Opening stuff up

I have developed a small fetish for solar jars and luckily for me, Pick n Pay has been selling a cute little jar for a relatively good price.  To my disappointment though the one unit wasn't working and I had almost thrown the lid away when a hunch told me to hang on to it and open it up sometime.  That I did this weekend.

To my delight what I figured out is that the light itself is still working it was the battery that was the problem which I didn't expect to find in a new unit. The challenge there was that I didn't have a rechargeable battery with me, but I decided to try a regular battery in the mean time and ....walla!  It worked.  Now I know that all I need to do is to try and find a rechargeable and it will be back solar power again.

When we allow God to open us up and expose our inner workings we go through much the same process.  We are able to figure out what works and what doesn't.  This weekend God has in His sovereign way shown me that He deeply cares for the desires I have in my heart and that He is indeed working through a process in my life and guiding me.  I am thankful tonight that I can place my trust fully in Him and I encourage you to open your heart to God and do the same. 

Back to white

Mmppf!  So my current art project bombed out.  I want to repaint a tiger cub I've done before and hang it in the living area.  I thought it would be nice to get the background colour to match most of the decor I currently have but I think I painted it too light and it clashed with the colour of the cubs fur.  The only option seems to be to go darker or change the colour entirely.  After the frustration, the fun part is that I am working on wood, so 3 coats of white paint later....I can start again. 

Starting over on any project in life can be frustrating, but it can also be liberating, you feel a bit like a kid smashing down the Lego blocks to start a new shape.  I've always imagined that this is what God did with our own beautiful planet.  Don't like the Dinosaurs....grab a marble and sling it to earth...oops sorry that was an giant asteroid, Lol! 

God is the ultimate creator and He put that ability in us too, we just need to tap into that and use His creative nature in everything we do.  In our careers we have the opportunity to use the best parts of our skills to worship God, so let us apply God's great creative gifts to ensure that our lives represent the best of Him. 

The curious tale of the Mountain Hard Pear tree

If you visit the Walter Sisulu Gardens in Roodepoort as I did with good friends this weekend, you will come across a leaned over tree with poles propping it up.  The plaque tells the tale of what precisely happened to the tree.

It reads, "Many years ago this tree was struck by lightning which caused great damage to it.  In time the tree healed itself as best it could, creating "bridges" of living wood around the dead parts in the middle.  Now that the dead wood is decaying, it can no longer support the weight of the tree.  As a result it has begun to lean over."

In life we will get struck by lightning/disaster one way or another, but we can choose to give up or we can choose to heal ourselves as best we can and move on.  This does not mean that we won't have scars as a result of our difficulties, but does mean that others will be able to see the result of our positive choices. 

When we take our disasters and pain to God, He will heal us and he will also be our support so that we can continue to live full and happy lives.  The choice, however, to live or die remains in our hands, what will you choose?

Diverted

My morning started out with what has become normal, an accident on the highway. This time though I was fortunate enough to still be in the suburbs, so I managed to duck left onto a route that wound through the suburbs but ended up getting me on the highway much quicker than if I had tried to access the highway behind the accident.

In life we are often faced with diverts. We may have planned our initial route but life throws us a curve ball and before we know it, we have to make a quick decision, duck left or go straight? That is when it is important for us to know our end destination and where we want to go to. If your destination is clear you can make choices that will easily assist you to find your way when trouble strikes, but if you are rigid and unclear, you could end up getting stuck in a place you don't want to be.

When we place our faith in God's plan for our lives we realize that only God sees the full picture of how things will work. We know that He is in control and so “trucks on the highway” don't sidetrack us from where we need to go. Trust in God's plan for your life, though we don't see it, it truly is perfect.

Besties

I always take great delight in spending time with one of my best friends, Bridget. Our friendship has spanned the decades that I have been here in Jo'burg although Bridget has lived outside of South Africa for many years now. Her visits here to see her family are always special and I treasure every moment we spend together.

The important thing here is that although continents now separate us the foundation of our friendship is strong and though we may only see each other once or maybe twice a year, the communication we have is genuine and I suppose it helps that I write my blogs so she is updated on the events of my life as they happen.

That is what our relationship with God is like. We may only truly 'see' or hear from God occasionally (and I think it is only for our own good that He sometimes is silent) but the relationship we have is real and can be trusted no matter what happens. If there is one thing we can count on, it is that God will be our best friend for life!

Shoobee doobee oh loobee

Shoobee doobee oh loobee

Shoobee doobee oh loobee

Shoobee doobee oh loobee

Wha papa doopa pa wha bam bam

????????????????? Confused? Lol! Let me back it up a little!

One of our news headline stories got me all riled up! I figured I'd write about it as it had a good story line and I could have made a great point with it....problem was...it just left me feeling depressed...and I didn't need that!

Instead I chose to focus on my evening chores and one of my favourite things to do is just to hum sing and make joyful noise. Sometimes its praise, sometimes it is worship and other times it is just a silly little ditty like shoobee doobee.

What does shoobee doobee achieve? Well it has me bopping along all happy and I just forget about the cares of the day and that is exactly as it is supposed to be. We can be stronger than any negative news we may have heard or received on any given day because we can choose to rise up, hold our head up and praise God no matter what circumstances life throws at us!

Night ya all! Shoobee doobeeee oh looooobeeee, wha papa doopa paa, pa wha bam bam!

Don't stop now

When we came to the realization this year that we were going to be in drought for a good portion of the summer I decided it would be best to recycle my dish washing water to the garden. For me that is rather simple as my counter top dishwasher drains into the basin, so putting a bucket there would make this easy.

Well I not only saved my two existing hibiscus, they flourished with the extra water. I dare say the extra nutrients from the washed a way food bits helped as well. I was starting to get tired of this chore though and had considered stopping when I realized that winter is here and that we won't be getting much rain from now until spring again. So I got stuck in again this weekend with doing this chore. It might be my imagination, but I don't think so, but I dare say my plants are enjoying the support once again.

Well scripture encourages us along the same lines, for doesn't Galatians 6:9 tell us, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” In life we need to remember to keep on doing those things that at times might seem to be tedious but we know produces good fruit in our hearts and minds and help those around us.

Pack hunting

After a week of being locked up downstairs at night, I decided over the weekend that I would let the kitties decide for themselves where they wanted to sleep. I think it was on Saturday morning that the little guys decided at 2am that they wanted to go out again, so I was happy to oblige.

My body has become used to the 4am routine so I actually woke up then by myself and decided to check on them. I opened the door and called and called but no response. Then I saw two little figures pack hunting something around the flower pots just off my patio. I called a few more times but they ignored me flat. Figuring they were having fun I decided to leave them to hunt and head back to bed.

Have you ever wondered why God is sometimes silent? Well I figure there are times when He would want to chat to us but when He arrives He finds us “having fun” or just plain doing well and He figures he'll leave us be to get on with things. When our hearts are right before God, I think He knows we will turn to Him when we are ready for His companionship and He is happy to oblige.

What a weekend!

I could not have asked for a better May day weekend! We got off work a bit earlier so I headed straight for Lifestyle Nursery. Oh boy what a surprise awaited me! There were baby hibiscus going at a real good price as as well as a special offer on lavenders and I had been wanting both. Needless to say I left with 4 hibiscus and 3 lavender and that meant only one thing....I was going to be gardening the whole weekend long. Pure bliss!

I already had a few packs of herb seed that I had bought the month before and I had seedlings and slips that were ready to plant as well. To get them all in meant that I would have to finish the garden bed layout, which I managed to do as well. I could not be happier with the progress made in one short weekend!

After many months of really slow progress so much changed in 3 short days! You know what? I've realized that this is often the way God works, well at least in my life but you may have seen the same thing. I think God delights in working in our lives in this way as this means that He gets all the glory. I could not have achieved this without so many factors coming together at the same time that this could only have been God's plan all along.

It is not the first time this has happened this month. I needed new boots and I managed to find just the right pairs for this season in my life, all meeting difficult criteria: height; heel type; colour; price...all just right.

I think God is reminding me of something I have believed for a long time.....God loves to move suddenly! It can seem as if our plans are falling apart or just not getting anywhere and then at one moment, swoosh, God moves and everything is sorted! All it takes is patience and faith!