Glasgow in Spring

I've been in Glasgow this week, meeting a bunch of people and exploring possibilities for ministry here. It's been a fantastic trip so far. And spring is here. New growth just beginning...

Crocuses (croci?) in the Botanic Gardens






















...and the sun came out!

















Some daffodils for my mother

I need poetry in my life

I regularly follow The Writer's Almanac. Partly because I'm the nerdy sort who likes reading small bits of info and stories about writers, books, etc. But also because I need poetry in my life. Poems help me slow down and read carefully. They make me pay attention and look more closely. And often, poetry says something my soul needs to hear. This was today's poem:

Trust
Thomas R. Smith

It's like so many other things in life
to which you must say no or yes.
So you take your car to the new mechanic.
Sometimes the best thing to do is trust.

The package left with the disreputable-looking
clerk, the check gulped by the night deposit,
the envelope passed by dozens of strangers—
all show up at their intended destinations.

The theft that could have happened doesn't.
Wind finally gets where it was going
through the snowy trees, and the river, even
when frozen, arrives at the right place.

And sometimes you sense how faithfully your life
is delivered, even though you can't read the address.

Introducing Lesedi

My friend Doris is the mother of two boys, and really wanted to have a little girl one day. Last year, she became pregnant with her third child. Doris is HIV-positive, and so her friends were very concerned about her health as well as the health of her baby. We've been praying steadily for Doris, and she gave birth to a healthy baby girl in early December 2009. Both Doris and baby Lesedi are doing well, and I finally got to meet Lesedi this week. Her name means "Light." She's beautiful.

Doris and me



Me holding Lesedi, who looks extremely startled in this picture














Melinda holding a sleeping Lesedi, with Doris and me














Group photo! Sarah, me, Lesedi, Doris, and Gopolang (Doris' younger son)

With the Girls at Emily's

I've had a lot of fun the past couple of weeks hosting my good friend Melinda, who came to visit from California. Melinda and I were roommates the semester I studied in Italy, and are seasoned travel buddies... we added a few journeys to our repertoire, having previously only traveled together in Europe. It was great to introduce an old friend to my home and friends here in South Africa. Here are a few pictures from an afternoon we spent hanging out in Sosh with Emily and her daughters.

Me, Melinda, and Sarah with Emily and her girls: Precious, Lungile, and Pretty















Games with Lungile: "One day I go to Congo, to see the people of Congo..."















Melinda making faces with Lungile















Mel and the girls: Precious, Lungile, and Pretty, and their cousin Nthabiseng in the background

What I've been up to lately...

It's been too long. I'm in the process of writing an email update, since I've been out of touch for several months! In the meantime, here is a handful of pictures illustrating the variety of places and climates I've been traveling through lately...

"Winter" in Southern California. Me with my sister and her kids just before I left for the airport.

Next stop: winter in Karlsruhe, Germany. I spent a little over 2 weeks in Germany, visiting a friend and exploring some ministry opportunities there.

Me with a frozen lake and the Karlsruhe Palace in the background

From freezing temperatures in Germany to summer in South Africa, here I am hanging out with Granny's family in Soshanguve. Lungile, while braiding my hair, told me that my hair is too soft.

My friend Melinda came to visit just a few days after I got back to South Africa, and we went on a short trip to Cape Town. Here we are at the Cape Point lighthouse, getting pelted in the face with rain as gale force winds threaten to blow us off the edge of the African continent.

A slightly more peaceful weather day on our Cape Town trip: here I am at a lookout point near Chapman's Peak.

I'm back in Pretoria now, getting some much-needed rest and planning the next "vision trip" to explore ministry in the UK. I've got a couple more weeks before I head out again...