Saying goodbye to 2015

Getting ready to say goodbye to 2015 is difficult. It has been an incredibly tough year.  At the start of this year I declared that it would be my 'Lion heart' year, but I had not defined what that meant.  Looking back now I see that it was a year of tremendous personal growth that was brought about by having the courage to to allow myself to dream big, try new things and allow myself to really feel love, joy, sadness, grief and all the other wonderful emotions that life causes us to feel.

I took the bold move to join and art group for the first time ever and made some wonderful friends, but more so after starting on familiar territory with beading, I challenged myself to learn to paint and that has been the biggest blessing in my life this year!

After declaring at the end of 2014 that I really wanted to adopt a child, I took steps to find out about what that would mean.  I read books, spoke to families that have adopted and even joined our church's children's ministry to spend time with little ones to see how I'd cope.  I have reached the end of that journey knowing that I truly am ready, willing and emotionally and physically able to do so, but right now just don't have the means to do this right now.  I have given the dream to God and believe that He will bring things to pass in His time!  Zachariah and Elizabeth taught me that God's timing is His doing and that I have no right to question that.  God will do in my life as He sees fit and if I am willing to receive the gift at His appointed time, it will be a blessing!

As would be expected, this year brought with it many challenges.  Health difficulties, house repairs and car trouble all put me under pressure one way or another, but God is good and has brought me through each trial!

This year our country has faced drought and in some parts this still persists, so spending time in the garden this year has been very limited and I haven't seen the development that I would have liked to achieve.  

But without doubt the hardest part of this year was saying goodbye to my Grandmother, Gran Babe Smith!  She had faced health challenges of her own early on in the year and when I went to see her last in April, I had a strong sense that this may well be the last time we got to spend time with one another.  Sadly she passed at the end of October.  It has been a particularly hard part of this years journey especially for her children. 

Despite the heart ache and challenges I know that I have reached the end of this year stronger, more focused and more determined about my calling, knowing that God has more in store.  I know too that this will mean digging really deep for every ounce of strength, being willing to make drastic changes to my life and being totally open and dependant upon the Holy Spirit for guidance in the year ahead.

What has this year meant to you?  I would encourage you to take the time to reflect over the next few days so that when the bell tolls 12 at midnight on December 31st, you'll be ready to wave goodbye to 2015 and say with me:

Our God is an AWESOME God who REIGNS from heaven above, with WISDOM power and LOVE, our God is an Awesome God!  I praise you at the end of this year Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made and my days before you are numbered and you have a plan and a purpose for my life!  

So long and goodbye 2015!  See you all next year!  

All wrapped up

No matter how you are feeling, nothing can get you more in the Christmas mood than wrapping gifts.  I stopped at the shops on my way home from work on Tuesday to wrap up the last bit of shopping!  While I was wrapping away I remembered the times I spent sitting on the bedroom floor wrapping gifts for what seemed to be hours.  Then once it was all done placing them under the tree with great excitement imagining Christmas day and when we would all unwrap our gifts and what fun it would be.  I had plenty of fun wrapping this years secret Santa gift as I have rigged it...you're not going to guess what it is by shaking it or feeling it... :-) Tee hee!

The excitement about wrapping any gift is the anticipated response we will get when our recipient opens the gift, especially when we have taken time and effort into the sourcing or preparation of the gift.  We want the recipient to know how much we love them and the more extravagant the gift, the deeper the love we are showing.  

I an only imagine God's great excitement in those days leading up to the birth of Christ.  God hadn't spent days or months preparing our gift....no He spent millenia!  The countless human lives that made up the blood line of Christ each had purpose and meaning.  So on that day when Christ was born, God's joy was great!  He rejoiced as He delivered the hope of our salvation into our world in the form of a small baby boy!  

God's love for you is enormous, never ever underestimate that!  

So I wish you all a very wonderful, Merry Christmas! 

Peace on Earth!  Goodwill towards men!

Drawing near feeling a tear

As the year winds down and Christmas is only 4 more sleepies away, I am truly torn inside.  This will be our families first Christmas without my Gran and I know we are all still feeling the grief of her loss quite strongly.  I am feeling joyful as I will be spending Christmas with my cousins, aunt and uncle and two cute little one's and other asorted guests.  To be honest I think it will be the first Christmas that I spend with my cousins since our childhood years (unless I'm forgetting something).  On the other hand, I won't get to see my mom, step dad, sister or her family and that really hurts.  In a perfect world I wish we could all just find a way to be together, but it simply is never possible.  

In life there really so seldom is that 'perfect' moment, there is almost always something or someone missing and the gaping whole that leaves inside leaves us longing for more.  That is why the work of the Holy Spirit is so absolutely vital in our lives.  When we draw near to God and ask Him to be our strength we will find that the Holy Spirit comes into that place of pain and fills us with His joy and strength. 

I have been through many Christmas's "home alone" so whatever your situation is this year with heading for Christmas, know that I get how lonely this time of year can be.  I am praying a special prayer this year for all who may end up being on their own or whom may have lost a loved one this year.  I pray that the Holy Spirit will touch you with this comfort and strength!

Reconciliation day.....or not?

Well today is supposed to be reconciliation day.....Instead protests were held around the country for Jacob Zuma...our president nogal to resign.....!  So I hear you bleating that a spiritual blog should not be political.  Well all radical changes are politically driven one way or another...you don't agree? 

Was the start of Jesus life and ministry not politically affected in a way?  You may say no, but I beg to differ.  Pilot says, "let me worship the king," the wise men take off and Joseph heads for Egypt.  The death of John the Baptist too no doubt had an impact on Christ's life, entrenching in Him a defiant spirit to not surrender to the political will of the Jews to rule by force, but to lead His kingdom through a new reality. 

Though the separation between church and state needs to be clear, there is no doubt in my mind that the one impacts the other and vice versa.  So where should we stand as Christian's....I go back a few weeks and remind you of my call to revival, a call to awaken the church in South Africa to rise up once again and pray that political change in this country would come by peace and not by war. 

What will happen if we fail to do this?  Tom Ingles once implied that a physical war cannot be fought unless a spiritual was has been lost.  It is therefore our responsibility to pray for peace and pray for revival like never before........

Are you with me?

Miss one... hit one

Well sad to say my love affair with painting is still a miss one, hit one scenario.  Lions are proving to be my Nemesis and impossibly difficult due to their similar toned fur, so my painting on Thursday night had been a complete bust and I felt terrible about it. 

I decided to go back to basics and find something with more distinctive markings.  I had a beautiful photo of a Norwegian forest cat that made for a good choice and I painted that on Saturday....Well it was a a wonderful success for me personally and folks seem to like it! 

When we are growing in our relationship with God it can often feel that way too, that we just don't get things right automatically.  Maybe the pep talk I gave myself with my painting would help you somehow. 

- Think it through, don't just dive in and get started. 
- Remember what worked for you before, try new things but stay within the framework of what has worked for you.
- Get the background right first (when reading scripture this is particularly helpful).
- In my case I find working light to dark works best for me, you can always layer up.  In life focusing on the positive before the negative will be a good way to stay focused on the right things. 
- Focus on the eyes.  The eyes are the window to the soul and the eye in our faith is truth.  Always be truthful with yourself about what you are dealing with.  Being in denial will never get you anywhere. 

Happy growing...and in my case painting :-)

Starry summer nights

As much as the heat can drive you crazy, I absolutely love our summer nights.  The one thing I used to love about the last garden cottage I lived in before I bought my house was that I could really see the stars at night if I left my patio light off and it was a very private space.  From there I would gaze up and see the Southern Cross.  My town house has too many lights in the complex but from here I do see Orion very clearly but I almost never see the Southern Cross.

It is so strange to me that the distance in land terms is relatively small yet the stars I see at night are so different.  Similarly how we orientate ourselves in life about our world view is a matter of perspective.  How you view your world and more importantly your God is often through the eyes of life experience. 

This however is not the way that God wants us to go through life.  He challenges that paradigm with mind altering faith, saying to us, call those things that be not as though they are!  He challenges us to believe we are healed before we can feel it and to believe that we have provision before the supply arrives.  God challenges us to reach beyond ourselves and to allow faith to shift our world into a new reality. 

It is precisely then, when we have shifted our focus, that the impossible becomes possible!  The very God that created the sun the moon and all the other stars and planets out there, suddenly becomes our healer, our provider, our strength and our wisdom....He is all that we need!

Dipstick trouble

I had noticed a sudden increase in the amount of oil my car was using but had been monitoring it for a bit to see what would happen first seeing as no oil light had appeared.  When I filled up on Saturday the petrol attendant advised that I needed to get the dipstick checked.  I was hoping it would hold until my planned leave on the 17th but last night I got home to find my little car was spewing oil everywhere. 

It got towed to the mechanic this morning and luckily for me it wasn't a big job.  The dipstick had broken and needed to be fixed and some rubber cables had to be replaced.  I am grateful the job didn't take long and my little car is back on the road again tonight.

The tricky part of the day was that I has a deadline that had to be met and I didn't want to inconvenience my colleagues to have them do it for me.  Thanks to modern technology we made plan and I was able to get the work emailed in and out all in time to meet the necessary requirements. 

We all have bits and bobs in our lives that just don't work right sometimes.  We may be the worlds best organizer and then forget the simplest thing.  We may be the most frugal person and then overspend on a whim.  No matter what tricky situation you are facing right now, there is always a way out....God plans it that way.  What we need to learn to do is to remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit and ask Him for wisdom, guidance and creative ideas to get you out of the trouble you are facing. 

God will always make a way!

Lost and found

This weekend I went to visit a friend in the south of Joburg.  As per my normal modus operandi when doing this route I got lost AGAIN!  This time however I stumbled upon a route with road marks that I will NEVER forget. Finally!

That is how it is in our faith too!  We will go through the same growth path over and over again until we understand what it is that God requires of us.  This is all part and parcel of the process of working out our salvation.  

The wonderful thing about this process is that God knows that it will take our entire lives before we even begin to obtain some form of real spiritual maturity....and He's okay with that!  He knows that we will need time to grow into a true knowledge of Him.  

It is then and then only that we will be able to start saying that we are no longer lost.....but found!

 

Get the detail

I have been itching to paint and could not wait till Thursday so last night I decided to paint my beloved Honey Bear.  A couple of things went wrong.  The background was too dark, I hadn't painted for a bit so my technique was off again and the main picture of kitty was just too small.  Despite this however I could see the likeness but there just wasn't enough space to get in all the details.  This all left me feeling very frustrated.

Well that is not a huge problem.  I enlarged the main part of the picture and reprinted it to get my stencil and from there I will take another shot at it in the next few days.  The situation does make me think though, how often in life don't we get frustrated with God's plan for our lives, because we look the image we see from afar an can't make out the finer points?

If the solution to my problem was enlarging the image, what image should we enlarge to gain more clarity on life?  Well I would venture and educated guess at saying that would be our picture of God.  How do we do this?  By increasing our knowledge of the word of God to understand His character.  The more we learn about God the more we will realize how little we actually know about Him.  If we are allowing the Holy Spirit to be our teacher we will always learn something new!