Thoughts from Today

We worked all day today on painting one of the boys' flats and a bathroom/laundry room that got remodeled yesterday. Tomorrow morning we're going on the mine tour at 6am and then we're going to the dump and to a couple places in town. It should be a very interesting day.

It's almost 8pm here now and we just finished dinner. We had hot dogs (they're called Russians here... weird) and baked beans and jello. I'm afraid that my plan to lose 5 lbs is not gonna happen. We've been making way too much good food. Tomorrow night we're making some kind of South African stew called something that starts with a "p". We're going to eat with the kids so that should be fun.

Just in case you were wondering, I haven't decided to give up life in the States to move here yet. But I will say that it's inspiring to see Brian and Lois and Amber and Louis (people my age who run this place) living out their dream of serving God and they're so happy doing it that they feel like they've given up nothing and are in fact cheating the system by not having to go sit behind a desk every day. Kinda makes you want to find your true purpose and passion in life for doing what God has always planned for you. The most amazing thing is that they trust God 100% all the time and I am not kidding you when I tell you he has given them absolutely everything they could ever need here. It's unbelievable!! They are so far removed from the United States and a lot of the conveniences we have there, yet somehow they've managed to acquire everything they need and it feels like a mini-US inside these gates.

I've really been thinking a lot today about something Brian said to us this morning which was "You should never be thinking about how much (time/money/ect) you should give to God because God has given us absolutely everything. What you should really be thinking is how much of all this should I be keeping for myself? Everything already belongs to God." That statement really changes my perspective on a lot of things.

I've really been missing you all today. It seems like it's been forever since I saw you and it seems like I have a long way to go til I'll see you again. I'm sure the time will start to fly now that we just have one week left until we start heading home again.

Thanks for all of emails and prayers. They make my day. I can't wait to check my email and get notes from home. Keep them coming! I still have a week to go! I miss you... I miss you... I miss you!!!