Fun times

Eating yummy food

Learning how to play cricket

Celebrations with cake

Decorating and drawing at Nan's kitchen table

I think they're going to miss SA bigtime!

Daddy's here

We picked Bied up from the airport on Sunday evening. He is attending the Gauteng SA Shepherds' Conference this week and so he has been busy. However, after Wednesday it seems we'll have things slow down a little and the kids will get to spend more time with him. Which will be really helpful for a tired, preggy mom.

Artists in the making

I found sidewalk chalk in a store here in SA and the kids have had so much fun with it. They have used it before, when teams have brought it out from the US.

Two more sleeps until Bied gets here. YAY! Matt and Rachel Floreen arrived safely in Malawi on Wednesday of this week. Another YAY!

Baby update - I saw my midwife on Monday and she thinks we might have a May baby. As long as the baby waits for his/her daddy to get here, that's fine.

How wonderful to know that God knows the exact seconds our precious gift from Him will arrive. We await with patience, grateful that all is looking good.

Ice cream

It's definitely getting cold down here in SA, but it's never too cold for ice cream.

10 sleeps

That's so much better than 33 sleeps! We said good-bye to Brian this morning and the kids were fine. No tears this time. What a wonderful week. We've had so much fun together as a family these past couple of days. Brian hesitated about his surprise trip down here, but we are so thankful that he took the plunge! We were so busy that I didn't even take any pics.

Had word from B this evening saying that his temporary employment permit may actually be officially stamped in his passport tomorrow! Praise the Lord. Kondi will drive to Blantyre and so we are trusting that everything will be in place for the TEP to finally be REAL.

Also we saw my ob/gyn on Wednesday and the baby is doing well. He checked the maturity of the little one and all is good. Brian is planning to be here on the 24th and the doc reckons the baby will stay put until then. How grateful I am that B was here for the appointment and we rejoice that all is fine. Now we just have to wait for contractions and then we'll be on our way to meeting this precious gift (who kicks me so much) from the Lord.

SURPRISE!

Yesterday was so much fun! Brian had taken the team to the airport at around 1pm and told me that he was going to take a nap. He said he'd like to skype later so that he could see the kids. I told him that would be fine and so after the evening service we came home and set up the camera. I felt sorry that he hadn't been able to participate in Boo's dramatic birthday celebration. The kids were so excited to talk to him.

To cut a long story short... Brian had flown down to SA and napped on the plane. He skyped us from my parents' driveway and it was only until I saw my brother's face in the webcam too that I realised he was here. OH MY WORD! It was so fun. I cried and laughed and cried and laughed! My mom said she wished she could have taken a picture of my face. The kids squealed with delight. Ami kept on saying, "Mommy I'm dreaming, I know this isn't true. When I wake up tomorrow, Dad's not really going to be here."

He is really here and it has been wonderful. He can only stay until Thursday, BUT WE ARE SO GRATEFUL that the LORD has made it possible for him to come down and see us.

At church last night I had said, "Just two more weeks and Daddy will be here."

These delights are truly heaven sent and we don't ever want to take them for granted.

Benjamin is two

About this time, two years ago we welcomed Benjamin Luke Biedebach into our family. After many tears and prayers, we found two wonderful midwives in Ventura, CA. The Mahoneys graciously opened their home for us so that we would be near the birthing centre. God provided for us so graciously during that very busy time while on furlough.

It's amazing to think of all that has transpired these past two years. And to think that in approx. 4 weeks we'll welcome baby number 4. WOW! God is good all the time.

Benjamin (who is our most challenging) cried bitterly when we sang to him with the traditional candles on a cupcake at wake-up time.

Not bad for a box cake! It was yummy.

We had a little more smile when it was time to open the gifts.


More trauma when the cake was brought out during the informal tea gathering to celebrate the big 2! Thank goodness for those willing siblings :)

Doing so much better

Thank you so much for your prayers. I am doing so much better than this time last week. Praise the Lord. I saw my midwife on Monday and she thought I would be in worse shape. She was happy with the baby's growth in spite of my lack of food intake. I will see my ob/gyn on Wed next week and he will do a final scan before delivery.

Brian is doing fine with the team. Right now they are in Liwonde which is a game park in Malawi. They are having a time of debrief before they head back to LA on Sunday. Brian has been encouraged by them and said that they worked soooooooooo hard while they were there. He said they even put in extra hours to get stuff done. He said when I get 'home' I'll be pleasantly surprised. How wonderful it is to have these men come all the way to Africa to work.

Bied is due to arrive here on the 24th and the Floreens (Matt and Rachel - he is the new associate pastor at International Bible Fellowship Church) arrive on the 20th in Lilongwe. They have raised their full support and have been given the go ahead to come to Malawi. It's just perfect timing, because they can stay in our home while we are down in SA having the baby. I am sad that I won't be there to welcome them, but am just delighted that they are on their way. YAY! We love you Floreens! We do serve an awesome God. Pray that lives will continue to change in Malawi as the truth of His Word is preached.

Hospital Again

These past couple of days have been tough, but it's amazing how God has provided. As you have read, Brian is in Malawi hosting the construction team from Grace Community Church in LA. The kids and I are still in SA and that in itself is a good thing, because I had to go in to hospital again on Thursday evening. I was vomiting and had severe stomach cramps. We had already planned for the kids to have outings with Judy and Tassie on that day and so they just slept over. That freed my mom to be with me at the hospital.

The doctor only saw me on Friday morning and said that it seemed my bowels were recovering. I am still in pain, but am home now. Please pray that whatever is wrong would heal quickly and thank the Lord that the baby is doing well.