Reconnecting Cousins

Our nieces are staying with us for the week and 2 days ago, Bryan had a blast pulling our kids and their cousins on a sled behind the 4 wheeler. I have not heard that much laughter and screaming in a long time. Elijah and my mother-in-law built up a really nice ramp so the sled riders could get some air. Wow, what fun!
Today we took a long walk in the woods and stood watching the river for a little while. It is a mixture of crazy fun and relaxation as we spend time up here in the woods. My kids and their cousins get along as if they had never been apart and that is such a blessing. They still have a lot in common despite their life experiences being so different over the last 5 years. It gives me hope that my kids will be able to transition back into their community in 2 years.

Is it safer with their eyes closed?? Probably not :)

Let the snow balls fly cause for once, Eli can't get us back!

This one is pretty awesome. It is the first time Mercy has been sledding with a ramp. I'd say that she likes it quite a bit :)

These 5 are pretty awesome together! Friends for life.

Family Fun

We made it safely home to America and we are hiding away in the forest of Michigan. There have been SO MANY things that we have noticed that are different than what we are used to in Lesotho, and it has been a fun family game. Mercy and Faith are just amazed at all the trees. Elijah is amazed because there are no people (no shepherds). There are no taxis or pedestrians and because we are in the woods, it is sooooooo quiet! We laughed about how soft the toilet paper is and were appalled at the ridiculous size of a large coke at McDonalds (it is a liter or more in size, crazy). We were surprised to see police actually pulling over speeders and had to remember to slow down. Also needed to remember to be on the proper side of the road (that has been a tough thing to remember and there have been a few close calls, oops). We actually have to get out of our cars and pump our own gas (petrol). I am sure there are plenty of more things that will come up, I just thought I'd share a few :)
I promised the kids to do my best to take them to do 1 fun thing each week while we are home, so today, we went to the beach. I knew it was too cold to play there, but the wind was blowing hard and we wanted to see the waves. It was totally worth it!!!!! Living in a land locked country has really helped us appreciate Lake Michigan. We grabbed some take out and had a nice time together as a family. Here are a few pictures...

I also wanted to point out that Bryan and his mom took the time to make me a special cake for my birthday this week. It was picked due to my like of Kit Kats and not because of the pig theme in case you are wondering :) It was really yummy too!

Mercy and Faith's thoughts on furlough

"I am very excited to be going on furlough. I hope the 4 days will go by fast. Can't wait to see my family and friends, but I am sad that it is only 9 weeks. School is going great, and I am sad that I have to do some work on furlough (no offense Miss Dawn or Miss Beth). I am looking forward to doing some roller skating. I want to see some snow and go sledding, make a snowman and play with my grandparents dog. After I play in the snow, I want to go inside and drink some hot cocoa. At Thanksgiving, I hope my Oma will make some of her famous pickles.
I definitely will miss the Beautiful Gate Christmas party cause the food is really, really good (thank you Ntate KB).
Miss you all."
Faith


"I would really appreciate it if I could hang out with my family and friends and have fun. I would like it if our whole family is there. I would like to go roller skating and sledding with our cousins. I also hope to build a snowman and play with my grandparent's dog.
I love everyone and I am so happy to see everyone. I will really miss Lesotho because it is so beautiful and I have spent most of my life here. I am really going to miss school and my friends there."
Love,
Mercy


We are leaving in 4 days! Ready or not West Michigan, here come the Geurinks!

My kids at school and playgroup

Last full week of school for my kiddos till we head out on furlough!!!! I get a 9 week break from packing their lunches :) Just saying that reminds me of the hundreds of things which will be available to our taste buds in a very short period of time. I do not miss the food from home when I am here, but I do remember there are many things which we cannot get here. I better not get started on all of them or I will fill an entire post with things none of you care to read about, hahaha.

My kids had wacky Wednesday and pajama Friday last week so I thought it would be fun to post a couple pictures of my cute kids when looking "not" so cute. I am so thankful for their new school, but I am also so thankful to have them around more for the next 9 weeks.

I brought my kids to play group last week too because they have really been missing living on campus and having the play group available whenever they wanted to play. We had such a good time playing with the kids and I thought I would post a couple pictures of them playing here too. I know they are going to miss it for a few months.

I am so blessed by having these 3 kids. God has been so good to us, and I love watching them grow in their love and friendship with each other and with the BG kids. 

2 weeks till furlough and a request

We will be driving from Chicago to Battlecreek in 2 weeks!!!! Wow it is coming up very quickly. We have a friend here from our church and we have a friend from England here with a team and our days are FLYING by right now. I keep thinking that I will get some packing and organizing of the house done, but.....well there is always next week when they are all gone :) If you see us walking around West Michigan improperly dressed for the weather it could be for 2 reasons. 1- I never got us packed cause we were too busy or 2- my kids have been living in Africa for 5 years and outgrew their winter gear ages ago. Well, technically, both might be true :)


That being said, if you are living in West Michigan and have any old snow pants that your kids will not be using this year and you have yet to donate them to a charity, I wonder if we could borrow them for the winter and then donate them on your behalf in January (or return them if you need to keep them for a younger child). Please email me if you would be willing to let us use snow pants sizes 8-10 for Mercy, 10-12 for Faith and 12-14 for Elijah. I do not know what those sized equate to in S,M, or L cause we buy by age in Lesotho :)  bageurink@hotmail.com. We also do not really want to buy thick gloves if we do not need to as they are no use here in Lesotho, so if you have warm gloves we can use, those would be a great help too!!!


I hope I have not scared you all away with the emotional rollercoaster that has been my life for the past 2 months. I am realizing that I do not necessarily handle big transitions well. Moving and then planning furlough on top of a few other things happening in my life, has left me feeling a little emotionally exposed. I will try to pull myself together so that we can really have a great 9 weeks home in West Michigan though! Hope to see many of you soon.

Anguished Heart

It is so heartbreaking to begin the actual discussions about our transition to not being the directors. We had a real heart to heart with our management team about the qualities they are looking for in their new director/s. Before they really began to share their thoughts, they first expressed their gratitude to have us, and their desire to have us reconsider and stay longer. It was a real blessing to hear them say that, but at the same time, it made me very sad. None of us really want to leave here in 2 years, but we know that we are not being called to stay longer than that. We have felt from God that it will be time for us to go back to America in 2017. We are all stuck in the crazy experience that all missionaries find themselves in, we have more than one home. If I am already a mess just thinking about having to leave in 2 years, then I cannot imagine the distress and anguish we will feel when that day comes.


What it boils down to is that I feel I am abandoning my friends. I am disappointing and hurting people by being here, and I will disappoint, hurt, and break the hearts of many when I leave here. Our staff and the BG kids have learned to trust us, and that is huge. They have made themselves vulnerable and shared their lives with us, and we are walking away from that trust.


We are going to be leaving on a 9 week furlough on November 11th. Maybe it will give us some down time to think and restore our emotions, but knowing that it is time to begin the search to replace ourselves is a lot more emotional than I had thought.


Please pray with us that we as a care center will seek the Lord's will in the new directors, who will be chosen by the BGL board. Please pray that BG will be even greater in the years to come than it is now. Please pray with us that we will always do what is best in the sight of the Lord, and that we will trust Him to heal the hearts of our many friends and family around the world.

Used and disappointed

Living in a third world country with a first world upbringing can really be damaging, not only to myself but also for those around me. I have been really struggling with something since Thursday and I am not even sure how to put words to my thoughts.
For those of you who have followed my blog over the years, you have all met and heard about Lucky, the orphan boy who used to "work" for us. He has been living with an uncle for the last couple years, and he visits us about once or twice a year. This year, he came in late January to ask me to sponsor him and help pay for his high school fees, books and uniform. Bryan and I decided that this was something we could do for him since education is very important to us.
Then he showed up last week cause it was spring break, and he had a whole list of wants; new shoes, soccer shoes, a soccer ball, more school books, food, money to start his own business, etc etc. He has always been one to shoot for the moon, so having him ask for things is not new, but something felt different this time. Gone was the gracious and thankful boy I used to know, and here was a demanding and expectant boy. Where did I go wrong in helping him that caused it to change? We certainly could not get all his requests especially when he wanted name brand shoes that I wouldn't even buy my own kids or myself. After getting affordable and sensible shoes, a ball and some food, he did not thank me, he asked for coloring books and crayons for his nephew.
I changed from his friend to the person who gives him things when he needs them. I know that I did this to myself somehow, but I am not sure what I should have done differently along the way so we could stay friends. He was no longer interested in me or my kids, but it was all in what he could get from me.
I feel used and ashamed that I did not teach him better. He is a good boy and I want him to grow up with gratitude for the help he was given, and not with an air of expectancy when he meets white people. I am really disappointed in how things turned out and aim to try to explain myself to him the next time he visits. Please pray for me to have wisdom in hopes of undoing what I unintentionally did to this friendship. Please also pray for him to realize the gifts he has been given in life, and to show gratitude to everyone he comes across in his life.