Change

I remember so clearly a staff party that I went to a couple of years ago... it was after work one Friday night. There weren't any people my age (which is okay I guess).  We had to pay in for our braai meet and honestly I couldn't think why I could not attend so I went.  I arrived at my managers home and the puppy had thrown up in the living room.  I remember sitting in front of the music channel eating my supper which was meat and I could still invision the puppy throwing up.

Then I fast forward a bit to this years end function.  We were transported there by bus,  I had a five course vegetarian meal that consisted mainly of mushrooms but let's not harp on that.  I danced in front of about four hundred people and had some wine before and we won't about 50 rand each.  Everyone was dressed up and the banquet hall looked stunning decorated in soft hues and flower arrangements.  There was a host, music, dancers and lots of prizes to be won.  A friend of mine even won a flight to Japan.

These two experiences were rather contrasting.  One I put little effort into and it was rather normal.  No, I don't mean the puppy throwing up.  The other I put in more effort and I got a lot more out.  I learnt things about myself, about others and even earned something from it.   Not to mention that the one I felt like a princess an sister the other well I felt like a worker.

Also I learnt looking back that nothing that has happened in the past defines our future.  Just because we have had certain experiences doesn't mean that that's the way it will always be.  I am hopeful to think of the next end of the year functions I will go to and the things that I will experience.

Don't be defined by your past.  It's not a indicator of what is to come.

A

Nope the title of this blogpost was not a mistake.  A is the beginning of the Alphabet- one of the first things a English speaker learns.  This blog post I feel like encouraging you and myself at the same time that every moment is a moment to start over.  Sometimes I really battle with my thoughts to a point where I'm stifled to move forward because I feel so discouraged but then I realize again that there is always an opportunity to start over.  As this is the beginning of the month and people are participating in lent I've decided to go in a positivity feast.  Yes,  it's an actual thing by Wendy and Steve Backlund.

But I realize I have the power to change thoughts that are demotivating and focus on ones that are empowering!  One particular one that I've been saying to myself is "I am so organized".   These things usually start as joke but then catch on.

May you be courageous to stop demotivating thoughts dead in their tracks and think the truth of who God made you to be!

Love, Sarah

The tortoise and the hare

The tortoise and the hare is a story that comes to mind tonight while I sit here.  The hare is fast in the beginning of the race and then becomes tired as the story goes.  The tortoise is consistent and not hasty!  Those of us who know the story know that the tortoise ends up winning as the hare falls asleep.

I know that life is not a comparison but I know I can be like both the hare and the tortoise.  I can be hasty and I can be consistent but I know that a consistent effort rather than a 'catch up' mentality is a lot more beneficial.  

I guess this is a reminder to me and well.. whoever reads this!  To rather be consistent and watch things slowly and quickly change.  

May we take control of our lives step by step (even if it may be painfully slow).

May we have grace with ourselves and others in the process.

Love,

Phoenix and Sarah

F E A S T

So they say that now is called the present because that's what it is ... a gift.  Now sometimes we have to remind ourselves that!  I must say that as I am back in Taiwan I am reflecting on the wonderful holiday that I had in my beloved country, South Africa.

I have gifts and memories that I can bring back to memory at any time.  I must say this wasn't how I was thinking about it at first.  Thank God for grandmother's and mother's to set your thinking straight.  I started to feel in a bit of a slump at the thought of leaving my family for the third time in a year.  Christmas decorations were coming down and so I was starting to feel glum.  Then my grandmother said to my mother who said to me that I must FEAST ON THE MEMORIES and that is what I am doing.  What a blessing to take a holiday and what a blessing to have a job I enjoy!

May we feast on the blessing that Christmas was.

Blessings.