Impossibilities and Possibilities

No matter how hard I try, I will probably never be able to do this (my back will not bend that far)

  or this

  or this

 or this for that matter (Maybe 25 years ago, yes. But definitley not now)

or ever look like this.

BUT I know that I am able to do immesurably more than the average-average human being and that I am immensly blessed in the life I live.

What I can do, is this (plus the trumpet and the recorder)

this (tatting)

this (knitting)

 this (sewing)

and restoring my old dresser to this

and a few more (go here)

I love working with my hands and although at times I don't FEEL like it, I still enjoy it when I do. I know that my talents have been nurtured by my mother who single-handedly renovated two flats, and an entire house, who was always busy sewing and knitting and crocheting and cooking and baking and ensuring that we (my brother and I) were taught skills that were beyond what schools taught. (I know my brother can knit and crochet, weld and repair electronic equipment, do carpentry and programme a computer). It ultimately is not in the skills you posess, but in HOW you use them that matters. How serious you take those gifts and whether you try to better yourself in doing these things.

Yes, our parents matter as do our teachers, but what we do with those skills we are taught is up to us.

If God has gifted you in any way, use the gifts. Don't wait until they are perfect, but practise them, because only practise will ensure that you become good at things. The 10 000 hour rule applies in all instances - it takes 10 000 hours to become an expert in anything. The earlier you start, the better you become. Even if you never are paid for the talents you have, it is the use of them that matters, not the reward.

Awesome!!

Found this amazing article on Christian music. If you haven't heard, TobyMac is on number 1 on iTunes and in the top 200 on the Billboards. WOW what a witness!

It makes my heart sing, and also shows that people are tired of hearing the mainstream stuff (well, up to a point).

Technology fatigue

We all suffer from it, right?

We comment on facebook, retweet tweets, pin like crazy on Pintrest, Instaram, use our phones to receive emails, catch up even on the weather and the news. The latest gadgets are advertised and off we rush to get into the latest craze.

George Orwell's book "1984" is nothing compared to how we watch each other, we do not need a "Big Brother" to do it for us. We monitor the ones we like (and dislike at times), we seek their approvals and measure it by the amount of comments and likes on whatever status update / post / link we have put out there. Often this also comes with deep hurt if we are critisised ever so slightly for what we believe in and stand up for.

Media is all around us and unfortunately shapes our view of ourselves, in addition to shaping our view of the world, since we do not know how to think for ourselves any longer. The thinking is done for us in more ways than one. Pity, since we have been given a brain to test theories, test arguments for truth and validity, yet we hardly engage our brains.

With all this technology and fear of missing out, comes a busier and busier lifestyle than ever before. We deceive ourselves if we think that technology makes our lives easier or even gives us more time to things. The fact is rather, that every spare moment is spent catching up on the latest tweets and what our "friends" are up to. In the process we forget how to breathe and seek for peace which we so desparately ae longing for.

Needless to say, the faster technology becomes, the faster we live our lives. Thus we "live" for the weekends and holidays like these:

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In some cases we even live for the next adventure, chasing down the next adrenalin rush, thinking it relaxing - haha

So, what is the solution to all this? Well, peace cannot be found in this upsidedown world without some spiritual context. However, the only spiritual context that will bring true peace, is found in the Bible - seriously! There is no way to attain peace in meditation if you do not know WHAT to meditate on. There is no peace in nature if we cannot look at it through God's eyes. There is no peace in the fast pace of life if we don't stop for a while to think about what really matters.

God created us for peace - to live in it and to show it to others. Let's find peace in this crazy world by praising Him and worshipping Him and in the process extending soem of that peace to others.

On: selling out to corporate sponsorship

This post is a bit of a venting (sorry it also contains a lot of links)

On Saturday I had the priviledge of seeing Switchfoot live in Cape Town!!

(sorry, pic stolen off their website)

What an experience. I LOVE the band, LOVE the songs, LOVED the performance, even LOVE the (now not so) new album. There is, however just one thing that really bothers me, and here it is:

As a Christian band, selling out to corporate sponsoship (they are sponsored by Hurley - see this link and scroll down to "donate" or even go to the tab "bro-am") will have an effect on what you can and cannot say at concerts, in your music etc. Lyrics like "Restless" clearly show that there is a tension between what they can say and what they want to say. Because the "you" they sing about could really be anyone, not necessarily God or Jesus. Compare this to one of their earlier songs "I turn everything over" or even "Something More (Augustine Confession)" where thier faith is expressed a lot stronger. Even on their album before this, for which they won the Best Rock Gospel Album Grammy, there is already that sense creeping in, except perhaps in a song like "Hello Hurricane".

The other thing was that I was missing at the concert was a true sense that it was a Christian band. The opening act was more explicit. They at least sang about Jesus and they were pretty good too. Pity they did not have back-up singers or second voices.

I am not saying that every song should contain words like Jesus, Christ, being saved and the like, but I want to know that faith and Christian living has not been compromised. I do read whom the bands thank (always) and I expect there to be something about God in there, because cleary they have not done this on their own or achieved any of it by their own strength.

I'm also not saying that I will stop listening to them, because I really like thier style and can interpret their songs from a  Christian perspective.

It is just sad to see that money is drawing us away from what we believe and the more we sell out to it the more peole will notice. I am so grateful to other bands like Reliant K and artists like TobyMac who, although they are doing well have not compromised on the Gospel message. In every song, in every interview you will hear it. I appreciate that more than compromising and being more subtle in lyrics. We need to ge the message out there that there is ONE Lord and there is only ONE way to Him. That way cannot be found in corporate sponsorship and money.

Other witnessing

What a tesimony this is.... "You cannot sell your face"

An article I read

A friend sent me this article.
Their range lookd fantastic and I am sure that this could be the answer to my extreme sense of being exposed when I go swimming in the sea. However, in a swimming pool? I'm not so sure.

What a witness!

Just thought you would like to read about a supermodel (!) who took a stand. I like it that she feels that her body belongs to her husband.

Go to the link here.

Embroidery - or Paint-by-numbers with thread

Lately I have appreciated the art of embroidery. It is one of my many "needlework" related hobbies, but I have always followed a pattern designed by others. For example this number (from a while back)

The pattern IS from a magazine, so there will be copyrights....

That being said, in essence, an embroidery, whether cross-stitch or tent-stitch (petit-point) or more elaborate stitches, are really Paint-by-numbers as can be seen in this picture (since all threads come coded with a number DMC 7402 for example):

Although both examples are fairly recent, embroidery has a long history, that according to some websites dates back to the Iron Age. I am more intruiged by the use of embroidery in the Bible, where gold-thread was used for the robes of Kings. I wish I could see an example of this type, just simply because embroidery is so fragile and does not usually last. I can find only historic military uniforms embroidered with gold thread that would give me an idea of what it looked like.

The veil in the temple also was embroidered with blue, purple and scarlet (all very expensive colours - as blogged about previously under the series of All the Colours of the Rainbow). How fitting that no expense was spared for God's temple.

But jsut like an embroidery takes shape, so our lives are taking shape as God forms and transforms it. Often the analogy is that our lives are a tapestry that we see from the back, where things seem quite messy. But, when we are with Him in heaven, we can see the beautiful picture that He has created from the mess of this world. An example - the same embroidery (tapestry) seen from the back and then from the front.

This shows, that no matter how messy our lives get, He can create a beautiful picture.

An apology

My dearest readers (and followers, and searchers)
My humble apologies for not updating for such a long time (well, in the blog-sphere at least). I was busy with writing a Masters Thesis and that does take quite a bit of time.
New post to be up by the end of the week (promise)