The Year of the Bear

In keeping with my travel themed year names, last year, being the year of the Lynx and starting to prepare for what will hopefully be the year of my Canada trip, I am naming this year, the year of the Bear! 

Interestingly bears of different species range from being predominantly carnivorous to predominantly herbivorous and others somewhere in between. They are generally speaking solitary animals, only coming together to mate and mothers caring for their young. Their most fascinating trate for me however is that some spend up to 100 days in hibernation. I can well identify with that desire in the cold winter months. 

It is precisely this amazing ability to store up fat that helps the bears survive the long winter hibernation that makes me think of Joseph.  He too was a solitary man, sold into slavery who God led in a dream to store up food for 7 years in preparation for the 7 years of drought that were to come. 

In doing so, Joseph not only saved his family, but many more we're blessed by his great forethought and wisdom. 

This year, let's be proactive Christian's, not thinking only of ourselves but of others that God wishes to save and bless through us.  Plan BIG, dream BIG, have BOLD faith, believe God for BIG blessings and prepare your heart to be a BIG blessing to other's! 

God certainly did that for us!  For He gave us His only begotten Son, so that we should not perish, but have everlasting life!  I guarantee you, that if God gave to us so extravagantly, He desires to see us do that too!  

GO BIG!  GO FOR GOD!  GO 2025! 

Brave

I was introduced to some software that's very aptly named, Brave. It's an amazing browser that blocks unnecessary adverts from whatever you are reading or watching.  What a joy!! Being able to listen to music or videos without the annoying cut aways, is really awesome! 

I'm amazed that the developers of this product have had the courage to fight popular culture and end this abusive practice. Having adverts thrust on you is just not pleasant. 

In life and especially our faith we have to learn to be Brave!  We have to stand strong against worldly influences and resist following norms that are simply not Godly. Society will tell us what to think, what to eat, what to wear and what we should or should not do.  

Being brave and saying No will honour God and bring glory to Him when the results we achieve are greater than we could have had if we had chickened out and given in to the pressure that society places on us. 

Are you willing to be brave and stand strong in the Lord? 

Star gazer

One of my favourite things to do on warm summer nights is to spend some time outside just gazing at the stars.  If this is something you love doing too, I'd encourage you to download an app like Stellarium.  It gives you great, accurate sky mapping so you can find all the constellations.  I can't wait to try it out some time in an area with less city lights.  My never ending curiosity leads me to fantasize about what other planets in other solar systems or galaxies, may be like. 

I am truly such a star loving fan that I am a total Sci-Fi nut!  Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate.....I love them all!  Totally my idea of relaxation.  Truth be told though, if warp speed travel was truly possible, I'd be right out there between the stars right now!

But what is it precisely about star gazing that really makes me love it?  It is trying to comprehend, just how big our galaxy really is.  When life is a bit overwhelming, or frustrating and things feel like they are spinning out of control, star gazing reminds me just how small our planet really is, and just how small my life is in the grand scheme of things.  AND that the same God, who holds all the stars in their place by means we cannot even fathom, and who can birth new stars and new planets every day, and who could have created more galaxies than we will ever know....if He can do all that and keep them under control, then certainly my problems are not that big, and our mighty God is able to restore order in the most difficult of circumstances. 

What is our faith really, if we cannot believe that the greatest creator cannot create a means for us to have peace and fulfullment in our lives.  He loves us more than we could ever know and His greatest desire is for us to trust Him, rest in Him and allow Him, to orchestrate our lives as only He can know best.  "To let go and let God" means to know that we are not trusting some magician to wave a magic wand and make things right, but to allow God to be God and take control.  

Now, to infinity and beyond!

Little cat of horrors 2.0

After my first kitty Honey passed away, I was keen not to get another kitty.  Ginger, his brother, however soon let me know that the house was too quiet and that he was lonely.  It was against my better judgement that I relented and went to a shelter to look for a little friend for him. My theory was that a young girl kitty would be less intimidating for him than another male cat. I laid eyes on Topaz and loved her instantly. 

Well Topaz had no intention whatsoever of ever being 'less intimidating' to Ginger. She saw a great big play mate and just wanted to attack and pounce at every opportunity. It was her night time antics though that earned her the nickname, "Little cat of horrors" and even had her own theme song to the rocky horror picture show tune. The poor little thing would run around the room and bash into a wall when she was tired, but over excited. She has never outgrown the nickname but the behavior has matured to biting and mauling me when I try to give her medicine.

That has me wondering, how often as Christians we run around bashing our heads into spiritual walls, all because we burn ourselves out, or we kick and scream to God when he brings changes in our lives that are for our good, but we just don't recognize it.  

Part of spiritual growth is learning to, 'be still and know that He is God!'. When chaos reigns and we find it hard to see through the smog of life, learning to look to the light of God in difficult times, will bring us closer to His presence, His Glory, His guidance and His Grace. 

So don't be a little cat of horrors, give God time and space to work in your life for your good and His Glory! 

The greatest asset purchase ever!

I love accounting!  I'm truly passionate about it.  I live, eat, sleep, breath accounting reconciliations!  I just love seeing numbers reconciled!  Yes, yes, I know I'm giving away that I'm an accounting nerd!  

But God is the greatest accountant and master business man of all time!  In the world's most costly asset purchase, He gave us His only begotten Son (Equity Investment), and took on ALL our sins (Liabilities), so that we could become His greatest and most expensive Asset, His redeemed!  Wow! Imagine that!

John 3:16-17

[16]For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

[17]For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

No man will ever be able to count the sins of every human being, from Adam, till now and equate a cost to that, yet Christ humbled Himself unto death on the cross so that we could be reconciled to God!  No sin was too great, no vile act too disgusting, that Jesus said, sorry Father I cannot do this! 

What incredible strength, what incredible might, what overwhelming LOVE can do that!  Therefore, how can we as mere mortals, refuse to forgive, or refuse the power of the Holy Spirit to work within us.  If we say, "I'll never forgive that!" Or "I'll never be able to overcome," we nullify the power and majesty of our Almighty God!  Surely we have no real option but to surrender and truly GIVE Him our hearts, and allow Him to work within us! 

Whatever you are struggling with today, you are a mere act surrender away from a powerful breakthrough!  Why not let the Holy Spirit do His work and touch your soul today! 

Image of forgiveness

I have a friend who has been on quite a journey. For many years she has struggled with coming to terms with the abuse she suffered at her father's hands as a teenager. Over the years she has gone through many seasons of trying to come to terms with how to let it go.

You may be thinking that she has been harboring unforgiveness in her spirit and that's why she couldn't let go, but that's not the case. She has truly forgiven her father and loves him dearly.  What she was struggling with was the images that keep coming up in her mind when she thinks about him, and those images made it hard to forget. 

One day in prayer, she asked the Lord, "Father, help me to forget," for your word says that you remember not our sins and you have caste them as far as the east is from the west. On that day she looked at her father (his memory) and all she could see was the risen Christ standing before him with arms outstretched, saying, "don't look at him, look at me and what I did for him at the cross."

In that moment, a new peace came and she was able to forgive and forget!  What seemed so hard for so long, was now an easy peace.  You see, all she needed to do was to change the focus of the image to an image of forgiveness. 

I would encourage you today, if you too have been struggling to forgive and forget, to ask the Lord to show Himself to you in in a way that will be meaningful to you, and allow His Holy Spirit to show you  which image of Himself you need to see in order to forget. 

God is faithful and will answer your prayers. 

The calling

Over the past few months I have been contemplating my love for writing. This journey started from a letter written to a friend.  The person enjoyed my story telling style and I began to think about how I could use that to communicate my love for God. I thought about how people struggle to see God as real in our very depraved society, so my call was to write about my everyday life and how I saw God in action through everyday events.

I was drawn to begin my blogging journey and started writing in November of 2010.  Over the next 7 years I wrote prolifically and also published my book during that time (A season of much rain). My book named: Growing with God by Ronwyn - Everyday God, is available in various formats on Amazon.

And as things happened a change in jobs and lifestyle made writing time more difficult and over the 7 years that followed, writing became more sparse. (7 years of drought). 

But once again, I am feeling the calling to begin writing again and I know it will take great discipline. This time I am older, hopefully a bit wiser and feel it's time to write about the deeper things of God. About how we need to follow God's word by "working out our own salvation.". This season will be: Growing with God by Ronwyn - Living God! 

I hope you will join me on this journey one again.  In the past I have communicated the Blog through Facebook and email. Emails have become a spam concern so I have switched to sending out the blog my Facebook and WhatsApp. Feel free to reach out and join the group. 

Starting tomorrow let the journey begin! 

Identi-Fluff

This morning, while I was getting ready for work, my newest baby fluff cat, Midnight, rubbed up against my leg for attention.  I picked him up for a cuddle and I sometimes like to look at us in the mirror because then I can see both our faces enjoying the affection.  Midnight however decided he didn't like this one bit and proceeded to squirm to escape.  This promted the question: Little fluff how do you know what you look like, if you never look in the mirror? 

This reminded me of James chapter 1:23-25. 

23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

I ask you therefore, how often do you look at yourself in the mirror and see what measure of manor of person you are? It is only when we gaze into the 'eyes of Jesus' through looking at the word of God that we truly figure out who we really are. For no one has ever loved us like Christ did, for He gave His life to be the sacrifice for us so that we could live free. 

The Oaks Know

Growing up in mostly hot South African climates, winter was never a big deal.  The landscape hardly changed much and what we thought was cold was well, a wee bit of a chill.  From the time I first moved to Johannesburg, the one thing I truly fell in love with, was watching the Oak trees and seeing how magnificently their leaves displayed the seasons.  The most spectacular of which, being autumn (fall).  

It always amazes me therefore that we barely notice any change in the air temperature, and all of a sudden, the leaves start to turn golden brown.  As seen in the photo attached, autumn has begun.  The term/name for the season "fall" to me is so much more descriptive than autumn, because you can really picture it all happening.  By the end of this season, the magestic trees will lie bare for all to see throughout the cold winter months and then just as suddenly as fall began, spring too will announce itself with the cheary, bright lime green spring leaves.  Well, summer is summer and the dark green will prevail until the spectacle begins all over again with fall. 

As the trees automatically know the seasons, we too as Christians need to learn the seasons of our lives.  Some seasons are for change and new things, some are for growth and establishment, others for a harvest of great rewards and then too there are very real seasons of grief and pain. 

We need to be like the Oak trees, we need to have deep roots, grounded and stayed in God's love that no matter what, we can withstand the changes that the seasons of life bring our way.  God's word needs to be our anchor and strength and hold us when the winds of life blow.  

I want to encourage you today to set your mind on the things of God and learn and know what season you are in.  God in his majestic power will allow the seasons of life to shape you and you can wither and die, or you can anchor your roots and grow tall and strong and become a beautiful Oak Tree for God. 

Throne or mantle piece?

I ponder a lot!  A....LOT!  And recently I found myself asking the question... Do I really love God?  Is HE truly the Lord and King of my heart and does He sit in the throne, or have I put him neatly on the mantle piece, only to be taken down when I need Him? 

For those who really know me you'll know how absurd that question is. 

My thoughts centred around some bad habits that had crept in during that C..V..D thing we don't like to talk about anymore.  The practice of my faith looked very different before that all happened. 

In case you were wondering about the outcome of the question, I climbed into my car and went to a mid-week church meeting. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Obeying God's call to gather together, even when I don't feel like it, is more important than anything else. Life can only come into true perspective when we allow ourselves to be washed by the word on a regular basis. 

Whatever your choice is that you are just struggling to get dealt with, ask yourself what you would do if God was physically sitting in front of you on a throne.  

Goodbye 2023

2023 was indeed an interesting year.  As I look back on the year and reflect on this time, I do so with somewhat confusion.  It is a difficult year to put into words. 

There were so many painfully difficult goodbyes. Business relationships that ended and changes that weren't expected. New relationships were forged and with that their own challenges.

I celebrated my 50th birthday with a month long celebration.  An amazing trip to Cape Town seeing my favourite ballet, Swan Lake, was a dream come true. 

A lot of fun was had, but a lot of sadness was experienced as well. A dear relative passed on at a grand old age. 

Our weather was as confused as I was with snow this winter and early heat waves this summer.  

As I put these all behind me, and try to focus on the year to come, I am reminded of one key scripture:

Philippians 3:12-14

[12]Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

[13]Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

[14]I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

What that calling for 2024 will be, I know not yet, but one thing I do know for sure, if I place my hope and trust in Christ alone and listen to His voice, His guidance and strength will be my portion. 

So goodbye 2023 and thank you for all I've learned.  Hello 2024, I look forward to our time together!  

Happy New Year to you all! 

It's nice to see you!

This week was downright horrid!  Work was tough and then we ended up with being without power at home for 3 days.  To top matters off, the small bridge I cross from home on my main route to work started collapsing and the road was closed. 

By Wednesday evening, I was finished, physically and emotionally drained.  I arrived home and a few minutes later, the power finally returned.  Relieved but still out of food, I headed out to the store and decided to go to the small strip mall I frequented when I first moved into my home, as at that stage it was the closest one too me.  

Arriving at the mall I spotted my favourite Italian restaurant, and decided to stop by.  To my utter surprise, the waiter that served me was familiar and his greeting blew me away!  "Ah madam, what has it been...10 years since I saw you!". Wow! I was moved to tears (and still am) at the warmth and care that he showed me.  I managed to fight back the tears to enjoy a delicious supper, but the water works soon returned once I'd finished.

It was so wonderful to be missed and appreciated!  As a single women, I often feel unnoticed or appreciated in public spaces, but how this waiter treated me proved me wrong!  I left him a warm note of thanks, with a promise to be back and a hearty tip! 

We should never underestimate the power of the love and kindness we show each other every day!  Your smile, and warm greeting, may be the very lifeline someone needs to pull them out of the depth of despair.

This Christmas season, let us remember the joy we serve with and spread smiles and love to all we meet!!

A Beautiful Christmas

As I celebrate my 50th Christmas, I have spent a lot of time this year thinking about what this season means to me.  

A South African Christmas, unlike my picture, is hot, hot, hot 🔥!  Hence the reason Christmas in July has become a big thing here as we try to copy cat the American Christmas winter cheer!  

My passion for celebrating Christmas with gusto, strangely did not originate from childhood but rather following my late father's passing.  He has collapsed shortly before Christmas from a brain hemorrhage/stroke in December 1997, and sadly passed of 10 January 1998.  For many years after that I just could not celebrate Christmas with any cheer.  

As my soul recovered, I discovered a love for Christmas I had never known before and it has grown since then every year and this year for my 50th Christmas I have gone all out to make my home festive and fun. 

I celebrate now for many reasons.  As a child I fondly remember the fun my sister and I had each year as we put the tree up and decorated it together.  It would always be a summer of fun, with hours and hours in the pool, swimming until our toes bled (we had a concrete pool).  

At this time of year there were more parties and braai's and visitors than I you can imagine and we loved every minute. Mom was always baking something, and her Christmas cakes were legendary.

As a young adult living in Joburg, I remember going to Sandton City many times to see their giant Christmas tree.  I have worked through many festive seasons, ensuring that my colleagues could spend time with their families and although these times were often lonely, being home with my little fur balls gave me great joy.  

But what is all of this, if I don't speak of the reason for it all.  Is it decorations and trees and trips to the mall?  

No! It is about Jesus!  I look into the night sky over this season and wonder what it might have felt like for the three wise men to sojourn all the way from the far East to where this little child lay.  Or the shepherds as a mighty spectacle of the Glory of God and angels appearing before them.  It truly was a season for the miraculous!!  

God in His might had sent His Son, to start the journey of life that would lead to the ultimate sacrifice for all mankind. 

How can we not but celebrate that with all our might, and remember the proclamation of the Angel of the Lord, as he proclaimed "Peace on Earth and goodwill towards men!". 

How to lose a guy in 10 texts

 Andy Anderson thought she had cracked the forumla to get a guy to dump you, all in record time...that being 10 days. [Credit to the movie "How to lose a guy in 10 days"].  Well honey I think I have you beat. 

I have managed to achieve this magical feat of a dating faux pas in record breaking speed, all of 10 texts...give or take!  This amazing achievement was possible, all because the only thing I could confess to being attracted too about the guy was his faith in God!  ..........

Well now, in my defence, I'd only known him as single for all of 10 minutes, because the last time I saw him, he was "married with kids".  Hence, I had never looked at him with any interest at all.  

At first I was annoyed at him taking offense, but I do realize that I totally suck at the art of stroking the male ego, at least until I get to know you, then I can flatter like a pro. 

Sad thing for him, is he has no idea, how much of a compliment that was from my part.  NOTHING is more attractive to me than a man who loves God and knows how to worship Him in spirit and truth. 

Men of the world know this, muscles sag and faces grow wrinkled, but a spirit that is in love with God shines like the sun and attracts like nothing else on earth.  

Hopefully I'll have better luck next time!

5 Big Ones

It's my 50th birthday today and boy am I grateful to God for this wonderful occassion.  I am so aware of all the loved ones who have passed but I celebrate those who are still with us and have made this birthday truly memorable for me. 

I have taken time to think about the 5 big ones and reflect on what they meant to me.  

I don't recall much about my 10th birthday, but I do remember we were living in out Tambotie street house in Nelspruit.  The birthday itself was not such that I remember but I do recall that it was the year that I made Jesus my Lord and Saviour and as such my 10th year was special. 

My 20th birthday was spent at ABSA in down town Johannesburg.  I had started working at the bank shortly before on the 1st of July so I was new, so no pomp and ceremony there, but they sure made up for that on my 21st. I spent some time with friends and that was a time of dreaming and wondering what God had in store for me. My new career was exciting and I knew that I had big dreams to chase.

Well now my 30th birthday was quite the stinker!  The day was insignificant as I was temping at a motor dealership in Randurg .  That night though was one of practical ministries outings with Bible school and we landed up at.....drum roll please, the MORGUE! I'll never forget that one as long as I live.  Luckily two of my bible school mates rescued the evening by taking me out for dinner and a late night movie....  I do recall making up for all of this with an awesome breakfast with my landlords the Richardson's and some friends and family that were able to join me. My thirties brought with it the dream of owning my own home and i have been priveledge enough to spend nearly 20 years already in one place, and have so appreciated the stability that gave me in life. 

My 40th was at Ubank.  Mom came up from Kimberly to celebrate with me over the weekend with a supper with friends and some family, it was a relatively quiet but lovely dinner.  We then went back to Kimberly together and I stayed for the week.  My 40's have been kind to me and landing my current job at Auto Trade Underwriting Managers has truly been a life altering experience for me.  I am grateful for all that I have learned and the new heights that I have been able to challenge myself too. 

My 50th has so far been a two week celebration with a trip to Cape Town with my mom, sister and brother-in-law.  The ladies had a girls night out to see my favourite ballet, Swan Lake.  We had an awesome long weekend together.  On Friday my colleagues celebrated with me and today, I was able to retreat to my favourite place, Lifestyle Nursery for breakfast and some plant shopping and that was followed with some gardening and some time with my kitties.  I have another two days off so we'll see what else I can get up too.  

I am grateful to God for sparing me thus far, and as they always say, may there be many more. Not sure which Granny I am going to be able to beat, but I know the target is somewhere between 85 and 100, Lol!

Thank you to all who wished me well on this wonderful day!  It truly was appreciated! 

A Psalm of Praise

I received a love dare from mom, "Write your own Psalm."

Here goes....

I will my eyes to the beauty around me.  My home is a sanctuary of peace.  My garden is lush with life! 

I will lift up my eyes and give praise for my Lord's provision.  I sleep in a warm bed and have plenty of food to eat. 

I will lift up my eyes and sing praise for God's power!  He holds the universe together in brilliant splendor.  Why would my heart be troubled with the perils around me, when my father's Angels have watch over me? 

God of heaven, you are worthy of all Praise!

Back away from the door

Faced with a fight of flight situation, most people have a healthy flight response.  Now being a red headed Leo has unfortunately landed me in hot water many times.  Now tonights story isn't nearly quite so dramatic but it drove the "better safe than sorry" principle home in an unusual way. 

I had planned to try a nice new recepe based on something I had eaten before.  Mushy potatoes, baked fish cakes and a sort of lemon/coconut milk/margerine sauce with herbs, smothering some nicely cooked peas.  So I get home, knowing that load shedding is about to start and I haul out my Cobb to do a quick braaied fish and the rest of the ingredients to be cooked on the gas stove. 

I get the coals going and as I am about to go outside to lay on the fish cakes it starts to patter with rain.  Now at that moment, I had precisely the best opportunity to asses the situation and make a call to rather fry the fish cakes than grill them.....sigh!  What do I say to myself, "How bad can it get?" and out I go. 

No sooner are the fish cakes placed and a terrential downpour out of nowhere strikes with battering winds, leaving me totally flabagasted.  Now at this point I'm still in denial and I think, well it has a dome, maybe the fish cakes will make it.  Well a few minutes later of starring out the door, I finally make peace with the fact that my fish cakes were probably nothing but mush.  Well plan B supper was one of my old potatoe salad concoctions. 

So where is the moral in the story here?  I should have listened to that little voice saying, "Ronwyn, back away from the door and fry your fish".  But No. How often don't we make mistakes in life because we simply refuse to listen to what the Holy Spirit is trying to say to us (and save our supper too). 

Revelations 2:29 "He who as an ear, let him hear, what the Spirit says to the Churches."  Now that has far more reaching effects than my above scenario, but the trouble is, when we disobey the voice of the Holy Spirit with small things, it becomes easier to disobey him with the bigger larger and possibly more dangerous aspects of life.  

So as my fish cakes lie in the bin and hopefully lesson learned, let me encourage you to look out for the warning signs in life, when God is trying to get your attention.  

To me, better luck next time, but for you, I hope that you are a stronger listener than I am. 

 

Looking where you can't go

In the 2003 movie "Paycheck", Ben Affleck's character finds a riddle near the end of the movie that reads: "If you only look where you can't go, you will miss the riches below."  It's a fun movie go check it out. 

There's a strong point to be made here.  We all have dreams and in some instances, God in His wisdom has chosen not to grant them, and there is really nothing we can do about that, but to trust God and believe that one day when we are in heaven he will reveal the reason.  

One dream that I do believe I should be able to make a reality one day is to go to Canada to visit my dear friend Bridget and her hubby Greg.  Dreams won't become reality unless we do something about them.  This sank in hard with me as I realised I really wasn't making any headway in this area.  So I have to tighten my belt if I want to make this happen.  

That took me back to remembering a time in my life when money was VERY tight.  Through it all though I learned contentment and I learned how to adjust my lifestyle to cope.  Well, its time for some self regulation to make my savings dreams a reality.  

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forebearance (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."  If you ask God for these fruits, beware, He will test you in them until they become a reality, but the rewards of working through these is so great that the sacrifice is worth all the effort. 

I want to encouage you today, what are your dreams?  What would you need to change today to make tomorrow better?  Then find the fruit that matches that and chase after it. 

How Should We Pray

Most of us are shy about praying in public when we don’t know what to pray for and as such the best encouragement I can give you is to look at the answer our Lord gave to the disciples when they asked him, “Master, how should we pray?”  And Jesus answered them with:

So how do we translate this prayer into today’s language and maybe to something that is personal to us?  Let me venture an interpretation:

 

Dear Father God, you are amazing and holy.  Today as I come before you, I ask you to make your will known to me and to help me to follow your will for my life.  Lord, I present my needs to you, and you know them, but I ask you for provision in this [area of my life].  Forgive me Lord for my sins, I repent and choose to follow you.  Help me to forgive others that have hurt me.  Holy Spirit, protect me from myself today.  Help me not to yield to the temptations that grab my attention.  Protect me from the devil’s evil works and guide me and lead me in your truths. I love you Lord.  Amen!

 

Try taking Jesus’ template and write out your own prayer from your heart and once you have done so, read it out aloud over and over.  As you start to verbalise your own prayers you will become more confident to share your prayers with others. 

A-Choo

 

So it is time for the bi-annual allergies and sinus issues.  Quite used to this routine by now, lasts about two weeks then its done for the next 6 months.  Nothing serious, just the runny nose, sore throat etc.  

I have all sorts of remedies and I go through all of them to make sure I whack it from every angle.  One of my tricks though is to use a little dettol or savlon on the cloth when I shower to wash away all the current days germs.  I have truly found this little trick aids recovery. 

That gets me thinking, how do we wash ourselves spiritually?  Ephesians 5:26 has the answer to that question. "that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water, by the word,"

Interesting concept.  God is telling us that we are cleansed when we spend time with Him, reading his word, which is His communication tool with us.  Wow, I don't know any other relationship that cleans our minds and hearts when we communicate with the person, but that is exactly what God tells us He does.  

So if the bugs of life are getting you down, how about taking time out to read your bible and allow God to cleanse you, all while He fills your soul with His love.