Almost Back to Normal...

After having a sore big toe since October and being ill since 23rd December I almost feel my usual self again.

I discovered I could wear my boots in the UK - thank goodness!  My feet were warm enough.  I can wear some other closed shoes too - not all of them yet.
I can don my steel toed shoes and wander around the site.  It's been a long time!
When we got home I had little energy so I made only a small reconnoiter of the area.
Now I can do a few rounds.  It's amazing to see the progress from day to day and week to week.
My cough still persists on occasion and I still sound thickish in the head, but am much better.
It's been a long haul!

It's been mercifully cool and cloudy more than half the hot days of January so far.  I oult these blessings.  Our flat is able to be cool since we can open sliding doors and get a through-draught.
On the one day with no wind we put the fan on in our lounge/dining/kitchen area and were glad for the breeze.

I have taken loads of photos of the site and the workers.  Some of them I am really fond of.  (Workers and photos...)  BUT I can't display them anywhere except a few selected ones in the History I am writing.  I as saying to Glenn "What will I do with all these photos one day???!"  I wonder.  Perhaps they are just for my own edification and faith promotion.

Somewhere along our travels I mislaid my memory stick with the Temple Site History backup stored.  I need to get another one and restore what I have written so far.  I wonder what I could have done with it?  I have looked and looked all the places I thought it might have been put.  I'm glad it's week 28 so the new back-up is possible fairly easily.

We had lunch yesterday with John, Brenda and Vi.  It was good to be there.  They are all well enough.  Busy with the ups and down of life.  Sorry... I didn't take any photographs.

Later yesterday we took a walk down the Umhlanga promenade.  We sat on a bench along the way.  So lovely to sit quietly and just watch the waves, smell the lovely sea air and hear the waves and seagulls.  We are blessed.  Life is good.

29 days gone so far of this year...  Still plenty more Possibilities!  GO all of us!

Focus for each week of 2017 - An Invitation...

“GROW UP– Get Rid Of (some more of your) Weaknesses - Under Pressure”

1/1          Be brave.  It’s OK to reach out and strive for your dreams.

8/1          Be wise.  It’s OK to fail – get up again.  Go on.

15/1       Find out.  What do you love?  Where do you love being?  Cherish your opportunities.

22/1       Try this.  Ask “how are you feeling” rather than “how are you doing.”

29/1       Notice.  Your friends are those coming in when everyone else is getting out.

5/2          Be courageous.  When you love what you do, make it work.

12/2       Practice self-control.  Practice… practice… practice…  Become more self-disciplined.

19/2       Relax… and Focus…  Learn more about “relaxed focus” by trying it, doing it.

26/2       Create something this week.

5/3          Develop your dignity.  Life without dignity is painful.

12/3       Find a way to stop some injustice around you.

19/3       Heal some more.  Each time you perform an act of kindness, a bit more of you heals.

26/3       Seek deeper connections with those you love.

2/4          Follow.  Who do you follow? They will have a great influence on your life.  Choose wisely.

9/4          Identify a Tender Mercy each day this week.

16/4       Look for the ‘roses’ rather than the ‘thorns’ in yourself and others.

23/4       Deal more kindly with everyone you meet this week.

30/4       Work will win when wishy-washy wishing won’t.

7/5          Succeed.  A happy life grows on us meaningful achievement by meaningful achievement.

14/5       Learn.  Unless and until you understand yourself as you really are, you are vulnerable.     

21/5       Be real.  Superficiality relentlessly shrieks for our attention.

28/5       Do things that take time, concentration and personal effort.  Be fixed in your purpose.

4/6          Be still.  In the busiest of lives, stillness and focus are especially needed.

11/6       Allow your mind to settle on something that gladdens your heart and lifts your spirits.

18/6       Do something that engages you while it soothes you.

25/6       Remember the promises and vows you have made.  Keep them.

2/7          Love, care, appreciate those who bless your life.

9/7          Hope.  Make hope a habit.

16/7       Lose with dignity, win with humility.

23/7       Be a champ and not a chump.

30/7       Let virtue garnish your thoughts.

6/8          Murmur not.  When you want to murmur turn your mind to something lovely or of good report.

13/8       Be a comfort to your spouse/family/associates in the spirit of meekness and generosity.

20/8       Be not afraid.  When we are scared we are scary.

27/8       Nourish your body.  Feed it properly.

3/9          Appreciate your body.  Exercise it appropriately.

10/9       Treat your body. Rest it every day.

17/9       Cherish your body.  Give it regular recreation and refreshment.

24/9       Expose yourself to things good for you – find more of what delights you.

1/10       Stress less.  Stress shuts down your thinking.

8/10       Listen.  Good music develops concentration and stimulates balance.  Hear the wind.   

15/10     See.  Read people’s cues correctly.  Respond appropriately more often.

22/10     Use your words to build.  You deserve it.  So do others.

29/10     Help someone with what they are doing, without overextending yourself.

5/11       Touch someone appropriately – bless at least one person with the magic of your gentle touch.

12/11     Spend some of your time with someone who needs who you are able to be.

19/11     Give a small, meaningful gift to someone you appreciate.

26/11     Beware.  The sharp teeth of puppy love can trigger tragic consequences. 

3/12       Be supportive.  Abuse can happen to anyone.  Help get the help needed.

10/12     Transform.  You often learn more from your defeats than your successes.

17/12     Qualify.  Be worthy.  Worthy friends are drawn to worthy people.

24/12     Live.  The best way to teach is certainly not to preach but to live with GROWing integrity.                 

31/12     Be equal.  Those who think they are equal demand equality.  Those who know they are, don’t.

Here's to a Glorious 2017

1.       What did you do this past year that you'd never done before?

Came on our missionary assignment. 

Wear a missionary badge.

Relocated to Kwa Zulu-Natal.

Donned construction site gear.

Attended site meetings.

Travelled to UK from King Shaka International Airport.

2.       Did you keep your new year's resolutions?

Yes.  I set ones I can keep.

Will you make more for next year?

Yes.

Follow the “Focus for 2017” I formulated.

3.       Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes, Cheryn gave birth to twins.

4.    Did anyone close to you die?

        No.

        Maybe a little more of my ‘pride?’  my ‘illusion?’

5.    What countries did you visit?

        Passed through United Arab Emirates en route to England.         

6.    What would you like to have next year that you lacked last year?

        More regular accounting – administering our budget more diligently…

7.    What date from this last year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

2^nd June – the day the twins were born.

8.    What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting through the year being sufficiently healthy, wealthy and wise.

9.    What was your biggest failure?

Slipping up on my blogging…


10.  Did you suffer illness or injury?

Yes – slipped and broke/dislocated my toe (not sure which…)

Fell at Isle of Wight Ward Christmas party.

Stumbled in bedroom over shopping bag handles.

Slipped on wet wooden decking.

Chesty stuff on Isle of Wight and still lingering.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Plane tickets to UK.

Black T shirts for site.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

        My own. 

I was on occasion despised, rejected, a woman of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

        Although in agony at times, I believe I mastered my tongue.

13. Whose behavior made you disappointed?

I know whose…  I’m not writing their names down.

I know the behaviour of others is not my business, it’s theirs and their God’s - if they believe in God..

My own thoughts, behaviour and words are my business.


14. Where did most of your big-spend money go?

Plane tickets to visit our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the UK.

15. What did you get really excited about?

        Being called on a mission.

        Having twin great-grandsons born.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of the past year?

        Called to serve Him, Heavenly King of Glory…

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder?  Both happier and sadder in different ways.

 b) thinner or fatter?  Thinner.

 c) richer or poorer? Richer in some ways and poorer in others.

18.  What do you wish you'd done more of?

        Blogging?

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Not sure… I tend to 'sift and save' along the way.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

With Patrick, Angela, Roxanne, Vincent, Samuel and Isaac, plus Jan, Jean, Nigel.
        I was sick.

21. Where did you begin the year; and where did you end it?

In Gauteng, in the UK.

22. Did you fall in love this past year?  With whom?

Yes.  With my family – they’re each unique, special and irreplaceable.

23. What was your favorite TV program?

Haven’t watched TV for seven months.  No TV reception…  Don’t Know.

24. What was the best book you read?

Don’t remember…  It’s been rather a blur of a year…

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Spanish goat bells… hear the bells, follow them - they lead to the shepherd.

26. What did you want and get this past year?

Never dreamt I would be able to!  A mission call.

27. What did you want and not get?

More mending than was done of relationships amongst my children and their families.

28. What films were memorable this year?

Sully.  Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children. The light between oceans.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I don't remember… I turned 71 on 17^th April.


30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A little more income than expenditure.  Or a little less expenditure than income?


31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept this past year?

My own style – black, black, black.  For some reason wearing black makes me feel happy.

32. What kept you sane?

        My personal daily routines – early morning study and quiet time, bath in the afternoon.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

        (Now ex) Public protector Thuli Madonsela

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

        Interested – I don’t get stirred politically – the SABC journalists saga.

35. Who did you miss?

My children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and siblings… in Gauteng, England and Cape Town.

36. Who were the best new people you met?

My great-grandsons.

The Durban Temple site team.

Helga Steadman

Gabriel Orwadi

Sister Wood

President Thompson


37. What is a valuable life lesson you learned this year?

All things are possible… both heart-warming and hear-rending.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

        Onward ever onward…

Forward, pressing forward…

God my strength will be, press forward, ever called to serve my King.