Conversion to Christianity

What does it mean to be born again?

I can still remember the day I gave my life to Jesus. It was an ordinary day. No fireworks, no music playing in the background.

But after that day nothing in my life has ever been the same.

I was blind, but now I (c)see!

What has changed? For me it was not becoming someone else. I am still me, but it is as if God has just come and put a new set of glasses on my eyes. The glasses of His salvation. For the first time I was able to see the world through the eyes of Jesus.

All the negative (c)sees get replaced by they way God wants me to (c)see life.

The first c He replaces is condemnation. Jesus does this through giving himself as sacrifice, instead of us. Through confessing that I have sinned by judging those around me I can become part of His grace in my life. He comes and removes the condemnation that I have had for other people in this world. Confession of what we have done, who we are and the things that we thought nobody would see we become part of God's inheritance for us in our lives.

A life without God is filled with complexity. We do not understand this world. As long as we do not see the world through spiritual eyes we will not be able to understand our purpose in life. When I become a child of God He wants to give me clarity. This clarity enables me to understand why I am here, at this moment. I begin to c why God has given me certain opportunities and how I should respond in the situations that He has placed me.

Once we c ourselves through the eyes of Jesus we cannot stay complacent. We cannot pretend that we are not part of this world, filled by pain and unrighteousness. We might not be from this world, but God wants us to be part of it, so that we can make a difference. God destroys our complacency and face us with new challenges. He challenges us to live the life that Jesus led in example. He wants us to put love first, before anything we might want for ourselves. Once we take up the challenges of His love we will realise the true meaning of Christianity.

Now we can't complain anymore. Instead he fills us with celebration, courage, creativity and eyes that c!

Let God replace these in your life:

Condemnation with Confession

Complacency with Challenges

Complexion with Clarity

Complaining with Celebration, Courage and Creativity

All so that we can truely C!

Routine

I have never been drawn to a life of routine. My reasons - I believe it can kill inspiration, innovation and creativity. Recently, I came to realise that routine has a purpose when applied in the appropriate way.

There are dangers to routine, that we can't deny. But sometimes your worst enemy can be your closest ally as well. For me the red lights concerning routine start to flash when it starts to penetrate all aspects of my life. When my life becomes a planned event. That kills all emotion, because without spontaneity I deprive myself from experiencing unexpected emotions. We start to loose our own opinion on matters in life, because it is through confrontation with the unexpected that we are forced to think, forced to form our own opinions. A life ruled by routine minimizes constructive thinking. We can't stay creative and constructive in an environment where everything is pre-planned, where the construction has taken place already. And lastly, but for me the most dangerous side-effect of routine is that it cultivates laziness. If I know that I will go home every night and watch television, have dinner, go to bed all at the same time then I do not need to think about my life. The unexpected, the things we do not plan for on the other hand, needs planning, it needs thought.

Routine creates frustration if not used as a proper tool. We need to construct our lives in such a manner that routine works for us, not the other way around. When carefully incorporated into our busy schedules routine has got definite advantages. It provides a source of safety and security. It saves us time, because the basic day-to-day events can be incorporated into a routine that needs less planning and daily effort to remember. In some instances it prevents us from missing things we might not have remembered if it was not part of our daily routine.

At the home I grew up in my mom planted ivy. It grew up against the brick walls and softened the house's facade. It had to be groomed continuously, because without pruning it, it always overgrown and defeated its purpose. Routine is like ivy. It is both a beautiful and functional attribute in our lives as long as we are prepared to maintain its growth. We need to cut it away all the time to make sure that it does not rule our lives, that we do not fall into the trap of the routine comfort.

On the topic of controlling routine - I find the following tips useful in my life:

• Identify areas in your life where you need control (ex. exercise, bible study)
• Outline the purpose or advantage that routine will bring to that area in your life
• Implement a routine that would cultivate that advantage
• Use the time saved by implementation of the routine to do something creative like making chocolate ivy leaves (see the recipe below)

Remember whenever you are making these leaves - that routine (the ivy leave) should always result in a creative by-product (chocolate ivy-leaves). If routine does not serve that purpose in your life re-visit the tips above.

Chocolate ivy-leaves

• 1/2 slab of brown or white baking chocolate
• 10-20 ivy leaves of different sizes

Melt the chocolate on the stove. Medium heat. Use a teaspoon to put chocolate on the coarse side of the leaf. With a knife spread the chocolate over the whole leaf. Put in the fridge until hard enough. Pull the leaf away from the chocolate, very carefully.

With your extra creativity put these leaves to use in any manner out of your daily routine.

Verjaardag

Ons almal het 'n dag van die jaar nodig waar ons spesiaal wil en mag voel. 'n Dag waarop mens kan doen net wat jy wil, wens net wat jy wil, drome droom wat al lank vergete is. Alles sonder om skuldig te voel.

'n Dag wat net joune alleen is.

Dit is wat verjaardag vir my beteken. 'n Dag waarop mense vir mekaar op soveel maniere kan laat weet wat hulle vir mekaar beteken, dat hulle aan mekaar dink en dat hulle vir mekaar spesiaal is.

'n Dag van vreugde wanneer mens elke sms, facebook boodskap en oproep vir solank as moontlik teen jou hart will vashou. Elke woord en gedagte, elke kaartjie en geskenkie 'n stukkie energie in vir die pad wat die volgende jaar op mens wag.

Ek het nog nooit ouer op my verjaarsdae gevoel nie. Veel eerder jonger, met inspirasie wat uit elke klein boodskappie kom.

Dit is 'n dag waarop mens net kan lag, mal wees, of net rustig, selfs 'n bietjie selfsugtig - sonder om te skuldig te voel...

Maak nie saak nie, dit is jou dag.

Maar aan die einde van daardie dag is daar een emosie wat my altyd oorweldig - dankbaarheid.

Dankbaarheid vir een en elke persoon tot wie se gedagtes jy dit gemaak het op daardie dag.

Want ons verdien niks.

Ons het geen geboorteregte nie, net voorregte.

Vier daarom fees op elke verjaardag! Dit is jou genadedag.

Building a House

I'm not an architect or an engineer. For that reason I pay little attention to the structure of a house, the actual design. My eye will rather be diverted to the colour the walls are painted, the finishes in a home like the tiles and decoration.

But despite my ignorance I do realise that there are more to a house than meets the eye. It is those hidden qualities of a house that have to be in place to prevent the house from collapsing.
The Bible also uses this to describe the ways in which we should constitute our lives in honour of God.

Every day we are building. Our lives are structures under constant re-construction and renovation through the daily choices we make.
For any building project to operate successfully a plan is needed. We have a choice: we can use the world's norms and standards to draw up our plan or we can use God's architectural services. Upon choosing God as our architect we have the assurance from His Word that certain qualities are included in the building package:

• Matthew 7:24-27 - God himself is the foundation. Through Jesus' death on the cross He became the everlasting rock. The cornerstone. Although rejected by many, for those who take refuge in Him He becomes an infallible source of hope and strength.
• Psalm 122:7 - When God builds our house He will also provide us with the suitable interior decorating. He will hang peace on our walls. Eternal rest will furnace our homes.
• Iss 60:18 - Surrounded by crime we need to surround our homes with high walls as form of protection. The walls God build are covered with the blood of His salvation. Like the Israelites we should cover our walls with His blood so that the world will know why we are saved.
• The entrances to our homes should be praise to God. Every day we must lift our hands and thoughts in praise, giving God entry to our daily activities.

It is so easy to start building lives of our own. To forsake God in the way we live, speak, think... But even then God won't give up hope. In Revelation 3:20 we read that He stands at the door and knocks. He knocks on all the doors of those houses not built according to His Master plan. The day we decide to open those doors He will come in and there will be a feast. Unlike other guests He will not leave though. He will stay and become a permanent resident.

Not every house will become a home. A home is not a structure - it is a space filled with joy and memories. A place where we are surrounded by the ones we love and where we are at peace with ourselves and our surroundings.

Not everyone can have a house of their own, but everyone can have a home. May you find your true home and with it the courage and wisdom to invite the Host of all Hosts as permanent resident in your haven.

Ek is ryk wanneer:

• Ek tyd uitkoop


• My beleggings in mense eerder as dinge is


• Ek trevrede is met wat ek nou het


• Ek meer vreugde vind in gee as in ontvang


• Ek investeer in alles wat ewigheidswaarde het

Dit is die dinge wat niemand kan koop nie wat die meeste waarde het: maak tyd vir jouself vir ander en vir God.

Puzzles vs. Mysteries

Reviewing what the dog saw...

Malcolm Gladwell writes mind-blowing books. The type of book that you can easily read through in one day. Once you start you just can't stop. I usually try to hold on, slowly reading, digesting bit by bit in between chapters, but before I even realise it I reach the last page.

The most recent book in his collection is: "What the dog saw." In this book he aims to find out how people think. He analyses different areas of life from the ketchup business, dog psychology to investments all with the goal to find out how people working in these industries approach what they do.

In his chapter on understanding secrets he refers to two approaches to the unknown. The approach to a mystery vs. a puzzle. If you approach the unknown or a problem as a puzzle your aim would be to collect more information to solve the problem. Every bit of information is a piece in the puzzle. Once you have enough pieces the puzzle is complete. You can see the picture. Problem solved.

Approaching a problem as a mystery is a lot more uncertain. Here you usually have too much information. You have to sift through the information, trying to make sense out of it. You want to see a pattern. You have to link bits and pieces together to form a picture. In the case of a mystery there is no picture - you have to create it as you go along.

In his book he applies these concepts to a military intelligence scenario. He looks at how these different approaches can lead to different outcomes when applied to the same scenario.

During our Stricker family festival Mario's cousin Liezel spoke about their 10 year plan. Her husband, John made them write down their 10 year plan. They forgot about it.
When they moved to Japan recently they came across the forgotten piece of paper while unpacking.
It gave me goose bumps when she said that to their surprise and shock the place that was written next to 2010 was Japan. They did not even remember that they have written Japan down as a place that they would like to live in. But they ended up there. In their subconscious they were steered towards that destination.

It is almost as if their destiny has become a puzzle - a picture already photographed, with the missing pieces falling in place as time passes.

So often life feels more like a mystery. We try to figure out where we want to be, believe we can achieve through analysing the current available information. Our current situation becomes the dictator of the future. We don't have a picture, we don't want to commit to a 10 year plan but rather prefer to approach life as a mystery. An occurrence we do not have control over.

My father -in-law's words will always be with me: "You will become what you want to become."
There is the answer.

That is the only way to turn your life of mystery into a picture. Desire. Knowing who you want to be, knowing where you want to go.

The pieces of the puzzle will fall in place once you start to walk where your heart leads. When you are true to yourself.

You can't live someone else's life - doing that can only be mysterious. But living the life that was meant for you, through doing that you will be amazed at how accurate your 10 year plan will turn out to be.

Become a puzzle builder, not a mystery solver.

This is God's Story!

God writes millions of stories everyday. He writes continuously - our lives the script and those who believe have the opportunity of a lifetime. We as believers become actors in a play written for eternity.
In this play, the actors still have a will of their own. They sometimes have their own idea of how the storyline should flow. In between the perfect lines written by the Author, they act out their own lines, believing that their interpretations will provide the story with more excitement, more leaving the audience with a more memorable experience...

It is the same with me. Take the story of my back pain for example.
I have been struggling with a vulnerable back since I can remember. My back have always been my weakest point. I have scoliosis, all the stress I experience accumulate in my back.
I remember the shock and horror the massage therapist attempted to keep under control when she massaged me.
Apart from the severe pain in which I left the room, I also realised that I will have to actively do something about this. I can't live without my back, so I better start building up a healthier relationship between us. So I started planning - and believe me there is a lot you can do to improve the health of your back.
There are exercises, massages, natural therapies, aroma therapies. Wonderful - I have options.
I nearly became excited about the journey ahead.

Just one problem - I had muscle spasms in my back the size of a golf ball in each side. Unlike the massage therapist Mario did not hide his horror. He said it felt like tumours I will need to excise first, before he thinks we will be able to get anywhere.
Isn't that encouraging.

Backache is a common type of pain people experience. With that knowledge I decided that I should maybe record my journey to healing on my blog. I thought this would be my chance - everyone will start reading my blog, following my path to healing.
I was ready to start.

Then I went to home group on Thursday. As usual our home group leader asked what we can pray for. This time specifically for ourselves. The first thing that came to mind was my back pain.
We prayed for each other. It did feel a little better afterwards, but I have never experienced a miracle in healing in my own life, so how do you explain the experience.
There weren't lights, no outer body feeling.
The pain just left. I bend, I stretch - no pain.

The tumours that my surgeon husband wanted to excise are gone. That is a miracle. That is the way God writes his stories. He uses a life, a simple life like mine. He uses my pain, he turns it into a testimony.

Sure I can't write about my painful, man made journey to healing on my blog. Instead I can tell all those around me that we serve a healing God. A God that can work in an instant.
And the most amazing of it all - he uses you and me to work on his behalf.