REDEEMED PIONEER

The seven-year-old slammed the car door so violently that he attracted the attention of even the unsuspecting pedestrian passers by in the road outside the gate.    They gawked in alarmed, stunned silence.    But the initial shock was soon replaced by expressions of distinct disapproval and even opiniated under-breath mumblings, sufficiently audible to the little ears of a little boy with a giant broken heart.    THAT LITTLE BRAT NEEDS A GOOD THUMPING!    People are programmed to be inconsiderate, insensitive and indifferent individuals.    At school, this boisterous little boy was relentlessly dismissed, mocked, bullied and berated and, deep inside him, it bred a bold belligerence to compensate for and protect his broken heart.    The young mom of four did not thump her son that day.    Instead, she took him to her bedroom where she minimised all the overbearing stimulation, put on his favourite music and allowed him...

  The cutest baby boy was born earlier tonight, weighing in at 2.99kg!    In just a heartbeat the long wait was over and my baby girl became a mommy and my beloved youngest son-in-love became a daddy for the very first time. On 30 July 2024 I posted CELEBRATE 731 DAYS! and today my beloved hunkingly handsome silver-haired husband and I became grandparents 4.0.    He is still  OupaAssie  and I am still Nana.    Munchkin, Boo and Pie now have a brand new little (boy) cousin, Stitchie. The truth is that life didn’t really find a way, but rather that the One Who IS the WAY, TRUTH & LIFE blessed us with new life.    Thank you, Lord!    Welcome our precious little Alex de Beer!    Tomorrow we will celebrate with your uncle Jack and his beloved aunty Megan in East London as they get married exactly five years after their relationship first started.    On Sunday morning we will head back home to Bloemfontei...

  WALKING WITH PURPOSE OR WANDERING AIMLESSLY? Ke Sontaha hape!     It is Sunday again!    Neo and his friends get to go to the large Afrikaans church again tonight.    For several months now they have been faithfully attending the English services on Sunday evenings and Nandi, their guardian at the childrens’ home, drives them there in a minibus.    Initially for the first few months, elements other than the ministry fuelled Neo’s curiosity and eagerness to attend.    The sheer size and luxury of the building and its amenities.    The free popcorn and the amazing drinks station where he could drink as much of whatever his heart desires without any supervision.    But ever since pastor Ben gave them each their very own NIV Bible, Neo has noticed a change starting to happen in his heart.    Suddenly, unlike before, he is not just merely going through the motions of animating  Dominee  Bob’s 77 ...

  Two weeks ago I published DEAR DIARY, a reflection on the diary entries for 27 September going back 9 years, starting in 2015.    Today is 27 September 2024, and at 07:07 this morning, my precious, PERFECT & precocious Micah is exactly 6 years old.    On this day six years ago, I was wide awake by 01:30 and decided to get up and bake cupcakes while I wait for the good news and that first picture of my first grandbaby.    At 07:39 my goofy firstborn son, Daniel, sent me a picture of the left hand of his newborn son making the Star Trek Vulcan sign for LIVE LONG AND PROSPER.    Truth be told, I had to look it up as I am neither a Trekkie fan nor do I believe that any created being can determine the longevity and prosperity of another.    But I have come to cherish that cute hand picture, and for this reflection today, I took another hand picture of the same little hand, now 6 years later. In mathematics, the number 6 is consider...

Red.    Orange.     Yellow.     Green.     Blue.     Indigo.     Violet.       The colours of the rainbow.     Today we celebrate Heritage Day in my beloved rainbow nation of sunny South Africa and I would like to share my reflection on this particular holiday.     I really enjoy the idea of using the bright colours of the rainbow as an analogy to describe the diversity of our beautiful nation.     In simple terms, bright rainbow colours are formed when sunlight is refracted through water droplets or even artificial light through a prism.     However, when the colour white is added to rainbow colours, it distorts the original colours and diminishes its brightness, red becomes pink and the other colours become pastel colours. South African heritage refer to a comprehensive set of elements (such as knowledge, tradition, language, culture, artifacts, monuments, values and iden...

Excerpts from the bittersweet diary entries (on 27 September, spanning 9 years) of a mother, mother-in-love and grandmother 27 September 2015: Yesterday was a perfectly beautiful day for an afternoon wedding on Scottburgh’s beach on the KZN South Coast.    Although most of the morning was filled with intermittent, mild thundershowers, it had cleared completely well before 16:00.    Almost as if these showers were sent just to wash away all of the remaining murky pollution in the air.    It certainly set the stage for a bright, beautiful sunny afternoon and a breathtaking sunset to round off a perfect wedding day.    My handsome firstborn son, Daniel, married his beautiful beloved Carli.    Looking even more glamorous than the princes and princesses from the glossy pages of famous fairytales, their intentional decision to appear barefeet added a strikingly unmatched elegance to their unique beauty.    There is now another Mrs Va...