Hello 2021!!

Happy New Year from the Ladd family! News seems more extreme than ever on the global scale. Thanks for taking a moment to zoom in to our little corner of the world. We have much to share with you, and we can do it with pictures and bullet points! Here’s some noteworthy news from us. HINT: Hang in till the end or skip ahead: The last part is the best!

• High school, here we come! Lifa’s first day of high school (grade 8) is on on January 27th, pandemic permitting. We couldn’t be more excited! His primary school friends are all going separate ways to different high schools. This was from a fun photo shoot they had to celebrate the end of school last year.

• We are moving! On January 20th, the Ladds will move for the… wait for it… NINTH time in our 5 years of familying. God has provided for us to have a larger living space, much more suited for family and ministry for the same price as our current space.

• It’s official: We have a toddler and a teenager in the same house. (Benjamin is having a meltdown as I write this.) Lifa turned 13 on December 29th. We had a great day celebrating him - including his first Starbucks Chocolate Frappuccino. (He couldn’t even eat his Mexican dinner feast because he had so many special birthday treats throughout the day!)

• We got a trampoline! Chris spent four hours building it in the BLAZING sun on Christmas Day…. only to have to take it down and do it again when we move next week. Oops. Sorry babe.
• We are starting an international moms’ Bible study! I had the privilege of writing part of the latest Help Club for Moms book (click here to check it out!) and will be co-hosting a virtual study with moms around the world to go through our book, The Wise Woman Believes. It’s really, really good! It will start January 19th at 8pm South Africa time (12 pm Texas time). If you want to join in, buy the book on Amazon and email admin@helpclubformoms.com to say you’re in! No cost to sign up.

• South Africa is back on lockdown level 3. The second wave of COVID has hit hard and close to home. We’ve lost loved ones to this mutated form of the virus. We are back to church online, public beaches have closed, and social gatherings are shut down. We are being very creative to beat the summer heat and stay safe.

• We’ve got a Feroza in the family. Chris downgraded his vehicle for a smaller, older one to help pay for moving expenses. The upside: It’s fun, peppy and super rad! Benjamin is OBSESSED with Da-Da’s Beep Beep.

• Lifa continues to be one of the best humans on the planet. He has built every box for moving, belly-laughs with his brother in the sweltering heat, and is an all around all-star. Also: incredibly handsome.

• The boys and I have been busy with bikes, basketballs, and boxes all day every day for weeks. With trampoline breaks!

• Yesterday I dropped Benjamin’s entire dresser drawer on my big toe while packing and didn’t say or think a single bad word. It hurt like a thousand bad words though. (Benjamin is SUPER helpful when it comes to packing.)

• The best and biggest news is: Chris has been appointed as lead pastor of Southpoint Church! We will make a video and tell the whole story soon for our subscribers and donor team soon. If you aren’t a subscriber, make sure you click here! And you can click here to see Chris’ message from Sunday. Follow Southpoint Church on Facebook and Instagram to stay connected.

A final note. This might be for you: It feels like we have spent years backsliding. It felt like all God had said was only slipping further away as the days and years went by. Yet as we step into 2021 - a year beginning with our home nation suffering from great tragedies of division and the entire world in the clutches of a deadly virus - we stand on the precipice of building, hope and possibility. God doesn't make sense the way we do. He makes a way when we don't see one. If He will do it for us, He will do it for you. He sees you. He loves you. Keep going.