I Cannot Tell

One thing I missed while in Africa was singing. I'm happy to be back where we do a lot of singing...all services, all week! Here's a special I did with three of my friends. Keep in mind it sounded a whole lot better in person. ;) Lyrics below.

VERSE 1

I cannot tell why He, Whom angels worship

Should set His love upon the sons of men,

Or how His heart upon the cross was broken,

The crown of pain to three and thirty years.

But this I know, He heals the broken hearted,

And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear;

And lifts the burden from the heavy laden,

For yet the Saviour, Saviour of the world is here.

VERSE 2

I cannot tell how He will win the nations,

How He will claim His Gospel heritage;

How satisfy the needs and aspirations

Of east and west, of sinner and of sage.

But this I know, that I shall see His glory,

When He shall reap the harvest He has sown;

And some glad day, the skies will thrill with rapture,

When He, the Saviour, Saviour of the world is come.

TAG

But this I know, His sun shall shine in splendour,

And myriad, myriad human voices sing,

And earth to heav’n, and heav’n to earth will answer,

At last the Saviour, Saviour of the world is King!

Why do craft supplies always multiply?

I've been cleaning out. Again.

It's like a compulsive disease that I have. I feel like I am always cleaning out, getting rid of, purging...and yet, I still seem to gain more stuff.

It could be the clothes. I like having a small selection of clothing - versatile wear for any season. And yet, I like changes in clothing often. I'm not the type of person that wears the same items of clothing over and over and over for years until they wear out. Maybe that is a fault of mine, but I prefer to view it as a ...frugal freshness. (Like that? I just made it up!) I buy most of my clothes second hand and rather cheaply anyway, so why not give them away when I am tired of wearing them and buy something else cheap and cute?

The real reason for this post, and you may have already guessed this, is that I have torn my room apart and I'm somewhat avoiding putting it back together. This has actually been a work in progress since we arrived last Wednesday, and I think I am at the final stretch. If only I could finish the last few shelves - but therein lies the problem, because they are the craft shelves. They house everything from my fabric and yarn for sewing and knitting, to paper and stationery, to candles and picture frames. It's a monster, and I'm not exactly sure how to control it.

There are two sides of me that war when it comes to cleaning out. There is the side that likes simplicity and neatness, freshness and uncluttered spaces. Then there is the side that enjoys stashing, or pack ratting. When something comes up - whether it be a sewing emergency or a last minute Sunday school lesson - I enjoy knowing that I have a stash of 'stuff' that will cover any need. I like reusing and recycling items for other purposes, but often that means that you have to store a lot of junk until the inspiration hits. And I'm not quite sure I want to deal with the whole storing of junk thing.

You can see that I am just putting it off. I've been successful in cleaning out my clothes closet, my bathroom stuff, and even my files - yet this last area remains to be conquered, and presently looks like it puked on my library floor. There are some good things that come out of avoidance - Monday night I made a new curtain and three new throw pillows for my couch. This post has served a good diversionary, and I just remembered a birthday present I have to make. There is hope for the evening yet. :)

So here is your question for the evening. Why do craft supplies always multiply? Does this happen to anyone else? I have a nice, contained area for craft supplies - neatly organized and labeled. Give it a week, two weeks tops, and it looks like all the ribbons and markers and papers had little babies and everything is a wreck. Am I the only one who can't get this area under control?

Please, don't kill me.

Be sure to check out the comments on the second video. I haven't read all the way through them yet, but there's some interesting stuff!

On Traveling and Being Home

Swimming one day...snow the next. Goodbyes in the airport, never fun, made harder by a nephew growing up to understand a bit more of what goodbyes mean. Long airplane ride...hard time getting comfortable. Long layover in Georgia...Starbucks received my business after 3 months. Strange seeing my breath in the winter air.

Home to our little airport to find my nieces and nephew, ready to wrap their arms around our necks and wake us up with their enthusiasm. A stuck airplane door kept the luggage hostage, time ticking with church starting in minutes. Home for quick showers and a bite to eat. (Sentimental me had a moment to tear up when entering the familiar abode.) Then home to church, and friends, and Hello! and How was it? and trying to mumble thoughtful responses, when for the life of me I could hardly get a thought to work.

Woke this morning to a splitting headache, a blessed feeling of being rested, a frigid room, and snow in our yard (not fresh, but still pretty!). Took a shower with the hottest water I could get, the steam filling the bathroom and making it hard to see. Pulled on my comfy yellow sweater and thick jean skirt that's frayed at all the edges, SmartWool socks and slippers, then set about the business of unpacking. How strange it is to be pulling flip-flops and swimsuits from the bag! How far away that sunbathed world already seems...

Glad to be home here, but missing my home there. Glad to have baby arms here and conversations laden with questions from growing minds so intrigued about the far away world of Africa, but so sad to have left some others behind. Glad to be back in a world of winter, snow and ice, but really wishing I could go for a quick dip in the pool right now!

What I've Been Up To

I've started several posts this week, but none of them have made it to publishing status. :) We've done some traveling and sight-seeing, we've made lots of dessert and coffee, we've had lots of conversations, we've picked lots of litchis, and we've played a lot of Legos. We've kissed the baby a lot, and generally just spent a lot of time on holiday.

Lots of memories. Lots of love. Lots of food.

It's almost time to go. I'm more ready to come home now than I was when we first left Botswana. I think I needed a bit of time to think some things through and process everything that happened there. Now that our departure is drawing nearer, I'm finding myself excited about getting home (that word is so relative anymore) in PA and back into the schedule of things there. But for now, I'm just enjoying the last couple days...

On the Zipline

Saturday was an exciting day! My apologies if you've already seen these pictures and videos, or if you've already heard the story. :)

When we visited Tzaneen a few weeks ago, we saw a sign for "Magoebaskloof Canopy Tours." It was near George's Valley, a beautiful valley you drive through before you get to Tzaneen. We assumed, from the name, that it was some sort of paragliding operation and the guys talked about checking it out. Upon further checking, however, we found out that the canopy tour is done with a zipline!

Now, some of you may remember a sort of pathetic story involving me and a zipline back at summer camp. As much as that scared/scarred me, I was determined to get over my fear, and the best way to do that was to what? Of course! Go on a series of 11 ziplines through a river gorge in a country inhabited by poisonous snakes and spiders. Good thinking. :)

There were six of us in all: me, my dad, two of my brothers, Eric (on the tail end of his missions trip here), and my 5-year old nephew.

I'll just be perfectly honest - my stomach was in knots the whole day just thinking about it. But as much as I wanted to chicken out, I knew I would be okay once I got started and if I did decide not to go, I would be disappointed later that I didn't. So I forced myself to go. (Also, my nephew was quite pumped up about going, and as long as he wasn't scared, I couldn't be!)

The tour guide did an excellent job! There was a brief session where he explained what all the equipment was and told how everything would work. Then we got suited up...

...and everyone had an opportunity to try the 'baby slide' - a short little zipline relatively close to the ground. This allowed the guides to help us get the right technique, and to help people like me see there is nothing to be scared about.

Then it was time to go! I was much relieved after the instructions and the baby slide, but still a bit nervous. Once I got past the first 'real' slide, though, I was just fine. AND I was so glad that I forced myself to go (like I knew I would be!). I had a lot of fun and I definitely recommend it to anyone in the area.

The scenery was beautiful. We were over the Letaba River the entire way, and went over several waterfalls and deep pools. Most of the platforms between the slides were bolted right into the side of the cliff, which towered high above us and dropped off way below. We always had to be hooked onto something, because the platforms were often just a couple feet wide, with quite a drop below.

The slides got longer and longer, and we all got better and better. :) All too soon...it was over...

Here is a video clip of yours truly zipping on one of the lines. :) We uploaded six videos in all (one of each of us) so you can click through to YouTube if you wish to see the rest.