This past week, I have been missing Malawi so much. I think it is because all of the new people are there, and school just started last Monday. Plus, I picked up the yearbook from the ABC office this past week (which, by the way, looks amazing! I am so happy with how it turned out!!!).

All of those things added together make me very homesick for Malawi. I am so glad to be in Jackson in my job right now, but I also wish I could see all of my students!

You all can be in prayer for all of the new teachers right now. I remember being so terrified those first few weeks, not sure what I was doing, still trying to remember every students name, on top of living in a brand new place with total strangers. Soon, in a few months or even weeks, the new missionaries will feel so comfortable and at ease, but the first little bit is hard.

My job is still going well. We had a retreat this weekend for the core group of Millsaps Christian Fellowship. It was great! I loved getting to know some of the girls, and am so excited to spend time with them in the future! We already have a girl’s night in the works. Our first MCF large group is on Tuesday night.

Bech is enjoying his job as well. It is tiring, but not boring at all. I will have to get him to post on here about all of the “Seedsters.”

If anyone from last year is reading this blog (the Robbins, the Hirotos, the Ketchums, Andy, Megan, Vicki?), we had people over last night and taught them the “paper game” (I think some people call it “paper gossip” or “paper telephone”). And one of the guys was a better drawer than Dan or Bech. I know, I know, I didn’t even think that was possible. But this guy’s drawings were absolutely amazing! We saved them, so maybe I can upload a picture of one or two of them. We had fun, but we missed playing the paper game over at Duplex 2.

We are about to go to a concert of “Elijah” by Mendelssohn that the First Pres choir is putting on tonight instead of a Sunday night service. I am sure it will be wonderful. First Pres has a great music program that we are enjoying.

as promised...

Our bedroom...we still have a few boxes in here to unpack, and we need to find a dresser for my side of the bed (the purple plastic drawers are hideous...they are even sparkly!). I am loving sleeping more than a foot off of the ground and minus a mosquito net.

The kitchen...we just added that metal rack, because we don't have much storage space. Please note the flame colored Le Creuset round dutch oven...just like Julia Childs! I totally did not plan that (but I love it!).

Here's a full view of the kitchen. It's not huge, but I like it.

Built-in's

Bech's mom gave us these chairs, but they were painted a yellowy-white. So I painted them chocolate brown and recovered them in a fun stripe.

okay, so it's not pictures of our new place, but heres a video from malawi. this is taken from the car on the way home from lucius' house?

this video is from a sunday at lucius' church. i feel like both of these movies give you a little taste of malawian life....enjoy!

settled in

We have a working computer!!! I picked it up today from the Apple store. Let me just say, I absolutely love the Apple store. First of all, it is just a really fun store to be in. I love being surrounded by all of the Macs (maybe that seems a little weird…I’m sure some of ya’ll understand what I mean). Second of all, everyone who works there is wonderful. Seriously, all of their employees are so helpful and so kind. My computer repair should have cost a LOT. It wasn’t cheap, but the guy who helped me figured out a way to make it a lot cheaper.

Alright, enough about my love for the Apple store. We are pretty much settled into our lives in Jackson. Bech started work Monday at the Mustard Seed. The Mustard Seed is a home and day center for mentally retarded adults. Bech works with the “seedsters” (their nickname, not mine), during the day. The great thing is that they sell painted pottery as a fundraiser, so Bech gets to help with that. It’s not full time ceramics or anything, but it is still some!

I am still really liking my job. The Millsaps students move in this weekend, and we have a core group retreat next weekend. I am excited for Millsaps Christian Fellowship to start up.

I also feel like we are starting to get settled in our church. We have been going to early church, which I enjoy. Ligon Duncan, the head preacher, is on sabbatical right now, so Derek Thomas has been preaching. Wow…that is a treat! Dr. Thomas is such an amazing preacher. Plus, he is from Wales so he has a great accent. Dr. Duncan will start preaching again in a few weeks (he also is a great speaker), and we’ll get to hear Dr. Thomas on Sunday nights.

Our house is almost unpacked. After living in the Boersma’s house (the house on campus we moved into in January), this house seems a little tiny. But we love it. It has wood floors (which is good…I hate carpet) and lots of old house character. Plus it has a gas fireplace. I will try to put some pictures up this week, if we get some paintings and prints hung.

I am missing Malawi a lot. I didn’t realize I would miss it this much. Mostly, I miss the people. I talked to Emily Ketchum Friday before they left (Josh and Emily are going back for another year). It made me so sad to not be going back with them. I know we made the right decision, but it is still hard.

You can be praying for all of the new people over there right now. I know they are dealing with so many emotions! I am sure they are freaking out in the grocery stores and crying when the power goes out, just like I was.

Alright, well I need to work on some other stuff. I will get the pictures up this week!