LETTER FROM A 17 YEAR OLD TO HER SISTER ON HER 13TH BIRTHDAY

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Noelene

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To my little sister

People can give you advice and life lessons and while these things are all very well, as much as someone can give you help, you have to go out there and make your own mistakes so you can learn things for yourself.

It’s important to create your own life not based on other people’s mistakes but rather your own!

There are so many things I could give you advice on, but I don’t know if that would help. I seldom follow the advice I’m given by others or even advice provided by myself to me.  What I will offer you, my little sister, is my observations on life from my 17 years of living.  I spent a lot of my life being afraid of people, I won’t lie, I still kind of am. Something I’ve realized though, is that we humans are all made of the same components. We all have blood running through our veins, oxygen sustaining us, we are all vulnerable to diseases and infections.  Those are enough reasons to approach another being and not be afraid of them being better than you or you not having anything to talk about together because they, in essence, are just as human as you and also really have no clue what they’re actually doing either.  So don’t be scared if you run out of things to talk about, you can always ask them what they think the meaning of life is.  That is an infinite topic.

Another observation I’ve made is that it’s important to respect people and not judge them.  An overused, but incredibly true saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover”, has it right.  People are much deeper than they seem.

Don’t bully someone.  Also don’t envy someone, by doing that you bully yourself.

Also, looks aren’t as important as society thinks.  If we go back to the human thing inside our bodies we are all the same, it’s just the outside that’s different.  People are beautiful the way flowers are, they’re all different but you wouldn’t say one is  uglier than the other.

So, little one, ultimately my message is that while this is your life to do with what you please (and that makes you unique but you are also full of the world around you) you are connected to so many other lives in the world, some you haven’t touched yet.  I’m one of the lucky ones whose life you have touched and I hope you keep an open mind and heart to welcome the lucky ones to come.

You are beyond the word gifted and so much stronger than the voice in your head gives you credit for.

I like to think you take after our oldest sister in the way you forgive people and love them without boundaries.

You take after mom in the way that you have strong emotions and are so generous.  You take after dad in the way that you are a hard worker and kind to your core.

I don’t know how you take after me, maybe the ‘me’ in you hasn’t surfaced yet, some would say that’s a good thing, but if there is a me in you, you have a long, incredible life ahead to find out!

Love you most

 

 

 

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LETTER FROM A 19 YEAR OLD TO HER SISTER ON HER 13TH BIRTHDAY

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Noelene

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Dear Youngest Sister

Turning 13 symbolises a change in your life, further growth and discovering more and more about yourself and all the wonderful things you are capable of. I have written about a few big points that I try to live my life by, I’m loving life so hopefully these will help you too and you will find bucket loads of love and joy in the world:

Be grateful. We are constantly being told this, but being grateful is a habit that needs to be practised because sometimes we forget to say thank you and think in a grateful way. If you see anything beautiful, say thank you to God. If you are struggling, thank God that he gives you challenges you can overcome and learn from. Be thankful for being able to feel, smell, hear… for example, walking along the floorboards in our house, appreciate the smooth varnish under your feet, the beautiful colour and how you can make music by stepping in certain places repeatedly!

In this way you will find happiness in the smallest things and you will be so much happier in general. Being grateful will bring you so much joy.

Always live in the moment. In every second. Last year I learnt how to do that more. In school it can be quite difficult because teachers and parents want you to focus on getting out of school. School is not just a step before you are ‘free’, it’s a huge phase of your life. You learn so much, so don’t just focus on academics. High School is full of learning curves. Living in the moment also means you worry so much less! This is a good one to remember.

Remember that school is not the best years of your life, no matter how many times adults may tell you that.

Academics are not everything, learning about the world and people is far more beneficial.

Volunteer for things. For plays, for helping in your community, for athletics. One of my philosophies is to put myself in as many positions outside of my comfort zone as possible, even if I’m shy, nervous, a bit scared. This does not mean give in to your friends when they want you to put yourself in danger. Put yourself in situations where you know that at the end of it you will have overcome a fear or obstacle you had and you will know yourself more.

Follow your gut feeling. I learnt more about that last year when I didn’t know the directions to a company and I had a feeling to turn down a certain road… Every time I didn’t go with that feeling or my first choice, I became miserably lost. This is just one example but you will know the feeling when you are put on the spot to make a decision when it comes to friends or people wanting to do things you aren’t sure about.

Rules are for fools, and wise men to break. Finally I understand what this one means. You don’t have to follow all the rules, some of the rules shouldn’t be followed at all. However, you need to know when to break them and be ready for the consequences. Stick by your values, what your gut feeling is telling you is right. Some people and rules in life will go against what you think is right. Be brave and question these.

Be spontaneous. Drag mom and dad or your friends up a mountain to watch the sunset when the idea comes to you or to Silvermine dam. I wish I was there but I promise that when I get back we will go on more of our spontaneous outings! And yes… there shall be food! The unplanned outings in life are always the best.

Be yourself. You’re lucky that yourself is a good hearted, kind person because people will respect you for it. That doesn’t mean that you can’t say things that people won’t agree with. When someone is saying something you disagree with to hurt you or someone else, stand up for yourself and others. Stick to your guns. As you grow older you will learn more about how to do it. Don’t worry; these things will come to you.

That is something I want you to keep in mind. You don’t know everything and you aren’t supposed to. You don’t learn unless you make mistakes, although preferably don’t make any of the big ones that you can avoid and learn from others. That doesn’t mean that you won’t come through them though, you will always learn.

By living to your full potential, trying new things, making mistakes, exposing yourself to things you wouldn’t usually, being brave… you will know yourself more. When you understand, question and know yourself, everything and anything is possible. But keep in mind that that is a process, every day you grow, for the rest of your life. Don’t rush it and don’t worry.

Remember that I will always be here for you, us as your family shall always be here for you. No matter what. You, little sister, are a splendid human being and soul. I am so excited to see you grow up and learn more about yourself. Good luck!

Happy Birthday

Love you to infinity and beyond

xxxxxx

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RESTORATION OF THE PAST

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Noelene

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For my birthday this year I was given two bracelets.  They were handmade by two very special friends.  I was wearing both of them the other day and as I was admiring them the following verse came to mind:

“I will restore to you the years the locust has eaten”  (Joel 2:25)

During my high school career I had almost no friends.  Due to family circumstances I was in a different high school in a different town every year.  I started off in Windhoek (grade 8), Cape Town (grade 9), Durban (grade 10), Windhoek (grade 11) and ended up back in Durban (grade 12).

I was extremely shy and found it difficult to talk to fellow students because I had so little in common with them and my life was just so different from theirs.  I spent a lot of time during school breaks sitting on top of the toilet lid, behind a locked door, reading a book!

My life after school was also fragmented and it was only in my mid-twenties, when I turned back to God, that I started to make friends.

It was very difficult because I was an introvert, had no sense of self-worth and had a huge inferiority complex.  Henri Nouwen once said:

“Over the years, I have come to realise that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection”

As I looked at these bracelets, specially made for me, I marveled at the people God has placed in my life.  The friendships that I have made that are based on reality, love, forgiveness, laughter and tears.  God has been so faithful to me in “restoring” my life and giving me friends.

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This bracelet reflects my love of God and my walk with Him. “ And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ, developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.”  (Philippians 1:6).  It reinforces the knowledge that if I continue to trust God my life will start to reflect the fruit of the spirit – the ‘fruits’ are taking an awfully long time to manifest themselves but I will get there one day!!

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.  (John 15:16)

DSCN2517This bracelet reflects my love for my children and my family. The fact that it is my girls nicknames that are engraved on the discs is extra special. The thought and care that went into the making of these two bracelets made my heart want to cry.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up”.  These two friends have often ‘helped me up’ when I have felt discouraged and defeated.  

God has also given me the most incredible prayer partner as a friend (It took six years for God to answer my prayer for a prayer partner but, believe me, Bertha was worth the wait!) and has filled my life with other friends.  My cry for a friend in my youth has been met with abundance, and the loneliness that I endured when I was younger, is a distant memory.

And then there are three people who are always going to be my best friends because they know too much about me!

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God also gave me a soul mate, my husband, who is my closest friend.

“Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”  (2 Corinthians 13:11)

God is the God of restoration – he is also the God who answers our prayers. 

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  (John 15:7)

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.  (Hebrews 11: 6)

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“IT SEEMED DEAD BUT I LOVED IT”

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Noelene

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For Christmas last year we gave our daughter, Sarah, a Bonsai tree.  She was leaving for the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein in January to study nursing and wanted to take something with her that was ‘alive’.

The two of  us spent a long time looking at Bonsai trees before she finally settled on the one pictured above.  It endured a ten hour road trip to the Orange Free State and a few days left in the car where the temperatures reached into the 30’s.

I received the following message from her last night:

“I thought I’d killed my bonsai because I left it too long in the car when I first came here but it didn’t completely die!  New branches are growing off it.  

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

I like it better this way.  Gives me  a certain amount of hope…it seemed dead but I loved it and still watered it and now there is new life.  It is an example of when people give up on others because they don’t see any hope for them but then someone comes along and sees hope and potential and keeps loving them no matter what…

…and they grow anew…through all the bad, dead parts of their lives.  They push through and are more beautiful for it.

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Her words reminded me of the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well in Samaria (1). This woman was ostracized by people and looked down upon.  In biblical times the women would all walk to the well together and use it as a time to socialise with each other.  This woman came alone to the well as no other woman wanted to be associated with her. She had been married five times and was openly living with a sixth man.  She knew she was marked as a sinner and she had lost all sense of her worth and value and had no self-respect left.  No woman, who had any sense of self worth and self respect living in those times, would have ended up living with a man outside the bounds of a marriage.

Jesus attitude towards her shakes her to her very core.  He looks her in the face, He speaks to her, He does not judge her and He offers her His love and compassion and shares with her how she can have eternal life.  She leaves her precious water jar behind and runs back to the town to tell the people about this Man who knew everything about her.  This Man who saw “hope and potential” in her.  Jesus spent two days in the village and I am sure, that by the time He left, this woman “had grown anew…through all the bad, dead parts of her life.  She pushed through, found hope and her face must have radiated the beauty of God’s presence”.

God sees beyond the bad, dead parts of our lives.  He never gives up on us.

“I have loved you, with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.  I will build you up again…”  Jeremiah 31:3

I read Sarah’s words and my heart rejoices that she has chosen to care for people for the rest of her life…that she has chosen to “love and water” others.

This is the same Bonsai tree that inspired me to change my blog!

https://noelene2014.com/the-juniper-tree/

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(1)  John 4:1-42

Related post:  https://noelene2014.com/2015/01/18/saying-goodbye/

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JUDGE DISMISSES COURT CASE CITING LACK OF FAITH OF CHRISTIANS

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Noelene

DSCN2371One of the most heartbreaking things, for me, about being a Christian is the fact that we don’t take God at His word.

God says “I tell you, do not worry” (Matthew 6:25) and what do we do?  We lie awake at night worrying about the state of our finances, our children’s well being, our jobs … the list is endless.

God says “Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6) and what do we do?  We wake up in the morning filled with anxiety about what the day will bring.

God says “Do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9) and what do we do?  As soon as something goes wrong – health wise, financially, relationship wise – we promptly forget that God is with us and become discouraged and depressed.

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you”.  (John 15:7)

A few years ago I heard the following story about a court case that took place in a small American town.  Apparently it made the headlines of the local newspapers.

There was a derelict building on a plot of land directly across the road from a Baptist church.

It was bought by a night club owner who planned to renovate the building and have an Escort Agency and a pub operating from the premises.

The Baptist folk were horrified and they immediately started to petition against it and started lobbying the local council to stop the plans from being passed.

None of this worked and the plans were passed and building began on the site.

The church folk finally started praying!

They were very vocal in their prayers and would often stand on the border of the property and hold prayer meetings, petitioning God to put a spoke in the wheels and to stop the Escort Agency from being opened.

Alas, it seemed like God was turning a deaf ear to their pleas and the day of the opening of the Agency  and Pub was fast approaching.  Finally, it was the night before the grand opening and the Baptist folks gathered in the church across the road and continued to pray.

During the night there was a major storm, thunder and lightning, hail stones and gale force winds.

In the morning it was discovered that the roof of the Estate Agency building had been blown off, walls had collapsed and the water damage to the interior was estimated to run into thousands of dollars.

The Escort Agency owner sued the Baptist church for damages and loss of income.

The Baptist church denied all the charges.

When the case was finally brought before a judge, he dismissed the case with the following words:

“You church folk should be ashamed of yourselves!  You prayed for months and months that God would intervene and then when He does intervene, you deny any responsibility of Him having done so.  Obviously, the Escort Agency owner has far more faith than all of you”.

How heartbreaking is that and how true of so many of us.

Often we only go to God as a last resort and then we pray and pray according to God’s Word and when nothing happens, we either give up or we do not recognize the answer or solution that God has provided us with.

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THE SORROW OF CHRISTMAS (AND BROKEN MARRIAGES)

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Noelene

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On Christmas day this year, whilst standing in church singing a carol, an overwhelming feeling of sorrow enveloped me and the tears started to stream down my face. No matter how hard I tried to stop crying, the tears still fell.

As I stood there I thought of all those families that were suffering from the havoc and pain that divorce wreaks.The father and husband, waking up alone in an apartment, because he had moved out of the house. The wife and children, waking up in the house, without their dad and husband there, to share in the opening of Christmas presents and to celebrate, together, the birth of our Savior.

All the step-brothers and sisters, half-brothers and sisters, who were sharing the day with only one of their parents because the other parent was busy celebrating with a new family.
As I stood in church, my heart was breaking for all these families.

My parents got divorced when I was twelve and this particular Christmas morning was the first time that my father had been physically present to join in the ritual of opening presents in the morning. For thirty-nine years he had not been present in my life on Christmas day.
Our oldest daughter is nine-teen years old and this was the first time in her and her siblings’ lives that they had their grandfather celebrating Christmas morning with them.

Divorce leaves a legacy of hurt and pain that affects future generations. If you are considering marriage or are newly married, don’t ever think that divorce is an option for you.

I acknowledge that there are some very legitimate reasons for getting a divorce. Where there is verbal or physical abuse, alcoholism or drug abuse or when a spouse has had an extra-marital affair. However, now-a-days, more and more Christian marriages are breaking down and ending in divorce because “the couple have fallen out of love”, “they have nothing in common anymore”, “they don’t like each other anymore”, “they are not willing to compromise with each other”.

These are pathetic excuses to end a marriage. If you, as a couple, are both believers in Jesus Christ and follow His teachings and the above are some of the excuses you are using to get a divorce, you are going directly against what God has ordained for you. If you are newly married or thinking of getting married think very carefully about the following words spoken by God in Genesis 2:24 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh”.

When you get married you take an oath before God to stay married “until death do us part”.

In a Quaker marriage the couple say “until it shall please the Lord by death to separate us”

James 5:12 says “…do not swear – not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your ‘Yes’ be yes, and your ‘No’, no, or you will be condemned.”

Divorce between couples, who love the Lord, makes a mockery of their faith. As believers we are called to develop and grow in love, self-control, servant-hood, grace, patience, humility, courage, faithfulness, hope and many more characteristics. If we are living as believers, and there are no external factors affecting our marriages, then divorce is just not an option!

You cannot be living in love, servant-hood, grace and humility and be considering a divorce.

As believers we are called to have faith “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1).

We have to have faith in God that He will restore our marriages and the only way He can do that is if we are prepared to humble ourselves before our spouse, seek help from a professional, go for counseling, commit to praying together, forgive each other. Search the Scriptures together about what God says about marriage and loving each other. Bear in mind these words in Malachi 2:16 “I hate divorce”, says the Lord God of Israel……So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith”.

Philippians 2:13 states “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” and then commit to memory the following verses: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since, as members of one body you were called to peace.” Colossians 3:12-15

I speak from experience. My husband and I were going to get divorced in our seventh year of marriage. Humanly speaking, the marriage was dead and buried and my husband and I held out no hope that it could be saved. God, however, restored our marriage and this year we celebrated 22 years together. Our children know that one of the biggest miracles they will ever witness in their lives is their father and my marriage!

Love, in a marriage, is not just a feeling. It is an active act of your will – to continue to love your spouse when the first flush of love wears off, when you are irritated or angry with them. You need to actively work at your marriage, pray for your marriage, pray for your spouse and pray for yourself.

God can restore marriages that look doomed from our human perspective.

Originally posted on http://www.startmarriageright.com/2015/01/the-sorrow-of-christmas-and-broken-marriages

Posted in Divorce, Family, God | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

SAYING GOODBYE

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Noelene

 

Sarah driving ahead of us

Sarah driving ahead of us

This morning we said goodbye to our eldest daughter.  She is spending the next four years at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein studying to be a nurse. Bloemfontein is 1 010 kilometers away from where we live in Cape Town.  A ten hour road trip.

We drove up in convoy with her three days ago.  Her sisters and her drove in front and my husband and I followed.  Leaving her behind today was one of the hardest things I have had to do in my life so far.  We left her with this verse:

“The Lord is the One who goes ahead of you; He will be with you, He will not fail you or forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed”  Deuteronomy 31:8

As we drove out of the gates of the University the following verses came to mind:

“For He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways”  Psalm 91:11 and “The angel of the Lord encamps round those who fear Him, and He delivers them” Psalm 34:7

How could I carry on  worrying about her, when God has given His assurance that He has gone ahead of her, that He will be with her and that He will never fail or forsake her and that He has placed His angels on guard around her?  We will all miss her terribly, she is such a major part of our lives but I find peace in the fact that God has gone before her.  She was born to be a nurse and is so privileged to be able to study and fulfill that calling at one of the best Universities in South Africa.

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God, has indeed, gone before her, opened doors for her and “He who began a good work in her will carry it on to completion”.

An empty road in front of us. Our Sarah left behind.

An empty road in front of us. Our Sarah left behind.

As we drove away I was reminded of the hardest thing I have had to do in my life so far. Three years ago one of our children had to have a foot operation.  I was allowed to ‘gown up’ and accompany her into the theater and hold her hand whilst the anesthetist administered the anesthetic.  Once she was asleep I was meant to leave the theater.

That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life.  To walk away from my child, to leave her on an operating table knowing that the gloved and masked man, who was holding a sharp scalpel in his hands, was going to cut into her foot.  I could not do it.  A nurse had to literally, physically push me out of the theater. I would have done anything, given up everything, to be able to change places with her. I, so desperately, wished that it could be me lying there instead of her.  It did not matter whether my daughter had been disobedient or rebellious at times in her life – none of the past mattered.  I was overwhelmed by the depth of my love for her and all I wanted to do was to take her pain away, to have the operation in her stead.

As I sat in the lounge just outside the theater doors, my mind and body numb with fear, I took my little ‘travelling’ Bible out of my handbag. It fell open in Isaiah.

“Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that  brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed”.  Isaiah 53:4,5

The enormity of how much Jesus loved me suddenly became a reality.  He took my place on the “operating table”.   I finally understood that it did not matter how much we had sinned, how disobedient we had been, how much we had ignored Him – none of this mattered to Him.  His love for us was so overwhelming – it saw through all our rebelliousness, pain and hurt. He took our place on the ‘operating table’.  He died on the cross in our place in order that we would have eternal life.

On the campus of the University of the Free State

On the campus of the University of the Free State

 

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A VERSE IN SUPPORT OF EPIPHANY NUMBER THREE

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Noelene

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 “Why are you downcast, O my soul?” (Psalm 43:5)

“COME AND LISTEN, ALL YOU WHO FEAR GOD; LET ME TELL YOU WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR ME. I CRIED OUT TO HIM WITH MY MOUTH; HIS PRAISE WAS ON MY TONGUE.  IF I HAD CHERISHED SIN IN MY HEART, THE LORD WOULD NOT HAVE LISTENED; BUT GOD HAS SURELY LISTENED AND HEARD MY VOICE IN PRAYER.  PRAISE BE TO GOD, WHO HAS NOT REJECTED MY PRAYER OR WITHHELD HIS LOVE FROM ME! (Psalm 66:16-20)

If we have been converted but continue to live in sin, we are downcast as a consequence. (1)

EPIPHANY NUMBER THREE!

(1) Streams in the Desert, L.B. Cowman)

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EPIPHANY NUMBER THREE!

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Noelene

 

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There have only been two major “epiphany” moments in my life – two times when I have literally been stopped in my tracks and have had to re-evaluate the way I think and behave and the consequences of those thoughts and behavior.

An epiphany is “any moment of great or sudden revelation” and a while back I had my third epiphany moment!

I struggle with the concept of grace:  ‘the free and unmerited favour of God shown towards man’.  I also struggle with the concept of unconditional love.  The fact that there is no limitation on God’s love for us and that there is nothing we can do to make Him love us more or less.

In the back of my mind I always have this little voice saying ‘who do you think you are to believe that God, the maker and ruler of the universe, would be interested in you?”

As I grow older and my relationship with God develops the little voice has grown fainter but every now and again when I lose self-control and allow the uglier side of my nature to emerge it shouts out “you are such a failure, so worthless!”

I identify so much with the sentiment expressed by Michel de Montaigne, a French philosopher who lived in the 16th century when he said:

“I have never seen a greater monster or miracle in the world than myself”.

Well, my third epiphany occurred one morning when I read the following words:

 “Why are you downcast, O my soul?” (Psalm 43:5)

Is there ever any reason to be downcast?  Actually, there are two reasons, but only two.  If we were still unbelievers, we would have a reason to be downcast; or if we have been converted but continue to live in sin, we are downcast as a consequence.

Except for these two conditions, there is never a reason to be downcast, for everything else may be brought to God “by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving” (Philippians 4:6).  And through all our times of need, difficulty and trials, we may exercise faith in the power and love of God.”

(Streams in the Desert, L.B. Cowman)

The truth in these words struck me forcefully.  It is when I feel like a sinner that my soul is downcast.  When I know that I am thinking or behaving in a way that does not please God my spirit withers inside me.  When I go against God’s dictate of “love one another” and insist on getting my own way or feel superior to someone or judge someone my soul becomes downcast.

During very difficult and trying times in my life I have known God’s peace and His comfort, the peace “which transcends all understanding” and my soul has not been downcast – my soul has been comforted by His words as I have prayed to Him.

My soul is only downcast when I sin.  It is entirely my responsibility and my choice to have a downcast soul.  As soon as we let go of that habit or behaviour which we know is wrong for us and hand it to God and put our hope in God we will find peace and joy again for our souls.

The problem with that, however, is the fact that it is just so much easier to carry on behaving the way we always have (never mind the consequences!). To change requires a lot of energy and effort but if we persevere we can be confident that “He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion”.

Good habits result from resisting temptation. —Ancient Proverb

The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. —Samuel Johnson

Posted in Forgiveness, God, Growing pains, Life | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

DEATH AS A GIFT

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Noelene

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In the month of December 2014, a total number of 1 184 people died on the roads in South Africa.

During this Christmas period my family and I took a drive one night to go and look at the Christmas lights in the main street in Cape Town. As we were driving along, the conversation turned to these horrific statistics. Imagine 1 184 people dying in one month on a country’s roads.  It works out to more than 38 people on average, dying needlessly, every day.

Our one daughter commented “If we were to be involved in an accident tonight I hope that we all die and not just one or two of us.  I want us to go together as a family”.

Another daughter replied “If that happens, God will be getting five amazing gifts!”

For a moment I didn’t understand what she meant and then it struck me.  That if we, as a family, died tonight God would be receiving “five amazing gifts” in the form of us that evening.

I have never heard death described like that before.

That if a believer dies, he arrives in Heaven as a present, with people waiting in anticipation to receive him as a gift – people who have gone before, as well as God Himself.

I have no fear of my own death but for many years I questioned what would happen to my faith if Steven, my husband, died.  He is my soul mate, my prayer partner, my best friend, the father of my children.  If he died, would I still be able to say ‘God is good’, would I still be able to believe that God is a God of love?  Would I still be able to cling to the knowledge that “His plans for me are for good and not for evil?”

Over the years, as I have spent more time reading His Word, more time in prayer, more time in just ‘sitting’ before Him, I have come to the realization that “Yes”, I would still be able to say all those things once I had finished crying and wailing and asking God “Why?”.  I am not sure how long that period would last, but I do know that eventually I will come to a place that I will once again be able to praise God and find peace in my soul.

The words that He has given us in John 14:27 are not idle words.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

I have sat beside two Believers as they have breathed their last breaths.  The one was my oldest and best friend, Zorena.  She died at the age of 34, leaving three young sons behind.  The youngest son was only four months old.

The other person was my mother who had been ill and died at the age of 82.

Neither of them were able to talk before dying but Zorena’s eyes were shining and she was smiling right up until she died.  My mom had smiled at us in the morning, her face also radiating peace and then she closed her eyes and died a few hours later.  I sat by both their bedsides for a long time afterwards and imagined the welcome they were receiving in Heaven from friends and family who had gone before.

They too, were amazing gifts that God was receiving in Heaven!

Our minister once recounted what a staff member at a Retirement Home once told him about one of his elderly congregants. She told him that as she was passing this lady’s room one afternoon, the door was open and the lady was dancing in her room with arms lifted.  She saw the staff member and called her into the room and said “Come dance with me now because tomorrow I will be dancing with the angels”.

The next morning when the staff member went into the room she discovered that the lady had died in her sleep.

She was dancing with the angels.

God’s gift in turn to us, besides our earthly lives, is the gift of eternal life.

“…the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 6:23)

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