... and now we return you to your regularly scheduled program

December slid by while we were all snuggled up in our jammies (or swimsuits, it IS summer here in Johannesburg). We invited friends over, we took long walks, we slept late and watched movies. We talked, we prayed, we prepared our spirits for the start of a new year. We only kind of took a break from "ministry" at Emthonjeni. I mean, the center was closed for the holidays - but how do you draw a line between ministry work/ and living a journey with people? We found that we actually had more open time to simply share in people's lives than we do when all the meetings and projects are in full swing. It was delightful.

January we celebrated Madyline's 15th birthday - Three days later, she slammed her hand into the side of her bed, broke the middle bone in a spiral clean through. The pain was so intense that she passed out and whacked her face on the bed - and broke her nose twice. Two specialists coordinated together to each perform their surgery at the same time...and she started a new school year totally bandaged up.

One decision we made a long time ago came to be this last week...

Her name is Sparrow and her Tswana name is Tsholofelo We wanted to give her a Tswana name... but the Tswana word for sparrow is "thaja" (T-ah-ha) ... uhm... nope. "Little bird" is even worse... "Lemphorwana" can you imagine calling that name at the park?? So we stayed with the english name Sparrow but added Tsholofelo which means "hope". We are living in a place of hope right now. Not the hope like "I sure hope this all works out" although that is present too... We are living in the kind of hope that gives us peace and anticipation for what God is crafting next. Because it has to be something good.. whatever it is.

The reason we chose Sparrow ... I'm just really identifying and taking great comfort in the space where Jesus talked about how much God cares for us - look at the sparrow, he doesn't plant or harvest, but the Lord takes care of him each and every day - don't' you think God cares more about you than these little sparrows that come dime-a-dozen? The other day I looked that up in Matthew b/c in choosing that name I was remembering the concept of those verses but not the actual verses. In the Message it actually says "Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to Him than birds. …. " then he talks about wildflowers - which I love too… and then he says "What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting , so you can respond to God's giving…. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what is God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." I got a pretty big sigh out of that.

So as Feb begins, our hearts are full - full of the joy of relationships here, of good deicisions, of new puppies, of God's grace and peace and provision. We take moments to breathe deeply - sigh in fact - and recognize His presence in each moment... because we know he is there if we just sit quietly long enough to know him.