Your will not mine be done

As I’m sure many of your have heard via texts, facebook and desperate emails this week Rob and I have had nightmare problems trying to extend our visas so that we can stay in South Africa. We originally planned to leave mid April however when we went to Home Affairs early on Tuesday morning we were bluntly told that we could only stay til mid March as we could only extend our existing visa by 3 months and not 4. Rob and I were devastated to say the least. Our only option was to change our flights to the 14th March meaning we would have 2 weeks less time at the village and no holiday touring the country afterwards. We were initially quite shocked and angry; however after speaking to someone else higher up at Home Affairs we realised that there was nothing we could do. So many people were praying for us (thanks guys) so initially I really thought that Satan was on the attack. I soon realised though that I was living according to my agenda. I wanted to stay in South Africa a bit longer, I wanted a holiday. That is clearly not in God’s agenda. His plan obviously involved going home a month early. Knowing this has given me so much peace. God has everything figured out and has done for a very long time. He’ll then let me in on all the details when the time is just right!
Aside from all the visa dramas it’s been a lovely week. It’s been the first week of the school holidays so all the older children need to be entertained in the mornings as well as all the younger ones. The house mums have put together a program of activities for the mornings, which has been a huge help to us all as we’re sooooooo busy at the moment. As most of you are aware I’ve been given the wonderful task of buying and wrapping all the Christmas presents- yes all 38 of them. Over the past few weeks I’ve spent countless hours out shopping looking for nice gifts. I wanted to buy each child something that was suited exactly to them and something that I know they’d love. Needless to say it was a mammoth task. When I was finished buying I then had to put batteries in all the battery operated gifts and check everything works. Now I’m in the process of wrapping. I’ve already gone through at least 20 metres of paper and I’m not even half way through. I’ve still got a shopping trolley and beauty dresser to wrap a well as lots of other big toys!!! Now I know how stressful Christmas can be for parents- you can’t just buy the present and then wrap it. You’ve got to think about it, go out and buy it, carry the heavy box, open it, put it together, put the batteries in, check it all works, take it apart again and then try to get all the parts back in the box again (near impossible I’ve found) and then finally wrap it! Who knew Christmas could be so complicated and stressful!
The children danced last week at their church. There were a few problems beforehand which could have potentially been disastrous however everything got sorted in the end. Before the service I went outside to pray with the children that were dancing and we realised that one of the dancers had been left behind at the village. I had to race back to the village and race back. By God’s grace and amazing timing we walked into the church, sat down and then had to stand straight back up again as it was time for the children to dance! Phew! They of course danced with such grace and mostly with huge smiles. I was so proud of them! Afterwards the management team, their kids and us the volunteers went to a Waffle house for waffles (doh!!!!) and then to the beach for a bit. It was so nice to have time with everyone together as we’re all so busy during the week that sometimes we don’t get to see each other very much!

It’s been so amazing to see how much people want to get involved with Christmas here at the village. We’re having at least 3 parties supplied by different companies completely free of charge. Then others have donated presents or given us money to buy presents. The children will have at least 4 presents each to open on Christmas day! They even got an early Christmas present this week. A bike shop donated a fleet of brand new bikes so we gave out about 20 new bikes this afternoon to those who didn’t have bikes already. The children’s faces were absolutely priceless. They all came running to collect their new shiny bike grinning from ear to ear. It was such a special moment to see some of the children ride a bike for the first time! The little 6 year old girl that only arrived about a month ago probably never got a present in her whole life and now she has her very own bike and will be getting some lovely presents on Christmas day! Now each child over the age of 4 has a bike to ride around the village with their own helmet of course- praise the Lord as he provides exactly what we need!