October’s slipping away…

It’s weird that Halloween is this week. I bet that in the States they are probably bringing out Christmas decorations already and Halloween is probably overtaking every store. I can just picture all the skeletons, witches, and Frankenstein paraphernalia lining the isles, not to mention the black and orange colored bags of candy. We are having a Halloween party on Friday night and many of my teammates having been asking the same question, Halloween? When’s Halloween? Our fun little party is more appropriately named a Spring Festival (since that’s what season it is here) with the motto “Spring into Jesus”.  Oh! And the YWAMers are coming too. We’ve been trying to get to know them. It’s been fun.

I have to update my list of crazy/cool animals that I’ve seen in Africa. On Sunday, a few of my friends and I were walking along the beach and we saw an abandoned penguin. It was so cute and little and it was shivering; apparently it had washed up on shore. I got to touch a penguin! Our friend Kevin was holding it while we waited for the penguin sanctuary to come pick it up. Besides the penguin, I’ve seen some monkeys and baboons (they are always on the side of the road as we’re driving), springbok, buffalo, and there are constantly goats and sheep mulling around.

Ministry is going pretty well. I’ve had a rollercoaster of emotions with St. Francis. I haven’t ever really felt very connected with the people and the kids there, but I’ve endured it and tried to make the most of it. At best I was giving 50%. Our ministry team met a few days ago to talk things through and we’ve come up with a more effective game plan. We are going to be focusing solely on relationships with the kids and not worry about a program so much. This week we’ve been doing some easy crafts with the kids and it’s been so much easier just to sit and talk with them rather than get them all to sit obediently while we talk at them. We’ve also made goals for ourselves to be more intentional and to give all we have. I feel so much better about things.

My Christmas plans are coming along fantastically. I’m really looking forward to Cape Town! It’s going to be myself and 4 other girls. We’re going to rent a car and drive the Garden Route to The Cape! We also have a few days off for Thanksgiving and my friend Sara and I are thinking about traveling a bit during that time as well.

In the journey of life, God is teaching me new things all the time. As of late I’m trying to understand what God’s love really looks like. I’ve been asking Him to show me TRUE love. Looking back on past relationships, and even friendships, I can see that I don’t know what true love is. How it acts, what it says, what it feels, how it thinks… So this is my struggle. I’ve also recently discovered some deeps hurts about being shy. It’s really weird struggling though things I’ve never ever wrestled through until this trip. In short, people used to always ask me why I am shy, which told me it was something I had to fix. So, I acted out in ways that would make me not shy. This actually affected many parts of my life.

This is probably good for now. I feel a little lonely now and then in our down times, but I’m dealing. I still love it here.

Much love.