THE LAST FOR A NEW BEGINNING

Last night, I attended the last of the discipleship course. What a wonderful experience. I must say, I learned a lot about me and who I am.



Funny, all the books, seminars, courses, etc. that I have attended the last few months, I learned more about me, who I am and what my purpose in life is.



Last night, our preacher explained the bridge (cross) to us. If you take a piece of paper, write God on the right hand side and Us on the left hand side. There is a big gap between the two. Draw a line (in the shape of the cross - just the bottom) between us and God. God will always be there for us. Now, at the bottom, you write Sin. It is all the sins in our lives that keeps us away from God. On top of that - Death. That is what will happen to you if you do not repent. Now, draw a straight line from the word Us to God. Only God can help us to stop doing all the wrong things and to repent. He died on the cross for us in order to do that. Now you can put Him on the cross in the middle of that line. Now you can make a mark on that line to see where you are.

If you want to help somebody to accept God, you can explain this bridge to him. Then you can pray for him. First explain to him that you are going to pray for him and that you are going to ask him to pray when you are finish. He can thank God for the opportunity to give his life to Him.

Remember, God always give us a second chance. Go for it.

OUT OF TOWN

I am sure some of you wondered what happened with me? Well, I visited my mom and dad and it was worth every moment.

A friend of my husband went to his beach house in Danabaai and said I can go with him. My mom and dad stays in George, so it was on his way to his beach house.

I surprised them, and boy, what a surprise?! My mom was a flycatcher for a moment and my dad just started to cry. I said to the people at work that my dad just looked at me (as if he could not believe it).

You know, this opportunity to visit them just made me realise how precious family and friends are. I just thank God for my wonderful family and friends.

I am very busy with the month-end recons and will catch up as soon as I have time.

RECESSION THE WORD ON EVERYBODY'S LIPS

Yes, everywhere you go, you hear the word Recession. We had two services at church (which I appreciated), papers, at work, everybody talks about it.

I said to my husband yesterday that I felt it a long time ago. We are one of the fortunate families that do battle financially, but we survive. As the guy at church said yesterday, the difference between recession and depression - recession is when your neighbour loses his car. Depression, when you lose yours.

The moral of the story is:- we had a good life. We bought what we wanted, we lived the life of people not even thinking of the day of tomorrow. I know that was my problem. As I said on Friday, we do battle, not because of what we did, but what the economy did to us. The truth is, we did not think of the day of tomorrow. Now we are all paying the price.

André said that if we cannot pay our debts, we must go and see the companies ourselves. I do have a problem just thinking about it. When the new credit act was implemented, they all accepted everything, when they gave people credit cards with a credit limit of R30 000 (I know somebody who got one), they did not think about it. Now, if that person cannot pay (asking them if he can pay less than the amount he is supposed to), they just said no. Without explanation or thank you for a part payment, or is there some way we can accommodate you by helping you with a new premium, which will be less than the one you are currently paying? How will the people react at treatment like that? With the new credit act (according to them), they will put you on the blacklist if you do not pay the full amount within a certain period.

Were you privileged enough to be phoned because you paid R20 short on your account. Believe me, I was phoned for R20 and I have been told that if I do not pay it before the end of that month, I will be blacklisted. The fact that I did not received my statement, and I just paid what I paid the previous month, did not even made an impression. I have heard of a lot of people with similar incidents.

Now, listening to stories like this, our new credit controllers (who are employed just to collect the money, no matter what), do not always have the interpersonal skills, which is necessary because our people feel beaten. They will just fire you with questions, and if you ask for time or a smaller payment, they just say no. This is definitely happening. I have heard of a person who was phoned by her bank and she asked if she can pay less (which was 3/4 of the amount - say she had to pay R1 000, she asked if she can pay R750), the answer came without hesitation - NO. She borrowed the money in order to pay the bank and for fear of being blacklisted.

You will ask why do I mention this. Easy! If we (as South Africans) must go and see our creditors and they keep on treating the people this way, how many people will go and ask for extension. A few years back, you could do something like this and did not have the fear of being blacklisted.

Another thing he said, "Start with what you have". OK, I have got an over locker, sewing machine, extra TV, etc. How do you get rid of that. I have never been in a pawnshop to pawn stuff, but what I heard, you do not get money. To put an ad in the paper will cost you a lot of money. Maybe we must think and organise with the churches to have the "yard sale" on their premises. Anybody who have anything will be able to sell it there.

Do not buy new things. That is very important. Get rid of all the debts that makes you a slave.

Keep a budget - here I am very guilty as charged.

Well, after saying so much, you must realise just how much I enjoyed it and I definitely listened.

Keep focused and stay positive. We must pray for each other and help each other (maybe you see what another person is doing, that he must change a few things), because if anything, we definitely need each other.

Will talk to you again on Monday, because I am out of office for the rest of the week.

ANOTHER TEACHER MAKING A DIFFERENCE - YOU CAN TOO!!!!

Yesterday, I said I will discuss the other e-mail. The question I asked myself was this: "How many sermons, e-mails, courses, etc. must we attend or read, before we are going to make a difference? Why are we so stubborn?

This teacher honor each of her seniors in High School by telling them the difference each of them had made. She told them, one by one, how they had made a difference to her and the class. She presented to each of them a blue ribbon, imprinted with gold letters, "Who I am makes a Difference".

Afterwards, the teacher decided to do a project, to see what kind of impact recognition would have on a Community. Each student got three more blue ribbons, and instructed them to go out this acknowledgment ceremony. They were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom, and report to the class in about a week.

One of the boys went to a junior executive and honored him for helping him with his career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon, and put it on his shirt. Then he gave him two extra ribbons and said that they were doing a class project on recognition, and the junior executive must find some one to honor, and give him a blue ribbon.

The junior executive went to his boss, who had a reputation of being kind of a grouchy fellow. He told him that he admired him for being a creative genius. The boss seemed surprised and he asked permission to put the ribbon on him. He then took one of the blue ribbons and placed it right on his boss's jacket, above his heart. He then asked the boss to take the extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody else. He told his boss that it is a school project, and the teenager will be coming back to see how it affects people.

That night, he went home and sat down with his 14-year old son. He explained to him what had happened. He said: "Imagine! He thinks I am a creative genius! Then he put a blue ribbon on me that says, "Who I am makes a Difference"." He gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to find somebody else to honor. As I was driving home, I started thinking about who I would honor, and I thought about you.

He explained to his son that his days are hectic and when he comes home, he does not pay a lot of attention to his son. He said that he yells at him for not getting good enough grades and for his messy bedroom. He said that somehow, he just wanted to sit there (that night) and tell him that his son does make a difference in his life.

The startled boy started to sob and sob, and he couldn't stop crying. His whole body shook. He then told his dad: "Dad, earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a letter to you and Mom, explaining why I had took my life, and I asked you to forgive me. I was going to commit suicide tonight after you were asleep. I just didn't think that you cared at all. The letter is upstairs. I don't think I'll need it after all."

His father went upstairs and found the heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain.

The boss went back to work a changed man. He was no longer a grouch, but made sure to let all of his employees know that they made a difference.

The junior executive helped a lot of young people with their career planning, which one was the boss's son.

Remember, who you are makes a difference. We do not have to wait for a disaster before we change. If we love the way God did, we would not have to change and we can make a positive impact in some body's life.

Go for it. You have got the ability to make a difference. We all do.

TOO BUSY FOR A HUSBAND, CHILD, FRIEND

Friday, I received two e-mails which made me cry. I decided that I am going to make a difference, but boy, I never expected it to be so difficult.

First one, the teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students and write the nicest thing they can (about that person). The teacher then took another sheet of paper (one for every student), and listed what everybody had said about that person. That Monday, she gave each student his/her list. They could not believe that they meant something to anybody else, or did not know that the others liked them so much.

Nobody ever mentioned that paper ever again (in class). The teacher was happy because the students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and this teacher attended the funeral. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin, and while standing there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer asked her if she was Mark's math teacher? She confirmed it and he said that Mark talked about her a lot.

At the luncheon, Mark's mother and father waited to speak to this teacher. Mark's father said to her that he wanted to show her something, and with that, he got Mark's wallet (which he had on him when he died), and removed two worn pieces of notebook paper, taped, folded and refolded man times. She immediately knew that it was the list of all the good things his classmates had said about him.

Mark's mother thanked her for that (because he treasured it) and then, all his former classmates started to gather around. One by one, they told her where they've put theirs. One was even in a wedding album. They said that they think that everybody saved theirs. The teacher just sat down and cried.

Friday night, I decided that I am going to love and praise my family with all I have. First, do not think you can just start praising somebody and they will accept that. I realised with a shock that some people are so negative in their way of thinking, that they cannot even accept a compliment, without a negative remark. By the way, that was one of the reasons why I started to work on that specific person.

Imagine, you are telling someone or somebody you are proud of him/her and that you love him/her and that you are glad that person is in your life, and he/she just start saying: "But when or but why, etc. Believe me, you are going to sit with your hands in your hair, and not knowing what to do.

I have decided to keep on doing that, and the reason therefor, we all have issues from the past, some gets over it and some people do not get over it. That is one of the reasons why some of the people stays negative. I need to boost that person/s, so that he/she knows that he/she is a wonderful creation of God.

Sometime, we wait too long and then we have a problem. I am a caring person, who like to hug and kiss. Somewhere along the line, I too, got rid of this wonderful way of showing love. I hug and kiss some members of my family, but the ones who do not like it - I leave them. I am going to start by telling them how much I love them and how much they mean to me.

I dare everybody reading this, start this in your family, if you do not do it. We all survive from love. Just remember, money cannot buy love

I will chat about the other e-mail in my next posting.