Time to think
“The path a person walks today will determine their destination tomorrow”. Sounds so simple and obvious, but cumulatively if your walking in the wrong direction...? If your following the whims of benign interest, you will end up nowhere. If your interest is in darkness , perversity and the immoral, then where does that leave you? Likewise, if you are pursuing wisdom, connection, and goodness, then your focus is on a life well lived and your legacy will be one worth remembering. Satisfy your soul, not your appetite, one is with you forever.
One of the many reasons I wanted to come to Capetown was to have time to reflect deeply on what really matters to me. I was finding it increasingly hard to identify whats important amid all the distractions, and I’m deeply grateful to have this “sabbatical”. Friends who have known me a long time will remember that Ive always been a deep thinker and a bit of a philosopher. I know I used to drive people crazy with my analyzing and reflections but guess what...? SHE’S BACK ! ( I will understand if my readership , all twelve of you, takes a nose dive). For the rest of you, it wont be all Brene Brown and the Bible, but His is the “path” I’m on...unapologetically.
One of the first and most rewarding investments of my new found time and focus here, is my family. Its amazing how much more I notice about them when I have nothing else to do. A teenagers nightmare!!! I am fine tuning my ability to see when they are struggling with homesickness or fatigue or all the newness. I am amazed at how incredibly important food is to kids, not just the right amount of it but the comfort and security that is in the familiar. Some days I think if I just had a box of Annie’s mac ‘n cheese that it could cure all things! I would venture a guess that this is not just a ‘First World’ thing. I think any human who gets regular nutrition comes to count of that expected texture and flavour and satisfaction that comes with it. That makes it even more frustrating when the familiar brands we can get here , are still different. Small but important.
Another observation Ive made watching my kids through a microscope is how they are “self indentifying’. What I mean by this is how they see themselves as compared to their classmates and peers. The American International school had around 500 students from over 60 countries!!! Canadians make up 2% of the population , us and one other family. The girls have friends with names we’ve yet been able to pronounce and Sean has a colleague with a “click” in her name. When you are surrounded by people who sound, smell and look different from you all day , I believe our sub conscious is even more sensitive to how we represent. ⬅️ MAJOR REASON I wanted the kids to have this experience! To develop awareness and sensitivity around what contributes to our culture and sense of community and our self. It is my prayer that through this time in Capetown , that our entire family would become more discriminate about what we let shape and indentify our person.
Blessings to you all
J
