Let me start this wee (or probably not so wee…) post by saying there are no less than thirty-seven of you folks that I wanted to share this news with individually, one on one, preferably over a cup of coffee or at least on a phone call where we each had a cup of coffee and maybe even a cookie. But then I started doing the math on how long it would take to make all thirty-seven of those phone calls to share the news, even if they only lasted for ten minutes, based on how many minutes I have free over the course of the day, considering there’s in some cases a six hour time difference, taking into account the fact that I can seldom speak for only ten minutes to anyone — and that sometimes includes telemarketers and UPS delivery persons. Let’s save that story for another day.

Now where was I?

After coming to the conclusion that I couldn’t break the news to everybody this year if I tried to individually contact all the folks I would’ve like to have shared said news with personally, I decided that you are an awfully gracious bunch of folks and you’d understand.

So don’t prove me wrong! I love you.

Now on to the news.

The name of this blog is probably going to be changing pretty soon. And that’s because my address is going to be changing pretty soon. And that’s because the continent we call home is going to be changing pretty soon. And that’s because HH’s job is going to be changing pretty soon (and mine, too).

And for those who feel brevity is the soul of wit, in a nutshell, that’s the news. But if you’d like more details, do read on, dear.

After lots of a-thinking and lots of a-praying, it is clear that the Lord is a-closing one door, and opening another. Our time with Samaritan’s Feet is coming to its conclusion, which we really have mixed emotions about. Although the evidence surrounding the conclusion we’ve come to could fill another blog post or eight, for now I think it’s sufficient to say we’ve begun to recognise the ways that we’ve been wired and gifted and the type of ministry that we’re best suited for is different from our present work. Plus, we need to pay our bills.

So what’s next?

Not long after we made the decision to give notice with Samaritan’s Feet and begin to hand off the work we’ve begun to new leadership, HH got a couple of job offers in the US of A…and none anywhere else. The first was in Seattle and we would’ve been working under an amazing pastoral couple, and we would’ve learned so much, and it would’ve been a wonderful setting to enjoy for a while…but Seattle feels about like Edinburgh in terms of its distance from North Carolina, and we’d like to at least be close to some family, if possible. (And travelling from there to SA would be a heckuva journey.)

While we were umming and ahhing {did you like that? I’m not sure transliterating onomatopoeia is my strong suit. But isn’t that a fun word to say? Try using it in a sentence today.} about the Seattle decision, another job offer was extended to us. Exactly thirty minutes away from my super-duper little hometown in Greenville, North Carolina.

Boo-yow.

The church I attended while at university there, Greenville Christian Fellowship, has a missions-sending agency they’re hoping to grow. It’s called Global Impact Resources, and it’s actually the agency that first sent me out when I moved to Scotland.

As the director of Global Impact, the Hubs (and I, to some extent) will be providing a pastoral covering for missionaries on the field, as well as overseeing the administration of their ministry support. Opening the honesty box, there have been some times, when being on the mission field has made me feel like I was on an island of my own. Care packages have made me cry because it didn’t even matter what was inside — it just mattered that someone cared enough to make the effort. With a small heap of experience in our back pockets, we feel equipped — and passionate about — being a blessing to other missionaries on the field. We’ll continue to raise support for part of our salary, and we’ll also be ministering in the local church part time.

Now on to the specifics:

We’re either leaving our place here in Gordon’s Bay at the end of June or the end of July. We were originally thinking July, but since the honesty box is open, I’ll explain that we’ve pretty much been going into debt to try to finish off what we started here. We’re planning to spend several weeks in wonderful Bloemfontein with HH’s folks before adventuring across the pond. If possible, we’d like to spend a week or so in the UK, visiting our previous mission field and all the wonderful people there we’ve been missing these past two years — we might even get to attend one very special wedding!

We’ll then be heading to North Carolina, staying with my folks in the Original Washington, while we look for a place to live in the wonderful Greenville. Dates and departures to be confirmed.

So, I’ve tried to cover all the bases, but my guess is you might have some questions! Would you like to ask them in the comments and I can come back and edit this post to add in the answers?

Oh, one last thing! How do we feel about all this?:

Bittersweet doesn’t begin to describe this transition for us. Although we were confident this wasn’t our last stop, this move has come much sooner than we expected. On the one hand, I’m stoked about little things like maybe having the same address for more than a year, and putting paint on walls. And I’m stoked about big things like being close to my family and a lot of the friends back home that I really miss. On the other hand, leaving South Africa, and more specifically HH’s folks, is really, really hard. We haven’t left yet and I’ve already cried about it. A lot. Yes, we are definitely planning to come back regularly — our boys are American and South African, and we want them to know both cultures and to know their grandparents (and their aunt up in Joburg, and their Uncky in London!) — but visiting regularly isn’t the same as being a day’s drive away.

It’s true that Mama Africa’s red dirt gets in your blood. I’m not the person I was when we stepped off the plane almost two years ago. And those sentiments deserve a handful of posts, too.

For now, the long and short of it is: Change, She is A-Coming. In every circumstance, To God Be the Glory.

xCC