The adventure continues...

I have been here for almost one full year! I cannot believe it has been that long; it feels so much shorter. I really love my life here. I have been so blessed by the Lord's faithfulness on this adventure. I have learned to be satisfied in Him and rest in His unfailing love. 

Currently I am preparing to go on holiday to the US. I'm both extremely excited to see my family and friends and a little nervous about the culture shock I might experience going back to the states. I'm also a little worried that I might forget what I'm doing and drive on the opposite side of the road ;)  I will be away from my home for just over a month and I am going to miss my South African family and friends quite a bit. I have been so blessed by the relationships the Lord has brought to my life here. 

I will start my trip off in Boston on the 5th of December and spend some time with my favorite brother and sister-in-law and the sweetest nieces and nephew! So excited to finally meet my newest niece...I love her already. Only five days with them; hopefully the jet lag won't be too terrible. Then it's off to San Angelo for the remainder of my trip starting on the 10th!! It will be so nice to spend Christmas, my birthday, and the New Year with my family once again! 

Seasons come and go and I am preparing to enter a new season when I come back to South Africa in January. I am moving out on my own! I'm very excited about this new adventure but a little anxious as well. Continuously praying for wisdom and guidance as I make these big life decisions while I am here. Like: how long will I stay? what should it all look like? Of course I know what it looks like to an extent...I will still serve as teacher to the Hixon children and nanny to them during outreach season and while Brad is away on various short term mission trips throughout the year. Their family is still my focus and my call, but I will be moving out of their home as we all learn to do life differently during this new season. I have learned to embrace change! Whoa. Did I just say that?! 

I am so grateful for all of the prayer during this journey and continued prayer would be very much appreciated! Especially with these decisions being made as I enter this new season. 

-Cait

PS...all of you in San Angelo, stop by and visit me!! I'll be around until January 8th :)

This is not where I saw my adventure going...

"Cait, Jill has gone home" still rings in my ears and still doesn't quite make sense. Why, Lord, would you take us all the way here for this to happen?

I spent 20 hours praying that I would wake up from this horrible nightmare. Then it hit me...this is life and it must continue on. I am alive; I have to LIVE.

Yes, I know God doesn't have a plan B and this is His will. And yes, I know He is still sovereign and in complete control. I just wish so badly that I could make sense of it all. He has called home someone that I wasn't ready to say goodbye to. Someone who I thought still had so many things left to do on this earth.

That first day is still a blur. I just wanted to be surrounded by my friends and family from home. Instead I was surrounded by a new family that I didn't even realize existed... Christ Baptist Church.  I was so blessed by every single person at my new church.

Then I got on Facebook and saw that so many members of my PaulAnn family were reaching out from 9,350 miles away! And countless others that I don't even know. The prayers were definitely felt. I honestly could not have made it through those first few days without the prayers and encouragement.

Then the best call of all came...my mom received an emergency passport and boarded a flight to South Africa. My mom, along with Merrit (Jill's daughter), Luke (Merrit's husband), and Kirt (our pastor from San Angelo) arrived - and I have never felt so blessed. I could finally sit back and breathe.

Now that I could gather my thoughts, questions began to flood my mind. Foremost: What is life going to look like now? I'm still pondering that one. This was not MY plan/is not MY plan. But His ways are higher than mine ... and I will rest in that.


Here is the slideshow I created for the funeral. 

The Adventure Begins

Well, I've survived almost one month on this strange, new continent. Getting here was the biggest adventure of all! Short version: chased a two-year old running off a plane, bladder (not mine) emergency in Hyde Park, canceled flight, and trying to get out of the airport with 40(ish) bags and trunks. Whew! I'm getting exhausted thinking about it again. It took us 70 hours, but we made it! We are finally starting to settle in to our new home and getting used to new customs and lifestyle. 

Our first week back to school went well...at least for me it did! Of course, the kids weren't too happy to get back in the swing of things. But they made it through and worked hard. 

Christmas in the summer...

The most interesting part of my adventure so far was having Christmas in the summer. Wow. What a shock! Definitely a change from the US. But it sure is fun to tell people that I got to swim on Christmas day! 

I've experienced my first african Christmas, birthday, and New Years all in one week!

Seriously...how many people get to pet a lion on their birthday?! 

Excited to see what other adventures are in store for this season of my life!

A Christmas surprise from home

 Christmas pool party!

 Blessed to Skype with my family Christmas morning!

 Birthday safari

 My favorite animal!

 Geoff the Giraffe... (I named him)

 John the lion...according to our guide, he is a very rude lion :)

 Petting lion cubs...what a cool experience!

 The beautiful white lion

 Jack the lion actor...also known as Aslan from the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe.

Happy New Year from South Africa!!