A roaring 28th birthday party!!!

Hip hip hoeray,

Thank you so much for all of you who sent me text messages, e-mails, Facebook posts, birthday cards and telephone calls on my birthday. It meant a great deal to me and it is humbling to have so many people who care about us:) Please forgive me for not replying to all of you.

I had roaring birthday party! Bella and Genevieve organized an awesome surprise party for me. I expected a peaceful barbeque with a few close friends and got a roaring crowd of almost 30:) I almost wet my pants when I came around the corner with my BBQ tools to be bombarded with cheers and confetti.

I had a wonderful time with lekker South African style braavleis (BBQ), upbeat conversations, time in the jacuzzi and a couple of jolly souls around the fire pit with cigars and good Scotch.

My birthday cake (with the compliments of Genevieve Stember) resembled a huge Stofberg-style steak (Silly Jac thought it was the African continent!).

Time is flying. Before you know it I'll be thirty:)

Cheerz,

Jac en Bella

Check out the phodies: http://picasaweb.google.com/jacstofberg/JakkelsVerjaar28th#

Still alive and kicking :-)

Howzit,

For those who got a little worried, we are still alive and kicking!!! Shame on us for leaving you in the dark with our bi-annual blog posts:)

There is so much ground to cover that I decided to limit myself to 20 minutes worth of typing and leave it at that. Hold onto your seats ladies:)

#1 Bella is officially a Stofberg (at last!). Applying for U.S. citizenship finally made it possible to have her name changed.

#2 In the same breath, Bella is now also a U.S. citizen. Applause all round as our immigration problems seems to be over for the moment. I have taken the opportunity to apply for a green card to make travelling less of a hassle and to afford me the opportunity to work part-time should it become necessary (Seminary is really expensive!). It opens many doors that may come in handy and may later help to ease the pressure on Bella as sole provider for living expenses and school fees.

#3 We are coming over for a visit in June-July, so have the charcoal ready (wow I miss Castle Lager and biltong!).

#4 I have completed two semesters at Seminary since our last post and we are delighted with the results. I cannot even begin to tell you how much of an influence the last semesters have had on my life. My world view has definitely been significantly challenged - and that for the good:) Every day at Seminary brings with it a wave of fresh appreciation for the riches of God's wisdom and the Gospel. It truly is astonishing and I can only marvel at the intricate detail.

#5 We have uploaded a whole bunch of bananas...I mean photos...of our most recent adventures. Enjoy:-)

#6 Bella has been working two jobs for the past six months. It may sound crazy that she would choose to add more to her already stressful schedule, but it was in fact a move to ease the pressure a little by dropping a shift at the hospital and introducing some variety. She is a clinical instructor for an accelerated nursing program which, apart from the clinical instructing, every so often gives her a chance to lecture. She really enjoys it and I am beginning to think she was cut out to be a teacher:) Unfortunately her opportunities will run dry sometime in the next year unless she obtains a masters degree in nursing, so the future is very much open ended in that regard.

#7 Another development is that Bella and I have finally taken on some ministry responsibilities at our home church. After a long dryspell in ministry since our arrival in the U.S. we started in a small way by heading the youth meetings at our church in Escondido. Our first event was titled "What is Truth?" where we had some fun with a shocking lie detector. It is a great challenge for me to prepare material on such a level and communicate it in such a way that it sinks in with the youth. I can only say I have a lot to learn:)

#8 Bella's knee is healthy again and we can finally get out for some fresh air. We gave it a little test-run this past week on a hiking trial and Bella even played a game of Ultimate Frisbee with the boys at Seminary a while back.

Thanks for all the feedback from South Africa. Despite many great friends (almost family!) here in the U.S., we cannot help but miss home and look forward to having our feet on South African soil again this summer (Winter for you guys). Three and a half years seems a long way to go, but God has blessed us richly in so many ways and his mission makes it worth the struggle.

Cheers for now,

Jac en Bella