Letting Go     

A friend @ my women’s group shared this story with me and it really spoke to my situation.

A father once gave his little girl a plastic pearl necklace. Even though it was plastic, she loved it so much, she wore it to bed every night.

One night, after reading her a bedtime story, the father asked “Will you give me your pearl necklace?” The little girl giggled. She knew he had to be teasing after all, she loved that necklace.

The next night, the father asked again “Will you give me your necklace?” The little girl clung to her necklace and said “Daddy, boys don’t wear necklaces!”

But her laughter was a little uncertain.

On the third night, the father asked yet again for the necklace. The little girl’s eyes welled up with fat tears and her chin trembled. She was deeply torn between her attachment to her plastic necklace and her love for her dad. Finally, choking back sobs, she took off the necklace & placed it in his hands. The father tucked the necklace in his pocket. He kissed her and said, “ Thank you precious child." Then he reached into his other pocket drawing out a blue velvet box.

He opened the top & placed the box on her lap. Inside laid a beautiful string of pearls……. REAL ones.  

Tomorrow Is another Day

As I stepped out of the warm, comforting & light church café building, the wind blew furiously onto my face. In a state of agitation, I confidently put one foot in front of the other and walked up the road. I passed the White Swan pub where a few people were outside having a drag on the fags which they knew weren’t healthy for them but would help them relax.

Knowing that I was on a mission to go and buy some stamps, I continued despite my psychotic symptoms which were prevalent. And then I bumped into him- the last man I wanted to see at that moment in time-my specialist.

“Hi, you’re looking so great, you’ve lost so much weight” he said happily.

“Oh great, I can’t tell him how bad I really am” I thought, the poor man’s on his lunch break and the last thing he’ll want to do is discuss medication.

So, in a rush I blurted “Oh I’m seeing you next week”, I then proceeded to keep calm and carry on buying my stamps.

Here is a poem I wrote which was "Jesus" inspired.

It is done, it is finished,

Look the stone is rolled away,

I've taken your shame,

You are beautiful

And you are mine.

I reign in you,

And you in me.

You are chosen and you are mine.

I knock at the door of your heart,

All you have to do is open it.

Receive my love,

Receive my grace,

I am here standing, waiting,

You are chosen and you are mine.

I volunteer in a charity shop for Oxfam. Oxfam stands for Oxford Committee for Famine Relief. There are many different areas of its work. In the UK, there are shops which include an on-line shop and fair-traded gifts and food which are made by vulnerable people who obtain a fair wage for making the gifts themselves.

Oxfam works with vulnerable people in the slums of Nairobi.

I have recently been studying the book of Esther in the bible. Esther was an orphan & chosen by a king to become his queen. She helped save her own people from being destroyed. It was difficult, it was hard but never the less God helped her. Sometimes, particularly recently, I have been dwelling on all the negatives in my life. The fact that I can’t do paid work due to ill-health, the fact that I often have poor concentration and mix with allot of ill people. On the other hand, I want help to overcome my difficulties. I am exercising more etc and hopefully I will make more new friends.

As I read this morning, God has taken the weak things of the world to shame the wise.

I have recently started exercising at a Zumba class. Zumba fitness was created in the mid-90’s by Columbian native Alberto Beto Perez. It is inspired by the traditional salsa, samba & meringue music he grew up with.

One day Beto walked into his class & realised he had forgotten his aerobics music.

His only option was to play the tapes he had in his car. It was a challenge to improvise a whole class using non-traditional aerobics music but it worked, Zumba fitness was born & the class soon became the most popular class at his fitness club.

I am finding it very beneficial not only for my physical health but also for my mental health. It is party inspired. In one dance we shake meracers which helps make you feel happy & that you really are celebrating being alive. As the advertising slogan says:-

Ditch the workout, join the party!

I have lived in the University of Life since the day I was born. Many of my friends have P.H.D‘s & for a long time I felt I was a less worth human being because I never attended formal university. However I think the things I have achieved in my life have great worth. I may not be academically intelligent but I’m very creatively intelligent. I was able to choreograph dance for a community musical when I was just 19 & when I was 20 I was able to pass my Presidents disco dance award

With blue riband (100%).

We all have different gifts in life. There is a verse in the bible which says that you maybe able to understand many mysteries & accomplish many things but if you don’t have love, you are nothing. Let’s value people for who they are and not what they do.

Rooibus tea is a green tea from South Africa. It protects against Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s disease. It contains magnesium, calcium, zinc & iron responsible for many healing abilities.

The red bush shrub is a bushy shrub that grows in the Cedarburg province near Cape Town. Rooibus is safe for children, the elderly & pregnant women. Although it contains iron, it does slow down the absorption of iron from consumed food.

I didn’t like the taste of rooibus to start off with it as it is an acquired taste but I have stopped adding milk to it and now really like it. I am borderline anaemic so have to watch the amount I drink but I would recommend it.