On This First Wedding Anniversary

Going to the chapel and we're gonna get maa-rried, going to the chapel and we're gonna get maa-rried.....

That was my song exactly a year ago. It was an exciting time, though my mind was too much in the moment to actually feel the busyness. This time last year I was getting my makeup done and having a nervous chat with my friends and sisters in my room. What beautiful memories these are, and many thanks to God that on that day, I also looked forward to making love to my husband for the first time. I say thanks to God because hubby and I are both normal young adults with raging hormones so for us to wait for our wedding night was purely by grace. Was it worth it? 100%. Our wedding day didn't just mean "making things official", it meant sealing a covenant before God, spending the night together for the first time, and getting down for the first time! There were so many firsts that came with our marriage that the memory just brings tears to my eyes.

I got to experience marriage the way God intended. I do not take it lightly and every now and then my husband and I just recollect and talk about how blessed we both are. We enjoy each other wholly, with great appreciation for one another and gratefulness to God for our unity. And for me, my marriage is real proof that everything written in God's word is true. I speak particularly about God's salvation and his grace and mercy. If the world were to judge me based on my (not so holy) past, I would by no standards qualify to get married, let alone to have a beautiful wedding day. All I did was dare to believe God and everything else I cannot explain except to say that God is real and He is with me. It takes a personal experience to understand this truth, but thankfully God is available to all who are willing to receive him as their Lord and Saviour.

I am in awe of God's love and mercy. It has got no limits I promise you. Everything that God has done to me and for me, He can do for you, for anyone in this earth. And if you ever let him in, you will never want to go back. He fills the gap deep inside that no amount of attention, wealth or health can fill.

Praise God!

T.

The Handshake

The bible teaches us not to look down on the poor but to treat them like we would treat a rich man because the same God who created the rich man is the same one who created tho poor man.

Lately I have determined to not be one of them that read the bible and then walk away and forget what it says concerning me. That is like looking in the mirror and the moment you walk away from it you forget what you look like, and if there's any stray hair you need to put in place. So Holy Spirit has been taking me to the really hard parts of the bible; the parts that give instruction, rather than the favourite scriptures that tell me I am the head and not the tail! The scripture that says that if a man wearing a gold ring and all sorts of bling comes in, and another tattered one comes in, I should not make the tattered one sit on the floor and make the blinging one take the chair, because if I do that I am being partial, yet my God is not a partial God. Imagine if God did that, most of us would be unfavoured, because if not for God I wouldn't be royalty.

Knowing that it is through God's grace and mercy that I have a high place in His Kingdom, I thank God that he brought me to James 2:1-13 because I must confess that although I am not one of those that are 'class' conscious, when I see a beggar I tend to wish they were just not there. I now have about 15 (numbers change a lot) homeless men camping in front of my workplace and they make the whole place smell so bad. I have to hold my breath as I take the stairs up into the hall. Already I wash my hands everytime I touch surfaces in general, so you can imagine how disturbing these guys are to me. It is not even about my safety because these guys see me everyday and greet me, and call me 'sistaz' and I just don't believe that most evil comes from people like them. I have personal experiences that have made me to know that harm comes from the inside more than it does from outside. And besides, being a child of God, I am very confident about my protection and that if danger was meant to happen to me, Holy Spirit would warn me and instruct me to be elswhere or do things differently.

Today, one of the men that camp by my door offered his dry cigarette smelling hand for a handshake...and I took it and shook his hand. It's not only because I happen to work in a church, but I just became conscious of the fact that I am not here on my own, but I am representing Jesus in all I do. Jesus would never ever make anyone feel unworthy, and thats the only reason why I am alive today. If Jesus can associate himself with me as I was before He saved me, then who am I to look down on a homeless man who has this smile on his face? I shook his hand and knew deep down that I did the right thing.

Many people who care about me would never have allowed me to do that, I know. And I might have never had the guts to do that in front of them because they would ask me if I'm crazy or if I think I'm superwoman. But I lost nothing, I am safe because of God not my own smartness.

So I thought I should share this experience with you so that when you get faced with situations like these, you remember not to favour the one from high society over 'Plain Jane'. It doesn't make you a better person.

Lots of love,

T

Show Respect to ALL

Never take the importance of communication lightly, even if what someone is trying to communicate may seem trivial to you. Remember that what you feel is important might likewise seem petty to your friend/lover/parent/daughter/colleague but you would still like them to hear you out and think about what you are saying and respond. Listening is not only about doing it so that when your turn comes you will also be listened to, there is much more to it. When someone talks to you, they are expressing themselves and many times they are taking a risk because no one wants to be rejected. This means that your sensible (caring) response is very important because if you continually reject someone they will refrain from communicating in the future and will carry resentment towards you. It may not affect you but if you care about a loved one you would not want them to carry such hurt because of you.

Let us then love in deeds and not in words. Think through and realise how much influence you have on your family and friends. For the fact that they are around you, it means that your reaction to them affects them either for good or bad. We all have a responsibility to one another; to bring out the best in one another and make this world a friendly environment to all. And please don't end it with your loved ones, be good to all people and treat everyone as important. When you don't do that you might not realise it but you are basically communicating that you are better than those you look down on. And let me tell you friend, you are not better than anyone; thank God for the grace to do good to others where some fail, but see that all the credit goes to God and not yourself. Humble yourself and you will be lifted up, but dare to lift yourself up and you surely will be humbled.

This is a simple life lesson but many times 'good' people fall into the trap of thinking they are better than others and can get away with ill treating others, but it is not right. Let us all work on our human relationships with the consciousness that we are not just dealing with mere people but God's most loved beings.

Tumi Going Funny

My next short story will be on 'The Prophet'. I am very excited about this one! Experimenting with new writing styles and growing as a writer, I have the story already in my mind, I just look forward to watching it develop and unfold and mature right before my eyes. This one is a comedy mixed with some food for thought. Hope I get it right because I'm not a funny person, not into jokes at all, but I sure know how to enjoy some good quality humor Shakespeare style!

Nameless Woman... Again

Remember I wrote about some lady who was asking me for R100 at FNB (bank), well it turns out she lied. I saw her again at the bank, this time sitting outside with her two children. I think she is sincerely stranded but what she said about her car needing petrol... well that must have been a lie because here in Johannesburg, beggars don't drive cars. The broke people with cars have a back up plan of some sort.

I felt sad for her because I can see that she has some dignity, she does not beg in the most obvious way, and her head is turned downs when she asks, like she is embarassed. Her children are so adorable (Coloured, as in a race in South Africa) and the whole scene is just heartbreaking. I wonder if she would have bought food for her children if I had given her the R100 rands, or if she would have bought alcohol to drown her many sorrows.

Well I didn't help her in anyway so I should not torment myself with thoughts of her and how I think she lives. I must get her out of my mind because I will just end up condemning myself for seeing a woman in need and not helping her. What can be done with the situation of ... I don't want to say beggras, too demeaning ... of desperate, homeless people? My concern is that giving them money is not sustainable, a woman like that with clean clothes on herself and her children, no perfume but smelling clean, a woman like that has some hope in her. She probably does have a place where she lives, because I know the smell of living in the streets, I have some people sleeping by the doorstep of my workplace. She has not that pungent smell.

I think that she needs her hope to be reignited by God. And after that, when she decides that only God can help her and she does have a future and a responsibility to her children, after she recognises that then she needs support with food and clothing for herself and her children. And she will also need counseling and to be reminded that though her children are not in school, she must teach them herself, counting, colours, all the things she is able to teach them and she must believe God for a turnaround. After that she will be in a better position to restructure her life and look for a job or start a business.

There is a way out, because as long as you are living, there is hope for you. Unfortunately with the resources i have, the time and funds as well as the know-how, I am not at this phase able to implement this idea to help my nameless woman. See how I now attach her to myself. She refuses to leave my mind.