So as I sit, exactly 5 months and 5 days after I arrived in this beautiful country I have but one question...where did the time go? Where did the months and weeks go? I look back at my time in this country and see that it has not been without adventure or thrill. Things have been happening left right and centre in all aspects of everything and I think time has finally caught up. My months here have been brilliant. Working with the kids again, being involved more intimately in their day to day lives. And this is not the end. I see this as but a start to a relationship between myself and the kids, the staff and friends here in south africa.
Leaving will be bittersweet. I will be loving the country I love, leaving the job and the kids I love. But where a chapter of my life closes, another will open. God will open the pathways and the doors I have to go through. I am not alone in this new chapter of my life. I am trusting in God every step of the way.
So what have I learned from my time here? Its the old cliche. you have a life changing experience and so the obvious question is what did you learn? What have you gained. Well apart from a newly found knack of the zulu language, this question is hard to answer. I guess it boils down to a new respect. Ive learned a new respect for the gifts God gives us. to often we take for granted what we have, from our shiny new cars and abundant christmas presents, to our mere mortality. We take for granted that we are alive. I did. I took for granted that I would live until 85 playing golf every week and sitting with my slippers in front of the fire. I took for granted my life and I got one heck of a kick up the backside. Viewing the pictures from my car accident, one sticks in my head. The sight of tyre tracks mere inches from a tree that if hit, might have been tickets and bucket kicking time. Life is not an obvious or freely given thing. Our lives cost dearly so we need to realise that we better use them properly. Walking from a smashed up car I realised that i had to make my life worth something. To often people live within a boundary they set for themselves, calm and secure within the limits of what they deem comfortable. Thats not what life is about. Russell W Maltby said this;
Jesus promised His disciples three things: that they would be entirely fearless, absurdly happy, and that they would get into trouble.
So that is why things are bittersweet. Yes, I am leaving when I probably would rather stay. But I know that when and wherever i go, My God will be with me, encouraging me to be entirely fearless when I get into trouble and absurdly happy when he delivers me from it.
I would like to apologise for the lack of a blog while I have been away. I dare say some may be annoyed that I havent kept you up to date with what Ive been up to. But I see it this way, we will have plenty to talk about the next time I see you.
God bless.
Robbie
