We just got home from a big game park called iMfolozi, which is about three or four hours away from here. We drove up with two guys from our church, looked for animals, looked for more animals, ate dinner, spent the night, looked for more animals, and came home again, and it was a very nice time. But that's not exactly what I want to talk about.
Last night the generator at the camp switched off around ten. This happens every night there unless you pay extra, so there was nothing to be done except get out the flashlights and kerosene lamps and fumble around to get into bed. As I was laying there in the darkness, thinking about our day, I realized how present God is in His creation. I mean, just that night we drove around looking for lions and leopards in a huge truck, hoping desperately to see these crazy beasts that could, technically, destroy us. How different is that from our realtionship with God? We spend our lives looking for Him, searching for Him, trying to find Him, and at the same time we are just dust compared to Him, easily crushable if that's what He wants. But because we serve a merciful, loving God, He wants us to find Him, and when we do He doesn't pounce and destroy - He welcomes us with open arms.
Our guide during the night drive told us to "open up our hearts" and we would then be more likely to see animals and not be disappointed. Of course, that "open up your heart, something something something, something something something, everlasting love!" popped into my head and stayed there for the rest of the night. Again, this seems to apply to our relationship with God - if we open up our hearts to Him, we will be able to experience His everlasting love. Shazam!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Top 10 Songs of 2009
Okay, so I am definitely stealing this idea from Kyle's blog, but I have spoken with him and it's fine. Here lies the list of my favorite songs of 2009 - most of them will not be songs that were released in 2009.
Oh wait. First I just want to properly introduce this list. Alright, so last year is generally dominated in my memory by the last 4 or so months, which were preoccupied by Radical Journey. Many of these songs will be closely linked to RJ because of that, but some of them will dare to be different. Some of them dare to dream big dreams.
Okay. Here we go:
10. "Nikita" by Elton John. This is a "dream-big" type of song. We listened to a lot of Elton John when I worked at Atwater's bakery (thanks to my coworker Mary) and, although this is not my favorite Elton John song, it is the one that sticks out most in my memories of that place. Mostly because Mary made me watch the music video of it after we got off work at like 1 AM.
9. "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. Had to put AC/DC in here; after all, I listened to them a good deal in 2009.
8. "Back to Black" by Amy Winehouse. I went through an Amy Winehouse phase last summer that lasted...pretty much the whole summer. And I think this is my favorite of her songs.
7. "Two of Us" by The Beatles. No Top 10 list is complete without The Beatles, and I spent a good portion of 2009 either thinking about traveling or actually traveling...and this song reminds me of road trips every time I listen to it. So there you go.
6. "Why Can't We Be Friends?" by War. This song was sort of Anna's and my unofficial song. I used to break out into it at random times, and Anna would say "But we are friends!" And indeed, we are.
5. "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" by Don Henley. I LOVE this song! I went through a phase with it that lasted...forever. I still am in that phase. I still, miraculously, have not killed it for myself. So. Yeah.
4. "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Foundations. This goes back to RJ orientation when I used to listen to it nearly every day, and continues into our time in South Africa when I would still sometimes listen to it every day. It's a lovely song.
3. "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" by The Hit Crew. This song is actually by Rupert Holmes, but the version I have was cheaper on iTunes and is still awesome. Nothing like the Pina Colada Song to brighten up any day - even if it's already very very bright.
2. "Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson. This is a delightful little melody :). I think it is our unofficial/official RJ South Africa song, mainly due to the fact that Kyle likes to play the first little bit on the guitar and that gets us all singing it for the rest of the day.
1. "Drops of Jupiter" by Train. Unfortunately, I did not listend to this song nearly as much as I should have last year. But it is my all-time favorite song, so it makes the list even if I never listen to it ever again (which I dearly hope will not happen).
Oh wait. First I just want to properly introduce this list. Alright, so last year is generally dominated in my memory by the last 4 or so months, which were preoccupied by Radical Journey. Many of these songs will be closely linked to RJ because of that, but some of them will dare to be different. Some of them dare to dream big dreams.
Okay. Here we go:
10. "Nikita" by Elton John. This is a "dream-big" type of song. We listened to a lot of Elton John when I worked at Atwater's bakery (thanks to my coworker Mary) and, although this is not my favorite Elton John song, it is the one that sticks out most in my memories of that place. Mostly because Mary made me watch the music video of it after we got off work at like 1 AM.
9. "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. Had to put AC/DC in here; after all, I listened to them a good deal in 2009.
8. "Back to Black" by Amy Winehouse. I went through an Amy Winehouse phase last summer that lasted...pretty much the whole summer. And I think this is my favorite of her songs.
7. "Two of Us" by The Beatles. No Top 10 list is complete without The Beatles, and I spent a good portion of 2009 either thinking about traveling or actually traveling...and this song reminds me of road trips every time I listen to it. So there you go.
6. "Why Can't We Be Friends?" by War. This song was sort of Anna's and my unofficial song. I used to break out into it at random times, and Anna would say "But we are friends!" And indeed, we are.
5. "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" by Don Henley. I LOVE this song! I went through a phase with it that lasted...forever. I still am in that phase. I still, miraculously, have not killed it for myself. So. Yeah.
4. "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Foundations. This goes back to RJ orientation when I used to listen to it nearly every day, and continues into our time in South Africa when I would still sometimes listen to it every day. It's a lovely song.
3. "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" by The Hit Crew. This song is actually by Rupert Holmes, but the version I have was cheaper on iTunes and is still awesome. Nothing like the Pina Colada Song to brighten up any day - even if it's already very very bright.
2. "Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson. This is a delightful little melody :). I think it is our unofficial/official RJ South Africa song, mainly due to the fact that Kyle likes to play the first little bit on the guitar and that gets us all singing it for the rest of the day.
1. "Drops of Jupiter" by Train. Unfortunately, I did not listend to this song nearly as much as I should have last year. But it is my all-time favorite song, so it makes the list even if I never listen to it ever again (which I dearly hope will not happen).
Saturday, January 16, 2010
It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged, and I honestly think it’s because so much has been happening that I don’t even want to think about processing it so that others can understand it. Even that statement isn’t exactly true…I haven’t felt exceedingly busy; I just feel like the New Year brought with it so many more things to think about.
For instance, now I have to deal with this whole new feeling of actually liking it here, which is weird. It’s not that I don’t want to like it here – I do. It’s just that every time I remember that we are leaving in six months I am kind of sad, and I don’t like that so much.
Another thing that I have to think about is being a Mennonite and what that means for me. We recently went to a retreat for all of the Mennonites working in southern Africa. It was a really good time, but I came out of it feeling kind of…discombobulated. Strangely enough, I was glad to leave – not in a “ahh get me out of here!” way, but in a “I’m glad to go home” way, with “home” being BCI. I think one part of this craziness is that, yes, I do like it much more here than I did at first, but I think another part is me starting to think more about what I believe and how I want to label myself. Am I first a Mennonite and then a Christian, or is it the other way around?
I am also dealing with involvement in church programs, trying to figure out a balance so that I am doing a good amount of useful work. An example of this issue is Children’s Church. One of my main jobs is supposed to be working with the Children’s Church, but I have not been very successful in getting involved – certainly, this problem is mostly my fault. It’s hard for me to force myself to be involved in the Children’s Church when there are other places that I feel better plugged into. But I will definitely be trying harder during these next six or so months.
So yeah. Lots of things to process, including but not limited to the aforementioned. That in itself is exhausting, plus I was up until 4 AM last night. It was fun then but now I’m just completely wiped.
For instance, now I have to deal with this whole new feeling of actually liking it here, which is weird. It’s not that I don’t want to like it here – I do. It’s just that every time I remember that we are leaving in six months I am kind of sad, and I don’t like that so much.
Another thing that I have to think about is being a Mennonite and what that means for me. We recently went to a retreat for all of the Mennonites working in southern Africa. It was a really good time, but I came out of it feeling kind of…discombobulated. Strangely enough, I was glad to leave – not in a “ahh get me out of here!” way, but in a “I’m glad to go home” way, with “home” being BCI. I think one part of this craziness is that, yes, I do like it much more here than I did at first, but I think another part is me starting to think more about what I believe and how I want to label myself. Am I first a Mennonite and then a Christian, or is it the other way around?
I am also dealing with involvement in church programs, trying to figure out a balance so that I am doing a good amount of useful work. An example of this issue is Children’s Church. One of my main jobs is supposed to be working with the Children’s Church, but I have not been very successful in getting involved – certainly, this problem is mostly my fault. It’s hard for me to force myself to be involved in the Children’s Church when there are other places that I feel better plugged into. But I will definitely be trying harder during these next six or so months.
So yeah. Lots of things to process, including but not limited to the aforementioned. That in itself is exhausting, plus I was up until 4 AM last night. It was fun then but now I’m just completely wiped.
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Year's
This year’s New Year’s holiday was absolutely the best I have ever had. Usually I celebrate New Year’s sitting at home, maybe watching a movie and eating takeout. Sometimes we watch the ball drop. I think once when I was like thirteen I went to a New Year’s Eve party, and we made earrings. Even that wasn’t as fun as this year.
Our holiday started at 10 PM on Thursday the 31st, at church. BCI has a “praying in the new year” service every year, and let me tell you…it was awesome. I think it was my favorite church service ever. We had wonderful praise and worship and got to see lots of “items” - things like songs, poetry, and dance. And after the service, just after midnight, we put off fireworks in the church yard.
After the fireworks our team went off with a number of other youth to an after-service party. We played some Frisbee and football outside, danced (or, in my case, watched dancing), listened to music, played in the pool (or watched people get thrown into the pool), and played 30 Seconds, which is a game pretty much like Taboo. It was really nice. It was so weird to be standing outside in the early morning in shorts and a tank top, not cold at all…in January. Weird, but awesome.
Then around 4 AM or so, a bunch of us began setting off for the beach. We were attempting to watch the sunrise to bring in the New Year, but we didn’t actually end up leaving Pietermaritzburg until nearly 8, because we had to drop off so many people from the party and pick up so many people for the beach. Finally, at around 7:45, thirteen of us set off for the beach packed into a van (aka a pickup truck; this one has a covered bed), cramped, hot, and tired, but also excited.
We spent a little time on the beach, but due to a shark sighting and not-so-hot weather we weren’t there for long. We soon retired to a water park and spent a long time living it up on the slides. It’s amazing how much use you can get out of a few slides and some inner tubes. Around 1:00, extremely hungry, we got some pizzas and ate, and then I fell asleep at our child-size picnic table (the only one left in the park for us to use) for a good while. It was lovely.
The ride back to Pietermaritzburg was equally cramped as the ride to the coast, and we were all even more tired than before. I had: one guy leaning on my shins, asleep; another guy leaning on my shoulder, asleep; another guy with his feet on my thighs, asleep. I was holding onto some guy’s knees, dozing. It was hot hot hot and cramped cramped cramped, but during that ride, in that van, I fell in love with South Africa. I don’t know how I will ever leave.
Our holiday started at 10 PM on Thursday the 31st, at church. BCI has a “praying in the new year” service every year, and let me tell you…it was awesome. I think it was my favorite church service ever. We had wonderful praise and worship and got to see lots of “items” - things like songs, poetry, and dance. And after the service, just after midnight, we put off fireworks in the church yard.
After the fireworks our team went off with a number of other youth to an after-service party. We played some Frisbee and football outside, danced (or, in my case, watched dancing), listened to music, played in the pool (or watched people get thrown into the pool), and played 30 Seconds, which is a game pretty much like Taboo. It was really nice. It was so weird to be standing outside in the early morning in shorts and a tank top, not cold at all…in January. Weird, but awesome.
Then around 4 AM or so, a bunch of us began setting off for the beach. We were attempting to watch the sunrise to bring in the New Year, but we didn’t actually end up leaving Pietermaritzburg until nearly 8, because we had to drop off so many people from the party and pick up so many people for the beach. Finally, at around 7:45, thirteen of us set off for the beach packed into a van (aka a pickup truck; this one has a covered bed), cramped, hot, and tired, but also excited.
We spent a little time on the beach, but due to a shark sighting and not-so-hot weather we weren’t there for long. We soon retired to a water park and spent a long time living it up on the slides. It’s amazing how much use you can get out of a few slides and some inner tubes. Around 1:00, extremely hungry, we got some pizzas and ate, and then I fell asleep at our child-size picnic table (the only one left in the park for us to use) for a good while. It was lovely.
The ride back to Pietermaritzburg was equally cramped as the ride to the coast, and we were all even more tired than before. I had: one guy leaning on my shins, asleep; another guy leaning on my shoulder, asleep; another guy with his feet on my thighs, asleep. I was holding onto some guy’s knees, dozing. It was hot hot hot and cramped cramped cramped, but during that ride, in that van, I fell in love with South Africa. I don’t know how I will ever leave.
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