Update

This past Tuesday evening we were all excited about attending the Krabbeland end of year graduation night. Krabbeland is the day centre that Sydney attends from Monday to Friday. Earlier on in the year we were asked to help our child make an instrument which would be used at this graduation event so we were quite excited to see our precious Sydney and her friends make music and celebrate the end of their school year.

Events such as these prove quite a challenge for Faye and I because all the speaking is done in Afrikaans..

Sydney and her classmates took to the stage and to the sounds of the song " I Am a Music Man" they entertained us all. Sydney played her drum which Faye made for her.. Sydney of course is not in a graduating class so will be back at pre-school next year. It is so easy to notice Sydney amongst her friends simply because she is the smallest of them all. At this point we are unsure of which school she will attend as there is a very strong possibility that Krabbeland will close its doors at the end of this year.

On Saturday I had one of those times of wanting to kick myself. After servicing and cleaning my car I later had to go and fetch Larnelle from a friends house. As I reversed in the Centre courtyard I did not notice some galvanised iron sheets piled up on the floor close to the garage door.. As I reversed I heard the sound of rapidly moving air - Yes you guessed it.. A tyre was cut by the sheeting. At first I was tempted to be angry with the staff who placed the sheets on the floor.. after all couldn't they have found somewhere else to put them, where they would not cause damage... BUT then it dawned on me that I had seen the sheets there in the morning and had walked past them several times in the course of the morning.. So why didn't I do something ?? At the end of it all I came to grips with the reality that I had not paid sufficient attention and now had a tyre with quite a large cut in the sidewall. Thankfully the tyre repair people were able to repair it but told me to simply keep it as a spare as they could not give any kind of guarantee on this kind of repair.. In a moment of reflection I smiled at the realisation of how quickly I sought to apportion blame to somebody else rather than take responsibility for my oversight..

As I write these words I am happy to tell you that it has started to rain heavily and the sound of rain drops on the roof are music to my ears. Hopefully the temperatures will come down to a more comfortable level..

Tonight I will be attending a Pastors Bible class in Five Rand (a squatter settlement about 7kms from town) where I have been asked to teach on and lead Worship with the Pastors. These are pastors who have signed up to be equipped and given instruction to improve their leadership as they lead their churches. There will be about eight pastors and they all speak Luchazi - yes I will be working with and interpreter. Many years ago (as a teen) I was involved in ministry in Bulawayo's (Zimbabwe) high density suburbs and frequently work with translators.. At the time I simply thought it a necessary inconvenience BUT now I see it as being preparation for times such as this.

Faye, Larnelle, Sydney, Joshua and I are doing well and praying that God would make a way for us to visit our families and friends in Zimbabwe before the end of the year.