Top Trump

One of the reasons I decided to start a blog was as a result of wanting to say more on forums such as Facebook and realizing that it was not the right space to do it. People can choose to read my blog posts or not.

So it is with the inauguration and the beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump.

My heart is full of concern and shock as we begin this presidency.
Almost daily he has managed to offend, tell half truths, and justify such things as torture  without reasoned argument but just because "it works!"

Duh! Of course it works but is it legal? 

This is a man who stirs the pot. He causes people to draw a line in the sand and he makes many people angry. Myself included!

He has brought people out in large numbers in protest of the ideals he stands for. 

However, the one thing I think he is that stands head and shoulders above all the issues people have with him is this one.

Danger!

He is dangerous for several reasons.

1. He creates his own truth or alternate truth.

This week we watched an interview with Trump where he over simplifies the issue; didn't manage to answer the questions; attacked the journalist who was interviewing him and twisted the truth. All of these points are concerning but I think the most concerning is his attack on truth.

Look at what he said about his own inauguration and the numbers.


. http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/21/14347952/trump-spicer-press-conference-crowd-size-inauguration

This is a very helpful watch and I agree with this premise that it is TRUTH that is under attack.

Trump seems to be a bumbling man who does not  know his left from his right but perhaps there is more at stake here and his path is quite clear and direct. If only to him.


2. Donald Trump has managed , in is inaugural speech, to create confusion around who and what Christianity actually is. 

http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/john-piper-s-prayer-for-donald-trump

I found This prayer for Trump extremely helpful.
I feel strongly that we, who are believers in Jesus, need to speak out against the misunderstanding that Trump and America represents Christianity.
America is NOT Gods Kingdom come on earth and Trump is not the saviour.

Jesus is for ALL people - Muslims and Mexicans, gay and lesbian people, black people and yes even women. God wants ALL people to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus and in repentance and faith come to know the living God and be saved from the consequence of sin.

ALL people.

The us and them speak." The we will sort you out " bully speak of his speech was not only deeply concerning but also deeply saddening.

3. The influence that his actions and words have do not just stay in America.

His sexist and racist ideas create a space for sexism and racism to raise their evil heads and thrive. Living in a country where we are desperately trying to work through the painful , destructive past where these ideals flourished, I find this reality extremely concerning. It is as if because he says it out loud  and with some authority , it makes it ok.

The way forward.

 *Pray for Donald Trump and his government.
 *Trust God because he is sovereign and nothing has slipped from his loving control and plan, even this.
* speak out- protest and do not be silent against evil
* be grateful for all that is good and those glimmers of heaven we see on earth

Civil War is not Very relaxing!

I write this post with a very heavy and fearful heart. I know I must face the truth and turn and face our great God in whom I trust, and yet my heart is quickening as I write these words.

What in the world is causing all this turmoil?

Well, I know I am not alone in my angst and fear and who knows what other emotion. I know that countless fellow South Africans sit in my seat and share my thoughts and fears. even if they have not voiced them aloud.

I have written of my childhood and my views and activism in the days preceding post Apartheid . My activist heart still beats strongly within myself and yet I find myself stumbling and faltering.

This weekend , a dear friend invited me to Stellenberg and to the open garden on show. It was a beautiful day and the gardens were absolutely, uniquely spectacular and thoughtful. We wallked and talked and walked some more. We covered many deep subjects and amongst them was the state of play in South Africa.

She works in the NGO sector and had recently been in a Restitution workshop.  And so we talked.......

The conclusions we drew from her workshop ( which saw the likes of Thuli Madonsela and the like) went as follows...

1. What happened when we had free and fair elections in 1997 was indeed a travesty for the future of our country. We had peace THEN but the cost was and is being felt now because in reality NO ONe paid for their crimes against black South Africa . More than that we ALL sat back inder the rainbow nation sky and did..... well nothing. 

#Problem- reconciliation takes hard work

2. People in South Africa are angry and the #feesmustfall protests are an indication of this anger. This will not go away and we need to sit up and take note.

3. What can we do , as white South Africans , who benefited from the system of Apartheid, to show, give or do restitution?

4. I am viewed as a Settler - when will I become a native?

As I listen to the ramblings of the politicians of the day, I begin to despair all the more. What can be done by those who have power and or financial will, to show and act in a way that helps and builds into the lives of South Africans - broken by our past and present reality.

I came home feeling afraid and low.

Today, Jet and I watched CNN student news and we watched the state of Syria. The visuals show a city destroyed by a 5 year civil war. The images are amongst the mot disturbing I have seen.  Not because they were gross or bloody but because they showed the city, broken and desolate. We watched a BBC history of Syria and tried to get to grips with the pain and struggle of our fellow human beings.

Civil War is not very relaxing!

This was a poster Doug had in the days of Apartheid. Indeed it is not!

Do we approach a similar future?

I dare to ask?

I asked my friend what the workshop proposed. Go and tell white people that they need to stop being in active and they need to realise that they have to give back.

This was her answer. 

And so... I write and say, we who were the privileged need to wake up and do what is right.

And then I stop and turn to my beautiful and great God and ask for his help in time of need. His wisdom and grace to face an uncertain future. Where the likes of Julius Malema fuel a fire that is already alight.

I pray for our beloved country. I am viewed as a settler but I am part of the soil. This is my home yet it is a place where I am a foreigner. That is ok. I have a hope and a home in eternity. My real home and this is the great reminder that I need to apply as a salve to my wounded, weeping soul.

Cry the beloved Country indeed!

The Selfishness of Self

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We live at a time in the history of the world where the "self " is what life is about. Self -fulfilment ; self- worth; self -actualisation ; making sure that the self is whole and happy seems to be a core value for most of us.

No where more illustrated in the  obsession with taking the perfect "selfie."

(Not that it is wrong to take a selfie)

Tim Kelller has written a fantastic little book called " the Freedom of Self-forgetfulness. He penned the ideas but actually God is the origional author and designer of the idea.

It is  a deeply challenging read, if you call yourself a Christian.

The key idea here is that man is so occupied with looking after the ego - the self . How do we do this?

well, through Pride and Boasting!

Mmm, doesnt that just hit the nail on the head?

The thing that is so tricky here as I navigate my own heart before the Lord is not just that I have a selfish and sinful ego but that I have children who have selfish- sinful egos. The obsession with taking care of our ego is not just limited to our own self but if we are parents, we are either helping our kids to recognise that pride and boasting or we are fanning it into fame.

That our children are proud and will easily boast or compare and compete is real and all to obviously prevelant in the world. There are so many oportunities to shine offered to modern kids.

What to do about it and how to mannage it is quite another.

I asked a bunch of kids I teach art to to write me some of the things they are grateful for. 

The list was slow in comming and short. Had I asked them to list all the things they are good at or want to get, I wonder what that list would have looked like?

I think we have been duped! I think we have subtly bought the lie that if our kids have lots of good ego boosts in their worlds through sport, academics art and drama etc, then they will be happy. We say out loud, " Oh no we know that this is not true" BUT we act in a way that we believe it is. I see it again and again. I see it in my own heart and in the heart of those around me. 

Social meda is full of parents boasting and prideful posts of the fantastic things their kids do. And they really are fantastic. 

That is not the point.

I wonder how we are helping our children grasp that Jesus has a whole other agenda for their hearts. His call his BIG and true and it will cost. 

I hope that others who read this might wrestle side by side with me in this very treaturous water of fostering pride and boasting versus other centeredness and humility.

After all it is the Lord who gave each and every beautiful talent to our children!!

Comming Home!

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ig6klFwvSMg/maxresdefault.jpg

He is comming home. We have finally taken the decision to bring him home at the end of the term, not the end of the year. Yipeeee!

He is so thrilled and so am I. 

Life is not exactly straight pathed , now is it?

I am totally not ready - but he is.

I am not settled on anything for certain for our learning journey - he is ok with that.

He is ready!

Thats what counts.

*

Faith enough to stand

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We are covering a series on some of the faithful hero's from Gods word.

Daniel!

A man taken from his home as young teen and lead into captivity where he and his friends remained for the remainder of their lives. Young teenagers offered everything and more that a foreign, godless society had to offer, for Babylon was the center of it all. 

Four young men chosen to sit at the Kings table and share in his delights.

The thing is they already had a king. Their king was and is the king of the universe and so they chose not to submit themselves to the rule of the earthly king but to him who is true and faithful. 

Daniel , a young teenager and his friends, chose to stand for God . First in the small test of food and then later, in the more profound choice of life.

Our teens are not really in a different place. The choices they have to make stand. They have to choose for the king and ruler of this world or they have to choose to stand for God. In the small decisions with their mouths and speech and in the bigger ones of what to do with their feet and hands.

And in the big one which is speaking out about him no matter the cost!

Small choices lead to bigger ones.

Honouring God in the small ones means that he strengthens them in Character and they are able and willing to stand in the bigger ones.

If Daniel could do it  in a hostile world and Gods word proves that both God and Daniel were faithful, then I know modern teens can do it too!!

The Cool Factor- on holding dissapointments with our children

This week we had two of our sons face a disappointment. I guess the depth of each will be revealed in hindsight.

Disappointment #0ne

Thomas is extremely active and to say he loves his hockey is but a massive understatement. He is in a good team at school and he joined up to play club hockey, along with James, this year. This is no small thing. These teens are playing with grown men who are stronger and so the level of play is huge in all sorts of ways.

Over the years, Thomas has played many sports. He has played tennis and squash and hockey and basketball. He is good at them all. He loves some more than others. 

It was the squash , we think, that began the pain under his kneecap. And so a visit to a specialist revealed information and he had to rest and stop some sport. This seemed to help and so we press on, with his beloved hockey on track.

This year, half way through the season he experiences enormous pain under both knees. This time we find a local doc who has an interest in sports injuries and bam . we have it in a nut shell.

This doc was really great at explaining the situation TO Thomas and so we left knowing that he has to cut 50% of his jumping, running sport. This message to an active ADHD boy of 14 feels like a death sentence.

And so we begin the journey of helping him hold is disappointment.

It is with pain that a parent looks on as a child reconciles news and then sits down in it.

My awesome , wise doctor told we that we grieve the losses with our children, and she is right.

Disapointment #two

James is in grade 10 and is a great young man. He is responsible and kind and has owned his faith very firmly and publicly. He is one of the least demanding people I know and is very easily satisfied. He does not ask much but gives a great deal. 

He plays sport and though he loves hockey more he also enjoys water polo. Water polo in SA schools is much like rugby in its cool value and acceptance factor. It gives kids that something that sport does for them. Hero status and The Cool Factor. One can not be touched by this if you play THE sport. For both Doug and I the Cool Factor is BLAH to say the least and we would not hang their with or for our sons.

However it is real and it is.

James has played in the first team this year and he is a solid play. 

There are 11 of them. The second tour is on the horizon and James gets the cut. All 10 are going and " sorry James you are not". No coach explanation, in fact   not    a    word, actually FROM the coach and the teacher involved who has the Cool Factor Naturally. These two young men have come up  really uncool for us.

One would really expect teachers and coaches to practise and grow in EQ especially when working with teens. Thimpact of these experiences can be huge and have devastating consequences. 101 teen work!  I have to say my own personal disappointment at HOW these two have dealt with this is huge and both Doug and I are equally very, unimpressed.

So in one week we get to HOLD another deep disappointment. A really sad one. One that will pass but none the less, that is.

And so we do...

head on and straight up.

I talk and ask and talk some more. Doug talks and ask and we PRAY!! I share our story with a mother who just HAPPENED to be at our house and she tells me that this is not the first time and that the young man last year had the same experience . I hear his name -- Hugo..... and resolve to share with James.

James says these profound words. 

"Mom, of all the people who said something , Hugo came to me and said the most meaningful......."

 " James I know how you feel. It took a while but I am so over Water Polo."
The realness and deep sharing from this young man was admirable. I know that Jamse was touched and pray he will be brave enough to do the same next year.

When we hold our child's disappointments, in Christ , we never hold them alone. God holds them and is working them out for his glory and for our childs  good.

That a grade 11 teen found James and shared pain and experience with him was huge and it was God holding James in that teenage place where adults dare not tread.
Sharing vulnerabilirty is enormous for teens and especially for boys.
I do not know you Hugo but I think you rock young man!

We will get through these and many more disappointments together, with Jesus in the mess.

Thank you Lord!!

The Road has Called

Many, many times in life we are called to journey down a road we never imagined.. The road of sickness..... A certain kind of sickness of the body or of the mind. The kind you read about or hear about and never really think that you might be called to endure.

Or what about the road of broken relationship.. We all experience this one but perhaps we never quite anticipated THAT friendship or that spouse or father or mother walking so easily away.

Then there is the deepest and longest journey of grief. Perhaps that road of loss has called.. The one where a precious spouse or darling child has left this world.

The road we never quite imagined ourselves on has called us and we have to walk down ut.. There is no escape.

How do we do manage to do this journey.. The one that is the most difficult. Un imagined journey?

Today my sweet friend and her family bury their baby Samuel.. He has been with them for just over a year. His broken body could no longer stay.. He was deeply loved, earnestly prayed for, preciously tended and held by Jesus..

Today..... This road they did not see comming they MUST walk down.

In His strength we face the most painful road.
In his grace we step..... One foot in front of the other.
We entrust ourselves to his beautiful care.
We ask for his perfect comfort in those deep places.
We rest in his forgiveness.
We worship at his feet.
We give glory to his work.