Last week was a precious time of visiting with our family and dear friends in KZN. Although this detour was a bit off our route, we felt that it was a necessary step in our journey. We have no idea when we will be back in SA to see my mom and dad again so we took the opportunity to visit en route to Chavuma.
On arrival in Hillcrest at Steven’s braai at his home I was super happy to see my mom (Annelie), my uncle (Pieter) and my aunt (Marcia) there as well. It was a reunion of note as I hadn’t seen my family in quite a while. My uncle has recently been through some serious medical procedures in his fight with cancer so it was good to see how well he looked despite all the treatments and surgeries.
On Wednesday after visiting the Khanyitex factory we went to stay at my aunt’s place in Durban North for 3 nights. This gave us more opportunity for some quality time with her, as well as my mom and dad.
We braai’ed again on Wednesday at my aunt’s place and this time my mom and sister (Nadia) joined us. We chatted and laughed the night away and it was very late when we finally got into bed.
Blast from the past
On Thursday morning we had a blast from the past when we met up with our “old” school principal, Daniel Reddy. Let me just state before I get into trouble that he isn’t old. He was the school principal where Michael and I attended growing up many years ago (during the 90’s). He has taken early retirement from the department of education and is now focussed on ministry and mission work in his community. It was so encouraging and uplifting to catch up with him and we look forward to seeing how the Lord will use him.
Another Mother
We also had lunch with Michael’s ‘second’ mother, Rose Pillay in Phoenix on Thursday. She has stood in as Michael’s mom since his own mother passed away. We were truly spoilt and enjoyed the Indian curries and delicacies that she laid out for us. My Mom (Annelie) also took time out to join us for lunch which was a super bonus for me. What a lovely time of fellowship and fun that was!
On Friday I visited the mission (Jivannadi Mission) where we grew up as children to get an opportunity to see my father as well. He took us out for steak lunch at Umdloti Beach and I really appreciated being able to spend some quality time with him.
Before our time with my family came to an end, we had a lovely breakfast with my aunt at Umhlanga Beach on Saturday morning followed by lunch with my mom and sister at Gateway. So many visits in so little time. What a rollercoaster ride it was!
I am just so grateful to God for giving us this time and opportunity to see my family and visit with our friends.
