My Day with Anna Taljaard

I had no idea that today would turn out the way it did, but it was just incredible to see the Lord's hand in every moment...  The events in Anna and Lonngren's second pregnancy have taken a turn, but the Lord has been gracious and shown Himself as active and intimately involved in their lives and the life of their unborn!  He saw fit to bring another trial into their life, but along with it, tremendous grace and blessings.  

Since Andrew had an exam this afternoon, I could leave early since I would only go to his class first thing in the morning.  A few days ago I "happened" to bump into Anna and asked if I could hang out with her, maybe get her to practice her Afrikaans on me or something!  She agreed but realised she had a doctor's appointment for that morning.  But instead of canceling with me she invited me to come along with her, since it would just be a "routine" ultrasound.  So at 9.30 she picked me up from Seminary and off we went to the doctor in Tarzana.  I have never seen an ultrasound first-hand so I was really excited!

TMS Placement Workshop

The Master's seminary has such great resources for outgoing students and they play a huge role in helping students with placement in churches all over the world!  Twice a year, this placement workshop is held by Ray Mehringer who organizes speakers who can offer useful insight into how to think about, and what usually happens in looking for a church to minister at.

"One of the most important decisions a pastor will make is what church to accept a position at.  In the same way the choice of a wife will effect your everyday existence, the choice of a church will become the world you live in."

A Full Time Worker!

We have been given an extraordinary blessing from the Lord by receiving Andrew's R1 visa, and as of today, he is a full time employee of Grace Community Church! This means more hours of work a week so he may drop one of his classes, but does mean we are able to save up some money to head on back to South Africa, Lord willing, at the end of this year!

R1 Visa Approved!

Praise the Lord for an answer to our prayer! We have been thinking through whether we should just forget about the visa or not in terms of planning for future ministry. We decided that if we didn't hear anything this month that we would plan for without it. But this evening, just before bed we got the email letting us know it is approved! we are not sure exactly when we will get the actual visa or how it will affect our plans, but we will keep you posted!

Welcome Ryan and Elna!

Another South African couple arrives in LA for Seminary! I was so excited that they were coming out, both for Andrew, who knew them from Grace Fellowship, and for myself because I hopefully gain a new friend! Ryan was Joel James' secretary before he came out, and Elna is a GP. Their little daughter Calista is 19 months and a real cutie!!!

Welcome Phil and Melissa!

Meet Phil and Melissa! Phil is starting at Seminary in the Spring! They are staying with Anna and Lonngren until they get an apartment. Welcome!

Christmas Chapel at TMS

Every year the seminary has a chapel for all the families at TMS where they can bring their kids and sing carols together and then fellowship over a hot drink and some cookies! Each sem wife has to bring a bunch of cookies along so I made some fall leaves with my adorable new cookie cutters!

Our 6 month anniversary at Pyramid Lake!

We just love celebrating our anniversaries in places we have never been before, and today we decided to head off to the lake along the 5 freeway. First stop was the information building to get more info!


Such a beautiful afternoon out! Time to explore!


Driving into the park, you can see the water inlet. I have a feeling this is the water we drink at home!

With many picnic areas to choose from, we were ready to find a pretty spot to relax.

I think I've spotted the ideal place!

The scout...

Down the ramp...

And time to make home!

Aah... Just right!


Such beautiful surroundings...




A phone call from Amy Bird saying she was scheduled to be induced to have baby Jacob in 24 hours! Such exciting news, just wish I was going to be here to go and visit, but I'm off to Canada in the morning!




Shadow picture!




Andrew and I have never been apart for more than a few hours since we were married, so we were just enjoying our time together before I head off to Vancouver.

What a wonderful afternoon with the love of my life...

Seminary Blessings...

Today we received an anonymous money order in our postbox for $999. We cannot but marvel at the ways the Lord provides for us here at Seminary. We have heard many wondrous stories of other families that experience this sort of thing while here, but count ourselves as unworthy to be given such generous gifts from the Lord's hand. It is very humbling to realize that He is intimately involved with our journey here at TMS, yet we praise Him for giving us far more than we could ever have imagined, and blessing us with a church of brothers and sisters who care deeply for the men studying to take the Truth to the ends of the Earth! Thank-you to those people who may have been a part of this amazing evidence of God's bountiful provision for His own!

The US Visa Situation

Please pray for us, at the moment we are putting together plans for me to get my F2 Visa for the States. At the moment, I am here on a Multiple Entry Holiday Visa, and each stay is valid for up to 6 months at a time, and expires in a few weeks. The law requires me to apply for my F2 outside the USA, so we have decided that I should fly to Canada for a few days to try to get it done. The earliest appointment I could get for the US Embassy in Vancouver is the 7th of October, but my current visa expires on the 10th of October. This means that I only have a two day window in which to get the new visa and return to the States without becoming illegal in both Canada (my Canadian Visitor Visa expires when my US visa does) and the USA. There is also a possibility that the Embassy in Vancouver cannot process my South African passport in which case I will have to return to South Africa.

Other things to consider are the finances because of plane tickets, transport and accommodation for me while I am there. I have contacted a TMS graduate in Vancouver in the hopes that he can help me find a host family to stay with.

The visa situation has been pretty unavoidable for us, only finding out certain information as we went along that have led to this place. But we are confident that the Lord will provide for us and His will is being done. While the circumstances may look bleak to some, so many things have providentially worked out so that we have this narrow window, where there was none to begin with. We are excited to see how He uses this for His glory and our good! I will keep updating the situation as we learn more!

Our 5 Month Anniversary in Pasadena

This is such a beautiful old city with the coolest bridge ever so we went to investigate!

Built in 1913 it is an outstanding example of the "Beaux Arts" architectural style with its decorative lamp posts, wrought iron railing and sweeping arches. Another name for the Colorado Street Bridge is the 'suicide bridge' because more than 100 people are known to have committed suicide by leaping off the bridge. This is a view of the side with the beautiful arches!

The old bridge on the left and the new "look alikeone for the 134 Freeway on the right

The bridge has been used as a location in many television series and seen in several movies the most notable of which are "Being John Malkovich" and "Seabiscuit".


The Colorado Street Bridge is the stuff of legends mainly because it is thought to be haunted (listed as one of the most haunted places in America).

Well, we didn't see any ghosts, so nothing to fear!


We walked through Carmelita Gardens by the Bridge and took in the beautiful old homes in the culdesac

My handsome man of 5 months!

Our beloved Blazer! We put it up on Craigslist to see if we can sell it and get a smaller car. We will miss it dearly if it goes...

The phone call!!! Someone wants to buy our Blazer so it will cut our date short... we have to organize another car to borrow until we get a new one if it sells...

But that won't stop me from snapping pics of the houses where "the other half" live as we head on home!

The Court of Appeals




Huntington Library will have to be explored on another date!


The Trailer Park along the 210 that got burned down in last year's fires... The new trailers are only going in now, and you can still see the concrete foundations and stairs from the previous ones. Looks like a graveyard for homes...

The designated driver waiting patiently in the traffic!

the cloud from this years fires, I think this cloud was from an observatory that got taken out.

At theKim's house getting refreshed and borrowing their spare truck in case we sell the Blazer today... It will be sorely missed!