Dear Family & Friends,
What an exciting time this has been for us. Two weeks ago we moved into our new house and at this point I only have one more box to unpack and then I can focus on decorating the place with some of our pictures etc. I have attached some pictures of the living room, kitchen and balcony so you get the idea of the beautiful space we now have.
June 1st I will fully go on maternity leave which will be 3 weeks before my due date (June 21st). The Lord has provided a lady who will be covering for me at work during my leave and she has already started working, so I feel very much at peace about taking time off to fully prepare and then after the baby is born, to recover.
Hope Shekinah is developing so fast, every day there is something new she discovers or masters, it constantly amazes us. She also loves reading books more and more. She has started memorizing the stories we read to her often and she is able to “fill in the blanks” a game I love to play with her. She also talks a lot now which makes the interaction so much fun and she is able to clearly let us know what she wants to eat/do and where she wants to go. So when we first moved into this new house, she told me she didn’t want to go to the office, but she wanted to stay at home. Well, that is a sign that she really enjoys this place as she normally loves to go to the office. The other day she took my phone, opened the Skype app, put the phone to her ear, so I asked her what she was doing. She answered: I’m calling grandma (“Oma bellen” in Dutch)…
Other activities the two of us thoroughly enjoy doing are going shopping or swimming. When Jackson comes home the two of them have such a precious play time where I hear constant squeals of laughter, joy and excitement as I try to catch up on chores and some time for myself.
Jackson is trying really hard to get ahead on this last course he is doing, called Community Development, as he hopes to be finished before the baby comes. So he has been diligently reading books, writing book reports in the early morning hours as his schedule is quite intense. He enjoys it a lot and it is a good preparation for application in Nigeria.
This week another precious opportunity has arrived where Jackson has been asked to do a scripture presentation at the community gathering here in Kona. During his last school he memorized the Gospel of Mark. So this Thursday, May 30th he will be giving a 45 minute presentation of selections from this Gospel, all by heart! You can watch this online too during the Livestream which will appear on: www.uofnkona.edu from 6pm till 8pm Hawaii time (so 6:00-8:00 in the morning on Friday in the Netherlands).
I am already very proud of him and he is so passionate about the scriptures, I can’t wait to see it!
Thank you so much for your support, encouragements, love and friendship!
Blessings,
Jackson, Anneke, Hope Shekinah and Baby
