Why wait so long?

I can't tell you exactly what the situation was at that time regarding the politics of the country, violence, corruption, apathy, etc. but I do recall that I was very keen to get out! However, there were a couple of practical issues as well as personal issues that kept us in South Africa so long. For example: my daughter had just started a 2 year program with an orthodontist to get her teeth straitened. We were contractually bound to pay the guy the full amount for the two year treatment and, and, and. We could probably have gotten out of it but dental work in Australia was much more expensive than here. Furthermore, my wife wanted to spend more time with her Mom (82 years old) as we are the only family she has in SA. She also wanted co-ordinate our leaving with her Namibian sister's sabbatical coming up in 2009 so that her sister could spend a large part of the year with her Mom during the first year that we would be away.

I look back at these reasons and at the currency that has lost about 25% over the 2 years, the downturn in the economy and housing prices, which lead to us losing about another 25% of our house's value and 15%- 20% on our cars, and it was definitely a bad move financially. We should have left the country at the end of 2006. But on the other hand that would have been an insane rush. We have had 6 months to arrange the move and it's getting hectic. Three months would have been crazy. But, some people have done it, so it's not impossible. Since October 2006 many things have happened, especially on the spiritual side of things and I am actually glad that we did not leave then.

None the less, I could not help looking at the past two years and thinking “Why did we not leave then?” The circle from then to now was closed when we attended a church service the other Sunday (5 October). The theme was “Preparation time.” When God is about to do something big in your life He needs to prepare you for it. It was amazing to tie up things mentioned in the sermon to what we had experienced during the past 2 years. One of the scripture texts for the sermon was Ps. 40:1-3 (taken from the Good News Bible):

1 I waited patiently for the Lord's help;
then He listened to me and heard my cry.
2 He pulled me out of the deadly quicksand.
He set me safely on a rock
and made me secure.
3 He taught me to sing a new song,
a song of praise to our God.
Many who see this will take warning
and will put their trust in the Lord.

I had marked this scripture on 20/10/2006. It was the same day that we got the letter from DIMMIA stating that we had been granted the PR visa! Seeing the thick underlines under verses 1 and 2 reminded me of the anguish and detest I had for the situation in the country at that time. Since then I've just grown accustomed to the worsening situation and that is nothing more than the frog in the pan syndrome. Put a frog in a pan of water and slowly heat it up and the frog will not jump. It will eventually cook in the pan, but it will not jump (so I hear). The point is: When you start feeling uncomfortable (and the reasons are right!) then find the opening and jump! Here, almost at the end of our stay in South Africa, God took me back to that day when He opened the door; as if to say: “You wanted to leave back in 2006 but you weren't ready. I needed the past two years to prepare you.” Thank you, my Lord!

This is the end of this saga. I hope to continue this blog from Australia in 2009 when I will be reporting on just how much greener (or not) the grass is on the other side. :-D

So long and thanks for all the fish.
(Doughlas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)