The Year I Start: I am 15 years old, and I start to write. Yes, the words flow out of me, and they bring healing – but only up to a point. I sit at my desk, pen in hand, paper in front of me. I have a mental picture of someone – or something …
‘Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time.’ Isaiah 57:1 Ever since my mom and I moved to Jeffrey’s Bay about seven months ago, I’ve often found myself thinking of my father. He grew up in Adelaide, a small town about 300 km from Jeffrey’s Bay, and he had fond memories of …
| First Published In Kouga Express Newspaper | A few nights ago, I awoke from a startling dream. I sat upright, and checked my alarm clock. It was four a.m. on the dot. ‘Great,’ I muttered out loud. ‘Now I’m going to struggle to sleep again.’ As I tried in vain to go back to …
| First Published in Kouga Express Newspaper | Some things can be replaced: a lost key, sunglasses, a cosy jersey. Other things take more time to get restored: money, old houses, broken-down cars. Even relationships can get a second chance once new life is breathed into them. But time can’t be restored – or can …
It is a Friday afternoon, and I am part of an encounter session at Global Leadership Academy. Peaceful music plays in the background, but I do not have peace. I am restless, fidgety, overwhelmed. I have too many plans, projects, and ideas that I still want to tackle. But there’s so little time, and I …
| First Published in Kouga Express | As a child, I didn’t like it when people saw my hearing aids. I did everything I could to hide it: I wore my hair down as often as I could; I even braided my hair sideways. When people saw my hearing aids, their demeanor towards me would …
‘Everywhere I go, I’ve been praying for the people: ‘Lord, restore their wild heart. Restore what religion called rebellion, what culture labeled too radical, and what tamed them from being the undignified lovers they were called to be.’ Right now, I pray that over you too.’ Nate Johnston Lately, I’ve felt something rising up in me. …
‘Because of the purity of your hands, God will rescue the ones who are not innocent… Through God’s grace in your life, the guilty will escape.’ Job 22:30 As a child, my hand was safe and sound in my mother’s hand whenever we crossed the street. ‘Look left, then right. Then left again,’ she would …
Four months ago, my mom and I moved to Jeffrey’s Bay. But before we made the big move from Bloemfontein, we came to Jbay for a weekend to scan and survey this land of Canaan. We looked at houses for rent, made queries about wi-fi networks, tried out the local restaurants. The first thing I …
| First published in Kouga Express | One of the most fascinating passages in the Bible is the one where Jacob wrestled with an angel. I have so many questions: Why did the angel come to Jacob? Why did he come at all? Why did he strike Jacob’s hip? Why did he leave him crippled …
| First Published On This Engrained Heart | We each have five senses for a reason. Our eyes – it helps us not to bump into things. Our ears – help us to follow conversations. Our tongue – to taste food better. Our nose – to stay away from smelly stuff. And lastly, our sense …
Three years ago, my mom and I moved back to Bloemfontein. We landed right in the middle of a severe drought. After experiencing an abundance of afternoon thunderstorms in Johannesburg, it was a huge adjustment to find ourselves in the middle of a Free State desert. Water restrictions were everywhere; even my grandmother had long …
| First Published in Kouga Express | Sometimes the thing we are afraid of doing is the same thing we must do. On the other side of fear is our destiny; it’s where endless possibilities await. When we give in to fear, we give up on our future, our voice. Recently I did a motivational …
At the local library, there’s a white woman who works there. It’s clear she doesn’t like me. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me give you a backstory first. * I grew up spending most of my Saturdays at the one and only library in Worcester. I adored books, so much that I …
From the moment a baby is born, almost everyone is in awe of this bundle of potentiality. What will this child be like? Who will he/she grow up to be? What choices will he/she make? It is almost instantly hardwired into us that we each have a specific purpose for being on this earth. It’s …