For the sake of the upcoming generation

"Our parents have taught us to think generationally. The choices I make today will impact future generations. When you have a mindset of preparing for your future family, you feel a weight of responsibility knowing that your decisions today will affect the lives of others for generations to come. Not a moment can be wasted. There is not time for foolishness. There is not time for making selfish choices. There is not time to take the easy route. As Christians, we must be about bigger things"
 Miss Melissa Keen 


" What we fail to realize is that all achievements are eventually surpassed, records are broken, reputations fades, and tributes are forgotten."
Rick Warren



I wasted part of my life trying to invest it in the wrong things for the wrong reasons. I tried to build the sand castles and collect plastic trophies that would mount up to nothing in the end. But life took a turn when God stepped in and all my achievements start to melt down to nothing.The broad roads signs that seemed to lead up to great opportunities suddenly closed down. And for a moment there seemed to have  been a fog of confusion about life.
In a youth group a wise man said:
"You weren't put here to make a name for yourself. God did not send you to earth to create a legacy or momentum in your name.You are here because of Him and for Him alone."

Through those very words, I found my purpose in life.

I agree with M.Keen: We (I myself included) need to learn how to truly and deeply think generationally. More than M. Keen, I believe God wants us to think about the next Generation.  In the ways that we use our gifts, talents,opportunities,energy,relationship, and every resources that God has entrusted us with. We should not base our every choice and agreements on our selfish feelings and short terms visions but on God's very words. Though I am not always fully conscious of this very fact, the truth is that every choice I make today and the way I chose to live my life will effect someone or more down the line.

Children are precious gifts from God himself, they bring joy and light to a dark and  gloomy world, but the truth is they will not be children forever. Instead of working so hard trying to invest into castle sands and aiming for plastic trophies I thought it's time that my focus (our focus) changes to what is real and truly matters.
Taking a chance to invest in lives. whether small or big. young or old. I need to be apart of somebody's else' story.
I am who I am and where I am today because God used all types of people to step in to my life one way or another. Some sowed good and some sowed bad, but in all God used all that to mold and discipline me for the good. The point is: someone took time to do something in hope that it will continue throughout  and that it will be useful in order to change another life as it did in theirs and mine.
Yes our trophies maybe trashed and our names my not be remember at all, but what we chose to sow today in the name of Jesus Christ could be an investment for eternity.
And the best place and time to start is when they are still young, Child at heart, teachable, and imitators of us. One thing I have deeply learned to appreciate is that: Nothing worth having comes easy and in order to reap a great harvest one must be willing to put in everything. There is not time for foolishness. There is not time for making selfish choices. There is not time to take the easy route. You want to make a great investment? invest into someone's life for eternity and for the sake of the upcoming generation, so that the truth about God can be known all throughout generations.

The christmas stage is Finish!!!

 The start of something...

Half way there.

Almost there.

The kids loves it

We are ready for the Christmas night.

 God is good, God is faithful, God is able, And He is the greatest Artist I know. He has been a great inspiration and best teacher within the few weeks I have been trying to figure out  where to start. Having a white board in front of you, paint, and a brush is a good way to start off if you know what you are doing.  But as for me, I had no plan, no idea, and nothing to start off with...until He stepped in to Help. So, I can not take credit for this one. All I had to do was to look up and say Thank you Lord, You did it again.
You made the Christmas night possible. 
In a simple barn, with open doors, on a starry night. The Savior was born.
The kids loves it and so do I.
Thank you Lord.

God,you and I...together we can

My hand and Jeff's.(God,you and I...together we can)

Honestly, we had a hard time starting off, but by God's grace all seems to be falling into the right places by now. I can gladly and thankfully say: October has been an exciting month, days and weeks has never been so busy compared to it, but we survived and we made it on the shoreline in to a new month. Days are going more faster than expected but that's a bit okay. We only have 12 school days left which is some how exciting and sad at the same time. But I am really excited about the up coming Christmas night and so are the kids. The very thought of their parents and guardian agreeing to set a time aside in order to come and watch them perform that night is really the best news ever, their little faces burns up with bright smiles every time we talk about it. They have put in such great effort and they have been working really hard to make that night possible and I am really proud of them, each an everyone of them. As much exciting it is to have the Christmas night drawing near,I have to be honest and say: it is sad to know that very soon my babies will no longer be grade 2s. They have grown so much and super ready for grade 3, I am half way ready by now to let them go. In the midst of all the preparations, painting of the stage, and just running up and down, sometimes I never get the chance to say goodbye after school anymore. I would get back to our class at the end of the day and they would be gone home. Which is honestly really sad...but in all of these crazy moments, God has been such an amazing blessing and I am so thankful for the way He has been working through my kids. They have been an encouragement and a great inspiration, as they took the time to pray for me every morning and made Thank you and  Love  cards for me.

We are a team

Love Cards from the grade 2s

 Honestly, I am always amazed and blown away by God's goodness and grace towards us. It made me cry but it deeply lift up my Spirit.
we are a team, and together we can.
How can I not be thankful.

Our time together...

I took time to put a few pictures together, a short flash back of last year and this year: Amazing life changing with the previous and the current grade 2s.

The Sport Day!!

   

Today was a big day.

The Blue Dolphins/Blue Team

I don’t think I can really find the right words to explain the awesome day we had today with the kids at the sport field. It was too early for everyone, especially for the kids to get up at 5 a.m and be at school at 6 a.m on a Saturday morning when we all should enjoy the time to sleep in. But ha! Most kids were so excited about the sport event they barely slept. It has been a busy week of preparing and making a new banner for the Blue Dolphins team. And I am really thankfully for every effort and hard work that everyone put in, because it paid off well today. And we thank God that all went as planned…even much better than we planned. We had three teams competing against each other: The Blue Team/ the Dolphins, the Red Team/the Red Bulls, and the Yellow Team/the Pumas. When I saw all the kids dressed up according to their team colors, my heart was full and it definitely pulled me right into the sport spirit…I felt like a little child back in primary school cheering for my team to do the best they can. I screamed so loud with everything in me that I was so close to nearly losing my voice. Didn’t care who was watching or listening, those kids were doing their best out there today so every scream, cheer and jumping was worth it. They have all been looking forward to this big day. They have been preparing so hard during break and P.E and they have been deeply excited to show off their strength and speed, so it was really amazing to see the great excitement on their faces this morning knowing that the day was finally here. It was so encouraging, they cheered for each other whether their team members came first or last! There was a great reward of applause to show approval and appreciation of every team member’s hard work and effort. I honestly loved and enjoyed every bit of it.
The Yellow team won again this year, and we came second in line again (Blue team) and the Red team came third again!

Making a New banner for the Blue Team

Blue Team's banner finish

Too early for a Saturday

Pumas/Yellow team

Red Bulls/Red team

All Teams

And the Pumas/Yellow team won again this year!

Teamed up for Shot-put

Yellow team's Celebration

Blue/Dolphins' team




Today was a really great reminder that every moment, time, and day counts. And every day is different from the rest. Days come and go, and one has to learn to appreciate and enjoy whatever God sets before you each day especially when you have the people you love the most around you. Learn to make every opportunity useful and leave the future’s businesses to tomorrow. So many times we don’t get the chance to fully enjoy and appreciates whatever is set before us because we are so much occupied with the worries and the plans of tomorrow even though we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But one thing we all  know for sure is that one could never re-live the past and make up for the times they missed.

I want to fully be there and be a part of our kid’s lives. Never to miss or cast a blind eye or take for granted any single opportunity that God may be unfolding right in front of me. Life is so fast and it’s just funny how this year dashed by, so my prayer is that wherever I may find myself, I will be all there, whole heartily and mind. (As Jim Elliot puts it: “wherever you are be all there. Live to hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God. “)

I pray that He will keep me where I could be most glorifying to Him even though I may not always understand His ways of doing things. I still want to be content in every situation and make every moment count while I still have a day to call today.

Sports Day!!!

The real Hero

I realized that sometimes we thinks one is being too Christianize if they refuse to give themselves a pat on the back and boast in their achievements, instead they load all the credits to God while they fade in the back ground as if they haven’t lifted a finger in the process. 

But the truth is: Who can be a good teacher? Unless is credited by the Lord. Who can do a good and successful work unless God qualifies her/him to do so? Who can boast in surviving a stressful day filled with kids screaming and reporting about something every second, unless God is with her/him. Who can boast to have kept them under control by their own strength?

Isaiah 45:24 The Lord is the source of my righteousness and strength.

Every step that we take, we walk by the strength of the Lord. We teach with the wisdom from above, we are weak, nothing and nobodies without Him. If we remove the Might hand of God everything will have no purpose and meaning at all but every effort we try out will result in vain.

 So who are we to steal the glory that doesn’t belong to us? Who are we to take credit of things that we have no power over on our own? Are we not just stuttering Moses who couldn’t speak without the help of the Lord? He couldn’t save and lead the Israelite without God by his side.  Are we not just like the stick that was in Moses’ hand that couldn’t do anything unless it was given the power from above to change its form and become alive and useful? 

Simply as clay in the hands of the Potter, we are all of these. We can’t rely on our own understanding or strength to take us even through an hour without trying in vain.

Just as Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, Esther and many others were not heroes, we are Not …God IS. with this in mind we can learn where to direct our thankful hearts in every situation.

The story of Pharaoh taking up the challenge against God, and God choosing to use the very weak, full of excuses, and stuttering man was a good reminder to us of who the real God and Hero is.

Surprised Pharaohs.

Seated amongst the Pharaohs

Third Term...

Third week since the kids have been back in school, I didn’t get much time to write and update our first day of school because we just jumped right in to it all and started off right away. The holiday brought so much rest and celebrations, but at the same time it also carried sorrows and grief for some. Through all the heartache and pain I have seen the powerful hand of God move amongst His people as He met them all in their moaning and they were able to find strength in their weakness. He has proven Himself faithful all over and over again as a light for every shadow and a relief for every sorrow. It’s always great to know that whatever the enemy plans for evil He has the power indeed to turn it around for our good and for His glory.

Third Term…There is so much to do and prepare within this term and it’s usually busy and also stressful sometimes, but I know that we will all survive and find hope and strength in the midst of all the chaos. So far we have been busy preparing for the sport day that we will be having next week Saturday. The kids are divided into three different teams (Blue, Yellow, and Red) and they are beyond excited. Some of them have been training so hard during break time and P.E in hope that their hard work will pay off on that big day!

At the same time we are also preparing for our Christmas day. The different classes will be doing different items like reciting poems, dancing, and taking part in the Christmas play.

So far it has been exhausting and exciting at the same time but we are enjoying every bit of it. We only have the grade 2s with us for two more months. Some will be moving out of town to other schools and the rest will be moving on to the next grade so I am trying to make every moment that I am spending with them count (like we did something new together today: best part of my day was when we drove to Beautiful Kids for computer classes seated behind Ms Afrikaner’s bakkie with all the grade 2s. They were all so excited. We laughed and screamed…I loved it! It’s a forever memory for me to cherish)  

We came a long way and they have grown so much in so many ways compared to the first time they walked in our class at the beginning of this year. They have really been an enormous blessing. God has done so much mending, training, and growth into their lives in the most amazing ways and I deeply pray and hope that His good work will continue throughout their lives.