No worries. This isn't another boring update about what is or isn't happening in regarding what's going may or may not take place in the near future. This is a brief look into what life is like for me and my family in South Africa.
The days are getting longer as the middle of summer goes by. Light flushes the sky as early as 4:30 and stays until after 7 o'clock in the evening. In winter, the days are far shorter. With my brother, Caleb, being in a nature based South African school, his days start really early, too. Depending on the homework he still needs to do, he'll crawl out of his bed as early as 5 a.m. His desire to keep up and do better than the others in his class never fails to impress me.
Usually, I'm the last one up in the morning, as my parents get up at the same time as Caleb. My tasks involve the housework and the laundry. You may wonder why I do this and the answer is simple. I want to give my parents the opportunity to do what God has called them to do without having to do the endless amount of ironing and cleaning. When I leave they may have to get someone to come in once or twice a week.The afternoons are hot, too hot to doing anything beyond staying inside under the air con and the fans. We don't have a dip pool, so using that isn't an option to cool down. During the winter months, I used to walk into town in the afternoons, now that's not an option because the heat is too much to deal with. There's also the risk of running into the lions or the leopard that call this estate home as well.
It's incredible seeing the change in the bush around the house. In October, before the rains started, the whole lowvelt was dry and desert like, now the greens are almost overwhelming. The temperature, as I've mentioned before have gone up too. Though Hoedspruit can experience a fifteen degree drop or rise in less than twelve hours. One morning we'll be in t-shirts, shorts, and sandels, and by that evening we'll be in trousers and sweaters. The weather is that crazy.My parents have been extensively involved with different ministries in one of the churches here. My mum has also been working with a friend of hers who runs a counseling centre. Mum worked for a number of years as a counsellor, both with my father and bofore she met him. Whilst my father has been helping run a youth group, and a whole load of other things.
Until the next time.