Golly gee, we're off for South Africa tomorrow night. Well, technically, weds. morning about 2:30 am. I'm very excited about the trip even though I know it'll be over in a flash. We are only there for a week and there will be more to do than we have time for. Soccer is what lured me originally but once the family decided to go, too, my focus was shifted a bit to a more general vision. We are staying in a Safari tent village that is located on a game reserve. These aren't your standard issue Boy Scout tents. They are really nice and will have beds in them rather than sleeping bags. Not sure about showers and such but with it being such a short trip who needs a shower? It's fun to see my granddaughters enthusiasm rise as our departure approaches. I'm not naive enough to think there won't be some "tough" times on this journey. Long waits in airports and long periods of time in a plane can be a difficult thing for a 9 year old to deal with. But I am confident this trip will be a blessed one and one that will give us all a chance to laugh together and just party down for a while. We've lived under the same roof now for 30 years, well, just 9 for my granddaughter, and some of those times were less than joyful with plenty of strife and heartache to go around. Now we celebrate a time when God has moved us to a place where my daughter is ready to take her family and move out on her own with an ever deepening faith and a more mature attitude toward life. I suppose I see this as a bit of a send off for her, though she is only moving a few miles away. She is ready to attack life with the gusto that has always been part of her personality and with her Saviour by her side. (which is, by the way, where He has always been) Look out South Africa, here we come!
