We are now in Bloemfontein visiting Mark’s Mom and Dad. It’s really good to be here. We hope to take the next few days to rest after going and going and going, and pray and prepare to jump in with both feet and get started. And great news, we will be able to move in to our new place on October 1st!  We are very thankful and excited to finally unpack our suitcases after over two months of nomadic living! I think this lifestyle is a constant reminder that we really are temporarily on this earth, and the long stay — the settling in where you don’t pack again — will happen in eternity.

I don’t know if it’s just because of all the changes that have happened seemingly suddenly (if it’s okay to put those two words together…it seems strange) but I am just overwhelmed with joy when Asher gets to be around his grandparents. I am the same way when we’re in Washington with my Mom and Dad…I mean you would think I was pregnant again it makes me so emotional! I’m almost teary just passing Asher to his Grandpa Collie so he can hold him for a while, and I’m running to fetch the camera. (By the way, I’m not pregnant again — just emotional!) I can look at pictures of my Mom or Dad holding him, and get emotional. A big part of our decision to move here was for Asher to get to know his grandparents here before we eventually settle down in the States (Lord willing and the creek don’t rise). So I suppose it’s just really great to be here, enjoying one of the reasons we’re here, seeing it happen before our eyes.

There is something significant in Scripture about generations — God being a generational God — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I hope the Lord can become the God of the generations in the Collie family as well.

So we’ve finally arrived back in Mark’s hometown, Bloemfontein. And we are on the way to the place we’ll be settling in for a while. Even though this is at least 6,000 miles away from my hometown, it’s very good to be here, and it feels like home.

xCC