Postscript

We spent a good portion of January and February this year back in our home areas in the US.  It was time spent reconnecting with family and friends, time to connect with some work colleagues based in the US, some time for connecting with ministry partners…and some time to reconnect some of our favorite American foods…and to do some shopping…

It was a whirlwind that took us from the west coast, to several places in the mid-west and concluding on the east coast before we returned to our home in South Africa. Here are a few highlights from our trip:

On January 23 we spoke at Orcutt Christian Church in Santa Maria, California.  Shortly before the service started, Jeff looked into the congregation and saw a couple of familiar faces from his past–two people who he knew from youth group at his home church. Marcy was a youth leader when he was in youth group, and Liz was in youth group with him.  It was great for me to get to know them both, and Jeff enjoyed reconnecting with them.

We shared a little bit of South Africa with our families and friends by making a typical South African meal for them–bobotie and yellow rice (served with spicy chili chutney).  We also shared some of our favorite boxed cookies from here.  Food and fellowship are a good combination .  It was a new meal for everyone, but they all seemed to enjoy it.  It’s something we enjoy, too, so we didn’t mind having it a few times while we were home.

Jeff spent several days helping his dad dig out and dispose of rocks from their back yard.  It was a huge project that between the two of them they were able to complete quickly.

I brought my sister to New York City.  It was her first time there.  We visited with one of my friends, and she was able to see a good portion of the city in our short time there.

We were also able to be with my dad on his 69th birthday for a celebration with our immediately family and for another celebration with friends.

It was wonderful to be home and to see and visit with everyone.  It was the longest we’ve been in the US since we left for Africa more than two years ago.   Skype, facebook and other tools of technology have keep us up-to-date with everyone, but none of those replaces face to face time…even if it’s compact!

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Jeff’s brother and sister-in-law, Dan & Kumiko, live in Okinawa, Japan. Using Skype, we were able to do a free video call with them last night. Modern technology–gotta love it!

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We completed our WA banquet tour in California tonight in Ventura. The hotel where the banquet was held had a beach-front location. We got in just in time to enjoy the sunset.

Thanks for your prayers for these banquets!

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Mexican train is a favorite game among Jeff’s family. This domino game involves linking like ends together to form trains. There’s 13 rounds of play, and it usually takes between and hour or two to finish. This was the end of our Sunday night game.

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I’m sitting in a room at a guest house in Manila getting ready for my 3am departure to the airport. It’s 1am. I’m so tired, but it’s just not worth sleeping… I’m getting ready to adjust to another time zone (-16 hours).

I was looking at my itinerary and laughing about how my flight departs on Sunday at 7:45am here, and arrives in LA at 8am–also on Sunday. Wouldn’t it be great if my flight was really only 15 minutes!! There is in fact a 15 in the total duration, but it’s preceded by 16 hours = 16:15. Who said you can’t add hours to your day–Sunday will last about 40 hours for me!

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