Au revoir 2010, hello 2011!

I love this: the end of the year. The prospect of a new year a stone’s throw away. The chance to “start afresh”. Well, I’ve never fully understood why people, myself included always feel like one year needs to end and another needs to start in order for change to begin. ANYWAY.

For me this is my end of year stock-take time.This is the time I take stock of the past year. To see if I have actually grown and improved from the last year. ANY positive growth is good for me, but as always, there are always areas to improve on.

One of the things that really helped me this year was HONESTY. Facing up to the truth. Being upfront about stuff, but most of all, being brave enough to face up to the truth. (ß NOT easy). Sometimes we try to sugar coat things so they are nicer to deal with but sometimes that’s not always the best thing to do. Usually, the best advancement of a person comes from biting the bullet and looking at things #zvazviri.

In 2010 I learnt that everytime you learn a concept, YOU ARE TESTED ON IT. For a while now, I have declared myself as an impatient person. and boy did God try my patience and tolerance in SO many different ways! From waiting in queues to annoying people to incompetent people. All I can say is, “Good things come to those who wait,”

A book I was reading said something that really struck me: You are as close to God as you want to be. Sometimes people complain that they aren’t close to God, and they envy people who are deeply spiritual who seem to be “homies with God” yet GOD gives us all we need to have an intimate, one-on-one relationship with Him. Don’t complain about not feeling close to Him because whatever rift exists between you is because of YOU.

Here are some more of the amazing things I learnt in 2010:

ON OUR DUTY AS AGENTS OF OUR BELIEFS: We are not just agents of ourselves, but are ambassadors of whatever it is we belong to or believe in. We represent other entities, our religion, our families. Actions speak louder than words so don’t expect people not to associate you with a particular thing or refer to you as a reference because people gauge what you represent by what YOU portray. If we say we are Christians, we should strive to live as Christ did. A tree is known by its fruits and not its roots!

ON FAITH: “Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future; but faith is having the courage to dance to it today!”

ON CONTENTMENT: Life will never be perfect. WE ourselves are not created to be perfect. There will always be someone more beautiful than us, more successful, more popular. Fine, we sometimes need to better ourselves but sometimes we just need to be content and choose to be grateful for what we have as opposed to what we don't. Wants are unlimited. Blessings are countless.

ON GOD’S ROLE IN OUR LIVES: “To have God on our side doesn’t mean sailing on a boat with no storms, it means having a boat that no storm can sink.”

ON OBEDIENCE: We are called to be OBEDIENT beings. It doesn’t mean it’ll always easy to obey, but it’s what we are supposed to do.

ON THE TONGUE: Life and death is in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Complaining is the language of the enemy. Praise is the language of God. Be careful what you say over your life and about others, for those same words may come back to you and either bring blessings into your life, or curses.

GOD KNOWS BEST: When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something else (**thinking Jeremiah 29:11).

ON NOT CONFORMING TO THE WORLD: Don’t conform yourself to the world, but let God transform you inwardly. For the more you conform to the world in your actions and thoughts, the further away you trek from God because the way the world is is not in tandem with the perfect will of God.

God is not a God of ENOUGH. He is a God of EXCESS and OVERFLOW. He doesn't want to just fill your cup, but He wants it to overflow; abundant and exceeding blessings, not because we always deserve them, but by His grace! (**pressed down, shaken together and running over!**)

ON MIRACLES:
(a) Miracles happen EVERY SINGLE DAY. But it’s all about whether you choose to see everything as a miracle or everything as an accident or coincidence, AND
(b) Whenever a seemingly immovable mountain exists, that is the perfect condition for an extraordinary miracle.

YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW

LASTLY, I learnt that GOD does answer prayers. You just have to clean out the wax from your ears so you can hear His answer.

WORK. PRAY. LOVE.

DARE to be different

We spend so much time trying to fit into standards and measures preset and predetermined by the world. We try to mould ourselves into what the world will accept or approve of. We take the focus off being we should want to be approved by.

The “world” dictates what’s sexy, and what’s not. What’s hot and what’s not. What cool and what’s “gwash” ( :) ). It’s so easy to fall in the trap of worldliness because it’s in our nature to want to belong and to be up to date with trends and follow the crowd, when really we should STAND UP and STAND OUT for something. Most people would rather be lost in the crowd somewhere and blend in with the wallpaper, EVEN when they don’t agree with something.

Standing out and being different isn’t always easy. More often than not, there is resistance from people because people are so used to being “like everyone else”. Even when you do the right thing amid “wrongdoers” you will probably be known as the “goody-two-shoes” but the point is at the end of the day, you aren’t doing things for man’s approval but everything you do is a performance to an audience of one: for God. People can say whatever they want (and they will always have something to say!) but if you do right by Him, nothing and no one else should matter.

The truth is, unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it. Only dead fish “go with the flow”.
DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

*White picket fence*

I used to have a thick, multi-layered brick wall around my heart,
designed to protect me from anything and anyone who could possibly hurt me, break me or break my heart.
I didn't want to let people in.
I didn't want them to leave with a piece of me if they decided to walk away.
It was my defense mechanism,
My way of protecting myself from all the cruels of the world.
It was until I realised that that same brick wall that was meant to keep "baddies" out was also keeping the good, genuine people out as well.
It was then when I decided to let the walls come down - it didn't happen over night though... it's almost as if they came down brick by brick.
BUT they did come down...
They were replaced by high electric fencing, until I realised that that scared away people who wanted to "touch" my life, my heart and be my blessing.
The fencing had to come down too.

Now, my heart has a white picket fence around it.
Some people jump over (if they dare),
Some people squeeze through the gaps,
Some people just look on from the outside, too scared to approach,
But the point is, THE WALLS ARE GONE.

The picket fence still protects me and what is precious to me, my heart, but it still leaves room for me to love and to let some people in.

High on Arrival

Ever had that warm feeling in your heart; that feeling of complete and utter peace, where you know life ain't perfect, but EVERYTHING has been taken care of? You know that feeling, when you know not to worry about anything because God has taken care of EVERYTHING already... That feeling that I would equate to the high a druggie gets from his/her drug of choice. Only difference is this "high" doesn't cause withdrawal symptoms afterwards, or a plummet in your mood when it wears off, because it comes from within and it comes with faith and complete trust in God.

So many times, we try to twist fate's arm in order for things to happen in the way we think they should happen or the way we want them to happen. We forget that God is the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our lives, meaning He wrote the story from the very first page and He will bring the story to completion. We forget to submit completely and to stop leaning on ourselves and our understanding. We get caught up in what we see as opposed to what we should believe. We forget that His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are your ways His ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than your ways and His thoughts than your thoughts. We put God in a box and imagine that He can only do what is logically possible, yet He is GOD, His ways are higher than ours. He is able to do above and beyond what we can even imagine!

As people, especially as young adults looking to grow as Christians, looking at our futures, marriage and all that, we need to stop trying to make things happen our way. We need to learn to trust HIM completely. We need to trust that His plans for us are for our prosperity, not for our disaster. We need to have faith that as we pray, God gets to work immediately. We need to be patient and not try to fix things ourselves when it seems like God is taking too long to respond. We need to remember that good things are worth waiting for. We need to constantly remember that God gives us free will and the freedom of choice, but ultimately, when we submit to Him completely, He can change rules and regulations on our behalf, He can make ALL things work for our good, AND He can make things that are impossible, and logically speaking should not work, WORK and BE POSSIBLE.

We need to worry less about tomorrow and focus on living today as best as we can. God guides us every single step of the way if we let Him, and if we worry less about stuff He will lead us in His ways and open doors for us that NO ONE can close. But it begins with that leap of faith, that complete trust in Him.

When we begin to see things differently and deal with our issues, weaknesses and shortcomings head on, that inward joy begins to show outwardly. Imagine being stopped by the cops at an airport, and you are *buzzing*...they think you're high or drunk, or both, but you're not. You're just high on the Spirit. High on faith. Faith, that's my drug of choice.

Cut off the dead wood!

Ever wondered why friends backstab, lie and cheat on each other but somehow they patch things up and become friends again only for them to backstab, lie and cheat again...to patch things up and be friends again?
Ever wondered why a woman will be with an abusive husband (or vice versa) and keep taking him (her) back everytime he (she) apologises?
Why does a woman stay with a cheating, lying man who she knows will never ever be faithful to her? Why does she not just cut her losses and kick him to the curb?

I think it's a little thing called "autophobia": the fear of being alone. it's a little in-built fear that most humans have in them. As a result, most people have a propensity to hold on to whatever relationships they may form, no matter how unfulfilling. Most people would rather remain in a bad relationship, marriage or friendship because they'd rather put up with the drama than be alone. Most people like the title and sense of security attached to relationships, not the relationship itself. People like being able to say, "I'm married" or "I am in a relationship", even if they KNOW they are not happy.

Friendship is usually the basis of any relationship, which is why it is very important to choose your friends very carefully: "bad friends corrupt good morals".

Every now and then, we need to assess our friendships and relationships and TRIM OFF THE EXCESS FAT weighing us down.

Don’t despair when certain people are pruned from your life, NOT EVERYONE'S MEANT TO MAKE IT TO YOUR FUTURE.

Accept it.

Some people are meant to be in our lives just to take us to the gate and leave us there, some will walk inside the gate with us, others will fall by the wayside and some will be there right till the end.

You need certain people in your life during the different seasons you go through in your life. But as you advance to the next level, you may not need some people as much, especially if they weigh you down and dissuade you from your purpose.

Birds of a feather flock together. You can always tell who someone really is by the company they keep. What do YOUR friends say about YOU? Eagles don’t hang around chickens: chickens don’t fly.

If you are always surrounding yourself with with same level  minded people, how are you going to advance to the next level?

My take on the 'Tree and its Fruit' Scripture

Lately, i have noticed that there is a disjoint between what we as Christians say and what we do. It isn't all that hard to speak about God and shout praises, but walking the talk isn't always easy. That's why a lot of people say one thing but do the other. So often we are quick to dish out advice to people about how wrong what they are doing is, and even quote the Bible on this, that and the other but when we are in the same situation we want to bend the rules, and talk about how they don't apply to us. One thing I have heard said over and over is that people should want to be a Christian because your life is a testimony, not because of the words you say.

At the end of the day we need to realise that we are not just agents of
ourselves, but are ambassadors of whatever it is we belong to or believe in. Actions speak louder than words so don’t expect people not to associate you with a particular thing or refer to you as a reference because people gauge what you represent by what YOU portray. If we say we are CHRISTians, we should strive to live as CHRIST did. A tree is known by its fruits, not its roots.

It reminds me of the famous Mahatma Gandhi quote: “If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.”

Part of our mandate as Christians is to bring the lost to salvation. Our lives must draw them to "the light". There must be no disconnect between what we say and what we do.

"A healthy tree does not bear and fruit, nor does a poor tree bear good fruit. Every tree is known by the fruit it bears; you do not pick figs from thorn bushes or gather grapes from bramble bushes."
Luke 6:43-44

So, what does your fruit say about you?

Average: The World's New "Awesome"

Originally Posted on "The Zambani"

I may not be perfect, but definitely ain’t your average girl. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but, well, I just ain’t average.

Average is the best of the worst and the worst of the best. So, why are people so “okay” with mediocrity? What is it exactly that’s missing from people to make them wish to excel to be more than just ok or average. Why have the world’s standards fallen and why is it so acceptable to be just average. Average is exactly that, AVERAGE but why do societal norms make it seem like being average is actually awesome? It’s probably because being better than average takes a whole lot more effort than just being average. It takes you stepping out of comfort zones you have become so cozy in. it takes putting more effort than the average person. It takes a conscious decision to want to be better than everyone else. Whatever you want to do, aim to be the best at it. Aim to be excellent and to do above and beyond and better than everyone else.

Why do I think am not an average girl? Because I do not follow the standards set by the world. They are too low for what I want to achieve in life.