Fasten your seatbelts...we are experiencing some turbulance!

It is amazing how things can totally change in a few days time.

Sometimes it feels we are all in a big pot of stew and there is an automatic spoon that slowly comes by to mix everything together. In order for the stew to be its best this needs to happen. It needs to get stirred. We don't like being anywhere in the vicinity of that spoon so we get as far out of the way as we can when we see it coming. We might go so far as to take a jet ski to propel us out of the area. Even so we still feel the ripple effects of that stew being stirred. Now and then, however, we are so busy bobbing along that the spoon comes by and we are right in its course. We are taken under so deeply and tossed around so much that it begins to feel more like we are in a blender with no lid. In those times we need something to hang on to for dear life. A checkbook will do little for you when you can't see your hand in front of your face. Family members and friends might be stirred right along with you...or maybe they've taken that jet ski to what they feel is safety. No, in those times the one and only thing that will provide any real security is knowing that you are hanging on to the one who has made the recipe and is in charge of all the stirring.

In the past few days the world of many people involved in this trip have turned upside down. We joke about not making plans but in reality we as humans can make all the plans in the world...we can be organized...it can all make sense...it can all feel right.

          In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

It makes us feel secure to feel like we are in control. We often go to great lengths to make that happen. I have found, however, that there is so much more security in allowing God all the control. He has it anyway. Why not give up what we never really have in order to truly be free of that weight?

There is a beautiful song, Blessings, by Laura's Story that comes to mind:

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?


Many people have witnessed God's presence and comfort in the events that have happened in the last few days. Our plan looks different than it did a week ago. Lives look different than they did a week ago. There has been tears shed amidst pain and fear, but God's comfort is bigger than all of it.

As I write this I do not know what will happen past tomorrow, let alone what we will experience on this trip and with who we will be experiencing it with. But that's okay. I never really knew anyway. I know that things will all be okay- not because I am sure the worst won't happen but because even if the worst happens...I know a really great cook.

Silly me, I left a pair of socks...

It has come to my attention that I left my favorite pair of socks back in Africa. These were my favorite, irreplaceable socks...the only possible remedy for this is we must go back to fetch them. While we're at it why not take a few friends and see what else we might have missed the first time around? After all, we're going to be there anyway. It just makes good Dutch sense.

I will be having this very special reunion with my footwear in just a few short weeks. After fetching them we are heading north to Zimbabwe. It appears the most sensible route to get there will be to go 4 hours out of the way, then backtrack a few hours via Botswana and then eventually end up at our destination. Now you might be thinking there is massive road construction going on here; however this is actually not the case. While the roads are indeed horrendous, they have no intention of fixing them. Our detour has more to do with border patrol who like to "wing it" as they say by making up their own price lists....errrr...I mean exchange the price of crossing the border with a small nominal fee along with appropriate administrative costs (they have a lot of administration there- it must be as large as Capitol Hill). My fingers are crossed that my special footwear will make it across the border with me after border patrol assesses their clearly special nature.

The plan is that we (and by we I mean Jamie) will hunt near Hwange Reserve along with Don, his hunting partner from last year. Don's wife, Joyce, has graciously agreed to come along to keep me company while the men hunt and gather and bring their commodities back to the cave. Fingers are crossed that the intended dangerous game they seek will meet their demise via an early heart attack that just happens to occur simultaneously with making eye contact with our loved ones rather than  after chasing said loved ones alongside their PH's and trackers screaming and flailing their arms through the brush, shrieking like little girls loud enough to wake up the Botswanan lions. Wait...did I just say that out loud??

Later the four of us will go to see a bunch of water. This is a special bunch of water that flows off big cliffs and for fun people dangle over the edge while having their ankles being held by a total stranger. Again, this activity would incur administrative costs and in this case you want to make sure you have the currency exchange calculated correctly. And of course make sure that your total stranger that just became your new best friend doesn't develop an untimely itch. Not an instance where "my bad" is appropriate. I am pretty sure we will just be spectators of this "sport". Now before you think that these Zimbabweans are totally crazy you must take into account that this is only done during the dry season. It would just be silly to try this when there's IMMENSE water flowing over the edge of these 300 foot cliffs and not just the regular old earth-shaking water flow. Just in case I have created a sense of urgency in you to want to try this yourself, the area I'm referring to is Victoria Falls, one of the 7 wonders of the natural world. (the dangling people are one of the wonders of the unnatural world)

After all this adventure "the plan" is that we will go to Chobe Reserve in Botswana before coming home via a domestic flight back to Johannesburg that may or may not take place due to airline debt issues and/or warthog encounters on the runway that have impaired some of the planes ability to fly in their intended manner. (As in most cases of Africa stories...this is not an embellished anecdote. African stories need no embellishment. The only exception relates to stories involving fish.)

Now why do I qualify "the plan" in quotes? After everything we have experienced in planning this second trip (not to mention the adventures of the first trip) we realize that Africa laughs at the thought of plans. We essentially have no idea what we are getting into and have very few definite plans. Internet service will be nearly nonexistent (the tower operators are too busy holding ankles) therefore I will post when I can- just so you know if I located my precious socks.