Loving Life

Here we sit in Durban.  Loving life.  Loving friends.  Loving students.  And we feel a tug.  A Pull.  God is moving. God is moving us.  Where?  How?  Read and better understand... or not:

Psalm 83.3-7, 12

³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
       and the swallow a nest for herself,
       where she may have her young—
       a place near your altar,
       O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

 ⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
       they are ever praising you.
       Selah

 ⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
       who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

 ⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
       they make it a place of springs;
       the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

 ⁷ They go from strength to strength,
       till each appears before God in Zion. 

¹² O LORD Almighty,
       blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Hearts set on Pilgrimage.

Just thinking of friends in Japan.

So here are a couple of the O'Donnells.  Just thinking about these fine people over in Japan with The Navigators.  Good people to support if your into that type of thing! E-mail me to find out how.

Here is a little something to help you understand what people are talking about in SA today:

Oct 20, 2010

liff

Dear Government by Gareth Cliff

This is the letter that started it all. Gareth Cliff wrote this letter to Government on his personal website:

Dear Government

OK, I get it, the President isn’t the only one in charge. The ANC believes in “collective responsibility” (So that nobody has to get blamed when things get screwed up), so I address this to everyone in government – the whole lot of you – good, bad and ugly (That’s you, Blade).

We were all so pleased with your renewed promises to deliver services (we’ll forgive the fact that in some places people are worse off than in 1994); to root out corruption (so far your record is worse than under Mbeki, Mandela or the Apartheid regime – what with family members becoming overnight millionaires); and build infrastructure (State tenders going disgustingly awry and pretty stadia standing empty notwithstanding) – and with the good job you did when FIFA were telling you what to do for a few months this year. Give yourselves half a pat on the back. Since President Sepp went off with his billions I’m afraid we have less to be proud of – Public Servants Strikes, more Presidential bastard children, increasing unemployment and a lack of leadership that allowed the Unions to make the elected government it’s bitch. You should be more than a little worried – but you’re not. Hence my letter. Here are some things that might have passed you by:

1. You have to stop corruption. Don’t stop it because rich people moan about it and because it makes poor

The finished tree

The quiver tree and the boy who's energy sends you shivers!

Murder

I write, just to think out-loud today.

My neighbor (the pastor) road up on his bike today. Stopped to have a chat.  Topic: police being on our road Saturday night.   What happened: murder.
A murder on our street.

Not sure how I feel about that.  Not because it isn't horrendous, scary or just will make the grandparents want to convince us to fly back to USA immediately.  Rather it's because of the circumstances behind the murder.  Would we still call it a horrendous crime if you found out that it was a high school Matric student (Senior) who stabbed his dad?  Probably makes it worse.  Until you find out that he was an abusive father. And that father's wife was trying to divorce him which enraged him, making him more abusive.  Thus the son's act of violence.

One boy had enough.  Took matters into his own hands.  And sent his life down and irreparable journey.  He is forever changed and I can't blame him.  Yet how did it get to that point?

I didn't know the family.  I had met and talked with the boy.  In-fact I gave a talk one friday night at his youth group last year.
But no one could help him (he assumed).

Maybe no one would.

Professional Coffee people

Check some of the people that I interact with when judging or being an
MC for a coffee event.

My office

I'm on my way to a Nav Core team Bible study in Pietermaritzburg.
Thought I would give you a snapshot of my office.
Working out of a bag since 2001. Though beverages do change and I'm
on my 3rd bag.

Love being back in Durban.

Macchiato, Ben's favorite.

I received an SMS from Cyril (Dr/past student with Navs) that said that he wanted me to bring a coffee with for him when he picked me up.  I discipled Cyril for years and never got him to take a sip of God's gift to man.  A follow up SMS clarified that the the drink would be to drop off for his wife who was on call that night at the hospital.

oh well, we can't win them all.