U can run but U can't hide

Today I am humbled and filled with awe and gratitude!! For some, this will sound like just a coincidence. For others like me, who believe all things happen with a more eternal reason, this will sound like God's hand upon our lives. Today I realised anew that we are all created by Someone bigger than any human, any big bang theory, any evolved being. This Someone does not only create life, but sustains life. This Someone is constantly, actively involved in working every day lives & circumstances together for the good of His plan and purposes. This truth became more real to me today when I realised I left the UK just in time to avoid the Swine flu outbreak, not just in the country but the house I stayed at as well. Then hearing a typhoon hit Taiwan during the month I would have been there has made me realise my life is in God's hands and that no matter how hard you try to run away from the fact that He exists and loves you and has plans for your life, His will prevails and always will. I guess the question for me is, is life just one big gamble where our choices and decisions are considered to be chips which fall where they may, or is there Someone actively and lovingly guiding our steps? Is the fact that I'm alive and healthy just pure luck, or have I just experienced God's ultimate protection?

Challenges

When you are taken out of your comfort zone and challenged in ways, in areas and with issues that make you feel stretched, uncomfortable or that goes against your set of values and beliefs...how do you respond? What do you draw on? What is your first response...or is that reaction? I learnt some lessons this week (these last 3 weeks actually), but specifically this past week when faced with a challenge. Christian morals and values - do they change with time as more and more Christians believe? Or are our morals and values as Christians as unchanging as the nature of God!

A special start to Holy Week

I've just come from spending my last day in London, as I will be home in SA on the 9th. I went to the British Museum - WOW - amazing!!!!!!! The things I saw there were just awesome. A must see for all people. They have displays from various countries across the world - Egypt, Ethiopia, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, Greece, Rome and you can go on and on ... absolutely amazing!! From here I went to St. Paul's Cathedral, just in time to celebrate Holy Communion. I've never really been one to give up something for Lent - for various personal reasons - but Holy Week has always been very special, very intense and very meaningful to me. During Holy Week I will usually fast something and bring my focus to the Cross. Although I did not feel a strong sense of worship or sincerity here, as I sat there in one of the most famous Cathedrals in the world in my heart it was a rather special and significant moment. It not only brought my focus strongly to the Cross and getting my mind focused for this week but also a time of repenting and starting anew as I set out on a new adventure come Wednesday evening when I fly back to SA. From St. Paul's I went to the National Art Gallery. Again, WOW!! Incredible paintings from famous people like Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Picasso etc....again very much worth seeing. A good day spent in the City of London. Hmm, I think I'm going to miss this place after all...

Haggis Adventure through Scotland

I have been to the most beautiful and mystical place on this earth. I spent 3 days going through the low and highlands of Scotland. The history and the scenery is just unbelievable!!! I would most definitely recommend the Haggis Adventure Tours. They have 1, 3, 5 or 7 day tours exploring the country of Scotland. During my SKYE HIGH adventure, we left Edinburgh towards Stirling passing by Linlithgow Palace- birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots, explored the Stirling battlefields- where William Wallace and Bruce bravely fought for Scotland’s freedom! Through Trossachs- Rob Roy MacGregor country! Through Rannoch Moor- the largest expanse of uninhabited wilderness in Europe! Glencoe- site of the infamous bloody massacre in the winter of 1692 was really just one of the most beautiful sites you could ever behold. It's almost like there is this 'electricity', this 'currency' or 'mystical-ness' as you travel through the highlands especially. From there through the Great Glen, past Lochs Linnhe, Lochy, Oich, and.. Ness! (lakes for us non-Scottish people) Passing through Fort William - where a Campbell was asked to leave the town due to MacDonald - Campbell massacre and then behold, Ben Nevis- the highest mountain in the UK. We stayed in Fort Augustus at a **** Hostel called Morag’s (Nessie’s sister’s). As we travelled on towards Isle of Skye, we passed Loch Garry- affectionately known as “Scotland’s Loch” as it is a loch (lake) in the shape of Scotland - rather interesting, and on to ‘The Road To The Isles’ Glen Shiel & the Five Sisters of Kintail- they weren’t always there you know! And the very beautiful Eilean Donan Castle- used in the film ‘Highlander’. I very much enjoyed this one, I love castles and the views from there were just fantastic. Like a friend of mine said, there is just something about this country mmmm (",) And then Over the sea to Skye! If I could have a little house anywhere in the world, I would love to have a little cottage on the Isle of Skye, where the cliffs just drop into the ocean, the most beautiful site I have ever seen!! On our last day there we drove the full length of the mysterious Loch Ness, past ruined Urquhart Castle on to Inverness- meaning ‘At the mouth of the River Ness’, spent some time at Culloden Moor- where Bonnie Prince Charlie led the Highlanders in the doomed final Jacobite uprising, and changed Scotland forever! And the up Drumochter Pass- the highest road in Britain and then back to the Lowlands passing through Perth - the an ancient capital of Scotland. Of course your trip to Scotland would not complete without a taste of Whiskey and have Haggis for dinner - that's if you can stomach the idea of Haggis (lets just say back in the day of hunting your food it was a case of waste not, want not - there will be nothing left or wasted of the animal...you made Haggis) I passed on this one...had enough 'afval' as an Afrikaans child thank you very much! heheheheh!! This trip will forever stay with me - true was one of the most amazing trips I have ever done!! And now, back home to South Africa for my next adventure!!!

New Adventure

Life is about to change again for me! Come mid April I will be setting out on a whole new adventure!! After a year in the UK I have decided to return to South Africa. I have missed her vibrancy and diversity, her beauty and her problems. My time here in the UK has been interesting and has reshaped my way of thinking in many ways. Although it hasn't worked out quite how I pictured, I sure have gained more life experience than I could ever have imagined, and I hope to return and use these lesson to better the lives of so many people back home. How? I'm not sure yet!! All I know is that I have a better understanding of so much now, and yet...yet not even close to what half my fellow South Africans are experiencing, not even close. I just have a desire to make a difference!!! My time here in the UK has made me experience more generosity and kindness than I have experienced in my life before!! All of this has made me even more keen to give...give until there is nothing left to give. Life is about bettering the lives of other people!! In giving we find meaning, joy and purpose ....

I Found God at a Buddist Temple

Buddhism has always captured my interest and fascination, in fact a part of me always thought that was I not a Christian, I could practise Buddhism. Visiting the Temple was part of a 'touristy' thing, but on a deeper level, the main reason I went, was a desire to find the peace, contentment...serenity you seem to always see on the faces of monks - because I seem to struggle finding that peace within my own religion at the moment. 'My prayers bounces off the ceiling' is a phrase currently describing my prayer life. But yesterday, as I did a meditative walk in the Temple Garden, I found peace. I found God - the Almighty, Sovereign I am. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God that saved me and loved me enough to save me! There is no other!! Something else I found and came away with, was a renewed respect for the Buddhist Religion. Although there are still some elements I cannot agree with; their values, their principles and their disciplines are worthy of respect and a way of life we should learn from. Unlike before, in my ignorance, immaturity and lack of understanding, I am willing to ...not judge or condemn...but learn. So much so, that I will be returning to this Buddhist Temple to learn more about their way of life and their disciplines. The beautiful thing about all this is that when you read and follow Jesus' life in the Gospels, you see all these disciplines and this way of life in action!!!

A Good Place To Be

I’ve been experiencing a bit of a desert patch in my spiritual walk over the last couple of weeks. Partly because of my questions, confusion (and maybe even anger) to a Loving Father and partly because I have had all my attention, energy and focus invested in something other than my relationship with my Creator. Over the last day or two I have – in a way – and as hard and contrary to my nature as it has been - changed the nature of this particular thing. Along with this has been this constant feeling of having no purpose or a sense of fulfilment in my life at the moment. This morning as I walked to the train station it was as if for the first time, I realised that having explored other religions and looked into them over the last couple of months, my relationship with Jesus Christ is the only thing that really gives me a sense of purpose and fulfilment. And so the question to me from the beginning is being reinforced… is my relationship with Christ enough for me? As an adventurer, a goal-setter, as someone who strives for better and is never happy with ordinary way of life I haven’t been able to say YES!!!! just yet, but I’m getting there. What gives you sense of purpose and fulfilment no matter what happens in your life?

Sunny day in the UK

It's a stunningly beautiful SUNNY day here in the UK!! We don't get to experience many of them hehehe! It naturally puts a smile on your face and a spring in your step. I love the fact that we are having more and more day-light and it's getting slightly warmer - bring on summer!!! It's amazing the role weather plays in your life, your mood seems to be affected. I'm truly grateful for this day - what are you grateful for today? Aaahhh who would have thought the day could get even better...a nice South African braai ... there is just nothing like it! Now for a nice afternoon snooooooze! Life is good today!!

Consequences vs. Grace

As I spent two hours of my day on a train or waiting for a train, I have loads of time to think and feel and ponder. Today I thought about the mistakes we make in life and the consequences of those mistakes. I'm wondering if the 'innocent' mistakes we make have short lived consequences...like one can change a job if you feel you made the wrong decision or if you uploaded the incorrect file you can go back and correct it. My question is, when you make a mistake that Scripture call sin, how long do you have to face the consequences of that act? And how does forgiveness and grace fit into it all? To my understanding asking for forgiveness means 'He is faithful and just and will forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness' 1 John 1:9...but consequences still follow. Are consequences of sin long lasting, or does God keep it in your life untill you have learnt the lesson needing to be learnt or you have truly and sincerely humbled yourself?

Purpose

I was made for relationship! First with my Creator and then with my fellow human being. I was made to love and to be loved! I was made to share, to invest, to be invested in and to discover! I...we ... were made for relationship! I want you to join me in 'being in relationship', in sharing...sharing OUR thoughts, questions, discoveries, struggles...as much or as little as you want! Be honest, be real, but be respectful and most of all let this be a space to draw nearer to your Creator and to one another or to discover more about yourself! If that means asking honest but 'I couldn't possibly ask that' questions, so be it! As long as it's genuine and real...