Monday's nearly over

So, it's nearly the end of another Monday. A ratehr good Monday at that. I only hope that the rest of the year's Monday's are like this one.

After a lovely weekend of watching Mary Poppins on Saturday and SA beating New Zealand in the cricket on Sunday, Heather and I started this Monday morning off with a brisk walk around the park, at 5:30 in the morning! It was really good and refreshing. I'm trying to take a page out of Jack Groppel's book, and start a new habit! This is something I've been wanting to do for a while, and I'm determined to keep it going.

The ret of the day has gone rather well, and I've got a fair amount of work under my belt. Now I just need to start on the minutes from last Thursday!

And in the news today...

One of the things about living in South Africa is we tend to get complacent about crime...until it happens to you!

I got a call from Heather yesterday afternoon, just before heading home from work. She was a little worked up. "Babe, someone's tried to break into the flat!"

I couldn't actually believe it. Here we live in this relative Fort Knox: Electric fencing, security gates with an intercom system, remote control vehicle access, and yet someone had managed to get into the premises and actually tried to break our door down.

 As you can see in the picture, they really did a number on the door. I can only give thanks to God that they didn't get in, and that Heather wasn't there when it happened.

By the time I got home, our landlord had been to have a look, and said he'd come and fix up the door this morning.

So that's my South African crime story for the week.

Laugh for the day

THIS IS AN ACTUAL AUSTRALIAN COURT DOCKET 12659
CASE OF THE PREGNANT LADY


A lady about 8 months pregnant got on a bus. She noticed the
man opposite her was smiling at her. She immediately moved
to another seat.
This time the smile turned into a grin, so she moved again.
The man seemed more amused. When on the fourth move, the man
burst out laughing, she complained to the driver and he had
the man arrested.
The case came up in court. The judge asked the man (about
20 years old) what he had to say for himself.
The man replied, Well your Honour, it was like this:
When the lady got on the bus,I couldn't help but notice her
condition.
She sat under a sweets sign that said,
"The Double Mint Twins are Coming" and I grinned.
Then she moved and sat under a sign that said,
"Logan's Liniment will reduce the swelling", and I had to smile.
Then she placed herself under a deodorant sign that said,
"William's Big Stick Did the Trick", and I could hardly
contain myself. BUT, your Honour,when she moved the fourth
time and sat under a sign that said,
"Goodyear Rubber could have prevented this Accident"...I just lost it.
"CASE DISMISSED!!"

The True Story of a Brave Cat in the British Navy

Taken from an article by Tanya M. Petrokov
LAWS: "This is the true story of “Simon the Cat” who’s duty it was to control a British Naval Ship’s rat population. In April 1949 the Royal Navy Frigate H.M.S. Amethyst was patrolling the Yangste River in China. It came under siege by the Chinese Communists and was under fire for several days. By the end of its famous dash down the Yangtze river, 25 of the ship’s 183 crew, including the Captain, were killed and the whole affair became known as the Yangtze incident. Simon, the ship’s small black and white cat, was wounded in the siege and bolted in terror to the depths of the ship. After 5 days, hunger brought him on deck where he was taken to the sick bay. He was found to have four shrapnel wounds and his whiskers were badly burnt and his heart was seriously weakened by the shock of it all. His head was bandaged but he continued his duty catching rats, while recovering. He also patrolled the sick bay to rest among his fellow injured Seamen. Despite being wounded in action, he continued his work on the ship all the while nursing his little bandaged head. His enduring spirit lent moral support to the other survivors on the ship, encouraging them to persevere and remain strong. "

for more information on Simon, read http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/famous/simon.html

Is it Tuesday already?

Gees, one day you're celebrating your birthday, the next, almost a week has gone past! I can't believe it was 5 days ago that Heather was bringing me breakfast in bed and I was opening my presents. It seems like just yesterday, and yet so much has happened in between.

Starting with my birthday, Heath really spoiled me. I got a 12-month National Geographic subscription! Isn't that the coolest gift ever. Then after a tea that afternoon with a few friends, she took me to see Valiant, the movie about the WW2 homing pigeons. This piqued my interest about another brave animal, called Simon, who I shall post on next.

Friday took us to Natti's, and as soon as my pics are developed, I'll tell you all about it!

Saturday was a visit to Grahamstown, and a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Rhodents in the ACM programming competition. Following the defeat at Grahamstown, Heath and I joined some friends for a relaxing game of Risk. Those of you who have ever played will know that risk is anything BUT relaxing! Aliances were formed, battles were fought, and eventually, after a gruelling 4 hours, the game was over, and it was left to the survivors to patch up the wounded egos.

Sunday, Heath and I treated ourselves and watched "Finding Neverland" on DVD. what a beautiful movie! Jonny Depp and Kate Winslett were amazing, and Freddie Highmore is an actor to be on the lookout for, especially after seeing him in Charlie and the Chololate Factory as well.

Yesterday, however, I was subjected to "Bridget Jones 2". For any guys out there, this movie is NOT for you. I felt so sorry for Colin Firth. Dude, I sympathise with you, as does the rest of the male population around the world.

And now it's Tuesday, almost halfway through the week, and nothing to show for it. I'd better get cracking!

Birthdays, google earth, and other things

I can't belive it's already Tuesday. And only 2 more sleeps until my birthday! One (of the many) things I love about my family, is that we have a way of stretching birthdays over a number of days, ususally no less that a week! We started with my family birthday lunch on Sunday. I know Heather wants to treat me on Thurs, and then its over to Natti's on Friday for the big party. Now for those of you not from PE (or those of you that are and are just plain ingorant), Natti's Thai Kitchen is a family run restuarant, serving the BEST Thai food ever. You'll have to wait for next week for a full description of our Friday menu. Yay, I can't wait!

Changing the topic, I don't know how many of you have used Google Earth? I'm loving it at the moment. I was looking around on the forums, and stumbled across the bookmark for Glenridge Church, the NCMI church I visited when I was with Justin in Durbs. This gave me an idea: Why not try to bookmark as many NCMI churches as possible. This could be quite fun, and an interesting way of seeing how God is working through NCMI to reach the nations. I'm hoping to put Joy to the Nations on the map ASAP. I'll keep you informed :)

Bloem 2005

The NCMI Bloemfontein Leadership Training Time was held last week, and it was an amazing time. 4500 people praising God is really something to see.
There were some really good messages that were brought as well. I recommend downloading the talks from http://www.ncmi.net/Bloem_LTT_Audio2005.htm

Some of the highlights for me were:
-Tyrone Daniel talking about different picture's we have of the church and how they all need to be embraced, and also how the early church did church!;
-Tony Rainbow speaking on encouragement;
-Leon van Dahl on what to do when leading a church (so much of this talk is relevant to other areas of leadership!);
-Starla Bell (an amazing young woman) speaking on the Psalm 119 generation, a people who love God and his word;
-Ian Mckeller speaking on the call for businessmen to work with the apostolic team in opening doors for ministry, using Priscilla and Aquila as an example (this was an amazing talk, and I highly recommend downloading it from the link above);
-Rigby Wallace followed up on Ian's talk with a perspective on the apostolic ministry (if you've downloaded the above message, you need to listen to this one as well!);
-Grant Crawford brought an amazing message on creating a heart for the lost;
-Chris Wienand brought a message on developing new wineskins for God's new wine (allowing ourselves to be flexible to the outpouring of God's presence);
-and Tyrone's message on welcoming warriors into the church.

All challenging and powerful words that have caused me to relook how I view my walk with Jesus Christ. And what a priveledge to have Heather with me during this time. What a wonderful time to share together.

It was made even more special by the fact that we travelled home from Welkom, paying a visiting to Heather's folks after the LTT, on our 1st wedding aniversary. It was a great trip, made even better by the good friends we had to travel with. Jaco and Anita, thanks for a great week.