PREACHER’S NOTE 15 JANUARY 2023
The trip back from a holiday always seems longer
than the trip there. Perhaps its the disappointment
of a holiday finished compared to the excitement of
one stretching out ahead. My Mom and Dad were
keen caravanners and wildlife enthusiasts, and Kruger
Park holidays were a firm family favourite – lazy
summer days punctuated with early morning coffee
and rusks at a waterhole, looking for elusive leopards
in trees, and skottel breakfasts at picnic spots.
But as we headed back along the highway to Nelspruit,
the world that was left behind for a glorious
couple of weeks suddenly loomed and knotted my
stomach. Parking the car and caravan in the high
school parking lot, and unpacking the school stuff
for the weekly boarding, we seemed to be watched
by all the big boys and masters, ready to make life
uncomfortable again. I had to go from a safe space
to a careful watchful defensive space in a matter of
minutes.
Finishing a Christmas holiday always takes me back
there. How to face life in the valley again after a
mountain top experience? The mountain top beautiful,
wonderful, and the valley crowded and messy,
with people jostling for position and after their own
gain.
As you start back into the valley, may you know that
our Lord has your back. He also didn’t fit in, and had
to fight to make a place for you and me in an antagonistic
world. He’s fiercely for us, fiercely protective
of us, and right there when we need him. Know
that as you step forward from your holiday into a
new year.
Blessings, Andrew.