Baptism Sunday

Baptisms don't happen all that often here, so are a great joy when they do. It's such a blessing to see one surrender to the Lord's leading. There's a major religion whose headquarters are a mere 20 minutes away. They practice baptism, dunking their members 3 times, face forward. Sadly, this very religion believes in a works salvation, some even idolizing their bishop as God. In the midst of this era of apostasy, the Lord is still at work. Prince was saved in 2010, and requested baptism a week ago. After church, on Sunday, we loaded up the kombi (van) & bakkie (pickup) and headed home for a Biblical baptism. 

Using the new portable baptistry.

The Lord provided a beautiful piece of property & house for us in 2003, allowing us to entertain large groups of people easily. We had a light meal of tea/coffee & bread while the guys squeezed in a quick game of basketball. 

Mum's kept a guestbook for 31 years. The tradition still continues...

Our 16 year old daredevil (aka. Drew) flipped off the trampoline this week, hit a spring and ended up in the E.R, with 3 stitches in his finger. He's back to normal, grossing everyone out with his new wound. Boys will be boys :D

Visitors!

Missionary friends, the Hammetts, stopped by this afternoon. As Brianna put it, "I love company!" Especially this family :) Their kids always come up with the craziest of comments. I found this bunch of hooligans under the palm trees tonight, having a "meeting". Wilhites, Hammetts & a couple neighbor kids...busy place around here. They begged me for chocolate, so I indulged them, but later remarked to Bri, that they won't always get chocolate when they beg. "I was just in a generous mood." Her reply: "Maybe you just need to be in a generous mood more often!" Cheeky girl :) The little girl in the pink, asked my age. "25." "But you're pretty," she replied. I guess you're supposed to look like an old hag at my age. Hmm.

For some reason, Luke loves Miah. :)

And for those who think we never have cooking disasters, think again. It's just been one of those days... Hint: Never take cooking advice from a Wilhite boy. F.A.I.L. 

Rainy days

Rain is not something we take for granted around here. Come June-September, you'll rarely see a drop. Drizzly afternoons make working in the office way more bearable. The guys tackled a couple projects in the garage, including the making of a new portable baptistry. He "designed" & built several of these for other missionaries, but ours needed a facelift. Ever read the book "My Dad is Brilliant"? I seriously think it was written with Dad in mind. He's amazing! When I was little (agewise, people), he built my sisters & me a triple bunkbed. When we were in elementary, our yard had the best playfort, dubbed Noah's Ark (though it looked nothing like the original). Now my room sports a sweet little lamp table, crafted by Dad. 

Creative workmanship must run in the family...my cousins' room boasts a quad bunkbed & my brother just finished building his own house (need I mention he's only 22??). Okay, I'll get off the bragging band wagon. But he is brilliant....I climbed up the shipping container this afternoon to get a couple shots of the approaching storm. It didn't play out like I thought it would, but I did get a few shot of the property. That's our landlord's workshop below.

Meet Wessel Tjie (Vessel-key) & Jaden. 2 of our neighbor kids, but more like permanent fixtures around our place. They thought it'd be loads of fun to steal my slippers and run all over the yard, doing flips and such, while I was stuck up on the roof (I don't recommend climbing high in a skirt!) What you don't see is how black the bottoms of their feet are. I'm seriously gonna have to power wash those slippers. Ewww! What we do for laughs.... 

Music Matters

My head is pounding! The paintball/water park down the road has decided to disrupt our peaceful little area with its music, cranked up at full blast. Maybe I should invest in a good pair of earplugs. Sigh...in the meantime, I solace myself with instrumental Christmas music.  Do you think if I blasted "Silent Night" tomorrow, that they'd mind?? 

I am ever so thankful for good, godly music. Years ago, a friend of ours showed us a little experiment on the effects of rock music. Holding his arm straight out to the side, he had one of my brothers try to push it down. When playing a simple classical piece, he had full strength in his arm. As soon as the music changed to rock, he  noticeably became weaker. If you think I'm making this up, go ahead and try it. Music has a huge influence over us. That is why it's so important to surround ourselves with only Christ-honoring melodies.  

Music has a significant part in our family life. All us kids, except Josh, play an instrument, though some of us (*ahem) are still in the beginning stages. Piano, trumpet, flute, chroma harp, bells, violin, saxophone & dulcimer are the majority of our instruments. I only claim the right to pounding out 3rd grade level pieces on the piano. My younger siblings find great joy in being better than their big sis. I was rightly put in my place a year or so ago when my (at the time) 9 yr. old sister said with a tinge of exasperation, "You're still on that song?? I had it down the first week. You're playing it all wrong!" Thanks, Bri... :) At least it gave me the motivation to push ahead and keep at it.  You're never too old to start, eh? I guess to also helps that I have probably the most patient teacher in all the world. :)

Out of the Ordinary

Sometimes I get to having too much fun in the kitchen and get a bit carried away. Yesterday was one of those times. Food should never be boring, but I was growing tired of the same old, same old. Each person has their specialty... Joel: pasta tossed with garlic, cheese & tomatoes, Drew: mini pizzas, and Miah: Fishsticks. To jolt us out of our routine, Bri & I whipped up these wacky colored deviled eggs. 

Several friends have raved about pretzel bites, so I gave it a try. Oh. my. goodness! They are simply amazing! I added bacon and mozzarella cheese to make them a bit more substantial. For the recipe, go here. or email me. The double batch was gone within minutes. Definitely a keeper recipe! Thank you, Pinterest!

On a side note, today was a bit out to the ordinary. Jeremiah's work was understaffed today, so I took a 1/2 day and helped them out. Not that restocking shelves with plasticware is all that interesting, but it was a break from home. I love being home, there's no doubt about that, but don't get out all that much. Change is nice every once in a while. 

Friends: Old & New

We're so blessed to have friends from all cultures. English, Afrikaans & Shona, just to name a few. Bri's friend, Michaella, showed up for a visit this weekend. Brianna was literally bouncing around the house in anticipation, going so far as to check the weather report (since "Michaella's mom won't drive in the rain.").  Needless to say, we have one satisfied girly now. Joshy's Zimbabwean friend, Lazarus, usually comes for a play day on the weekends. Doesn't he make a cute cowboy? 

I teach a Sunday School class every Sunday morning. Absolutely love it! Ages vary, but it's basically babies up through 13 yrs or so. Edith (pictured below) is such a joy. She just soaks up the lessons and is always ready with a question or smile.  As I set up the flannel graph this morning, Josh remarked, "I like this tree. It reminds me of Dy, 'cause she used to use it." Funny what little things prompt our memory. While we waited for Dad to wrap up his message, the girls acted out "Joshua and the Battle of Jericho". 

Yesterday afternoon, I got a text from Dad, reminding us of Pertunia's b-day that day, and asking for cookies, cake or something. Why not 2 in 1? A quick search on Pinterest resulted in a "keeper" recipe for c.c.cookie bars. Added a bit of icing and we were set for the fellowship snack this morning. The birthday girl was so excited, she cried. I mean, it wasn't this grand affair, but to her, it meant the world. You never know how far a little gesture can go, eh? I love baking, so it was a good excuse to have a bit of fun in the kitchen ;)

Edith snapped this picture of Josh, as we headed home. Poor guy didn't make it through the day without experiencing flu symptoms. Pray for him, as he's running a temp and not feeling the greatest. 

And just because...This was before I sat for 45 minutes with a sopping wet 3 yr old on my lap. Next time, I'm buying the kid a sack of nappies and wearing a "water" proof skirt when I attend church...enough said! :D