so botswana was hot. very hot. hotter than the camembert cheese (or lack thereof) in the monty python ‘the cheese shop’ skit was runny. and so a lot of the time it was a case of existing and surviving and seeking shade.

but there was some contemplation that took place, in between the gaps (surely you mean ‘in the gaps?’ – yes, quite, i clearly panic’d!) about life, the universe, and a whole bunch of stuff. well seven. seven stuffs. at least, and maybe eight.

but one of those was next year and for those of you who don’t know (or haven’t asked in a while), the plan for next year is waiting on God for a plan for next year. not a kind of random, let’s wait around and hope something turns up kind of waiting, but a more purposeful i-believe-God-has-lead-us-to-specifically-wait-on-Him-for-the-next-life-plan-and-journey plan kind of thing…

i resigned my job after working for 6 years at the vineyard church in stellenbosch and the beautiful val is in the final throes (or throws, perhaps) of finishing her masters thesis in development studies at the u of ct (first draft handed in, waiting for it back so changes can be made, if necessary, before final submission)

so we are waiting, and it is both tremendously exciting and slightly nerve-wracking cos what if God doesn’t show up? what if i heard wrong? what if a wood chuck could chuck all that wood, or if anyone knew what chucking was in the wood chuckian context?

and the closer it gets, the more nerve-wracking it should become i would imagine, according to latent locked-away mathematical propositionals lurking in the grey matter of my brain… yet botswana somehow proved the opposite… i really wanted to spend a lot more time in prayer and contemplation and thinking and dreaming and co-dreaming with tbv and so on, but the heat and context took care of a lot of that. but i did do a bunch. i managed to get up on a few mornings before manyone else and sat in the funky camp deckchair (with foot rest) next to the fire and mused.

amused. at times. and just plain contemplative at others. and chatted to God a bit. and read some ezekiel (wo!)

and i didn’t hear anything much. but i did feel a lot more peace. and calm. i really haven’t been much stressed about the whole thing at all, altho i think that is more likely more due to my ostrichsitis than my calm prevailing trust (which does exist, but possibly not quite as much as my maybeifidontthinkaboutititwillgoawayorjusthappen’ness) and botswana for me was a lot of just reducing the one and increasing the other, and so now, altho january is soon, i am fine with that. i have been still and known that He is God, and i really believe that He has this one. and it excites me.

and the moment i hear anything about next year and know what is going to happen, you will be one of the top ten to know so PLEASE STOP ASKING ME THE FLIPPIN QUESTION? cough. thankx. i know you care. it means a lot. but until we know, we don’t know. it’s that simple.

[oh and we’re not particularly wanting to have kids at any stage and val’s thesis is going well, thankx.]