Deville Wood

After choosing not to blog whilst we travelled through Picardy (northern France), I feel as if I need to write 5 or 6 posts - we saw so many amazing things during our 5 days there. However, one of the most striking memories for me, will be our visit to the Deville Wood memorial. This commemorates the South African's who lost their lives in the 1st World War defending the Wood from the Germans. It is a deeply moving place and one that I will not forget for a long time. Of the 3200 (plus) South Africans who started defending Deville Wood, only 143 were still alive 6 days later. Such a tragic number of lives lost. I couldn't help thinking of all the families impacted by these wars - how quickly we forget.

I pray that you have a wonderful week. Don't take a minute for granted.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Pentecost at Pembury

We had the privilege of sharing in a service at the Pembury Baptist Church this morning. This is the church where Paul, Izzi and Sam de Villiers are now worshipping at. It was such an awesome experience and it was great to feel at 'home' in a place of worship far away from SA. The people were great and it really reminded me that we belong to a world-wide Christian community. It is the Holy Spirit who unites all believers, in Jesus Christ. Too often Christians focus on what is different about our particular 'take' on the faith, and we miss the richness of fellowshipping with the broader Christian family.

Check out Pembury Baptist Church's great website if you have a moment - click here.

As a family we head off to France in the morning, so watch out for my next blogpost in French!!! Au revoir..

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Inspiring moments

Today we went to the Ashdown Forest with friends, Paul, Izzi and Sam de Villiers - it was such an awesome day. These are the forests where A.A.Milne got his inspiration for the classic kids books based on Winnie the Pooh. We stood at Pooh Sticks bridge, which can be seen in the attached picture, and imagined what it was like for Christopher Robin to throw the sticks into the river and watch them disappear onto the other side of the bridge.

A trip to this part of the world does wonders for your imagination and sense of inspiration, and of course it takes you back to your childhood. It reminded me that God can use all of our life experiences to shape something for our future. We often can't see what these 'things' may be, but we need to trust in His awesome plans.

I want to encourage you to remember this today:
Never underestimate what life experiences God may want to use, in order to inspire other people, or to do something for His glory.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Be strong

Sometimes we face things that require us to dig deep into our strength resources - this is when we need to rely on the Spirit of God to help us through these moments.

I love these words from Joshua...

"I'll be with you. I won't give up on you; I won't leave you. Strength! Courage!" - Joshua 1

On this weekend, which is Pentecost, may you know the strength of the Spirit of God in your life. God be with you in all that you are facing.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Worth the stress!

I think that everyone knows the stress we went through in order to get our Schengen Visa´s, literally 24 hours before we were due to leave. After spending a week in Spain, I want to go on record as saying, "It was worth waiting and stressing for those visa´s!" We have had an awesome time over here. I haven´t learnt too much Spanish, but it´s a beautiful part of the world, even if we are only seeing a small part of it. It has made me realise again that something´s in life are worth waiting for - in fact, there are some things that are definitely worth praying for and then trusting in God´s timing for the answers. If you have been praying and waiting for something for a long time, don´t give up now. Trust in the Lord to come through at the right time - his time!

God bless you abundantly today.
Living in Grace,
D3LM3

God´s handiwork

Coming to a foreign country is always an amazing experience for me - it opens up my mind to reconsider how awesome our God is. The familiar works of his creation sometimes are taken for granted in the midst of our hectic schedules and busy lives. However, when we stop and take a look around, we are truly blessed to have such a creative and loving God. It has been a wonderful gift for us to see the creativity of our Lord these past few days.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth - Psalm 8:9

I invite you to take a look around you today and thank God for all the amazing things, people and places he has given to us. His grace is truly amazing.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Seeking the sun

We have now come across to sunny Spain, in search of warmer weather and so far our search has proved successful. The weather has been more like South African Springtime and we are even getting a little tanned! What amazes me is the number of people from European countries who have also come in search of sun - they will go to great lengths to have warm holidays and I don´t blame them. What saddens me is that I wish more people would search for the real Son (Jesus) as much as we seek the sun!

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed - John 8:36

God bless you all.
Living in Grace,
D3LM3