Building a Relationship with God

I am just discovering what it is to truly have a relationship with God.

Did you know that you could talk to Father as if He’s in the room, as if He’s your earthly father (or very best friend)? Even better than that because He understands you and loves you unconditionally.

I have been told this, but have never really realised it. I’ve also been told about how you have to respect this significant God, you can’t go bothering Him whenever you want to… I don’t know, it’s a bit of an indoctrination thing I guess. Perhaps it’s crept surreptitiously into the church, a teaching no one knows the origin of, so that we never attain that closeness He desires…

I have discovered that I can talk to Him about anything. Especially those things I can’t talk to anyone else about. All those emotions that I hold so very deep within me? Yes, He’s interested in them, He wants me to get them off my chest because these form part of a burden which is not His. Remember the burden of Christ is easy and light – things that weigh down on you, that you feel alone in, that make you bitter and hard inside, are not.

It’s still not easy, I’ve just started figuring it out this week, but I’m learning to let go. Where before I struggled to find the time to spend with Him, now I wonder when I will get the chance again – there are not enough hours in the day to pour out my heart to Him.

creation: life explained

I received this email forward from my aunt nicci over in the uk, and thought it was rather funny!

On the first day, God created the dog and said:
"Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."
The dog said: "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?
So God agreed.
On the second day, God created the monkey and said:
"Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span."
The monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?"
And God agreed.
On the third day, God created the cow and said:
"You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."
The cow said: "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"
And God agreed again.
On the fourth day, God created man and said:
"Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."
But man said: "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"
"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."
So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.
Life has been explained to you. Now go forth.

community

i had tea with a girl from work today... we discussed where we're at as far as our christian lives go, what we're reading, what we're learning. our hopes our dreams our desires for a deeper relationship with God. it's incredible that we network and meet people, and discuss ideas in our "secular" lives, and yet when it comes to sharing with others about our spiritual needs we clam up. why aren't we networking? is it only me? is everyone out there networking and providing support to each other?

why do i feel so alone? not that i would want to lean on people, i look to God for everything, and that's the way it should be. but i yearn to have proper deep , meaningful conversations with people who are on the same path as me, who understand what i'm going through, and who will be able to provide guidance. i need guidance. encouragement. and there are so many more out there too.

new christians especially need that, because we're not established and the old way is but a step away...

ok, maybe i'm ranting. but i hope that there are people out there who feel the same way. or just understand. and more who hold out their hands.

hello world

hello out there. i thought i'd give you a bit of an intro into who i am, and then what i was sort of thinking of doing with this blog.

ok, so here we go...

i'm a blogger. i've been blogging for about 2 years.

i'm a child of God. i've been a christian all my life, but i only really feel that i've been living it, discovering it, this year.

i'm a career woman. i have aspirations of owning my own business one day... who knows it may not be so far away. in the meantime i work as a business analyst by day. and some nights.

i'm a south african. and proud of it. loving it. living it. i live in such an amazing country (cue rumbling thunder setting off car alarms), we have friendly (mostly) people and awesome weather. we have thunderstorms. and sweltering hot days. and different weather climates across the country. people of all sorts of skin tone and nationality and culture. and wildlife - in game reserves and nature reserves and sometimes in our backyards. it really is a rainbow nation. a rainbow country.

i'm a casual mountain biker. really casual. i do more cross country stuff than anything else. rocks are not my friends, yet... i participated in a whole lot of mtb races here in south africa last year, which is when i started cycling, and i plan on picking it up again in this next year. i can count the number of rides i've done this year on one hand... maybe two.

i'm a potter. once a week. it's fun and i can explore the creativity God has blessed me with.

i'm this and much more. but you're going to have to stick around to get to know me more.

victory*three... the name is derived from my own... victoire. it means victory. but apparently that's only half of it. i have been told that it means victory in three - victory in the father God, son Jesus, and Holy spirit. that's something special.

which gets to the purpose of this blog. i thought i'd blog about my adventures as a new christian, perhaps even make contact with others like me out there. but that's up to you.

now it's begun. enjoy - i hope you do as much as i hope to.