I Spent Half The Day In Winter Clothes

2-03pm

It’s the middle of summer here in Cape Town. The days are warm and sometimes windy. Shorts and t-shirts, sleeveless dresses, flip flops and sun block are the order of the day. So why oh why would I be dressed in woollen pants, socks and a long sleeved top for half of today. Let me tell you!

We went to the beach and as Mike set off for a run, I stripped down to my costume and walked towards the water. As I was doing so, I heard someone say, “it’s the coldest it’s ever been!” I soon found out what he was talking about. While the report said it was due to be 18C, it felt ,MUCH colder than that. It was bone chilling, joint crunching cold.  I usually stay in until Mike comes and joins me, which is 15 minutes. I swam up and down a bit and soon got used to the cold water. I was highly entertained by the many early morning swimmers who walked into the water, grimaced at first touch, ventured in further, dived under the waves and walked straight out. A few had a swim, but overall, I found myself alone for most of the time! Mike arrived and I watched his response to the unexpected cold. He came in, had a chat with me and then got out! One of the problems with people who dive in, is that their heads get wet. You lose a lot of heat through your head. All the time I was in, I didn’t put my head under. It made a huge difference. I stayed in, altogether for 30 minutes. Then I showered off the salt at the beach cold water tap. It felt pleasantly warm after the sea. I sat in the sun for a short while, finding it strange that my feet and legs were covered with red blotches. I’d never seen that on me before.  We came home and I had a boiling hot shower. When I got out, the cold set in! I got into my winter clothes and stayed there for the morning. It was only about 3 hours later that I my body  returned to normal and I changed back to summer shorts. It gave me much appreciation for those who find themselves having to tread water after some sea catastrophe. Fish Hoek is warm compared to the cold Atlantic.

I’ve been doing a bit of cross-stitch…here’s the update…

And in my Bible reading,  today I finish Genesis and start the book of Exodus. In the penultimate chapter of Genesis (chapter 49), Jacob is at the end of his life. He calls his sons to him and prophesies over each one.

Just some background: Jacob had 12 sons. He was the guy in the Bible who loved Rachel and worked for her father for 7 years so he could marry her. On the night of the wedding, her father substituted the older daughter Leah for Rachel. I guess, in those days it was very dark and women didn’t say much, so Jacob didn’t know he was sleeping with the wrong daughter! In the morning, when he discovered who was in his bed, he was mortified (poor Leah – imagine how she felt?!). Anyway, Rachel’s father allowed him to marry Rachel a short time later as well. So Jacob had these two wives. Leah fell pregnant easily. Rachel didn’t. There was a lot of jealousy and bitterness between them. In the end, 6 of Jacob’s sons came from Leah. Jacob  also had two sons by Leah’s maid-servant. He had Joseph and Benjamin by Rachel and he had two more sons by Rachel’s maid-servant. Those were the 12. While Joseph features highly in the book of Genesis, Jesus did not come through his bloodline. This always surprised me. I thought He would have. Instead, God chose Jacob’s 4th son – Judah, whose mother was Leah, to be the bloodline through whom Jesus would come.

Back to the prophesies. There Jacob was, on his deathbed, aged 147. He calls his sons to him and says, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.” (Genesis 49:1) And so he starts telling each one what will happen to them. I was very keen on what he would say about Judah. Genesis 49:8-12

“Judah, your brothers will praise you.  You will grasp your enemies by the neck. All your relatives will bow before you. ⁹ Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down;  like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
¹⁰ The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,
until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,  the one whom all nations will honour.
¹¹ He ties his foal to a grapevine, the colt of his donkey to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine,  his robes in the blood of grapes.¹² His eyes are darker than wine,
 and his teeth are whiter than milk.”

There,  right at the start of the Bible is a reference to the coming of Jesus. All nations will honour Him. The central Person of the Bible is Christ. The central message of the Bible is salvation. The Author of the Bible is God. He wants us to know the central Person of the Bible, so we can experience the central message of the Bible.

Love it!

Keep the smile going.

God bless you!

In His Grip,

Helga xx 🙂