Friday
Today we are in Swellendam! We left mid morning and for a change, decided to take the N1 through Worcester. We stopped in Worcester and strolled through the Mall. Mike bought a new pair of jeans to replace the ones I nicked. We left there and headed off towards Swellendam. As a result we drove through Ashton. The night we hit rocks on Ashton Main Rd, taking out two of our tyres (it was 31 years ago), Mike went to one of these houses to use their phone to get help….
The road out of Worcester were crazy busy. We concluded we won’t return that way and it’s unlikely we’ll go that route again, unless we decide to go to Montague Hot Springs for a night or two before visiting Swellendam.
We arrived just after 2pm. Adrian and Stacey are both well. Elsie had just woken up. She has got sweeter and sweeter. She can say a few words, like bye and hi. She says, “I know” and tries “Ah tissue!” She gets out Ah t. She can say “nose” and touch her own as well as enthusiastically points to mine. She waves and throws her hands up and claps. She giggles when tickled and smiles excitedly when lifted up. She is confident on her feet but not confident enough to let go and walk on her own. It won’t be long before she is comfortable walking holding her parents hands and will soon after be walking on her own. She’s handling solids well. The only thing is she is allergic to dairy. Stacey has found all the products that are dairy free and she eats just about anything. I loved playing with her. Stace and Adrian went for a walk and she and I watched them go. She had an uncertain look on her face but didn’t complain. I took her outside and we waited for Mike to come home. He had driven into town to buy something. We had a great time together and a lovely dinner! Thanks Stace!
Some good building news came this afternoon. I had a call from Leanne who has done our plans. Mike designed the house. Leanne put the plans together. She had heard back from the Rate Payers Association and they love our design and will give it their full support! That was good news indeed. We still have a very long way to go, but that is one very positive step.
Nugget from my journey. After starting to sell advertising for CCFm, one day it was announced that the station needed someone to present from Midnight to 3am, just one night a week. I had only be doing Learning Together. Learning how to do continuity announcing may not be a bad idea I thought and what better time to cut your teeth than in the dead of night. So for several months, once a week, I’d trundle down to the studio and present from 12 midnight to 3am. From there I was asked to present the Monday afternoon drive show. It was about the year 2000 and Stacey was my engineer. She was 12, going on 13 and it would be the start of her technical career. She was great! I was so proud of her for being able to be my on air engineer. A couple of years later CCFm got their full-time broadcasting licence and I started presenting the Thursday morning drive show. It was then decided to change the format and instead of using volunteer presenters to try fill the main day time programmes with regular paid presenters. I was asked to present Rise and Shine Monday to Friday from 6-9am. I knew it would be a big challenge, but I was very keen to do it. What a privilege. With Mike’s full support and with plans in place to get Stacey and David to school, in 2004, I began presenting R&S. Wayne Turner produced some excellent programme content and I had volunteer presenters a couple of times a week. Most famously Thursdays were when Paul (PJ) Mayers joined me. We had a really good time together.
It was while on air with Paul one Thursday morning that something astounding happened. I was at the tail end of one of the call in features. Surprisingly, hardly anyone had called in. The music had about 3 or 4 minutes to go when the phone started ringing. I answered it and a lady asked for prayer. I told her the prayer friend number, but she said she had phoned it and there was no reply. With half an eye on the clock, I asked her if she could call back after 8am, when I had more time to give to her. She said she had to be at work by then. I then asked her what she needed prayer for. “I want to give my life to Jesus,” she said. Well that was unexpected! “Oh,” I replied, “and what has bought you to this place in your life?” She went onto say that she had been thinking about it for a while but this morning the man on the train had said she had to make a decision. She decided to phone CCFm. The clock was counting down. There was no time to lose. With PJ watching and listening in amazement, I prayed a short prayer, which Carlyn repeated after me. At the Amen, I took down her number and hurriedly had to go live. But what a memorable day! I stayed in touch with Carlyn for many years after, encouraging her to stay the course. I hope she has.
Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Gym:
Rest day today and probably tomorrow.
Braces:
Day 234.