I was thinking it must be time for an update but hadn't realised just how overdue one was. 2021 seems to be flying by so I had better get an update in before Christmas :)
This year has been a year of firsts for us as Joshua is no longer in high school and is now exploring different options. He has been focusing on his online studies in marketing and social media and running his online business (www.alpterra.com). He hasn't had as much traction with this as he would have liked so he is pursuing options regarding a business mentor to help in the next phase. We keep praying that God would guide him and show him the way forward as he is passionate about it and has sunk a lot of time, energy and money in to get it going. He continues to work full time (almost) at a physiotherapists and is getting a glimpse of how this business is run so that has been helpful for him. His next goal is to get his real estate license and then who knows where he will go after that. We are excited to see what's ahead for him.
Zara just finished year 11 yesterday and will start year 12 after the holidays. She has been studying hard for exams so is grateful they are finished and she can enjoy some down time. It is difficult to believe that in one year Zara will also be finishing up her days in high school. She continues to work part time at a horse park nearby and has some funny stories to share when she gets home. She already has an offer to work there more hours when she finishes school so will see what comes of that in time.
Simon's flight training has been in spurts this year due to covid, change in plans and border closures. He has just finished a line pilot standardisation course with a new pilot this week. He is not sure what is next in terms of flying but he has also been helping out our Learning and Development department as they role out a new Learning Management System. There have been different people involved in giving input to this project and Simon's was from an aviation perspective.
He still enjoys being in the shed and working on different projects. Unfortunately, one of the projects decided to give him a split lip the other week. One of the wood blocks that he had in the machine jumped out and hit him in the face. This required a trip to A&E to get cleaned up and a few stitches to put his lip together again. Thankfully, his lip healed nicely and his nose or teeth weren't broken in the process although a bit tender in places. Never a dull moment in this family and he definitely keeps me on my toes.
I continue with my busy role in HR. We have added challenges because of Covid and the inability to travel and get people where we need them to be. In addition some staff are well over their time for a break and home assignment which adds to the mix. We have quite the number of vacancies in our programmes and so trying to mitigate the needs there takes some creative thought. If you want to check out the vacancies we have go to https://www.mafint.org. We have some short term needs as well as long term needs so feel free to pass the word along to those you know who may be interested.
Next week Simon and I celebrate our 21 year anniversary. I can't believe it has been 21 years already and it has been quite the adventure God has taken us on. We certainly haven't been bored.
As you know it has been a while since we have been able to travel back to Europe because of the travel restrictions. We were hoping to get home this year but with Australia closing its borders it has been quite challenging. We are hoping there will be more flexibility in 2022 so we can get home to connect with our family, friends and supporters. We will keep you updated.
Thanks for your continued prayers for us as we continue on this journey.
