We are moving! Bryan and I are moving our family off campus this Saturday. We found a really nice home about 5 minutes from Beautiful Gate, and we are going to be renting it for the next 2 years. This is a big change for our family and especially for our staff and volunteers who have become quite used to us being readily available for anything they need. I think it will be a huge adjustment for us too, but one that has been a long time needed :)
We have a family and a single volunteer who have been living in out team house, and so we will be able to move them into our current house when we move off campus. Beautiful Gate has become very busy with teams and volunteers and this is a great way to open up more space.
2015 was suppose to be our last year at Beautiful Gate, but as you all know we decided to extend to 2017. Having this house open will also be a benefit as we begin the search for our replacements after our short furlough later this year. So many changes, but God is good and He has been leading and guiding us along as we make these big decisions. I am going to miss being able to walk out of my house and go to playgroup whenever I want. Or be cooking dinner and still be able to have a chat with a staff member or volunteer. However, I will enjoy a lot more uninterrupted time with my kids and Bryan. Living where you work is a tough balance that I feel we have done well for 4 1/2 years, but we are ready for a small change. We remain 100% committed to Beautiful Gate and this move is certainly not due to any burn out or anything like that. We love, love, LOVE what we are doing here at BG and look forward to the next few years with great joy and anticipation for what God is doing through this ministry.
We took our kids over to their new home today and they were ecstatic!!! Apparently, they miss having stairs and they were running up and down the stairs and sliding down on their butts (one of them will learn the hard way when they get a splinter). They will each have their own room and we will actually have more than one toilet for the 5 of us, hahaha. Not that it is needed, but it will be nice not to wait in the long line because we always have to go at the same time. There will be a room attached to the house for guests so please feel free to come and visit us sometime next year :) Yes, that was a big hint to our family especially, but friends are welcome too! Life is never dull when you are a Geurink!
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Birthday wishes for my "twins"
Hello, I am Faith and I am very excited to say that today is my twin brother and sister's birthday. Actually, they are not twins. One is older and one is younger than me, but they share a birthday. They are two of the best siblings you could ever have (most of the time, ha ha). Mercy is probably the cutest thing that walks the earth, on two feet anyways. Elijah is....humorous and a fun bro to hang out with. I thank the Lord for my lovely siblings.
From Faith
I had a little guest blogger today! Thanks Faith. I am one of those really rare parents who have 3 kids who actually like each other, hahaha (oh yeah, most of the time). I still remember Elijah visiting me in the hospital and holding his brand new baby sister, and he looked at me with wonder and said I had given him the BEST birthday present ever. What can I say, it was not planned at all, but I can take some credit, right?! Elijah and Mercy are so similar that they can really drive each other crazy, yet they can also spend time playing games and enjoying each other's company. I love seeing God develop their personalities more and more each year.
My life is so full of good moments with these crazy kids in my life. It kinda stinks that my oldest gets older and my youngest gets older on the same day. I like to live in denial that they will be small and sweet forever, but I can not live there for long with my 12 year old and my 8 year old celebrating birthdays today :) I feel like this year has been a remarkable year and the 5 of us feel closer and more unified as a family than we have ever been before. It is so cool and I really look forward to what God has in store for us in the next year. I am not worthy of these 2 fantastic blessings God has trusted me with, and every year, I am more and more thankful. I am the luckiest mom in the whole world!
From Faith
I had a little guest blogger today! Thanks Faith. I am one of those really rare parents who have 3 kids who actually like each other, hahaha (oh yeah, most of the time). I still remember Elijah visiting me in the hospital and holding his brand new baby sister, and he looked at me with wonder and said I had given him the BEST birthday present ever. What can I say, it was not planned at all, but I can take some credit, right?! Elijah and Mercy are so similar that they can really drive each other crazy, yet they can also spend time playing games and enjoying each other's company. I love seeing God develop their personalities more and more each year.
My life is so full of good moments with these crazy kids in my life. It kinda stinks that my oldest gets older and my youngest gets older on the same day. I like to live in denial that they will be small and sweet forever, but I can not live there for long with my 12 year old and my 8 year old celebrating birthdays today :) I feel like this year has been a remarkable year and the 5 of us feel closer and more unified as a family than we have ever been before. It is so cool and I really look forward to what God has in store for us in the next year. I am not worthy of these 2 fantastic blessings God has trusted me with, and every year, I am more and more thankful. I am the luckiest mom in the whole world!
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Prayers During Waiting
Hello my faithful readers! This is a time of waiting. We
have 69 kids who are living here and waiting for their forever families, or to
be reunited with their family. It has been such a slow year for adoptions, and
I feel like all I can say is the waiting is excruciating for both sides. I am
thankful for new regulations that prevent child trafficking, but the practical halt
on adoptions is hard to see. Watching kids grow up in a care center, when I
know there are better options, is a daily reminder of the sinful world we live
in. It sucks. I am thankful they are in a safe and loving environment, but my
mother’s heart longs for them to have more, to have what my kids have. Please
pray for a huge miracle, so kids can go home and empty arms can be filled.
We also wait for peace and safety for this country. There
have been a lot of killings within the Lesotho Defense Force, and it is
dangerous. Many soldiers are being killed, kidnapped or tortured, and it does
not seem that peace is around the corner. Thankfully, it has not touched our
campus physically, but it has touched our staff emotionally. Some of their family
or friends are soldiers, and some of them have been killed. There are rumors predicting a stand-off on
Friday between the two sides of the Lesotho Defense Force. We fear more useless
death, how sad for soldiers to be dying when there is no war. Please pray with
us, as we look to God to stop this as there is nothing any of us can do.
These are the two big things on my heart, but there is so
much more going on. We trust God to work miracles. God knows all, and we give
over any imagined control we have, and lay these at His feet. Thank you for
praying with us!
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Learning how to celebrate!
In the past 2 weeks, I have seen and heard joy like never before. One of our staff members (who was kind enough to let me write about her, so thanks Motsilisi) has had a couple occasions for celebration. The week after Terp headed back to the states, Motsilisi was kind and shared my office with me so I would not be lonely. She shared the frustrations she has been facing while attending classes to get her Accounting degree. She was awaiting her final results of her final class and had a very bad feeling about her final exam. She said that most of the students had not finished the exam as they were only given two hours, and it was a long exam. I really felt bad for her as she was worried about having wasted money her classes, but she said to me that she had been praying for God's favor on her. She knew that if she passed, it would all be because of God's favor on her.
Just a few days later, Bryan came home and told me that she passed her exam. She was jumping up and down and saying, "yes, yes, yes." Then when our social worker, Mme Makatleho went to see what she was excited about, Tsili jumped on her and wrapped her legs around her. I do not have a single friend in college who ever responded like that when they passed. Everyone's heart was so light that day as we congratulated her. God's favor was very real in her life and it was so amazing to be a part of it, and watch her fear of disappointment turn into pure gratitude to God.
Then yesterday was so cool because Tsili showed up to work in her NEW CAR!!!! Most of us had no idea that she was going to buy a car so it was a big surprise. I was so shocked to see her driving in her car. She and her office mate, Mme Connie, turned the radio up and parked the car. All of us went over to see her car and gave hugs and congrats. Then the house mothers heard the music and they came running from their houses, trilling in excitement! They danced around the car and lifted Tseli in the air and just celebrated with her. Rather than being jealous that she has a car and none of them do, they sang out about blessings from above. The authentic happiness for others that our staff displays is so inspiring. Most Basotho will go their whole lives without a car, and we had two in America and never really considered how blessed we were. Some kids in America get a new car on their 16th birthday without even having to work hard to get it, and she had to work full-time for 11 years before the day came that she could get a car. Yep, that is a reason to celebrate BIG and to thank God for His good gifts to His children. Congratulations Tsili and thanks for the reminder on how to SHOW thankfulness!!!!!
Just a few days later, Bryan came home and told me that she passed her exam. She was jumping up and down and saying, "yes, yes, yes." Then when our social worker, Mme Makatleho went to see what she was excited about, Tsili jumped on her and wrapped her legs around her. I do not have a single friend in college who ever responded like that when they passed. Everyone's heart was so light that day as we congratulated her. God's favor was very real in her life and it was so amazing to be a part of it, and watch her fear of disappointment turn into pure gratitude to God.
Then yesterday was so cool because Tsili showed up to work in her NEW CAR!!!! Most of us had no idea that she was going to buy a car so it was a big surprise. I was so shocked to see her driving in her car. She and her office mate, Mme Connie, turned the radio up and parked the car. All of us went over to see her car and gave hugs and congrats. Then the house mothers heard the music and they came running from their houses, trilling in excitement! They danced around the car and lifted Tseli in the air and just celebrated with her. Rather than being jealous that she has a car and none of them do, they sang out about blessings from above. The authentic happiness for others that our staff displays is so inspiring. Most Basotho will go their whole lives without a car, and we had two in America and never really considered how blessed we were. Some kids in America get a new car on their 16th birthday without even having to work hard to get it, and she had to work full-time for 11 years before the day came that she could get a car. Yep, that is a reason to celebrate BIG and to thank God for His good gifts to His children. Congratulations Tsili and thanks for the reminder on how to SHOW thankfulness!!!!!
Saturday, July 11, 2015
This Side of Adoption
Hello, yes we are all still alive and well. We are just enjoying winter break and due to some Internet usage issues and 3 really cute kids who have hijacked my computer, I have not blogged in a bit. First world problems right!!!!
Since the kids are home, we have been going out everyday to playgroup in the mornings and the afternoons. All of the BG kids are home from school also, so it is busy. There are several older girls who have started a little girls club and I have been hanging our with them. We are pretending to be going to the store, buying groceries and bringing them back to BG. We also pretend to drive to church and sing songs. It is a lot of fun :)
On Monday, one of the older girls looked at me and said, "Mme Anita, you do not have any babies."
"I do not have any tiny babies, that is true, but I do have 3 older babies, Elijah, Faith and Mercy."
"You need more, you should have me and (she pointed to another older girl who looked up and me and smiled with a hopeful look on her face)."
Oh my, what do you say to that. Maybe it happened in our beginning time here, but I must have blocked it out if it did. In all our time here, I do not remember a child asking me to adopt them. Many have cried and said they want a family, but did not ask to be a part of my family. My heart still hurts. I wish the people who do the paperwork in the government levels could be there in moments like that. There is no lack of people who want to bring orphans into their families, there is a lack of motivation and quickness to get things done on the government levels so kids can be cleared for adoption. I understand the need to be thorough, but this is more than that. This is a good reminder for us all to pray and to know that there are kids who desperately want a family and families who desperately want kids (many of you know that from personal experience). Please pray because it is heartbreaking on this side of adoption too.
Since the kids are home, we have been going out everyday to playgroup in the mornings and the afternoons. All of the BG kids are home from school also, so it is busy. There are several older girls who have started a little girls club and I have been hanging our with them. We are pretending to be going to the store, buying groceries and bringing them back to BG. We also pretend to drive to church and sing songs. It is a lot of fun :)
On Monday, one of the older girls looked at me and said, "Mme Anita, you do not have any babies."
"I do not have any tiny babies, that is true, but I do have 3 older babies, Elijah, Faith and Mercy."
"You need more, you should have me and (she pointed to another older girl who looked up and me and smiled with a hopeful look on her face)."
Oh my, what do you say to that. Maybe it happened in our beginning time here, but I must have blocked it out if it did. In all our time here, I do not remember a child asking me to adopt them. Many have cried and said they want a family, but did not ask to be a part of my family. My heart still hurts. I wish the people who do the paperwork in the government levels could be there in moments like that. There is no lack of people who want to bring orphans into their families, there is a lack of motivation and quickness to get things done on the government levels so kids can be cleared for adoption. I understand the need to be thorough, but this is more than that. This is a good reminder for us all to pray and to know that there are kids who desperately want a family and families who desperately want kids (many of you know that from personal experience). Please pray because it is heartbreaking on this side of adoption too.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Family Growth and Reflections
The 2014/2015 school year has officially come to a close. I am overjoyed to have 2 months with my kids where we can just be together. I love our family time more than I can say and having them away for the past year was very difficult for all of us, yet I wouldn't change it for anything. You see, through the hardship of transitioning to school for them and balancing work, teaching, and family life for me, we all grew a lot.
Each of my children went through a very difficult trial in the last year, some trials were sorted within a month or two and some continued throughout the whole school year. One child did not remember how to show proper respect for a teacher, which really shocked me because that was not a problem during homeschooling. After much consistency and creative discipline, the child turned out to be more respectful than I thought they ever would be. The character development of this child BLEW me away, and to God be the glory! One child had to deal with another student, who they felt was bullying them, and they had to learn to deal with the other child and learn to control their temper. I wish I could say that this issue resolved itself, but it is still a work in progress. God is growing this child to know who they are as a child of the King, and it is beautiful. Another child felt left out and ignored by others due to differing interests and many tears were shed. Many conversations happened to encourage the child, but it was a long hard lesson taught. This child learned what it means to compromise and the opportunity for give and take in relationships. I see a new love for others and their opinions in this child, and I praise God for the growth.
I cried many tears of pain, frustration and brokenness for each child at different points in the year, but God was faithful to us all, and we are all stronger and better people. Sometimes watching a child walk through something hard makes you feel like you failed, or they would not have to walk through that, but I really feel like God was telling me over and over this year that He was refining my kids. Wow, turning them over to their Maker should be the easiest thing to do, but it was so painful to let go of the imagined control I thought I had in their lives. So many lessons were learned by all of us this past year, and God is so incredibly good. The 3 kids who walked out of school on Thursday are not even close to the kids who entered that school 9 months ago. It still brings tears to my eyes as I remember the really hard days, and then I see the amazing growth that God brought out in each heart. God is so good.
As for Bryan and I, it is hard to know where to begin. What a year! Bryan has been walking through some pretty hard spiritual battles for over a year now and God has brought him to a new and better place. Running BG takes so much of his time, energy and patience. Making sure there are funds here for staff to be able to do their jobs with excellence is huge, not to mention the countless "fires" needed to be handled daily with the government, staff and projects such as Beautiful Gardens. He is my hero because he handles it well and the last 2 months have shown an even better and stronger side of him, and I praise God for his growth. He loves the kids and staff here with all his heart and it is so amazing to see and hear him when he talks to the staff and plays with the kids. I wish the demands of the job were less so he could be with the BG kids more, but with the countless teams and volunteers here, the children are not lacking attention :)
Working at BG has been a real blessing for me these past 8 months. I feel more connected with the staff and their hearts for what they do at BG. I had the opportunity to get to know a lot more teams and volunteers because I was not stuck in my house teaching all day :) I also found that I was a ton busier than before as I have way more meetings than I am used to, but it is good because we are working together for the glory of God in this place! I continued teaching on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons (yep, I am the science teacher at the school) and then each day, needed to spend an hour or so with my kids helping make sure homework was done. I still have no idea how we made it through and I am thankful for a calendar, or I would have missed hundreds of things cause life was full. I need prayer that I will balance the next year better than this year, because I did feel like I could not give 100% to all the different things I was doing, and I want to be sure I do all things with excellence! All this to say that I am thankful to God for the growth He has given each of us this past year and I feel so blessed by all God has done for each of us.
Each of my children went through a very difficult trial in the last year, some trials were sorted within a month or two and some continued throughout the whole school year. One child did not remember how to show proper respect for a teacher, which really shocked me because that was not a problem during homeschooling. After much consistency and creative discipline, the child turned out to be more respectful than I thought they ever would be. The character development of this child BLEW me away, and to God be the glory! One child had to deal with another student, who they felt was bullying them, and they had to learn to deal with the other child and learn to control their temper. I wish I could say that this issue resolved itself, but it is still a work in progress. God is growing this child to know who they are as a child of the King, and it is beautiful. Another child felt left out and ignored by others due to differing interests and many tears were shed. Many conversations happened to encourage the child, but it was a long hard lesson taught. This child learned what it means to compromise and the opportunity for give and take in relationships. I see a new love for others and their opinions in this child, and I praise God for the growth.
I cried many tears of pain, frustration and brokenness for each child at different points in the year, but God was faithful to us all, and we are all stronger and better people. Sometimes watching a child walk through something hard makes you feel like you failed, or they would not have to walk through that, but I really feel like God was telling me over and over this year that He was refining my kids. Wow, turning them over to their Maker should be the easiest thing to do, but it was so painful to let go of the imagined control I thought I had in their lives. So many lessons were learned by all of us this past year, and God is so incredibly good. The 3 kids who walked out of school on Thursday are not even close to the kids who entered that school 9 months ago. It still brings tears to my eyes as I remember the really hard days, and then I see the amazing growth that God brought out in each heart. God is so good.
As for Bryan and I, it is hard to know where to begin. What a year! Bryan has been walking through some pretty hard spiritual battles for over a year now and God has brought him to a new and better place. Running BG takes so much of his time, energy and patience. Making sure there are funds here for staff to be able to do their jobs with excellence is huge, not to mention the countless "fires" needed to be handled daily with the government, staff and projects such as Beautiful Gardens. He is my hero because he handles it well and the last 2 months have shown an even better and stronger side of him, and I praise God for his growth. He loves the kids and staff here with all his heart and it is so amazing to see and hear him when he talks to the staff and plays with the kids. I wish the demands of the job were less so he could be with the BG kids more, but with the countless teams and volunteers here, the children are not lacking attention :)
Working at BG has been a real blessing for me these past 8 months. I feel more connected with the staff and their hearts for what they do at BG. I had the opportunity to get to know a lot more teams and volunteers because I was not stuck in my house teaching all day :) I also found that I was a ton busier than before as I have way more meetings than I am used to, but it is good because we are working together for the glory of God in this place! I continued teaching on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons (yep, I am the science teacher at the school) and then each day, needed to spend an hour or so with my kids helping make sure homework was done. I still have no idea how we made it through and I am thankful for a calendar, or I would have missed hundreds of things cause life was full. I need prayer that I will balance the next year better than this year, because I did feel like I could not give 100% to all the different things I was doing, and I want to be sure I do all things with excellence! All this to say that I am thankful to God for the growth He has given each of us this past year and I feel so blessed by all God has done for each of us.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Special moment
Holland Christian High School has a team of students who are serving at Beautiful Gate this week. They offered to lead our Wednesday chapel time, and surprised our staff by washing their feet. The students read a few verses and thanked our staff for serving the BG kids. They decided to take it one step further and paint the nails of our female staff after washing their feet. Our staff were smiling and laughing and mostly, they were relaxing which was perfect. I started off in the chapel with all of them, but was needed to cover a baby house half way through.
I enjoyed my time in the baby room because I found a couple really good books and read them to the 7 babies in the room with me. The kids loved the book that had a mirror on every page. After reading and tickling the little ones, I decided to check on the kids who were still sleeping in the other room and found one of the older girls just getting out of her bed. She has been struggling with a fever for a few days and when she saw me she began to cry and reached out for me. I grabbed her and sat her on the bed in the room and rocked her back and forth. She held on tight to my shirt and laid her head on my shoulder as we rocked. She swayed her body back and forth as I rocked her to show me that she did not want me to stop. How long has it been since her mom rocked her? Am I a comfort or am I bringing back the longing of having her own mother back in her life?
Love was bursting from my heart and in that special moment with just the two of us, the most unexpected song popped in my head. I used to sing my 3 kids a song I made up. I would rock them as I was getting them ready for bed when they were infants and I would always sing this little made up song. As we rocked I sang the song and tears welled in my eyes. I am amazed by the love that God continues to give me for His children year after year, and I am amazed that He gave me such an intimate moment with one of His precious little children. To Him, she is not an orphan, but His beautiful handiwork. She is not fatherless because He is her Daddy. She was not an accident but was fearfully and wonderfully made by the best Artist. God is good even in her pain.
PS. Thank you for all your prayers over the last week or so. They have been felt and while we may not know all the reasons and motivations for our trials, it is nice to be reminded that we do not walk this journey alone. God is holding onto us and He has placed so many good friends and faithful family members along our journey. My friend gave me a great verse today and I want to share it with all of you.
Exodus 14:13-14 " Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.' "
I enjoyed my time in the baby room because I found a couple really good books and read them to the 7 babies in the room with me. The kids loved the book that had a mirror on every page. After reading and tickling the little ones, I decided to check on the kids who were still sleeping in the other room and found one of the older girls just getting out of her bed. She has been struggling with a fever for a few days and when she saw me she began to cry and reached out for me. I grabbed her and sat her on the bed in the room and rocked her back and forth. She held on tight to my shirt and laid her head on my shoulder as we rocked. She swayed her body back and forth as I rocked her to show me that she did not want me to stop. How long has it been since her mom rocked her? Am I a comfort or am I bringing back the longing of having her own mother back in her life?
Love was bursting from my heart and in that special moment with just the two of us, the most unexpected song popped in my head. I used to sing my 3 kids a song I made up. I would rock them as I was getting them ready for bed when they were infants and I would always sing this little made up song. As we rocked I sang the song and tears welled in my eyes. I am amazed by the love that God continues to give me for His children year after year, and I am amazed that He gave me such an intimate moment with one of His precious little children. To Him, she is not an orphan, but His beautiful handiwork. She is not fatherless because He is her Daddy. She was not an accident but was fearfully and wonderfully made by the best Artist. God is good even in her pain.
PS. Thank you for all your prayers over the last week or so. They have been felt and while we may not know all the reasons and motivations for our trials, it is nice to be reminded that we do not walk this journey alone. God is holding onto us and He has placed so many good friends and faithful family members along our journey. My friend gave me a great verse today and I want to share it with all of you.
Exodus 14:13-14 " Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.' "
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)