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Things we lost in the fire: Are your kids emotionally aware?
I recently spoke to a man who had lost 2 children in a fire that ate up his home and all his possessions. I remember meeting him a few years ago right after the fire had occurred. I was working in the cellular industry and because of the fire, his insurance had to replace his cellphone – that’s where I came in.
Our introduction was a bit shaky… he came to our store to get his new phone and I remember that there were complications and he was so rude and disruptive. I did not know his story. I mean, I saw the bandages on his arms (where he tried to rescue his boy) and I saw the red rimmed eyes, but I looked past all of that, thinking “What on earth is this mans PROBLEM?! How DARE he speak to ME that way!” Later on I learnt about the fire and felt the empathy towards his situation and I immediately regretted my initial perception of him.
How often do we do this? We often judge people based on the way they make US feel, without knowing their story or their pain.
We’re deep in an era where everything is about me me me! There is a culture of utter SELFishness and the scary thing is that it has become the norm. Our children are programmed to put themselves first. Sure, we tell them that sharing is caring but in the same breath, we teach them that they have to be better, look better and achieve more than their classmates do. Are your kids emotionally aware of others?
What about you? Now I am not talking about giving your old shoes to the homeless kid on the corner. Those are very nice things to do for other people. I am talking about considering the next person’s feelings before you speak and act. Being sensitive and emotionally aware of others means showing care and love, without expecting anything in return. It is our non negotiable purpose on earth. I often need to remind myself that I was not created for ME. (Sometimes I need to remind myself A LOT, yo!) We were created for God and for Him to use us in other peoples lives. The rest of the stuff are fabulous perks.
Anyways, back to the customer and the fire. So it’s years later and he brings up the fire and all that he had lost. I was a bit shocked, because I thought the topic to be taboo and a painful one at that. But here he is, telling my colleague all about it, not missing a detail. He then goes on to say that it was a difficult time but he pushed through and that God has been so good to him since then. I looked at this man and thought WOW, I sure can learn a thing or 2 from him! Not only did he feel it okay to remember the fire, but instead of sowing seeds of sadness and regret (to milk empathy and attention) he rather used the opportunity to spark the faith of others – to sow seeds of encouragement! What a selfless act and what a huge lesson learnt!
I don’t know about you but today I choose to take the opportunity to allow God to heal the scars of my “fires” and to use it to be a light in someone else’s life. My world should not revolve around my pain. And my pain should not affect the way I love others.
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Music Monday: Worship Mob – Carry the Fire {And Giveaway!}
Photo: Christian Music Review Org When I first heard the name “Worship Mob”, I felt an immediate intrigue and was extremely keen to hear the sound of this oddly named band. I’ll be honest; the words “worship mob” incite images of a bunch of guys and girls flooding a mall, bedecked with banjos and drumsticks, to render spontaneous worship unto God in a somewhat rebellious way. So, to put my imagination to bed, I decided to Youtube the collective, who hail all the way from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Well, let me start by saying that the band already has over 50 000 Youtube channel subscribers! The sound and musical style is reminiscent of Housefires or All Sons and Daughters and it is obvious that these people love the presence of God!I discovered that the team comprises a collective of worship leaders and musicians who basically started worshipping together, keeping the door open to anyone else who wanted to come and rest in the presence of God. The weekly gathering, which was the brainchild of Sean Mulholland and Garrett Chynoweth, started in 2011 and now they have over 80 other ministry leaders from 30 other surrounding local churches as part of their membership. Mulholland shared that the meetings have always been open to anyone. “We felt God’s leading to create a unifying worship setting that transcends denominational limitations, and to unite the global Body of Christ to collectively experience the deep, intimate, and life-giving relationship that only Jesus provides,” he explains. The team was signed up to Integrity Music at the beginning of this year and recently released their first studio album, “Carry the Fire”, which is what I will be reviewing today.I was pleasantly surprised to find two covers on it – Hillsongs’‘Oceans’ and the Bethel hit: ‘You make me brave’, both of which were done well and although they are a welcome addition I must say, they were not needed on this album. The album songwriters did so well at penning tracks that hold messages you’d want to hear and declarations you’d want to sing.An example is opening track, ‘Satisfy’. Besides the captivating voice of the amazing Gina Milne, the song’s message swept me away as they sing as the voice of the Father beckoning His children to draw close to Him for all that they need. My favorite part is towards the end of the song — a prophetic interlude where the singers literally just let go and allow God to use them as a mouthpiece. I mean, if this is the first song, then I think I really like this band!Track 2 is titled ‘Our Father has won’ and is one of my favs on this album. The chorus breaks something in the atmosphere, with its hard hitting lyric and piercing vocal that sings: “Once broken and guilty/Now drowning in mercy/All curses undone/Our Father has won”.‘More, More of You’ is a worship song that I can definitely see on rotation on a church set list. It speaks about wanting more of the Holy Spirit and has a really catchy chorus, with easy-to-sing lyrics that compliment it. Another worship track, ‘Love outran me’ is a love song that speaks about the work on the cross — how God loved us so much that He made a way for us to have a relationship with Him. It is such a beautiful song.My husband appreciates ‘Love break down these walls’, which I believe was birthed out of spontaneous song. This worship tracks lyric says “Let love break down these walls/Let church go past these walls…” It created a moment of awareness for us of how important it is to take the love of God outside of the four walls of the church building, to the lost and hopeless.I love how this album reflects true hearts of worship – how a group of normal people got together to glorify God, and He turned it into something unexpected! It’s amazing how God takes what you have in your hand – what you are willing to offer Him – and makes something grand out of it, that is able to transform lives and bring people closer to Him! I genuinely recommend this album to anyone who loves deep worship and the presence of God. The vocals are superb and the songs were clearly written from a place of deep intimacy and yearning. I give it 2 thumbs up!Gateway News will be giving away a collection of worship albums!To stand a chance to win, LIKE and SHARE the specially marked Facebook post.This review was originally written for and published in Gateway News
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Happy Fathers Day, okay now here, eat my home made tart {recipe included}
To the dad in our house, from the kiddos (but mom made the card) For Fathers Day this year, my dearly beloved family decided to have a Sunday lunch. It’s one of those kindsa lunches where everyone comes (I’m talking kids running around, husbands sitting by the tv and chatting, wives in the kitchen doing all the slave work) and it’s a bring and share, so each mom brings something.
This year, I committed to making dessert.
Now if you know anything about me, you’d know that this is a big deal because:
1. I am generally not well known for my amazing cooking abilities.
2. I never ever make or even serve dessert at my house. My family treats their 2nd and 3rd servings of the main course as dessert. Yep, we eat a lot.
3. I don’t bake.
4. My family make fun out of all of the above, so I had a lot to prove!Right, so let’s make dessert!
Someone really close to me told me about a no bake strawberry yogurt tart.
It sounded easy enough and no bake, so I was like, yeah!!
But instead of making strawberry, I opted for lemon instead (think: lemon meringue) and I must say it came out pretty darn awesome! I was ready to release my own cookbook and everything!
(And then after feeling like the female version of Jamie Olivier, I googled and found that other people had been making this kinda tart for like, millions of years already. So that kinda rained on my parade, but only until my second helping of tart and then I was okay again).Another thing that I really appreciate about this tart is that the ingredients are all super easy to find and are probably stuff that you have in your cupboards already. I mean, how frustrating is it, when you’re searching for “EASY –” or “DIY –” and all you find are recipes that require herbs only found on the very top of Mount Everest or ingredients that costs you the amount of money you’d spend at KFC (bad example) for a family meal.
Anyways, enough dilly dally. Herewith please find:
The World’s Most Amazing No Bake Lemon Yogurt Tart
Ingredients:
1 packet of lemon flavored jelly
6 tablespoons of lemon juice
450g plain yogurt
1 tin of condensed milk
1 packet of tennis biscuits
250g of butter
200ml boiling water
Those are not my hands Step 1 – The base:
Melt the butter
Crush the tennis biscuits (Clip note: I love how there are tons of different flavors now! I used the cinnamon flavor for my Fathers Day tart)
Mix melted butter with crushed biscuits, to form a nice paste.
Press this into your tart dish and refrigerate while you prepare the mix.
Step 2 – The tart mix:
Add the boiling water to the jelly and allow to cool.
In a separate bowl, mix the condensed milk with the lemon juice.
Then add yogurt and mix well.
Lastly add the cooled jelly.
Pour the mixture over the base and allow to set in the refrigerator for 1 – 2 hours.
I normally make mine the evening before.
And taaa daaaaaaaaaaah!
You can add whipped cream as an optional topping.I wish I took pics of the end result, but I promise you, one minute it was there, the next it was gone!
1 tart gave us 12 decent sized portions (which wasn’t enough for my group of savages).
If you’d prefer the strawberry flavor, then ditch the lemon juice and replace the plain yogurt with strawberry yogurt and the lemon jelly with 2 packets of strawberry jelly. Add strawberry pieces for added awesomeness.Hey, who knew I could give cooking tips nogals!
Hope you all had a lovely Fathers Day filled with food, fun, family and lots of dishes to wash afterwards!
xxxL
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Life with sons: starting a band, baby…
Our kids are weird.
I say this with all the love in the world.
These boys (aged 10 and 13) literally sit and sing together, while playing XBox. And I’m not saying this because they have amazing, Luciano Pavarotti voices. Nope, they just enjoy singing, randomly. They don’t even sing popular, trending, songs… their choice of chorus are theme songs – Movie theme songs, ad jingles, series theme songs.
Them, 6 years ago Sometimes it’s funny. Sometimes it’s “shhh the baby is sleeping!” Sometimes we all join in. (How Highschool Musical of us) And sometimes, I’d be in the kitchen, humming a little tune (and by “humming” I mean “belting out” and by “little tune” I mean “Mariah Carey”) and one of them would join in! As if I invited them! I mean, hello, can you not see the spatula (aka mic) in MY hand?! Is nothing sacred anymore?!
Seth (the youngest) also has a habit of memorising tv ads. He knows all the words, all the songs and sometimes even mimics the actions! Kyle is a movie quoter. He is so NOT good at doing the accents but insists on telling you exactly what the lead actor said, in accent, even though you were sitting right next to him, watching the exact same movie a few minutes ago! He also quotes stand up comedians (thanks alot Trevor Noah) and sometimes says things and just leaves it in the air… no point. No reason behind the story.
Example: “Mommy, so today my friend picked up his pencil from the floor and then I was like, haha your pencil fell…” Okay. And then?
Our first date was a quadruple date – kids entow With all of that said, I remember something a dad of 3 once told us about his boys.
He said “The best thing I could ever have done for my son is to give him brothers.” (Thanks Manny) I was reminded of it this weekend, while watching these 2 together.
Flashback – few years ago: It was a couple of years after Kyles dad and I had split up and I remember feeling a bit disheartened thinking that my boy would not experience the joy (and torture) of having a sibling that is close in age to him. I mean, I love my sister – we are 3 years apart, and I remember many days of playing Barbie dolls together (me cutting her dolls hair in my “salon”… her crying about it) and hey those were some of the best days of my life. So I was really sad that my boy would not experience that. I mean, at best, his next biological sibling would be 10 years his junior. So no playmate for him.Enter: Hubstopher and his boy. I think that the pair came at just the right time, age and height! I found the man of my dreams, and our boys found each other. The 4 of us fit together like a puzzle. (I said something along these lines at our wedding too. And I wrote a song about it. So original.)
So yes, our kids are weird. But they are also extremely awsome! Both sets of moms and dads (on either side) are married with a baby and these 2 have taken to it very well! In fact, they are stellar big brothers to their half sisters and brother and they are amazing step brothers to each other. They have their disagreements but I am so pleased at how well they get along. They stand up for each other, like brothers. They sometimes tell on each other, like brothers. And hey, now they sing together too. So yes, we are starting a band baby, starting a band.
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Feature Friday: Mvokazi Mjayezi-Ncede
On Feature Friday I feature people, products or just random things that I think are pretty cool. My aim is to leave you a little bit more enlightened and inspired! And hey, I’m open to new things, so please hollar at me, if you have any pretty cool FF suggestions.
Mvokazi Mjayezi-Ncede of J-Star BloMag
Mvokazi Mjayezi, or Mvo as she prefers, is one of those kinds of women who are made out of passion, grit and determination!This lady knows who she is and what she’s meant to be doing right now and nothing can sway her! It is something that I deeply admire and is one of the main reasons why I am featuring her today, after a week of feeling like “there’s got to be more to life!”I think that so many of us need to be encouraged and inspired to take a step of faith into our God-given destinys.With nothing but a dream in her heart and a vision set out by God, Mvo left her office job more than a year ago to pursue her dream of becoming a magazine owner. She explains: “I just went for it, trusting God to provide as I go, and He has!”In an interview that I did with her for Gateway News she shared the following about J-Star Magazine: “The vision God gave me for J-Star is that it is a friendship ministry in blog magazine style. Everything about it is personal — a testimony of what my contributors and I have been through, are going through and will go through.” She explained. The blomag is focused on encouraging its readers to reach for the greatness that God has destined for them. “He then gave me the name J-Star, which means Jesus Star. I ran with it after that and here I am today!”
Mvo is not only a dream chaser but also a mom to the adorable 10 month old Khumisani and the dashing 6 year old Kamvalonke. Mvo and hubby, Sinethemba, have been married for 5 grace filled years and together are pursuing the promises of God and not settling for anything less!Let’s see what she has to say:1. So… who are you?I’m a woman of God, a wife, a mom, daughter, sibling and friend. I love being a wife to my husband, and i love being a mom to my kids – I was born for this! I feel so blessed in that I’m right where I’m supposed to be, in every sense.I’m a visionary who likes to push boundaries, and most importantly, I like to translate my dreams into reality. These days I’m all about going after all that God has for me, I want it all and I want it now!2. You’re a feature today, because I think you’re pretty cool 🙂 Why do you think you’re cool?
Thanks..I happen to think that you’re pretty cool too. I would say that I’m cool because I kicked fear to the curb and out of my life for good. I came to a point in life where I just decided to put on a go-getter attitude. I realised that God has got plans for my life and I really wanted to walk in my destiny, so I put my trust in God and sprinted forward.3. What is your favorite thing at the moment?
Other than my family, I’m obsessed with my hair at the moment. You see I have this big bush of an afro; and after years of trying out multitudes of hairstyles, I stumbled upon a hair blog for natural ethnic hair. So now I’m on a mission to get healthy long, natural hair. I have a long way to go, but I’m pretty happy with its current state.4. If you could change one thing today, what would it be?
Ooh that’s easy. I’d stop being lazy when it comes to exercise and just do it, so I can fit into my clothes again! I love what I do, and I can go without sleep for days doing it, but when it comes to my health, I haven’t gotten there yet…lol any tips for me?5. Learnt how to make anything recently?
Lol, I like to empower myself so I’m becoming a bit more hands on with the designing of my magazine. What else?…I’d love to learn to sew. I’ve always loved fashion and have designed tons of amateur sketches that nobody would know what do do with lol, but that’s my next dream that I want to turn into a reality.6. Share your favorite tip/trick:
Lol, like I said i’ obsessed about my hair. So my favorite tip, is putting a generous amount of applecider vineger in my shampoo, mixed with water..it does wonders to cleanse the scalp!7. Imagine we’re your kids 🙂 now imagine you had to share a life lesson with us.
Mhmm, this is a tough one…OK..here goes..don’t live your life according to people’s advice or opinions. Live it as God has called you to live it. People may not understand what God has called you to do, and they always have advice of what or how you should do things..only listen to the instructions of the Holy Spirit, and do things exactly the way He tells you to do them.Following your destiny does not mean that everything will go smoothly, with no challenges in your way. Sometimes the challenges are little pebbles of no consequence, and sometimes they are mountains that can take your breath away. You are already equipped with the tools and the weapons that you need to overcome any, and every situation. You are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus, and you will always overcome.
xxxL -
Dreaming with your children
Recently I was asked to write something for J-Star Magazine about encouraging your kids to be a destiny walker. It really made me think! And reminded me of a great book I read by Bruce and Darlene Marie Wilkinson called “The Dream Giver for Parents.”Living in a world that pressurises us to make the most money, wear the fanciest clothes and drive the snazziest cars, it’s safe to say that our children can be influenced by the superficial which in turn could motivate how they choose their future ambitions. With suggestions that it’s actually money that brings happiness and not walking in your destiny, it’s easy to understand why there are so many unhappy people sitting in offices around the world, not living life to its fullest potential and not daring to dive into the big destiny that has been designed for them. This raises the question:“Are we encouraging our children to dream with God?”
As destiny walking mothers we honour God in our lives by allowing Him to reign in the lives of our children. In the book of Samuel, Hannah dedicated her son back to the Lord. This was a bold and public act of showing that she trusted God’s Big Dream for him and was willing to sacrifice her plans for His. Don’t ever give up on the Dream Makers Big Dream for you and your family – it comes from God’!Authors Bruce and Darlene Marie Wilkinson’s book, The Dream Giver for Parents, explores the concept of allowing your children to nurture their unique God-given dreams. The Wilkinson’s shared seven principles which enable parents to assist their children in discovering their dreams. They also aim to help parents find out how these dreams fit into “God’s Big Dream” for the world.DareDare to allow your children to dream of changing the world! By teaching your children that it is possible for impossible things to change, you are allowing them to develop a thinking pattern that could very well result in them bringing about change. Dare yourself to surrender to God’s will. It is not up to you to create a dream for your child but for your child to discover God’s dream for him or her.RaiseRaise your children with dreams that will bring meaning into their lives! God does things big, and if the dream feels like it’s too big for you, it’s usually the one God’s dreamt for you. When you dream with your children, always keep the Dream Giver’s Big Dream in mind, talking to them about how their dream fits in with God’s.ExploreExplore all the life-areas that your children are good at or that excite them! Psalm 37:4 says to delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. God puts desires in your children’s hearts and as they draw closer to Him, so He will begin to uncover and reveal those desires to them more and more.AffirmAffirm your own belief in your children’s dreams by exposing them to all the available information and experiences that will help them define their dreams! Teaching your child the beauty of humility and self-worth and the thin line in-between, holds a value like no other. Passion.Make UseMake use of every opportunity to help your children learn from role models – both positive and negative! A simple but important truth is that children learn from what they experience. As a parent you are the first role model for your child and as much as we want them to bear witness to our good experiences and character traits, sometimes life happens and they see the difficult times and negative traits as well.EncourageEncourage your child to rely on the Dream Giver as the only guide who will show them how to shape their dreams to fit with God’s Big Dream for the world! As a parent, it is so easy to fall into the unintentional trap of playing God in our children’s lives. It is so important to remember that we are not the architect of our children’s dreams and cannot be everything to them.RemindRemind your children that following a Big Dream requires perseverance, tenacity and creative problem solving! No dream comes true by itself. In John 16:33 the Bible says “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.” We need to allow our children to dream but also remind them that faith, hard work and determination are the waters that allow their seed to grow!Originally written for and published in JStar Magazine -
Music Monday: Desperation Band – Banner
The very first thing that I liked about Desperation Band is their name. Led by Jon Egan, the band was birthed out of the student ministries of New Life church in Colorado Springs. The church hosts an annual student conference called Desperation Conference, with the intent purpose of sculpting a generation to be desperate for God. I love that. I love that the conference focuses on young people and that it challenges them to take, what they call “The Vow” – a vow to live out a devoted life to God and the things of God. The website says: “Desperation calls young people to live in desperate pursuit of God.” With that in mind, New Life Church pastor, David Perkins, approached Egan in 2001 to form the Desperation Band – a band desperate for and deeply in love with the presence of God.Known best for their songs: “Overcome”, “I Am Free”, “My Saviour Lives”, “Here in Your Presence”, “You Hold It All”, and “Yahweh”, the band released their 3rd album, titled Banner in September 2014. The album was recorded live during the July 2014 Desperation Conference and features 12 original tracks; lead by conference worship leaders Jon Egan, Nico Perez and the amazing Gina Milne.My first listen to the album gave me the impression that it is through and through a youth worship album. My second listen showed me that it is a layered compilation, representing the various stages of praise and worship and I found a few worship songs that really stirred me up.It’s obvious that the album was written with students in mind, with song titles such as “Future” and “Fun”. Both are upbeat, spunky, praise songs with the latter being especially interesting. The chorus simply says ‘We’re having fun/Oh oh/We’re having fun/Oh oh!’ I think that this track has the potential to be a hit at youth gatherings. “We’re taking a big risk with this one,” Egan says, “but why not celebrate the kind of love that frees us, gives us joy and allows us to have fun, to ‘dance with every reason to dance, sing with every reason to sing…’”Title track, “Banner”, speaks about God being our banner, going before us, strong and mighty and never faltering. The melody is pretty straight forward and easy to learn. The song was written as an anthem and boldly declares God to be the great I am.“On the throne” was written with Kari Jobe and Jason Ingram, with Jobe joining them on the recording… and, of course, I likey. This is one of my favourites on the album, partly because I love Kari Jobe that much but more because it’s a hard hitting worship song with a chorus that boldly proclaims ‘For the Lord is/He is able/He is faithful/Higher than the mountains that I face!’ The Bridge is also particularly powerful, speaking about God being glorious and sovereign over all. This song is not just for your youth meetings – I can definitely hear the bridge being sung on Sunday mornings as well. It’s one of those kinds of bridges.I love the theme behind “You make a way”. Egan leads this worship song that speaks about God being our hope and strength. He has shared:” This song has been blowing up at our church and at youth events! I think they have really connected with it because it gives a voice to people believing for miracles!” Another worship song with potent lyrics, which speaks of relying on Him, was “We are Yours.” The opening lyric says ‘More transformation/less of the same/More of you Jesus leading the way.” There are many more ‘wow’ factors throughout this song, that speak such truths, that you can’t help but find yourself in a place of hope and faith after listening to it!I really enjoyed “Closer to Your heart”! When I kept gushing on and on about it, my husband laughed at me (in all his musical-geniusness) and said that the song sounds very ‘old school’. But that is what I appreciate about it! The song features Bri Giles and has a really catchy, quirky melody and honest lyrics that simply say ‘All I want is to know You, Jesus/Draw me closer to Your heart.’Another track that I couldn’t keep quiet about was “No one else.” Wow! Co-lead by Nico Perez and the fabulous Gina Milne, this track cut me to the core when I heard the chorus: ‘No one else pulls life from the wreckage/No one else lifts me from under the waves/My God You’ve broken my fall/God You’re stronger than it all.’ It’s a bold declaration, sung in a whisper, with the potential to really minister!Can I end off by lauding Gina Milne again? She leads another worship track, “Multiply” and you can really get the feel of her level of intensity in that one. Her sweet voice really has depth and I thoroughly appreciated the deep lyric on the song, which speaks about giving God every aspect of your life, in order for Him to multiply it for His glory.Youth worship leaders: this album is for you and was written with your young people in mind. Worshippers: you will enjoy the many worship tracks on this album, whether you are a ‘youth’ or not. The live recording was done with excellence, the musicianship and vocals were beautifully arranged and executed and the song writing is top notch. Great album!To end, a quote from Jon Egan: “We’re not interested in being part of the worldwide movement that is modern worship-the albums, the sales, the touring, the photo shoots-because if it starts to pay back more than what it costs you, that’s when it gets dangerous. Worship is supposed to be carried on our backs; it’s supposed to be sweaty, to take some effort. That’s why it’s called a sacrifice of praise. That’s our life message.”This review was originally written for and published in Gateway News
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Professional tips on how to keep your baby entertained
Amidst my supper-cooking and dishes-washing I threw some random kitchen items into a bowl to keep my curlysue busy. I thought I was being extremely clever and one of those cool, hip, blog moms who finds alternate ways to keep their baby entertained.
Well, that was until my dollface emptied the contents of the bowl onto the bed and rather played with said bowl. I still take that as a win though, because the bowl kept her occupied for a precious 15 minutes.
Other things she did with the bowl:
– Banged it against whatever object was closest
– Stared at it as if she was figuring out how to take over the world
– Vomited into itAll in all a good time 🙂
I should write a book about this.xxxL
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Feature Friday: Mandy Frank – Mrs PE 2012
On Feature Friday I feature people, products or just random things that I think are pretty cool. My aim is to leave you a little bit more enlightened and inspired! And hey, I’m open to new things, so please hollar at me, if you have any pretty cool FF suggestions.
Mandy Frank – Mrs Port Elizabeth 2012
My FF guest this week is someone who always inspires me with her compassion and willingness to help others. I met Mandy Frank a few years ago – I’m not sure how – and started following her campaign to be the next Mrs Port Elizabeth in 2012.For those who don’t know, Port Elizabeth is our hometown and as Mrs PE, you become an ambassador for the city and those within the city who are in need. What I immediately noticed about Mandy is that she was involved with charity projects BEFORE all the beauty pageant stuff happened. She was the real deal and rightly so deserved to win the title in 2012. The pic above shows off the love between herself and hubby, Sheldon, on the night of the Mrs PE event. They’ve been married for 7 years and have 1 amazingly cute and Jesus-lovin’ little boy, Matteo who in his 7 years of age is not ashamed to give and receive love and tell others how much Jesus loves them. I love her Facebook posts about her life with her guys (some are kinda hilarious!) and the revelation she receives every day. I think she’s pretty cool 🙂Let’s see what she has to say:1. So… who are you?
Thank you sooooo much for thinking of me. Who am I? I am just Mandy. The Middle of 3 children (all girls) of 2 loving parents. A daughter of the King. A blessed wife and doting mom. A ‘what you see is what you get’ kinda girl. I am very approachable and appreciate the simple things in life.2. You’re a feature today, because I think you’re pretty cool 🙂 Why do you think you’re cool?
Mmmmm – maybe I’m cool in like a nerdy kind of way? Haha – I’m a really good friend. I know this, because my friends tell me that all the time. Then again, I am surrounded by really cool people!! I don’t get upset easily, and the older I get (pushing 30 – #whoop) – the calmer I seem to be. I am liking me more and more actually. Actually, I love me more and more.3. What is your favorite thing at the moment?
Biscuits! ! Biscuits, and Pajamas.4. If you could change one thing today, what would it be?
Anything? Like anything? Peace among families.5. Learnt how to make anything recently?
What was it? Coconut Ice. Matteo and I had lots of fun making different colours.6. Share your favorite tip/trick:
every woman should learn how to swirl ….7. Imagine we’re your kids 🙂 now imagine you had to share a life lesson with us.
What would it be? You can be anything you want to be. Yes! Anything like ANYTHING. And you’re never too young to start sharing God’s love.
xxxL -
Call him Bruce
Photo: US magazine Can I start by saying I really hope I don’t offend anyone 🙂
I’m not a Kardashian follower, neither am I a transgender expert or someone who actually KNOWS Bruce Jenner, but I must say that reading his story yesterday totally broke my heart for him.
Here sits a man, who is so broken and hurt by his own father, that he seemingly lost who he is and mistook it for the need to be the one thing in life he has always been surrounded by – women.
I am not going to pretend to know what is going on deep down inside of him, but one thing I am sure of is that God does not make mistakes. If God gave Bruce Jenner male organs, male DNA and male hormones, then guess what, God had intended for Bruce to be a man.
The fact that he is not interested in being with another man proves this to me.
Surely if you’re actually a woman “on the inside” then your desire would be to be with a man? Maybe there is something deeper going on here…With that said:
Changing your outward appearance will not fix what is going on, on the inside.
Changing how you look will not satisfy the longing in your heart.
I know that there is always hope in a hopeless world though, so…
Today, I pray that through this whole transformation Bruce Jenner begins to open himself up to God. And I pray that Bruce finds exactly what his soul has been yearning for this whole time!#thatisall
