On Wednesday of next week (January 14, 2015), Lisa-Jo, Jackson (Lisa-Jo’s 10-year-old son), Joy, and I will be boarding a plane for an 18-hour flight from DC to Johannesburg, South Africa.
{Yes, we opted for no layover to cut down on travel time… but that’s going to be one long, long flight!}
We’re getting really, really excited. Unlike my usual pack-the-same-thing-an-hour-before-I-leave routine (one of the benefits to having a really simple wardrobe and basically bringing the same things on every trip I take!), this time around, I actually wrote out a packing list earlier this week and am already starting to collect everything I need to take in a spot in my closet.
{By the way, thank you, thank you, for all the great ideas and information in the comments on this post. You all covered some things and shared some ideas I hadn’t thought of. Things like the fact that bathrooms wouldn’t have toilet paper… yikes, I’m clearly such a newbie international traveler! :)}
We’re staying with Lisa-Jo’s parents and will be spending most of our days meeting the amazing local leaders who work with them as part of the Take Action Ministry and seeing the work they are doing in the communities there.
We’re excited to be dreaming and planning for how we can come alongside them long-term and partner with them in their much-needed ministry in South Africa (more on that in the future — I can’t wait to share more with you about the projects and opportunities we’re discussing right now!)
For those who have asked, we will be in Pretoria mostly in Hammanskraal. It’s supposed to be around 95 degrees there — which will quite the contrast from the cold we’ve been experiencing in TN. It’s hard to think about sun dresses and tank tops in this coat and glove weather!
I’m grateful to be traveling with Lisa-Jo and Jackson who were both born in South Africa and who have extensive international traveling experience (Lisa-Jo has lived all over the world and speaks 5 languages!) And I’ve heard that the hospitality in South Africa is amazing. So it sounds like we’ll be in great hands there!
There are definitely things I’m anxious about, but there’s so much peace in my heart about this trip. I’m already falling in love with the beautiful people of South Africa and have a feeling I’ll be leaving part of my heart there.
I also have a feeling that it will be an eye-opening, American-comfort-bubble-bursting, life-changing trip. I want to go with an open heart to whatever God wants to teach me and am praying that my heart would never be the same as a result of this trip.
As one of our goals from this trip is to introduce you to South Africa and the wonderful people there, we want to be your eyes and ears on the ground.
There will be SO many things I could blog about when I’m there, but I’d love to know what you’d most like to hear about. So help me out:
- What questions do you have about South Africa?
- What pictures would you like to most see me share from my South Africa trip?
- What would you most like me to blog about while I’m there?
- What questions do you have about this trip?
I can’t promise that I’ll be able to cover everything you suggest, but I will definitely do my best to capture as much as I can in pictures and blog posts so that you can feel like you’re joining me virtually in this adventure!
Also, if you missed it before, be sure to sign up for behind-the-scenes updates via the form below.
Need some encouragement to read more? Jill at Blessed Beyond a Doubt is inviting you to join her 2015 Book Challenge. Here’s what she says:
“This new year I decided I wanted to read more because I adore it. It's my relaxation therapy. So I decided to come up with a book challenge 2015 for myself.
And of course, I want you to join me.
I want to broaden my horizons by reading multiple different genre and topics of interest. I rarely read fiction, but I do enjoy it. I believe you can grow from reading from any type of book.
Here's my Book Challenge 2015 Printable with all the different genres and topics I plan on reading this year. I am just going to check them off as I read them. If I don't get to all of them, no sweat, I will add them to my next year book challenge list. Reading is meant for enjoyment not stress…”
Read more here.
We're seven days into January and I've finished seven books so far. That's a pretty good pace, eh? 
I don't think I'll be able to keep reading at the pace of one book per day, but it’s been fun to have more time for reading these past two weeks!
Books Read This Week
Here's what I read this past week:
What Alice Forgot — I really enjoyed this book. While it wasn’t written from a Christian perspective and had some swear words in it, the book was well-written and really caused me to step back and examine my own marriage and relationships to see if I’m making small choices that would, over time, have devastating consequences.
Steal Like An Artist — This is such a quick read, but it’s packed with inspirational ideas. I didn’t agree with all of the ideas and thought some of them could be overwhelming — especially if you felt like you needed to add a bunch of them to your life in order to be a better writer or more creative person — but overall, I thought it was solid and helpful advice.
I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn't) — I’ve loved all three of Brene’s books. This one is her first book and, while it was very thought-provoking, I’d say it was my least favorite. If you only read one of hers, I would highly recommend Daring Greatly. Caveat: All of Brene’s books have some crass language in them and aren’t written to a Christian audience.
5-Minute Morning Boosters — This was another quick read, but it had some interesting ideas in it for starting your day well. Some of them were quite weird, but there were enough good ideas to outweigh the few weird ones.
Dashing Dish: 100 Simple & Delicious Recipes for Clean Eating — This book just showed up at my doorstep one day and it looked interesting, so I read through it last week. And to my surprise, I thought many of the recipes looked really good. In fact, I dog-eared so many pages that I feel like I practically dog-eared every other page! Many of the recipes were unique but still simple and delicious-looking. I passed the cookbook on to Jesse to look through since he’s been doing a lot of cooking these days, too.
Books I Plan to Read Next Week
James and the Giant Peach — This is our current read aloud. We’re enjoying it, though I have to say that some of the language and attitudes has surprised me for a children’s book. I’ve edited it a bit and used other parts as opportunities to have discussions on how our words can be hurtful and shameful to others.
The Anxiety Cure — As someone who struggles with anxiety during different seasons of life, I'm on a mission to learn more about it and what I can do to help prevent or minimize it. I read Sleep: It Does a Family Good by Archibald Hart two years ago and learned so much from it that I picked up this title to check it out, too.
Glimpses of Grace — So many people have told me I must read this book. I'm about a 1/2 of the way through it and am finding it thought-provoking it.
The One Thing — I keep seeing this one mentioned over and over again, so I thought it'd be a great read to start the year out with.
Long Walk to Freedom & Kaffir Boy — I'm reading these in preparation for my trip to South Africa next week.
Against All Grain — Multiple friends have mentioned this book to me and suggested I read it.
From This Day Forward — I saw an article about this book on Ann Voskamp’s site and was intrigued so I picked up a copy.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie — My friend, Ginger, recommended this book to me.
What did you read this week? Any must-read book recommendations?
