Moving from the Honeymoon to Real Life

First off, the hiatus has been far too long between posts, and for that I apologize. It's been almost two months now since I've been here in George. The time has arrived for the real groove of life to start here. My "honeymoon" period is over now, the time when every experience is fresh and interesting simply because it's done in the context of a different culture. While this was a bit discouraging for me initially, it has been replaced by something more meaningful. God is not only introducing more and more genuine friends in my life, but is revealing to me more of Himself, and for that there is no substitute. Regardless of what I thought going into this time, I packed along a great deal of expectations into my mind as to what my South African experience would look like. In reality, most of those expectations have not come to fruition, and I'm totally okay with that. This time has been formative already for me, and I am falling in love with the many cultures and people groups in South Africa in new ways. I'm not sure what my future holds, but I know that this country will be a part of who I am for the rest of my life. My only response at this stage is to be open to what God would do next, an openness which is both risky and freeing. I am incredibly fortunate to be here, and equally blessed to have good people in my life. Please keep me in your prayers, I cherish them as I walk through each day.

Good Things

Work up early this morning (7 am- yeah I know that's not all that early but come on) for a bit of a surf to start my day. As I was out on the water, with the sun sparkling off the waves and a pleasant breeze in the air, I saw a Southern Right Whale out to sea from me breach out of the water. This made me think of how lucky I am to be here. Of course, I was quickly brought back to reality when I got a mouth full of sea water on the next wave and wanted to yack my innards out, but it was still a good moment. Here are more good things I'm thankful for. My good friends Kenny and Carla Kneezle are moving out to South Africa in April or May! They will then join one of my best friends, Jeremy, out in the Cape Town area as missionaries. Let this officially coerce anyone of you sitting on the fence. Move out to South Africa! It's the only place to be. All the cool kids are doing it. Ok, enough recruiting. Also, the Red Sox are still in the playoffs. Ah, how good it is to wake up in the morning, check espn.com, and know that your favorite team is gonna bring home another World Series title. Sorry Tyler, it's too bad the D-Backs didn't even make the playoffs. Do you owe me money again? Oh, and also, sorry Ben, did my BoSox beat your Halos, YET AGAIN in the playoffs? :) Enough gloating. Yet another good thing, easily the most important announcement, is the arrival of Gary and Courtney's daughter Joelle Zoe Christenson into the world. Congrats guys, and I'm stoked to meet her in a couple of months. Lastly, the man who floats my musical boat, the man whose albums have been the soundtracks to my worst and greatest days, Ray LaMontagne, is coming out with his new album on Tuesday. I can't exactly express how unreasonably excited I am for this, but his music is something that speaks to me in an incredibly significant way. Go buy Gossip in the Grain, you won't be disappointed. And please, someone email me a copy, I can't get it off iTunes internationally. Ok, I think I'm done now. Been here a month already, I can't believe how the time has flown by. Hoping this finds you well, whoever happens to read this.

Camp

Last weekend I helped supervise an outdoor camp for 30 teenagers in the bush (the outdoors) at Ballot's Bay. Despite the fact that the guys chose to sing Alicia Keys at the top of their lungs until 3 am the first night, I think we all had a great time. My time was mostly spent at the beach with the kids, where Wayne, Suzi, and I facilitated some team building games, a treasure hunt, and some surf lessons. I, of course, did not do the surf lessons as most of the kids were already better than me on their first try. My admiration and gratitude go out to Wayne and Suzi McAfee, a couple from Northern Ireland, who run the OAM Sports Academy. They provided a weekend of entertainment and good food that was a gift for these kids. You can watch the Youtube video of the camp at the following link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wLW_OhVQv4 .Man it was good sleeping under the stars again too. Peace and love.