Posts Tagged ‘friends’
Cheers to the freakin’ year!
Posted on: December 16, 2011
Today will be my last post for 2011. The siblings are in town, and therefore I’m spending more time laughing my head off and less time reading and writing. Ok, that’s not the real reason, I’m just already in holiday mode…the brain is slowly shutting down…
2011 has been amazing in so many ways. Can’t say it’s been the best year yet, but it’s been great. I am thankful for all the awesome opportunities I’ve been given this year.
Highlights:
1. Bound – what an experience. That might be the only best acress award I ever get so gotta savour it.
2. Bravery…don’t think I wanna elaborate on there, but yes, worth it.
3. Musicality – including taking a pic with Deon Meiring and Bouwer Bosch. And rocking the daisies. Live Music FTW!
4. Moving back to Cape Town…although I miss Stellenbosch, I felt it was time for a change.
5. Writing – couple of short stories (which might never see the light of day), entering a music writing comp (didn’t win, but i entered…), and the new…uhm…writing exercise I mentioned last week
6. Friends – old, new, and langebaan adventures.
7. God; Love. Truth. Faithfulness.
So cheers to 2011. And here’s to 2012, and hoping the world doesn’t end, cos man, life is good! And the living is easy… 
See you next year.
Langebaan memories
Posted on: November 2, 2011
“Langebaan. Memories being made. I won’t remember any of them…but they’re being made nonetheless.” I tweeted that sometime on Friday October 28th, 2011.
Firstly, don’t ask me what I meant by “I won’t remember any of them”…what happens in Langebaan, stays in Langebaan…lol.
Anyway, me and 11 other people rented a 6 bedroom/12 person sleeper beach house in Langebaan for the weekend. It was ridiculously fun. Spa treatments, boat cruises, quad biking, paintballing, golf, swimming – pool & ocean, and soooo much food. Most of the pictures I can’t put out for fear of breaking the “what happens in Langebaan…” rule. But here’s a few, in no particular order…
We came back from L on a Sunday and headed to Primi Piatti were we had a 3 1/2 hour dinner. It’s like none of us actually wanted to admit that the weekend was over.
When I got home that evening I tweeted this: “Too blessed! If I ever complain about my life, please remind me of this weekend. I really have been blessed with some awesome friends!” and I meant every word.
Thank you Lord for good friends, good weekends, and for my life.
Real life conversations
Posted on: August 2, 2011
- In: my life | thoughts
- 4 Comments
I didn’t have anything to write about today, then these two conversations popped into my head…this was between me and my housemate last night. Must say, they left me feeling a like a total loner! (N is the housemate, T is me)
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N: “where’s your boyfriend?”
T: “i don’t have one”
N: ”why not?”
T: ”uhm…”
N: ”are you gay? [lol lol lol]“
T: ”uhm…”
N: ”oh wait, are you? i’m sorry i laughed if you are…i mean it’s ok if you are”
T: “no i’m not”
N: ”oh ok then why don’t you have a boyfriend”
T: ”i just don’t”
N: ”what happened to the other one?”
T: ”what other one?”
N: ”the last one…i mean there must have been one at some point”
T: ”uhm…”
N: ”oh. sorry”
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N: ”don’t you have friends”
T: ”i do”
N: ”how come they never visit you”
T: ”uhm…i don’t know”
N: ”ok, maybe it’s a personality thing…what kind of person are you…don’t hold back, just tell cos i really want to understand this thing”
T: ”uhm…”
N: ”i mean, i always have friends around and then i feel bad cos no one ever comes to visit you”
T: ”well, i…”
N: ”seriously though…do you have friends?”
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ok, now i feel like a total loser, but just so you know, dear internet, i do have friends…like real friends, not facebook friends. some of my friends live too far away for a casual pop-in and visit, and those that don’t we usual go out like to coffee or dinner or whatever instead of the visiting thing, or i visit them cos i suck at inviting people over so when there’s a get-together vibe it’s usually at one of their places…
so all that to say, i do have friends…at the same time, i’m a total loner!
haters gon hate!
Posted on: March 29, 2011
- In: thoughts
- 2 Comments
uhm…i don’t have haters. i must not be doing anything right. i keep reading on the interwebs that if you’re doing something right, if you’re doing something worthwhile, if you’re doing something worth doing, you are sure to have someone hating on you.
i did something life changing the other day: i bought a homeless person a meal. his life changed. his day brightened. he was beaming after that. i’d like to think that in that moment i did something right…and yet still no haters.
everyday, whether it be on facebook or twitter, someone posts something either thanking their haters or calling them out for being their motivation..and i always think, why do people hate you so much, love? and if you’re calling them out on facebook, does that mean they are your friends? your own friends hate you? maybe you should take a look at who you call friends…
i’m glad i don’t have haters. i’m glad i don’t have anyone telling me i suck and pulling me down. i’m glad i surround myself with people that motivate me, correct me, call me out on my crap, and do it all in love. when they see me doing something good or doing good at something, they cheer me on and make me feel good about myself.
lovers gon love…and i love my lovers…wait no, not lovers as in…i just meant i love the people in my life.
but then again they say God wouldn’t give you what you can’t handle, so maybe you’re just stronger than i am…
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This is just the order I thought of them in, not order of importance…
1. See more live music – u live in a town where there’s bands playing every night of the week for goodness sake…and u have a review blog that is in need of content
2. Try new things – u tried sushi in 2010 and u loved it. Try new things, u’ll be surprised at how much u learn about urself
3. Don’t take ur friends for granted – don’t always wait for them to make plans, initiate them sometimes, call/send an sms just to say hi, visit cape town more often – they are way too close to lose contact with them
4. Stop being judgemental – u hate what Christmas has become, ok; u hate how church sometimes creates hypocrites out off honest people, ok; that’s ur opinion, and it’s ur prerogative to hold that opinion, but stop preaching it to others and stop looking down on those who don’t agree with you
5. Sort out ur finances – that is gonna need a Chrismakkuh miracle! Retail therapy is NOT helping u, it’s actually hurting u!
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2010 in review
Posted on: December 15, 2010
- In: my life | thoughts
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ok, end of 2010 just totally snuck up on me. and while this time of year is supposed to be all restful and merryful and great, it just feels too busy and hectic and stressful to me.
so in order to remedy that, i have decided to look back on 2010 and count my blessing.
1. friends – thanks for putting up with me. divas – thanks for not giving up on me…y’all have helped shape who i am today, and i am grateful.
2. my job/colleagues – with the recession and people losing jobs left and right and people coming and going, i must say it was a bit of a scary year. i wasn’t really sure where i would be at the end of this year, but God proved faithful and i’m still here. and my amazing colleagues have been…well, amazing, this year. having seen them walk through health problems and come out stronger on the other side, it’s been inspirational and a reminder of what a beautiful thing family is. so grateful to be working where i work, with the people i get to work with.
3. vision k – i have so much enjoyed another year of meeting with another group of amazing grade 10′s. this year’s group was so different from last years, which made things a bit weird at first, but once i got to know them i really fell in love with this group. while last years group was super outgoing with each one of them rearing to be the leader of the group, this year was full of people who were too shy to take the lead and too insecure to burst out in a broken-english-rant, but they were so cool on a one to one basis. and awesomely, i get to work with the same group next year (happiness). yep, i’m moving to the grade 11 group next year. should be amazing – building on already established relationships.
4. enGAGE – love you guys…so thankful for each and everyone of you who have been a part of my life this year. thank you for the coffees and the hang outs and the chats and the love and acceptance and so much more. thank you to every single one for being part of this community and just being there. wouldn’t have made it through this year without y’all.
5. worship team peeps – technically you fall under enGAGE, but kinda had a special thought to share for y’all. thank you for pushing me. thank you for making me sing louder even when i don’t want to. thank you for all the encouragement. thank you for helping me battle my insecurities and helping me use my passions for Christ. thank you for all the laughs. thank you for just being an awesome group of people.
6. live music – ok so Versus The Wolf…so much love for this band, check them out. And Irvine – stealing more of my heart with every show. And Gravity Wins Again – who went into hiding for most of this year but are back again. And John Ellis – LE-GEN-DA-RY! And my new-found love for afrikaans bands. and so many other cool bands/gigs i went to this year. I don’t think I went to see any international bands this year, just local ones (oh wait, there was feeder, but i didn’t go to see them. i went to a music festival they just happened to be playing at). so it has been yet another very fulfilling musical year. i love watching live music, it makes my heart happy. and i hope there will be more show watching next year.
7. blogging – i enjoy blogging. i enjoy putting my thoughts out there for random strangers to critique. i especially love when random strangers become a community and help me in discovering who i am and helping me in this life-journey. thank you readers. thanks to the commentors – for the words of encouragement and the challenging ones too. and the lurkers. oh, and lurkers, please comment in 2011. thanks you also to anyone who has ever appeared on my reads of the week list…and to those who haven’t. the blogs i read play a major role in the thoughts in my head, so thank you for helping me think through things and learn more about myself and life.
8. God – it has been a rough ride this year. lots of bumps in our relationship…seriously. but through it all you carried me. i am thankful beyond what words can explain.
wishes for 2011
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1. more growth with God – let him use me more.
2. this has probably been the worst year for me healthwise. my body really took a beating. not sure why, but i hope 2011 will be different. i hope i will enjoy health more.
2009 in review
Posted on: December 22, 2009
- In: my life | thoughts
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So I was trying to remember 2009 so that my last post of the year chould be a review of sorts…but I really couldn’t remember anything.
So then I went through my facebook photo albums and the ones that stand out the most are (in no particular order):
1. day in the park/beach – in Jan, Brett decided that for his birthday celebrations he was going to help out with a take-the-kids-from-an-orphanage-out-for-the-day-to-the-beach-and-love-them-day thing…and he invited people to go and help out, and i went, and it was awesomtastic. then in april and again in november some people from our church organised a take-the-kids-from-an-orphanage-out-for-the-day-to-the-park-and-love-them-day thing and once again i decided to join in. and again it was awesomtastic. i’m not the most kid-friendly person in the world…like, i would suck at being a kindergarten teacher, but i really do enjoy spending time with kids and just loving on them and making them feel wanted and loved and adored and listened to and whatever, even if it was for one day atleast they got to feel special.
2. vision k/youth/scripture union camp – as i said, i would suck at being a kindergarten teacher. and i would probably suck at being a middle/high school teacher as well, but if i had to choose, i would go for the middle/high school age group. so i’ve talked a bit about my exploits with vision k this year, and i may have mentioned the scripture union leadership camp as well – can’t remember, but yea, both of those and the youth group at my church have been highlights in my life this year. i truly do enjoy hanging out with youth and finding out where they are and if possible helping in their journey towards adulthood. i’ve been through the teenage years myself, and sometimes i still act like i’m going through them, and i remember how hard it was for me, so any help i can give someone else…
3. turning 25 – i liked turning 25. scary, yet…super cool. like i felt like i was finally an adult in a lot of ways. turning 26 is not scary, but it feels kinda sucky, don’t know if i’m going to enjoy it much.
4. namrock/baptism – so wrote a lot on namrock, and wrote about getting baptised. and definite highlights they were.
5. worship team – lots of memories. lots of laughs. lots of growing. thankfulness.
6. http://tsholo.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/worship-setlist-september-27-2009/ – i’ve been to PE quite a few times, and i always…well, i guess hate is a strong word but…well, it’s the right word. i always hated it. i was ok with like 2 days, but after that i was ready to leave. this year my dad moved to PE, then my sister also moved there. at the end of the year my lil bro is also moving there. so it will just be me and my mom in the western cape (sadness). but yea, the visit in september was so awesomtastic, i didn’t want to leave. and i’m looking forward to visiting again first week of next year…and throughout 2010. PE Love!
7. flatmating – had a super awesomtastic flatmate this year. i learned a lot from her and i totally appretiate the flatmate she was and all the talks and all the laughs and discovering “The OC” together and our late night dvd’ing and sms’ing each other from the other side of the wall and the sharing and all of it, it’s been great Lindz, will miss sharing a flat with you.
8. music and friends – the south african music scene is wow! and it’s even better when it’s live, and it’s shared with friends. new altum, flat stanley, just jinjer, aking, gravity wins again, straatligkinders, irvine, lua union, the lottery tickets, heldervue, black markets riots, 3rd world spectator, saint fearless, the rescue, tree63, the arrows, bed on bricks – just off the top of my head. memorable moments also include: being kidnapped and forced to go to the beach at 2 am when i was working the next morning, sneaking into the botanical gardens after it was closed and having a photo shoot after making a 20 minute video of us talking nonsense, TEAM AWESOMTASTIC, awesomtastic enGAGE dinners at Ginos and awesomtastic cricket watching at Ginos, SUPER inappropriate conversations and the birth of SOKs…and so much more…I really thank God for friends!
and then two more not in the photo albums, just to round it off
9. blogging – nablopomo(?) was really good for my blogging…blogging everyday for a month is not easy, totally respect those who do it year round. good and challenging. blogging has been so good for me though. it’s been a place for me to just spill what’s in my head onto something else and just get it out of my system so that it doesn’t take over. so thank you for reading.
10. God – lots of up and downs, lots of screaming and shouting, lots of late night pop-corn and cookies and ice-cream (He loves those), lots of laughing, lots of reminders, lots of fulfilled promises, lots of pouring on of LOVE, lots of us time, too much ingnoring from my side, lots of forgiveness, lots of convictions, lots of happiness and joy, more love and more reminders, lots of blessings, lots of breathe, lots of guidance, lots of mercy and grace, more love, lots of comforting, lots of more reminders for/to hope, lots of everything. Everything and LOVE!
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and one more that had nothing to do with me but stands out this year was the wedding of the fish and TBV…read about it here.
70 times 7 plus 1
Posted on: September 25, 2009
I receive a weekly email called thortfortheweek from my pastor Brett Fish Anderson and I’ve decided to use this week’s thort as today’s post…if you want to subscribe to the thorts, send him an email: brettfish@hotmail.com
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Dear Friends
Greetings in the name of Jesus who I strive to follow.
“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
[Matthew 18.21-22]
`Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” He denied it again with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”
After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.” Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.’
[Matthew 26.69-75]
Then in John 21 there is the story of Jesus and Peter on the beach and Jesus lovingly reinstating Peter.
Now if we recall the stories of the gospel we can probably remember quite a few occasions when Peter gets it completely wrong – rebuking Jesus, cutting off the guard’s ear, clamouring for position among the disciples, falling asleep when he was meant to be praying for Jesus – and i’m sure there are a bunch of times that were not recorded as well.
I would imagine when Jesus comes to chat with Peter on the beach after His resurrection from the grave, that Peter was quite happy the answer to his original question here was not “seven times.”
Nice story hey? We all love it when Peter is reinstated because we all identify with messing it up horribly with God (and probably with people) and we all want to be reinstated with the least amount of fuss and guilt.
How eager are you to reinstate though?
Cos that’s when it becomes tricky hey? What if you are the person who has been sinned against seven times – how easy is that eighth time to forgive?
YES, BUT ARE YOU A GODLY FRIEND…?
On Sunday i was preaching on the difference between David and Samson in the Bible. Both lived within a generation of each other. Both were called early on in their lives. Both were leaders. And both sinned sexually. And yet for Samson that leads to his death but for David he lives. What is the reason for the difference there?
David had Godly friends. When you read the story of Samson it’s always `Samson went here’ and `Samson did this’ and he is always getting himself into trouble and sometimes getting himself out of it.
Whereas David had Jonathan (to stand alongside him with incredible loyalty that even went above that to his father) and Nathan the prophet (took a huge risk at speaking truth to David after the Bathsheba incident) and the Mighty men (a bunch of thirty-seven or more warrior fighters around him who had his back and did special missions for him) and Samuel (older mentor, advisor, father figure) and many more. David had people around him who encouraged and cheered and protected and rebuked and challenged and so when he sinned he was able to learn from it and repent of it and recover from it and move forwards…
Are you Samson or David?
During my preach on Sunday i spoke a bit about one of my best friends who taught me how not to give up on people. My buddy had two good friends I can think of who treated him pretty badly and it was often much a one-sided friendship and if i gave any counsel at all it would have been to protect yourself dude and run away from these people. He didn’t. They let him down and sometimes directly hurt him again and again and again and yet he continued to show faithfulness and loyalty to them way above and beyond the `call of duty’ so to speak.
When we look at divorce rates in the church and in the area of friendships and even perhaps why people leave churches sometimes we can see a clear pattern of people walking away when it gets tough (that is a generalisation on all three of those mentioned above but a lot of the time it is true) – this isn’t working for me, it’s hard, you hurt me, you got it wrong so i am outta here…
Then in John 21 there is the story of Jesus and Peter on the beach and Jesus lovingly reinstating Peter.
The rest of that Matthew 18 passage is the story of the unmerciful servant and Jesus concluding with the message that if we cannot forgive other people then God cannot and will not forgive us. Strong and hectic words.
The point of this week’s thort is the question, `How quickly do you give up on your friendships?’ and i am asking the Holy Spirit as i send this out to add conviction where conviction is necessary (conviction has a similar feeling to guilt sometimes but it is proactive in directing us to action – what can i do to put this right?) because i believe a number of you need to get hold of people and apologise and put things right. You will know who you are. And it may have been something from twenty-three years ago, or maybe this last week.
Forget the mindset of the world. I’ve been wronged, I must revenge. I’ve been wronged – you are no longer good enough to be my friend. Seek the mindset of God. And take some moments putting yourself in the other person’s person. If i was [insert name here] how would i be feeling? What would help me the most? What would teach me a strong love that always protects, always hopes, always trusts, always perseveres (1 Cor 13)
Read those four again: ALWAYS protects. ALWAYS hopes. ALWAYS trusts. ALWAYS perseveres… and goes on to say Love never fails. Love makes mistakes oh yes, by the thousands… but love doesn’t leave it there. Love NEVER fails. Love never gives up on a person no matter how bad they have gone.
What is Jesus calling me to do in the area of past friendships and maybe even some current ones when the mindset is to flee, to protect myself, to look after my reputation.
And what might it look like two weeks later… let’s take a quick look at the possibility of a life transformed by undeserved and revolutionary forgiveness:
`Peter replied, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptised and THREE THOUSAND WERE ADDED TO THEIR NUMBER THAT DAY.”
If Jesus had given up on Peter that day two weeks ago?
And to you i say – “Go and sin no more!”
God bless you
Brett FISH Anderson and No_bob (he’s back, oh yes!)
2008 in Review
Posted on: December 1, 2008
Year in review – 2008
This will be my last post for the year. It’s a super long one, but you have a few weeks to get through it…so here goes!
New year’s resolutions for 2008
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1. laugh more –> check
2. learn a new language –> half check (2 languages actually, still don’t speak them, but understand them a lot better)
3. make friends in bosch –> check
4. love God, love people –> ongoing
5. strive for perfection –> ongoing
God
One of my goals this year, was to love God more…and through that to love people more. Obviously this is a continuous goal…I don’t think I could ever say I have truly reached it, but I can definitely say I did make an effort to do so this year. And I can say that I saw very real fruits out of it – growing closer to God and building relationships with others and him just super challenging me (sometimes through those new relationships) and showing me areas of growth and just cleansing my heart and just de-cluttering the junk in there and leading and providing and being a Father and showing just how real and caring and compassionate and loving and forgiving and awesome he is.
Above all he really reminded me that He is real and He is in control and I just need to let Him take the lead.
Whewww…load off my shoulders!
Family
Still don’t have or think I will ever have the relationship I wish I had with my dad – too many unresolved issues. Don’t have the relationship I used to have with my mom – maybe it’s all part of growing up. My relationship with my sister continues to be super stable – so thankful for her. My relationship with my brother – since I moved out – has gone from him being a complete pain in the butt to him being a friend – and a partial pain in the butt, and so very thankful for him.
Friends
The crew remains to stay strong. We’ve had our fights, misunderstandings, share of back-stabbings, and (as Miss T says) more drama than a soapie…but we managed to work through them. Because as I’ve often pointed out, besides God and the YMCA, we have very very little in common, but there’s a whole lot of love. And they have gotten me through some tough times…and gotten me into a whole lot of trouble…but through it all we made it out together. And I hope that is a friendship that remains for a lifetime cos I really don’t want to ever lose any of them.
I have met some really really awesome people in Stell this year that I can now count among my list of friends (and I’m not talking about myspace/facebook friends, but real friends) and I am so very grateful for them. They have really been there for me through the painful growth that I underwent this year…and sometimes just having someone there to throw you a lifeline or a word of encouragement or just to say “I’m here” or just to listen as you try to figure stuff out is enough to get you through. So thank you so very much!
Work
Work is a whole lot of ups and downs. I love the company I work for. I love the people I work with. I don’t always like, nevermind love, the work I do. I love programming for fun…not so much as an 8 – 5 thing. I get so depressed at the thought of doing this for the next 40 or so years. I really really don’t see it happening. So I’ve decided to give it one more year of my life as I get everything in order and make sure that the next few steps are really from God and I’m not just going my own way. I have no doubt that God wanted me here at Indutech, or here in Stellenbosch for this period of my life. And I know that he will make a way when that period is over.
Play
I really had fun this year.
I guess not being around the crew all the time made our reunions that much more special. And because they had to be planned well in advance sometimes there were less of them, and therefore they became that more necessary. I really do miss those chicks sometimes.
And in Stell, living by myself has made it clear to me just how important it is to make time for people therefore I have had to make myself available for coffees and dinners and braais and movies…etc. And it has been a wonderful time of fellowshipping and getting to know people better and just having fun. Really has been great.
2008 highlight of the year
One thing that stands out above all others is Namibia. NamRock, Keetmanshoop, the church, the team…very fond memories that I shall treasure for life. And I am definitely going back again next year.
there are a host more highlights…but this one stick out the most
2008 lowlight of the year…and lessons learned
Harriet Beecher Stowe said “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone” and Sydney J. Harris said “Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable” and David Grayson: “Looking back, I have this to regret…that too often when I loved, I did not say so”. So I fell for a guy – hard…painfully hard. In fact, as I told my friend, he’s the first guy I actually felt like I could put my heart on the line for…take the risk for. Except I didn’t tell him how I felt. What could have been, I’ll never know…maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference, and for a while I wondered what if, I lived on what ifs…then I decided to let it go. Lesson learnt 1: you lose nothing by telling someone you love them; you may lose out by not telling them. Lesson Learned 2: “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us” (Alexander Graham Bell) so like Paul “… I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Philippians 4: 11 – or am in the process of learning or something. And I got to see what great friends I have through this little incident. My friends stood by me and were totally friends when i needed friends and again too grateful for words to describe. Love you all!
Plans for 2009
1. Need (not want, but need) to be at CSA 09.
2. Will be at Indutech (hopefully) for one more year
3. Stole this part from Brett, but it pretty much says what I would have said, just better…
And so 2009 will be a year of attempting to love the Lord my God with all my heart and soul and strength and mind and my neighbour as myself (Matthew 22). It will be a year of seeking to love and reach out to and befriend ‘the least of these’ (Matthew 25) and to look after the orphan and the widow (religion that God sees as pure and faultless, James 1). A year of striving to live such a good life (as an alien and stranger to this world) among the pagans that though they accuse me of doing wrong they will see my good deeds and glorify God (1 Peter 2). A year of living as an ambassador of God and His Kingdom (2 Corinthians 5) and being everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him (2 Corinthians 2) because the love of Christ compels me. A year of throwing off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and running with perseverance the race marked out for me (Hebrews 12) and of whatever i do, whether word or deed, doing it all in the name of Jesus Christ and working at it with all my heart as working for the Lord and not for men (Colossians 3). I will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6) and trust Him to add everything i need and more and i will do this by not conforming any longer to the pattern of this world, but by being transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12) so that i can know God’s will. I will make disciples (Matthew 28) and teach them to obey everything He has commanded me and be a witness to him locally and abroad (Acts 1). I will continue to wrestle with Acts 2 and 3 and the church that is portrayed there and the reality of the church in the world today and where the two can and need to be closer together. And every day i will try and live a life that denies myself, takes up my cross and follows Jesus (Luke 9).
Thanks for reading and thanks for a great year and see you in the next one.
Things I’m grateful for…
Posted on: September 10, 2008
Joshua Davidson, who loves me beyond words, with no judgement, flaws and all – always loving, always protecting, always being there. For His sacrifice 2000 years ago…for His ongoing forgiveness and grace and mercy…for His love…for teaching me to love and showing me the importance of relationships…for carrying me through the hard times…for allowing me to grow and learn through the hard times…for His joy through the hard times…
My family for putting up with me these past 24 years. My sister who always gets my sense of humor…and who is and will always be one of my bestest friends ever…and will put aside whatever plans she had to come visit me when I need her to. My brother who totally loves me and gets so super excited when I come around to visit…and then 5 minutes later gets on my last nerve. My mom and dad for helping me be me…
Friends…my crew…Isa…Fatima…those who see past my “I’m fine” and get me to a place where “I’m ok, I know I’ll survive…this too shall pass”…and those I don’t let in but if I did they would be there…and those who will tell me that I’m out of line…those who aren’t afraid to make me “feel bad”…those I know I can count on…
VCF peeps for helping me believe that the church can be what it was meant to be in this day and age…for making me believe that there are people out there who are living for more than just themselves…peeps who believe that another world is possible…and not just believe it but live it…
the good days…that get me through the bad days…
the laughter…that makes me forget…
puppies and dolphins…for being cute
Albert Einstein…cos he’s hot
blogging…cos otherwise my brain would overload
common sense…cos it makes sense when nothing else does…
love…even when it doesn’t make sense…even when it hurts…cos it’s real…
The Father, The Son, And The Holy Spirit…cos HE IS!
