MRI

I had a fall at the beginning of the year which resulted in me needing to get some physiotherapy, which I did. To complete the process though the doctor requested that I have an MRI done. Having had one before and also surviving an apesectomy under local aesthetic, I thought this would be a walk in the park.

Boy was I wrong. I was too casual about it and did not prepare myself for it and to make matters worse this time I had a cage around my head to keep it still. I made it through almost all the scans okay but by the last one I was beside myself and had to take a break and return to have it done again. Luckily the practitioner realized I would do better without the head cage the second time round, which I did.

I must admit in some ways that is how this year has felt, suffocating...... and yet in many other ways, liberating. I have made peace that some things may never come to be and yet at the same time I have full trust in God to do what He has said he would do. Either way, I'll be okay.

When you are feeling pressed on every side it can be really hard to trust God, yet in all things that is precisely what He expects from us. Our unwavering trust in His will and His will alone is what guides us we feel as though we are going off course. That trust will bring us safely home.

Winding down

As the year winds down and the holiday season draws near, it will be wonderful to start finding a little more time for the things I am so looking forward to doing, being creative.  Be it art, gardening, making new Christmas decorations who knows but it will be fun. 

Time for friends and family and time to unwind the mind and body.  Winding down in a necessary part of life and I am asking myself more and more questions about how can I make more down time possible?  This year has had precious little of that. 

God knows my heart though and I know that over time he will give me the wisdom to know when to make small changes and when to make the big ones.  Down time allows me time to connect my spirit to God's and hear what he wants for my life. 

It is only when that focus is clear that I can then turn my attention to ministry, what does God want me to do with this writing gift in the year ahead?  What does God want me to share with you to encourage and uplift you in every way that I possibly can?

Well the answers to all these questions and more will soon be answered when that down time begins!

Tumbling down

This afternoon I was busy with the normal kitchen work, washing dishes, when next thing I hear rattling and crackling and all of a sudden I'm being attacked by boxes and a falling cat...you guessed it, little Topaz getting up to mischief.  She was obviously trying to get to the corner spot which I have now blocked seeing as as the corner is a piece of wood being held in place delicately by some silicone. This is something I have been trying to stop her from doing for some days now, since I noticed the piece starting to fall through.

Well missy got as big a fright as I did and by the look of shock on her face I could tell no reprimand was going to be necessary, she had learned her lesson.  For the rest of the day she has been quite good by comparison....shame!

I suppose the lesson is clear we all get up to mischief from time to time and it is only when things come tumbling down around us that we learn.  Let's try not to learn the hard way, lets learn to listen when God says NO!

It's all very interesting

Humour just has to be one of my favourite things and any time there is some kind of political turmoil you can bet you the jokes will fly.  It is easy for us here in S.A. to take a non emotional approach to looking at the American elections, but we all know in truth that what happens in the USA does not stay in the USA, it affects global markets and the lives of almost everyone. 

Most interesting for me this time round though is reading the articles about the opinion that it is the American evangelical movement that seems to have had the last word in this election.  Being anti abortion myself, I can well understand that more people voted for Trump than Clinton on this one issue alone. 

That being said, I respect Trump as a business man and although he was blowing hot air about a lot of issues at the heart of it, America is a capitalist society and money talks.  People want a leader who will develop the nation financially.  This lesson is one that most South Africans still have to learn and stealing Bill Clinton's campaign theme phrase, "its the economy, stupid."

Back to the church though and its role in this election.  I could not be happier that this is one core outcome that the media are highlighting.  It means that the Church of Christ in America is finally standing up and making themselves heard in a powerful and meaningful way. 

In history, although many nations plundered Africa for its wealth, the one thing that America did right was send missionaries to this continent, lots of them.  I have been personally impacted by this by the very close relationship that our family had in Nelspruit with the Christ family, who were here to do just that, spread the word of God to African people during our nations difficult apartheid years.

This election should give hope to all Christians that they too can make a difference in the politics of their nation if they will stand up and vote....and where you can't vote...Pray!

The start of it all

It was my late fathers birthday in November 2010 that prompted me to start something meaningful.  I wanted to find a way to focus on the positive things of the day rather than focusing on the negative that lead to the beginning of my writing journey, and what a journey it has been.

This year has been tough, certain commitments have taken more of my time than I would have liked, but mostly it was Honey's passing that has been a huge challenge for me.  I have struggled to maintain 'business as normal' for quite some time.  Today is my dad's birthday remembrance once again and my mom reminded us that he would have been 70 this year, a very special age indeed.

It is the first time that Honey will be celebrating with my dad, so I hope they haven't been up to too much mischief but I have opted this year to commemorate the day by making a decision to have a new ring made.  I know it will take some time to come together, i.e. the design, obtaining the stones and then getting the ring made, but it is a positive decision in the right direction that I hope will help me move forward in both remembering my dad and Honey.

And that is of course how it all began, looking for the positive in each new day.  Note I said positive, not happiness or gladness or jumping for joy, just positive.  When we are honest with ourselves even through life's difficulties there are positive things to learn and so today I remind myself again to go back to the roots of my writing.

The last six years of writing have been an amazing journey, but hopefully they are still only the foundation, a building block, of the wonderful things to come!

Control points

One thing you learn quickly in accounting is the value of control systems. Quite frankly the results without them are catastrophic.

Likewise in our faith walk there is a need for controls. When we learn about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 we learn about self control. About these fruits the bible says there is no law against them, but what does that mean?

It means that when the fruit of the Spirit are actively working in our lives our boundaries are expanded and we are allowed more freedom in exercising our faith.

If we want more freedom and we want God to be able to trust us, then we have to be willing to allow His fruit to grow in us and become manifest in us on a daily basis. Can I encourage you to do just that?