Long time no see

We've been rather busy! Here are some of the things that kept us busy.

45:32 (!) That's how long it took me to complete the Midmar mile this year. (In case you don't know, the Midmarmile is the biggest outdoor swimming event in the world.) I swam a minute slower than last year and I was (am) much fitter this year than last year! I mean, I actually trained a bit in December and January and I have spent a whole year religiously doing water aerobics at least 4 times a week!

Why the dissapointing time? I never looked at my watch once during the race - I thought it would discourage me. I had a good time swimming, even though the water was a bit choppy and I swallowed quite a bit of water and got the usual amount of kicks by other swimmers. I talked to God and He talked to me all the way as I reflected on specific chapters and or verses for about 100 metres each:
Matthew 1
Mark 2
Luke 3
John 4
Acts 5
Rom 6
1 Cor 7
11 Cor 8
Matt 9 (The books after 11 Cor do not have enough books so I started with Matthew again.)
Mark 10
Luke 11
John 12
Acts 13
Rom 14
1 Cor 15
11 Cor 13 (11 Cor does not have a chapter 16)

The adrenaline to compete and to push myself never really kicked in, and I am dissapointed in myself for not trying harder, but very, very grateful for good health and the ability to still swim a mile.

Jan and I stayed in Umhlanga Sands and had a glorious time of rest. I took some photos but they are not blog material.

One of the things God said to me while I was swimming was to give more of myself. So I phoned the principal of Inkululeko to see where and how and I could be of assistance. Inkululeko is the preschool where I was the principal for the first 7 years of its nearly 10 years existence. It is part of the community centre in Salvokop, a very poor dilapidated residential area in the C.B.D of Pretoria. Besides uplifting children, the school has also given many of the staff members a chance in life to improve their own lives. The now principal, Thelma, was originally appointed as a cleaner there. She is now busy with her degree in foundation phase education. The middle group teacher, Josephine, was also a cleaner for several years. She is also busy with E.C.D. training.

Anyway, even before Thelma and I had a meeting, Lalie phoned to ask me to help with the Easter drama (passion play) at the community centre. So that's part of what has kept me busy: first of all to prepare a dance for my group - ballet nogal! And secondly to start practising the dance and script with the girls. Quite a few girls turned up on Tuesday for drama practice and I was thrilled at their eagerness and DISCIPLINE. Lalie and I did the first of several Easter Dramas exactly 10 years ago. We had more than 70 eager, but very noisy and naughty children! They used to steal, fight and generally not listen to us! And now! What BLISS! I could talk to the children in a normal voice (no shouting to make myself heard) and they concentrated and generally were just sweet and good. Most have them have been at Inlululeko when they were preschoolers (the eldest is now in Grade 7) and know the ropes. HURRAH FOR INKULULEKO!

Watch this space! More to follow about the Easter Drama!