Introducing: JASHER

Okay so I have a spare moment .. Hmm, maybe now I can update the blog .. 

Hi there folks!! Did you miss us? Sorry it’s been soooo long! Cher and I have been SUPER busy with our new addition to the family, the completely gorgeous and totally irresistible Jasher Evangelino! How time has flown since our last post! Wow! It’s like we’ve been in a space/time vacuum! 

Exhausted! First night in the hospital after a long labour...

(In fact when you have a baby, time itself becomes an abstract, unreal! Days and nights blend into one another, weeks can’t be discerned from months. What year is it anyway?! Still 2012 right?? Also the world and everything in it becomes surreal .. all must bow down in subservience to the greater reality of BABY. Physical activities that once had a regular, healthy momentum and cycle - sleeping, eating, going to the toilet, showering - now are syncopated and incorporated into the colossal rhythms of BABY. Yes, when you have a newborn you are not your own anymore, you are reborn into a whole new life of meeting another’s needs, your own autonomy is abdicated and surrendered to the throne of BABY. We’re talking abject self annihilation here, serfdom .. Forget what you were told in any prenatal classes and this ain’t no baby boot camp either! This is the real deal, sleepless nights, pooey nappies, projectile vomit, I’ve seen it all .. and it’s only just the beginning!! Of course it could just be the most rewarding, exciting, life-changing, character building and fulfilling experience of our lives!! Halellujah to the LORD of Heaven and Earth and praise Him for His goodness and good lil’ gifts!!) 

Okay, okay I’ll set aside my dramatic language and write more simply and plainly (for now).. 

God has blessed Cher and I with a beautiful baby boy and we named him Jasher Evangelino. Jasher means ‘upright’ in Ancient Hebrew, as in righteous or virtuous. The name is from the Bible in Joshua 10:12-14 and 2 Samuel 1:17-18, where the ‘Book’ of Jasher is mentioned. Next we chose Evangelino for his middle name, as it was a great suggestion from one of our Timorese friends and quite simply means ‘evangelist’, as in one who brings the good news of the Gospel. It felt right, as Cher had a dream before Jasher was born of him sharing the good news as a young child. 

Funnily enough Jasher was in the breach position for a few weeks leading up to the birth, it was the first sign that seemed to tell us we had picked the right name! That being so, we did pray earnestly that he would turn around for his birth! And you know what? At the last second, he did .. praise the LORD!

Baby shower cup cakes!

Before Jasher was born, we had the traditional baby shower, which was a nice way to catch up with some friends and family before our lives changed forever. A big thank you, once again to all of you that were there (or would’ve like to be, but couldn’t) and all of your generous gifts that you have blessed us with! It’s amazing how many things you need to look after a newborn baby! Another thing Cher and I were really needing too, was to find a place of our own, for since returning from Timor in Sept 2012 we’d been staying with Cher’s family, who’d been incredibly gracious, but with a new baby immanent, we wanted our own little place. Especially as it was looking like we were going to stay in Melbourne again for at least a little while longer. Suddenly God answered our prayers, because just in the nick of time, we were led to find a cute little unit situated on a beautiful Christian conference ground nearby. Less than a week after moving in, Jasher was born .. on November 23rd 2012!! Halellujah!! Our God is our provider!!       

Baby shower fun!

These babies are NOT real!

"Look fellas, THIS is how you change a nappy."

Now without going into too many details about the birth, all I can say is wow what an experience!! Pretty intense and demanding .. and that’s only describing what I went through! Maybe Cher will share some of her experience in her own words later, when she has the time. As you can imagine (and from the opening of this post), Cher and I were suddenly very busy looking after our newborn baby. Though there have been a few hiccups - with sleeping, feeding and vomiting - we are thankful however that Jasher’s health and development has progressed very well. Every week for the first 2 months after Jasher was born, Cher and I went to see a local maternal nurse who was mostly very happy and impressed with Jasher.

In December Cher and I drove up to Albury to stay with Cher’s brother and his wife, who have been renovating a house. They are themselves expecting their first baby in April. For our 2012 Christmas we organized to do a big joint celebration in Albury with Cher’s family from Melbourne and my family from Sydney. Both our families stayed at the same caravan park/resort on Lake Hume. It was a wonderful occasion and also my family’s first opportunity to meet Jasher! At the time I didn’t say anything, but I’ll take the opportunity to now. As much as I’ve enjoyed celebrating ‘Christmas’ with my family over the years, now as a Christian (and I would hope to think of myself an informed and faithful one at that), I can no longer be part of this totally idolatrous ‘festivity’. From what I have researched and read the celebrating of Christmas did not originate with Jesus, His disciples, the Bible or God. It’s roots are in Ancient Babylon and are pagan and satanic, as is Easter. I’ll be starting my own blog soon discussing some of these things in more depth. I’ll be sure to pass on the link when it’s up and running! 

Overgrootmoeder (Great-Grandmother in Dutch...we hope!). 

Jasher is NOT this red, but Oma-Vera’s hair definitely is!

Christmas day - mum is as tired as Jasher looks!

Brotherly love! Laurence hugging his bro, Mauro.

Nanna Julie and Uncle Jazza with lil' Jasher.

First time meeting Oma-Rani!

While in Albury Cher and I caught up with two former missionaries to East-Timor who spent several years there. They met there and after marrying came back with their first baby girl. With other foreign nationals they were evacuated out of the country in 2006 amidst the political instability then. Now they live on a farm just outside Albury with 4 children. The wife is still fluent in Tetum!

Jasher is now over 3 months old and the last time we saw our maternal nurse she said he was a very healthy 3 month old and at the size and developmental stage of a 4 month old! God is good ..

Since moving into our new place, we’ve had to move a couple times, but God has guided and provided for our every step. At the moment we are sharing a house with a dear young Christian couple we met on the same Christian conference ground and all is going very well. I have been a little sick for the last 2 weeks but am now on the mend! 

Our sister in the faith and co-labourer in East-Timor, Lucinda, will be returning to Timor soon, however Cher and I will not be joining her this time round. We have our hands full looking after Jasher at the moment and are awaiting God’s indication as to when we need to return. Thank you so much to all of you who have joined with us in heart, spirit and prayer as we continue to pursue God’s calling on our lives ..

God is our Shepherd who leads us ..

God is our Teacher who instructs us ..

God is our Helper who helps us ..

God is our High Tower who protects us ..

God is our Light, our strength, our provision, our sufficiency, our hope, our promise of eternal life assured, our love, our joy, our peace, our contentment ..

And our God is Jesus Christ, the one who was and is and is to come, the creator of the Heavens and the Earth, our sinless redeemer, our perfect sacrifice, the propitiation for our sins, the author of our salvation, the Prophet and High Priest of our faith, the King of kings and LORD of Lords, beside whom there is no other, who is our all in all ..

May His glorious name be praised forever more! Amen  

Your servants in Christ,

L, C & J