I need your blessings....

2018 has given me an opportunity of a lifetime. I have the opportunity to attend the 1st Okinawan World Karate Tournament and Training Seminars from the 25th July until 11th August 2018.

I am currently have a Brown Belt in Go-Ryu Karate and have been training for about 5 years. I love my karate training and my karate family. Karate has taught me self discipline, self control, perseverance and even accepting my weaknesses with my strengths.

I love supporting and encouraging our younger students to enjoy their karate training and to never give up doing what they love whether it's inside or outside the dojo. Their dedication and smiles motivate to keep training too.

I recently obtained a Silver Medal for Kata in a Ashihara Tournament which was held to raise funds for LOFOB (League of Friends for the Blind).

I am excited and anxious at the same time for my trip as it would be my first big tournament I will be attending as well as my first overseas trip. The importance of this trip overwhelms me as our team will be a part of making history.

With our trip to Okinawa comes big responsibilities as when we return we will be expected and encouraged to share and teach what we have learnt with the rest of our dojo, especially our youth. We want to encourage them to stay committed to their karate training and to work towards their chance to visit the birth place of Karate.

It will be an absolute honour for me to attend and train in Okinawa and I am preparing for this as I write this post but I need your  help. Like everything in life today, my trip costs money and I have been doing my best to raise the balance on my own which is proving to be very difficult.

This opportunity is a once in a lifetime and I would like to be able to train with others from around the world, gain knowledge from the Masters and return to share, to teach and encourage others to never give up in their passion for Karate.

I would appreciate it if you would share this post with anyone who might be interested in sponsoring me and are welcome to contact me with any questions they might have. You can contact me on chanteldb2@gmail.com


Thank you for taking the time to read this post and consider helping me reach my goal.

Should you wish to make a donation whether big or small, please use the following banking details:

Acc. Name: C De Beer
Bank: ABSA
Branch code: 632005
Acc. No: 933 0880 905
Reference: Blog + your name

Thank you again for your support!

 

A Mother's Breath

Take a breath, inhale through your nose and now, exhale through your mouth. Do this a few times.....

That is the breathing of a Mother. A woman who spends her day trying to balance womanhood, partnership and parenthood. Her breath is given by God with strength and love but never to be kept for herself. God gives a Mother the breath of life when she has children.

A Mother's breath is like oxygen, important and always needed, no matter the age of the child.

Every morning she sits on the edge of her bed, with bags under eyes and aching muscles, exhaling the stale air from the night before, getting ready for fresh air to be shared.

Her slippers slide along the floor while everyone else still lays in bed, relaxed. Without a complaint, she starts to breath life into the house by filling the lunchboxes, ironing the uniforms and whispering sweetly into her children's ears to wake up.

When she has breathed life into the household, organised chaos often reigns with children and husband/partner taking the breath from her to start their day. Yells of lost items, unsigned letters and missing work items fills her morning.

Before the organised chaos reigns again later in the day, she breathes clean air into the house again, cleaning behind her family, making those important calls, shopping and in a brief, heavenly moment says her prayers with a cup of tea.

A Mother never counts her breaths because they are never her own. They are the cashier she stills smiles at in her stained clothes, they are the words expressed to her family and even the love she shares with her friends when she gets a chance to see them.

As a Mother loses her breath during the day, she does it with love, strength, faith and a smile on her face. She knows how important her breath is and makes sure she shares it always.

A Mother uses her last breath every night to exhale deeply after a day filled with breathing love into a hurt child, breathing fire into another to obey her and for some, breathing a desperate plea for help to her husband or partner.

So....when your Mother breathes words of wisdom into your ear, remember how important that breath is for her and when you breath love into your child, remember that your breath is important to your child whether they realise it or not.

A  Mother will use her last breath to breathe life into others before her own because when she became a Mother she became a daily breath of fresh air.

 To all the Mothers out there....

PS:
To those who have lost a Mother, make her proud by breathing life and love into those around you because she breathed life and love into you.

Death Knocks Again....

God breathed and so she did for the last time. The grim reaper knocked at her door today but God’s Angels greeted her first with their peaceful and loving, welcoming arms.   

Death seems to find comfort in making me return to the Spiritual realm. It reminds me how disconnected I feel when I can’t use my gift of sense that God has given me. The thought of someone I care about being in pain that I can’t sense saddens me deeply, encouraging me to return to the ground on my knees, closing my eyes, clearing my mind and asking God to reconnect with me to His Spiritual realm of sense, spirit and love.

Death is a cloud that gently floats around each person, waiting for the destined time to return us to God’s house. The grim reaper is to create fear in us, to scare us of being welcomed into the arms of one of God’s Angels.

Death is a part of life from God which still causes me to wonder, to think about the pain it causes and the tears it creates. We know, we understand but we still believe that it will never come.

Death might be a part of life but it’s never one we want to often acknowledge. God tells us it’s imminent but our humanity causes us to block it, finding comfort in living eternally on earth which is never true.

Death is a drink that no one wants to taste, a drug no one wants to swallow and a song no one wants to hear. Death is still fearfully fascinating to me. Death is not the grim reaper. It’s the last breath heard on a cold night, the last whisper through the leaves of the tree, the last note of a love song. 

Twelve Months of Christ: December

Last week, I watched a movie called "The Birth of a Nation". A movie about the life of a black slave who was raised on the Bible by a white woman, about slavery in old America and how they used him to be a preacher for profit. This movie moved me and made me question myself.

As this year comes to an end, I write this blog at the beginning of December to encourage you to ask yourself the same question.

Regardless of the generation, we all have a choice, to either become a slave or believe in a Saviour. Slaves who were disregarded and abused believed in God, regardless of their situation and their experiences. Faith is all they had and today, faith is all we need and have too.

We can choose to either be a slave to our current situation and walk with shackles on our hands and feet, allowing to evil to whip lash our backs and damage our souls or we can believe in our Saviour, God, the only one who has the key to unlock the shackles, heal the scars on our backs and repair our souls.

Even today, amid our heartaches and trials, God is all we have and all we will ever need.

This December, we look forward to celebrating the birth of Christ and as we get excited for the New Year, I ask you....will the birth of our Saviour encourage you to become a slave or believe in a Saviour in the coming New Year? 

Twelve Months of Christ: October and November

Life sent me a tornado at the end of October which spun me in and out of hospital. Apologies for not publishing a blog post. I've decided again to combine two months as I tell you a story.

A smile is not always welcomed where I was. Trauma is. Chairs lined in single file against the wall expect you. Beckoning is not allowed. A hacking cough sounds next to me as I wait on the chair conveyor belt of the emergency room. Not knowing what comes next makes you listen to everything and watch everyone. No one know whether courtesy or friendliness is allowed. No one speaks unless spoken to.

Emergency here seems slow yet steady. More come in, while very little leaves. My file has a yellow sticker on which means I'm not that sore, even though the pain stops me from leaning back in my chair. Yellow means I can wait...at least four hours, so the chart on the wall screams at me. My Mother who has been keeping me company leaves, making the world seem smaller and scarier to me. I wish I didn't have to be here. I look around, taking it all in again. Poverty no longer chooses colour, age, area or money. We all sit here, in the same boat, yet world's apart, us yellow stickers.

Finally, it's my turn, just to find out they want me to stay. I'm taken to the actual emergency/trauma ward. Fear fills me to the brim as organised chaos rushes in front of my eyes. Bodies on beds fill every inch like a packing factory. Doctors and Nurses rush around, poking and prodding their packages. I am ordered to sit on a plastic chair. I obey as I wonder where I fit in here. No explanation and no compassion scares me more. There is just no time for it. Please don't make me go into the factory. Before I can run, I'm taken to a bed rammed against another one housing a masked man. Is he contagious?  I hang on to my bag like a lost school girl, making me lay stiff.

I'm told to put a gown on but there is no where to change and no curtain to close. I won't do it. A nurse tells me to follow her into the store room to get changed. I'm starting to feel like a prisoner instead of a patient. I return to my bed which they have kept for me. A drips is plugged into my hand and once again, I am wheeled around to a different area. Still anxious and hanging on to my bag and clothes, I lay wide-eyed. A sticker is stuck on my bed as it seems I have made it to the parking area. Now, I wait, and with no further explanation, I find out that I have to wait for a urologist to come and see me. How long will this take? I ask but no one knows and no one can guess.

My Mother comes back and tears form in my eyes as I make the decision that I can't be here. Beds on either side line up with women who too are waiting for a doctor. On the opposite side, are beds with men in them. No curtains keep us private. This area feels like a hostel room. We are all parked, going no where slowly. I can't take it anymore. I sign myself out and leave, with a heavy heart as I wish I could take everyone with me.

This experience reminded me how lucky I am to have options, how to take better care of the body God blessed me with and how we need God no matter where a tornado takes us.

It reminded me too to have faith over fear......

I sometimes forget that God didn't say life would be easy but He did say Follow Me, Trust Me and I will bless you.


This happened in one day and I never prayed so hard as I did this day.

What has been your tornado lately? Where has it got you spinning to?

So, don't worry, because I am with you. 

Don't be afraid, because I am your God.

I will make you strong and will help you;

I will support you with my right hand that saves you.

Isaiah 41:10

Twelve Months of Christ: September

 

A spider web is imperfect yet perfectly made. From far, it is beautiful. Thin strands of carefully woven threads strung together to make a distorted catching net. The net is delicate yet can weather the breeze of the tree as it hangs between two branches. Sunlight glistens off it showing its location. When we see a spider’s web, we know the spider is nearby in the shadows, patiently waiting for the unfocussed insect.

The spider is focussed, cunning, patient and likes to watch their prey squirm. Eventually the trapped insect grows weary and stops struggling, letting fate take its course.

At the end of September, I took a step back and took an outside look at all the relationships I have with people that I care about. Like the web, relationships are our thin strands of woven thread joined together to create our circle of friends and family. Even though these strands are joined in our heart, they might never actually cross paths. The spider web of relationships can be good and bad. Many threads survive many seasons and never break while others, usually involving others, get neglected, abandoned and eventually weather away.

Good, healthy, loving relationships can withstand the breeze of the tree staying rooted in the love between us. Certain relationships can often encourage us to cross certain lines which create cracks in the threads eventually breaking and ending in heartache, pain and loss. Some boundaries shouldn’t be crossed, yet being humans we test them, cross them and the thread is damaged, often beyond repair.

This September, I questioned why did God bring this person into my life? Is it for me or the other person? Does He want me to keep this person in my life? Is this relationship a rooted thread or a weary one? I am reminded that God created relationships when He created all of us in the hope that we would love and treat each other in His way and of course, most importantly, have an eternal, loving relationship with Him.

Relationships are important to us and we need to nurture each one and not neglect them. A relationship can help you grow or help others to grow. A relationship can show our strengths, our weaknesses and how we relate to each other shows where that person fits in our life. Reflection on our connections can also show us relationships that should be ended too.

Our relationship with God, in my view, is the one we should never neglect even though we do. As I reflected on relationships, I noticed that once again as one relationship in my life grows, others are neglected and I’m embarrassed to say that my relationship with God has waned a lot which leaves a bitter taste in my mouth as I write this.

As we all know, we often only realise what we had until it has been lost. I pray that you get a chance to take a look at your relationships around you and decide which ones need to be nurtured, neglected and ended. But, whatever you do, never neglect your one with God. God is the only one who always nurtures, never neglects and His relationship will never end!

Some friends don’t help, but a true friend is closer than your own family. 

Prov. 18:24

 

Twelve Months of Christ: August

 

August in South Africa is Women's Month and we celebrate Woman's Day on the 9th. It is only fitting that this month's post is all about Women.

Throughout time, women have been in the background, making homes and raising children. Until recently, women weren't allowed to be in prominent positions and participate in a "man's" world. 

But think back......we don't always realise it but women have been making a difference and changing the world since Biblical times. God allowed women from all walks of life to make an impact in the lives of many men; some good and some bad. From Creation, women have influenced their men and worked behind the scenes to make changes in the forefront, sometimes without men being aware of it.

Admittedly, their decisions were not always good ones. However, their decisions still made a difference in the short and long term.

From Eve in the Garden of Eden who caused us all to be aware of nakedness and often weakness, to Ruth who teaches us faith, respect and loyalty to Mary, Jesus's Mother who taught us to always listen and follow God even when we might not understand, agree or believe it's right. Mary also teaches the pain of being a parent and the loss of a child.

Are your eyes wider yet?

How about the woman in Song of Solomon who shares her wisdom on romance, love and sexuality?
Tabitha, a devoted Christian who helped the poor? She teaches us compassion.

I could go on and on. Throughout the pages of the Bible, men have ruled but women have influenced, encouraged, manipulated and whispered in these men's ears.

In these modern times, women still feel inferior, weak and often not good enough to try to be different, to make a change and follow their passions. Listen to God, listen to me, read Scripture and open your eyes to the Women of Worth that God created.

God created you, His Princess and like the women in the Bible, you are important and worthy. Ask God to bless you with the confidence, perseverance and wisdom so you can see, appreciate and use your value to influence and encourage others to see their value too.

In my eyes and definitely God's eyes....you are....W.O.W. (Woman of Worth!)