43 days

  43 days until I fly to South Africa.  Since I have the countdown marked on my calender, I thought now would be a good time to start my first blog.
   I believe in October, I was at a sing-a-long and enjoying the singing and the companionship   It was just about time to go home and we were sitting around talking.  I was chatting with Pastor de Vries and as soon as he found out that I had 2 months off, he invited me down to South Africa.  My first response was 'Ummm . . ." and I think I was speechless for a bit. But after a bit more discussion, I was starting to see it as a possibility.  I don't think I slept well that night - all I could think of was South AFrica? Eight weeks? On the other side of the world?
   Fast forward - January 2013.  I still had not made up my mind.  Most people were recommending that I go, but others were worried about the potential dangers and the distance away from home.  It was a tough decision - it would an awesome experience and I am sure that I would grow so much, but I would be away from my family for 6-7 weeks and not be able to join them with camping/ boating/ etc.  But I knew that I had to make up my mind soon and so I decided to go.
  Since that time, I have booked my flight (26 hours - not looking forward to that), sent countless emails to South Africa, had my students do a presentation on South Africa, bought a suitcase, raised some money, scheduled immunizations and many other little details.  It is still not the date, but already I am nervous and excited.