What a beautiful celebration!

Well done Daniel and Rebekah!! What a lovely ceremony and celebration!
How great it is to witness something that is so God-ordained.
May you read/ speak your vows with even more love and passion in the years ahead!

7th July 2012

Our uneven twins

Rosie and Amber came home with us on June the 23rd. That makes it 2 weeks so far.
They can eat, drink and play and then of course...sleep. Thank goodness - some time to sort out things and maybe enjoy a quiet cup of coffee. They are so cute! Why don't you see for yourself!

Back on the road ...but where's the map?

After weeks of preparing for - then enjoying - travelling overseas it is surprisingly satisfying to be home working on my studies so I can be a bit more equipped for what God has in store for me.


Travelling is great! It opens up my mind every time.
It is, however, good to know that we need not go anywhere to experience His presence and power. He is faithful and can meet with us anywhere. 

Packing..

I have a love/ hate relationship with packing.
I love it since it implies I'm going somewhere. I hate it since it can be such a schlepp!
At first I'm overwhelmed by the task and PROCRASTINATE!
Anything is more important than packing!
Then my realistic side kicks in and I make a half-hearted attempt to start.
Then the task doesn't seem that bad except... I have way too much - I need to cut back.
PROCRASTINATION time until it becomes PANIC time.
Now, all of a sudden all the rules and original order are tossed out and I finally finish packing.
I'll only know when I get there what I've missed in the frenzy...

                                                     My friend knows how to pack!

Catching up..

It has been a while.. In the mean time my lovely dog, Bella, passed away. Her brother, now alone, is showing signs of accepting the once ousted cat. Life is different but it isn't bad.

I recently went to Russia and one of the times I will never forget is when we went hunting for a decent cup of coffee. This shouldn't be that difficult since St. Petersburg is full of them. I suppose the language and the extreme cold affected us. Eventually we were DESPERATE and we saw this elegant, beautiful place. To our surprise Nathan offered to pay if it was really expensive. We were pretty sure it was going to be so we went in.

It was a stylish place with loads of coffee paraphernalia but not really any tables so we thought they might be upstairs.. No upstairs was definitely some kind of sales area. Down went again feeling rather disappointed.
Heidi was visibly uncomfortable but we were desperate! Eventually we saw an area with some chairs which looked quite promising. We asked in very broken Russian whether we could have a cup of coffee. They asked which flavour we would like and promptly went work. They served it in small espresso cups with a little biscuit. It was delicious! When Nathan wanted to pay all she said was "It is taste-station". At that point we all felt uncomfortable. To minimize the discomfort Nathan and I traipsed off to buy a bit of their great coffee. Not a bad outcome at all!

Into the unknown...

This coming Thursday brings the start of another adventure in Christ for my friends Nathan and Heidi and me.
We fly to St.Petersburg where we 'hope' to be of encouragement and help to a church there.It is going to be an amazing time - I just know it!!

If God is for us who can be against us!? May He go with us and be in our central focus on this trip!

Relief

What a relief it was walking out of the vet's the morning knowing my greying boxers are in great shape. Strong hearts, no tumors, claws clipped (Bella didn't seem to enjoy the manicure, though). They went to have their booster shots. The vet was well impressed when he saw he needed to begin new vaccination cards.They had out-lived theirs.

A sweet little blonde boy ,around 4yrs old,admired Bella. He couldn't stop telling me how "oulik" (cute) she was.
He was clutching his little doberman proudly.

So, who says it needs to be traumatic visiting the vet?!

Long live our "puppies!"

Look to Jesus and not to the natural!!

Recently I had to write on "The current global economic crisis". Well, if you ever want to be depressed - read up on it.. It was dreadful.


Just as I was despairing.. our church had a 3 day fast. My body felt awful but something happened.


Within a week I received not 1 but 2 offers to go abroad!!!!


First an outreach to St. Petersburg, Russia for 10 days
then at a later stage 
a trip to Switzerland to visit family and hopefully some churches there.


How GOOD is our God!!!

Joy in God!

When life passes by and not much is achieved it can be difficult to experience the joy  God gives.
The trick, according to John Piper, is not to aim at joy in general but at joy in God.
This will never disappoint!

Small miracles

Today I sent off a test text for a short book. 
I hope I did okay.
It would really be awesome to earn almost a month's salary on one project.


I so enjoy it though. Who would have thought it would give me such a buzz...!

God answers prayer!

What an amazing buzz I feel when I realize that God has answered yet another of my prayers!
I know there were loads of others praying too. It is for His glory that the Deans can come together again and that Rebekah is free to go to Australia. God is GOOD.

Now I start another prayer request that Helen's paperwork will also be processed smoothly and quick;y.
He cat is also needing a home.. God knows the right person.

Your will be done Lord!

My favoutites

Wow!

Although I enjoyed being spoiled by various folk - two of my gifts stood out!

I knew the first would be good since it was wrapped as a tiny flat parcel. Often these hold jewelry but this one was even BETTER. My little friend Zoe had written me  poem. One too good to keep for myself:

"Every year at Christmas time
There's not a sign of snow,
Instead we spend our Yuletide days
In the sun's warm, cheery glow.


We have the best of Christmas things
The lights, the gifts, the bells
And "snowbirds" who come en masse
To fill our beach hotels.


The glorious weather fits right in
With our happy Christmas mood
And we can also walk and run
Without having to be snow-shooed!


So don't feel bad for your 'location' for
We have no snow or ice,
We think our sunny Christmas here
Is a holiday paradise!"


The second favorite was left for me by my friend, Gill, who is celebrating Christmas with her son and his family in America. It is a HUGE baking book. I think it will take the rest of my life to work through it and discover all its treats. It is amazing!

Thanks to all who made my Christmas so special!(Just because your gift hasn't featured here does NOT mean I don't appreciate it!!)

The true con artist

I've heard that criminals don't look like they are criminals. I experienced this first hand recently.
My boxer, Gideon rushed outside followed closely by his sister, Bella and they made an incredible noise. I figured I'd better check on them.. Somehow Gideon must have passed me on his way back and while I was looking for him outside he had toppled the tin with the reject biscuits in an had begun tucking in. Sneaky is not the word. What could I say - I'd been an idiot thinking anything edible was safe around Gideon!

These feet were made for walking...

.. but enough is enough! 


Friday saw some friends and I walking, climbing and descending hills of the Suikerbosrand reserve. 17km doesn't seem that bad - until you try with the wrong shoes on.
Three quarters of the way my feet began feeling every stone and believe me there were plenty stones everywhere!!


The best bit was when I almost lost my left shoe in a muddy stream. I snatched it just as it was about to disappear in the mud. Can you imagine how I would have coped without it?! Considering this I was oh too grateful to listen to the squishing sound and feel the mud on my socks..


Eventually, we all made it to camp alive. I have never been so glad to drink water in my life!


It wasn't all bad, though. The scenery and the sounds were amazing..

                                                       Heidi - one of the fittest in our group.

Trust

Today I'm trusting that Gill has arrived safely and had a good rest so she can really ENJOY this time with her family!


Such a long trip is testing for anyone but for someone with back issues... it must be bad.


I'm also trusting that my friends can sell their house in order for them to move on in the things God has for them.
I'm a bit baffled since I think the house is lovely. All in God's time I suppose...


I know Gill is trusting me to water her beautiful garden so off  I go.....

Jesus

The best news is that He rose again and is very much ALIVE!

May we individually experience His life, His love and His joy daily!!

All is well..

"The Lord will either
                              
                               calm the storm or

            
                                                                let it rage while He calms you."
                                                                                                                      Anonymous

Change

Since I am about to loose my job really soon I am beginning to feel a twinge of anxiety I never had before.
Yes, I know I wasn't very happy but at least I had a steady income to erase the pile of bills I accumulated each month. I suppose it sometimes takes a "kick up the bum" to get me moving....


I do have an excitement and a sense that God has great things in store for me. 
If only He would tell me - and clearly!


I guess faith is required then He will allow me to catch my breathe and He'll show me in the right direction.

What a wonderful day...!

Our potjie competition turned out to be far more relaxing and pleasurable than I thought.
The sun shon, the wind blew and the guys cooked. 


Good company and delicious food - what more could a person ask for?

The small things in life..

The small things in life make or break. The other day I wrote a short note to a colleague and was amazed at the response I received. She was truly happy and thankful. Such a small thing...such a reward!
Nothing can be too small or insignificant if it is done in love.