Updated family photo

Dave's Dad organised some family photos to be done (by Maximus Artography) and here are a couple shots of our ever growing family. I can't believe how fast the last 7 months have gone - fun loving Miss Madison is already crawling, furniture walking and loves to follow the boys outside, and get involved in whatever they are doing - usually digging and sitting in dirt. Lots of dirt.

Dave has had some spare time in amongst fixing/building things around the house, so has picked up his own camera again and re-found his love for taking photos. Check out his photo blog here - http://davevdwal.blogspot.com.au/ for his most recent captures!

:) He is available for hire if you want some updated portrait photos of your family also :)

Boys will be Boys...

Another day, another drama, A.K.A. Boys will be boys.

A few days after Nikolas was given the all clear to go without a sling, his broken bones healed, and given the instruction to try not play any rugby for a little while, the boys were kicking the footy in the park. A three way collision involving Isaac, another child, and the ground, resulted in more broken bones, this time is Isaac's right wrist.

Isaac. Not worried at all about wearing a sling for the next few weeks!
(Pain wise he is very tough - still tries all his normal activities,
I even caught him doing front flips on a friends trampoline already :O )

At this point, we are not calling it a delay - we are still waiting for visas in any case - but it is a setback nonetheless.

Over the course of time since we said we intended to go to Lae, one recurring question has been, "With a young family? Are you crazy?"

Besides the logical conclusion from this question that the Free Reformed Mission Board(s) must all be crazy, and that the vast majority of our serving missionaries should be called home, if we are to believe that young children should preclude service in missions, I would have to say that I don't know.

Am I crazy?
Is it insane to believe that the entirety of our lives are in the hands of one far greater than ourselves?
Is it crazy to trust in our Father's providence?

I'll leave that judgement in your hands, but suffice to say that the health of our children is something which is never far from our minds as parents. That we do wrestle with the reality that we will not have the same access to care as we do here (although we are assured we will have access to good care when we need it).

When these things happen, they do not only cause setbacks in the timeline for our arrival in Lae, they threaten setbacks in our resolve to go at all. Far easier to throw our hands in the air and proclaim that it is all too hard, too much, too costly.

So, what then?

It seems to me that the only way to go is forward. That, having set hand to plow, we push on with singularity of focus. That we recognise the cost as something already counted, already allowed for, and press on. That we surrender our desire to control, to mitigate, to manage, and remove risk, and give it all to the One who knows far better than ourselves.

(written by Dave)




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We have since been reminded that Bob Epperson - the General Manager at Lae City Mission - is a retired paramedic specialist. :) So don't worry. We will be well looked after in LAE!

Updates

Seeing as I have missed blogging the last few updates which we had posted on Facebook, I am adding them here in one go:

March 1 2016:
Prayers for quick healing please! Nikolas jumped off a swing today at the park, landed on some uneven ground which caused him to fall on his elbow and fracturing the bone just above it. A visit to the doc and then to emergency results in him having to wear a sling for the next 2+ weeks.

March 29 2016:
Update on Nikolas - after having to wear the sling full time for the last 4 weeks, Nikolas is now allowed to start taking the sling off for quiet indoor activities. Also allowed to start using his arm for light carrying. In 2 weeks we have another appointment and xray to check how the healing is going.


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Like an expectant mother approaching her due date, we frequently hear the questions, "What are you still doing here?", and "Still walking around?".

Like an expectant mother, wanting only to meet her child, we feel the ever so slow passage of time.

So, why are we still here?

Humanly speaking, it is because we do not yet have our passports back, with visas printed in them. So, we wait, while our passports are over in PNG, and pray they'll be sent back to us soon. There is little more we can do.

We also know that our plans will only prosper if they match up with God's plans, and that He will bring us there when it is His good time. In between, we keep our eyes open to any purpose for which He may be keeping us here.

And we learn to wait on the Lord.
Because He is good.


March 31 2016:

Minor News Update:

A few weeks back, we had to send our passports over to Moresby, so that they could print our visa stickers, and send them back to us.

After two and a half weeks, and a couple niggling doubts about whether our passports would be lost in the mail, we heard today that City Mission has received our passports. From here, they need to be processed (I assume) and sent back to us.

The finish line is in sight.

Except that the finish line is only the start line for the next leg of the race.

April 7 2016:
Thanks for your prayers! Nikolas is allowed to get rid of the sling for good!

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The news we have for this week, is that there is not really any news to tell.

We heard from Bob, the General Manager over in Lae, that "our" house is nearing completion, and will be ready for us when we arrive.

But we still wait for visas. Without boring anyone with the minutia, it is safe to say that, by the time we leave, our passports will be far better traveled than we will be, having gone to and from Brisbane, to Moresby and back, and then finally (maybe, hopefully, prayerfully) to Canberra and back again.

Still, we wait.
Still, we need to daily remind ourselves that the Lord's timing is always impeccable.

Our Newest Blessing

Our newest family member has arrived! 

Madison Joy, 4 hours old, enjoying cuddles from Aunty Natasha Joy

We have been richly blessed by the LORD with a beautiful daughter, who arrived 5 days after her due date, in the early hours of Saturday 15th August (5:32am), weighing in at 4140g and 57 cm long.  

We have named her Madison Joy van der Wal (Madison meaning 'Gift of God').

First night home. "Laps are for naps. The cot is not."

She is greatly loved, and her big brothers are proud as punch to finally have a sister!

Now we are settling in and getting used to being a family of 6, trying to catch up on missed sleep, making new routines, and of course enjoying lots of newborn baby cuddles!


And just a few more photos:

Definitely one of ours :)
top left is Nikolas, top right is Isaac,
bottom left is Calvin, bottom right is Madison.

Ready to go home!

First dress and headband

First shopping trip (Nikolas is at school)

Introducing...

Introducing the van der Wal family – David, Cheree, Nikolas, Isaac, Calvin and due-in-August'15 Bubs.

We tried to get formal photos of our tribe. Turns out, we don’t do formal. And these are much closer to who we are.

Presently we live in a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. I say ‘presently’ as we have recently made the hard-but-equally-exciting decision of relocating to Lae, Papua New Guinea to be involved with mission work!

Things we love to do as a family include spending time in Gods beautiful creation, camping (even if its just in the backyard!) reading, swimming/sports, imaginative play, movie nights, and quite simply: spending time with each other.

We are creating this blog page as a place where we can share information with those who are interested, a place for you to learn about us and what we do, and for you to share your support or suggestions with us – Please do! :)