Last Weekend in South Africa

Everything about being here is so wonderful. Whenever I go to write a new blog, I struggle to start it because I can’t decide what to write about first. I feel like every single thing I do is so fun or so impactful that I have to share it. I could write a book with all the thoughts I have about these past four months. God has done crazy things and I’ve had so much fun. It’s been quite the journey. Here's the update on my last weekend in South Africa...

Friday, I got to journal a little bit in the morning as I watched the sunrise over the ocean. I realized how much I love mornings…the tranquility of them is wonderful. It’s such a peaceful start to the day, and it doesn’t hurt that the view is beautiful. :) We had class Friday morning, which was really good. We talked about how we’re processing going home, our reactions to certain things since we’ve been here…it was a good mini-debrief time. The rest of the day was very relaxing. I spent majority of the day finishing my last homework assignments for the semester, swapping pictures with people, talking to my roommates (who I’m going to miss SO MUCH), and just laying around. I truthfully cannot remember doing that once on this whole trip because we are always going, going, going, so it was a nice break.

Saturday was so fun!! It was my friend Hilary’s birthday so a group of us went to a little district of Cape Town called Woodstock, to a huge market there. It was at the Old Biscuit Mill and was awesome! There were tons of food vendors. Katie and I shared a crepe, a smoothie, lemonade, and a schwarma, which were all delicious. We basically ate our way through that market. :) Then we went into all the little shops, which had such fun stuff! It was different than the typical African things we see in every city we go to, so it was cool to look through it all. I got a few things, including an adorable vintage frame that I am obsessed with. We got back late afternoon, and I ended the night watching a movie & eating ice cream with my roomies :) Wonderful.

Today is Sunday and it has been such a good day! A group of us girls woke up very early to get breakfast and catch the train into Cape Town to go to Hillsong Cape Town for church. I LOVED the service. Truthfully, it reminded me a lot of Reality. The pastor even looked like Britt. Haha. The message he gave was really powerful. We all were talking about it for nearly two hours after. He said so many encouraging things about waiting on the Lord, trusting in his power, expecting Him to move, the purpose of prophecy, the power of your testimony…ahh, all of it was good! Our group kept talking about how it was such an encouraging message to hear right before going home. Everything he said was totally from the Lord because it was exactly what we needed to hear. I’m so thankful for this morning.

Now, we’re all packing up at BI to move to our hotel in Cape Town. Like I said before, we are staying there for the next few days before we fly home! I won’t have Internet, unless I find an Internet café so this may be my last post! If it is, I want to say thank you to you all! It has meant so much to me, knowing you all care enough to read my blog and stay updated on everything that’s been going on for me overseas! Getting your comments or emails about it has given me encouragement and joy. So THANK YOU! I will be back in the States so soon and would love to get together with any of you to talk about my trip :) I love you all!

“Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” -Romans 12:1-2

With love from South Africa,

Alex