Happy Tuesday!! Hope your week is off to a great start! My Mom is HERE and I am LOVING LOVING LOVING IT! Will have some fresh Travelling Tuesdays for you coming from the adventures we’ll have together over the next two weeks! Whoo-hoo! And thanks for your prayers. She and all her luggage arrived safely, and we easily found each other at the airport and I am JUST SO GLAD SHE’S HERE!

I am delighted to share some shots with you from one of the Shoes of Hope distributions we did with the missions team last week. We were at a tiny primary school near Rawsonville, which is about forty-five minutes east of Cape Town. Does telling you minutes instead of miles make me a city girl? These kids live in a wine region, so most of their parents work in vineyards nearby. Situated in a beautiful valley surrounded by stunning mountains, if you visit, you’ll find the juxtaposition of breathtaking landscapes and heart-challenging poverty. It’s like the poverty is surrounded by beauty, but there is beauty in the poverty, too.

See what I mean?

We arrived a while before the rest of the SF missions team. The arrival of their massive charter bus did not go unnoticed…

The morning commenced with some beautiful singing and some impressively coordinated dance moves.

But not everyone was sure they were up for singing and dancing…

Can you guess who wanted to join in the fun?

The Bear was aptly dressed in school colours and occasionally hard to spot! He seemed disappointed that he didn’t already know the dance moves.

But when it was time to sit quietly he thought a game of duck, duck, goose would be good…

After story time, it was time for the footwashing and shoe sizing to begin!

One of the teachers added some hot water to warm up the water basins, but I think she forgot one…

Can you believe these precious feet belong to a little girl who probably isn’t nine yet?

This is the “I’ve Got Loooove” dance move…but I’m afraid I can’t remember all the lyrics for you. Peace and Joy made an appearance, too.

I peeked inside a classroom and afterwards wished I’d taken more photos for you! (That’s Afrikaans.)

Oh, look! One of the banners HH and I designed has been conveniently placed for a photo op! Yay, sweet banner! We’re proud of you!

I thought this fella had a sweet smile.

This little girl’s story will touch your heart. I will share more about the Girl in the Pink Coat soon.

This tough cookie had a blistered spot on her toe so awful looking I am afraid some of you couldn’t handle seeing it. One of the volunteers cleaned it and carefully put ointment on it and dressed it after letting it soak for a while. She didn’t seem phased in the slightest, and I began to think these children must get used to being in pain.

As usual, I’ve saved my favourites for last. I took lots of this gang and will have to share more! They were so great! (And patient as they were the last group to have their feet washed and receive shoes!)

Here are the preschoolers! I’m not sure where they’re headed…

Ya know friends, each of these opportunities seems to be such a learning experience for me. I find things I would never realise I’m taking for granted to be luxuries beyond the means of many. The words “want” and “need” are constantly finding clearer definitions in my vocabulary. And in light of the simple joy and peace I see on these kids’ faces, I am continually recognising my own discontent, and enjoying the challenge to find wholeness apart from the kind of wholeness that we Westerners might tend to think comes from a store. So I’m thankful again this Tuesday. For what I have and what I don’t. For what I’m seeing and how it helps me see myself.

And I hope you can take a moment to be still this Tuesday and find thankfulness in your heart, too.

xCC

Want to join the Travelling Tuesday fun this week? Link up right here! Whether it’s last week’s trip to Walmart of last year’s week at the beach, I’d love for you to share! Please just link back here somewhere in your post, and make sure you give us the link to your post, and not your home page.