The Story.

It is Easter time.
It seemed to have spun around so quickly this year.I have found little time to reflect and little time to prepare and I don't like that. So this week I began to read the Easter story again. I read from Matthew mainly and a little from the other Gospels. I decided to tell the children the story of Easter rather than read it to them. In this way we could all add in and each child could understand the story for  themselves. When children grow up in a Christian home, I see one of the challengers being to keep the true story of the bible alive for them. I guess as Jesus lives in and though us he is carried on out into our homes for them to touch and taste and really experience. But , for me, I love the bible and I really want the words to be a treasure to them too. So, hence the story telling  this time around!!

Some things that struck me about my time spent reading. One of them was this thought. Judas BETRAYED Jesus and Peter DENIED Jesus. Two people who walked and lived with Jesus. Two people who saw him perform miracles and teach profound truths. And yet two very different responses to him. To betray someone is a really big deal. it has a ring of trickery and receipt about it. It smacks of plotting and planning against someone for selfish gain. To deny someone is also a negative term. It also has a smell of walking away from someone or of not standing by someone in a moment of need. People betray and deny each other all the time. These two disciples were no different. In Jesus need there was betrayal and denial. And yet when we look more closely at Judas and Peter we see two very different men.

 Judas was confronted by Jesus  at the Passover meal with the truth that someone would betray him. Judas asks Jesus if it is him and when Jesus acknowledges that it is, not even this truth stirs Judas to act differently. His heart is not stirred. There is not struggle over his decision to act. He simply leaves the room and meal and acts!! In so doing he Betrays a friend and a man he has known. Betrayal is a wicked thing.

Peter, on the other hand, professes his unwavering commitment to Jesus and claims even if the others leave Jesus, he never would. When , in the end , as Jesus predicts, he denies Jesus not once but three times, Peter is filled with sorrow and shame and weeps for his sin. In doing so he recognises his predicament. He is humbled. Judas , by contrast, although filled with guilt, does not hang around to see the glorious end of the story - Jesus resurrection - but goes of and commits suicide. Judas takes things into his own hands. He tries to right the wrong by returning the money to the rulers and then in hopelessness acts again.

Two men ; two responses to Jesus and two very different outcomes.

For Peter, Jesus has a personal and real restoration plan. When the resurrected Jesus returns to his disciples he purposefully and personally reinstates Peter.

The Easter story is such a personal story to me. I love this time of year. Jesus' death and resurrection for me is real and he is alive and thrillingly at work in my life. And yet that is not all this true story is about. That Jesus has called me to be a part - a small part - of his BIG and wonderful redeeming story, is something that really blesses my heart. God's call on our lives is not just about me and my story , although it is in part. But it is so much bigger than that. In the Easter story Jesus says " All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me". This statement from Jesus about who he is and what authority he has been given really blows my mind. he is God - the king of the entire world and the universe and he is in charge. Lovlingly ruling and working out his purposes for mankind, and indeed the world. He is. He is real. He is alive. he is at work. He is in control and he is loving and saving and changing people. People who deny him. It is so very easy to be condemming of Peter and yet if I think of my life and how many times I deny Jesus , well I am indeed a Peter. I deny Jesus and his power and his Lordship every time I choose to do things my way. I deny Jesus and his faithfulness every time I doubt and lack trust. Jesus is forever forgiving and kind and alwasy lifts us up and reinstantes us - us Peters!!

I am so thankful for the cross. I am so thankful that we can worship him freely in our own lives and as a church. I am so in awe of his love and his work and his forgiveness. It is a joy to serve him.

If you are not yet a part of God's world wide family of people who know him and live for him then can I commend the Gospel of Matthew to you.  I pray that Jesus will become real to you this Easter and that you will be saved. Amen

Which way now?

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What to do with the really "big" decisions in life?

This term has turned out to be one of those terms. You know the ones I mean? It has been busy beyond busy with each child's life full of this and that. My life has been full of good working times and crazy mom times and Doug has been so snowed under. You do know the kind of term I mean!

In the midst of all this we had some very big decision to make. It is time to choose a high school for our first born.

For those who have gone before me on this journey, please bear with me. 

I have found this a very stressful time full of ifs and buts and what about, questions. We have had to make a decision based on all sorts of unknowns . It is a time when everyone is talking school talk which confuses and panics the soul. I have felt like a yo-yo being pulled up and down, jerked back and forth. 

In Cape Town we have serveral very good schools to choose from which in some way makes the choice more difficult. 

Where to start?

I guess the best advice we had was to start with our son. What kind of a kid is he and what would suit him best. I like to extend the idea that we need to find a school that suits our child well though. It became clear to me that the school needs not only to suit the child well but it also needs to fit the family. A child, family fit is what we landed up searching for. 

The criteria for a good school ( not the best school ) for us looks something like this....

1. A school where James can be who he is - not humanism or individualism but freedom to be who he is. That is a school where he can be chrisitan

2. a school that encouraged and grew him in an obvious way as a chrisitan young man, would be a bonus

3. A school where he could learn and be educated well and holds learning high

one that values learning

4. a school that has some ( not every) good sport for all children and all abilities

5. a school that has some outward focus

6. a school that offers music

I would like to say that all this has been easy and plain sailing. We are not yet out of the woods. I know that James will do well at any school he goes but that is not the only measure of a high school for him. 

Whenever I write, you dear reader know that I can not possibly write about life and these experiences we have devoid of Jesus and the impact he has on me.. on us as a family. 

In all the anxiety and stress and confusion this one thing remains constant.

Jesus knows James. he made him and has called him according to his good purpose and he has the school settled already. All I have to do is do the work of applying and then pray and trust. 

Why is it so hard to do this. It sounds easy but in real life it is hard. My self wants to sort and solve. Plan and prep. But Jesus wants me to ask him and rest in him and trusut him. Even if the end result does not seem to be the one we choose.

And so... we wait and pray and ask for trust so that we can rest in our great God. I am remeinded that God's big story is our story .

to be continued!!

Becoming all things Maths

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Becoming all things Maths

This year our school entered the top Maths pupils into an international maths competition. Our eldest son James was entered along with some of his friends.

There were 250 children from around the Western Cape, South Africa. We though it would be a great opportunity to have some more maths experience and enjoy time doing something he loves.

We never in our wildest dreams expected him to actually make the team.

Round two came along and James was selected.

Then the call….. Your son, James has been selected to represent your province and country in the Bulgarian IMC – International Maths Competition.

And so there it is. Our minds were totally spinning with shock and delight. What an experience. The team of 4 boys get to travel to Bulgaria with the chaperones fromhttp://www.elkanah.co.za/

16 children were selected from the 250.

The spend 7 days away where they will be eating, drinking and doing all things maths.

As Christians we are so aware that God has blessed James with his special Maths thinking brain. He is a hard worker and he has enjoyed excellent maths teachers over the years at his school. Each has built another block in his exceptional experience of Maths. Things like Living Maths which is offered at school also played a part in building all things maths.

We thank Jesus for this opportunity for James. He has a good friend who also made it and so they will travel together. Another school friend is off to Hong Kong. Three boys in total made it from Sweet Valley Primary which is another testimony to the excellent maths teaching at this school.

All things maths !

All things Maths is the motto for the term ahead. We have some serious fundraising to do as a family. We need to raise about 

R20 000 .

We met last night with the other two families and thrashed out some great ideas for raising funds.

The boys are part of this process. They are going to be so enriched and grown by this entire experience.

One of the things that thrills me about this strong Maths gift in James is that in the greater South African context, our country desparately needs people who are strong in Maths and Science. Coming from such a broken history, we would be thrilled if God were to use our James in a powerful way in this beautiful land of ours- South Africa – For His Glory!!

If you would like to donate some money towards all things Maths and James’ journey, please let me know on Caren.falconer@gmail.com

Creativity reflected

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Today we visited the Cape Town Design Indaba. Each year , for the past three years, we have taken our boys to the indaba. it is the one thing we try and get to visit. The wonder and creative ideas that fellow South Africans display in their creations is truly fantastic. This year was no different. There is something for everyone. We love to start somewhere, anywhere and then weave our way through the different passages. This year Doug went off with the two reluctant viewers in one direction and I went off with the other two, in another. We began with the young innovation section. Jethro, our youngest had so much fun looking and chatting about the bead work, the beautiful paper jewelery,  The hand made necklaces and the art exhibition - my journey in a suitcase. We looked at each one and read the name of each and decided if they were really any good. The best suitcase was the one full of smelling bottles. Tiny bottles , each with a different smelling something in it and each meant to bring to life some memory linked to a smell. A great idea.

We loved the fashion especially the Lesotho Blanket creations. We saw cardboard furniture and plastic sculpture. We met an old acquaintance who has made the most beautiful bags out of tyres.The use of recycled things is becoming more and more poplar and yet I think and hope it could be a lot more prevalent.

We saw Mohair blankets in shades of colour that boggled the mind. Soft and feathery, light and almost edible.

We saw bags in felt and fabric. We saw puzzles in board that fitted together to make a shape like that of the endangered Rhino - to be used and in doing so remind us of our job - to take care of God's creation.

All this and much much more......

The art of thinking and creating in an aesthetically pleasing way and at the same time functionally workable way, is in my opinion an art - in itself a gift from the one who is the source of all creative thought. He is the one who was the first to breath life into anything and from nothing make something. God is indeed the great designer. The master designer and the ultimate creator.  I am always reminded , when we visit the Indaba, and when we see all the clever and beautiful things our fellow South Africans plan and make; I am always reminded of God. The one from whom all things beautiful come. He is the one who began to make and he will the the last one to create all things new, again. Thanks be to God for creativity, art and the ability to think and make. In doing so we reflect our God image.

To make and create. To think and build. These things come from him. 

Thanks be to God.

In search of Radical Love

I have always enjoyed the idea of being totally and unconditionally loved. Thoroughly loved and adored is something that I really think I have longed. I think that this desire is not peculiar to me alone and I wonder if behind little girls dreams of a prince and a love story to go with it lies this one , enormous, unrealistic desire and hope. And behind it stands a question.

Am I desirable?

Will any one really care for me deeply and wholeheartedly?

Am I loved?

am I accepted?

 

The answer to these questions depends on the people in our lives and our circumstances. Beginning from our parents and going on into friendships  and then on, to marriage ( although not everyone gets married).

So the answer for each of us will be very, very different.

Love is a beautiful thing. 

God is the source; the begining; the origon of love. God is in himself love. He is love. In other words he is in his very nature- love. He is consistantly, continuously , always loving. 

Who is he loving? Well, he is loving us.

God has lavished and does lavish his love on us every day and all of the time. He has given us his word, the bible which is a fresh and available daily source of love to us. When we read God's word to us he is communicating his loving heart to us. His word is active and alive. His word is life changing and when we read it, we come face to face with God himself.

And he is love!

The very first commandment tells us to love God with all of ourselves. All our of our mind, all of our soul and all of the strength we have. We are to LOVE him. 

The thing is we can not love God and we dont really want to. But because he is the source of love and he is love itself, he loved us first and because he says "I Love You!!" we are then able to love him in return. His love motivates us to love him in return.

You might be wondering well, how in the world do we know that the God of the universe loves us. Surely we see love. 

The very clear answer to this kind of question is this. God loves us and they sure way we can see this love is to look at the cross. Jesus died on the cross and he took our disobedience onto him- our sin- and in doing so he died in our place. Jesus loved us so very much. His love motivated him to go to the cross and his action there demonstrates his commitment and his deep love towards men, women and children. No matter who we are, Jesus died for us. No matter what we have done. Jesus died for us.

He loved us.

I wish I could show you ... truly show you how deeply and truly Jesus loved you by going to the cross. If you read the accounts in the gospels you will see that his going to the cross was a very painful experience for him. Not just the actual death because you can imagine the horror of the torture and the beating and finally the long and slow actual tormented dying. But more then that..... deeper than that.... Jesus separation from HIS father because he had taken onto himself the sin of mankind . God can not commune with those who have sin and so he cut himself off from his only son... from himself...

The pain and understanding of this is expressed in Jesus praying to God and begging him so take the cup of suffering from him - but not my will  , not what I desire but rather what you do my father.
and so we see Jesus the man and Jesus our God go.......
In doing so he lavishes love on each one of us who do not deserve his love and kindness.
he gives to us willingly, freely and compassionately that which we can never grab or earn or demand .

When we grasp the gospel- the true and life changing story of the cross- we experience as individuals, Gods real and never ending love.
His real and never ending love towards us actually began in the garden of Eden when sin first began. God promised the first of many promises. he would fix the mess that sin had brought. he would heal and sort out the broken relathionship between man and God and between man and fellow man.
God would do it.

and he did.....
When we understand God's plan and purpose in Jesus. His love and forgiveness towards us
then we can begin to understand real love.
God's love makes sense of love.

This love then makes sense of his command of us to love him.

Because God loved us first we are set free to love him back. 

Every time you feel or say " I love you Jesus" we could actually say

" I love you too"

because God actually says" I love you", first, we can respond and say "I love you too"

This truth I pray would grip my heart as I really come to grasp God's acting love for me. 

I pray that my love for God will be a priority in my life. I ask God to please give me love towards him. I long to have Him and thoughts of him in my mind; I long to more and more be drawn to spend time with him; I long to demonstrate my love for God by loving others and I long to enjoy God and be satisfied in him. ( these ideas are based on Beth Moore - Breaking free)

These are big prayers. These are radically ideas. These are God ideas. 

Being loved by God is radically and being set free to love God back is profound. God's love motivates love- towards him and towards others. 

I have found radically love. I would like to recommend it to you.
Jesus is able and willing to love you- just as you are - warts and all. He invites you into a loving relathionship with him. He has done the work to make this possible and he is calling you to take hold of his offer of continual, life changing ; adoring love.
Will you come.