Final days in Cape Town

We left Cape Town on 31st July, so here are a few final photos from our time spent in this fabulous city:

We visited our friends Monica and Len at their ice cream parlour near Green Point. Amazingly this was the first time Andy had visited the shop, although I have been lots of times with different visitors.
Monica and Len treated us to their delicious Belgium waffles and a selection of their Italian ice creams, followed by cappucino coffee, or in my case Rooibos tea!

While in that area we visited Moulle Point Lighthouse, with its distinctive box shape and red and white diagonal stripes:

As the sun was setting, the table cloth descended on Table Mountain creating soft pink clouds in the evening light:

 

The day before we left Cape Town, was a special day at CVC Media.  Our baggage allowance prevented us taking many small (and not so small) items we had accumulated in the flat, including our braai grill.  We decided to give these items away to our friends at CVC, in a draw.

 

It caused great excitement and interestingly many people drew the very item they had their eye on, and really appreciated the gifts.

That day we also were also very blessed, with gifts, prayers, love and an amazing cake. We had to dress up in 'African clothes' and enjoyed watching a special video made by the department Andy had recently set up, recording everyone's good wishes and sometimes comical memories of our two years in Cape Town.

Finally the moment came to load up the car and head off to the airport.  It was raining hard, but then a magnificent rainbow appeared in the sky as if to send us off.  We took that as a promise that God was smiling on us and our time in Cape Town had blessed Him too.

 

 

Birthday at Christian Vision conference

A month ago today I was celebrating my birthday at the Christian Vision International Conference, held in Cape Town. The day was filled with special moments and a few surprises:

The conference was held at Spier, near Stellenbosch. As well as hotel and conferencing facilities, there are different activities for day visitors, including a cheetah sanctuary. Cubs are raised from rescued adults to help inform and educate visitors about the cheetah's endangered status in many parts of South Africa.  On this particular day of our conference it had been arranged that we had a visit from one of the cubs - along with handlers, of course!

This magnificent cat was about seven months old and during the short visit she was not at all fazed by the flash photogrphy, but was fascinated by the a stream of air coming from an overhead vent.  I was sitting near the back of the hall so couldn't take very good photos, but it was nevertheless and special treat to see a cheetah so close up.

After our morning meetings, we all set off for an afternoon's sightseeing in Cape Town.  Today was to be the first time Andy had actually managed to get up Table Mountain, in nearly three years spent in Cape Town!

 This photo was taken in the revolving cable car, as we ascended to the top, but before this we had travelled with around 10 other people squashed into a small lift up to the the cable car station. One of our group decided this was the moment to sing 'Happy Birthday' to me!

 It was a clear day, but quite cold and windy as we meandered along the various pathways looking at the view from all sides.

 Andy and our friend Charles, from Zambia, overlooking the city...

This plaque describes the inusual phenomenon, called Kaggen's Karos, more commonly known as the 'Tablecloth' cloud which is often seen on Table Mountain.  We were glad that it was not covering today, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to visit!

I really liked this view, which shows Lion's Head (the peak) and Signal Hill, the 'lion's back', with Robben Island in the distance...

Later we travelled to Groot Constantia, one of the oldest wine farms in Cape Town for winetasting, a cellar tour and then an evening meal at a restaurant on the farm.

Friends at our table took this photo, which we hadn't realised how colour co-ordinated we were, especially with the King Protea flower!
It was a lovely day and  a birthday I will remember for several years to come.

Suffering and Savouring

Over the past year I have ventured into the world of screen-writing, first downloading a screen-writing course on my Kindle and then using the exercises in the workbook to attempt writing a script for a video, for CVC Media. I then started writing narrative for short films for a new website, to be launched soon, together with content for link pages. Many of these pages are dealing with what is known as 'apologetics', discussing difficult issues, or objections people have against the Christian faith. 

There's a lot of material available on the web by many Christian organisations, churches and individual believers, but our searching has shown that much of it is too long-winded for the average seeker to plough through, or too deep theologically to be easily understood.  We wanted something in plain, simple English that could be understood by those for whom English is not necessarily their first language, and something to draw them onto the journey of finding God for themselves.

It's been a tough road, reading some of the best material already in the public domain (books, journals, web pages and blogs) and then trying to write a succinct piece, usually in less than 400 words! 

Recently, I've been attempting the question 'Why does God allow suffering?' focussing on what our suffering can produce, if only we can see it. Yesterday, I finished a first draft, sent it to Andy and then quickly checked emails.  Imagine my delight to find a friend had forwarded this inspiring video, which encapsulates the answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiDoYIflqAY

It speaks of perseverance in the face of adversity and of a willingness to allow God's infinite creativity to grow within and then be displayed for others to learn from.   

As if to reinforce this message, last night, Andy & I saw 'Nutcracker on Ice' at Artscape Theatre, in Cape Town.  What a magnificent spectacle of colour and movement, to Tchaikovsky's wonderful music, stiring the senses and emotions.  It was a treat to savour, and further confirmation of hidden treasures for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Prayer Corner

Recently I have been reading One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp.  It's an inspirational account of her journey towards developing thankfulness in all circumstances, of counting those 'gifts'.

Over six months ago, a friend of mine recommended the book on her facebook, so I downloaded the free sample onto my Kindle and then bought the book.  But then other things came along and I became distracted, forgetting about the book. It sat in my Kindle library, waiting to be explored.

In December, I met with my two friends, Alie and Sue, for what we call our 'Rio Day' (Sue and Alie came to visit us when we lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2004 and we started a tradition of listening to God and praying together) Since that time we have met up each time I have been in the UK. In the early days we would set aside a whole day to catch up with what had been happening since the last time we met, focussing in on what God had been doing in our lives.  Then we would share a meal together and prayer for each other, paying particular attention to any words and pictures God revealed to us. 

It has been an amazing adventure, which has not only sustained each one of us through the huge changes we each have experienced over the past seven years, but has guided our direction.  Having close friends whom you are accountable to, really helps to keep you on track with your spiritual life. In recent years we have had to restrict ourselves to a couple of hours in an evening, but we do keep in touch regularly via email, so when we meet we can get straight into the 'best bit' (the prayer and hearing from God for each other).

So, back to recently, Alie arrived saying she'd heard of a book about thankfulness, called One Thousand Gifts, which she was going to buy.  That jogged my memory and I confessed that I'd got it but hadn't read it yet. Over the Christmas holidays I did read a lot of it, and Alie did buy a copy too. We were able to arrange a second 'meet-up' just before I left for Cape Town, and spent some time sharing our findings with Sue.  Inspired by the 24/7 prayer movement, several years ago Sue had created a prayer room in her home, which was well used both personally and corporately for homegroup prayer events. 'Rio days' spent in this room were always special.

Alie has now discovered the website  http://onethousandgifts.com/ and Ann's related blog http://www.aholyexperience.com/   She sent us photos entitled 'The Prayer Bench' and 'A Peace Retreat', which you can find on the site.

Today, I decided to start a journal of 'gifts' and create a tiny Prayer Corner in our flat:



Each item on the table has special significance:

A notebook, which I bought in Kiev, and had forgotten about until God prompted me to bring it back to Cape Town for my own 'counting gifts':

A Bible open to one of my favourite Psalms - 139:

A 'vase of beauty', again a 'prompting from the Lord' given to me since we returned to Cape Town, now filled with collected treasures:

A small photo book, a table gift from a recent Christmas family gathering in UK, now filled (both sides) with photos of close family:

The candle Joanne & David sent to Cape Town for 'Alex Day', a special day to remember the life of our beautiful nephew, on the first anniversary of his passing away:

These items should prompt thankfulness and open the way to many 'a holy experience'.

Cherries and ziplines!

December is cherry picking month in South Africa.  In the markets, delicious, shiny red cherries are in abundance, but some people like to pick their own.

A group from our church in Cape Town spent a day travelling out to Ceres, frequently called 'the Garden of Eden', for this activity.

I had never picked cherries before, so it was a new experience.  Many of the trees were ready for picking, as you can see above (friend, Marilet, in the orchard). The rules say not to eat while you pick.  We weren't sure if that was to increase sales, or because they had been sprayed and would need washing before eating.  But it was far too tempting not to try a few.  Besides you really did need to check that they were ripe!

We discovered which trees were the best, and not necessarily the large black cherries; there are different varieties, colours and sizes, each with a distinctive taste.  I picked three punnets in total.

 After the cherry picking we picnicked in the shaded areas, just enjoying each others company on a lazy Saturday.

Then, my friend Sue and I set off for an arenaline adventure.

Ceres is surrounded by mountains so the location is perfect for the longest zip line in Africa:

 Ceres Zip Slide Adventures is a series of eight slides across the rocky canyons, which funnel the rainwater into the fertile valley below.

We were kitted out with a harness and brake, which would be clipped onto each line, then, taken by minibus up into the mountains to the starting place, where our two instructors gave us the safety briefing:



 There were two others on our tour (people we didn't know, but who gave us much 'dutch courage').  Sue's expression says it all!

Here I am preparing at the first slide...

 ...the successful launch (pitty you can't hear the screams!)...      


 ...and landing (phew!)

Here is Sue on one of the slides...

The experience just got better and better, so by the end we were really enjoying it:

 Near the final landing point, we saw some bushman paintings, which sadly have been defaced:

The zipline experience added much to the day and and for Sue was an important confidence builder.  Well done, girl!!



Family times at Christmas

This was sunrise on Christmas Day in Walsall...

...and this was sunset, eight hours later:

 

The weather has been so mild, compared with Christmas 2010, making it easy to get around for all the family gatherings.

The extended James family met together on Boxing Day...

 and many of the Rhodes extended family met the following day on my sister, Sandra's birthday:
 

Happy times!

Andy's Birthday and shortest/longest day

December 20th is Andy's birthday. We had quite a lot of shopping to do, including visiting IKEA, so his birthday lunch was swedish meatballs and chips in their cafe!

However, later in the day his mum and I sang 'Happy Birthday':

In the evening I went out for a Christmas meal with some ex-colleagues, whom I hadn't seen since 2004.  It was lovely to catch up and see how well everyone is looking:

Despite the falling snow we experienced on our journey from Heathrow airport last Friday, the weather has now become very mild.

Yesterday, the shortest day in northern hemisphere, was unusually sunny and warm. I walked to my mum's house, about 20 mins, wearing a light jacket and felt rather hot when I arrived.  Later, I read via Facebook, that Cape Town is unusually cold - what strange weather we are all having!

Nevertheless, I am missing the long daytimes.  I've been up for 2 hours with no sign of a sunrise yet, and in the afternoon, we are drawing the curtains by 3pm.

The weather forcast for Christmas Day is also warm and sunny - so no 'white Christmas' for us this year!