New Security Measures

South Africa has a very high crime rate. Even though it has a reputation as being a very dangerous country, I had mostly brushed that aside as over the past two years nothing had ever really happened to me. I grew complacent and felt very safe in my home.

A few weeks ago, two men broke onto our campus late one night. I'm sure they were after the usual things, money and things they could sell for money. In the process, they dragged a good friend out of his home and beat him. My roommate and I live just next door and woke up to him screaming. Fortunately, others on the property also heard and came running and the men ran off.

Since this incident, we've taken steps to have better security on our base. Burglar bars and alarm systems have been placed on all the houses and as a whole we are much more security conscience.

While it's hard to deal with all these new measures, I've felt God saying to be wise, but not afraid. I don't want to live in fear, but I need to be aware of where I live and take the necessary steps.

"Let the Beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him for He
shields him all day long and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders."
Deuteronomy 33:12

Photo Shoot

I had so much fun today doing a photo shoot with my friend David Song. He's an amazing musician and needed some promo photos ASAP. I've never done anything like that, but I'm really falling in love with photography and enjoyed the opportunity to be creative.

Here are my favorites . . .

Weekend Away

Hayley, Keri, Monique, Margreet, and I had an amazing opportunity to housesit for some friends this past weekend. Hay and I spent almost all day on Saturday lounging around the deck getting sunburned . . .

watching TV! . . .

and stargazing with friends . . .

My Blessing

Sometimes a girl just gets lucky. Or blessed really.

When my roommate Hayley first joined us and moved into our little cottage, I didn't know what to think. We seemed very different and honestly I had a very hard time with the idea of sharing space with some random stranger.

Hayley is one of those people who seems to always have a positive attitude. As a natural pessimist, this annoyed me. She has her little quirks, like the 20 to-do lists she writes for herself every day at the top of which she always puts 'wake' like maybe she'll forget one day. Or how she brushes her teeth 10 times every day. Or her piles of random, useless papers on the counter.

But I've grown to love her quirks and her personality. And while the first thing she does when she rolls out of bed is cross 'wake' off of her list, the second is always to make the first pot of coffee. And I love how she gives me head rubs when we watch Friends at night. I love that I can keep the light on after she's gone to sleep and it doesn't bother her. And how we can talk about everything and nothing and laugh the whole time.

So while I may have been hesitant at first, Hayley has become my greatest blessing since moving to South Africa. She has become family and I wouldn't trade her for the world.