Who is God to you?

Who is God to you?
Is He your ATM? Do you go to Him only when you need His provision?

Is God your sour/bitter but essential medicine? That is, do you go to Him only when you want a cure?

Is God your fairy godmother? Do you seek Him only when you want your wishes fulfilled?

Then when all fails who is God to you? A selfish, cruel, heartless, pretentious tyrant???

As for me, God is my 'Oxygen', without Whom I will cease to exist.

Change your perspective and you will see God as He is. Ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your spirit to see God as He truly is. Only then can we have a sweet unassuming fellowship with Him.

Let us soak in His presence every day. In the presence of our King who gave Himself for us.

Holy Easter!
Shalom
Mary

In Tune With God

God created the world and all in it with His Word. But when He created man, He took special interest and care in man's formation. He is likened to a potter and we to clay. He formed man with exact presicion and love. Then God breathed His breath of life into man.

God spoke and brought life into the world. We too must breathe out words that bring life to ourselves, our situations and those around us.

Lord Jesus, help me to be in tune with You every moment of my life. Help me to put You first above all else. Let not my heart rest on anything until it rests on You my King. Amen.

Mary

Creation and All Life Produced and Directed By God

A simple, but powerful truth has meant very much to me this week, as
through it, God has clarified my Vision, Love and Devotion to Him many
times: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and
all who live in it....” (Ps. 24:1) Why so powerful?? Because it speaks
of God’s COMPLETE and TOTAL ownership, sovereignty and power over the
earth and ALL its inhabitants. HE is the One who orders all the
workings of our lives, circumstances and relationships. HE is the One
who determines who, what, where, when and how Life is worked out day
to day. The Government and Final Say-so rests with HIM, not me!! HE is
the One who decides and directs and determines and strengthens and
provides Grace and Love to walk out His Will for our lives. He REALLY
DOES!! So who am I to question, whine, second-guess, accuse when He is GOD and has EVERY RIGHT to call the shots EXACTLY the way He likes!
The earth is THE LORD’s!!! And ALL WHO LIVE IN IT! Let’s together turn
from all the worries, or striking out or blaming or grovelling or
aimlessness or selfishness—and instead, with a Light and a Hope and a
Gleam in our eye, “follow the Lamb wherever He goes...” He reigns
SUPREME!!!

With love,

Mary

‘FREEDOM’ What is it ?

“Just let me do what I want to do!” screamed David.

“Uurgh! I can’t even do what I want to do, no freedom at all! If I don’t get to do what I rightfully want to do, I will not live here. I will pack my stuff go somewhere else!” fumed Martia.

“Everyone is trying to control me. I don’t care if they give me my freedom or not. I am just going to take it. After all it rightfully belongs to me,” remarked Justin.

“What kind of life is this? I can’t even enjoy myself! My friends are enjoying themselves at parties and in the pubs every weekend and I don’t have the freedom to go. I wish I got my freedom…” sighed  Rebecca.

“Oh, my parents are very understanding. They let me do what I want. They don’t restrict me in any way. I can go out late at night, stay out the whole night and do what I want. I just have to tell them where I am going and what time I will be coming back. They will let me go. I love my parents for giving me the freedom I want,” bragged Jeremy.

 “Thank  heavens, I am the CEO of this company. I can do what I want to do when I want to do it. I make the decisions here and all my subordinates follow. I have all the freedom in the world,” exclaimed Melvin.

“My husband listens to me. He does not question me at all. I am so lucky I have the freedom to go where I want to go and do what I want to do. Even if I laze around the whole day he will not say anything. He loves me that much,” boasted Maloney.

Does this sound familiar to you?  ‘Freedom’  What is it really?

Every human being longs to be free. It is the innate longing of the soul which is trapped in the human body since birth. Freedom, freedom, freedom! Everyone wants freedom; freedom in speech, freedom in equality, freedom in human rights, freedom in everything under the sun. Where it is not given, it is forcefully taken by those who are ‘valiant’. “It’s my ‘right’,” they say.

I do agree that it is one’s right to have freedom or to be free. Yes! That is why God gave us a free will. He does not interfere with it. But, at the same time He has not left us as orphans to do as we please. He gave us the ‘Ten Commandments’, sent us His Son Jesus to do the role modeling and sent us His Holy Spirit to guide us. Well let us look at what parents do.

Will any mother give her  child a knife when the child cries that she wants to play with it? Will any father give his child his car keys,  when his child demands that he wants to drive it? What would we say when the child cries and throws a tantrum saying that he/she does not have any freedom? The same mother will give the knife to her daughter when she is mature and knows when, for what purpose and how to use it. The same father will give his son, his car keys when he is older and has got the car license. But, of course before the mum let’s her daughter use the knife or the dad lets his son drive the car, they will show them how to use it, then they will supervise their child’s usage of it guiding them and teaching them the right way to handle it. Parents wait till they know that their children are capable and mature before they give them freedom.  

However, freedom in the hands of an immature person, or a selfish person or one without self-control or self-discipline is unimaginably disastrous. One’s freedom will certainly affect those around him or her either positively or negatively. Whenever I think of ‘Freedom’ I shudder at the consequences which would take effect when we mishandle it. Oh, it is so scary, because with freedom comes responsibility.

Josh McDowell in his writings says thus about freedom, “ To me, freedom is not just going out and doing what you want to do. Anyone can do that, and lots of people are doing it. Freedom is, ‘having the power to do what you know you ought to do’.  Most people know what they ought to do but they don’t have the power to do it. They are in bondage.”

Wow! That is something for us to reflect upon. I suppose that is what real freedom is all about, ‘being able to do what we ought to do with responsibility and self-control’.

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Perspire to Inspire

Everyone born on planet earth leaves behind one indelible lesson for others to learn, out of only two.

1)       A lesson which serves as an inspiration for others to follow, or

2)       A lesson which serves as a warning for others to avoid.

The pertinent question is, “Which one are we going to leave behind?”

We have but one life to live and we better live it well because if we don’t do anything with our lives now and make no effort to make it better, we may be living in regret for the rest of our lives. It would be of no use then, to complain and grumble about how messed up our lives are.

Most of us plan our meals and our recreation but fail to plan the details of our lives. This planning will only be possible if we discover our lives’ purpose. Those with a purpose in life are those who will be able to make a difference in their lives.

Some live their lives sitting down before the television and computer, living their existence through them and then blame everyone and everything else for the failures and disappointments in their lives. These are aimless people who just drift from one day to the next. They will be in for a shock one day when they find themselves at a dead end.

When one blames someone or something for what had happened to him, he is in fact proclaiming to the whole world that he himself is a loser. Yes, he has lost the control of his life to those persons or situations whom/which he cast his blame upon. He is saying that the other person or thing or situation is in control of him and his affairs. Blaming will not get us anywhere.

Having a purpose is like having a steering wheel in your car. The steering wheel steers the car and gets it going to its destination. Likewise our purposes steer our lives and get our lives going to where we want to go.

We should not just be happy with living ordinary lives. We must desire to live extraordinary lives with a purpose. How do we realize our lives’ purpose? Well, we are all endowed with skills and talents and we all have some interests and desires which we want to fulfill. Now if we would only merge our skills and talents with our interests and desires, we will be able to discover our lives’ true purpose which will enable us to live extraordinary lives with passion. Then and only then will we be able to live a life of inspiration and not a life of warning. For that to happen we must work towards it; we must perspire (ie: work for it) before we can inspire.

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Lessons I Learned

It was just gastric pain, I thought, but it became worse on a Monday night. I writhed in pain the whole night and dragged myself to school on Tuesday morning. Seeing my pale and contorted face, my concerned colleagues demanded that I go to see a doctor immediately, but I flatly refused. I was more in a dilemma than in pain as I think back. It was the busiest time of the year, right smack in the middle of the final exams.

“Who will do my work if I go back? I have to submit a number of reports. I have to mark the exam papers. I have to collate the results and prepare the final analysis. I have to complete my School Excellence Module report.” With such thoughts racing through my mind I decided to bear the severe pain and stay on in school. My colleagues had to literally evacuate me from school.

At the hospital I was kept under observation from 10am till 2,30pm and the diagnosis was ‘acute colic’. When I returned home with my husband the pain grew worse. I was throwing up even sips of water. By 5pm my condition grew worse and my husband rushed me back to the hospital. This time they admitted me saying I might have gall stones. A scan taken the following day showed something else. The doctor told me that I had obstructive Para-umbilical hernia and needed to be operated on early the next morning. He said that the part of the intestine, which was obstructed, could burst thus endangering my life. Even then, the doctor said that the operation involved a risk because of the hernia operation which was performed in my umbilical area in 2008. According to him the mesh which was placed in that area (It was secured with 8 swiches and 16 staples) had to be ripped off and that would cause some bleeding and scarring. To remove that, he said, they would have to cut me open vertically and horizontally.

My head spun upon hearing that. Numerous sms’s were made to my family, colleagues and friends in church. Everyone prayed fervently and kept enquiring about me anxiously. My family was with me all the time. Church friends sent out prayer requests and continued praying fervently. Some church friends came to my side to pray that night. My colleagues came to visit and cheer me up. I was greatly consoled and felt immense peace in my heart. I knew God was in control and that I would not need an operation. Although frightened of the unknown, I surrendered the unknown into the hands of my Lord Jesus, thanked Him for my family, colleagues and friends and dozed off. That was the first time I slept peacefully in that whole week.

The next morning my Prof entered the room with a team of doctors saying that the operation will take place at 10.00am as scheduled. Upon examining me he was surprised. (So was I) There was no pain when he pressed on the affected area. He could not feel the hardened obstruction which he had felt the previous day. He told me that the obstruction had moved from where it was lodged. Therefore, he said, that the operation was not in immediate need, but if something like hardened bowel gets lodged in there anytime I would have to be operated on without a question. Therefore I must ensure that constipation never occurs.

It was a time of jubilation for all of us. We thanked God the almighty for hearing the prayers of His people and healing me.

This was a very good learning experience for me. First I learned that I am not indispensible. When I fell sick the work which I had left behind was completed by others. Secondly I learned that by my absence a vacuum will be created in the lives of my loved ones. I learned that, that vacuum can only be filled by God. Thirdly I learned that good health is never to be exchanged for anything in this world. One cannot do anything worthwhile in the absence of good health. Next I saw the goodness in those around me and grew to love them and appreciate them even more. My family who were there all the time for me even when they had to attend to important things, my friends who prayed around the clock sacrificing even their sleep and my dear colleagues who notwithstanding all the mountain load of work they had during the most busiest time of the year, after SA2, chipped in to cover all my duties without complaining. That was the beauty I saw in each one of them and I appreciate their help in my time of need and I owe them a lot. Finally I learned that when God’s people pray in faith claiming His healing, He hears them and healing takes place without a doubt.

I thank my family, my friends and my dear colleagues for their unflinching help in my time of dire need and I thank God my Father Almighty for letting me go through this experience and teaching me important lessons which I will treasure all  my life.

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My Philosophy as an Educator

Life is a non-refundable GIFT. We either make it or break it. I believe in living my life to the best of my God given abilities by being a blessing to all those around me and with all whom I come in contact with. I believe in leaving behind a legacy for those after me when I ‘go back home’.

I did not choose this career by default. I had long wanted to follow in the footsteps of my mum and my aunts and grabbed the first opportunity, when my dad retired, to apply for teaching.  I had a sister and two brothers who were still schooling then. My parents were greatly relieved when I took the responsibility to provide for my family. I was only 19 then.

I have seen all kinds of children from 1979 till today 2010. I have grown wiser too. I used to get angry with my pupils when they failed to produce results, back then. Now instead of getting angry with them I look for the root cause. 

I believe that every single child has the capacity to learn in some way. Each child needs to feel important. Every child has to feel wanted, loved and has to have a sense of self worth or else he or she will not perform. Children do what they see 90% of the time. Therefore the child’s environment, family background, physical, health and other conditions, etc have to be taken into consideration. Given time, every child will excel, but in a different way from another child, if he/she is taught with understanding and heaps of patience. At the heart of every educator, there must be a passion to mould each child without extinguishing his/her zeal for knowledge and without taking away the child’s sense of self worth.

Do results matter? Yes and no. Yes, when it comes to comparing the school with other schools. Yes, when the child does not get into a good secondary school. Yes, when other parents boast of their children’s good results. Yes, if the child is capable but lazy. When we look around the world today, most rich and famous are not degree holders. Who then makes it in life? I firmly believe in inculcating moral values and teaching life skills to the little ones from a very early age. If that is done by every parent and every educator, we will not have to fret and the child will not have to suffer. There are so many ways for the child to make it in life.

Being positive in every situation and having a splendid vision for the future is very important. Complaining and grumbling will get us nowhere. Every successful person has succeeded in life, by having a positive vision and affirming it daily. Our thoughts and words have the power to create our future. Therefore we have to be conscious of what we think and speak. We have the ability to create a positive environment around us wherever we go. We must have specific measurable goals and act upon them without procrastinating.

Learning does not stop at JC, Poly or University. I believe that learning is life-long. Every educator has to continuously improve his / her knowledge by reading relevant books and articles. Times have changed. Every child is born with computer skills these days. We educators, have to equip ourselves with the relevant skills to teach the 21^st Century children.

Finally I do not want to miss out the important people and important times of my life. Today I am here, tomorrow I may be gone. There will surely be someone to fill my post as a teacher, but the vacuum in the lives of my husband and children will never be filled. After immersing myself in my professional duties all these years, I have come to realize that ‘health is REALLY wealth!’ Spending sufficient time with our family is imperative. Taking time to rest and rejuvenate is equally important. This will only enhance our ability to perform better.

Most importantly, I believe that one must always live, move and do everything in God’s holy presence for without Him we are nothing, and all glory and praise must be given to God our almighty Father!

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