I had the evening to all to myself. This meant wine, reading, relaxing.

I decided to read the Big Issue mag I had bought a while ago. I read interesting pieces on the history of our country, poetry, debates and then I turned the page...


A double page spread featuring a photo of a man on a train, with his eyes closed and hand raised in worship. Already I know that God had something to say to me. I read the article and the Holy Spirit stirred my heart to pray. A prayer for people who have been in my life for over a year whom I have not yet prayed for. A prayer for the people in my city who have so little, but who still have a smile on their faces. A prayer of thanks for the fact that He met me on an uneventful day, in a quiet space and prompted me to pray a prayer that is big and challenging. He found me, and tugged on my heart until I couldn't ignore it, while I was reading a secular magazine and drinking wine. He gave me the precious honour of praying & interceding for His loved ones. I have no idea where the words came from. Each prayer specific to a certain person. I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit knows what I need to pray for. That he interrupted me so beautifully and stirred me to pray, to take action even while sitting still. I love that I can be a prayer warrior. That even while the tears are streaming and I feel so weak - He is strong.  It reminded me, once again, of just how much He loves us.

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ah Monday.

This morning I sat down at my computer and went through my emails, looked at blogs and did nothing particularly productive.
Then I just felt overwhelmed. Last week presented itself with a big whack of news and BIG challenges. I don't think I had fully dealt with all of that properly. And today it hit me.

Later I read this in the daily devotion that I sign up for.

Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see. John Shedd says, “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” Faith is willing to take risks, embrace the unseen and step away from the safety of the shore.

Woah. Prophetic? Last year my friend and I collaborated on a some designs called "The Magic Girls Poster Series" where we designed a poster with a quote applicable to each "Magic Girl."



The quote chosen for me was "A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for."
This quote has yet again reaffirmed it's significance in my life.
Taking a step (or leap) of faith my be overwhelming at times but, as said by one of my incredibly wise friends, "Our faith is ignited when we act upon it."

So here is to taking deep breaths, leaps of faith and getting your ship out of the harbour.

Photo by Tiffany B | Photographer

If this quote resounds with you too, the poster is available for purchase here.

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I must admit that I was a bit scared. OK, so maybe more than a bit. The thoughts swirling around my head at that stage would probably make you laugh now!

“Is this IT God? Have you had enough of us sinners to end the world now?”
“Is the roof about to cave in? Will the force of the rain shatter the window panes and flood us as we sleep?”(Yep, maybe a bit melodramatic!)

But at the same time, it made me aware of the POWER of our Creator.
Its easy to think of God as loving and caring and all those other good things, but we often forget to FEAR Him and be in AWE of Him.
We forget how mighty and powerful and extreme our God is!
Experiencing the force of the rain, the screeching of the wind, the shock of the lightening and the deep roar of the thunder, reminded me of who made all of that. Crazy!

In the middle of the night I had a “Moment of Sudden Glory.”
I experienced the power and the force of the Almighty God.
And in that moment I felt peace.

No, this is not about an engagement ring! But to me, this ring holds a promise just as special.

Emerald green has always been a colour that I loved. My matric dance dress was emerald green, and my eyes are green, so I figured this colour and I work. 
A while back, while at a gifts market with a friend, I happened to come across a stall selling jewellery made with precious stones and gems. I peeked at the rings and saw a very unusual green stone. I enquired and was told that it was a rare, uncut, rough emerald. Very hard to come by. I thanked the stall owner and left to browse the rest of the gifts on offer.

However, this emerald ring was stuck in my thoughts.




Another day, back at the gift market, my friend had wondered off and then came back with an exquisite moonstone ring. She had bought if from the same stall where I saw the emerald ring. I asked her if she had seen the emerald, and she had told me that it was still there! I hurried off to have a look at the ring again (and the check out the price).

Now, to put this story into context, the day before this all happened, I had paid all my monthly expenses and was left with a very sad and measly amount of money to use for the whole rest of the month. And when I say sad and measly, I am definitely not over-exaggerating. It was dire.
And so I had an evening filled with tears and feeling sorry for myself. An evening filled with worrying and faithlessness and selfishness. I lamented about the fact that I work so hard and yet at the end of the month and all the hard work, there is not even enough left to treat myself, or buy just a little something pretty. Thankfully, I am married to a man who has much perspective and faith, and so we spoke it out, and prayed and left it to God.

And our God is faithful. Which is what I learned in a big way over the next few days.

Back at the market, I peered around for the ring and found it. The stall owner, a wonderful lady named Sharon, had recognised me from my prior visit and encouraged me to try the ring on. Not only that, but she took off the price tag and told me to go outside into the natural light to get a real feel for the gem! Seeing this rare, unusual ring on my finger was something quite special, but knowing that I couldn't afford it at the time was a bit of a downer. However, I sucked it up and went back inside to say "thanks, but no thanks."

Now Sharon is not any ordinary shop owner. I told her how beautiful the ring was, but that unfortunately I couldn't afford it at the time, and if it was still there on the last day of the market, maybe I would come back and who knows? Sharon, however, does not believe in "who knows" and "maybe's." She told me that this ring belongs to me, and that she was going to take if off the shelf and keep it for me until the last day of the market. On that day, we would make a plan. Bottom line, she had decided that the ring was not going to anyone else but me.

Some of you might believe this to be a very clever sales pitch, but right at that moment, my God spoke to me and told me that that ring had my name written on  it. I left Sharon, overwhelmed by this promise that God had just whispered to me, and the tears fell. In those next precious moments Jesus once again reaffirmed that He KNOWS the desires of my heart. The desire for beautiful things, things that most people would deem frivoulous and unnecessary, but things that He knows bring me joy. 

He spoke to my heart and told me that that the emerald ring would be a constant reminder of the fact that He loves me THAT much, that He would shower me with beautiful adornments all because I am His child. Nothing I do is deserving of that kind of lavish blessing. The ring was a promise of His faithfulness in every circumstance (good and bad) and a constant reminder of the lesson He had just taught me. The lesson that He will provide for all my needs and desires if I only trust Him.

In that moment I knew, with absolute certainty, that by the end of the market, I would have that ring. In the days that followed, my sister blessed me with some money towards the ring and my wonderful hubby had sold enough leather products to make up the difference.
God made a plan!

On the last day, I went up to Sharon, with an envelope containing the full amount that the ring cost, received my ring and a big hug from the very special stall owner.

I am not sure if she knew how integral she was in God's lesson for me that week, but she played a huge part. A ring might not mean much to you, but a ring with a promise from God is something to be treasured. Now, whenever I feel like I don't have enough or when I begin to worry, I am reminded by my God's personal and visable promise to me. That He loves me, that He knows all the desires of my heart and that He will provide for my every need.

He is faithful.
I hope this little story encourages you and reminds you that our God cares deeply about every single detail in your life.

xxx