Sand, Sea and the Long Road

You may remember that I mentioned in a past post that December in S.A is holiday month. Our family wasn't planning on going away but things changed unexpectedly and we managed to take a short holiday after Christmas and visit some friends down at the coast. Rachel and I were born in Port Elizabeth (P.E.) - a seaside town on the East coast. Some years ago we moved inland but we used to go back to P.E. at least once a year to visit friends and family there. Unfortunately for the last couple of years we weren't able to do that so we were all very excited when we heard that we were going down to P.E. again in December! :) It's a 12 hour drive by car from where we are now living and the countryside changes a lot on the way down. (Sorry the pictures aren't too good - most of them were taken through the car's windscreen and the weather was often overcast and drizzily so the light was bad).

 We've had so much rain this Summer, apparently it's the most rain the country's had in more than 40 years and our normally sunny skies are now almost always cloudy. The Northern part of the country is very green but when you go further down you get the area (in the midle of S.A.) known as the Karoo, and it's semi-desert. Although it's looking "greener" now than it usually does.

 Horse/Donkey carts are still used quite a lot in South Africa, especially in rural areas.

Crossing the Orange River. This river marks the border between the provinces of the Orange Free State and the Northern Cape.

 Crafts (windmills in this picture) are often sold on the side of the road outside the small Karoo towns.

A service station and restplace just off the national road. A place to freshen up, get something to eat and of course, refill the car with petrol. :)

 Picture above and below - Part of the Karoo, known as the Plains of Camdeboo.

Starting to leave the Karoo and entering a mountain pass.

We're getting closer to the coast and the landscape is becoming greener again and soon changes to coastal forest.

 A final mountain pass and then we drop down to the sea!! :D

 I love the sea and it was wonderful being down by it again - I wish we could move back! As you can see from the photos we had almost continuous rainy weather but we didn't let that stop us from enjoying ourselves on the beach. :D

 It was so good to see Danielle again - she is one of our best friends and we got to spend most of our holiday with her. :) The three of us and Danielle's younger brother had lots of fun at the beach...

 ...and in the sea. :)

 The view from the home of friends.

A picture of the same beach but on a clear day.

We had a wonderful time but all too quickly our holiday was over and we had to take the long road back home again. :)

Cute Cubs and a Curious Giraffe

During the recent December holidays we went on a number of outings. One of these was to a small game park where you can have quite a lot of interaction with the animals. Here are a few pictures. :)

 One of the tame and curious Giraffes enjoying a meal off a thorn tree.

 These Aardwolf cubs were in such a playful mood and were chasing each other around and in-and-out of the carrier box until they eventually knocked it over on it's side and both got a fright. :D

 This Spotted Hyena cub was so cute and quite friendly.

 A shy and sweet new-born Giraffe calf. The weather was quite overcast with drizzle now and then so the staff at the Park tried to give the calf a little extra warmth with this specially-made Giraffe baby blanket. :)

We found it amusing that even the Giraffe was curious about the 'game' going on in the Aardwolf cubs' pen! :D

 I don't know why, but lion cubs always pull and play with the bottom of my skirt! lol! It's always fun interacting with the cubs but you have to watch out for teeth and claws - even at this young age they can be very rough.

 This was one cute and very sleepy cub - even when Jess and I both patted him at the same time he hardly stirred.

 When driving through the camps where the adult lions are you have to keep your windows closed and also be careful of stopping near them, especially if you are in a bakkie without a canopy on as they like to jump in the load bay and can do a lot of damage, not to mention that it can be frightening and dangerous too!

Our bakkie has a tonneau cover over the load bay and this young male lion jumped up on the bakkie and started biting the cover. Dad had to pull away very quickly to prevent him doing more damage, but the lion wasn't giving up so easily and he trotted after us for a while before deciding we weren't 'playing along' and gave up. Well, Dad had been wanting to replace the cover with a new one and the rips and tears from claws and teeth forced him to do so right after our visit to the Lion Park. :P

Commune With The Lord

And Jesus answered him,
 saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone,
 but by every word of God.

- LUKE 4:4

 

Now, our bodies need food and drink each day to survive, our physical body. If we don't take food each day and drink, then our body weakens. There's something in us that we must have food. One day's food will not last for the next day. You've got to have food each day to strengthen your mortal being. You can live over, but you're weaker. And the second day, you're still weaker. And the third day, you're getting tremendous weak.

Well, that's what many times that we do in the spiritual realm. You see, each day we've got to commune with Christ. We've got to talk to Him each day. We've got to settle it with Him each day. Paul said, "I die each day. (See?) Each day, I die; yet I live, not me but Christ lives in me." So if your physical body needs food each day and drink each day to survive, your spiritual body needs spiritual Food and communion with the Lord each day to survive. Yes.

Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." So each day we've got to study the Bible. Some people doesn't study It at all. Some picks It up every two or three times a year. But a real, real believer that's really spiritually built up, he reads his Bible every day and talks to the Lord. That's right. He has to. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

Bro. William M. Branham - COMMUNION_ 62-0204