Little time left, thus starts the reflection...

I have  two months to go. This is somewhat amazing, time has ebbed and flowed here in a very different way than I am used to. Some weeks flew, others were excruciatingly long. Now I have eight. For three of those, Jenny is away, and in-between those two I am off to Kenya for a missionary retreat.

This all happens just as the kids of iTipini just started calling me by my name, rather than "Jesse" or "umblungu" (xhosa for "white"). Along with this, I've been seeing more people I know in grocery stores, and have made Durban my second, and favorite, home in SA. That'll all disappear in a short-ish amount of time. I've been building this life in a place that will be very hard for me to ever return to. It's amazing how God teaches us the impermanence of all things in this life.

Nonetheless, I will continue to enjoy my remaining moments in this place. The friends I've made I'll make sure to enjoy time with, and the places I've loved I'll make one more trip to. At iTipini, despite the complete dissolution of the after-school group, the same set of kids come to me for help on homework; that certainly helps me feel needed. Our latest batch of TB patients have been very good about getting themselves to the clinic for treatment. I can also read 90% of what Dorothy, the other nurse at our clinic, writes down, which can require a bit of deciphering.

As to looking forward, that's much murkier. Some of you know, I wished to continue doing work like this State-side. Unfortunately, no one has emailed me back about any potential leads for the future. Also, I've had some real doubts as to my calling to ordained ministry. However, I do see some openings in continued education, likely an MA in Theology. Who knows what the future brings. Pray for guidance in my life, and thank you for reading!