Kgaugelo is eating the monkey!

Here I am, sitting on a small mattress with pink Barbie princess sheets. I should note that it has a matching pillow case, which may be a first for me. There is also a cat staring at me as if he is baffled by my very existence. Don’t judge me cat.

In a few hours I will wander down the rocky sidewalk and into Sarah’s half-painted kitchen. If I play my cards right I will be greeted by half-eaten bowls of oatmeal and a floor covered in Corn Flake residue. If I am early I will be greeted by a bunch of 8-12 yr-olds that refer to me as dad, like hugs and lack a proper understanding of what one’s attitude should be like on a Monday morning.

This is my first blog as a father, thus I feel as if I should have something profound to say. Unfortunately I do not. (EDIT: take care of your kids). Instead I will try to give you a glimpse into what life is like for me.

There are a lot of us; twelve kids, two adults a few neighbors and a bunch of pets. We have kids from all sorts of varying circumstances; orphaned, neglected, the street etc.; kids who tell stories about how they used to spend their nights dangling from the roof while stuffed inside a potato sack and kids who may not truly believe that the guy who raped them was a bad guy. We have 12-year olds that wet the bed every night and a Great Dane that gets nervous around kittens. I guess it is only fitting that I will be part of the duo heading up this family. And yes, we do think of ourselves as a family, and no, I do not really know what I am doing.

Wake up, eat, school, homework, play, eat, bathe, story and sleep. That is our daily itinerary. It doesn’t really sound like something that inherently involves chaos, but it does. That will be a later message.

My main goal at the moment is just to continue to earn the trust of those around me. They all call me dad but I know that at this point it is more of a formality than a relationship. We grow closer every day. For some it is easy and for others it is not. For some of them the concept of “dad” is completely new and for others it may have connotations that we prefer not to think about. I will be working to change those - one day at a time. I've heard that people tend to view God as having the same characteristics that their father has. Gulp.

In order to work with orthotics or prosthetics (my degrees) I would need to get certified. I am hoping to hear back within a week or two on the next steps I would need to take (EDIT: I am either being aggressively ignored or they are on serious “African Time.” If that works out and one of the two places here is willing to sponsor my work visa then I will pursue that route as well. Despite spending the last four years in school for a specific career field, I am not too anxious about the thought that my paperwork is likely being used as a coaster somewhere. I already have a full-time job; it just doesn’t pay very well.

That’s all for now, you can expect a proper missionary update letter sometime soon. It will be a little more pious and maybe even have some bold-face-print or italics. I will try to get out a few blogs as well over the next few years.

The cat is now sleeping.
Love you guys,
Mark