What's in a cup?

There was once a time I did not think about God and what He wants.  I did not pray or know how.  I did not own a Bible and therefore I did not read the Bible.  I knew a little about God, less about Jesus and even less about the Holy Spirit.   When I started a relationship with God, by praying to Him, reading a Bible and getting to know God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit, I experienced a rebirth.  I experienced a return to innocence.  I became who I once was as a child.  Sin, no matter how bad it is, holds the same weight on God's scales.  Any sin, whether murder, theft, slander, adultery, telling lies, or conceit and selfish ambition, have the same weight on God's scales.   Often we see ourselves first as victims, and once we get in touch with God's Word, we realise that we are perpetrators too.  We are not as innocent as we seem.  The reason we don't see our own guilt is due to the greatest sin Satan invented - pride.   So it is no surprise not ev...

I am going through a turning point in my life, and it is a turning point for the better.  I am filled with hope and pushing away the dread of disappointment with sheer diligence of faith.  Despite the fact that my plans to travel to Korea and around the world have fallen through by the accident of 23 January 2010, I am in no way bitter about it, but I sense that there will come a time in a year or so that I will have to make a grand decision regarding travel and its purpose in my life.   Right now there is nothing I would rather do than live in Kroondal, North West and move into a neat little cottage where I can cook my own meals, blog daily, email friends and family, and have a quiet and simple life in the country.  I have the feeling that teaching German at the German School in Kroondal is going to be a marvelously enriching experience, and I look forward to the material, the children, the classes, the camaraderie, and the unexpected surprises along the way.   I trust God completely ...

What I learnt during my time in hospital is that emotional pain is far greater than physical pain, and emotional pain often manifests in physical pain.  What I also learnt is that the burden of guilt is far heavier than the sorrows of victims.   I learnt that having an interest in other people keeps you young.  And I learnt that the comfort of a gift given in love and compassion far outweighs the gift itself.  I learnt that compassion can turn to cruelty, but also to great beauty.   I learnt that God is a God of miracles, making human beings in such a way that their bones will heal back together in time, their eyes will heal themselves, and nerves will connect internally when a leg is amputated, but He also gives us the courage and hope to continue when we have suffered ill, wrongdoing or injustice.  When I think of Tammi, I smile.  He is a 22-year old handsome man, his leg amputated from below his knee, and yet he smiles and looks ahead with optimism and ambition.  He is full of coura...

The school is small.  There are six classrooms, each one with its own unique character.  Jutta the principal was nice.  She introduced me to all the teachers in their respective classrooms.  They were all friendly.  They all looked happy to be there.  They did not look stressed.  The children, clad in school uniform, looked adorable.   Jutta pointed out the son of Ralph Brammer, who had SMS'd me to inform me of the opening at the school.  His son is called Daniel (I hope I remembered correctly).  He has blonde hair and deep dimples, and he called himself "Frechdachs", which means, he is naughty.  He looked cheeky, but the kind of cheeky that makes you want to run up to him and hug him tightly for being simply cute.   It was raining today, so Jutta thought it best not to show me the media and computer rooms.  I was visiting in my crutches.  I appreciated her thoughtfulness.  Jutta then introduced me to Uta, the teacher I would be replacing.  She is emigrating with her husb...

This is the eve before my interview with Jutta and Volker from the German School in Kroondal.  The interview is taking place at midday tomorrow, 25 February 2010.  I trust it will be a memorable occasion, and I am rather excited already - not too excited, lest I lose my cool, or place all my eggs in one basket and discover the sting of disappointment.   Mother is driving me there.  We leave at 10am and drive the odd 80km it takes to get there in a slow and steady manner, as I trust this accident has deemed me intolerable to speed, at least this early in my recovery stage.  As for the interview itself, my main concern has been, well, frankly, dress code.  If I dress too powerfully, such as wearing red, I could come across as overly ambitious and power-hungry.  Even if teaching young children and power are not a usual combination of ambition, the impression I could leave might be my last.    As for jeans, they could be too casual for an interview of such importance to me, and anything el...

All my things neatly packaged, numbered, placed, defined              Books all covered in DC Fix, my name inscribed, kept neatly on a bookshelf, read, dusted, and reread at least five times All things hair in one place, all things nails in another, all things make-up separately arranged, all things teeth another case, all things electronic kept safe, all things neatly packed away Files in alphabetical and chronological order, according to logic personified, pictures of family, friends and good times, hung in frames simplified I can find everything in the dark, my pen, my pencil, eraser, and if you ask me for information on something, I will haul it from a DC fixed clean crisp file with a label that makes perfect sense and is fully comprehensive My clothes, all washed and ironed, hanging in a closet, knowing exactly what I have and where it is, aware of my possessions, for I treasure them, not for their own sake but for God’s I know where everything is, and I can find wha...

God has a hard teaching.  He probably has more than one hard teaching, but I find this one especially difficult.  He speaks in His Word about hating and loving this life.  He says, if you love your life on earth, you will die, but if you hate your life on earth, you will live eternally in heaven.   I believe that God is good in every fiber of His holy being, and He says that He wants to bless us, make us prosper and sets us free, and what God says, He means.  So in light of these promises, the truth of bearing His cross and following Him is truly daunting at times.  When a seed falls to the ground and dies, it bears fruit.  If it does not die, it cannot bear fruit.  Like Jesus, who died on the cross, and was born again, so are we to die to ourselves and thus be born again.  It sounds so harsh, but it is not at all.   When I loved my life, without knowing God, I lived for myself.  I wanted boys to like me, and I wanted to be popular, and I wanted to be cool.  (I was in school then) And ...

It's been so long since I have written a blog, I feel almost as though a mental block has built up, so best I destroy it now before it becomes a pavement.   My dear friends, I am in the mood to write, how could I have left such a long stretch of silence in cyberspace without an explanation?  It's simple, really; I stated it in my previous blog - a car accident has left me with a fractured pelvis, aching ligaments and muscles, and a rich adventure of building new and old friendships, plus an opportunity to work in a small German town called Kroondal, whose reputation thus far has only been positive.   From the school I might work for being of good repute, a town which has a large if not sole German community, a church that makes you feel like part of the family, a scenery that's described as chilled and picturesque, to a lifestyle that might just welcome cycling from post to pillar, I can't imagine what God is still hiding in the brackets.   So I'm a city girl, and b...

Though I did not write this entry myself, I felt the story quite apt in light of my recent car accident, where my pelvis was fractured in three places. I feel like a cracked cup at the moment, but find great encouragement from this story. Jeremiah 15:16 The Trials of a Teacup "But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand" (Isaiah 64:8 NKJ). I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time in my life when I was just a lump of clay. Then my Master took me and began to pat and mold and shape me. It was very painful and I begged Him to stop, but He only smiled and said, "Not yet!" Then He placed me on a spinning wheel and I went 'round and 'round. I got so sick I thought I wasn't going to make it, but then He finally let me off. Just as I thought I was going to be all right, my Master put me in an oven. I've never understood why He wanted to burn me; I yelled and begged for Him to sto...