A few stories in the key of D

I could be your hero baby
A couple weekends ago I spent 4 days at a pleasant little secluded guest house in the Sabie mountains to get away. I basically laid in my bed for 4 days. It was great. I read and thought and prayed and relaxed. On the last day, Dave and Marilyn came to pick me up and before we left, we took a stroll to the private waterfall on the property. It was the most beautiful waterfall I've ever seen! I think it was mostly because it was private and could get as close as you wanted. There were a lot of pools and streams to frolic in, not to mention you could climb up the waterfall. Two little weenie dogs belonging to the neighbours followed us there. We were a little scared to have them come along, but thought they wouldn't be stupid enough to get into any trouble.
Ha.
I crossed to the other side of the river using a slippery, but relatively safe way to cross and one of the dogs followed me. The stream was shallow and piddly. After playing enough on the one side I crossed back over but the dog had wandered down a bit. Thinking he'd just follow me, I crossed. The dog wasn't so smart. He decided to cross at the WORST possible spot, where the current was strong and the stream fairly wide. We saw the dog and panicked as he attempted to cross. The stream starting taking him away. We freaked out and tried to run to him but there was really nothing we could do. The little furball was doomed. He got carried into a little pool with a tall rock face on one side and extremely rough death-rapids on the other. He tried to climb the rock but couldn't do it. He started to get closer to the rapids. Ok I won't keep you in suspense any longer. I got to the pool just in time, jumped in, and rescued that little guy.
Thank you, thank you.

This is the first day of my life
After saving the dog, my blood was pumping with adrenaline and I realized I've never skinny dipped before. So Dave left, I took off my clothes, and jumped in. ooooWEEEE. It was the best.

Body massage, body massage, everybody come and get one in my garage
Please be warned this is a very awkward story but Brooke encouraged me to tell it. So I'm going to not mention any names. In fact, I'm going to use the name ... Pracidia. I have a friend named Pracidia from a country in Africa, let's call it The Zamibia. She recently told me she loved giving massages. Stoked on this new information, I took up her offer to give me one. I laid on her bed, took off my shirt, and positioned myself for the best back massage of my life. As she's massaging me, she pokes my boobs from the side and says, "I just love boobs." Feeling a little awkward, but knowing African's are open about breasts, I just let it slide. She keeps massage then says, "Let me see your boobs." Awkward level increasing, I denied her request. She then proceeds to tell me that she'll show me hers. Without hearing my answer to the trade, she lifts her shirt and shows me. Not complying to her demands, she continues to massage me. After she finished, I put my shirt back on and she catches a little glimpse. She exclaims, "OH! YOURS ARE NICE!" Short Pause. "Let me touch them." Short Pause. "I'm not lesbian." NOW how do I react to this? Shortly later, after receiving no action, of all people, Lize enters the room: "What's going on in here?" Pracidia says, "Kristal has nice boobs. Do you want to see them Lize?" If you know Lize you'll know she is the perfect person to throw into this situation because she is the most innocent and most likely to melt in awkwardness upon this question. We kind of just slowly and awkwardly leave the room. I sat on my bed feeling absolutely dirty thinking, "What just happened..."

Pshht.. may I have your attention please. I repeat, may I have your attention please
Today I spoke at an HIV/Aids Symposium to a room full of nurses. Who else spoke at it? Well.. lots of doctors. Lots of well-researched, well-prepared, fancy book-writing doctors. Who would've thought I'd be doing such a bizarre thing.

So close to home.

I'm currently sitting at my desk wearing 3 layers (including plaid flannel) and mittens, drinking Tim Horton's Apple Cinnamon tea left and forgotten in Dave's pocket, listening to Sufjan's Christmas album and just wishing the light drizzle would turn into snow.

Happy Anniversary

Dear Kristal,

Happy Anniversary.
I can't believe it's been a year already today since that first time I laid my eyes on you. You were so green but so ambitious. As soon as your pasty white body stepped off that plane, I knew that I loved you.
That love has grown over the last 365 days.
I love the way you get stuffed up every morning and every night when we are together. I love the way your hair grows wilder and more unmanageable every day. I love the purplish-red glow of your skin after we go for long walks. I love the many days we fall asleep together at 7:00 pm. I love your smell. I love your bravery when walking through the tall grass. I love the way your nose crinkles when you eat chicken feet. I love the way your body shakes when you dance Nkwazi.
Your are the salt in my pepper, you're the Sani in my Bonani, you're the Lion in my Big 5, you're the A of my NC, you're the Bush in my Buckridge, you're the Boere in my Wors!

Siyabonga, Umfatiwami. Ngiyakutsandza. <3

Love,
Africa
XOXO

SHOUT OUT

Dear home,

I miss you.

Sincerely,
Kristal Dawn.

Daddy

A very, very dear friend of mine recently went on a 3 week journey in Israel. She came back with the most amazing story. She said as she traveled through the streets in Jerusalem, she stopped dead when she witnessed a little boy, arms out in front of him, chasing after his father crying, "Abba, Abba".

He called his papa "Abba". It's real. The little Jewish boys actually do cry out to their daddy's saying "Abba".

And as I read Romans 8, it makes it so real.

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." Rom 8:15-16


On a different note, I dropped my phone in the drop toilet at Zola's house. In case you don't know what it is, it's an outhouse. Luckily, they fetched it out for me. Don't ask me how... I have no idea. Unluckily, it smelled like poo.

Threads of Sincerity

There are days when I'm right where I'm supposed to be,
But mostly I am far away,
Learning to live the way I should,
Learning to love the way you would,
I'm learning to love the way you would.

And today it's been made clear,
That I've walked so far away,
It's easy wanting something more.
I will die.
I will die.
I will die to you.

Clare

I just stayed in a rural village called Clare for the last week and a half. I stayed with a woman named Minah and her husband and her two children Philile (18) and Siyabonga (8). I absolutely fell in love with these two girls. Philile spoke very good English and we spent a lot of time talking about her life and boys and faith.. it was incredible. She's absolutely beautiful inside and out and I just so wish for her to rise up out of the typical future for a young rural South African woman. She has a boyfriend in University who comes to visit once or twice a year ... this already raises huge flags. South African men are not the most faithul and trustworthy in relationships. Siyabonga on the other hand couldn't speak any English or even any Siswati, so we used a lot of hand gestures and pointing. She would try to talk to me in Tsonga anyway and would try to talk very slow for me to understand, but jibberish is jibberish no matter how slow it is. But we really connected. We slept together, her usually ON me. And she always woke very early to be in school by 7. I would wake up also and help her get ready: clasp her shoes, fold her collar, comb her hair... it was one of my favourite times of the day.

I stayed in Clare to really push forward with a feeding program we're starting up in the area, including 13 villages and 700 kids. As exciting as it is that these 700 kids will soon be receiving a meal a day, it is definitely frustrating work. I wanted to cry multiple times a day trying to get the details organized. There are a lot of challenges that come with South Africa: expectations, power hunger, lack of initiative, church politics (I guess this is everywhere) ... but when all these things arise when working together to care for the orphans in these communities, the frustration becomes large scale.

"And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday"
Isaiah 58:10

True fasting.