Just something I thought of again today. On a journey of faith, we have to walk. Step for step we have to take this path with God. There is no taxi along the road, no fast way of getting there. No hitch-hiking. Only you, your feet and God.

These past few days has been a bit low for my spritual life, then I remembered that I have taken up a road to walk with God, and I shouldn’t forget that.

When walking, we must constantly remind ourselves what we are busy doing. I’m not saying that you should walk with a Bible under your arm. Just remind yourself that you are busy sharing your life with God, that you chose Him.

OK, this sounds a bit counfusing… But maybe it works if u remind yourself, maybe… Your thoughts?

A friend and I watched John Tucker Must Die last night. Have to admit that it was a great movie.

It’s about a guy, John Tucker, that’s a real heartbreaker. So three of the girls that he dated at the same time wanted to get back at him using another girl, Kate. The rest of the movie is classic but I want to stop right here.

OK, so these girls were hurt. Fair enough. But is that any reason to hurt someone back? No, it isn’t. Matt 5 :38 & 39 : “You have heard that it was said ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too.”

Well, there you have it. Don’t fight fire with fire, you’ll only get a bigger fire. What’s the point anyway in hurting someone back? Sure you’ll feel better but the guilt wil come back to huant you. That’s what I’ve experienced. Maybe you have a different experience, I don’t know.

Don’t get mad, get even…. This is a never ending circle. Why do we want to get stuck in something that will hurt us? It’s kinda just easier to forgive than it is to hatch an evil scheme of getting back at someone.

Ever messed anything up? I did, quite recently. Said something to my brother that I shouldn’t have. Now he’s angry, real angry. And he has right to be.

Anyway, say you’re in a situation where someone doesn’t want anything to do with you? What’s next? How do you tell someone that what you have said or done was a BIG mistake, and that you didn’t mean what you said? How do you tell that person that your sorry beyond all belief?

What do you do when someone is not willing to forgive you?

Just wanted to share something from the Bible.

1 Cor 13 :4-8 “Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal…”

So, as you figured, this is not just the love between a guy and a girl. This love is what we experience everyday of our lives. Be it from our parents, friends, siblings and even from strangers. Just think what the world would be like if everyone just loved one another.

As the Black Eyed Peas say : “Where is the love?”. That’s exactly the question that we should ask ourselves everyday. Sure we complain, sure we do nasty things, but we can still love in spite of all that.

But loving is not the easiest thing to do…its one of the hardest things to do I think. If someone, for example, shot you. How can you love that person? It’s inhuman but still possible, through God’s grace. God is, after all, love.

Challenge for the week: love.

Excellent movie…. Whatever you do, don’t let your life pass without watching this movie. Girls, you’ll cry your eyes out. Guys, you’ll try to hide crying your eyes out .

It’s a absolute faith builder. Jamie Sullivan has cancer. She is a Christian and has a whole list of things to do. I’m not going to go into full detail on this one. There just simply are no words to describe it. So you’ll have to watch it.

I’m going to quote Jamie in the hospital scene. She said that her own plan for her life and God’s plan differs. This really got me thinking… How many ideals we have for ourselves, what we want to become, what we want to own etc. But is that really what God wants for us?

How can we be so certian that we are busy doing what God has planned for us? How do we know when we differ from Him? What do we do when we know that we differ from Him?

How nice and fluffy…. Hugging a teddybear is the greatest medicine for a sad mood. Think about it…. It will never tell your secrets, it will never scold you or hurt you, it will always listen. And it’s the best shoulder to cry on…..

Makes you think about God, doesn’t it? OK fine, so maybe God does punish us for all the wrong that we do, but that’s necessary. How else can we learn from our mistakes? We don’t like to suffer so when we do, we do everything that we possibly can to avoid that suffering. Makes sence?

Revelation 21 : 4 “He will wipe away all the tears from their eyes…” The shoulder to cry on. So when you think about it, you can picture God as one huge, gigantic and loving teddybear. The only differnce is that this “Teddybear” has the ability to watch over you and to control your life, if you let Him.

Picture that you are sad. Alone in your room, crying. And out comes this cute and cuddly teddybear just wanting to take you into His arms and say that He will protect you, no matter what. That he will love you, unconditionally, and that He will always be there for you, be it in happy or sad times.

I kinda like the idea of a giant Teddybear in my life. Just think of the hugs…

For those of you who don’t know, the title of this post is a direct quote from one of my favourite cartoons, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.  And yes I am a cartoon junkie

My friends can’t believe that I waste my time watching this, but for me it’s much better than watching two guys beat each other up.  Even watching the news makes me depro so I haven’t watched it since last year.

All this violence is making me sick to my stomach.  This constant awareness isn’t suppose to be there.  Sometimes I feel so boxed in.  I can’t walk to town without one of my guy friends accompanying me, just because I’m a girl!!!  I hate it.  I know it’s for my own protection and stuff but it still gets me down.

There are so many things that God gave me, and I feel that I can’t use them.  But this lets me think about when the devil pursued Jesus.  Especially when Jesus said that we shouldn’t test God.  This goes along with responsibilities I think.  We have a responsibility to ourselves, to keep ourselves safe but we also have to trust in God to protect us.

I think that God also likes chocolate milk.  I think he walks to his favourite restaurant everyday and orders some chocolate milk (silly I know).  Then He sits there and watches over His creations.  Watching over us.  And when we need Him, He’s always there.  Instantly.  And when He knows that we’re safe, he returns to drink His chocolate milk.  Ever watchful.

Ever had a day that started out just awful?  Jip, today was one of those days.  You’re not yourself, you don’t know why, you just are.   So then you get to biology class the first period and the teacher decides he wants to dissect a heart!!!  Eeeeuw!!

After you’ve come over the excruciating nausea,  you got loads of homework already and it’s only third period.  And as the day goes on, your homework pile just gets bigger and bigger and bigger….  Eventually the school day is finished, and when you get home there isn’t even a decent meal (what most teenagers will see as junk-food, maybe).  Then it’s off to netball, rugby or hockey practise.  Where you use all the energy that is left.  Then starts the homework…..

OK, so this doesn’t sound so bad.  And you’re right, it isn’t.  The point that I wanted to make was that when things go wrong or are difficult, it’s so easy for us to moan about it.  We don’t stop to think what the blessings in our life are.

We read an interesting short story in English today.  It was called Civil Peace.  Anyway.  The story was about the Nigerian Civil War.  About a man with his family that were caught in the middle of the war.  The first blessing he recorded was that he still had his life.  The second was the fact that four of his five family members were still alive.  The third and fourth was his old bicycle that he still had and his old home that was still standing after the war.

As the story goes, he got some money from the government, 20 pounds to be precise.  He quickly hid the money in his pocket and went home.  That night he was robbed.  His whole family still alive, but the 20 pounds (the only money he had) was gone.  So the next morning when his neighbours came to sympathise he just told them that he got along fine without money the day before.

Now this guy, Jonathan, used his bicycle as a taxi to transport people four kilometers to the nearest fairy or something like that.  His wife cooked and sold akara balls (I have no idea what akara balls are).  His children picked and sold mangoes.  They all worked together to make a living and didn’t once complain.  Not once.

There’s a lesson in this.  I would like to quote Philippians 2 : 14 “Do everything without complaining or arguing…”.  Now this is easier said than done.  I know.  But one thing you can do is to count your blessings everyday.

Even the things that may seem like cruel and unusual punishment, like homework, is actually a blessing.  Think about it.

This is only a very short question.  Please share your thoughts on this one.  It’s kind of difficult, it’s as if there’s a very fine line.  But anyway check out what’s being asked and raise your opinion.

Can you be a Christian and a racist?

I won’t be here tomorrow so I thought that I would write the post now.  This is very personal, but I want to share it with you.

Tomorrow is the 14th of April.  The day that my grandfather died, 8 years ago.  He was a farmer, a hard worker, a real nice man.  He always called me his “maatjie” (friend).  I was the only girl among the other cousins, usually, and the guys never wanted me to do anything with them.  So good old grandad always took me with when they went fishing.  And when something bites his line he always let me bring it in.  It was my fish.  I was so proud.

Then one day he got sick, his condition only worsened when we saw him again.  It was sheer agony to see him slip away.  He was took up in hospital.  They nursed him well, but still he was deteriorating.  Getting ever more ill.  I will never forget that night.  My mom called me and my brother to the same room and announced that he drew his last breath…

Now this was my “maatjie” that my mom was talking about.  I remember going to my room, hugging my favourite teddy, crying and praying.  Asking God why he took my “maatjie” away.  Never got my answer, just know that He had a reason.

I took a trip down memory lane with a photo album tonight.  It was excruciating to see him on a photo and to know that I’m never going to get the chance again to get to hug him and tell him that I love him…