moving + turbulence

I move into Khalytshia Sunday after going to church with my host family in Langa. I'll have approx 5 minutes to transition from saying goodbye to my Langa host family to hello to my Hereade host family... that will be challenging for me because I love deeply and the finiteness of these stays are challenging. Its helped me shift my perspective to viewing nearly every interaction as "sacred" but its still hard to almost always know nothing. I am constantly learning with what often seems like a vertical learning curve.

We're dealing with incredibly charged topics mainly revolving around politics and religion. These get heated! We had a team check-in the other afternoon because things are getting so intense that some team members have started altering their behaviours to cope with the things we're learning and going through. It is a very intense program, on multiple levels. After one of our class sessions one of our directors said, "You need to struggle with the turbulence of your feelings." Man, I tell you what, that is right on. Somedays its like an emotional rollercoaster and I have no idea how people who don't believe in Christ are able to process and deal with what we're learning and doing. They aren't going to reach over and "make us feel better" either, which is good because it allows us to go through the full PROCESS of everything. We can learn in and from our emotions... I am very fortunate to be led by directors who value and encourage that.

The biblical idea of the lion and the lamb laying next to each other was brought up the other day and I really enjoyed it because it one our directors used that example to illustrate how each person needs to be themselves, fully themselves, and still live in harmony. Granted, it was just an illustration point, I liked it.

Oh and SA does not have 1/2 the beans it takes to make Mom's Chili, but I improvised and it turned out well :D they'd never had chili, so that helped too, but it actually was a hit! My host family had also never had sour cream, which i add to individual bowls of chili, and they liked that too! We've been swapping recipes etc, so i'm ready to COOOOOOOK when i get back to AZ!!

I have to run because its my last night with my host family in Langa and its the shortest day of the year here in SA, so the sun is setting and I'm traveling solo and want to get back before nightfall. But here's the real reason I wanted to write today...



HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD! I love you and am proud to be your daughter :D thanks for the prayers and believing in me and how God's working in and through me!!!! I love you! Remember to open the card i left with yoU!