Malawi Monday {City Life}

We have officially been city dwellers for a month! Although the past four years we have made MANY trips to the capital city for picking up visitors, supplies, groceries, or just to get away; it is definitely a different experience actually living here. {If you receive our monthly newsletter, you have probably already read most of this list! If you aren't receiving our monthly newsletter and would like to, sign up is here.} Eight Experiences Living in the City:  Traffic here can be a beast! Plan accordingly and avoid certain roads at certain times, or you'll be stuck for quite awhile. Electricity being out means all "working" stop lights go out, too. No electrity= major traffic jams. We live relatively close to the new school our kids are going to. If we leave on time (6:30AM) it can take a mere 8 minutes to get to school. If we leave 5 minutes later, it will take an hour to get to school. yikes!  Everything still breaks in Malawi. This month our refrigerator, car, and water heater all broke. Things breaking is just part of normal life here, but the nice thing about living in the city is that you can usually find someone to come and help you more quickly than when you live way out in the village.  There is a good sized expat (foreigners like us) community in Lilongwe doing all kinds of ministries and work. We were invited to our first dinner this month with a family originally from Texas. We are thankful for the opportunity for community. Church is so awesome in your native language! We have been able to go to an English speaking church every Sunday. This is such an amazing blessing. To sing and worship in your native tongue  weekly is a game changer! For the first time in 5 years, our children have the opportunity to participate in some extracurricular activities at school! The joy it has brought us to watch them try new things, even though they are nervous, has been truly a gift as a parent. They are brave and really putting themselves out there. We are proud! Electricity is pretty good right now. We are in "rainy season" so the water supply is up and power outages are lasting about 8 hours a day (compared to 24-27 hour outages back in hot season). We have mostly had electricity all night (which is awesome, hello fans!). But the nice thing about living in the city is, I don't have to stock pile my groceries or worry about meat going bad. Grocery stores are nearby and all the big stores run on back up generators! So many people speak English here. We are going to have to be really intentional about language learning since it is pretty easy to communicate in English! Chitenjes are not required. When we lived in the village, I always kept a chitenje by the door to throw on if someone knocked. In the city, you see don't see as many people wearing chitenjes, but you do see lots of skinny jeans and Western wear.

Four Years and What's Next

It is hard to believe that this month marks four years here in Malawi. 

Four.full.years. 

How is this even possible?! 

Back in 2013, we arrived in Malawi with four children, ages nine and under. 

Two of whom could not speak English! 

We had a 10’ x 4’ space of our personal belongings and nervous excitement in our hearts.

We really had no clue the ride God would have us on and the lessons He would teach us.

So much has happened in the past four years. We have grown as a family and as individuals. We have developed relationships, started programs, learned a billion hard lessons, made and learned from mistakes, laughed and cried until it hurt. We can hardly recognize the people who stepped off that plane four years ago.

As October has been quickly approaching, marking the end of our contract, we have been deep in prayer for many months seeking God’s will on what is next for our family. 

Through the adoption of our daughters, working with the children and families at Esther’s House, and being able to start a program working with single moms, God has really given us a heart and a passion for orphan prevention. 

So much so, that we feel He is calling us to start a new ministry whose purpose is to reunite families and also preserve the family unit.

After discussing with Pure Mission, our Board of Directors, about where God was leading us, we have agreed to continue to partner together. We will begin the new ministry, called “Ufulu Groups”, under the umbrella of Pure Mission and continue to be governed by their Board. We are also very honored that David has been given a board seat at Pure Mission. 

In January 2018, we will transition from Ntcheu to Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital city, about 2.5 hours away. We are really excited to begin this new ministry and to continue to partner with Pure Mission. 

Here are some answers to questions that you may have:

1) What is the vision of your new ministry? 

To empower vulnerable and under-resourced single parents through skills training and dignified work, resulting in family reunification and family preservation. 

We would be happy to answer any of your questions, and you can also check out the website for more information- www.ufulugroups.org (website is a work in progress)

2) What does this mean for Esther’s House?

We are very thankful to still be a part of Esther’s House! We will be coming to Esther’s House once a month to continue to support and help the Hanson family. We adore the Hansons and feel so good about leaving the ministry in their capable hands. We are thrilled to be able to continue to spend time with the kids and staff here. David has accepted a position on the Board of Directors, and we are thankful for the gift of continuing to be a part of the ministry at Esther’s House.

3) How will your children be affected by the move?

When we moved here, our oldest was a 9-year-old 3rd grader. He is now 13 and just started 7th grade. It is becoming more and more difficult to meet our children’s educational needs. We have tried to be creative here by hiring a private tutor. Last year, we even put him in the best school in our district. Unfortunately, it was not a viable option for our family. Moving to Lilongwe will hopefully allow all our kids to attend school with American curriculum, have friends, and participate in activities. The potential for these new opportunities for our children makes us feel relieved and hopeful, as it also coincides with the new ministry God has laid on our hearts. 

4) What does this mean for current financial partnerships? 

The way to partner with our family will not change. You will still be able to support our family and ministry through Pure Mission. More details will come out about this later. Honestly, with our move to the city, we will need your partnerships more than ever! We pray that you all will continue to see the value of what God is doing with our family in Malawi and continue to partner with us. Unfortunately, city life is considerably more expensive than living in the village. With rent and school, our budget will increase significantly, but we feel a peace that God will continue to provide, just as He has done for the past four years. 

{thirteen} a teenager birthday post

On June 10th, our oldest entered into teenage-hood.

This has felt so big for our family!

I didn't notice all the changes that have happened this year until I looked back on last years pictures. Our kid is really growing up (sniffle)!

Past birthdays:

Twelve

Eleven

Ten

We wanted to make this birthday a big milestone birthday, which feels a little tricky when you are living overseas. But, we tried our best! 

I do love how our kids have grasped onto the simple parties. 

Choosing their favorite meal, simple gifts, and some friends over and they will declare it 

"the best day ever".

Z has been counting down the days until his birthday for awhile!

He picked his favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

He had his friends over for a water balloon war.

His grandparents and cousins had sent gifts with a visiting team, so he had several presents to open up through out the day. 

We have two other families living here with us, two interns, and a visiting friend. 

So, we had a full house for his party!

We had been filing away some ideas for his birthday from other families we admire and from books we have read. We wanted to make this milestone birthday about THREE things: 

Privilege

Responsibility

Biblical Man-hood

Privilege in our family, where we live, means later bed times and some more movie options.  

Responsibility at 13, looks like Zander having to wash his own clothes and also owning the lawn mowing in our back yard. We want to be intentional about preparing him for adult-hood and giving him more responsibilities to learn hard work and excellence. We are hoping to continue to add to the privilege and responsibility areas each year until he is ready to fly on his own after high school graduation. 

The Biblical Man-hood piece was really fun! We contacted a couple hand-full of men that have been consistent in Zander's life. These men are guys that Zander looks up to and strive to chase after God. We asked these men to write letters to Zander for his birthday. The letters were so awesome! I teared up with each letter as they came in because they were EXACTLY what I was wanting for Zander. The notes were filled with encouragement and words of affirmation. They laid out what it looks like transitioning into man-hood, ways that Satan will try to trip him up, and even personal challenges that they faced when they were his age. David and I also added a letter to the mix! We are praying that these letters will be read over and over again as he encounters the blessings and challenges as he transitions into adult-hood. 

Uncle Titus and Aunt Ashley gifted Zander with their telescope! Such a special gift!

All the Esther's House kids came over and we enjoyed lots of cake and playing!

This years' cake request was sugar cookie cake on top and bottom with funfetti cake in the middle (Thanks Tyler ;)

We're so thankful for all who helped make his day special!

I always enjoy taking pictures of my kids on their birthdays and Zander reluctantly allowed me to snap a few pics in the back yard. 

Gosh, we love this kid so much! 

I definitely feel like we are entering a new era of parenting and a new phase of beginning that "let- go" process as we give more privileges and responsibilities. I am praying that our relationship will continue to grow and morph and will come out stronger on the other side! Friends with kids in the stage ahead of us, we are watching you and grabbing on to any advice you can give us!

Chatbooks

I tend to be late to the party....and even more so since living overseas, but I just LOVE Chatbooks! 

I am such a sentimental person! 

I love memories with my favorite people! 

I take lots of pictures, but they never get printed and tend to just get stored on the computer. 

So, I was pretty excited to learn about Chatbooks through a friend. 

If you haven't heard of these sweet little books, watch this entertaining video to learn all about it!

I chose to have my Chatbooks linked to my Instagram account. 

I downloaded the app and within minutes, I had all of my pictured uploaded onto the app and arranged into books. 

I spent about an hour editing and re-arranging the photos. 

This is with sllooooowwww dial-up speed internet out here in rural Malawi. 

When your book has 60 pictures in it, you will automatically receive an email that your book is done. You then have 3 days to edit your book before it ships!

I had the books shipped to my mom's house since I knew we were going to travel back to the States for Christmas. I was really excited to get my hands on our memories!

The paper quality is nice and thick, the ink is vibrant. 

Some of my first pictures I used on Instagram were from an Iphone 3, so the camera wasn't that great and my photos are grainy, but it really doesn't bother me, I just love having the memories!

The size of the books are about 6" x 6" and are an affordable $8!

Perfect for little hands (not mine, obviously, but the kids)

 Each page has a date stamp and a place for captions (or no captions which I sometimes choose if I don't feel like dealing with it.)

My kids absolutely LOVE looking at the books. 

They are nice and sturdy, so I don't stress about them tearing the books up. 

I absolutely love how the girls now have books that include them in the family pictures!

Another feature of this app that is my favorite is the ability to upload pictures straight off of my phone camera. My kids are getting older and don't always want their pictures posted to Instagram (I try to always ask permission from them first). 

Being able to "add a photo" allows me to add pictures without posting the photo to Instagram. 

If you aren't a social media person, you can have ALL of your photos added to Chatbooks straight from your phone favorites. 

Do you already do Chatbooks? Do you love them also?

Would you like to try Chatbooks for yourself?

I have a fun offer for you! Follow this link to get your first Chatbook FREE!

 In full disclosure, I will also receive a $5 credit to my next book! 

Win-Win for all!

Malawi Mondays {Rainy Season}

It's been awhile since I have written a Malawi Monday! When we were stateside for our 6 week furlough over Christmas, one of my friends mentioned that she and her kids enjoyed learning about Malawi through these posts. So,  I thought I would add some more about what life is like here in Malawi, through expat eyes. 

It's February, so I thought I would write about what happens here in February....rain, lots and lots of rain. For example, yesterday it rained and within an hour, filled up my 60 liter trash barrel.

In America, we call our rainy season "Spring". Trees and flowers begin to blossom, we start shedding our winter wears, and in the evenings, lawn mower engines are humming in every suburban neighborhood. But, in the US (or at least in the South) we typically receive rain all throughout the year.

In Malawi, rainy season is pretty much the only time of year that we receive any type of precipitation (at least in our area). The rains start in November/December and usually finish up around March/April.

A good rainy season is imperative for most Malawians. Malawi is primarily  an agriculture community. When the rains are "officially here" you will find the majority of Malawians out in their gardens planting seed. You may see some people plant ground nuts (peanuts), green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. But everyone is planting maize (corn). Maize is the primary ingredient to make Nsima. Nsima is the staple food of Malawi. It is typically eaten with every meal. You can read more about Nsima  here. Too much rain or too little rain has life impacting consequences on the people here.

This is our fourth season to be living in Malawi during the rainy season. The first rainy season we were here, it rained off and on. Nothing to extreme from what we were used to living in Arkansas.

The second year, we saw MAJOR rains. As in, rained so hard that the rushing waters took down our 10 foot tall brick wall that had just been constructed in the back of our campus. It rained so hard that many houses and gardens were washed away. A man from a village a mile from our home drowned trying to walk home. The flooding lasted for two weeks and then the rains went away. People tried to replant their gardens, but the rains never returned. The harvests in our area were very small and people went hungry that year. You can read more about how people were effected here.

The third season we were in Malawi, we had a mild rainy season. It would rain for a day and then not rain for two weeks. About the time everyone was chewing their nails that their gardens were going to dry up, another rain would come. Our area had a decent crop, although many parts of Malawi experienced major flooding and then droughts. You can read more here.

This year, we are experiencing rain every day. This has been the pattern since November. The gardens are looking good. The water does not seem to have caused too much damage in our area, although we have heard of flooding in other parts of Malawi.

I had never lived in a country before where the amount of rain received has such life impacting consequences.  Too much rains equals the loss of home and garden. Too little rain also means the loss of garden, which is the primary way that people feed themselves for the year. Most Malawians do not have the money to go buy maize if their garden fails. When droughts and flooding happens, the price of maize sky rockets because it becomes a hot commodity.

The first year that we moved here, I was telling one of our staff members about how much I loved rainy season. I loved the sound of rain on the tin roof of our house. I loved the cool down of weather and I especially was in awe over the beautiful sunsets. I loved how everything turns green, the dust disappears and the country is lush and beautiful.

She explained that my experience was somewhat different than our neighbors living around us in the village. Rain doesn't sound pretty on the rooftop when it is leaking through your thatch roof at night when you are sleeping. Rain doesn't seem peaceful when it is rushing through the floor of your hut. A typical Malawian home is made of mud bricks and uses mud instead of concrete to lay the walls. Lots of water = the potential for your house to fall apart each rainy season. I enjoyed rainy season because the amount of rain doesn't effect how much or little I will eat this year.

My perspective was totally different than my neighbors. Which I guess is how this whole ex-pat thing works? We come from different cultures, backgrounds, experiences. We view things through different lenses. Part of the hard and the beauty of living in another country is learning to see the perspective of  those you have come to live life with.

TWELVE

Last week our oldest turned 12. 

It is our last year before we have to start throwing "teen" in on his birthdays. 

I am sure if I go back and read all of his birthday posts, I will see that every year I have a bit of a hard time with my first- born continuing to grow older!

It's such bitter sweet feelings all rolled up together.

I love seeing glimpses of the man he is becoming but also clearly see how fast this whole mom-gig is going by. 

And this mom-gig is my favorite thing.

Past Birthdays:

Eleven

Ten

Things I want to remember about Z at 12....

Z is our one quiet child. 

He is greatly outnumbered by all the "louds" in our house.

We are learning his love language is quality time.

He loved that on his birthday, he got to pick all 3 meals and have his whole family sit together and eat and watch him open a gift. 

He and his dad got to get away for the weekend on his birthday and spent the night in a hotel.

You could just tell his quality time cup was filled when he got home. 

He continues his love for reading and most of the time if he goes missing, you can find him in the house with a book.

He is still our day dreamer and I love the ideas he comes up with!
He is learning to play the guitar and likes to practice and watch videos.

He is growing into his role of being the big brother to 3.

He loves to play with his siblings on the trampoline or bring them into his game he invented. 

He is also totally fine being by himself. 

Favorites at 12:

Favorite Color: black and neon green

Favorite movie: Battle of 5 Armies

Favorite Food: fried chicken

Favorite drink: Sprite

Favorite thing to play: sword fighting

Favorite Friend: Corbin

Favorite thing to do with mom: watch movies

Favorite thing to do with dad: Legos, drawing, and sports stuff

Favorite thing about living in Africa: it's really pretty

Favorite Bible Story: Joshua

Favorite subject in school: History

What you want to be when you grow up: a blacksmith for making weapons for movies

E turns NINE {Birthday}

G (10) and E's (9) birthdays just fall 3 days apart so there are lots of birthday celebrations going on in that second week of April.

On Esther's Birthday, we happened to be at the lake with a team.

The kids had a great time getting to do Vacation Bible School on the beach and swim!

The last night before the team left, the staff at the hotel brought out Esther a beautiful, huge birthday cake covered in bright pink flower petals and sang to her.

It made her year! It was so precious seeing how surprised she was to see everyone celebrating her.

This year, after taking into account the HUGE growth that E has had since she has been with us, the advice from a Dr. and a dentist, we decided that Esther would turn 9 on her birthday instead of 8. 

So we celebrated turning 8 & 9 and got a new pretty bike!

Here are her past birthday pics......

SIX

SEVEN

She likes playing jump rope, jumping on the trampoline, and riding her bike.

One of her most admirable qualities is that she can laugh at herself.

She has done so well this year in second grade and works hard to do her best.

She has gained a lot of ground in reading.

She is quick to forgive and is a kind friend.

She is a thoughtful and loyal companion.

We sure do love her and are thankful we get to celebrate her birthdays!

9 year old interview:

Favorite Color: pink and purple

Favorite movie: Hotel Transylvania 2

Favorite Food: grilled cheese

Favorite drink: Coca Cola

Favorite Friend: all the EH girls

Favorite thing to do with mom: spend time with her

Favorite thing to do with dad: spend time with him as well

Favorite thing about living in Africa: that I have a lot of friends

Favorite Bible Story: David and Goliath

Favorite subject in school: handwriting (cursive)

What you want to be when you grow up: a gymnast

A Day in the Life of My MK {missionary kid}

One of my favorite things about having a blog is having a record of what life looks like in different seasons of our lives. I have an old blog that I started when this, almost 12 year old, was just 4 years old. The days were long and I thought I would always remember what life was like back then. But, when I read old posts, I have no recollection of those days....just a few short years ago (#mombrain). So, I just love having records of life. The normal, ordinary days. I know I will cherish looking back on this season with my oldest. And, I am going to pretend like I am not always mentally calculating how he only has 6 short years left in our house {insert ugly cry}

A couple weeks ago, I kept my phone with me all day and snapped pics of what a typical Thursday looks like for my oldest missionary kid. It's fun to follow overseas families from all over the world and get a peek into their lives. Our days are pretty slow and simple, but we love it just the same.

On this particular morning, I woke up to find Z in the kitchen. He has become quite the cook, making biscuits and chocolate gravy for breakfast. 

After breakfast, he has morning chores and then is off to do Math with his tutor. I seriously wished I had outsourced Math a loooooong time ago. It has always been a subject we have butted heads in (let's be real, 7th grade Math is about as high as I can remember). A veteran missionary, mama friend suggested I find someone to help me with just this one subject. I don't know why I never thought of it before! In Malawi, we have many certified teachers looking for work as they wait years for the government to place them. So, it was win-win situation. I am so thankful for Mr. Andrew!

After 1-1.5 hours of Math, Z comes back to the house and we finish up the rest of his subjects. 

We usually finish up school around 1 o'clock.

Next up is lunch and play time. 

Some kindle reading and games while sister plays beauty shop.

In the afternoons, all 4 of my kids get to participate in skills classes. I am SO thankful for this time. I love for my kids to get to participate in an activity with other kids and a teacher. Those important life lessons of, "if you sign up for this, you have to see it through to the end".

Z is in my computer skills class this term with his friend and fellow MK "C'. 

After skills class, we play outside, eat dinner, shower, do chores, maybe watch a movie, and go to bed.

That's a typical day. 

I used to worry about the things my kids were missing out on...school, sports, extracurriculars, etc.

Now, I am just really thankful for this season. The family time, the routines, the no-stress. 

I think it's a pretty good childhood!

{SIX} Birthday

These birthdays keep coming faster and faster it seems! 

Hard to believe our Asher girl is SIX!

Here is her 4th birthday

and her

5th birthday

Man, we could not love this girl more!

She just exudes LIFE and JOY!

She is our worry free girl who is fear-less!

She's the 3 year old jumping off a clip into the lake.

The 5 year old diving off the diving board with her floaties.

She's the kid that insists on going on the scary zip-line course all by herself.

She's kind and compassionate.

She loves people and has never met a stranger.

She is almost always happy and peppy!

She is also energetic...and LOUD.

She's the last one to fall asleep each night and the first one to wake up each morning.

She loves to laugh and thinks her jokes are the funniest.

We love you Asher! We hope you never change! You make life more fun for everyone!

Favorites at SIX

Favorite Colors: blue

Favorite Movie: Wild Kratts

Favorite Food: Cereal

Favorite Drink: ice water

Favorite thing to play: play on the trampoline with Esther 

Favorite Friend: Kiera and Makenzie

Favorite thing to do with mommy: "watch a movie"

Favorite thing to do with daddy: "play with him"

What do you want to be when you grown up? "a cook"