Sun City--2007

Actually, before going to Wordstock and Mexico, I went on a holiday with my parents and my sister Stephy to Sun City for a week! Such fun and beauty... (My sister organized the whole thing, thanks Stephy!)

Stephy

Mom and I

Impalas at dawn

Mommy rhino and baby

Zebras in the wild

Mom and Stephy sitting on real zebra chairs (poor zebras...)

Wilderbeast early morning

Dad on quad bike

Stunning Sun City

Interesting bridge

My beautiful sister

Cute baby elephant

Trying to feed this mommy elephant

All tamed now...

From behind the waterfall

My mom was totally mesmerized by this amazing waterfall, especially that we could actually walk into the grotto behind it and see through this veil of cascading water without being seen... It seemed to be a physical illustration of the spiritual veil that people talk about, that separates us mortals from the world of the spirit. Doesn't it remind you of this part of "The Shack" by William Young?
"To their left and behind a high rock ridge he could see it, a beautiful waterfall spilling over a cliff‘s edge and dropping at least a hundred feet into a pool at the canyon floor. There it became a large creek that probably joined the lake beyond where Mack could see. Between them and the waterfall was an expanse of mountain meadow, filled with blooming wild-flowers haphazardly strewn and seeded by the wind. It was all stunning, and Mack stood for a moment breathing it in. An image of Missy flashed in his mind, but didn’t settle.


“She knows that you are here, but she cannot see you. From her side, she is looking at the beautiful waterfall and nothing more. But she knows you are behind it.”

 “Waterfalls!” Mack exclaimed, laughing to himself. “She just can’t get enough of waterfalls!” Now Mack focused on her, trying to memorize again every detail of her expression and hair and hands. As he did so, Missy’s face erupted in a huge smile, dimples standing out. In slow motion, with great exaggeration, he could see her mouth the words, “It’s okay, I . . .” and now she signed the words, “. . . love you.”

 It was too much and Mack wept for joy. Still he couldn’t stop looking at her, watching her through his own cascading waterfall. To be this close again was painful, to see her stand in that Missy way, with one leg forward and a hand on her hip, wrist inward. “She’s really okay, isn’t she?”

 “More than you know. This life is only the anteroom of a greater reality to come. No one reaches their potential in your world. It’s only preparation for what Papa had in mind all along.”

 “Can I get to her? Maybe just one hug, and a kiss?” he begged quietly.

 “No. This is the way that she wanted it.”

 “She wanted it this way?” Mack was confused.

 “Yes. She is a very wise child, our Missy. I am especially fond of her.”

 “Are you sure she knows I am here?”

 “Yes, I am sure,” she assured Mack. “She has been very excited for this day, to play with her brothers and sister, and to be near you. She very much would have liked her mother to be here too, but that will wait for another time.”

 Mack turned toward the woman. “Are my other children really here?”

 “They are here, but they aren’t. Only Missy is truly here. The others are dreaming and each will have a vague memory of this—some in greater detail than others, but none fully or completely. This is a very peaceful time of sleep for each of them, except Kate. This dream will not be easy for her. Missy, though, is fully awake.”

 Mack watched every move his precious Missy was making. “Has she forgiven me?” he asked.

 “Forgiven you for what?”

 “I failed her,” he whispered.

 “It would be her nature to forgive, if there were anything to forgive, which there is not.”

 “But I didn’t stop him from taking her. He took her while I wasn’t paying attention . . .” his voice trailed off.

 “If you remember, you were saving your son. Only you, in the entire universe, believe that somehow you are to blame. Missy doesn’t believe that, nor Nan, nor Papa. Perhaps it’s time to let that go—that lie. And Mackenzie, even if you had been to blame, her love is much stronger than your fault could ever be.”

 Just then someone called Missy’s name and Mack recognized the voice. She shrieked with delight and started to run back toward the others. Abruptly she stopped and ran back to her daddy. She made a big embrace as if she were hugging him and, with eyes closed, overexaggerated a kiss. From behind the barrier he hugged her back. For a moment she stood completely still, as if knowing she was giving him a gift for his memory, waved, turned, and raced back to the others.

 And now Mack could clearly see the voice that had called his Missy. It was Jesus playing in the middle of his children. Without hesitation Missy leaped into his arms. He swung her around twice before putting her back on her feet, and then, everyone laughed before hunting for smooth stones to skip across the surface of the lake. The voicing of their joy was a symphony to Mack’s ears, and as he watched, his tears flowed freely.

 Suddenly, without warning, water roared down from above, directly in front of him, and obliterated all the sights and sounds of his children. Instinctively, he jumped back. He now realized that the walls of the cave had dissolved around him, and he was standing in a grotto on the backside of the waterfall."
(excerpt from "The Shack" by William Young)

Behind the waterfall...now I'm on the other side!

Inside the grotto behind the waterfall

Amazing waterfall