today.

me & my big mouth....... refer to a post earlier:
"somersault in sand, check. somersault in water, check. i would very much like to leave out the somersault in air component. it would hurt less during the flip, but a lot more when landing. " 
update today: somersault in air, check. thankfully, the landing didnt hurt as much as logic & physics says it would. God did indeed keep us very safe. and i'm now in capetown. (:

being here actually feels overrated now. i'm just up the road from where our team spent 3 weeks sharing the God's love. and now, its so weird to walk the same streets, knowing that everyone else is at home. but i should probably stop emoing and remembering the city for what it was, and take this opportunity to experience the touristy side of it (even if im not much of a fan of touristy stuff). anw. its the wrong time for a trip down memory lane. i shall go read and sleep and recover from today. after experiences like this, i wish that my trust in God's ability to defy logic extended to more aspects of life.

ok. another day, another adventure.
my dad has this uncanny ability to get us into situations.
be it his fault or not.

counting.the.days....

i leave SA in 10 days. i reach home in 12 days. then 29th, 30th, 31st. and hello 2011.

that was like a uber brief summary of my last days of 2010. i'm looking forward to seeing all my friends again and 2011 promises to be another adventure with God. some plans are forming in my head already.

i am having fun.

so, despite the bummed past few days, i was determined to enjoy my time in Africa.

glad to say, i did. (: 

took a little morning walk along the Wild Coast myself. it was just the wet rocks, steep cliffs, azure blue sea and me. (with my camera of course). it was awesome. wish we had stayed longer there. but the area was quite unsettling, i.e. traditional ancestral worship & witchdoctors (sangoma). 

anyhow, we left the backpackers for a nearby attraction: the hole-in-the-wall. it was literally, a hole in a small island-cliff just off the beach. took a short trek to reach it but the amazing beaches & surrounding bush were so beautiful that the journey was an attraction in itself!

and then, made our way to East London to meet up with dear old Jonothan from my outreach for dinner. i miss my Team Jaah-pahn! we had take out & sat by the beachfront talking. almost totally ignored my dad and brother for the entire 2hours, even though they were next to me. but i needed it, extended time with my dad in particular gets my nerves rather frayed. 

so, even with the night driving (or should i say, crawling) with constant comments from my dad that i'm "speeding" at 100km/h on a 120km/h road..... yes, it was a good day. & i hope tomorrow's great too. maybe sand-boarding or surfing? i'm done with trying to get either one excited/interested, and if they arent going/dont want to plan exciting stuff to do together, i cant help it. & even if the boundaries of this leg of my SA experience is very much limited, SA is still a huge adventure for me. so there. 

fears, faith, failure, but always, Grace.

am suddenly really afraid of going back home.

and its not an unfounded fear.

but it is unqualified, and it is unnecessary.
because i know, God is greater.
greater than my weaknesses, failures, shortcomings, stumbles.
greater than all my fears, real and imagined.
greater than the god i used to make Him out to be.

and while it absolutely terrifies me that i go home to vastly different circumstances and people,
i am equally comforted by the knowledge that i serve a God of grace; it is He that will do the work.

its a battle within, an ongoing conflict. every now and then, my faith is nowhere to be found, and i immerse myself in the scary thoughts of the many what-ifs. but eventually, (like now), there is grace for the moment. and i am reminded of all of God's promises to me, His grace, and His unfailing love. and then, i feel ready to go home and put this faith into practice.

today, i saw much of the amazing Drakensberg (literally translated as Dragon Mountains). it was breath-takingly beautiful. and i also saw the most beautiful backlit-mountains when the sun came through after a huge thunderstorm. last week, i saw & experienced (yet again) the mighty waves of the Indian Ocean. we took a boat out for an ocean safari and the waves were ginormous. it was indescribable! & the week before, i felt, heard and encountered the king of the jungle. admittedly, they were young ones, but i felt the lion's rough and gentle tongue licking me (i think i taste good) and i also had my slipper eaten.

tomorrow is as much of a mystery and an adventure that awaits. the day holds its challenges, but it just drives me closer to depend on God for grace, and patience, and love. and south africa is still awesome. cannot wait to go hiking and then swimming next to a waterfall tomorrow!

16 days left.

a beautiful home.

a picture of me on the mountaintop with my camera. i like this muchhh. (:
quite aptly describes where i am in life and with God these few months.
but today, i need to rush my take home test like mad. and i am lostttttt. so, i will update the story behind this picture (and the many other stories that i owe) tomorrow, when the madness subsides for a while. another 2 hour night ahead.. eish! is it!

but i've come home from spring break into a purple eden. (: the jacaranda flowers are in bloom. think tree-lined avenues filled with lavender-purple instead of the usual green. its beautiful!