God is good all the time!

I just got home from the funeral. Praise God! Sandziso's body was laid to rest in peace because no one from the Zion Church attended the funeral. That means there was no dedication to his dead ancestors and no crazy rituals preformed to give his soul over to satanic powers. That also means that everyone in his family attends a Christian church AND after spending a whole evening with them, it is clear they know who God is. It brings me much joy to know Sandziso grew up in a family that loves God.

The funeral was an experience like never before. There was a lot of singing. I mean A LOT of singing. Although all of the service was spoken in siSwati I was able to interpret a lot of it. I cried time after time listening to each family member, teacher and friend speak of good memories about Sandziso. His teacher said he was sooo smart. She knew he would make it through his schooling and go on to do good things. His sister sang him a song in english. The words were "We will never forget the memories we shared when we were all together. I will always think of you."

Around 6 am, Sandziso's body was carried to his grave site. It was the most beautiful spot on top of a mountain. The views were magnificent! I thought to myself, "This is the perfect place for his body to rest." We sang some more and gathered rocks to place around his grave. At that moment, I had total and complete peace. I thought back to a conversation I had earlier in the evening with one of Sandzi's relatives. I said to her, "Are you okay?" she said back to me, "I am okay, and Sandziso is okay too."

That is the thing - Sandziso is okay. He's more than okay. He's in heaven! There were more than a couple times throughout the night when I was not okay. How do you deal with the death of a little boy who was growing stronger ever day? But the thing is, Sandziso is okay and Zolani will be okay, so I must be okay too.

Although we will miss you here on earth Sandziso, we will never forget
the memories we shared with you. We love you!