Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you!

This is the first year that I haven't sent out any Christmas cards at all. To make up for the lack of real mail, I'll write a blurp here instead.

This year was a year of changes for us. One of the biggest changes was that we moved in July, from living in the country to a house in town, in Matamata itself.
We're very happy in this new place!
The other big change was the rather sudden leave from working at Crystal Springs, the local YWAM base. We'd thought we'd be there for at least a few years. But in August it became apparent that the leadership didn't want us any more. It was a hard pill to swallow and it's long story, too much to share here.
The result from all of this was and is that we got more involved in our church.
We can really see God's hand in providing us with other opportunities to serve.

Craig has become the Senior Leader of Iconz in Matamata, under the umbrella of our church. They had a launch night earlier this month, with 65 boys! The full programme will start up in Feb.
Craig also found a part time job as a schoolbus driver for special needs kids. He drives five high school aged students to school each day. It's the perfect job for him, not too much for his sore back and he loves the intersction with the kids.

Noah (3.5) started preschool in April and he's loving it! This preschool is a ministry of our church as well. In August I was asked to join the Board of Trustrees for the preschool and I accepted. This has been a huge learning curve and an interesting journey so far. I do really feel in the right place there.
In the mean time the oldest four children continue to be homeschooled and have no desire whatsoever to go to school :-)
Joel (15) & Nadia (13) are starting a job in January! They both got a position as dish washer at Totara Springs, just outside Matamata. They will work a few hours a week during school terms and more hours in the school holidays.
Aaron (10) & Tirzah (8) will have to do more dishes at home LOL

Nadia is off to Parachute at the end of January. For those of you in Holland, it's very similar to the Flevo Festival. She's so excited! Joel has gone for the last three years but now it's her turn.

Well, that's us in a nutshell. If you want to know more, flick us an email! Or look us up on Facebook. Joel & Nadia have their own FB pages too these days.

Lots of love, many blessings, Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010!
Craig, Esther, Joel, Nadia, Aaron, Tirzah & Noah.

I'm not very good at keeping up this blog, am I?!? [oops]

But now that we've got broadband again (after 2 years!) I will try to give more frequent updates.

Some photos:

On the right ----> Our children at Tirzah's birthday, late Aug.

Noah (3), Nadia (13), Joel (15), Tirzah (8) and Aaron (10).

Above: view of the backyard of our new house. We moved into town (= Matamata) in July.

Excuse the washing line, haha.

Some links to click on:

Noah dressed up as Indiana Jones.

Part of our living room.

The back of the house.

So we're living in town now. It's nice and easy and the house is so comfy, much warmer and easier to live in than the little cottage by the golf course where we were for 2 years.

We do miss the views of the golf course and the Kaimais but you can't have everything, can you? ;-)

Craig is working part time, driving special needs children to and from school. It's the perfect job for him, he loves driving and he can handle it with his sore back.

The children are well, growing up fast. Noah was given the all clear for his heart in June!

His heart is doing so well, he won't even need antibiotics when he has dental treatment :-)

Praise God, we're so greatful for his health!

He started preschool in April and loves it. The preschool is a ministry of our church. I've just joined the board of trustees for the preschool.

And yes, we're still homeschooling. With all its challenges and joys.

That's it for now, I will try to write more soon!

Esther