Lockdown 621

Lockdown Day 621 - 7 December 2021

I received great news from the Kouga dam area of lots of rain and the full river flowing towards the dam. I spent the day praising God for this provision and the water still to come!

The Bay was sunny and warm throughout the day, affording us a breather to get our washing dry in one go. When I left home this morning, I was confronted with many bees trying to find a home.

Later, I found out a large bee nest had been removed from a shrub across from us last night. According to the bee-catcher it will take two days for the bees to move on, as he took the queen bee with him.

This made me think of how we should be attached to God. Those bees are lost without the queen. They are not trying to find new accommodation, they are looking for the queen.

This is how our relationship with God should be. Instead of trying to be self sufficient, we should first find His kingdom. He is the provider of everything we need to live life abundantly.

So tonight, look for Him while He still may be found, because a time will come when He is done waiting and will come to fetch His people to make a new home with them.

#Godspeaks

#Godsgotthis

Lockdown 620

Lockdown Day 620 - 6 December 2021

Yesterday the city was enveloped in one big "mist-like" cloud which was oozing sticky rain, wafting down like feathers. This carried on for most of the day. Although we measured a total of 30mm over the weekend, the Langkloof sadly reported only 5mm since 1 December. 

Today the same cloud moved in around 9am, with wafting sticky rain. We ended up measuring around 5mm. 

With a list of errands, I set about navigating town in this wonderful magical weather. People were out and about, already shopping for christmas, lights and tinsel everywhere lit up the grey day.

This made me wonder why we can't have lights all year round. For us, Christmas is what the name says: Christ's birth celebration. A season for giving on various platforms. And a time to be together, if not in person, in spirit. A time to let those close to us know we love them.

For the first time I understand what my parents must have felt when we were all grown up, left home and did our own thing, how it must have felt when we moved away.

I am thankful for all the times we lived close to our boys and sorry for the times I did not make more of it than I did. I suppose that is also the curse of the parent, to always wonder what we did right or wrong, or could've done more, better or differently.

What I know for sure is we have done what we could when we did, however flawed we were. What I also know for sure is God's presence all the time, keeping our hands up and our hearts in the right place.

So tonight, Christmas in my heart brings a stillness of reflection, refusing to doubt or dwell on the negative, but rather trust in the Truth who holds us all in the palm of His hand and who's in full control.

Lockdown 619

Lockdown Day 619 - 5 December 2021

Sunday number 88. Today's image focus is on microscopic photography of everyday objects.

The eye of a needle, threaded with red cotton

50x zoom of human eyelash hairs

1000x zoom in on a vinyl disc

Blood clot crystals

Coloured scanning electron

micrograph of a cat flea

Dust, magnified 22 million times

Ear wax collected on cotton bud fibres

Enteric coated drug delivery capsule (a swallowed pill)

Football shirt material

Guitar string

Instant coffee granule

Refined and raw sugar

Sutured wound

Torn stamp

Velcro

#Ggt

Lockdown 618

Lockdown Day 618 - 4 December 2021

Our lazy Saturday started out with a long walk at the promenade in looming rainy conditions which lasted all day long with a droplet here and there under a dark grey cloud cover. Believing God for supernatural rain in the catchment areas, the #prayforrain continues.

We took a drive through Sea View towards Windmill Farm, a well known stop op the N2, boasting a dam and walking trails and a variety of shops, takeaways and sit down restaurants.

We enjoyed Ou Meul Bakery's baked goods and coffee while looking out over the hills towards the Langkloof, where the clouds also looked promising.

We left, armed with a freshly baked sourdough bread and wonderful four cheese muffins. The afternoon drifted by with a long nap, rugby and some couch downtime.

We made our fire on the stoep with weighted clouds and the smell of rain still hanging in the air. We talked about the expected speech from Mr Prez tomorrow in light of the abominable virus wreaking havoc again, and how people are binge-partying all around us just in case their world "stops" again.

And by bedtime the rain came, first softly and then more and more. Hearing good reports of rain elsewhere such as Askham in the Kalahari and Sutherland, we go to sleep knowing God's promises are rainbows in the night. They light up this dark world and show us the way.

#Godsgotthis

Lockdown 617

Lockdown Day 617 - 3 December 2021

Today I decided to be outside. After I dropped hubby off at a golf day, I noticed the crisp blue sky covered in feather-clouds with a a slight breeze rustling through the trees. This is the proverbial perfect day to kick off the weekend, so I decided to park myself on an Indulge seat with a flat white.

The sea was as calm as could be, aeroplanes glided in over the harbour and the azure ocean a perfect backdrop for a lone yacht slowly ambling across the bay.

With a slither of the vertigo still present, the fresh salty air overdose was just what the doctor ordered. I wondered about all the good reasons for being outside often and decided to do some research. Turns out it really is a necessity.

Being in Lockdown has kind of "trained" us to stay inside more and without realising it, we have a diminished ability to discern space and proximity with a decline in Oxygen feed to our body, mind and spirit.

Among the long list of benefits, a few stood out to me:

⛵Calm the mind

⛵Better Short term Memory

⛵Sharpens Focus

⛵Improves Vision

⛵Fights NDD (Nature-Deficit-Disorder)

⛵Increases Longevity (by relieving stress and strengthening immunity)

I experienced them all in one way or another this morning. Lockdown fatigue comes in many forms, specifically through infodemic-related news and views. Even if you don't really listen, it finds a way into your system as toxins.

Being outside washes all this out, just like the Word of God washes our brain with the good stuff when we spend time in it. Make a point of actively fighting NDD and just do it!!

So tonight I offer up a prayer of thanksgiving for everything outside, for the oxygen I breathe, peace that surpasses all understanding and keeping calm with focus and vision.

#Godsgotthis

Lockdown 616

Lockdown Day 616 - 2 December 2021

Today was mall day with a to-do list as long as my arm. The mall was unusually busy and it was as if everyone was rushed and racing against time.

Walking past all the Christmas decorations and window signs, I find it hard to believe we are in the last weeks of this year. The second Lockdown Christmas.

Again, a new variant was announced of this abominable virus. It has an abominable name I shall not utter. After hearing the reshuffled version, I call it moronic (same letters, better description).

According to the dictionary, moronic means "very foolish and stupid". Now since we have heard of this variant, the number of active cases literally shot up overnight like weeds.

Is that at all even possible that it could have spread that quickly? And how come the tests are suddenly available? I smell rats...... many rats. Especially the lab type. Moronic basically sums it all up. 'Nuff said.

But God is bigger and better than this moronic virus and looking up to Him is the only way to do this. Because He's got this.

Lockdown 615

Lockdown Day 615 - 1 December 2021

Life in PE goes on, and we start our day of recuperation after the long trip. It is always the day after one feels the fatigue. I spend the day cleaning house, which after a week away, feels musty and dusty.

While cleaning, my thoughts turn to God's provision and design in our own spirit, mind and body. A while back when I went to the surf shop, I noticed how all the beach front shop and restaurant owners were battling the sand at their entrances.

The battle of the beach coming in reminds me of how fast decay can move in without maintenance. Maintaining the space we live and work in, is something inherently part of our design.

God is a God of order. Which is why he built into our being the inherent desire to be organised in some way. Being organised constitites a level of neatness. Not perfection or obsession.

I truly believe God intends for us to have a full life without having to be perfect all the time. But He did not intend for us to wither away and not care about our life and the way we tend to our daily space.

The beach will always try to come in, and sweeping it out will always be the thing we have to do to keep it out. So cleaning is more than just a physical act. It runs deep into our psyche and spirit and honours our Creator.

#Godsgotthis