to stand at the helicopter pad and pray, offering guidance, whenever we can, with hopes that it will be accepted more times then it is ignored.

Mauritius Memories and other Shilling Updates

2009-08-09T08:36:00.001-07:00

We just returned from a relaxing week in Mauritius, an Island country close to Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. We were the only Americans there at the resort. Most of the guests were either from India or Europe. The employees at the resort spoke mostly French and some English. We arrived Saturday early evening, and settled in.

On Sunday morning, I ventured out onto the volcanic reef and walked out quite far. I was taking in the beauty and lost my footing and fell. I ended up scraping up my leg. My leg was bleeding quite a bit, so I decided to walk back through the sea which was about knee deep. I was still enjoying the beauty of it all and noticed some beautiful blue sea urchins on the coral beds in the waters. I must of taken my eyes off of, where I was walking for a minute and stepped on a sea urchin. Two of the spines went right through my pool shoe and into my bottom of my foot. At first I did not realize what I had done, but soon figured it out. I managed to walk on my foot all that day and by the evening, it was really hurting (I found out later that the spines go deeper into the bottom of your foot, the longer they are in there).

I limped to the hotel infirmary (first aid room) and the attendant there said that the two spines had to come out and that if they stayed in, it would become infected. By that time it was too painful to pull them out without a local injection in my foot. The doctor was called and arrived at my hotel room about 9:45pm that night. He had to inject two very painful injections into the bottom of my foot to numb it so he could pull the two spines out.

What a relief to get the spines out of my foot. I had to stay out of the water for 24 hours and once I could go back in, I stayed by the pool and enjoyed the sea from a distance. The last day I went hunting for shells with the girls in the sea after I got my nerve back.

A few days later Stan got stung by a yellow wasp after telling Angela that if you do not bother them, they will not bother you. I mean seconds after he said that a wasp landed right on Stan's neck and stung him. He ran to the infirmary and had it treated. You should of seen the welt on his neck. I think we were on a first name basis at the hotel infirmary. They were probably mumbling under their breaths, "those crazy Americans"... :)

In spite of my foot and Stan's neck, we still had a lovely relaxing time. We never left the hotel grounds. Stan did his daily jogs and I worked out in the pool with my Aqua Jogger belt doing my deep water exercises. I read 3 books while I was there and Stan read a book as well. It was good to see him relaxing. The kids had a blast. They went snorkeling off of a glass bottom boat, went for a ride in an inflatable boat pulled by a power boat, canoeing, and they spent a lot of time in the tide pools formed by all of the volcanic rocks finding lots of treasures. Angela did some solo dancing on the dance floor that overlooked the pool and both girls did a lot of pool swimming. The food was all inclusive, so all we needed to do was remember what time was breakfast, lunch and dinner. 7 days of this. :)

The girls start school in a few days. I think we are all ready to get back to our routines. It is almost Spring in South Africa and everything is staring to bloom. I love to watch the bright yellow weaver birds weave their nests in a tree outside our kitchen window. They are busy birds.

Christina will be in her first ice skating competition here in South Africa at the end of Sept. Stan and I went on a wonderful date last night to a live theater and also a wonderful restaurant before the show. We received complementary tickets from the U.S. Consulate. I am now the American Society liaison for the American International School. It is my job to make sure that American families that are new to the American International School are aware of the American Society and have the necessary information to join. They have many American activities throughout the year for families, like Thanksgiving, 4Th of July, etc. I will also be volunteering at the Middle School with the school counselor helping her with many of the programs to encourage virtues, etc.

I cannot believe that we have been here for 6 months now. Time has gone by fast. I feel like I have lived here a lot longer then 6 months.

We are now settled into a church where the girls are happy in their Sunday school programs. Christina attends a Friday night youth group at our church and Stan and I are taking a Wed. night marriage enhancement class. that includes dinner. We are looking forward to getting to know the 15 other couples that will be there.

Catching Anchovies in Italy-by Christina

2009-06-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

This is provolone cheese shaped like pigs.

Anchovies freshly caught

Christina in Messina

Another anchovie catching picture

The Shilling Family on the beach in Italy!

Hi! Today was a fantastic day! We spent the morning at the beach, then took a break so we all could take a rest from the heat of the day. I boiled up some homemade pasta from the supermarket and Angela and I enjoyed a fabulous lunch. We later hit the beach for more fun. My mom's back hurt, so she didn't come again to the beach, just this morning.

Angela and I tried to catch fish, but they were too fast for us. My Dad fell asleep on the beach, and all of a sudden, woke up and saw Angela standing in the middle of a huge seine net. People were crowding around the net to see what creatures the fishermen caught. It was amazing lots of little silver fish flopping around, anchovies! Check out the awesome pics!

Christina S.

A pictorial sampling of Italy

2009-06-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

Stan and the girls on their way back from the beach.

Stan wishing he could take a ride on this boat.

The girls catching fish in the sea.

The restaurant that you must walk through to get to the beach.

A view of the beach from the restaurant.

Christina and her Dad.

Christina helps her sister build a sand castle.

Paulette drinks water from one of the spring mineral water fountains. There is one in each town near where we stayed. Everyone comes and fills up all of their bottles and takes them home to use.

Paulette's Dad's turn to have a drink.

Paulette and Father Benedino

Stan and our cousin Paolo

Cousin Meluccia

Christina, Angela and cousin Nilde at another fountain of mineral spring water.

Paulette's Dad, and stepmom, Judy.

Angela, the scuba girl A.K.A. FISH and cousin Nilde

Christina and cousin Nilde read magazines on the beach. Nilde helped Christina with her Italian and Christina helped Nilde with her English. Together, they were able to communicate.

Angela eats and enjoys an Italian pastry.

Christina with her cousin Anne Maria at a family picnic.

Paulette's Dad with his Aunt Maria, Christina, Angela and Nilde at a family picnic

Christina and Nilde.

Angela and Nilde.

Christina and Nana Judy.

Angela and Nana Judy.

Christina and Angela on their way to Italy.

Photos are in order from bottom to top.

Tomorrow we head to the city of Messina in Sicily and the Lipari Islands. More pictures to come, more family to visit, and more memories to make.

The Quilt and other updates

2009-05-31T08:19:00.001-07:00

Here is the queen sized quilt that I have been working on. I still need to put the borders on (3 separate borders), and then, make the quilt sandwich with the backing and the batting. Last of all, start machine quilting it. No hand quilting for me. The kids go to school for a few more days this week and then they are off for the summer/winter, so there will not be as much time to finish the quilt. It is strange for the kids to be off that long during cool weather. Christina will have her first "winter" birthday at the end of August as will I :) It is always so hot for our birthdays. Angela will have a "summer" birthday at the end of December and it will be hot.

Getting back to the quilt. I plan to finish it over the kids "summer" break in between vacations and sleep away camp at Sugar Bay in Durban for Christina.. During the 2Nd week in June we will be going to Italy for 10 days to see my Dad and Judy and to stay at their house. In July we are planning on going either to The Seychelles Islands, Mauritius, or Mozambique. So we will get the beach in Italy in June and the beach again in one of the 3 places listed above. Can you tell this family loves the beach. The South African Rand exchange rate continues to drop to the U.S. dollar. It was 10 Rand to the dollar when we arrived at the end of Feb. and now it is under 8 Rand to the dollar. It all makes a difference when you are planning vacations.

In December, My Mom and Auntie Jean will visit for about 2 1/2 weeks and will be here for Christmas and my Mom's birthday.

An experience of a lifetime!

2009-05-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

Angela sees a giraffe while sitting in the Game Drive vehicle.

The welcome sign

A pair of rinos get a little too close to us.

This is inside the game drive vehicle. We are up really high so we can spot the animals.

Mother and daughter.

A very aggressive elephant that charged us.

An itchy elephant.

The elephant finally takes off down the road towards another vehicle.

A beautiful view

The Shilling family at a viewing shelter.

A watering hole.

Christina and Angela walking out of a protected viewing station.

An Impala

A bossy hippo

An warning sign as you enter the park/reserve.

The kids at the hotel.

A giraffe munching on a treetop.

Christina and the giraffe

A lion in the middle of the road after he almost jumped into my open car window.

Another warning sign.

Existing the park.

Stan and the girls in Sun City

Christina in a hammock at Sun City in the Cutural Center

Angela in a hammock

A zebra walking along.

A wort hog after he crossed over the road behind us.

The Shilling family just returned from Pilanesberg. The Park brochure states the following, "Pilanesberg exists within the transition zone between the dry Kalahari and wetter Lowveld vegetation, commonly referred to as "Bushveld". Unlike any other large park, unique overlaps of mammals, birds, vegetation occur because of this "transition zone". As a result of the range of habitats and vegetation, there is a wide diversity of animal species, from the "Big Five" to 50 other species, 18 amphibian species and thousands of other interesting smaller animals.

The Shilling Family saw the following while driving through the park: Baboons, Elephants, Giraffes, Hippopotamus, Impalas, Jackals, Lions, White Rhinos, Springboks, Warthogs, Wildebeests, and Zebras. When I saw all of these animals, I kept thinking how small humans are compared to these incredible animals. Seeing these animals in movies, pictures, etc. is just not the same as seeing them right outside your car window. In fact one of the lions caught me by surprise and almost jumped into our car through my window. He came out of nowhere. We had to wait while elephants and lions crossed the road in front of us (not at the same time). We watched while the pride of lions just played with each other like they were little kitty cats. Just amazing. We sat watching while a giraffe munched on the top of a tree. I will remember it forever. This national park is only 2 hours from our house. We plan to go back often. The kids were amazed and touched forever by what they experienced. I hope the above pictures give you a glimpse of what we experienced.

Paulette

No posts in over 3 weeks, Oh No!!! Here are some pictures!

2009-05-05T01:22:00.000-07:00

Angela with kids from Soweto Kliptown. Angela gave a piece of candy to every child she saw at Kliptown that day.

Angela and friend on our way to Soweto

Stan with other parents getting GPS coordinates and maps to get to Kliptown, Soweto

Christina and other classmates getting ready to leave for Soweto

Stan celebrating his birthday in South Africa. Angela bought him the hat for his birthday.

Stan and his birthday cake. The Hearls came over to help us celebrate.

One of Paulette's 2 tires that she destroyed after getting too close to the curb on the passenger's side.

This is what the kitchen looked like after Christina made Sushi for Stan's birthday.

Angela gives out handmade menus and waits on us during the sushi meal that Christina made.

This is a close-up of one of the slashed tires from Paulette's accident.

This is the other tire's close up.

Christina making sushi in the kitchen for her Dad's birthday present.

Stan and Angela eating lunch at a Botanical Garden.

Stan and Christina at lunch at the Garden.

Angela lounging on a rock by the waterfalls at the Garden

Christina sitting below the waterfall.

Angela at my quilting friend's Llama farm

The Shilling Family at the Botanical Gardens waterfall

One more picture of Angela and the Llamas. Try as she might, she could not catch any of them.

Angela's Simple Machine project at the 2nd grade Expo at school. It was a PetShop fishing pole that picked up her toy Petshops after she played with them. The PetShops have a magnet on them as well as the end of the fishing rod that she made.

The Philharmonic came to the girl's school and performed, "Peter and the Wolf". Stan and I went to see it. It was wonderful!

I cannot believe that I have not posted in over 3 weeks. Where has the time gone? The girls will be finished school in a month and we will be heading to Italy for a 10 day vacation to see my Dad and Judy. We are all trying to learn as much Italian as we can.

Tomorrow, I will start attending BSF as a class member only. The SA Gov't school schedules are so different here, and BSF uses that as a guide (The new school year starts in Jan. no school the month of April, etc.). The kids' American International school continues on the U.S. school schedule, so if I were to lead a class, I would be on a different schedule. I have also joined a gym and walk daily with my friend, Leeann.

Christina is doing well with her new ice skating coach, but misses Miss Jan (her coach in Kansas). Hopefully she will be in a competition soon. There is not as many of them here as in the U.S.

Angela loves school and is making friends as is Christina.

Stan continues to work hard and will soon have additional help as new people begin to arrive from the U.S.

Note: There are pictures above, of a trip that our family attended to Kliptown with some of Christina's classmates and their families. We all donated food from money raised from bake sales at the school, all done by Christina's class (about $800). This all went to the Youth Center at Kliptown. Here are more details about the Youth Center and what it is doing to help the children of Kliptown. While we were there, some kids put a cultural show on for us to thank us for our support and help:

SOWETO KLIPTOWN YOUTH
Soweto Kliptown Youth (SKY) provides hope and services to some of the most neglected children in South Africa.SKY's exemplary leaders and programs are the glue that connects people in need to support and opportunities. Name the need a child has and SKYwill be there to meet it.The results are obvious! The minute you enter their neighborhood, the children are joyful an warm despite the many hardships they face everyday. They have pride, energy and talent and they abundantly share it with others. They have a chance to make it with SKY at their side.Bob Nameng, SKY's founder, was a neglected street child who was given a second chance. He says, "I won't let any child suffer what I had to. They are our Kings ans Queens."
PROGRAMS
"Visiting SKY in Kliptown with my daughter was the highlight of our trip to South Africa."Youth ProgramsFounded in 1987, SKY has formal and informal programs to support children and teens including sports, performance arts, support groups, girls empowerment &life skills classes. City Year has provided a team of afterschool tutors and mentors. The NBA has funded a new youth center complete with computers and books.Care for the Aged & SickTheelderlyare also supported by SKY. They are driven to appointments. the women infected with HIV/AIDS have a crafts project. They make beautiful handcrafts witch are sold to the visitors to Kliptown.Visitors and TourismVisitors to Johannesburg hoping to connect with Africans will embrace the chance to visit Kliptown. Children will greet you with singing, dancing and smiling. If you are lucky, you will watch one of their powerful theatre productions. You can visit with the residents, see a home, and be touched by it all.
CONDITIONS IN KLIPTWON
Lack of infrastructure: Shanty-type homes lack electricity and plumbing. No school, clinic, or library.Lack of opportunity:Unemployment is very high. Most adults lack education or source of incom. Youth have few productive outlets–school is not free and jobs are unavailable.Health Crisis: The HIV/AIDS epidemic leaves many children orphans. Low life expectancy.Linited access to health care.Wealth of spirit:Thanks in large part to SKY, Kliptwon is blessed with hope and a caring community. Ubunthu–an African word meaning "humanity to others".

More Shilling Pictures from South Africa!

2009-04-18T01:26:00.001-07:00

Stan, Christina and Angela at a Girl Scout Daddy/Daughter Dance with a cowboy theme. Stan won the best father's hat contest. His hat had blinking lights on it.

Angela having a Tea party outside next to our pond. Angela calls it the Secret Garden.

Angela made fairy cakes for her tea party.

Christina and Angela having a picnic with the next door neighbors in the park across the street from our house.

Christina and her South African Ice Skating coach, Miss Debbie.

Angela at an ice cream social at her new school with her friends.

Angela enjoying her ice cream. She wore the perfect outfit.

"God the Weaver"

2009-04-16T22:58:00.001-07:00

The Southern Masked Weaver is a facinating bird to me. I can see these birds making their nests outside our kitchen window here in Johannesburg, South Africa.

After doing some research, I learned that, the Southern Masked Weaver is resident throughout southern Africa and across a wide band just below the Sahara. It’s found in a wide range of habitats, including shrubland, savanna, grassland, open woodland, inland wetlands and semi-desert areas. It also occurs in suburban gardens and parks.

If you’ve ever heard a weaver ’sing’ you’ll know that the verb ’sing’ hardly describes the fizzes, squawks, and harsh swizzling notes these things make for hours on end.

Weavers typically nest in colonies, mainly from September to January, and males have several female partners. Remarkably they build a succession of nests, typically 25 each season, woven from reed strips, palm or grass - a massively time-consuming effort, but females are very picky about which nest they’ll lay in and the male needs to get it right!

Thoughts from Paulette

As I watched these birds outside our kitchen window, I thought about God and how he is the Weaver. As I continued to ponder on these thoughts, I found this recently on the internet written by Heike Werder called, "God the Weaver"

Psalm 139 speaks of God as the Weaver of life. We are God’s creation, God’s handiwork. And as the Weaver, God knows us, truly knows us – our moves, motives, thoughts, and processes. God is not repulsed by the knowing but seeks us out and finds us so that we will not be lost. God’s providential care surrounds us – guiding, protecting, instructing, encouraging. God’s creative power forms and re-forms us, from womb to tomb. Its force enables us to become what God desires us to be: whole, loving, gracious, and just.

By God’s power we are able to affirm ourselves as more than the sum total of our limits and failures. Instead we see the possibility and the hope that is present in each of us. We can claim the awesomeness and wonder of who we are – not out of conceit or grossly inflated self- egos, but in praise of God’s handiwork, which we surely are. As we submit to God’s perusal, we come to see ourselves more clearly and in doing so, to see ourselves and others as fearfully and wonderfully made. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for…" us to comprehend.

God is the Weaver of our lives. Yet as far as God is concerned, we are God’s handiwork in progress. We human beings are not yet finished. We are really "human becoming". Every day God tries to make us into the kind of people God would have us to be. Each day brings a new possibility of being able to add something to our already existing tapestry that will bring us closer to being completed persons.

At times we wonder where this tapestry of life takes us. There may be times when things are not happening. Especially when something in our lives happens that is distressing to us, we wonder, "How can this be part of our tapestry?" There are times when we say, "I don’t like my tapestry." or "I don’t like that piece that is in there," and we ask "why?" We might not like the color, the texture, or the shape. We might not like the disappointments, the pain, the losses that come with life. What then? It is at that very point that we need to remember Psalm 139 to realize that God is the weaver of our tapestry, working in and through every experience of our lives.

We don’t know what our final product will be; in fact, most of us are not even sure what tomorrow holds for us, but God knows. God is not obligated to share that information with us. It seems that it is our responsibility in this weaving together of our life’s tapestry that we are open to God’s plan and God’s will for us.

Jesus was acutely aware of God’s plan and will for him. As he entered Jerusalem on a donkey, he knew it would be his last journey to the holy city. On that day, the day of Palms, he was welcomed by the people like a king. A few days later he died in that city like a common criminal. Jesus knew what God’s plan was for him. Jesus’ tapestry was woven already from the very beginning. Different fabrics - of compassion and passion, wisdom and encouragement, empowerment and transformation, laughter and weeping, healing and wholeness, death and resurrection – were woven into his tapestry by God. There were moments Jesus could have said, "I am not the one, the Messiah. You are all mistaken!" and gone back to his father’s carpentry business. He could have turned away from the challenges and the pain that lay before him. But he did not. He became the person God meant him to be. In a way, his tapestry got almost finished. As we know it received its finished touch three days after his death with his resurrection.

What does this all mean for us, today? God is not finished with all of us. The weaving of our lives and faith goes on. New experiences will come our way that are greater and more challenging than most have so far experienced. If we want our faith to go with us and help us deal with those challenges, we have got to keep at it. Living in and keeping our faith is a lifelong mission that will need our attention always.

God is in control. We don’t like to be not in control – of our life , our destiny, our future. We don’t like the word. We might feel better thinking that we have the key to our destinies in our pockets. Yet life rarely turns out the way we plan it. And when things really go wrong we are devastated, and we wonder if God is really there, watching over us and protecting us.

God has a plan for our lives – living our lives in wholeness and sacredness. In order to figure out what that looks like, we have to be open to God. To be open to God means staying in touch with God through prayer, a community of faith, and activities that connects our hearts and minds to God. And, we have to trust that God will do what God promised to do – to care for and to love us unconditionally. That kind of trust is called faith. Our lives are an example of the living God in Christ.

Through all his teachings Jesus taught us the most important lesson: if we want to follow him, we cannot remain neutral. We cannot sit on the fence and do or say nothing when we see a person being discriminated against or disvalued, or when creation is abused, when our Christian faith is questioned or ridiculed. We cannot, carrying the name of Christ in our heart, remain neutral.
God is the Weaver, and we are God’s handiwork. We are God’s work in progress. And so is everybody else around us. Let us be careful not to refuse the many opportunities our God offers us so to grow and change.

A poem by Alfred Wooler, called “Life’s Weaving”:

My life is but a weaving

Between my God and me;

I may choose the colors,

He knows what they should be;

For He can view the pattern

Upon the upper side,

While I can see it only

On this the underside.

Sometimes He weaveth sorrow,

Which seemeth strange to me;

But I will trust His judgment,

And work on faithfully.

‘Tis He who fills the shuttle,

He knows just what is best,

So I shall weave in earnest

And leave with Him the rest.

At last, when life is ended,

With Him I shall abide,

Then I may view the pattern

Upon the upper side.

Then I shall know the reason

Why pain, with joy entwined,

Was woven in the fabric

Of life, that God designed.

Updates from The South African Shillings

2009-04-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

STAN

Stan has been working hard on the project to build one of the biggest coal powered plant in the world, working for Black & Veatch and Eskom (South Africa's local utility). In his free time he has fixed the pond that came with our house as well as added fish. He is currently looking at purchasing/building another pond with a water fall to go in the area at the end of the pool against a wall. We would be able to see and hear it from our main living area.

He loves to plan our vacations, as well as help the kids with their school projects, and play in the pool with the family. He is enjoying using our new outdoor built-in barbecue as well as occasionally entertaining in our backyard. Right now, Stan is planning a vacation to a game reserve for the end of this month, so we can all be together for his 54th birthday. In June, we plan to visit with my Dad and Judy at their villa in Italy (Prov. of Cantanzaro). In December, my Mom and Auntie Jean will be visiting and Stan is making all of those arrangements. We also plan on seeing Victoria Falls, as well as Cape Town and the Durban area (beaches). We would also like to visit Mozambique. We would like to travel as much as we can now that we have the opportunity.

PAULETTE

I am getting to know my way around and will even set out on my own without turning on the Garmin. I have become quite an aggressive driver and am staying far away from those crazy taxi drivers that seem to have their own rules of the road. I continue to work on a queen sized quilt and am thankful that I get to quilt again after 11 years.

I shop at the grocery stores quite often since the food here does not contain any preservatives and spoils quickly. There does not seem to be any processed foods here which is a blessing.

Services are a lot less expensive here. Ice Skating is about 1/3 of the price as in the U.S. as well as horseback riding, piano lessons, quilting classes, etc. Domestic help costs about $10.00 a day. I did not realize what life could be like without having to do the laundry. Our domestic worker washes and irons everything, even our PJs, socks, etc. Everything is folded neatly on our shelves (no dressers). I am so thankful for this and realize that it is only for a short time until we return to the U.S. Also, our domestic worker used to work at our home for another family and had not worked since last December. Her and her husband live in a one room shack and they cannot even afford for their two kids to live with them. Their kids live with their grandmother in Malawi. We try to help Maggie as much as we can. At first I did not want someone in our home 3 days a week, but was told by many, that employing her would be a blessing to her and her family and without her job at our home, she would have no income.

I finally have the time to start taking better care of myself and have started seeing a Physiotherapist up the street from where I live. She is really helping my lower back pain and will be giving many exercises to strengthen my core. I also walk 3 mornings a week and plan to increase that to every day. There is a walking group in my community that walks every MWF at 8am.

I also attend ladies bible studies at Rosebank Union Church.

CHRISTINA

Christina loves playing soccer after school every Wednesday. She evened scored her first goal since she has been here. She loves horseback riding again and takes a weekly drawing class after school on Tuesdays. She has made many friends and has been enjoying her new cell phone a little too much. It was given to her for security reasons to contact her parents when we are needed. She has been practicing her texting a little too much. They call it SMSing here. Most every adult sends SMS's and I have had to learn how to text in order to keep up with all of the SMS's I receive from the school, doctor's offices, stores, etc. Christina has been teaching me.

Christina takes piano lessons at school and we have recently purchased an upright Casio keyboard with weighted keys that sounds wonderful. Christina has also started ice skating and now has a coach that has won a gold in South Africa and Canada (Miss Debbie). She is excited to start training again. Figure Skating time on the ice is from 6am-9am on Sat. and Sundays. For now, I take her on Sat. mornings and we can get there in 20 minutes without the traffic. We are hoping that she will be in a competition soon in Cape Town. I am back to being an "ice skating mom". Christina also joined the local ice skating club.

Christina also finished a book at school and had to make a board game based on the characters and plot of the book. She had to bring it to school and present it to the class and play the game that she made with another class mate to test it out. It was a fun project for her. She is now starting a writing workshop at school. Writing is her most favorite subject.

ANGELA

Angela is also taking piano lessons at school, and on Wednesdays after school she takes an art class. She loves school and is currently working on a unit called, Simple Machines. She had to make her own simple machine, so she made a fishing type pole with a piece of bamboo and attached a pulley, piece of cork and a screw as well a piece of clothes line. She calls it her Pet Shop fishing pole. Pet Shops have a magnet on them, so she can use it to pick up her Pet Shop toys. She is now working on a poster to present her machine at a "Simple Machine Science Fair" at her school.

Angela continues to love animals and pretends she is a different animal depending on the day of the week. You never know what animal you will see her become. Last night she slept with her jaguar hat and tail on. She came down for breakfast in her PJs and the tail and hat. I had to do a double take. Angela loves to study birds and had a book to help her identify the birds.

More vacation pictures!

2009-04-13T05:45:00.001-07:00

Here are more pictures of our vacation. Paulette gets ready to go on the sunset horseback ride. with Christina.
Stan sees them off!

This is one of the chickens at the animal petting area, keeping her eggs warm.

Christina and Angela hanging out with goats and Angela catches another bunny.

Christina ready to ride!

Christina is a natural on a horse!

Christina waits for her horse to be saddled.

Drakensberg Mountain vacation pictures

2009-04-13T04:46:00.001-07:00

Christina hikes to waterfalls with her Dad.

Angela and Christina learn the game of Cricket.

From Cricket to the hotel animal petting area.

Many hours sitting on a bench at the hotel animal petting area watching Angela hang out with the animals and chase bunnies. This bunny came right over to me and sniffed my foot. Hmmmm good!!!!

Angela rides a horse for the first time.

No fear! I asked her what her favorite part of the ride was, and she said, "Feeling Tall"!

Angela is hooked on horses now. Maybe more riding lessons are in her future.

Angela finally catches and holds a bunny!

Angela makes friends with a goat.

Christina and Angela on the patio of the Champagne Castle hotel.

Tea time at precisely 10:30am and 3:30pm every day!

This is the baboon that greeted us when we first checked in. He was hanging out near our room.

Christina and Angela having fun at a rest stop along the way. Trampolines are embedded and flush with the ground at most rest stops. Much safer then being elevated on a trampoline.

Some vacation comments:
It was a wonderful vacation. Christina went white water rafting with her Dad while Angela and I relaxed at the hotel. We had many trips to the animal petting area. Christina also went on many hikes with her Dad as well as a 2 hour sunset horse back ride. She got to see many animals, ie zebras, springboks, gazelles. wildebeests, etc. while riding the horse. She said that she could almost touch the animals. Christina and I also had massages at the hotel spa. Now that was relaxing :) :)

Watch out for those baboons!

2009-04-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

We will soon be leaving on a vacation to the Drakensberg mountains which is located close to the country of Lesotho which is a country in the middle of South Africa. The Drakensberg mountains are still on the South African side. We are told to watch out for the baboons that seem to roam freely there and can get into plenty of mischief, if a hotel room sliding class door or window is left open, they have been known to come right into the room searching for food. I recently read an article in a magazine that said that a baboon got into her hotel room, found her face cream and smeared it all over his/her furry face. Hopefully we will not have any baboon encounters.

We hope to be staying at a nice hotel (baboon free) and will do some hiking, resting and taking in some spectacular views. The kids will be off from school and Stan will get some much needed rest from working all of the long hours that he has been working. It takes about 4 1/2 hours to drive there, but Stan and I will share the driving. He told me the other day, that I have gone the opposite direction in my driving from being too timid, to being overly aggressive. O.K., now I need to look for the middle ground with my driving, maybe after this trip, I will find it.

Things I love about South Africa!

2009-03-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Weather (Mostly 70 degrees year round)
Domestic Help/gardener
Fresh food that is not processed and not expensive (great Fresh Mango smoothies, unlimited avocados).
Great travel opportunities to the beach, mountains, game reserves, waterfalls, etc.
Wonderful sound proof home with lots of space, satilite TV with surround sound and guest room.
Friendly local people
Great church and bible studies
Lots of shopping
Great coffee shops, at every corner (no need for Starbucks here).
Outdoor barbecue, built-in to house, outdoors in backyard
Backyard pool, pond, plants, etc.
Great neighborhood with many large ponds/lakes.
Wonderful Bernina sewing store
Lots of fresh bread and cheese
Gas that is not too overpriced for cars.
Slow paced lifestyle.
Great school for kids with a bus that picks them up and drops them off at our front door.
Wonderful outdoor markets and lots of fountains.
More free time to pursue interests (not for Stan, who is working way too hard).
More time to study God's word.
Lots of organized Fun runs, bike rides, etc.
Movie theaters only a month behind U.S. releases.
Beautiful views whereever you go.

I am thank-ful for it all!!!

Machines, Manuals, Power, Oh No!

2009-03-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that we have been in South Africa for almost a month now. From the point that we walked in our home, directions awaited us. How to use the telephone, oven (Celsius, you know), microwave, Satellite/Surround Sound TV system, front loading washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, window a/c units, computer hook-ups, security system, Kyalami Estates pre-clearance for any visitors, find keys to mail box, and every door in the house (each has a separate key), etc. A large binder of manuals awaited us.

Once we semi-mastered the "binder", we obtained cell phones with directions for use, learned procedures for driving a car on the "other side of the road", learned how to get to the store to buy essentials, like food :). Not to mention the mound of paperwork from the school and the requirements of parents with students attending the American International School of Johannesburg. I just realized today, that I needed to download the school newsletter every Friday and that it would not automatically come to me. Oh well, I guess I was not as informed as I thought I was.

So assuming that I have all of this figured out and have taken the time to read up on all of these new devices, etc. (which I have not), I should be ready to use all of them, right? Well, not always. I realized that there are power outages here quite frequently and when that occurs, nothing works, except those things that can be charged up in advance. I should not be surprised, since that is the reason Stan is working here, and we are living here. Black and Veatch was hired by Eskom (the local utility here) to design and build a new power plant which was needed about 8 years ago.

Usually, I am O.K. with all of this, but this past Friday was a bit frustrating for me, because every time I tried to use something, it did not work correctly and during the afternoon, we had a 3 hour power outage. To lesson my frustration, and to better accept this common occurrence, I grabbed a book and read. I was soon a bit calmer and more relaxed. By the time Stan got home from work, he was able to get the power back up in our home. It turns out that this outage was caused by the rain (remember all of the rain that we get during the rainy season), which tripped our outdoor lighting causing the whole house to be without power.

Procedures, directions, manuals, etc. are starting to be absorbed finally and I continue to look for the blessings, like a Garmin in my car that I already knew how to use, since we owned a Garmin in Kansas. One less device to learn :). I am starting to cook in my own kitchen, now that I know how to operate all of the appliances. I do have to account for the high altitude when baking though. There are some things that are already starting to be automatic, if you can believe that. Routines are starting to be established, like attending a quilting class every Sat. morning and driving by myself there. Going grocery shopping on my own, attending a weekly bible study on my own, walking around the community, etc.

This 50 year old brain is sure getting a workout. So you can "teach an old dog new tricks".

"It's raining, it's pouring"/South Africa National Holidays

2009-03-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

It is Wednesday morning here in South Africa and I am experiencing my first morning rain. We are currently at the end of our rainy season. Since I have been here, it seems to always rain in the afternoons, so a morning rain is quite nice. December-March is their rainy season. From April-November, it is dry and does not rain at all. When it does rain, it comes with lots of thunder and lightning. I was told by our relocation advisor, that the Gauteng province (where we live) has the most lightning strikes then anywhere in the world. This was not a comforting piece of information, although it is good to know, so that precautions can be taken when lightning occurs....

Yesterday, I ventured out for the 2nd time alone driving. All went well except for hitting a curb quite hard on my left hand side. No damage done, except for my ego :) :) I did take the highway for the first time on my own, which was a little scary, since I was going at a more faster pace , driving on the other side of the road. I seem to pray a lot more when I drive. I drove to BSF on my own and then to meet Stan for lunch near his work.

The girls both did a fun run at school for St. Patricks Day, yesterday. They all wore different colored "animal" T-shirts and competed against each other. Christina ran 3 miles and beat all of the 5th grade girls and some of the boys. I think all that ice skating has paid off and increased the strength in her legs. I am sure that her long legs also helped. Each child rec'd a nice metal on a red ribbon.

This Friday , March 20th the kids have off from school for "Human Rights Day weekend". For those that are interested in the South African holidays, see South African National Holidays below: You will notice that the dates are written differently here in South Africa, and in many other parts of the world. The month is always in the middle, the day on the left and the year on the right. Today's date would be written: 18 March 2009.

South African National Holidays

When Apartheid ended and the African National Congress under Nelson Mandela came into power in South Africa in 1994, the national holidays were changed to days that would be meaningful to all South Africans.

21 March: Human Rights Day On this day in 1960 the police killed 69 people at Sharpeville who were participating in a protest against the pass laws. Many were shot in the back. The carnage made world headlines. Four days later the government banned black political organizations, many leaders were arrested or went into exile. During the Apartheid era there were human rights abuses by all sides; Human Rights Day is but one step to ensure that the people of South Africa are aware of their human rights and to ensure that such abuses never again occur.
27 April: Freedom Day This was the day in 1994 when the first democratic election was held in South Africa, i.e. an election when all adults could vote irrespective of their race, and the day in 1997 when the new constitution took effect.

1 May: Worker's Day Many countries around the world commemorate the contribution made by workers to society on May Day (America doesn't celebrate this holiday because of its communist origins). It has traditionally been a day to protest for better wages and working conditions. Given the role that trade unions played in the fight for freedom, it is unsurprising that South Africa commemorates this day.

16 June: Youth Day On June 1976 students in Soweto rioted in protest against the introduction of Afrikaans as the language of instruction of half their school curriculum, sparking eight months of violent uprisings across the country. Youth Day is a national holiday in honour of all the young people who lost their lives in the struggle against Apartheid and Bantu Education.

9 August: National Women's Day On this day in 1956 some 20,000 women marched to the Union [government] Buildings in Pretoria to protest against a law requiring black women to carry passes. This day is celebrated as a reminder of the contribution made by women to society, the achievements that have been made for women's rights, and to acknowledge the difficulties and prejudices many women still face.

24 September: Heritage Day Nelson Mandela coined the phrase "rainbow nation" to describe South Africa's diverse cultures, customs, traditions, histories, and languages. This day is a celebration of that diversity.

16 December: Day of Reconciliation Afrikaners traditionally celebrated 16 December as the Day of the Vow, remembering the day in 1838 when a group of Voortrekkers defeated a Zulu army at the Battle of Blood River, while ANC activists commemorated it as the day in 1961 when the ANC started to arm its soldiers to overthrow Apartheid. In the new South Africa's it's a day of reconciliation, a day to focus on overcoming the conflicts of the past and building a new nation.

Last weekend I signed up for a quilting class at the Bernina sewing store. I am making a Colorwash, queen size "Trip around the World" quilt. A perfect pattern name, since I made a trip "almost" around the world to get here :) I have not made a quilt in 11 years since Christina was born. I used to be an intermediate quilter, and I am amazed at how much I remember. I will take a picture of it when I finish the quilt and include it on this blog.

Chiastic and Peripety

2009-03-13T04:11:00.000-07:00

An unusual title for a blog entry, but significant to me. As I am studying the book of Esther (a going away gift from the Masons and Evans family), I cannot help but reflect on myself as I study Chapter 6 of Esther.

But first some background: The sixth chapter is "the hinge of the story of Esther." God appoints or allows circumstances (often crises) in our lives to redirect our paths. Today, I explored the unexpected pivot point of Esther, which was called, "The reversal of destiny" as well as, "the reversal of fortunes".

"Two literary devices are employed magnificently in the Book of Esther" as quoted by Beth Moore. These two literary devices are chiastic structure and peripety. In bible times, authors used different kinds of literacy structures for transition purposes.

Chiastic structure is a reversal of wording to emphasize an overarching point. It's also called "inverted parallelism", ie. "Eat to Live", and "Don't live to eat". "I am scared to fight" and "I fight because I am scared". The bible is full of chiastic structure, 2 Cor 5:21, 1 Pet. 2:10, Luke 15, etc. In the book of Esther, chiastic structure is illustrated in the repeated occurrences of feasts or banquets. A lot went on at these banquets!

Peripety is a sudden turn of events that reverses the expected or intended outcome particularly in a literary work.

Even though God is not mentioned in the book of Esther, His name is on it. In Esther 6:1, the king could not sleep (the Lord took sleep from the King). The King had his records read to him and realized that Mordecai had saved his life. This was a God ordained pivotal moment. The hinge in which the reversal changes/turns.

As Beth Moore puts it, "A peripeteria swiftly turns a routine sequence of events into a story worth telling"

Getting back to me and my life, chapter 6 of Esther makes me think back on those "reversals of destiny "in my life. Times when a routine sequence of events turned into something much bigger and worth remembering and learning from.

I look back on geographical moves that I have made and note the following:

Raised in N.Y until I was 19 years old and moved to San Diego, California (1977/78) after my parents divorced and lived in S.D. until 1991. God used my paremts' divorce to get me to San Diego to meet Stan, and marry him.

1991-1999, Moved to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia with Stan and lived there 8 years and had our first child, Christina there. God used an economic slow down to get Stan and I to Saudi Arabia where we both came to have a close and personal relationship with Jesus Christ as well as have our first child.

1999-2007, Moved to Cary, N.C. where we had our second child, Angela. God prompted us to move back to the U.S. and spend time with my family before I lost 4 family members, both my grandmothers, my step dad as well as my dear sister, Gina in a 3 year span. God also connected us up with a wonderful church family that helped us grow closer to Him. God used the deaths in my family to bring me even closer to Him.

2007-2008, Moved to Overland Park, Kansas to bring me "through the desert" and to help prepare me to lead a BSF bible study group as well as spend time with Stan's family. He needed me away from all of my 8 year relationships that I may of depended on too much.

Feb. 2008, Moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, due to another economy slow down and a wonderful opportunity to bring our family back overseas again. We are so excited about what God has for us here in SA and how He wants us to serve him and grow in our relationship with Him.

God has redirected my path and my family's paths so many times. As Beth Moore puts it in the study of Esther, "After all, without God on our side, where we're going is just the ugly side of where we've been". I choose to stay close to Him and have Him on my side.

Misc. Photos: 2/24/09-3/13/09 (not in date order)

2009-03-13T01:12:00.000-07:00

Christina and Angela waiting for the bus in front of our house this morning. Today they are celebrating, "Peace Day" at school and are dressed with peace outfits.

Christina and Angela posing in their new bathing suit cover-ups from Nana Judy and Grandpa by our pool.

Christina at an ice skating party at the Northgate Mall with her friend, Lux.

Christina and her friend, Lux from the Netherlands. They are in the same class together at school.

Paulette out with Leeann for coffee (notice the size of the Latte). They drink a lot of coffee here and have Starbuck beat with a coffee shop at every corner.

Angela waiting for the bus one morning!

In the pool again!
Angela at the school's "Fun Day" walking on a rope structure!
Saying goodbyes to Christina the morning we left (6am).
More goodbyes!
Paulette with some 2nd grade Moms at Angela's friend, Alexandra's B-day party, who stayed to get to know some Moms.
Angela and her teacher, Ms. Clark who is from Georgia, U.S.A. Ms. Clark came to Alexandra's B-day party.
Angela after the magic show presentation from the B-day party. A real bunny was pulled out of a hat. Way cool!
Stan and Angela out to lunch together! Daddy's "not so" little girl!
Angela at school with some of her classmates!

Almost 2 weeks in South Africa now!

2009-03-08T23:09:00.001-07:00

It is Monday morning here in South Africa! Another beautiful morning. We continue to enjoy our new home and life here. I remind myself daily, that, "It is not what happens to you in life, but how you respond". We have a wonderful opportunity to get to know the people here and different cultures and even though it may not always be comfortable, it is meaningful and life changing.

Stan continues to like his job here and will be hiring many additional people from the U.S. to help him. These people have been hand-picked by B&V's management. I look forward to their arrival and praying that some of them will move into our community.

Angela had a nice time at a birthday part with a magician, blow up thing, and swimming in the community pool at a classmate's community on Saturday. Christina went to an ice skating party the same day. She also went horseback riding. They are both meeting new friends and getting to know everybody. I stayed at the B-day party that Angela went to and got to know the Moms more. I took a picture with the Moms and will include it on another post.

We found a wonderful church called, Rosebank Union Church. It was Missions week and we had a visiting pastor from Canada speak. We bought the CD of his sermon, because it was so incredible.

We had a wonderful laid back day on Sunday after church. We decided not to go anywhere. I did take the car out on my own to the local grocery store that is close to our house. It is feeling more and more comfortable driving on the other side of the road. You just have to watch out for the taxi vans. They seem to have their own rules of the road.

I will include some more pictures soon and share some more fun facts from South Africa. Here are a fews: The trunk of the car is called, "The boot" and A traffic light is called, "A robot".

Being thankful, no complaints!

2009-03-04T20:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I drove by myself for the first time to Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). It was about 1/2 hour away. I got lost and it took me more than an hour to find it. Driving on the other side of the road is like looking at the world through a mirror. You see everything just fine, but it is not quite right in your brain. I have to admit that when I saw my teaching leader's husband, Daniel, standing at the church waving me in, I could of hugged him right there (Daniel is also a teaching BSF leader for the men's evening group).

I arrived too late to be part of a small group discussion, but was able to listen to the lecture on Num. 11-12. The lecture was just what I needed to hear that day (I love that about God's word). It was about complaining and how it can make God angry and discourage others. It is contagious and has serious consequences, and can breed jealousy and always results in some kind of loss.

The BSF notes about this subject say that we can get frustrated by our hardships, but often do not pray, but only complain, like the Israelites. Since God is sovereign, then everything that comes into our lives is from Him, is controlled by Him, and is intended by Him for our good (Romans 8:28). So, when we complain about anything, ultimately we are complaining about God. We are saying that God is wrong to have given us what we do not like or for failing to provide us with what we think we would like.

Why, do you ask, am I including this in my blog post today? It is more of a reminder for me and our family. The pictures in this post show the blessings of being together as a family, no matter where we are and being content. Yes, there are hardships here, but will we choose to focus on them, or will we focus on the blessings? I have asked my family to point out to me when I complain and now we are doing that for each other. I believe that it has helped us focus on all that God has provided for us and makes us more thankful. I know that I am thankful for each and everyone of you that take the time to read our blog. You are all in our lives for a reason, and we are grateful!

Note: The pictures above, were taken in front of the larger pond/lake in our community (we were walking around the lake that day). The other picture was taken at lunch near a fountain in Nelson Mendela Square. What a blessing to have those family times together!

First Day of School

2009-03-02T23:54:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the girls' first day of AISJ. It is required that hats be worn when outside and most of their day is spent outside whenever possible. The school is at an altitude of 6000 ft. and given that and the dry warm climate, hats are necessary.

They had a great first day of school. Christina tells me that at recess, they can go anywhere they want on the school grounds ie. library, outside, etc. They have 2 recesses a day, so they are excited about that. They even like the lunch food. C says that they have a lot more independence at school. Angela is going on a field trip to the Johannesburg Zoo this month. She will have a behind the scenes tour. They are studying animal habitats. They also started Girl Scouts after school yesterday and loved it.

I spent the day driving around with the relocation representative getting a tour of the area and shopping tips. I am glad that I had my notebook with me, because it was information overload. I will share more later about my day. My friend, LeeAnn is picking me up soon to take me to the butcher.

Hopefully this week we will get our cells phones and another car. Right now, Stan and I are sharing one. I am getting a little more used to driving on the other side of the road. Tomorrow, I go out on my own to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Keep me in your prayers and everyone else I drive by...:)

We are here in South Africa!!!

2009-02-27T20:05:00.000-08:00

We made it to South Africa! Thanks so much for your prayers. We experienced God's protection in so many ways and are so thankful. Here were some ways that we felt His hand of protection:

* During our Kansas City airport check-in, of our 16 pieces of luggage/boxes, not one piece was weighed. The luggage handlers took our word that each piece was the correct weight (since our bathroom scale at home may not of been 100% accurate, we could of been off a pound or two and been charged for overweight bags).
* We took off from the Amsterdam airport at 10am, 40 minutes prior to the airplane crash that closed the airport.
* Stan left his wallet on the plane from Detroit to Amsterdam and was able to have it retrieved from the plane once he realized it was gone.
* The airport transport had to drive a different route from the Johannesburg airport to our new home, because he found out that a car accident had occurred that involved a truck and 8 cars. We would of sat in traffic for hours if he had not be informed about the accident.
* Only 1 out of the 16 checked pieces of luggage were lost and they may never be able to retrieve it. It was the smallest of the boxes. Now if I can just remember all the things that were in that box.
* Most importantly our family was protected from so many other incidents that we may never know about.

We love our new home. The home owners worked really hard to have it ready for us. We are so thankful for that. The girls have been enjoying the summer weather and have been in the pool every day. They start school on Monday morning. We took a walk yesterday around our community and met a neighbor with 2 kids that are the same ages as Christina and Angela. We also went out to dinner last night and Angela met a girl that would be riding on the bus with her every day to school. She was so excited to have a friend.

It has been so nice having our kids to ourselves for a little while. It has brought our family even closer together. We need to rely on each other so much more for most everything. I can see that the Christina and Angela are even closer friends now. Stan did an incredible job picking out our home, car, etc. Now if you can just pray that I can figure out how to drive on the "other" side of the road and on the "other" side of the car. I keep getting into the wrong side of the car when Stan is driving. I did do a test drive around the neighborhood and managed to not crash into anyone.

We will go to church this Sunday at the place that Bible Study Fellowship is held. I am even going to try driving with Stan in the passenger seat. Please pray that we find a church soon.

I promise to have pictures up soon, especially of the big brown spider that appeared on Christina's ceiling in her bedroom. He was about the size of my hand with thick legs. Stan tells me he is harmless. We kept the door closed until Stan got home from work. he managed to get him out the window without harming him. We also had a bat fly into our house and out again. It was quite comical chasing him out of the house. If you want to e-mail us, please use, contentcontentmentcontent@yahoo.com
Please be patient, since the internet is very slow here and I have to wait my turn getting on to the computer. We can only go on one at a time until we can figure out how to use it on all three computers at the same time.

Stay tuned for more adventures in South Africa!

We are on our way to South Africa!

2009-02-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

We are finally on our way to South Africa. We are in Detroit waiting for our Amsterdam connection. Yesterday was a busy day and we could not of completed all that we needed to complete without our friends. We are so thankful for your help. You became an extension of our family.

Stan and I stayed up last night until 2pm packing and getting ready to leave. There were so many details that needed taking care of. It is amazing how complicated our lives can become and how difficult it is to wind everything down. Things that I wish I could of done before I left the U.S.

* A visit to N.C. to say goodbye to my family and friends there. A walk on the beach at Figure Eight Island.

* More time with each and every person that has touched my life in Kansas,.

* More jacuzzis in our backyard.

* More BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) lectures from my teaching leader and time with my group as well as the other group leaders and BSF staff.

* More time watching Christina ice skate (we hope to get her a coach in South Africa), so maybe I will see that fulfilled.

I am so thankful that:

* Stan's sister, Lillian came to visit and say goodbye from St. Louis.
* We got to go to St. Louis over Thanksgiving to visit with Stan's family.
* Stan's Dad recovered from his hip replacement surgery and numerous trips to the hospital from a dislocated hip and also that he will have another surgery to stop any future hip dislocations.
* I have such a wonderful husband, Stan and 2 wonderful daughters that are excited about sharing this adventure to South Africa together.
* I have friends that have been like family to myself and to Stan and the girls.
* The girls had the opportunity to attend such a wonderful school, with so many wonderful teachers and staff in Kansas.
* The Lippard family, Aaron and Ivy and their 4 kids who were able to move into our house and take care of it while we are gone.
* We are able to communicate with the people we love through technology such as this blog, Skype, e-mail, Vonage digital phone service, etc.
* I was able to be a BSF discussion group leader for a group of awesome ladies, studying, "The Life of Moses", as well as getting to know other BSF ladies in leadership week after week and to listen and grow in Christ through the study of Moses.
* I was able to live in the neighborhood that we lived in, and to have such awesome neighbors that are my good friends as well. They were an extension of my family.
* We were able to visit our friends and family in N.C. this past August as well as a quick trip in Sept. to the N.C. mountains to attend a ladies retreat from our previous church in N.C.

I could go on and on, but have to catch a flight to Amsterdam. For those living in the U.S., we will arrive in SA around 4pm, your time on Wed. 2/25. Please keep praying for our trip. So far it has gone so smoothly. We can see your prayers answered before our eyes.

Love from The South African Shillings

Happy Birthday Gina!

2009-02-22T06:05:00.000-08:00

Today is my sister, Gina's 52nd birthday. Gina passed away 6 years ago from lung cancer. She fought an 11 month battle for her life. Even though she is not physically here on this earth, I know for sure that she is with Jesus. A week before she died, Gina accepted Christ as her savior, and began a personal relationship with Him. I never thought I would live on this earth without my older sister. I thought I would always be the middle child and now I am the oldest.

My sister Gina had a servant's heart and looked for ways to make everyone's life brighter. She was beautiful inside and out. She was not just my sister, she was my dear friend, and I miss her every day. My sister was the family's peacemaker and always looked for the good in everyone.

Today, I want to honor Gina and her life. I am who I am today because of her. We are who we are , because of our history, our joy and our pain. That is what makes us who we are and how we handle our every day lives. God has plans for my life, and just like the book of Esther, He has put me on this earth for, "Such a time as this", but He must prepare me to serve Him and that preparation includes every bit of the pain that I have experienced in my life, even my sister's death. I pray that I will hear His voice, in His word and do as He wills.

Thank-you Gina for being my sister. I cannot imagine a greater honor. I know that you are in heaven now. I know that I will join you there one day, and we will have many more times together.

Are we packed yet?

2009-02-21T18:26:00.000-08:00

Christina and Evan at lunch today. Later Evan came over for a jacuzzi. It is hard to say goodbye to friends. So many of Christina and Angela's friends are very dear to me. I will miss them in some cases as much as the girls will.

It's Saturday and Stan and I have worked very hard packing up any remainng stuff that was left in closets, drawers, etc. to get our house ready for our caretakers to move in . Meanwhile the kids were at neighborhood playdates. Oh, how I will miss the fantastic neighbors that we have. In some ways, it is like an extended family. Tomorrow is our last weekend day in our home for awhile. We will miss our life in Kansas.

We will end the day, tomorrow at the Lunney's house for dinner. The Lunneys moved to Kansas from N.C. Although, they do not plan on following us to South Africa anytime soon. :)

We did follow another N.C. family (The Hearls) to Kansas and now will follow them to Jo'burg. We will be moving to their same community in South Africa. In fact one of their sons, Jonathan is the same age as Christina, and will go to the same school (American International School of Johannesburg). Both Stan and Greg work for Black and Veatch.

Stan informed me that our internet connection at our home in South Africa has not been installed yet and there is no date provided. The pace is much slower in South Africa, so please be patient with my blog updates. You can rest assured that as soon as I have internet access, I will be making regular posts about our life in South Africa. In the meantime, I will have to write myself notes about our experiences until I am able to get onto the internet.

Angela says goodbye to her Brownie Troop!

2009-02-20T12:56:00.001-08:00

Angela attended her last Brownie Troop meeting before we head to South Africa. I was so glad that I got to be there at the end to see them all go around the circle and say what they will miss about Angela and to sing their final song. Both Angela and I were touched and of course I began to cry. Goodbyes are so hard.

Paulette

Goodbye Heartland!

2009-02-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

The last Friday at school!, before we head to South Africa. Christina and Angela posing next to the school mascot as well as Kourtney dressed as a cookie! This is a classic picture.

Angela is reading her book report to her class. Angela's class, wore PJs to school and ate snacks all day to say goodbye to Angela. I came for lunch and ate in Angela's classroom with her teacher and Christina. I read a book to the class afterwards. At the end of the day, Angela and her class got to watch the show, "Magic School Bus". What a nice way to say goodbye to Angela. We have so many wonderful Heartland memories.

Aunt Lillian's Valentine's Day visit!

2009-02-16T16:30:00.001-08:00

Stan's sister, Lillian came to visit us recently to say goodbye before our family moves to South Africa. We all enjoyed Aunt Lillian's visit so much. She is such a giving, loving person. She took both girls shopping, played a board game and helped Christina pack up her room. Everything is much more fun with Aunt Lillian around. We were so thankful for her visit and will hold those special memories deep in our hearts. Stan even cooked us all a fantastic dinner of coconut tempura shrimp, crab legs as well as steamed spinach and fresh warm bread. What a wonderful Valentine's dinner we all shared together and a fun time in the jacuzzi afterwards.

Miss Jan - Chirstina's Ice Skating Coach

2009-02-16T16:18:00.001-08:00

We all love Miss Jan, Christina's Ice Skating coach. A year ago, Christina was taking group ice skating lessons, and now with Miss Jan's superior coaching and a lot of hard work, Christina is now doing, flips, loops, sit spins, scratch spins, split jumps, and more.

This Thursday is Christina's last time on the ice with Miss Jan, before we leave for South Africa. Miss Jan has worked her way into all of our hearts and will be missed deeply. Thank-you Miss Jan, you are a champion! We will miss you so much!

Paulette

10 days to go!

2009-02-13T11:55:00.001-08:00

It is count down time and it is time to start packing the 16 suitcases (3)-70 lb and (1)-40lb, for each family member. So how do you decide what to pack? I ponder that question all the time. The girls already have their clothes and toys selected. I will have to go through them and "whittle" them down to less. I will also have to do that for myself. My "toys" are my books, not to mention the needed paperwork that keeps the family going and keeps the house running while we are away. I pray for discernment, and wisdom daily regarding all the many decisions needed to move out of the country for 1 1/2 years. We are still trying to figure out how to take a year's worth of Angela's refrigerated growth hormone on the plane with all the necessary paperwork needed to show authorities. What a lesson in simplicity. How relieved I will be to get on that plane and have all of this preparation behind us. Once that time arrives, It will feel like a vacation away from all of our stuff, which keeps us from spending quality family time with each other. I look forward to that increased family time together.

Angela's debut!

2009-02-11T11:43:00.001-08:00

Angela was a hit at her second grade rock and roll play last night. It was so much fun hearing her sing and dance to oldies like, "I want to hold your hand", by the Beatles. I was lip singing along with her. We all went out for ice cream afterwards with some friends, to celebrate the second graders' performances. And yes, Angela did forgive me for forgetting about her play that morning (see previous post), and I did get plenty of hugs before she went to bed that night. What more can I ask for? I am so blessed! :)

Two ladies will move ya, AKA "Operation Move to South Africa"

2009-02-11T11:19:00.001-08:00

I was beginning to feel overwhelmed with the moving preparation and scheduled a friend to come over. The phone rings and it is my 2nd grade daughter in tears calling me from her classroom to remind me that her dress rehersal was that day at school and she was supposed to come dressed up in pony tails, bobby socks, etc. and that everyone else was dressed like that but her (thank-you to her dear teacher that allowed her to call). Well you might as well stab me in the heart. Guilt took over, and when another friend called, I broke down in tears, telling her what happened. Tears, not just because I forgot my daughter's 2nd grade play, but for moving, leaving my friends, my comfortable surroundings not to mention all the work involved in moving out of the country for 1 1/2 years.

I collected myself, headed to the school with all the things necessary to remake my daughter for a Rock and Roll themed play. When I got to the office and told the awesome ladies at the front desk why I needed Angela pulled out of her classroom, I broke down in tears again. Dear Susan came around the front desk, hugged me, led me into the conference room while they found Angela for me. I was also given a bottle of water.

After a rock and roll transformation, I hugged my daughter, sent her back to her classroom and headed home. Both my friends arrived and helped me pack and even brought lunch. But, before we got started I was on my knees in prayer giving the day to the Lord. Something I should of done from the moment I got up. What a special day it turned out to be with my girlfriends, just what I needed. We all need to go over to each other's house, help de-clutter, do a project that is needed or whatever,. 3 girlfriends together can accomplish so much and encourage one another. I thank God for friends like this. It was just what I needed to stop procrastinating and stay focused on the job at hand, "Operation Move to South Africa". What did I learn from all of this? I learned to never start my day without prayer and to ask God to direct my day. I cannot do this on my own, instead I was sent many angels that day (Kristina, Tempest, Susan and Patti-School front desk people extraordinaire, and Christy-Angela's teacher). I am so thankful for God's provision.

Creating lasting memories

2009-02-09T11:31:00.001-08:00

Melina and Linda,

What a fun time I had! Thanks for the laughter and the memories! I can't wait for you both to get blogs!

Ice Skating Goodbye Weekend!

2009-02-09T05:35:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of the parents that helped out at this awesome ice skating goodbye party for Christina,! The bracelet from the group was so special and all of the other gifts from the heart. Christina is blessed with so many friends. We will miss you all so much.

Christina also attended an Ice Skating party this past Friday night with her summer "Dear Diary" book club at the Crown Center outdoor Ice Skating rink. Stan and I even made a guest appearance after a date. How beautiful it was with all of the white lights on the trees. Kansas City is such an awesome place to live. We leave so many special memories and are so glad that we will be returning after living overseas.

We have not seen much of Christina lately as she says her goodbyes to all of her friends, between sleepovers and parties. But soon, I will have her all to myself, at least for a little while, until she makes more friends in South Africa. :)

Paulette

Zebras at the power plant!

2009-02-05T07:42:00.000-08:00

Here is the zebra picture that I promised. Stan took this during a visit to the Eskom power plant in South Africa (their local utility). Zebras are just roaming around wild there near the power plant. This picture is amazing to me.

Our weekly prayer group goodbye lunch

2009-02-04T11:14:00.001-08:00

Thank-you weekly prayer group ladies for the wonderful Goodbye luncheon. I am so thankful for a group that prays for our schools, neighborhood, families, and the world. If someone comes with a prayer need, it will be prayed for. I have shed tears of joy and sorrow during this prayer time. It has touched my life in so many ways and at so many levels. Thank you all for being there and being available by making prayer a priority! What a praise that we have so many answered prayers. Keep praying boldly ladies and I will be praying with you from South Africa using the book of verses that you gave me as a gift! I love you all!!! :)

Giraffes- The early warning system!

2009-02-04T07:19:00.001-08:00

This is the 4 ft. giraffe that Stan hand carried on the plane. It is hand carved out of a single block of wood (Angela and the giraffe are about the same size).

Did you know that giraffes have a 25 pound heart ?

More fun Facts about Giraffes :

The giraffe, the tallest animal in the world, lives on the African plains. It can reach high into the trees, especially acacias, to feed, and can run at nearly 50 kmph.
A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!
A giraffe's tongue can sometimes be over a foot and half long!
When attacked by enemy, an adult giraffe can run 35-mile-an-hour (56-kilometer-an-hour).
The lion spots a young giraffe, called a calf. Before the lion can attack the calf, its mother positions herself over the calf to protect it.
Giraffes can easily live 25 years.
The giraffes' 18-foot (5.4-meter) height and excellent vision gives them a wide view of the grasslands where they live, making it easy for them to spot predators from a distance. Some scientists believe that other animals-such as zebras, antelope, and wildebeests-often congregate near giraffes to take advantage of their ability to see danger from a distance. The giraffe could be considered the early warning system of the African grasslands.

Biblical Early Warning System
The 10 commandments shelter our future by sensitizing us to deadly hazards in the present. Many of these operate in stealth mode: No danger is detected until the chance to escape has been lost. Paul wrote, "I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet’ " (Romans 7:7). While no law has the power to produce righteousness in our hearts, it can awaken us to the truth about sin in time to do something about it.

Priase the Lord that God provides an early warning system in His word.

Stan's Home!

2009-02-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all of your prayers. Stan arrived safely home, hand carrying a 4 ft carved wooden giraffe. We were able to convince him to put it down so we could all hug him. I think he got a little attached to it since they spent so much time together (only kidding Stan :) He had many adventures during his stay there. I will post pictures that Stan took of zebras and gazelles runing wild near the power plant. Awesome!

Stan can now drive safely on the other side of the road. As for me, I need to first get used to being a passenger on the other side of the car, before I even begin to drive on my own. Stan promises to give me lessons. He says that it is much easier when you are following someone, but when you are alone on the road, it is easy to forget what side you need to be on when making a turn. We tend to turn right and want to stay in the same lane, on our right. I have to start getting used to turning left and staying in the left hand lane. Speaking of driving, it is illegal to talk on a cell phone while you are driving. It is a good thing, since it will be enough for me to be driving on the other side of the road. It would be really scary to add a cell phone to that mix. :)

We now have a house and a car waiting for us for when we arrive in Joannesburg, South Africa. The car is equivalent to a Toyota Camery. After we arrive, we will buy another car (used). Stan said that I can use the new leased one with the built in navigational system (hmmm, I wonder why). He said that he will drive the used one back and forth to work. What a guy!!!

The girls start school on Friday, 2/27/09. They get to rest on Thursday, 2/26/09, since we will get in very late Wednesday night. Every Friday, they get out of school at 1:30pm, so their first day of school will be a short one. Both girls will be taking after school activities. They will take Girl Scouts and Art on Mondays and Tuesdays, and on Wednesdays, Christina will take International cooking and Angela will take beading. The bus will take them both home after their activities. In fact they will be riding the bus to and from school every day. No more carpooling for me (at least until we return to Kansas).

Fun Facts about South Africa-Christina

2009-01-31T10:52:00.000-08:00

1. They use Ran instead of dollars. 10 Ran equals $1.00.
2. People there, drive on the left side of the road.
3. The time difference is 8 hours ahead. If it were 9am in Kansas, it would be 5pm there.
4. The school that I am attending is called, The American International School of Johannesburg.
5. 40% of the kids at my new school are American, everyone else is from around the world.
6. It is illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving a car.

I am really excited about moving to Johannesburg, South Africa, but am really sad to be leaving my Kansas friends. I am also sad about loosing my 3 year old, aquatic pet frog, "Bubbles". I gave Bubbles to my class as a "class pet" because I could not take him with me, and he recently died in the classroom.

I have been spending lots of time with my friends, saying my goodbyes. I had fun at the Great Wolf Lodge for a Girl Scout Bronze award celebration. I look forward to my next blog post, and sharing more fun facts about South Africa.

Christina

Stan's return

2009-01-30T03:35:00.000-08:00

Stan returns tomorrow from South Africa and we are all so excited. Stan is a very "hands on" husband and father and we love and miss him so much. When he is away, we realize again and again how much we depend on him for so much beyond his love and care for his family. We praise God for our father in heaven who continues to care for us and show us His blessings regardless of what happens. Since Stan has been gone:

* Both myself and the kids have been sick with sore throats, sinus and ear infections. The blessing: Noone was sick at the same time, friends have been there to help out when we most needed them. We each took turns caring for each other.
* Soon after Stan left, the toilet on the main floor decided to overflow onto the bathroom floor, hallway, laundry room, and basement floor. The blessing: We own a Shop and Vac and I was able to turn off the water, suck it up, and fix the toilet as well as drill holes in the venting system in the basement (although, Stan had to direct me over the phone from SA while I was standing on the ladder with the drill). The blessing: a wonderful neighbor and friend came over to make sure all pilot lights were still on the furnaces and water heaters.
* Prepare for a medical procedure that required a complete body inner cleansing while still caring for the kids. The blessing: A dear friend took me for the procedure, waited for me, took me home and sat with me for 2 more hours to make sure that I did not do anything silly like pass out, trip and fall, or sign some binding legal agreement. :). The results of the procedure came out "all clear". Friends also helped get the kids where they needed to go, since I could not drive for almost 2 days.
* Call and coordinate with roofing vendors, contractors, etc. Blessing: Lots of phone conversations with Stan from SA using his international cell phone that his company provided. Stan would help me speak to these vendors in an intelligent way, so "they" thought I knew what I was talking about. We just thought we would have a new roof put on house before we left for SA. Really, it is needed, just one more thing to add to the list as well as some house repairs.
* Christina's pet "Grow a Frog, Bubbles" decided after 3 years to die after she donated him to her classroom for a class pet. All the kids in her class had to see his demise as well. Blessing: Christina was able to grieve not just her pet, but leaving a home and community that she dearly loves, and I got to hold her tight, while she did this.
* Angela tripped and slipped down the stairs in our home and hurt her back while producing a bruise and large lump. Blessing: I got to hold her tight until it started to feel better.
* In spite of all of the above, continue to pack and coordinate all the many details needed to leave the U.S. for 1 1/2 years. Blessing: Our God is a God of details and continues to be there every step of the way.

If you are looking for Christina's first blog entry, you will have to wait until Saturday, because of her "way too busy" social calendar. I assure you, it will be worth waiting for. Christina is an excellent writer and we are constantly amazed at her writing skills.

Flying on a jet plane!

2009-01-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

Our flight reservations have been made. We leave the U.S. on Tuesday, 2/24/09. The kids' last day of school will be Monday, 2/23/09. Realty is setting in and we are really moving to South Africa! Christina will be doing a weekly "guest" post on Fridays, which we are declaring as officially, "Friday Fun Day". She will be sharing some "fun facts" about life in South Africa and many other "fun" things. Her first post will be this Friday, so look for it. Please feel free to share our blog with whoever may be interested in keeping up with our family adventures!

Prayer Requests for the Shilling Family

2009-01-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

We would appreciate your prayers for our new adventure. We can see God's hand in this move and know that he will use our family in a mighty way, if we are willing. If you feel led to, please pray for the Shilling Family as follows:

* Protection for Stan as he travels back from South Africa on 1/31.
* Protection for our family until Stan returns.
* All the many details and paperwork relating to packing and moving to SA.
* Adjustment for Christina and Angela as they start their new school.
* Paulette as she learns to drive on the other side of the road.
* Patience for our family in SA as we adjust to a new slower culture and realize that everything is going to take a lot longer.
* Flexibility for Paulette as the family travels a lot more (Paulette is a homebody).
* Travel safety as the whole Shilling Family travels to their new home in SA.
* Finding a church in SA.
* Adjustment to our new neighborhood and future friendships wherever we may be.
* Spending time daily with the Lord, so that He can direct our paths.

More pictures of the house in Johannesburg, South Africa

2009-01-25T10:33:00.001-08:00

The pool is heated by solar panels on the roof. Notice the bench under the bushes in the 1st picture. It is like a secret garden. We hope that you will all come and visit us while we are there, so we can share our home with you.

Why are we moving to Johannesburg, South Africa?

2009-01-24T16:40:00.000-08:00

Many have asked, "why we are moving to Johannesburg, South Africa"? Stan had an amazing opportunity to work on the project to build one of the biggest coal power plants in the world., through the company that he works for now, Black and Veatch. We are probably going to be there at least 1-2 years and the girls will attend, The American International School of Johannesburg, www.aisj-jhb.com
Some good friends of ours will be living and caring for our home in Kansas. We will travel with only a few suitcases each and will leave everything else behind in Kansas. We will move into a furnished home that we will lease. Our house will be in the Kalayami Estates community in SA. http://www.kyalamiestates.co.za/ After we return to the U.S., we will move back into our home in Kansas, and pick up where we left off.

I hope that answers some of your questions. We are all excited to go on this adventure. We are calling it, "our 1 1/2 year vacation", since we will be doing a lot of sightseeing during Stan's time off from work. I hope that has helped explain some things to you!

Our house in Johannesburg, South Africa has been found!

2009-01-24T05:26:00.001-08:00

Stan did a great job picking out a house for our family in Johannesburg, South Africa. How exciting to actually see our house and imagine our family living in it. The kitchen has a scullery behind it, you can see part of it in the kitchen picture above. "What is a scullery", you ask? Don't worry, I asked the same question, so I have supplied a definition below.

scul·ler·y (skl-r) KEY NOUN: pl. scul·ler·ies
A small room adjoining a kitchen, in which dishwashing and other kitchen chores are done.

The scullery contains the washer/dryer, dishwasher, and sink. Dirty dishes are not left in the kitchen, but put in the scullery. I love that! I wonder if I should keep that door closed or better yet, find someone to wash those dishes. Hmmmmm.

My favorite parts of the house are the pool, outside patio area (next to the pool), a large balcony off of the master bedroom upstairs with an awesome view, a study with a fireplace next to the kitchen, the pond outside of the dining room's sliding glass doors, and the kitchen. I have to admit, I like the idea of a scullery too!

Check out the master bedroom's bathroom picture with both the toilet and the bidet. For those of you that do not know what a bidet is, see definition below. I have chosen to "sanitize" the definition a little to protect those that do not want to know. :)

bi·det (bē dā′, bi-)
noun
a low, bowl-shaped, porcelain bathroom fixture equipped with running water, used for bathing certain areas of your body.

There is a park across the street from our home, which the kids are really excited about. One of the kid's bedrooms has it's own balcony that connects to the bonus room's balcony and you can see the park from the balcony. The master bedroom balcony is a bit bigger and looks behind the house.

Now if I can just master driving on the opposite side of the road. More about that later. By the way, our tentitive move date is 2/20/09, but that can change, although, we do need to be out of our U.S. home by the end of February, when friends move in to care for it.

My first post!

2009-01-20T13:06:00.000-08:00

I am finally posting to my first blog. How exciting. I look forward to sharing all of my adventures as we get ready to move to South Africa as well as when we arrive there.

We thank God for this wonderful adventure for our family and we are so excited about what is ahead. We are sad to leave behind so many wonderful relationships that we have made in Kansas, but know that we will return back to our home and continue where we left off, changed by our South African experiences just as we have been changed living in Saudi Arabia, North Carolina and Kansas.