Safety

Riekert and I were talking about the feeling of safety today.

I remember, as a child, moments of deep security and contentment… the evening ritual of bath and clean pajamas, the murmur of parents chatting in the lounge, the sound of Beethoven playing on the record player.

I remember the feeling of peace I experienced the couple of times we went to a farm in the Eastern Cape and the excitement of riding on the back of a bakkie through the "veld". I remember the joy of being woken up very early in the morning to witness the milking of the cows and the sweet cow smell and the rhythm of milk in tin pails.

Driving through Namibia brings back all those feelings. We avoid tarred roads and turn the Landy onto the paths less travelled. We drive through bushveld and grasslands where very few human feet tread. We camp in the sandy trails or in the bush at the side of the way. We listen to the night sounds and watch the stars appear and the moon rise. We wash in our little basin or when we feel like a good scrub we have a camp shower. We talk and laugh as we go along and as we prepare our simple meals.

As night falls, we climb into our rooftop tent where we are safe from predators and there, in our camp bed, I feel the deepest contentment, joy and peace and the nearness of Jesus and His beauty and purity and love as the light in the west darkens and the soft breeze blows through the mesh windows. Here I am at my most happy and at peace- here in the wilderness with Riekert and my Lord.