Merry (almost) Christmas! I hope everyone's having a great Holiday with their families and/or friends. Most importantly, my prayer is that no matter what is going on, you take time to think about the Birthday we are to be celebrating. And while you're at it, thank Him for His life and death as well. Praise the Lord, He not only was born on Earth and lived and died, but He rose again, saving us! God is so awesome!

So far I've actually been relaxing this Christmas. I convinced my family to cut down on the mass of presents this year, and you'd be surprised how much that has helped. If it were up to me, we wouldn't worry about presents at all ... I mean, haven't we already gotten enough for Christmas!?

Anyway, I must get back to family, and I'll write more later, but... Merry Christmas!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Somehow I thought I'd be really busy during these 2 last weeks at home, but so far it's been the exact opposite. I've been bored for once! I know I should enjoy having nothing to do... so I'm trying to relax while I still can. I'm enjoying some family time, and looking forward to seeing more family on Christmas day. :) I need to start packing!! I'm sure it's going to take me a while to pack for 2 years... but I still haven't unpacked from training!

I'm very ready to move on and get to South Africa. Being home right now just feels strange. I know it's going to be hard to say goodbye to some people, but I'm ready to get on with the show! :)

Here are some things you can begin praying for as I get ready to go...
*Safe travel to South Africa (I leave January 2nd)
*Smooth transition into the new culture
*Confidence in teaching older kids than I've ever taught before
*That I will make a couple friends from Johannesburg within a couple weeks of being there
*Opportunities to share the Gospel!

Have a great Christmas and New Years!!!



Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Wow, I'm done. This feels strange. Another transition... my life is so FULL of transitions!! I'm home in Sanford now, and I leave January 2nd for South Africa. I'm very happy that I get to be here for Christmas with my family. :)

It's a little sad to not be at MLC anymore, and I already miss my friends there. It's different now from when I came home from the wedding because now I know we've all really parted ways. It's awesome to know that God has chosen to spread us all out all over the world for His glory! But I will still miss them!! It was hard to say goodbye to people that I've been pouring my life into for the past 6 weeks. Last night all of us journeymen had an awesome prayer time and a time to just share with each other what God's done in our lives, or what we've all meant to each other. That was great, and of course full of tears.... though they were good tears! After that, a group of us went to see Return of the King at midnight! Good times all around. I ended up staying awake the rest of the night with people, and then packing and cleaning up my quad. After pulling my first all-nighter in quite some time, I drove back to NC (stopping to have lunch with Jennifer P!).

So, now that I'm going on no sleep, and I'm a little drowsy from some meds (I somehow got bronchitis while at the MLC a few days ago!), I'm going to keep this entry short for now and try to get some rest! I hope to see many of you before I leave!!
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

3 more weeks......

3 weeks from today I will board a plane and head for Johannesburg, South Africa. Less than a month, folks! Wow... The time for me to actually leave is finally getting close. I got my last 2 immunization shots today, one of which was tetanus, so I am a little sore today. Things are finishing up, classes are pretty much done, and I think everyone here is ready to GO! I like it here; I have learned a ton, and the people are great, but I am ready to move on to my job assignment in South Africa. I am a little nervous, to be honest, but I know God has called me, and I am ready to follow that call. :)

The first real realization that things are going to change big time while I'm gone happened earlier this week. I got an email from Chris McMurtry, my friend in Houston, TX, and he is ENGAGED! He's getting married next December, and of course, I won't be around to go to the wedding. That really hit me hard because it's a wedding I would love to be at to celebrate with them. It's weird to think that this might not be the only time this will happen... In fact, I'm pretty sure it won't be! It's sad to miss things that I know I'd be a part of if I were in the States, but I guess this is all part of the life of a missionary, and it's worth it. :)

Please pray for me as I wrap things up here at the MLC. Pray that I will continue to listen to God's voice, even in the hustling of the business that comes with transitions. Pray that my time with family this Christmas will be precious time, and not busy stuff going on. I really want to enjoy my time with everyone!
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

PS - When I go home (either on the 16th or the 17th) I'll be going to Sanford. If any of you are thinking "man, I want to hang out with Bonnie before she leaves," PLEASE tell me so I can plan accordingly. The week before I came to MLC I feel like all I did was drive around the state saying goodbye to people, and I won't have that much time between MLC and leaving for South Africa January 2nd. Don't get me wrong, I DO want to see everybody, but if you email or call me the week before I leave and expect to be able to plan something, your chances are slim (unless you're really really special, and only I decide that!). haha Just a warning!! And on that note, Summit folks... is anyone planning something for New Years?? LET ME KNOW! Love you all!!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Ground shaking effects felt at MLC! Well... many of you may have heard, but for those of you who didn't, yesterday I felt an earthquake tremor for the first time ever. I really didn't know what it was, and we were in the middle of a women's conference when it happened. It wasn't until later that someone told us what had happened. I mean, I definitely knew that SOMETHING was going on, but I didn't know for sure. So THAT was fun! Yesterday we divided up for the second half of the day, and we had a men's and women's conference. I can't speak for the men, but the women's conference was very nice! We had 2 catered meals, some great panel discussion with missionary wives, sessions, and a great time of worship and teaching by Bobbie Rankin (Jerry Rankin's wife). Good times all around. :)

I don't have too much to update on as of now. I'll be home in a week. How crazy is that!? If anyone, and I mean anyone, would like to come to the commissioning service next Tuesday afternoon, please email me (joburgjourneygirl@webmail.co.za) and I will get you details. As of now, no one's coming, but if you're interested, I'd love for you to be here! Just let me know. Thanks!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Lots of new pictures! Check 'em out! Yay!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

What an incredible weekend!!! God was so good to me. My biggest prayer going into this weekend was that I would be able to relax and actually ENJOY everything rather than being stressed about getting from place to place. God answered my prayer and went beyond. (Funny how He does that, eh?) The wedding was beautiful. Everyone looked gorgeous (or handsome). I had fun getting a little pampered and having my hair done, which is rare for me! Everything went as planned for the wedding except my poor nephew, Zachary, getting sick right before the wedding started. My sister-in-law, Jamie, had to stay back with him and missed the whole thing. Sad, huh? Cheryl looked beautiful, and seeing Brad's face throughout the whole thing was worth a million bucks. He looked the happiest I'd ever seem him. I still can't believe he's married, but hey... he deserves it, and he married the woman I know God planned for him all this time. They're so incredibly perfect for one another!! The reception was fun... seeing family members, taking pictures, and catching the bouquet. You know, I used to be thrilled when that happened, but now that I've caught quite a few of them, I'm not so convinced that they work anymore. hehe ;)

After the reception I headed to Durham to sing in my church's production of "Christmas Spectacular." My goodness, when I walked into where everyone was, I don't think I've ever smiled so big (ok, I'm sure I have at some point, but bear with me here). I was finally HOME! I realized this weekend, that I've gone without seeing family members for a while before, but I'd never gone this long without seeing my church family, and I really missed them!! The way people responded to seeing me, you'd think I'd been gone for 5 years and not 5 weeks. I tell you, the love of a church family that God has knitted you tightly into, is a gift that lasts forever, and is entirely irreplaceable. The show was great. Singing with all of them was amazing, and worshipping with such a choir is something I have truly missed. Saturday night I was finally able to relax and unwind a bit a the Baker's house (for those of you who are wondering, and have asked, NO, Chris wasn't there... what do you people think I am? Geez!) It was great to be in a real house with a real family as opposed to housing at MLC with other people my age. I like to pretend Mr. and Mrs. Baker are my "Durham parents" anyway, and I just love them, so it was fun to hang out with them. Plus they made French toast, so really... who wouldn't love 'em? hehe :)

Sunday was yet another wonderful day. I got to go to the Summit, which I had been missing very much. I was, again, greeted with many hugs and "how are you!?!s". Really, you'd think I'd been gone forever. But I loved it! Sunday School was fun, as usual. I had to say some actual final good-byes this time though. :( So that was sad. The other performances of Christmas Spectacular were wonderful and I know God worked through them to bring people unto Himself. I got to see Kurt, Janna Kay, Ruth Anne and Joshuwa Holiday (the family from the Summit who are career missionaries in Johannesburg). They were home on state-side and were in Durham for the weekend! Seeing them just made me more excited about going to South Africa in January!!

After Christmas Spectacular Sunday evening, I went to Jennifer Pickelsimer's place to spend the night... Just like old times! I woke up at 4AM this morning (yeah, that IS early!) to drive back to the good-ole MLC. It's a little weird to be back here, especially knowing that I only have a little over a week to be here. But it's great to be back amongst the fellowship here, and back into the swing of things. It feels as if I've been gone forever... almost 4 days is a long time here at MLC!!

It's been a long weekend, and I got an early start today, so I think I may take time for a nap this afternoon. I think I deserve it. :)

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

So much to write about!! I am writing from my home (in Sanford) and man, it feels weird to be here. Not a "bad" weird, just VERY different. I am not used to TV and relaxing! It took me about 4 hours to drive home in very yucky weather though... sleet/rain in the dark. So I am glad to be home! It is great to see my Mom and Dad and my cat, Oscar. :) And it certainly will be nice to sleep in MY bed tonight!!

Let me tell you about our Southern Africa culture day yesterday (Wednesday). This week at MLC has been regional time. That means that instead of everyone at MLC meeting, just 5 of us from the Southern Africa region have been meeting with our Richmond Associates (a couple living in Richmond who have been missionaries in Southern Africa for a long time). This time has been wonderful, and very relevant to South Africa. Well, on Wednesday, we had "culture day." All of us ladies wore our long skirts in lieu of the day. We learned about cultural/tribal beliefs and customs, special greetings, and cultural faux pas. The coolest part though was cooking a South African meal. We meet in out quad so that we could use out kitchens. We cooked the whole meal ourselves! We made, mealie pap (pronounced "pop"), which is kind of like a fine grits that form up, vegetables to go on top of that, baked chicken, and peanut butter rice. Here's the kicker... for an appetizer, we had... all the way from South Africa... dried mopani worms!! I wish I could tell you they were great, but in all honesty, I almost gagged. THey don't taste "bad." But when you think about what you're eating, it's hard to get it down. But I DID IT! I passed the test. :) All of the other food was really good though!! It was exciting to cook food like in Africa. My roommate and I even had the job of washing the vegetables in our bathtub! Good thing we were warned ahead of time and could clean it!!

Well, I have a big weekend ahead of me. Tomorrow we head to Winston-Salem, where my brother's wedding is. I have to get my dress (and I am PRAYING it fits!) and then we have the rehearsal and all the jazz. Saturday is the wedding at 1pm, then the reception afterwards. Then as soon as that is over, I quickly change into another dress, and drive to Durham for Christmas Spectacular (the Summit's Christmas show). After that I'm going to the Baker residence to basically crash!! I have a feeling I will be exhausted by then. Then Sunday morning I REALLY get to go HOME! I get to worship at the Summit (the closest thing to Heaven I can experience on earth as of yet). I am so excited about seeing my friends and family there. I have missed them more than words can say. Sunday night I am singing in the show again, and then heading back to the MLC. I probably won't be on here anymore until I get back to MLC. When I get back there I'll put some pictures from culture day on my webshots. I've got some great pictures of the worm experience! (Sorry you have to wait for them!)

Have a good night everyone! Thanks for checking in!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81