Stuck

Baby Giraffe

Almost every single Sabbath afternoon we are invited by one of the families of our students to their house for lunch and the afternoon, and sometimes the evening. It is such a blessing. Each family is so much fun and relaxing to spend time with, each in their own unique way. Sabbath afternoons have become one of my favorite times of the week, to be sure.

This last particular Sabbath afternoon was spent with the Sandoval family, and we headed to a small, private game reserve to spend our afternoon out in nature observing the animals there. We watched big lizard-comodo-dragon-things rush out of the road as we came; we watched nyala, impala, and waterbuck wander through the bushes; and we played hide-and-seek with the monkeys in the trees. We also came across a mother giraffe with her cute little baby, who was taller than me. As Brenda carefully crept closer and closer to the giraffe, it was fascinating to watch the mother’s reaction turn from not being bothered by our presence to being defensive and very cautious. She flared her nostrils and pawed at the ground, muscles twitching in case she needed to make a run for it. Don’t worry, we didn’t get too close and we were perfectly safe :)

Brenda cautiously moving closer to the giraffe.

Then we drove down another road. It being the end of rainy season, there are some nice, big muddy sections of road in these game parks. We came across one and optimistically thought that by going around it, we wouldn’t get stuck. So we tried it. And we got stuck. In the hot sun. So the kids and I walked through the mud in search of some shade and dry ground to sit on while dad called some people at the gate to come help us get un-stuck.

And there we were, lying on blankets stretched across the dry ground and resting in the shade. There aren’t any elephants, lions, leopards, or the like in this particular park, so it's safe to do that there. The singing birds and the breeze rushing through the trees provided a soothing and relaxing atmosphere. Suddenly, another sound of nature joined the others, and it was not quite so relaxing anymore. A galloping sound came from somewhere, but we couldn’t tell where. This small park does have cape buffalo, which happen to be the most aggressive of the “Big Five” - and we were lying on the grass. My imagination went wild. We jumped up and desperately searched the bushes. I grabbed my camera, ready to make a mad dash for the car if I needed. As we all looked around us to find out what animal was joining us, we finally spotted them: three waterbuck that ran by without even glancing at us. Whew! A few minutes later some men came and helped get our car out of the mud, and we continued our adventure.

Stuck.

Dirty feet after walking through the mud to dry ground.

Relaxing in the shade. Brenda & Claudio.

Getting stuck in mud in a game park isn’t exactly every person’s ideal when it comes to any sort of trip - but I loved every minute of it. We didn’t see many animals, aside from some gorgeous birds, but we spent some valuable time in nature, and it was SO refreshing. And, the adventure of it all was exciting (I thought so anyway).

In life, sometimes we get stuck. We think that we can handle things on our own without the help of others and of God - and we optimistically move on. But then we run into mud and get stuck. We need God, and we need others. Thankfully, God is always with us and watching over us, and He comes and rescues us each time we get stuck.

God is just so amazing.

First class seating!

 

Waterbuck

A beautiful sunset over the valley to end the Sabbath.