My Sincerest of Apologies.

It has come to my attention through much gentle verbal abuse from a friend that I haven't blogged in about a month. I must apologise for this. You see, I have started on a new post but it is one that I have to wrap my brain around a few times before it comes out right. So I will be hopefully posting it soon!

Oh, just bare in mind that my busy time of year has kicked in and my spare time is few and far between. But if you want a new post please leave me a comment on the existing one and I will work a little bit harder on it. I aim to haopefully blog atleast once a month.

*Shout out to Karpetroly Romie Swartier!!!* My devoted blog reader, scholarly friend, afrikaans student and brain. :)

Jesus Rush

Wait.

 

Can you feel Him?

 

My Jesus.

 

I can feel Him everywhere.

 

In the wind...

 

... in the air...

 

... in the light.

 

He's all around us.

 

All you have to do is open yourself up.

 

All you have to do...

 

... is wait.

I was at Parachute Music Festival this past weekend and I experienced Jesus in a surreal way. I felt Him move me like I did when I was younger. I felt Him in the wind.

As a young girl, whenever I pressed into Jesus and started feeling Him move my spirit, the breeze would blow through the shutters. He would blow through and physically refresh my body. Hug me with the breeze, envelope me with his love through his creation. Even in churches where there were only small windows, I felt Him in the wind.

When I took the time to think it through, it is when the wind blows outside that I feel Him the most as well. It is then that I experience Him the nearest, press into Him the deepest and feel Him the dearest. It is then that He builds me, encourages me and refreshes me. When I feel Him in the wind.

While at Parachute the breeze started circling me, I was reminded of the time spent with Jesus in the wind and the quote from August Rush that I edited above. There is such power in the opening phrase for me, such awe and belief. It sums up my experience with Jesus in full, feeling Him in the wind, smelling Him in the air and seeing Him in the light.

The last three lines teach me truly how to experience Jesus with your senses. ‘All you have to do is open your self up. All you have to do… is wait.’  When we stand in God’s presence, we soak ourselves in His love and open ourselves and our senses up we experience Him in a supernatural, sense blowing way. There is a verse in the Bible, in a Psalm where it speaks about finding strength in the Lord, praising Him and seeking Him, it finished with ‘Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.’

 I challenge you, open yourself up, soak Him in, wait for Him and feel Him, see Him and smell Him in the world around you. Experience the Jesus Rush.

 

Heart Seasons

I was sitting in class the other day, thinking through the emotional ups and downs that we all go through. We, especially as teens with the hormonal help, all go through rollercoaster ride, but all experience it differently. Some give in to the lows, becoming depressed and finding little joy in life. Others fixate themselves with the highs and are happy all the time, feeling absolutely no emotion. Both are dangerous places to be. Others just buckle in and make the most of the $2 they paid for their ticket.

When we are so focused on what goes wrong in our lives, dwelling on the pain inflicted on us and the mistakes we make we cannot possibly find any joy because we are out looking for miserable situations. We do not expect to find happiness, so we do not recognise it when it comes our way, we see only the pain. We are not able to share our passing joy with others even if we do find it because we feel as if our joy is insignificant compared to what is going around us. We begin to ostracise ourselves, pull away from the constantly happy because they make us feel bad about ourselves but also avoiding the others who are constantly in pain because they only bring us down further.

The same is true for those of us that focus purely on the happiness. Often it is to run away from severe pain in the past, just to experience joy because one miserable moment can bring it all back, or it can be just a mask we wear in public. But when we only see the happiness, which is portrayed as the ideal person to be in our world, we miss the pain and suffering of others, miss the opportunity to comfort them and relate to them. When you are in pain, is it easier to talk to someone who seems to only have ever had together, always happy or someone who you know has gone through your pain but has come out the other side? Also, when we are constantly living that happy-high life, we may not realise when we hurt others because nothing bothers us anymore. We do not see the impact of our words because we do not realise anymore what hurts and what helps; neither are experiences we have anymore.

But when we strap in, hold tightly to the hand rail, scream when sprayed with water or dropped upside down, smile with our hands up in the air by the camera and go for a second ride when we're done; that's when we truly enjoy life. Going through the ups and making the most of them, plunging into the lows but learning from them and ensuring that we are supported by the people around us. We need to learn to go with life's emotions; experience them, learn from them and make the most of them.

Our emotions are not quite like a rollercoaster, where you can see every turn before you even get into the cart, but more like the weather. Well, Auckland's weather; unpredictable but following some sort of rough pattern; summer, autumn, winter, spring. But the only difference is that our seasons may not last for the standard 3 months, differing like Auckland with all four seasons in one day.

I have written a poem while in the pits of the emotional low, but it's too depressing to share here and so I thought I'd jot down a positive poem about the rollercoaster of our hearts. So, without future ado, here it is:


Heart Seasons

 Just like our home,
This planet on which,
We find ourselves,
Our hearts too,
Go through seasons.

Troublesome times bring,
Torrential teardrops,
Hurricane gasps,
Horrendous heartache,
Our heart winter.

After tears, must come,
The shining rainbow of,
Forgiveness and renewal,
A time for new dreams,
Our heart spring.

Intensity of feelings,
Joy, love and success,
Escalating emotions,
Time to just soak in,
Our heart summer.

Times of change bring forth,
Falling and colouring feeling,
Again tough times,
Disappointments and change,
Our heart autumn.

Valentines

So we all had Valentines last week, or for those of us who are proudly single, Single Awareness Day. My Dad spoiled us four girls (My mum, two sisters and I) with gorgeous cupcakes from the Riccarton Mall's Cupcake Shop and thought I'd share the photos with you. Just a big thank you to Daddy for spoiling us and making us feel very special on a day where single girls can feel very out. Love you Daddy!!!

 

Us girls' cupcakes

 

Mummy's cupcakes

 

A Temporary World

It’s new. It’s clean. It’s special.

It’s old. It’s broken. Throw it away.

They’re new. They’re fun. They’re always near.

They’ve been there awhile. They’re busy. Move on.

At a new place. Everything’s exciting. Life’s wonderful.

Been there awhile. It’s all the same. Let’s move on.

It’s the mind set of the 21st century. When it’s new, it’s great, it’s all we want, all we talk about, all we do. But when it ages a bit, breaks or just becomes ordinary; we get rid of it. No fixing. No treasuring. No trying again. Throw it away. Move on.

But is it really a mind set that we should be practicing, embracing and transferring onto others?

We do not only reserve this mind set for possessions but extend it to people and places too. When an object, place or person has been around for sometime and is wearing at the edges; we would rather take the easy road out. Because of the fast paced life that we live, we do not make time to fix, maintain and re-kindle.

We all know about the consumerism issue but what we don’t realise is that we are doing exactly the same to people too.

When we are not getting out of friendship what we want, we are quick to throw in the towel. But are we putting in the same as we are taking out, or are we just drinking the well dry? Yes, people grow apart and move on, but why is it happening so frequently and easily? Why so often in the relationships that were meant to last a lifetime? It is because friendship with oneself, with your wallet and material things, are becoming more important than relationships with other people.

We use people for temporary joy. And then when life gets tough, people are down and we do not experience the same joy as always, we walk away. Instead of being willing to sacrifice something for someone else, it is too much for us to handle. We walk out fast and run into the next temporary joy.

Where have the stories gone about the two little girls that grew up as neighbours, became the best of friends and died together in the retirement village? When did Taylor Swift's ‘Mary’s Song’ become a fantasy rather than reality?

Why are we treating people like temporary objects? Only to find out that we really needed them, appreciated them and miss them after we’ve shown them the door?

Why are we wasting the wonderful gift of other people that God has given us?

 

Why are we creating a Temporary World of Temporary Joy?

Mini Adults

I was sitting thinking the other day about the children of today, those growing up amongst teenagers and adults especially. They grow up thinking that they need to be like the older people around them, they act like mini adults. Often the behaviour that they copy of the older generation is the negative behaviour, the shadow side of their heroes. It is not by choice that they do that but rather by chance. Memorable behaviour is like any other memory, the negative has such a big impact on you, making it easier to remember, more likely to copy.

The humour of the older generation, teenagers especially, is seen as ‘inappropriate’ for young children. The jokes can be grown up, sarcastic or with an attitude not suited to the younger children.

It irritates me when younger children act older than their age but I have come to realise, I have no right to. I am the one setting the example. What they do is a spitting image of me, of my generation. The world today does not establish an environment where young children can grow up as children. We do not provide what they need to enjoy their childhood; we push them along to grow up faster.

The whole issue around children not growing up as children anymore, not being in an environment for children has been bothering me a lot this past year (2011). Before it just bothered me, disturbed me but seemed an issue out of reach. How do we fix a global situation of ‘Mini Adults’? How do we maintain children as children? It bothered me to the point that I wrote a poem about it, I will put it at the end of the blog.

But now I have come to the conclusion that it starts with me. It takes one to make a difference, to change one life, to impact another.

When I was younger, I idolised anyone that was older than me. I wanted so badly to be like them and I believe that feeling sits within all children. I realised that the life I am living is not one that I would want someone to copy (Not that I live a bad, sin-filled life). My life wasn’t one of a world leader. And that is what our lives aught to be, a life that a world leader would live. Not in riches and materialistic things, but in character.  There is an old cheesy saying that says, ‘To the world, you may be just one person. But to one person, you may be the world.’ Live as though you may mean the world to someone and that that world may be a good one.

Are you with me? Let us make a change in our lives, to better the lives of the children around us. Let us mean every word that comes out of our mouths. Let us laugh for real. Let us cry for real. Let us love for real. Let us be real to give a real environment to those around us. Let us be world leaders and life changers.

Through the eyes of a child.

It is often said that to see the world,

In all of it’s beauty and innocence,

One must look at it,

Through the eyes of a child.

When I was a young girl,

This saying was as true as it will ever be,

Dad was the tallest, smartest and strongest,

Mum was the best cook and could make any sore better,

Through the eyes of me as a child.

Now as I grow up,

I am beginning to see the world,

In all of it’s raw state and devastation,

Through the eyes of an adult.

I begin to wonder what happened,

Where did the beauty and innocence go?

Has the world really become such a terrible place?

So comes the time when to see we must,

Look into the eyes of a child.

Children are growing up as adults,

Doing things behind parents’ backs,

Hoping it stays in secret,

Acting like the people around them,

Taking on the rudeness of the world,

The beauty and innocence was never there,

In the eyes of children today.

New Year, New Horizons.

Happy New Year everyone! I was thinking this afternoon about what to blog about and I realised I have one thing that is really big in my life at the moment that can easily relate to most people; change.

My family and I have entered this year with the knowledge that it would not be spent in the city we have called home for the past twelve years. When I was young we moved from South Africa, my place of birth, to New Zealand. We have spent the last twelve years in Auckland and we are now moving on again to Christchurch, the Garden City.

It was a bit of a sudden thing but after lots of consideration and prayer, we have decided to make the move regardless of the earthquakes there at the moment. We are luckily moving to a town just to the north of the city and will be out of the immediate quake zone.

While sitting at school one day with nothing to do, my mind started racing, processing all the changes I would have to go through. I sat there with the realisation that I could look at this change in one of two ways, with positivity and excitement or with negativity and resentment. I chose the option that would make me happy, make the change easier to deal with and benefit those around me, to take on a positive attitude. I sat there, bored out of my socks, open page in front of me and a fresh mind set. So I wrote a poem. Here is the poem I wrote, I hope that it encourages you and challenges the way that you look at change.

New Horizons

One comes to that point,

When that which you have,

Is no longer what you need,

Time has come for new horizons.

When new things become old,

Challenges become familiar tasks,

Excitement turns to boredom,

Time has come for new horizons.

Friends become strangers,

Enemies familiarise as neighbours,

When what was is different,

Time has come for new horizons.

When turmoil calms to a ripple,

Bullets shot feel as pillows,

Shouts stabbed heard as whispers,

Time has come for new horizons.

The best jokes rewarded with groans,

Gossip stories with faint fake smiles,

When cheap joy tiers a soul,

Time has come for new horizons.

But when one reaches the border,

Uncertainty laid ahead of you,

One comes to that point,

Where old horizons look comfortable.

Previous joys creep into memory,

Doubt looms over the sunset,

When what was is still within reach,

Time has come to take the final step.

Planting one foot,

Making one choice,

Saying one word,

Will change your life forever.

(To be finished once the new horizon becomes the ground in which my roots are planted)

 

Much love and blessings to you all for the year ahead!!! xoxo