Red pill, blue pill?

One of the primary reasons for this blog, is nothing more than a story book for our family in years to come. I mean, we all love a good story right, but what could be better than a good story, that actually happened, and you're in the cast! Well on that note, our story was beginning to sound a little bit scary at the conclusion of my previous post, and here we are, 4 months later with an update due. In true left brain fashion, please forgive me for simply copying the points from my previous post and pasted them below, along with a corresponding update...

- My work with The Hope Factory has all but dried up. To date this has covered about 60% of our living expenses

Update: What I didn't mention at the time, was that in December an old church friend of mine had popped around for a catch-up, and a couple days later we received R40k in our bank account - go figure! Other than being totally humbled and inspired by my mate's generosity, I couldn't help but marvel at how this absolutely 'out of the blue' donation carried us through the 1st 3 months of the year, with my work at the Hope Factory recommencing in April (just as the money ran out). Thank Timo and Lindsey for being Gods bankers!

- Our Sandton flat rental, which makes up another 30% of the budget, is unoccupied as i speak.

Update: I write this update with a smile on my face... Because despite being on our 3rd set of tenants in 12 months, we have never had a month without rent, which is exactly what God promised Dannean when we undertook to rent out our flat - knowing that just one month without rental income would break our budget... 

- The 10 or so family and friends who have been contributing to our budget will be closing the taps as of March

Update: This has come and gone, and we cannot thank our dear family and friends enough for supporting us like they did for the past 12 months. And although it was a little tempting when offered continued support for another year by some, we just felt that to do so would not be in a spirit of faith, but instead one of reliance. And so the R6k hole that was left in our budget has been primarily addressed through our revised 'faith' budget, which in case you were wondering, is a budget that moves from policy protection to faith prevention... Or said another way, if you believed nothing could go wrong in your life that God couldn't take care of, you wouldn't really need to insure it right. You get the picture. Included below is a pic of 3 of our donors who could make our thank you dinner - Jason & Rene Goldberg and Nicky van der Westhuizen - thank you!

To Luke & Maureen Krige, Nick & Katherine York, Grant & Mel Webber, Arnie & Chantel Swiegers, Danny & Ruth Tanser, Lorenzo & Jo Delaurentis, Elaine Dougherty, Alice & Paul Schoolman, Angie Goodrich, Tim and Lindsey Greenway - Thank you! (and we missed your dearly)

- I have not received much interest as regards funding of the motorized bicycle business, which i had hoped would be up and running by now

After JZ's finance minister fiasco, and the associated plummeting Rand a couple months back, the bicycle business was , and still is, a non starter! (Importing dollar denominated parts from China doesn't work on a weak Rand). This was sad for me, but if I'm honest about the amount of effort and energy it would have taken to start and maintain such a business, I can't help but think that God really did answer our prayers - all be it not according to our script. A personal thank you to Greg Byron for your generosity and faith in sowing into the business concept. I know God will repay you handsomely.

- Dannean is planning her 1st full year of homeschooling Tristan and Connor this year, which is obviously something she has never done before (teach yes, home-school no), and there is a great difference between the 2 we have discovered!

To our surprise and joy, home schooling thus far has been a wonderful addition. Dannean is thoroughly enjoying being a part of the boys developmental journey, and to be able to do so in these formative years, is leaving us more and more convinced of the merits thereof. How exactly she schools the 2 boys - aka the 'tsotsi's - with Izabella-Joy on her hip, remains a mystery to me, and a sure sign of super human attributes! I must add that a weekly highlight for me, is to over hear the boys taking their zulu class with Thembi (our zulu nanny), and counting to 10 in zulu as fluently as they do in english - Heibo!

- We continue to wait on Loftie, our adoption social worker, to identify an adoptable baby daughter for our family, who when she arrives (which could be anytime) will be added to the stormy waters above!

Where do I start!? Well, they say a picture says a thousand words, so I'll save you the reading with a photo (albeit a non close up, given that our little adopted princess still falls in the mandatory 90 days legal notice). Izabella-Joy (Izzy) has been with us for just over a month now, and has all of us totally smitten! We thank God for adding her to our family, which while on one hand was a journey filled with much emotion, on the other hand the manner in which our prayers were answered was honestly breathtaking! (something i'm sure Dannean will write about in her next post).

Other developments...

- I continue to explore farming possibilities, having had great fun growing and cooking a variety of our own vegetables these past 6 months. I have also recently completed a course entitled 'Farming Gods Way' with my Malawian friend Ian (he works on the farm), and hope to see how this amazing course can be more widely promoted and facilitated as a ground breaking alternative to the current farming techniques and practices in sub Saharan Africa.

- I have become involved in the leadership of the compassionate action ministry within our local church, and hope to see this facilitate real influence in meeting the endless list of needs prevailing in many of the informal settlements and communities in the south of Jo'burg. I must however add, that the meeting of these needs is without a doubt best done within the context of a personal relationship wherever possible, as where this is absent, the need remains a problem to be solved, and not a person to be loved. I was reminded of this afresh this past weekend, while celebrating with Thembi (our nanny) the arrival of electricty to her home (shack). My hope is that all our kids will grow up not knowing or caring for the difference between race, income or culture!

- Since the beginning of the year I have been involved in a little pet project set on developing a 'discipleship in a box' solution to a problem that continues to plague the church at large i believe - that problem being the challenge associated with making and releasing biblical disciples. This remains my greatest passion at present, and while it doesn't pay the bills this side of eternity (sorry babes!), i really hope it will on the other side!

On a parting note, I would say my greatest lesson since my last blog post, is that things often don't work out as expected, and therein lies a choice... One option is to exercise our right to make a plan, or solve the problem. This would seem the correct answer at face value, I mean doesn't solving problems constitute about half of our waking hours?! This is true, but I would add it depends what kind of problem it is... For example, if it's needing to change the baby's nappy or your car tyre, there's not much more to do than that. 

However, when the problem has to do with how we want life to work out, or line up with our goals and plans, that's a different story entirely. From a young age, most of us had (and continue to have) it drummed into our heads, that unless you know where you're going, and how you're going to get there, you're not going to 'make it'. The problem with this however, is that no one ever really defines what 'making it' (outside of making money), really is??

Well, here's one for the record... I can truly say, that it is by nothing other than the grace of God, that we are starting to discover what 'making it' actually is... And let me assure you, that if you had given Dannean and I my updated definition (below) on our wedding day 9 years ago, we would have both probably died of fright or laughter! (I'm not quite sure which one).

'Making it' in my opinion, is...

 - Challenging the status quo, not to be different, but to make a difference...
 - Walking away from safety where it fuels ignorance, pessimism or fear...
 - Living by faith, a faith that could cost you your salary, pension, position, reputation (basically anything more important to you than Jesus)
 - Being the change you want to see in your community / country...
 - Understanding that character is built on the journey, never at a destination...
 - Being honest to your convictions, despite what people think or say...

 - In a nutshell, Taking the red pill... (Jesus called it losing your life, so that you could find real life)

LOVE!