Swem Sannie Swem

Ek het nou die dag die eende (of is hulle ganse?) afgeneem toe ons vir 'n naweek weg was na Lake Chelan WA. Mooi pic ne? Die son was net besig om onder te gaan en die lig was pragtig en sag maar die water het te mooi geblink.

Dit laat my dink aan my ma se opmerking jare gelede waar sy altyd vir my gesê het "my kind as jy in 'n situasie is waar jy panic, skop net jou voetjies vinniger maar moenie dit op jou gesig wys nie" Ek dink sy het 'n swaan ingedagte gehad maar nou ja my gans eende is seker close genoeg.

Skop sussie skop-ek dink aan jou en bid dat dit klap. Die lang email is in die pos :-)

Welkom terug

Die Kaap in al sy glorie... dis behoorlik 'n "vroegoggend" en ons is terug van 'n wonderlike par dae van asem skep! So 'n wegbreek (al moes ek werk) gee mens sommer weer krag en die foto help! Die eerste paar dae wat ons daar was het ons amper wegggespoel, veral in Kampsbaai waar ons vriende bly. Hulle is nog besig om hulle huis te bou en daar was 'n paar benoude oomblike toe die reen net nie ophou val nie. Genadiglik het die son weer begin skyn na 4 dae se reen en die bouery kon aangaan. Die klipmuur op die voorgrond word gebou uit rotse wat op die erf was - dit word opgekap in kleiner blokke en dan gebruik om die stunning muur te bou. Die onderste venster met die toegetrekte blindings is waar ons geslaap het... ai, dit was so 'n voorreg om in die oggend met die eerste "oog-oopmaak" oor Kampsbaai te kyk by die een venster uit en Leeukop aan die ander kant!

Die skool begin more en al probeer ek om vir De Villiers te verduidelik dat almal voel soos hy, troos dit hom glad nie! Hy sal verseker vir die res van sy lewe op vakansie kan bly!

Asemrowend...

Oppad vanoggend sien ek en De Villiers hierdie asemrowende mooi sonsopkoms oor Gonubie - die weste was later ook iets om te aanskou maar toe het ek bestuur en kon nie 'n foto neem nie. Ons aanbid darem 'n wonderlike God, Hy het nie nodig om dinge vir ons mooi te maak nie, maar tog doen Hy dit, net omdat Hy kan en omdat Hy ons liefhet!
Ek is die 3 dae tussen die 2 vakansiedae af en sit hier by Ben by die shop en blog. Voel skoon vreemd om weer te blog en voel natuurlik baie skuldig dat ek ons "saamwees" tyd so afskeep. Ons het eintlik soveel om te sê en om voor dankbaar te wees en soms voel ek ek het niks om te sê nie, maar as mens net om jou kyk besef mens net hoeveel het jy eintlik! Daar is die holrug-geryde gesegde dat dit nie die hoeveelheid asemteue is wat mens aan die lewe hou nie, maar die hoeveelheid teue wat jou asem wegneem - (in Engels klink dit so: "It is not the breath we breathe that counts, but every moment that takes our breath away") hierdie was een van daai oggende...

Sonsopkomsdiens - Gonubie

Risen from the Dead!
And we have seen and testify that the father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in Him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.1 John 4:14-16, NIVThese letters were written at the end of John's life. He had been an eye-witness to the events on resurrection Sunday. He wanted his readers to know that what he was saying was not only true, but could be totally depended on. John will have seen Thomas thrust his finger into the wounds of Jesus and heard the excitement of the two who ran all the way back from Emmaus, having seen the Lord! These were events that could never be erased from his memory and it was absolutely vital that new believers in Jesus caught the validity of John's experience from the lips and pen who had proved over a long life that what Jesus had said and done was true and that He really was the Saviour of the world.The resurrection was not just a story that John and the other disciples had concocted. The strength of his words, “We have seen and testify” come down the centuries with the force of conviction of someone in the witness box in a court of law. And just as powerfully, John could testify to the fact that down the years he had found the risen Lord Jesus to be totally trustworthy. There wasn't a hint of doubt in his witness statement. He knew that he knew that he knew. Jesus had been raised from the dead and was alive and could be trusted.And today, as we celebrate with thanksgiving the victory of the cross, the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God and the glorious resurrection of the Son of God, let us determine to be like John and put our trust in this same Jesus, for as John said in verse 15, “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in Him and he in God.” What a privilege, what a joy - to be alive in God - both for now and throughout eternity.

Prayer: Dear Father God, Thank you, thank you, thank you for the gift of Your Son. No words can fully express the inner joy of Your salvation. But I do look forward to telling you face to face in Heaven! In the Name of the risen Lord Jesus, Amen.

Ek het my morsdood berlang na jou vandag! een van die redes is seker maar net omdat ek 'n jaar in die verlede geleef het... Hoop julle Opstandings-Sondag is lewensveranderend!!!

Onbeskryflike genade vir ons

Ek lees vanoggend Jesaja 53. Eintlik begin dit seker al in 52:13. Wat my veral tref is in vers 10 praat Jesaja van " Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer" en daarna in vers 11 die amazing woorde "When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied." Isaiah 53:11
Hierdie woorde is geskryf 600 jaar voor Jesus se geboorte en met God se volmaakte plan vir die wêreld waar geword nes dit voorspel is.
Wat 'n ongelooflike genade - ons is vry, ons het vergifnis ontvang en ons mag deel deur Jesus in God se teenwoordigheid nou en vir ewig.
O Here ek wil vanoggend sê dankie vir U ongelooflike genade en liefde vir ons. Ek besef net weer wat U dood en opstanding vir my beteken. Mag ek altyd my vreugde in U vind.
My woorde is min en gee nie weer als wat ek voel in my hart nie, maar ons prys U, ons Redder God.
In Jesus naam Amen

GOEIE vrydag

Sensational News!
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.1 John 3:8, NIV

I read a book recently which was attempting to describe what the work of the cross was all about without any reference to the devil. It was a bit like trying to describe a game of soccer without mentioning the idea of a goal! Some things are just not possible!Satan's last temptation of Jesus was to challenge him to use his powers to flick out those Roman nails and come down off the cross. At the last, the devil's last attempt to grasp victory from the jaws of defeat was to try and stop Jesus from laying down his life voluntarily, without ever having come under the authority of Satan, the god of this world. For if Jesus were to die now, then there would be nothing that could prevent the resurrection. The curse of death could only fall on those who had come under the influence of sin. And here was Jesus, totally sinless, about to die! Satan, death and hell were about to be defeated.Satan had failed. What a nightmare for the god of this world. Jesus was about to overcome death, and from that moment onwards anyone who would choose Jesus as their Saviour, and come under the covering authority of the Son of God, would also escape the judgment of death. Today has always been known in the calendar of the church as Good Friday. I feel like screaming from the housetops that it's not just GOOD Friday. For in reality it's totally stupendous, unbelievably wonderful, out-of-this world, sensational, miraculous, beyond comprehension Friday! As the old hymn says:“There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin,He only could unlock the gate of Heaven and let us in!”

Prayer: Dear Father God, Saying thank you seems a totally inadequate response to such incredible grace. We are so very, very grateful that on this special day we can remember with joyful thanksgiving the most important act there will ever be in the whole history of the world and the universe. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Dis alweer 'n jaar terug wat julle hier in Suid Afrika kom kuier het en wat 'n voorreg was dit nie om julle hier by ons te gehad het nie! Dit voel al vir my ons het nie genoeg gekuier toe julle hier was nie... Hierdie foto is geneem by die Paasfeesviering by die kerk.. onthou jy nog?

Wat is 'n Verjaarsdag?

Volgens Wikipedia: Birthday is the name given to the date of the anniversary of the day of a person's birth.

Dit klink so "boring", is dit nie? Maar eintlik is verjaarsdae "boring", mens sien so uit na die dag en as dit gebeur, is dit maar net nog 'n dag! Maar hierdie aanhalings oor verjaarsdae gee mens se eie, unieke dag, heeltemal 'n ander kleur. Lees bietjie wat se die bekendes (en minder bekendes), van Verjaarsdae...

"Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time." -- Jean Paul Richter

Is dit nie pragtig nie?

"The more things change, the more they remain the same." -- Alphonse Karr

So waar...

"A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age." -- Robert Frost

Voorwaar 'n slim man... ek dink nie hy is so gebore nie...!

"Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest." -- Larry Lorenzoni

Ha-ha!

"A well adjusted woman is one who not only knows what she wants for her birthday, but even knows what she's going to exchange it for." -- Anonymous

En ook weet wat BAIE kosbaar is!

"There is still no cure for the common birthday." -- John Glenn

Dis nou 'n feit soos 'n koei, ons almal het verjaarsdae, maak nie saak hoe jonk of oud, ryk of arm ons is nie

"Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again." -- Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Hierdie is my "favourite"!

"We know we're getting old when the only thing we want for our birthday is not to be reminded of it." -- Anonymous

Hmm... dis nou as die "hot flushes" ons in elk geval daaraan herinner!

"A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip." -- Anonymous

Ek het besluit om elke dag, vir die volgende 365 dae, iets spesiaals te doen (enige idees?)

"Birthdays are just nature's way of telling us to eat more cake." - - Anonymous

Ek't nie 'n verjaarsdag nodig om my te laat koek eet nie :O)

"Think of birthdays this way: you're not getting older, you're getting wiser."-- Anonymous

Ek weet nie altyd of dit so waar is nie...

"You have no birthday because you have always lived; you were never born, and never will die. You are not the child of the people you call mother and father, but their fellow-adventurer on a bright journey to understand the things that are." -- Richard Bach

Dis diep... ek dink nie ons is veronderstel om ... " to understand the things that are" nie. Miskien net 'n bietjie daarvan!

"Fly free and happy beyond birthdays and across forever, and we'll meet now and then when we wish, in the midst of the one celebration that never can end." -- Richard Bach

Hierdie is pragtig, wens ek kon al die pragtige wense wat ek op my verjaarsdag gekry het, in botteltjies prop en op 'n rak sit (langs die pienk spookasem wolke). sal dit nie lekker wees om elke af en toe een oop te maak en van voor af te geniet nie

Hierdie aanhaling kry ek vanoggend:

On seeing his shadow fall on such ancient rocks, he had to question himself in a different context and ask the same old question as before, "Who am I?", and the answer now came more emphatically than ever before, "No-one." But a no-one with a crown of light about his head. He would remember a verse from Pindar: "Man is a dream about a shadow. But when some splendour falls upon him from God, a glory comes to him and his life is sweet." ~ R. S. Thomas ~

My wish for you....

A dream is a wish your heart makes

and my heart makes a wish for you

That you may find a rainbow

where all your dreams will come true.

May there be sunlight ever streaming

into your heart each day,

May you find the hand of friendship

along each new highway.

And may loving arms enfold you

when you need someone to care.

And may your heart know that my heart

is with you everywhere....

Ek hoop jou nuwe lewensjaar is gevul met liefde.

Ons geliefde see

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand…" Isaiah 40:12a (NIV)My family and I love to vacation at the beach. As my husband and I sit digging our toes into the warm white sand, our children play in the emerald green salt water. The massive size of the ocean always reminds me that God is bigger and more wonderful than my mind can comprehend. I'm always compelled to quote out loud Isaiah 40:12 while sitting on the beach:"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?" (NIV)What a superb reminder of God's mighty power in the creation o f the universe and galaxies. Even more amazing, He measured the span of them between His thumb and first finger. Hold those fingers up and look at their span for a moment. Now imagine God looking at the space between His thumb and first finger while saying, "I think I'll make the universe about that big." If that doesn't give you a picture of just how big our wondrous God is, think about this: He poured the oceans from the palm of His hand! Oh, friend, when I gaze upon a huge body of water that could swallow me up in an instant, and I realize that God, at some moment in time, held the entire ocean in the palm of His hand, it simply blows me away!As I consider this truth, I find myself awestruck by the greatness and glory of our God. The Lord God is so gigantic that He knows every creature that lives in that great body of water. He sees every ship that sails its waves. With a God this big, what could ever escape His attention? What need could we have that He cannot handle? Where could we go that we are not in His presence? What on the earth, above the earth, in the earth, or below the earth can make us afraid? Certainly, we can place our trust in a God so big that even the ocean waves obey their boundaries.And yet we doubt instead of having boundless faith in an unbound God. We live in fear instead of living carefree in the care of God. Let me ask you—what person or thing can compare to Him? Who or what is more stable than God? Is anything more powerful or glorious? Too often I forget the wonder of God even though all of creation declares His glory. I need to remind myself daily of His greatness. In doing so, all my fears tend to fade in the light of His presence.Today will you take time to recall how great and magnificent He is? Do it again tomorrow and the next day, too. See if you don't find yourself awestruck by the One so magnificent we can scarcely wrap our minds around the thought of Him. But, oh how we need to try! It will do wonders for our faith and put to death our fears that smother our peace. Nothing gives me hope nor soothes my anxieties like meditating on the attributes of God. For what's impossible for a God who holds the whole world in His hands? Nothing—absolutely nothing!Dear Lord, You are Lord of all and over all, whether Your people acknowledge it or not. All of Your creation declares Your greatness and beauty. Stir my heart to worship You so that the rocks don't have to cry out. You are worthy of all my praise. In Jesus' Name, Amen.