the silent sojourner speaks again

     I just realized with horror that I have not blogged for nearly a month!... which is actually half of the time that I have been in South Africa so far.  I would feel guilty about this awful lapse if I hadn't been having such a 'jol'  lately (jol:  South African informal.  An occasion of celebration and enjoyment; a good time).    

     So, to catch you up to speed on what has been happening over here in the last while, we've had Christmas Eve.  And Christmas... which hopefully you have all also enjoyed.  The festivities here have included Scrabble games, Christmas presents, Christmas carols, mincemeat pies, and even snowflake decorations (this must be Western influence, since the weather here was nice enough for a swim on Christmas Day!).  A family here has really included me in their celebrations, and I can testify to God's faithfulness in setting the solitary in families! (Psalm 68).  

     This past month I participated in a flash mob.  Around 20 of us danced at Cavendish and Greenmarket Square and handed out invitations to the church's Christmas service.  

     At the clinic, I met a wonderful family from the Congo.  The father has been unable so far to get a job here, but he doesn't want to waste his gifts.  So in the meantime, he has started an NGO and it has been running for several years now on God's grace.  Wow!  I colored pictures with his two young children while he was with the doctor, and they are truly delightful and well-behaved.

    I got my first South African sunburn!, sitting on the beach after a 6 am walk along the ocean-side.  Truly worth it!

     I hiked at Kirstenbosch, which is basically acres of gardens.  South Africa is a beautiful place!

     I updated my blog  (had to mention it, in case you hadn't noticed!).

     And, I am looking forward to the new things that the New Year will bring!  

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; not it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.  The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I will give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people that I formed for myself that they might declare my praise."  Isaiah 43:19-21