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Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what this will say. My brain has been in a pretty solid state of “fog” since last Monday morning when we boarded the plane. We immediately fell into the open arms of the Lehman family, dear friends we haven’t seen for three years. They were in Cairns on their way up to Madang! We crossed over for a few days and spent as much time as we could with them while organizing our temporary housing, trying to get a space settled for school, and house hunting. All three girls went down with colds, but we’re trying to live in a balance of rest, getting things done that just have to be done, and having fun. Brian headed out this morning on a work trip to Adelaide, but will return on Wednesday. It’s a good first trip to kickstart our lives here with him traveling more.

Two very immediate prayer requests are the house hunting process and getting the girls registered with the Home Education Unit in Queensland. From everything I’ve found online, it shouldn’t be a big deal. However! It’s a government website and, as such, is a bit confusing. The goal is to finish that application by the end of the week in between doing some very light school activities with the girls and seeing loan officers. We would absolutely appreciate prayers over those two things. In the meantime, take a peek at this first week!

Side note: The picture of the girls with a small beehive type home was an absolutely delightful surprise left as a present for us from some of our Madang teammates. It was just what we needed our first day here to feel both the sorrow of loss and the joy of new beginnings. When we find our house, we will begin a stewarding of the ground with this small but meaningful gift.