This morning I woke up thinking of my nephew, Tshepo. I thought of his innocence as a child, why I gave him that name and what I could learn from him. I remember how excited I was when his momma was pregnant with him. For some reason thoughts of this new person coming into the world and into our family in particular filled me with so much hope for life. My rationale at that time was: if God in all his power and wisdom knew that times ahead were hard, very hard he'd surely stop all babies from coming into the world. So for as long as he was allowing children to come into the world there was still some hope. Hence the name Tshepo which means hope. This lil man is eight years old now. And I watch him mentally prepare himself for school at the end of each school holiday. And I notice each time that the thought of whether there is money for school fees or not never really crosses his mind. When schools open, he trusts that his fees will be paid. How it will be paid? Never his problem. I think of that often when I have to exercise my own faith. Like, why I can't I just be like him? Why can't I trust God the way he trusts his parents and grandparents to just somehow come through for him every time? Why can't I also just be excited that schools are opening (whatever "school" is to me at any given moment) without worrying about how my "fees" will be paid? Times have been hard. He's lived through them in his eight years on earth. Even then, that has never stopped him from believing that there will be enough food when he needs food, that his fees will be paid when it's time to go to school, that he will switch on the tv and be able to watch his favorite cartoon because dstv is paid for, that he will get new clothes as he outgrows his old ones etc. Childlike faith. What a beautiful, beautiful thing! I think of my nephew often when I have to exercise faith like his. Standing on the edge about to take a leap and trusting that God will either catch me OR give me wings to fly. I just want to be excited about the what without worrying about the how! Tshepo. My personal hope-filled-love-note from heaven. "Where there is life, there is hope." ❤️