What's in a cup?

Am I meant to wake up when the cock crows or when the sun reaches the dawn or simply then when the alarm bells ring loudly in my ear or only when I really, really need to, which is pushing each minute to the max, not a minute of sleep less, not a minute more! "How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest - and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man." So says Proverbs 6.10-11. So it is that this morning the cock has crowed and I awake. In anxious dreams I stirred and pondered on what the Lord has shown. He's opened my eyes again and again. The truth sets free, but at first it's harsh. At first it hurts. When the cock crowed the third time, Peter had realised his folly. He understood his weakness. He had come to realise the limit of his love. He had denied Christ, but Christ denied him not. I seek a k...

You came to me like a well-timed wind, if that were at all a possibility, and swept me in tears of relief and joy, how much more can I thank the Lord? With your visit today, so unexpected, you cast away the pain I've been carrying around and the tears I cried were filled with marvelous light, and I trust that you were blessed as was I when we exchanged our hearts. You said I could call at two in the morning if I felt the need, and I said to you, I wouldn't do that, I'm not the type, and you said, still, the invitation's open, and I was glad to know you are a friend. Thank you, Estie, for being there. You pushed away the clouds and showed me once again that there is peace in all things through truth in love and I was further encouraged by the dream I had last night to say I'll be ok, everything will be alright, and I am stepping into my future, I am confident in who I am, and glad to have the Lord to imitate, glad to have someone believe in me, an...

I was watching this ant the other day. He was walking on the edge of a ledge, in a straight line. And as he walked, he walked straight into another ant. And they seemed to kiss and then pass each other. The ant came across another ant, and the same thing happened. They greeted each other quickly and then moved on. Despite the vast amount of space around them, they walked straight into each other as though there were a paved road. I wondered what they were communicating. I wondered what secrets they told each other in that short amount of time - surely they met for only a second. Well, off Anty went, and of course there was an identical third encounter. Now I know ants have their own way of communication, just like bees, and most likely their topic of conversation was food, after all, ants are lifted up for being wise. "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summe...

In a week it will be one year since my car accident, a defining moment in my life. I am grateful for my life. Moreover, I am reminded to celebrate life. Before celebrating was automatically coupled with drinking vast amounts of alcohol and getting tipsy if not drunk. The association is so strong in my mind that I started to question it. In so doing I realised that celebrating one's life is about filling up your life to its fullest potential. Before I would associate this fulfillment with the freedom to do what you want without consequence. Becoming tipsy was about allowing people to get to know me for who I really am. It was about losing my inhibitions so that the barrier of shyness was broken. But the more I enjoyed my freedom and the experience of opening up, the more I wanted to be in this state of tipsiness. To feel free on the inside, to feel as though you can open up without worrying about what people think of you, and to be fulfilled, is by not filling yourse...

T.D. Jakes - oh what a man! - full of passion and poetry, yet done in the name of God, making clear the concepts which hide so fine behind the words in black and the white space behind. He took off from where I was, and therein lies his genius, and brought me to a place far beyond, in which I was bobbing my head up and down, because all his words rang true and deep, and I wondered how come he had gone so deep and was able to bring me to these roots when many other pastors have not. His message was on faith, and he started out with a focus on the cross, but when he started, he sounded like Martin Luther King, like a true orator with something vital to say, and indeed he swept me away, and he made me realise how very true it is that I am a first-generational Christian, and that the breaking of any negative curses of sickness, or of sins, or of anything repetitive in my family tree, stops here - with the blood of Jesus Christ. And as of the time I gave my life to Him, I was blessed...

This evening I sat in the lounge of a friend of mine's parents. His father is old. He has white hair and he sits quietly in his chair and smiles and laughs, but for reasons beyond me I landed up sharing my entire life story with him, especially my concerns about my father. And I realised then that that was the reason I had gone there, for some peace, for some resolution, for help. The room went peacefully quiet after I had spoken. It was as though they understood why I had come. And they were willing to give me advice. There was only a dim light shining, and then he spoke, with such grace, and he said, "There is a scripture that says, happy is he who has the Son. For if you have the Son, you have life." Yes! How I wished my father would know and understand this wisdom. It wasn't just a belief by a young woman looking for meaning and purpose, it was believed even by this wise and graceful old man. He exuded no bitterness, no anger, just peace and freedom....