Adios 2014

Well another year has come to an end and as I contemplate saying goodbye to this year I find it hard not to sit and pause for just a moment.  This great year, 2014, has brought with it many sorrows and disappointments but also successes and victories. 

This year has brought with it the challenges of facing self imposed limitations that should not have been there in the first place and the joy of breaking those barriers and breaking into new ground.  It has brought tests of patients and endurance and the joyous reward that comes from waiting for that which is good. 

This year has had moments of darkness, frustration and probably sometimes even fear but it has been a year that has brought me the closest to finding my truest self and the deepest desires of my heart and being able to see clearly who I am and what I want out of life.

There isn't a single year to which Ecclesiastes 3 would not be applicable but I'll leave that to you to ponder.  The most important element to this year has been that of finding balance in life. There are always good and bad experiences but it is how we respond to those circumstances that charts the course of our future. 

Looking back I thank God for all the wonderful experiences that life has brought me and give honour, praise and glory to God that if anything good has come out of this year, it has been by His divine grace and providence. 

I am so looking forward to saying, "Adios 2014!"  But I wait with excitedly with baited breath to say "Hello 2015, let's make this a great year!" 

What are your moments and thoughts of reflection?  I encourage you to take the time to think through these. 

Wishing you all a blessed and prosperous New Year and Happy 2015!  And here's to looking forward to another year of blogging :-) 

P.S. Please travel safely!

The remodelling has begun

This weekend was an amazing quiet and peaceful Christmas long weekend and I cherished every minute that I could spend at home with my babies as well as the opportunity to sleep and just be a couch potato when I wanted to be. I did however decide that it was time to start the front garden remodelling project and for this I enlisted the help of a little gardening buddy, being my neighbours little 5-6 year old daughter.

Darling little Rowan chewed my ear off through the whole process, she may well have slowed me down a bit, but the company was great fun. I must admit, I think I have already mastered the art of just doing the ahh ha, yeh and oh really bit!

The remodelling process will require 3 phases namely; stripping the beds of all unwanted plants, reshaping the beds so that the bed lines are just more fluent and creative and then planting. This time I plan on going with a low maintenance front yard with fewer and larger plants to fill the space.

In much the same way the rest of my life is going to have to undergo a remodelling process if I intend to take the idea of adoption seriously and I am praying that God will guide and direct my every step as I do so.

As we come to the end of 2014 and face the start of a brand new year, 2015, are their any aspects of your life both spiritually and physically that need to be remodelled? If so, then I join hands with you in prayer that God will grant us the wisdom to know where to put our efforts.

You are in my prayers!

Christmas: My special gift to self - Confessing my hearts desire

It is Christmas eve and a very special time.  I know my friends in NZ and AUZ are already enjoying the special day.  My special Christmas gift to myself this year is confessing my hearts desire that I truly and deeply want to adopt a child.  At this point I feel God has placed a desire for an Asian baby/child, preferably a girl, on my heart and I'll say why shortly.  The big questions are why do I want to adopt and what does this have to do with Christmas? 

Well I'll tell you!  It is only 3 generations back in my family that my Great Grandfather and Mother, Oupa and Ouma Louw adopted my grandmother, Joyce Louw (born Conradie).  Granny Joyce gave birth to my father, Des Hughes, who along with my mother June, gave birth to me. I had the rare privilege to know my Ouma (Grandmother) Louw and she was an amazing women and thus adoption is close to my heart. 

So where did the Asian bit come in?  Well as a young 12 or 13 year old girl in Nelspruit, I attended a very special youth group, Calvary Assembly Youth Ambassadors for Christ (quite a mouthful).  During a game of 'sweets or the box' I won the book "God's smuggler to China - by Brother David."  Along with desires I have had from early childhood to become a missionary, this birthed a love in my heart for the Chinese people and their plight to live the Christian life under Chinese communist domination.  This was further fueled by the book, "Chasing the Dragon - by Jackie Pullinger." 

Does this mean that this adoption will take place exactly as desired or planned?  Maybe, maybe not, but I know that when God places a desire in your heart it is for a reason and until God tells me otherwise, that is what I will be praying for. 

But there is another reason adoption is so very special to me.  That is because God opened up His master plan for salvation to the Jewish nation to all of mankind when he declared that Gentiles too should be saved.  In Romans 8:15 we read, "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba Father."  Our very salvation is God's great act of adopting mankind, paying the price for our redemption and making us His family. 

This is the true story of Christmas, that Christ was born to reconcile man to God!

If you have not yet bought yourself a Christmas gift, I want to encourage you to by my ebook, Growing with God by Ronwyn - Everyday God, available from Amazon.  It is $6.85, +- R50 and will be a blessing to you and your family throughout 2015.  If you don't have a kindle, you can download the app from Amazon when you purchase the book.  You can copy the link below into your browser.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H1M90P6/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_BflHub0W5EFMH

With this, I wish all my GrowingwithGod by Ronwyn readers a blessed and prosperous Christmas. 
Peace on earth and goodwill towards men!
All my love!

Increased demands at Christmas

This time of year is extremely difficult for banking.  The increased demands and risks make life difficult for the skeleton staff still working. 

I can only imagine what Israel must have been like around the time of Christ's birth.  The census had been called and no matter what your challenges, you had to play your part.  The towns folk must have wondered how on earth they would keep up with the challenges of increased people movement. 

All the while Mary's heart must have pumped nervously at times.  She knew her time of delivery was near and she must have had some moments of nervous anxiety.  The truth is regardless of the challenges she was the picture of grace in a troubled time. 

I think a time comes when we remind ourselves of our increased strengths and remember that God has everything under control, no matter how difficult life may seem.  At this Christmas time, draw from the grace and strength of Christ that resides within you and remind yourself of God's words through the angels, "Peace on earth and goodwill towards men!"  [Luke 2:14 paraphrased]

Starry starry Christmas night

Since the start of the rainy season I have been going outside, hoping to catch a clear night with nothing but stars to look at.  For months, nothing!  Then Saturday night it finally happened.  A full clear night with nothing but beautiful stars and right above me sat Orion's belt.  If I hadn't just watered the lawn I may have put a blanket out there and lay watching for quite some time. 

This always makes me wonder exactly what it was that the three wise men actually saw when they saw the star that lead them to the birth of Jesus?  I wish there could be some way for us to figure that out.......But follow that star they did and they became part of biblical history.

What star are you following this Christmas?  Is it the star of fame, the star of fortune, the star of family, the star of relationships, what is it that you most want right now?  The question we must ask ourselves is, are we willing to sacrifice for it or do you expect it to come easily?  Those wise men sacrificed a tremendous amount.  Remember they had no modern highways to travel on, it was all a hard journey through deserts and forests and all sorts of terrain.  

Are you willing to make the sacrifices necessary to follow the correct star and find peace and joy this Christmas?

Sterkfontein adventure

This weekend has been a blast.  On Saturday one of my pals, Vanessa, joined me as we went on a short road trip to Sterkfontein caves and Maropeng out at the cradle of human kind.  Maropeng visitors centre was really fun but the best for me were the caves.  I am absolutely fascinated by geology. 

Although the sections open to the tour are considerably smaller and shorter than that of the Sudwala caves in Mpumalanga were I grew up, Sterkfontein did have something special to offer, that being an under ground lake, which has never been fully explored due to its depth and the darkness of the cave.  Sadly one poor soul did loose his life trying.  I am sure at some point those in the deep sea diving industry may be able to lend a hand to make it possible. 

In much the same way as this subterranean lake runs deep and far and must undoubtedly supply sustaining water resources the areas it feeds, so too our relationship with Christ can grow to the level and strength that it becomes our total source of power. 

Do you have that source of power in your life?  If not, why not consider developing a real relationship with God and not just follow religion. 

Christmas with the gogga's

I tried really hard to fight it, but the Christmas spirit eventually got a hold of me.  I had given away my tiny Christmas tree some time ago and have not replaced it yet so I decided to be different I wanted to make my own Christmas decorations by making some bedazzled and beaded pine cones. 

Pine cones hold many special memories for me of our childhood years in Nelspruit and the countless times we'd head off into the surrounding forests.  So on Monday on my way home from work I gathered a bag full of pine cones and brought them home to work on.  Some looked fairly clean so I figured I could get to work on them straight away.  Ha! Mother nature reminded me that these cones had been on the ground a while and had been inhabited by some tiny little critters.  After the fright of the bugs crawling out I took them outside to wash and pour over some citronella oil.  Needless to say I only managed to get one decorated before I ran out of time.  At least it will keep me out of mischief for a while. 

The Christmas story is rather messy too.  A stable certainly is not the type of place I would want to bring a new born baby into this world, but what could Mary do?  She had to make the most of a very bad situation.  Likewise our individual salvation stories may be messy, maybe because of a background of drugs, alcohol or abuse keeping us captive to our past. 

As much as we celebrate Christ's birth at Christmas it is already a reminder for us of why He came, that being to save us for eternity.  Whatever your story is, do not fear the mess, come to Christ as you are and His love will transform you. 

The end of the Ronosaurus

On the 5^th of January this year I wrote a blog called, “The year of the Ronosaurus”. The Ronosaurus was a Dinosaur that had breached extinction and was forging a way into the future. This year has indeed been a year about breaking barriers and changing direction. There have been changes in the physical realm as well as the emotional and spiritual realms that have shifted dramatically over the past year, and I am grateful for every change.

I believe it is time for the Ronosaurus to bow out as the lead character within my life and for the year ahead 2015 to be declared the 'Lion heart' year. I have faith that the year ahead will see bold new expeditions and forge me on into a year of victory!

What are you believing for in the next year? I challenge you to write it down and make it clear. There is tremendous power in writing down a vision and making it plain for all to see! As 2014 draws to a close, take some time to reflect back on the joys and sorrows of life and what you have learned through both the good and the bad that have come from the year.

Then set forth your goals for the coming year and BELIEVE!

To view the original blog go to:

http://growingwithgodbyronwyn.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-year-of-ronosaurus.html

Thunder

I really tried hard on Wednesday night to get to bed early as I was really feeling the fatigue. All went well until about 2am on Thursday morning when a really loud thunder storm rolled in. It woke me up with a fright but more so my poor kitties. Honey particularly hates all the loud storms. Well after that it was tickets to getting any real sleep, every time I drifted into dream land the kitties woke me up for one reason or another. My biggest worry as I settle down to bed tonight was seeing the dark clouds rolling back in. What I wouldn't give now for a clear starry night.

The wonderful thing though is that even though thunder storms are loud and scary, they roll in and the roll out again fairly quickly. If you are at all lucky there's lots of noise but not too much damage.

That's what the devil does. He arrives in our life and makes his presence known with lots of noise and plenty of evidence that he is going to wreck havoc but when we are rooted and grounded in Christ the storms may blow and our branches may bow, but we will never befall a fate that God has not ordained for our lives. I'm not saying God causes storms, but rather that He allows the storms of life to build our character.

If you are facing a scary storm now, take heart and ask God to be your shelter. We can rest peacefully through any trial knowing that God is for us.

Flavour burst

I've been enjoying having herbs to use in my salads again, but I hadn't used any in cooking. I decided that tonight was the night to try it. Well I can honestly say, my new favourite easy pasta dish tasted simply spectacular with just a few fresh herbs added, I was so chuffed!

Changing the way we experience things can change our outlook on life. A cup of coffee on a couch is nice but a cup of coffee in your favourite spot in the garden can bring tranquility. The same would be true of our experience of faith. When we change the way we experience God, new aspects of faith are opened up to us.

What do I mean by that? Well for instance if you only ever read your bible from a New King James version, using and Amplified version may change your understanding of the scripture. We must not be afraid to mix things up a little with our christian walk, this allows us to experience God in ways we may never have imagined.

Fountain of youth

So a cousin and a good friend nagged me to share my tips on ageing gracefully. Lol! I think my body parts south of my neck might not agree. I could say that it is because I drank from a fountain of naturally filtered waters in the Sudwala caves in Mpumalanga not once but several times that my skin has stayed young, but oh that's just a fairy tale.

I do have some genetic factors that play a role, good skin in the family and red heads just don't go grey until late, but I do have some good secrets of my own that do work. Firstly skin care does play a huge role, using the right formula for either dry, combination or oily skin is critical. If that's not done right then the PH levels don't normalise and you break out in pimples. Massaging the skin correctly when cleansing is important to remove impurities. Using a good scrub is essential but my biggest tip is, moisturise and moisturise some more. That helps to keep the skin cells plump and full. I usually moisturise before and after using a hair dryer as the hot air dries your skin.

Diet wise my biggest secret there is lots and lots of salads and then very importantly, I consume as much vinegar as I can manage. Vinegar cleans the blood and also purifies the skin, minimising break outs. Another key indicator that vinegar works well is the fact that it was also used during mummification. All in all these few things keep my skin clean and plumped up.

So what does all this have to do with our spiritual walk? A lot actually. Just like the right skin care products are essential for beauty, the correct application of the word of God to our lives is essential. Just like vinegar cleans the blood, we need to allow the word of God to work in our hearts to cleanse us from within.

But what is the greatest spiritual beauty tip of them all? Making sure you are connected to God, after all, is He not the resurrection and the life? Is He not the one who can quicken our mortal bodies and revive life within us? Oh yes, my biggest beauty secret is is being refreshed by the one who gives life in the first place.

What's your secret?

Think like a man

Now now ladies, hear me out! I had to remind myself today that emotions are fickle. How many times do we (men and women) get caught up with paranoid thoughts about what other people think of us, say about us or maybe even what we think they might be plotting against us. We may even overreact to a situation (I know I've done it many times) only to discover that this was not the case at all.

Here is where simple logic comes in and ladies, I think men are generally better at this than we are and thus my title. I do however know that men are also capable of great depth of heart and spirit and at times may loose themselves as easily as we can. Logic however must begin with simple questions. Unfortunately I can't tell you what those questions are but if you start questioning your thoughts, you will soon find out that you are on the wrong track.

You also need to give yourself some grace. Don't put yourself down so easily. Most people who know you would probably say that you are a good person with a good heart, so trust the norm and not the exception. I think when you cut yourself some slack and just breath a little you will feel a sense of calm and peace returning and that is when you can then pray and ask God to guide your thoughts and actions and return you to a state of joy.

Some fresh ideas

I am currently facing a challenge that I just have not been able to overcome. After much frustration I decided to contact a good friend and successful business man for some advice on how to move past the difficulties I was facing.

I met with him this morning for 1 hour and in that time we managed to bounce around a stack of ideas that could really help. I left the meeting feeling empowered and excited about tackling the issue head on.

Sometimes all we need in life is just to sit at the feet of a mentor who has faced the same challenges and found ways to overcome them. I'm betting that's how Mary felt when she sat at Jesus feet (Luke 10:38-42). She must have just wanted to glean every little bit of information and wisdom she could from Jesus in the time that He was in her home.

When last did you take time to just sit at the feet of Jesus and open your heart to Him and allow Him to impart spiritual knowledge into your life? I want to encourage you to do so and I am sure you will be surprised at what Jesus will say to you.

I just have to do it

It runs through my DNA and every fibre of my being and it is just something I have to do! What is that? Be CREATIVE! A day without creativity of some sort is like a day with no air. I simply cannot live without experiencing or expressing art in one way shape or form, be it gardening; writing; beading; making something; baking....something creative just has to come out or I dry up like a prune.

But that is nothing.......take a look at the heavens and though we can't see it with the naked eye, new stars are being born every day. I'm guessing new planets are forming in a solar system somewhere and I know some would differ with me (you're entitled to your opinion) but I believe that somewhere in the great cosmos there has to be another planet with life forms on it of some kind. Why do I believe that? Because God Himself is the origin of all creation and all creativity and He Himself cannot stop creating new life every day!

With every conception, be it animal or human, new life is created and these beings breath air and live. Our God is indeed awesome!

Let's just stop and pause and be thankful just for this one small fact, our God is creative!

Who is this artist?

There is an artist I know very well. He does the most spectacular work I've ever seen and he does it all on the move, no scene is ever the same. Yes the nuances are similar but the use of his colours and the spectacular strokes of his brush are simply indescribable. His repertoire is something to behold and he is ranked amongst the greats.

He paints sunsets and sunrises, rain and rainbows, bushveld and animals all with vividly different interpretations each time. He paints the stars and the planets and every day he captures the splendour of our universe. And by now you must to wondering, who is this Artist?

He is simply..... God!

I write to tell you about this artist because of one important fact. This artist also paints every scene, every joy, every delight, every tear and every happy moment in our lives with pure perfection. It is this very fact that has given me complete peace, for I know that even though a storm would come, he would paint the waves and the tossing sea, but he will also paint every victory. It is because of this that I can rest, knowing that I am safe in the arms of a loving God and He is good!

Silly season

It isn't called silly season without reason and it started with a bang today. Work stress, finding out one of my best friends was in a serious car accident and then the doozie! It came in the form of a callously published news paper article that will have a direct impact on my life and hundreds of people I know, with zero regard for the feelings of the people involved. This left me outright angry!

Recently though I have been challenged that attitude is a choice and that if I want to overcome the negativity of life that is constantly being thrown at us, then I have to make a choice and choose positive attitudes. So I decided that I would start posting a positive choice on my FB status every morning at the start of each new day. I have decided that I would like to share this with others so I'll be creating a new FB page for this and will let you all know once it is done.

I want to encourage you, the same way that I have to encourage myself that we have to choose to rise above. Does that mean we will never fall? No, certainly not but with a positive choice weapon in your pocket, you may well bounce back a lot faster.

As Christians we have an even great advantage because we know that scripture tells us that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes. I know it is hard to pick yourself off the floor when all you want to do is throw a tantrum, but know that God has a new day and new opportunities waiting for you with each new morning.

Let us wake with hope with each new day!

This place smells woof!

I don't blame our company, their intentions were good. They wanted to provide their staff with a good family day outing. I do however blame the venue designers. Common guys who on earth creates a function site less than 10 meters away from a cattle Kraal? We had been there the year before so I tried not to arrive too early but it still didn't help. I retreated behind a garden patch for a while which provided some relief, but had to emerge eventually and be a bit 'social'. Needless to say I didn't stay once lunch was done.

The fact of life is that we choose where we make our habitation. When we choose to dwell under the shadow of the almighty God we will carry His love and His fragrance wherever we go. If we choose to dwell where the devil dwells we will carry the fragrance of death and produce nothing but lies and deceit.

Let us choose today to dwell and stay in God's presence and to allow our lives to emanate the fragrances of love, peace, grace, beauty and thanksgiving.

Getting rid of the knots

I absolutely love and live for my monthly massages and they really are a big help! Getting the knots in my back and shoulders removed is a big relief. A months worth of stress and tension just melts away and it feels amazing.

In our spiritual lives do we get knots as well? I think we can, issues in our relationship with God that are just difficult to understand and as a result we can have spiritual stress about them. Paul spoke about a thorn in the side, but God never removed that thorn, He simply gave Paul to grace and strength to endure.

When we battle with issues of persistent health problems, difficult work circumstances, trouble in our relationships and even financial stress, these all put stress on our relationship with God because we wonder how a loving God could allow these things.

The work of the Holy Spirit is to comfort us and to relieve our stress by reminding us that we are not alone. Firstly we are not alone in our human experiences and secondly we are not alone because God is walking our path with us. When we receive that type of comfort it helps us to deal with our daily spiritual stresses and relieves our burdens.

I just should have done it

Last night I prepared my grocery shopping list, but by the time I had done it, I had run out of data on my cell phone and today being pay day, I had to wait till morning to buy the data. I had sent the mail from my junk mail box to my regular mail account and I told myself to cc my office address and just did not do it. Unfortunately the mail timed out and never made it to my phone.

I figured it wasn't really a problem because tonight I was supposed to get my monthly massage and tomorrow (Thursday) would be shopping day. NOT. I got a call from the salon to move the massage to tomorrow and thus I had to get shopping done tonight, the weekend I have other plans. Well there I sat trying to get access to my junk mail box at the office and nothing I tried worked. If I had emailed it to the office, it would have been a simple forward exercise.

So what did that all cost me, stress and a rushed 20 minutes at home trying to get it all sorted out before I could head to the shop. Luckily grace intervened and the shop was going to be open later so I ended up being able to take my time as planned.

It was just a simple lesson to me again of listening to my own inner voice and then disobeying it and paying the price. Recent events in my life have made that so clear and yet I still didn't listen. Sure it was a small consequence now, but in other situations it could have been a disaster.

God has given us the inner witness as one of the ways that he speaks to us. It is our conscience at work that helps us determine right from wrong and danger from safety. It is so important for us to learn to listen to that voice because in any given situation it really could save our lives.

Please don't make the same mistake I did, listen to yourself!

Doing the laps

I tootled off to the gym this evening hoping to do a splash of aqua aerobics. Upon arrival however the aqua pool was closed and only the main swimming pool was open. I grudgingly fetched my goggles and climbed into the cool water. What I had forgotten however is how much I really love doing laps. I'm not a fast swimmer by any means but I do have stamina to do long distance.

A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to do the Midmar dam swim, I trained the distance but never did the race, chickened out, tee hee! At that point though I was swimming anywhere between 100 – 150 laps. The secret to doing long distance swimming, so I'm told, is not too hold your breath as long as you would if you were doing a dash, but rather to breath frequently.

In life we often focus on the short goals, the next 100 meters and we try to dash it through with little breath. We get to the end of the 100 meters and have no strength left for the rest of the race. I want to encourage you to rather start focusing on the longer distance and take your breaths when you need to, i.e. do a short 1 day get away or go somewhere new or do something creative, just to allow you to get your energy back.

Well tonight I only managed 20 laps and was totally breathless afterwards, but man do I feel alive! The bug has bitten and I know I'll be back there again soon. What are you going to do with your life today to bring back that rush of energy you need?

The trouble with load shedding

Being a seasoned Gautenger by now, I have learned to live with the power disruptions. I'm well stocked with candles and a gas stove and luckily the geyser stays hot for quite a while. The big issue is all the other house chores that need to be rescheduled.

This evening it has been 'make hay while the sun shines' as we were off most of yesterday, so I guess tonight was our night off, but just in case, my laptop is fully charged.

How often in life do we not put things off though? We decide that tomorrow's another day and because of that we put things off that should really be done now. Right now I'm choosing not too, I'm living each day to the full, feeling everything that I need to and enjoying the good and learning from the bad.

There are definitely things that we should never put off:

Never put off saying I love you

Never put off showing kindness and grace

Never put off giving love and support to friends and family

Never put off the desire to know God

Never put off fellowshiping with God with every possibility

Never put off talking to God

That's my list for now, what's yours?

Hope's engine

I was reminded this evening by our pastor that hope is an active force.  It is something that we often don't use enough in our lives to create the forward momentum we need to drive our lives in the right direction.  

There are times in life when we are battered by life's storms and maybe as a result of that we end up with a damaged boat and the boat starts floating adrift.  I have often spoken of hope as an anchor but after tonight I think I might have misrepresented that.  It is the peace of God that guards our minds and brings calm to the troubled waters. 

I'm beginning to see hope a bit more like a tug boat.  Tug boats are strong and have an extreme power to tonnage ratio and they are small and maneuverable.  When a ship cannot steer or gain momentum then tug boats are used to move the ship along.  Some are strong enough to plough their way through icebergs. 

When we have stalled it is hope's force and momentum that pull us forward to getting our lives back on the track that they need to be.  Hope is powerful and strong and can break barriers in our life that no other force can break. 

As we face a new week, let hope drive your life forward in the direction that God has intended it to take.

Some crutches for perspective

Well Jo'burg rose to the occasion once again! I needed to be at the office early for a CEO meeting so I made the effort to get my behind out the bed early and off I went. Well, 1 hour later I had hardly landed on the highway and I could see this wasn't going to get any better. I then made the treacherous mistake of thinking Witkoppen might be better and I paid dearly. 3 hours later I rolled into the office and just caught the tail end of the meeting.

While driving though and counting my woes, I drove past a man, hobbling along on crutches. He was obviously paralysed and could not use his legs properly yet he was moving himself along one bit at a time. The sight broke my heart and all I wanted to do was to help, but I had nothing to give. I wish I could have been his angel and provided him with everything he needed. Now all I can do is pray that God will help him.

This put my 3 hour drive into different perspective. I had a car and I have legs that can carry me when they need to, so why was I complaining? It definitely helped me keep my attitude in check for the day.

We used to sing an old song, “when upon life's billow's you are tempest tost, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings name them one by one, and you'll be surprised at what the Lord has done!”

Let's remember to count our blessings today!

Crazy weather

My goodness, how is this weather we are experiencing. Needing winter blankets in summer and two pairs of shoes because I don't know whether I'm going to be hot or cold during the day is just frustrating. Don't tell me that global warming hasn't messed up our climate....who know's whats next?

If the weather can leave us feeling that we need to be prepared for anything, what do we need to do in our spiritual lives to be prepared for all situations? Develop a close relationship with God through prayer and worship. You will be amazed at how much strength and direction you can gain from just a few moments with God each day!

In recent weeks I have realised that I had not put communication with God first and as a result I did not have the wisdom I needed in certain situations. I'm certainly not going to make that mistake again. Spending time with God each day has given me the compassion, strength and wisdom to deal with what I am facing right now and I am so grateful to God for His gentle guidance.

Increasing the weights – uping the anti

I was surprised to see how quickly my body got used to the new work outs and settled back to normal with no pain. The problem with that is that if you are just maintaining weight then keeping the pace the same is fine, but if you want to continue to burn fat then you are going to have to push the pace harder and make your body work more.

That being decided I gave it a hard knock tonight and from the way I'm feeling now it is going to be soooooore tomorrow! Tee hee, serves me right. The amazing thing is that while training tonight I got a glimpse again of my younger self and boy do I want that chickie back in my life. Its small wonder I was a skinny weed, I used to walk almost every afternoon from home, to my mom's office and then to the gym and still train. Lol!

The thing is if you really want something you are going to have to work at it and that is where good Godly ethics come in, you know, “do everything as unto the Lord!” That does mean everything, work, home, relationships, the works, everything.

Loaded

What a loaded scripture and at that, not even the full verse. James 1:21 “.......and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your soul.” I could probably do a full 45 minute sermon, just on that bit, but I'll stick to the cliff notes.

To receive with meekness tells us that our attitude to receiving the word of God into our lives needs to be with an attitude of humility, taking into consideration the power of the word of God. The implanted word reminds us that in order for God's word to have an effect on our lives it needs to be rooted in us, that means, fully entrenched in everything we know and do. In order for us to have the word implanted in us takes effort, it means learning scripture, what it means and what effect it can have on us.

Most of us think that the saving of our souls refers to our spiritual salvation, but it is not that. The saving of our souls means the reformation process that our soul goes through as we become more like Jesus, this is called our sanctification. Saving our soul takes on another angle though, when God's word works in us it can literally save us from aspects in our lives are destructive, like greed envy and lust.

This entire process is never ending. I'd like to encourage you today to allow God's word to become deeply rooted in you so that you can experience the life saving power of His Word!

A job made easy

I had planned to spend most of the weekend doing gardening, but I woke up with a fright to a thunderstorm and had to rescue the kitties from the rain. That being done, fatigue got the better of me and I decided to retreat back to bed.

By the time I woke up again the sun was out and the garden beckoned. The usually unpleasant task of weeding the side garden had however been made easy due to the heavy rain and the weeds just popped out. I had barely finished that though and another storm rolled in and I had to accept that I was done gardening for the day.

Our hearts are much like garden beds though, when we are spiritually dry and arid then dealing with the difficult heart issues of life can be difficult. However when we are walking close to God and the Holy Spirit has rained on us then getting through those tough times is so much easier.

Are you struggling to overcome difficulties in your life? How about making a point to spend some time in prayer and fellowship with God and opening your heart to the work that he wants to do in you. Know that when you do, God's presence and peace will refresh your soul every time!

Hello Mr Sun

After several days of much needed rain, Mr Sun finally managed to make an appearance again and oh, how pleased we are. I arrived home and was able to take a walk to the herb garden for the first time in days and was greeted by some beautiful ripe blackberries, delightful!

Being able to retreat to the back garden with a cup of coffee is one of my favourite things to do. The site that greeted me, was a little disturbing though. With all the great rain everything grows like wildfire, including the weeds and some of them are almost as big as the clivia's, EISH!

The good, the bad and the ugly all grow under good rain conditions and in life and in spirit the same will be true. Life will present us with trials and out of them will come both positive and negative consequences, it is how we choose to respond to both the good and the bad that determines our level of spiritual and emotional growth.

Hind sight is always clearer than foresight and we must allow time to reflect on the lessons of life so that we can become stronger and wiser through them. I hope you are enjoying the wonderful benefits of spiritual rain in your life today.

Weight resistance training

Recently I've been doing abdominal training but mostly with crunches, stretches and ball work but I wasn't quite getting the results I wanted. This weekend I decided to add back some Ab machines and full body lift resistance training. The result? PAIN!

Now bruised muscles need a day to heal but you cannot stop there. You have to get back to training those muscles as quickly as possible, burning through the pain. That's when you get the best fat burning results, but it is not easy.

In life trials come to us and there is no doubt they cause us pain along the way, but the same is true for our emotions and faith as it is for muscles, you have to get back to working that area again as quickly as possible. The same way training burns away fat, so too trials burn away the rough edges of our character and we are left with an awesome result, a strong and healthy faith.

If you are feeling bruised and in pain, don't stay there. Get back up as quickly as possible and move forward with life and your relationship with God.

Hit pause

There are times in life when interruptions, circumstances or people throw our lives into a tizzy. The interactions and events fly at us so fast we don't really get time to stop and pause and our judgements are clouded and before we know it, we've made a massive mistake.

In music it is the pauses that give the repertoire feeling and depth. In life we need pauses as well, times to allow things to sink in and process what is going on in our lives, time to put things in proper perspective. When we take those pauses, the colours of life are brighter, the songs of the birds bring peace and we are able to find the steady rhythm that we need to gain balance and make the right choices.

Whatever your pause time is, don't let go of it! Hang on to that time and fight to defend its place in your life. It is a vital space for you to connect with God, even if it is just with silence. It is this meditation that will give you the strength to find the right solution to every problem and God will honour you when you do.

It weighs on the heart

Trials are never easy, and trials of the heart are even more burdensome to bare, but God knows everything we think or feel and through every difficulty he will carry us and work in us to prove his goodness and kindness.

The devils evil knows no limits and he will stop at nothing to destroy you and it is at times like these that we may feel fear and grow weary in our relationship with God. The thing is this is when we have the greatest opportunity to prove the power of God that is within us.

Don't let the devil get the better of your thought life. Stand strong in your faith and trust God for wisdom and strength.

A lioness's strength

As women we complain when we don’t have the physical strength to open a glass jar, or we might be able to change the light bulb, if only we could get the cover off.  We may get frustrated when we are unable to pick up or carry a heavy object or when we just can’t get something heavy to move from a spot.  BUT dear ladies there is another kind of strength we do have.

You see the Lion does not say to the Lioness, “You are smaller than me and not quite as strong, so you stay home and I’ll do the hunting.”  No, the Lion knows that it is the Lioness’s speed and agility, her pace and her stamina that make her the perfect huntress for the tribe.  Then there is her ability to communicate with the other lionesses in her tribe and to work together as a team. 

As women of God it is our role in the family to use our strengths to bring about God’s order in the home, to know that we have the strength and stamina to pray for our families until the spiritual and physical battles of life are done.  This is what God honours as our strength and this is the role God desires us to play in the home. 

Women of God, stand strong in your faith in God today and know that God is with you and together as a team you can defeat the power of the enemy.

Know the signs

I have long been a believer that events I call, “signs in the heavelies” are signs that God is about to bring great change in my life. They may not necessarily be in the stars but things like, the sighting of a triple rainbow, a lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse, sighting of a shooting star or comet are all natural events that happen within nature that have been signs to me that change was nigh.

It has happened again this year. I think back to August 5^th, two days before my birthday when our country shook from a tremor, yes it was a sign that God is busy moving my earth and rocking my world for change and I couldn't be happier.

Do you know what signs God uses to get your attention? It may be a rare flower, a feather on the ground or an owl in the tree, but God has unique ways of communicating that change is on the way to each of us. Do you know yours and what to do when they happen?

When a mother prays

Folks you had better believe it. When a mother prays God listens! I have been contemplating a big decision I needed to make in my life and I asked God to give me one last assurance that this was His plan and purpose for my life.

Without asking, tonight that assurance came from my mother and the word was specific and clear with no ambiguity! I couldn't have asked for anything more direct. She had prayed a specific prayer that required a specific answer and it came.

Mother's, God has ordained your place in the family to be the voice of the Holy Spirit to your husband and children. When you submit your heart to His will and listen to Him, he will give you the guidance you need to speak the prophetic word of God into their lives! Please open your heart to hear from Him today.

Change of pace

This weekend the pace of things was a little bit different.  I did not have the usual energy for gardening and there are certain things that just didn’t get done.  I did get lots of sleep though and that was good for me.

In Psalm 23 versus 2 & 3, David talks about rest in a unique way.  He says that the Lord ‘makes’ him lie down in green pastures.  That is interesting and means that there are times when God forces us to take it easy, but why does He do so?  Verse 3 gives us two clear answers.  In order for our souls to be recharged.  And why is that necessary?  So that we can be lead into righteousness. 

I find that so interesting, that it requires a fully restored soul in order for us to be lead to righteousness.  My take on that is this, the reason it requires a rested and restored soul is that it takes effort for us to work out our salvation and this can only be done with a strong soul.  When we allow ourselves to be restored, walking the road necessary to come to right standing with God becomes easier to complete. 

Landscape

Life changing events happen at the strangest of times. They throw us off balance and leave us wondering what happened. Whether they are good or bad, the one thing they do is to change the landscape of our lives.

I remember being in awe of this very fact when I went to Parys. Before making the decision to go there I had no idea about the geological significance of the area and what had taken place at that very site. If you haven't heard about it, I'll give you the short version.

The Vrederfort dome area was the site of one of 5 earth changing extinction level events that scientists believe have changed the landscape of our planet. A massive asteroid hit our planet at that exact point and changed everything.

The strange thing is that this is all just part of nature. We don't want to believe that something like this is normal, but in the scale of our universe it most certainly is. If you are in the middle of a life changing event, hang on tight to God and he will guide you through the change.

Insolence

Insolence is an ugly thing. It rears its ugly head at the worst time and when it is leveled at you then it can really leave you feeling angry. The question is what is its origin. I believe insolence comes from a base belief that you are somehow better than someone else or that your opinion is more important than the whole picture.

The Apostle Paul gives us some insight into how we should behave in this regard: Romans 12:3Amplified, “For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.”

The Apostle James weighs in on this subject as well: James 4:10 NKJV, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

These principles apply to every area of our lives from personal relationships, to work, to friendships and ministry all alike. In practicality though when a disagreement arises if you take the path of first lowering yourself to try and see the other persons version then when they have finished, your case may well receive higher value because you have been considerate to another's expression.

Let us not place ourselves on a pedestal and even if others place you there, get off quickly.

Colour filled

I love colour, so a 'grey' office space just doesn't work for me. So when one of my best friends gave me a beautiful calendar, once used, I used all the pictures to cover my workspace walls. One of my colleagues started asking me about some of the pictures and that got me all excited, especially the geological ones which are quite spectacular. She mentioned that it is a pity that I did not study that full time as I have such a passion for it.

Truth is that I have a passion for both geology and history, so it doesn't take much to prick my curiosity and I'm off like a rabbit wanting to know and learn more. The amazing thing is that history and geology teach us so much about God and that is why I had to do 3 years of bible school, I just had to know more.

Creation is God's masterpiece declaring His character and His love to all who will pay attention. Volcano's and earth quakes remind us of His power, river streams and quiet ponds of His great gentleness and sunrise and sunset of His warmth and love.

How about we get excited and share about God's great love for us to others today!

Too heavy a load

It is seriously taking me a lot longer to get all the bits and pieces of the house and garden back to normal after the renovation. Inside is done, just the top of the kitchen cupboards left to clean, but the patio was another story, so before I could tackle my first serious gardening for the season, that had to be sorted.

Well all was going fine, until I came across the one and a half boxes of floor tiles left over from the job. Now they say you are supposed to keep these for any future repairs, so I thought I could just shunt them over to the corner and leave them there. NOT. I had no clue how heavy the darn things were. No wonder the delivery guys were looking at my cross eyed when they brought them in.

I tugged and I pushed and I did everything I possibly could to get them to move, but it just wasn't happening. I eventually had to give in to the fact that I was going to have to move one or two at a time. This wasn't the best idea but the only solution I could manage. Eventually it got done.

This made me think about the divide and conquer strategy that the devil uses against our marriages today. He puts husband and wife at war with each other and then the kids and then we wonder why we are not able to achieve Godly submission within the marriage and why marriages fail.

You may disagree with me on my next point but take some time to think it through and ask God to open your heart to this spiritual reality. Yes, God made man to be the head of the husband and wife relationship and head of the family, but in order to succeed at this the husband has to expose his heart to allow him to love and care for his family. It is the wife's role therefore to act as spiritual guardian over her husbands heart and to protect him from attack from the enemy.

Ladies, God made us strong, strong enough to endure childbirth, so yes we can do this!

Gentlemen, encourage your lady to stand up to her role so that she protect you where necessary.

When we work together, the devil will not have his way and our marriages will be strong!

Choices

Today I was faced with a situation that presented me with some interesting choices. I could get angry and take my anger out on the wrong person who was just as much a victim of the circumstances as I was, or I could bridle my tongue and use that frustration to find a solution to the problem.

Now finding that solution won't be easy. It will take time, research, effort and more stress than I think I can handle right now, but it is the right thing to do. These choices are never easy.

So when did Jesus face the same dilemma?

At the back end of the desert after 40 days of fasting! I know that all he wanted to do was get home and rest and one Lucifer comes knocking at his door with an interesting proposal, worship me and I'll give you everything! We think it was easy for Jesus to refuse this offer, but in His weakened state this was no small feat.

But Jesus did the right thing and turned Lucifer down and walked the path from His first miracle at the wedding in Cana all the way through to Golgotha! It wasn't easy, it required every ounce of his strength, an unbelievable mental stress and rejection from His disciples...... But it was the right thing to do!

The result? Salvation for all mankind, for all time!

I think it was worth it!

Where we left off

Do you have friends whom you may see now only once in a while, but in years gone by you were almost inseparable choosing to spend time together as often as possible? Do you find now that when you see those friends that there is no need for small talk and pleasantries but you really can pick up where you left off and just carry on? Well those relationships are rare and precious.

We can have the same relationship with the word of God today. When we have made friends with the word of God and we know each other well, we can have the freedom to just pick up our scriptures where we left and enjoy wonderful fellowship with God through His Word.

Where is your relationship with God's word at right now? Have you been ignoring your time? Don't feel guilty but know that God is waiting with open arms to receive you and bless you through His presence and love, so why not pick up where you left off with the Word of God today?

Getting there

It took a whole week for the cement smell to dissipate but it is finally gone and I was able to move back into my bedroom this weekend. It was time to get stuck into the spare room and get it back to being a 'spare' room. Lol! I had wanted to tackle the patio this weekend too but that just didn't happen. I get so impatient with myself sometimes but my mom always reminds me that Rome wasn't built in a day.

We do that in our spiritual lives too. We get excited about an area in our lives we want to grow in and we throw everything at it, but it just doesn't happen fast enough and then we get frustrated with the process.

Paul gives us some encouragement in this are in Philippians 2:12 where he says, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

What does this mean? It means that we should work through the scriptures and allow them to impact our lives and that we should do so with reverence and respect for the word of God. When we follow and heed this principle we can be guaranteed that God will work through us to make his glory manifest within our lives.

Thank goodness for gas

This morning I woke up to another power failure.  Thankfully the geyser stays warm for a while, so guess what?  I took my first shower in my new shower....super cool!  Luckily for me I have gas, so boiling a quick kettle for breakfast was no stress. 

What would I do without gas in my home, struggle!  I have come to depend on it so much as my backup in these difficult times we are going through as a country with our power supply. 

Do we have a spiritual backup power supply?  Yes, but unlike Eishkom, He never runs out of power.  The Holy Spirit is our helper in times of need and he is our comforter when we need strength.  More importantly too, He is the active working of the power of God within us. 

Are you linked up to your Holy Spirit power supply?

Needs recycling

I had a grand plan but now I'm not so sure. I hate the thought of waste so I thought that I would try and recycle the broken tiles that came out of my bathroom into a feature in the herb garden. Trouble is, I didn't count on how much it would really be and now I have a stack of rubble along side the house. I know I can use some of it, but there will still be whole lot that will need to be discarded.

When I have time over the weekend, I'm still going to give it a shot and see what I can do. I know there are bits and bobs that I can donate to charity and maybe even give some stuff to someone who has been of help to me in the past.

Sometime our best laid plans don't work out and we need to find a new solution. That doesn't mean that our intentions weren't good, it just means that we didn't necessarily put enough thought into planning.

The great thing about God's love and forgiveness is that God judges the thoughts and intents of the heart. That means that if we have sinned unintentionally and we come to God to repent that he will always forgive us. The most important thing that God requires from us is a heart that is repentant when we sin.

So if you have slipped and fallen and sinned before God, don't waste another minute to come before Him and repent, for our Father is waiting with open arms to receive us.

Moving back

Trying to get everything moved back to where it is supposed to be is quite a mission, but I have great joy in knowing that I have a finished product that I am proud of. Like everything else though restoration is a process.

That's exactly how God works in our spiritual lives too. He allows times for us to experience His grace and forgiveness through things in our world returning to a place of wholeness. But restoration is not just a returning something to what was before we experienced pain and brokenness, it is about bringing that area of our lives to a place of newness but with the strength of wisdom that this experience has now brought into our lives.

If you are in a place of pain and brokenness right now, know that God will honour His word and that His true joy will come in the morning! So hold fast to God's promises and believe that Christ is your redeemer and restorer now and forever more!

Home Reno – It's doooooooone!

Saturday, day 3 of the home reno was by far the most stressful. I think I heard the guy accepting another job starting Sunday, so I'm guessing he decided it was time to hurry up and get done. The problem was he called in the cavalry with two extra men and didn't let me know before hand, left me feeling very uncomfortable.

Anyway, I was about to rush out to go and get the paint when they called me upstairs with a problem. Seems the original builders did a nasty and installed the drain trap diagonally across the base of the shower instead of straight. The new drain fitted but the metal plate at the top did not want to fit in the normal position. Their solution was that I needed to go and get new piping and an elbow fitting. I wasn't having any of that. After looking at the problem myself I figured the plate would fit and that all that was needed to fix the problem was to add two small metal washers so that it would hook in properly.

With solution in hand I rushed off to get the goodies and paint and then once that was done things smoothed out for the day. What frustrated me though was that here are guys who do this every day for a living, why could they not figure it out? Why did I have to find the solution, a women with no plumbing experience....... :-(

In our spiritual lives we can get ourselves into a similar situation. Something small just doesn't fit and then we want to throw in the towel. Lets use a practical example. You feel you should have a quiet time in the mornings but you are just not a morning person. Well then, grab a verse for the day in the morning and do your quiet time at night.... problem solved!

I'd like to encourage you not to let small things trap you up in your relationship with God. Focus on the bigger picture and figure it out.

Home reno – Demolition day

Yesterday was demolition day and oh my it was noisy. To my surprise though I thought that once all the goodies were knocked out that would be the end of the banging......apparently not! They did however manage to get the floor tiles laid, which is good progress.

Renovations are much like the work the Holy Spirit does with us after we are saved. Salvation ensures the immediate rebirth of our spirit from death to eternal life but the renewing of our minds takes work and that is the Holy Spirit's job.

The Holy Spirit will take us through some difficult times where our soul gets rough edges knocked off it and maybe like carpets there are things that need to be ripped out as well and like home renovations the process can be painful. The goal though is the transformation of our hearts to reflect the image of Christ.

Like home renovations too, the pain eventually ends and we are left with a masterpiece of beauty that brings glory to God.

Home reno – phase 2

I won't lie, I am totally stressed out about tomorrow. Thoughts of banging walls and tiles and dust everywhere do freak me out. I was going to do the painting myself but the tiler offered to do it and I know it will save me a lot of time and stress and with any luck by Saturday we'll be done with Sunday left for finishing touches if necessary. I know I'm going to have to wait a bit for the cement smell and paint fumes to dissipate before I move back in but at least I'll also be able to get the furniture back to its spot and that will open up my living space again.

Rather than reaching for Calmettes or Biral though I decided to head off to the gym for a quick spot of aqua aerobics. That got me thinking that it is really sad how quickly we reach for wine, cigarettes, chocolate or whatever our drug of choice is to alleviate stress rather than using exercise. Worse than that our minds run wild and we completely forget about the word and how powerful it can be in guiding our thoughts. Don't get me wrong, I'm just as guilty as anyone.

So if like me you are stressed out, remember that God made our bodies to move and He made our hearts to respond to His word, so declare that word today.....

I can do and live through all things in Jesus name! Amen!

If only for a traffic circle

How many times don't you get stuck at a bad intersection that just blocks up traffic for miles and you know it would all be sorted if there was only a traffic circle in place to regulate traffic. Not a robot, no I think we have way too many of those, just a simple circle. After all, who could steal a sim card from a traffic circle..... Neh, ja I'm telling you it's true!!!

Traffic circles simply allow us to take turns. Don't we need that in our relationships too as well? We get so worked up and bent out of shape because we want our own way that we sometimes just don't allow others to communicate their needs to us. That tends to happen at work just as much as in romantic relationships.

Does it happen with our relationship with God? Yeh I suppose so. The Holy Spirit may be trying to guide us and give us direction but because we are on our own mission we don't listen and don't hear him and we miss our turn off or a change of direction that He desires for us to take.

Next time you find your life paused for a moment, stop and ask God to give you direction. Ask Him to show you whether you should go straight or turn and take a different direction. I know if you do you will find that the traffic in your life starts to flow just a little bit easier.

Hiding behind the leaves

My scented geranium's have really taken off and growing like crazy and I'm going to have to cut them back somewhat to keep them under control. I got curious though and decided to lift up the bush to see what was happening underneath and what do I find? Snails. Now I'm sure snails have a role in the Eco system somewhere but in my garden all they do is destroy stuff so I'm afraid I have to be tough and get rid of them.

To my surprise though under the lilies I have once again found a whole bunch of raspberry seedlings. The last bunch I transplanted are having a rough time, so I figure I have to let them get a little bigger with more roots before I move them. I've even found a few blackberry seedlings as well, so who knows how this will turn out but I'm quite excited about the discoveries.

Two sets of leaves with two different discoveries, some positive, some negative. I suppose life presents us with opportunities to pick our attitudes. If we choose to focus on the negative we can easily allow the snails of life to chew up the garden of our hearts. If we choose to focus on the positive, who knows how much fruit you can produce in the future and where the seedlings if growth will land.

Something's happening, something's happening!

They're here, they're here! My tiles and all other materials arrived on Saturday. Ginger and I were both instantly excited about the new arrivals but Honey took a bit of convincing. It's great to be able to see the the colour matches again and make my final paint colour selections. I'm not too sure when I'll be buying the paint but hopefully it will be soon. There is still lots of work to do so no rush.

It was however going to be my last weekend of peace and quiet for a while so I made the most of it. In honesty these last three months have NOT been fun at all but I hope that the finished product will make it all worth while.

I know Jesus bore in mind the pain and suffering he would go through during his trial and Crucifixion but I wonder if there was ever a moment when He sat and contemplated what the future would look like afterwards? I wonder if He was excited about what it would be like to be able to walk with mankind in a personal relationship once again?

I believe He must have. I believe that was precisely what God the Father and God the Son must have done the moment Adam sinned....dream about the future of securing mankind's personal relationship with God and that was where the plan of salvation was borne.