Professional Corpse For Hire

Whilst watching some of my favorite crime series I had a stroke of genius. . . I am going to move to Hollywood and become a professional corpse.
Come on, its a genius profession.
Movies and sitcoms always need a dead body. .. imagine being paid to lie down and act dead? that is pretty awesome. And no lines to memorize nor practice how to articulate and enunciate properly. . . is an epic job and you get to hang out with sometimes famous actors. . . its truly awesome.

It might be taxing and take some practice to lie there and limit how visible my breathing is but I am pretty sure I can learn to play dead. I mean if my dog can be taught to play dead, surely I can master the art. Oh wait, I don't own a dog anymore. . . and my cat, well lets just say he sleeps in his litter box instead of pooping in it....so that would render him unteachable.

But it sounded great in my mind, perfect job opportunity. The reality of long hours lying still, lame limbs, sore ribs from restrained breathing and acne from thick stage make-up might be a different story.

It's never as easy as it seems, is it?

Kind of like in Christianity. We all share the over-shared saying, "the problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar." but truthfully we all struggle. We have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live but Christ in me. My old man is dead and I am alive in Christ, living by the Spirit. . . the problem is my old man hasn't received the memo or if he has, he is truly an awful actor and would never get hired as a corpse.
But thank God for His grace, patience and forgiveness.
Maybe my next role shoulder rather be for the walking dead, than a corpse?

Timing is everything

It is funny, both funny "ha ha" and funny peculiar how timing can affect and effect everything. We as finite earthly beings are completely governed by time, and schedules and our watches. On the flip side, God is completely outside of time, knowing the beginning from the end and operating in ways the are greater than yet woven into our concept of time....confusing...most of the time, yes! awe-inspiring, for sure!

As I said we are completely governed by time. We have our days planned, usually starting with an alarm clock to announce that it is "time" to get up. Our morning schedule is governed by keeping an eye on the time to ensure we are out the door and heading to work on time. Our work schedule is governed by time, even if it is longingly eyeing the clock waiting for our lunch hour. We complain that we don't have enough time to do xyz or meet with so-and-so. We are always wanting more time, more hours in the day or longing for our leave time, when we have hours of doing nothing. We grumble when things happen at an inopportune time for us. If we don't grumble about it, we laugh about it, sprouting cliched sayings like, "Murphy's law" when bad things happen at bad times.

Recently my toilet has been struggling to flush because somebody had thrown cement down it a few months ago, just before I moved in. It is a frustrating situation that keeps recurring. I had just lodged a complaint with my landlord again, only to be informed that the maintenance person was on leave and it would be attended to in a week's time. typical bad timing, toilet starts to clog when maintenance is not available to deal with it. and of course because bad things happening at bad/inopportune times seem to trend in life, in general....I also, during this week of waiting, caught a stomach bug that left me with the worst diarrhea that I have ever encountered in me life....Murphy's law.

The word of God speaks about how there is a time for everything, in Ecclesiastes 3. Time defines so much.

The good news as I stated before is that God has this, He knows the beginning from the end. He is outside of time and not governed by time YET he is able to move within time to fulfill His plan and purpose for our lives. And I can honestly say from many different experiences, when God steps into our time zone and connects the dots in His perfect timing [not in what we think the perfect timing should be], it is miraculous, awe-inspiring and leaves us stunned but incredibly grateful that we chose to wait on His timing. For not only is He good, not only is He loving and all He does is motivated out of these attributes, BUT He is timeless and therefor knows when perfect timing truly is.

So my encouragement for all of you heading into 2017 is this . . . stay in step with His Spirit....don't run ahead or lag behind, take His hand and walk by His side.
Galatians 5:25 [The Voice]
Now since we have chosen to walk with the Spirit, let’s keep each step in perfect sync with God’s Spirit.

What is age? just a number?

Today is a significant day in my life. It was on the 8 January 1995 that I decided to commit my life to Jesus, and submit to His Lordship. 22 years ago.

As I inch/crawl near to the 40-year-old mark [it is looming a few short years away]. I am tempted to start telling people my age not in relation to how long I have drawn breath but in relation to when i truly started living life in abundance, the day I committed my life to Jesus.

It's a more flattering number to vocalize.

Truthfully, even though I was drawing breath before then, I truly only came alive at this moment. Not in a cliched over-quoted phrase type of way. But in a genuine, my life was never the same again type of way. It has been an adventure and a half.

In our physical years, and in our spiritual years we all have expectations and milestones we hope to achieve. In the family culture that I grew up in, 21 was a coming of age, finally old enough to fully be considered an adult, to hold the keys to the house etc. It was a milestone and a mark of growing up.

The older I get, the more I am aware that just because technically I was an adult, that didn't make me mature.  The same expectation spills over year in and year out in my spiritual growth and walk with God.

I  expect to be more at peace, or more blessed/prosperous. I expect to be more mature. I expect to be more whole, have less issues. Have my issues effect me less. I expect to be mature in Christ, and displaying godly character. [if you drive with me and witness my road rage, you will know that Christ like character is not always my strong point.]

Depending on which church you attend and which doctrine's you have been exposed to along with you own thoughts and ideals . . . these expectations bombard us, and truthfully usually deplete our faith instead of building it up.

What I have realized is this and simply this . . . I Am His. I Belong to Christ and His desire/love is for me and He is always with me.

I am so glad that true biblical values are not shaped by society, social media, self expectations nor the expectations of leaders or family or friends.  Everything God ordained for us is simply rooted and based in love.

So I stand a 22-year-old Christian, who will love him and serve him with all my imperfections because He loves me with all my imperfections. . . as for maturity.... its over-rated... but wisdom is a pearl to search for  and treasure.... Here's to another new love filled, adventure packed year of knowing Christ.

And so it begins....welcome to 2017

It is the 3rd January 2017 and already I can say, "Wow! What a year!" and its only just begun. This makes me wonder what else could possibly be in store for the rest of the year.

Since 2017 has begun I have traveled 17886 kilometers or 11115 miles [approximately]....true story. I have passed through 3 States in the United States, one North African country [Senegal] before touching down in Johannesburg, South Africa and finally making my way home to Durban, South Africa. I have crossed 7 time zones, my poor body is confused and doesn't know what day it is nor what hour it is, but i think i am somewhere in the future.

I started 2017 in ice and snow,  when I landed last night in Durban and it was roughly 26 Degrees Celsius / 78 Fahrenheit and that was at 11 pm. I shed my snow jacket and boots and turned the fan on to attempt to sleep in the warm, humid air. Today was cooler and raining. Yes, SNOW, HEAT and RAIN all in the first 3 days of 2017.

I had spent an awesome Christmas with my "American" family, in Maine, and had to say my good-byes, returning to sunny SA and back to work already. My phone decided to break itself, my toilet seems to be wanting to clog up. My swimming pool seems to be turning green. My cat is fluctuating between a ignoring sulk and demanding attention.

I left 2016 and South Africa, with one suitcase, I entered 2017, and South Africa with 2 suitcases laden with goodies and lots of awesome stuff, including many things that I need to pursue some of my dreams and passions, and also with deepened relationships and bonds.

I am already bombarded with both inspiration and revelation, with plans and dreams and visions mixed with the heavy dose of reality and the mundane routine of the work place. Though that being said, I am hearing some of my bosses plans and its definitely looking like work might become less than mundane....

So ends days 3 of 2017, a year that has already been full to overflowing. . .it will be interesting to see what all God has in store for the rest of the year.