Settling In

Sunday, September 5, 2010

It is early Sunday morning and I am up as usual so I decided to put my thoughts together of this past week.  We were so blessed to have a team from Alice Drive here this week.  It was fun working and hanging around with 3 of our dear friends (Jock, Mark, and Chris). We learned more about Botswana together and were able to relate to what they were experiencing. The guys did an awesome job getting the foundation laid on the feeding station.  It really seemed an impossible task on Monday morning and then having a set back on Tuesday but by Friday night the slab was poured.  Chris shared when he left us that he learned to never say never.  He told himself on the plane they would never make the connection in JoBurg - and they did.  He told himself we would never get his lost bag - and we did.  He told himself we would never get the foundation built and slab poured - and we did.  GOD is so much bigger than we in our minds can comprehend!! To Him be all the Glory!!


It was hard on the boys when they packed up to leave.  Chandler was homesick when they left yesterday. He was plotting an exit strategy sooner than we planned because he missed Sumter.  A wise 11-year old girl shared with us this summer before we left home “you can’t wait to leave when you get there and can’t stand it when you have to leave.  It is the craziest thing!”  Claire, thanks for reminding us there is much tugging and pulling of emotions the first weeks here but in the end the experience is worth it.  Please pray that one day Chandler, and all of the boys, will dread leaving Botswana.


School here starts tomorrow for the boys and I can’t wait to post the pictures of them in their uniforms.  You have got to see my 6’4” Hunter in his attire.  The twins are mad they can’t wear their uniform everyday - they love it.  Parker and Chandler look so grown up in coat and tie.  Chan is not happy about wearing a coat in Sub-Saharan Africa in the summer.  While they are in school this week, Tonya and I have lots of work in and around the house getting it in order for the family. There is still some paper work to do to get the cars registered and insured.  That is the biggest project for the week. 


There are still plenty of boxes and suitcases lying around the house.  With us not having a schedule and routine for so long it has put a strain on all of us and living out of boxes and suitcases adds to the frustration.  The boys especially get irritable middle of the day and at night before bed.  Whether they like it or not they do much better with structure and order in their lives.  It is God’s instruction for all us to have a plan and structure to achieve a goal.  Without it there is chaos.  We have had our share of chaos with 5 boys plus me bumping around one another for nearly 8 weeks.  Structure and order is coming.


Pray for a great first week of school for the Shipes boys. Continue to pray for their adjustment to this new environment and culture.  Pray they make new friends  and learn to enjoy this opportunity God has provided.  Pray for our Alice Drive team as they return home and adjust to what they experienced and back to their time zone.  Pray for Freedom Fellowship as they arrived yesterday to continue building the feeding station on the foundation the previous team laid. 


Pray for Tonya to keep up the great attitude, she is such a blessing to this family.  We could not have done this without her.  She rocks in Botswana just the way she did in Aiken and Sumter!  She has done a great job making Botswana home.  We had dinner last night with just the 7 of us on our kitchen table and plates from home.  It is beginning to feel like home.
Thank you for reading this blog and your prayers,
Love Scott