Today's a good day to be alive!!
A few days ago, after much frustration with various aspects of life in Zimbabwe (be it queueing for hours for petrol; not being able to get food in the shops, or trying to get end-of-term results entered into the computer when the electricity cuts daily!) a friend of mine said "Today wouldn't be such a bad day to die!" That comment has stuck with me through the past few days and through numerous challenges, trying to get from Harare to Johannesburg. And hsa given me much cause to think and evaluate the state of things -- both in my life and around me.
Today is NOT a good day to die. Today is a very good day to be alive. To LIVE! And you know what else, if we are willing to stick it through and anticipate something good around the corner, things can have a way of pleasantly surprising us.
Since I missed America's Thanksgiving, I've decided to take today as my day of Thanksgiving, and I want to take this opportunity to say hwo grateful I am for everything that has happened in the past year. Lessons I've learned. People I've met. Places I've been to.
This international nomad is once again pitter-pattering around the globe (well, at least around southern Africa!) This time two days ago, I had just secured Police Clearance on my car, which I planned to bring down to South Africa, from Zimbabwe. I then joined what turned into a 4-hour petrol queue in Harare. I HAD to get petrol before leaving Zimbabwe, in order to make it as far as the border. Well, I was about 40 cars from the front of the queue when they announced that the fuel had run out and we should all go home. This was at 4:30 p.m. and the fuel stations close at 6:00! What to do? Almost immediately a friend-of-a-friend called me to let me know he had a fuel coupon for me with a different garage, and where was I as he could drop it off? I hadn't even made it back to my car after talking to the attendent at the petrol station!!! So 2 minutes later I met this guy and he gave me the coupon I was owed. He then offered to sell me another coupon at a very favourable rate. 10 minutes later I had an overflowing tank of petrol and 10 litres in a gerrycan -- I was ready for my trip!
The day to leave came (yesterday) and my brother, a friend and I got up at 3 am to get an early start and avoid a snarl-up at the SA/Zim border. By the time we got to the border I was so ill I could barely stand or keep consciousness!! So when a border officer on the South African side told me I couldn't go across because I was a South African citizen driving a Zimbabwean car, I just about collapsed (this was after 7+ hours of driving!!) My prayer?? "God, please help me quick!" Well, He did, and soon I was not only feeling a lot better, but the complication was resolved and we were on our way to Joburg.
I had a meeting to attend in Johannesburg at 7:30, and with our delays it was looking highly unlikely we were going to make it. But 5 hours later, we were at the meeting and although I still wasn't feeling that great (by that time I'd been driving for 14 hours and had had one sandwich the whole day!) the meeting was incredible. It was about Christian healing, and when I slept last night I felt so much better--just calm and grateful for making it through the day!
Today, again there were all sorts of hold-ups that threatened to disrupt important plans and every time things seemed to work out (again, several "God, please help out here"s later!!!) One meeting I had to go to, it looked like I was going to be at least 30 minutes late, and I'd already left a message to excuse myself -- when I found myself at the venue 1 minute EARLY for the appointment I was pretty stunned!
So....why am I rambling on about all these things? Why indeed?! I guess, like I said, I'm just so grateful to be alive. So grateful to be part of this world. So grateful for the experiences -- good and bad -- that I've had this past year. And so grateful to God for always, ALWAYS showing us the way forward -- no matter what we've done; no matter how many wrong turns we've taken, He is always right there next to us guiding us along our way. And when we fall, we just gotta be willing to let Him gently pick us up, brush us off, and set us back on track.
OK, now I really am rambling, but I realized something about simply the process of writing a blog. Although we may journey physically -- and this year has seen a lot of travel for me -- the journey is almost always a mental journey more than a physical one. The lessons we learn are for life.
Today is NOT a good day to die. Today is a very good day to be alive. To LIVE! And you know what else, if we are willing to stick it through and anticipate something good around the corner, things can have a way of pleasantly surprising us.
Since I missed America's Thanksgiving, I've decided to take today as my day of Thanksgiving, and I want to take this opportunity to say hwo grateful I am for everything that has happened in the past year. Lessons I've learned. People I've met. Places I've been to.
This international nomad is once again pitter-pattering around the globe (well, at least around southern Africa!) This time two days ago, I had just secured Police Clearance on my car, which I planned to bring down to South Africa, from Zimbabwe. I then joined what turned into a 4-hour petrol queue in Harare. I HAD to get petrol before leaving Zimbabwe, in order to make it as far as the border. Well, I was about 40 cars from the front of the queue when they announced that the fuel had run out and we should all go home. This was at 4:30 p.m. and the fuel stations close at 6:00! What to do? Almost immediately a friend-of-a-friend called me to let me know he had a fuel coupon for me with a different garage, and where was I as he could drop it off? I hadn't even made it back to my car after talking to the attendent at the petrol station!!! So 2 minutes later I met this guy and he gave me the coupon I was owed. He then offered to sell me another coupon at a very favourable rate. 10 minutes later I had an overflowing tank of petrol and 10 litres in a gerrycan -- I was ready for my trip!
The day to leave came (yesterday) and my brother, a friend and I got up at 3 am to get an early start and avoid a snarl-up at the SA/Zim border. By the time we got to the border I was so ill I could barely stand or keep consciousness!! So when a border officer on the South African side told me I couldn't go across because I was a South African citizen driving a Zimbabwean car, I just about collapsed (this was after 7+ hours of driving!!) My prayer?? "God, please help me quick!" Well, He did, and soon I was not only feeling a lot better, but the complication was resolved and we were on our way to Joburg.
I had a meeting to attend in Johannesburg at 7:30, and with our delays it was looking highly unlikely we were going to make it. But 5 hours later, we were at the meeting and although I still wasn't feeling that great (by that time I'd been driving for 14 hours and had had one sandwich the whole day!) the meeting was incredible. It was about Christian healing, and when I slept last night I felt so much better--just calm and grateful for making it through the day!
Today, again there were all sorts of hold-ups that threatened to disrupt important plans and every time things seemed to work out (again, several "God, please help out here"s later!!!) One meeting I had to go to, it looked like I was going to be at least 30 minutes late, and I'd already left a message to excuse myself -- when I found myself at the venue 1 minute EARLY for the appointment I was pretty stunned!
So....why am I rambling on about all these things? Why indeed?! I guess, like I said, I'm just so grateful to be alive. So grateful to be part of this world. So grateful for the experiences -- good and bad -- that I've had this past year. And so grateful to God for always, ALWAYS showing us the way forward -- no matter what we've done; no matter how many wrong turns we've taken, He is always right there next to us guiding us along our way. And when we fall, we just gotta be willing to let Him gently pick us up, brush us off, and set us back on track.
OK, now I really am rambling, but I realized something about simply the process of writing a blog. Although we may journey physically -- and this year has seen a lot of travel for me -- the journey is almost always a mental journey more than a physical one. The lessons we learn are for life.
posted by VN at 4:02 AM
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