Saturday
Last night we slept well. Elsie slept through and woke up at about 7am. I was enthusiastic about getting her up…she not so much. Who was this stranger moving one of her morning planets? Add to that, she was hungry and she was not so happy. When I asked Adrian if she was often cranky in the morning, he said, ‘actually no, she’s normally very happy!!” Oops. It must be the Granny factor!
But as soon as I fed her and filled up her tum, she was happy as anything! She’s a darling. Nothing beats ‘grannying!’ After a lovely breakfast with the family, including Adrian’s Dad and a quick visit to the berry farm, we pulled out of Swellendam at 11am on the dot!
I just love love Cape Town and the journey between the big city and Swellendam. The wide open spaces are just beautiful. This is the road leading out of Swellendam to the N2
But this view along the N2 with the start of the Canola fields is just mesmerizing…
Miles and miles of road and open fields below beautiful African sky. We made our regular coffee stop in Caledon at the Fresh Stop where we logged a couple more loyalty points at Seattle Coffee company. When you’ve bought ten coffees you get 1 free. I usually wait til we have two free coffees available and then get both!
A strong north wind was blowing as we drove into our drive way exactly three hours after leaving Stacey’s. The rain had already begun to fall and it intensified as the afternoon progressed. Away from the sweetness of Elsie, I’ll have to settle for Truffles until the next time…
I enjoyed some duvet time this afternoon and this evening am going to watch the cricket. I’m hoping SA will finish strong!
Nugget from my journey: After five years of presenting the Rise and Shine show, I was tired. I got to the end of that year, had just turned 45 and reflected that I never really expected to be still presenting every morning after 5 years. I seriously considered stopping. I complained to the Lord, “I’m so tired. I’m so tired. Every morning, I get up at 4-45am and I’m just so tired.” I decided to earnestly seek if leaving the presenting component of my job was the right thing to do. I sought the Lord but seemed to get no answer, so I carried on. Early in the new year (2010) my Bible study group was planning something new and decided to do a Beth Moore series on The Fruit of the Spirit. It was life changing for me.
Through Beth, I received my answer. Beth taught that with the fruit and the filling of the Holy Spirit you can do things you never thought you could, you will know things you never thought you would and you will feel things you never thought you should. That was the start of the answer I needed. I knew that being filled with the Holy Spirit, I could continue doing Rise and Shine. But Beth went onto say that to get the Fruit and the Filling of the Holy Spirit, you need to spend time with God. I had been complaining about how tired I was. The Lord had Beth say these words, looking directly at the camera, “You need to spend time with God even if it means getting up earlier!” Can you imagine what went through my mind? “Hey Beth, you have NO idea of how early I already get up!”
But I knew that message was from God and that He would give me the strength and energy to do what was needed. So from 1st February 2010, I started getting up half an hour earlier in order to pray. By the end of that week, half an hour was not enough, so I set the alarm even earlier that. For the next five years of my Rise and Shine life, my alarm went off at 3-35am Monday to Friday. I found early morning was the most wonderful time of the day and meeting with God during this special time equipped me with all I needed for that season of my life.
Colossians 1:15-17
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Gym:
Resting!
Braces:
Day 235
Ps. Please remember to pray for Zimbabwe.
