Thankful Thursday-more napptural sisters

But before we talk about that…The picture below is of Eliora’s locs. The ‘bump/knot’ there is a bud..I was soooo excited the day I discovered my braidlocks had these buds because now I knew the locing process had well and truly started. You can see the thinner plaited portion..and from the bud to the scalp is the more ‘loc’d’ portion. It’s not as springy and all over her head, there’s a revolution-the hairs are intertwining instead of growing outwards.

A friend of mine has been natural for a while now-well, after we met so I believe I had a part to play in the start of her weave-no-lution. She started her traditional locs at a salon but was NOT enjoying the many visits there nor the visible beeswax they were leaving in there. Plus they did it very tightly.

So I re-tightened her hair. Getting rid of the beeswax buildup was hard to do. Even now there are still white spots even after she herself also tried to get rid of it. And those guys were bad. I know my hair’s uneven, but that’s cos I could care less..and I wasn’t using a mirror when I started my locs. But her parts were all over the place and some you could tell were much bigger than what she wanted. For a salon, that was BAD! Now..the problem with South Africa is that the norm is the tightly plaited,tight on the scalp, cornrowed/basket woven look. So the baby stage in all its latched glory is a hard nut to swallow…Am I getting my metaphors mixed??? The fuzzies..she’s just not feeling them. I’m waiting to see if she’ll be able to withstand the pressure for the more ‘sophisticated’ look.

Then there’s another three ladies as well who’ve asked me to start their locs. We’re all so scattered that to save time, boy is my time precious, I told them to start with twists or whatever,then at re-tightening time, I’d teach them to latch/interlock.

So..what that means for me is that I have hair to do…Which means there are a few more ladies who have embraced the natural revolution. No chemicals, no fake hair.

I remember a reader telling me to charge for my ‘services.’ NO WAY.These are my dearest friends. I’m just thankful that more are willing to take care of their health. From tip to toe.

Take This Cup Away..nevertheless

Oh boy.It’s been bad. very bad.

And today was worse.

Been having bouts of IBS-induced insomnia but today was the worst. Have been up since 2am. At first it was just insomnia so I ended up getting up and studying.

Then at around 4ish,the pain came. Excruciating, make me gasp and cry pain. Then nausea followed. The type that also makes you cry.

So..

I’ve done a lot of crying today and it’s 10:51am.

I’m about to try ginger to see if that will help with the nausea. The pain has subsided, it’s a dull ache but I’m scared. I tried to eat a potato chip at about 8am and the pain was intense. I’m hungry but the fear of what could happen inside is not exactly making me eager.

There are times I feel guilty for asking God to take it away. I’ve been praying for over 11 years, I should be used to it by now.NOT. But then..Jesus never sinned yet He asked for the cup of suffering to be removed from Him. Ok,my agony (weakness, pain zinging through my body and limbs too) is not even half as bad as His was, but you get where I’m going.

His loving Father never faulted Him for shrinking from the torture. And more importantly, the Son didn’t complain when the clear answer was “No.” Instead He accepted His Father’s will.

I accept it. I accept that I cannot eat what I cook for my family.

I accept that I cannot eat a slice of bread.

I accept that pain will be with me till He comes.

And I accept that no matter what, He is still the same loving God.

I am grateful that He has given me a loving, caring husband who’s on leave at the moment. I’d big plans of cooking for them but only made the savoury rice before I died this broke loose.

I will be ok. Now, tomorrow, in two years’ time.

Until then

Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine. Amen.

Thankful Thursday-GOD

Without Him, and without faith IN Him, I would not be who I am. I owe my all to Him and how can I now praise Him for all He has done, and for all I know He will do?

(standing on ostrich eggs)

I thank Him for the temporal gifts he gives, I thank Him for feeding and clothing us. I thank Him for my family, I thank Him for my friends. I thank Him for my life, I thank Him even for my trials. I thank Him for sustaining strength that sees me through those trials.

(Play date-waiting for some Ostrich Ranch fun to begin)

Everything I am, everything I have I owe to Him. If I listed it all, if I listed all the blessings, from birth-when my mother was turned away from the hospital because they didn’t believe she was in labour – to today, I’d have too much to write.

And so I just say

THANK YOU, LORD. I AM NOT WORTHY

(Allegedly-according to the Guiness Book of World Records-the smallest ostrich in the world)

Pharisaism and Headcovering

Matt 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

And that, simply put, is one of the reasons I cover my head. I want to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Well, not only do I believe the Bible does want it of me. But even though others have come up with arguments (that I can counter argue) I’d rather err on the side of being ‘too’ right, than run the risk of God saying “But you knew the scripture, why did you ignore it?” What would I say?

On the other hand, God would never condemn me for doing it. He would not send me to eternal destruction because I took his scriptures literally and applied them in my own life.

Like attracts like, and I was really encouraged to see other covered sisters at a Bible Conference I attended from Thursday night till Sunday night. (No, I did come home every evening!)

The Bible is simple-except for the symbolic aspects which require some demystifying for some. And I am encouraged by those who’d rather choose to simply follow-even if there may be a small chance it’s unnecessary-than to ignore and run a terrible risk.

The pharisees were exacting in what they felt people needed to ‘do’ in order to be saved. They were particular to the minutest detail. God is exact, why else would the Bible be filled with do’s and don’ts? He wants us to know exactly how to meet Him and spend eternity with Him. Now, our righteousness needs to EXCEED that of the pharisees? Why? Because they were not led by correct motives. They were (generally) selfish. They wanted to show off their deeds. They performed their deeds to win their way to heaven.

On the other hand, we perform our deeds because of the love of the One IN heaven. We are grateful for all He has done and automatically, we obey because of it. We study His word and want to carry out every minute command. It’s no burden to us, unlike the burdens the pharisees placed upon the people. We will never tell anyone else to cover. We will not teach that salvation lies in covering. But we will cover, because we believe it is what God requires of us. It’s a small gift to give the One who gave HIMSELF.

We may be in the minority, but let’s encourage each other. Press together and keep on growing together in grace.

Thank you,my fellow covered sisters.

Learning from Isaac:Arranged Marriages

Arranged marriages. Such a supposedly old-fashioned concept. But for Christians, old-fashioned doesn’t necessarily mean ‘not to be done,’ does it?

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I’ve seen a terrible example of an arranged marriage that has completely fallen apart. But I can honestly say that’s because one VITAL ingredient was missing. You know Who I’m talking about.

Fathers and mothers should feel that a duty devolves upon them to guide the affections of the youth, that they may be placed upon those who will be suitable companions. They should feel it a duty, by their own teaching and example, with the assisting grace of God, to so mold the character of the children from their earliest years that they will be pure and noble and will be attracted to the good and true. Like attracts like; like appreciates like. Let the love for truth and purity and goodness be early implanted in the soul, and the youth will seek the society of those who possess these characteristics.  {AH 74.1}

When both parties are completely yielded to Christ. When both enter the marriage willingly, it has worked. When the husband is willing to be the head of the home in a Christlike manner-being humble, being godly, when the wife has entered it willing to respect him and to defer to his judgment when compromising of principle is not required, it yields a wonderful union.

Of course, I’m not going to arrange my children’s marriage unless they ask me to.  (I’m seriously hoping that by that time we’ll be in heaven…) But like the quote above states, when we teach our children from their EARLIEST years to be pure and noble, they will (by His grace) only seek those values in their intended spouse. My example should lead them to seek only those who love Christ with the whole heart.

I pray that as I lead my children, I will guide them to love and be attracted to the good.

Random Photos

Me,dear friend, sister-in-Christ, Mother-in-law,sister-in-Christ

Daughter,maternal granny,paternal granny,son

The World Will Never be United

fully.

I’m studying the book Revelation again, so every now and again I may share some snippets of things I’m reminded of. I don’t know what took me to this thought, but maybe it was the news (The whole Eorozone thing etc) and the book of Daniel and Revelation are linked so I’ll write about it anyway.

I look at the British PM’s vote, I look at how different countries are trying to assert their economic strength and see the fulfillment of Dan 2:33. The iron and the clay just cannot become one and soon the end will come. They will try as hard as they can, they will make similar laws but ultimately, the only kingdom that will rule over anything will never be Rome, nor Greece..but the heavenly one.

And I cannot wait.

Glutton for Punishment

SOURCE

SDA’s will recognise the phrase ‘entering wedge.’ I am starting on a course to becoming a nutritional therapist. I believe this will help me become a more effective urban missionary. People are into wellness big time.

I’m also supplementing this Honours degree ( I PASSED ALL MY MODULES for this year!YIPPEEE!)by doing a short Cognitive Behavioural Therapy course. My Psychology course is more general than I’d have liked. (Putting family first and letting go of the traditional Counsellor route) so at least studying this will improve my therapy skills. I’ve been working on assignments for both these courses while waiting for my results to come in and my final year of University of South Africa torture to begin.

It was already heavy going last year, but I know that in our cosmopolitan society,paper means everything. So I want to add a ‘qualification’ to make the message more credible and also for my family’s sake. I’d like to know more about healing using herbs, healing using nutrition, controlling fatigue etc. I like my Natural Remedy Encyclopedia, but learning to prepare and store my own herbs would be a huge benefit. Which is where the nutritional therapist qualification comes in. As well as a HUGE dose of faith. At least these non-UNISA courses aren’t time-constrained. I can hand in assignments whenever I want,exams are whenever I’m done, so I can focus on other things when necessary.

If I can juggle all of this,then I’ll be happy. Health and counselling have been my desire for more than a decade. I may not be doing it the way I thought I would. But at least I’m getting there. Thanks to a very supportive husband.m

Stop with the emails!

There’s a huge push to put Christ back into December 25 aka christmas.

Was He ever truly in it to begin with?

‘nuff said.

Day 1:Elimination Diet (kinda boring)

Ever since I became vegan, I’ve been taking a vitamin supplement…Just in case. I wasn’t very regular with them until I was diagnosed with IBS and had to get rid of various fruits and veggies from my diet.

Now…

The gastroenterologist gave me a list of foods to avoid without ever testing to see if I’m intolerant to them-IBS is not the same for everyone.

So…

Enter my elimination diet.

I’d go to a Dr and get tested but the tests are expensive, and honestly, if I had the cash in my hand, I’d rather take myself away for a break  

So my next best option is the more arduous elimination diet. Plus anyway, sometimes because the body reacts slowly to what it’s intolerant of, these tests sometimes give false negatives.

The guide I found says to stay on it for 3 weeks before adding in one food, then waiting 2 days to see if the body reacts-I’m aware that there are many ways of doing it. Now I researched the most nutritious veggies to see which ones I should stick to but the ones on the top of the list-green leafy veggies are the most likely to trigger IBS symptoms so I’ll leave those for last.

What will I be surviving on at first?

Sweet potato and pumpkin. And rice milk. I’m stating with those because I’m desperate. Even when I eat ‘safe’ foods and only 3 or so different veggies, I get sick. I’m tired of it. So I’m starting with what I’m pretty sure is benign and taking it from there.

Wish me well. I know it’s not as arduous as fasting for 40days, but it’s still not exactly easy. I guess it’s time to get a hold of my appetite. GULP

PS I’m thinking that as soon as I’ve been symptom-free for a while,I’ll add something, instead of waiting a whole three weeks…

When I Laugh

Just two short anecdotes that highlight my love for homeschooling my children. I found it particularly poignant because I’ve had people from abroad –one last week, one this morning-tell me that they wish they could homeschool their children but it’s not legal where they are. One mother did spend time at home with her children until they reached school-going age.

Yesterday I drank a glass of cold water and because it was so hot, I decided to drop some water on the children’s head. They both laughed and my daughter said “It’s like you’re making us king and queen.” So I said “Oh,like I’m anointing you?” and she said “thou anointest our heads.” After I laughed she said “But at least your cup didn’t run over.” (In case you missed it, that was from Ps 23)

Later on,during family worship, hubby asked them why they love God. My son said “Because He hath heard my voice and my supplication.” (Ref from Ps 116:1) and his sister’s reply was “Because He first loved me.” (Ref-1 John4:19) We all knew they were being ‘sneaky’ because they had these huge smirks grins on their faces. They beat us at our own game.

Why I was baptised, not sprinkled

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Acts 8:36-38 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

Matt 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Thankful Thursday-one result out so far

and I made it.

You have no idea how relieved I am. It’s one of those subjects (Research Methodology) they told us to start with because it’s difficult to pass so at least we’d have more time to repeat it. And boy was it! 20% for my first assignment, 36% for my second, 50% for my third and 51% for my mock exam. Was thinking “Wow, if I even make 50% I’ll still flunk because my year mark will bring me down.” And worse yet was that it was so subjective that we had no idea HOW to improve it. The fear wasn’t repeating it next year (There are no supplementary exams for Honours) but that I’d repeat the same errors because I had no clue what they wanted us to say!

My only solace was that most of us were in the same boat.

SO my relief isn’t that I passed, but that I won’t need to do it again. Whew!

At least I can improve on the others-IF I fail them!