Just 40km West of East London, Eastern Cape you will find the little coastal village of Kayser’s Beach.  This is where Mark and I went on our honeymoon.

We stayed in a self-catering cottage, quaintly named Cottage 51.  The owner of this cottage, Dee, lives on the premises, and in fact, her house is separated from the cottage by a single door.

Mark and I arrived after dark at the cottage, and Dee welcomed us with open arms.  She had stocked the little fridge with a few basics, like milk, butter and some delicious marmalade, not to mention a cookie jar of rusks on the shelf as well as tea, coffee and sugar.  It was so welcoming to sit down to a cup of coffee upon arrival.

Waking up in the morning, Mark and I were welcomed with the beautiful site below from the patio of the master bedroom.

We had heard the ocean during the night, but I had no idea how close we were until that morning.  We were able to walk to the beach (about 500m or less) and often did so twice a day during our stay at Cottage 51.

We had a comfortable stay in the cottage, and found ourselves spending most of the time in the living area of the cottage (when we were not on the beach), and we can safely say we made ourselves quite comfortable in the chairs to the right of the photograph below.

My favourite part about the stay in Cottage 51 was the discovery of a little book in the bathroom called “The Specialist”, a story which I read in one sitting and had me giggling along to the various ideas and comments… the story can be read online here.

 

And this is all I have to say about Cottage 51.  More pictures and details can be found at the following link:  http://www.safarinow.com/go/cottage51

As I have promised various people, here are the first of the wedding photographs, these are the ones taken by Mark’s parents, the only ones I have so far:

Happy Valentine's day to all of you!  I hope you are all having a great day, and if you are not being spoiled by someone else, I hope you are spoiling yourselves!

 

My Valentine's Day has been super special!

I got home from work to find Mark washing my dishes for me.  He said "I hope you don't mind if we just stay in tonight, money is a little tight right now."  I know that money is tight, I haven't got him anything, but I did say I'd make supper tonight.

I noticed one of my candles was missing from the bookcase, Mark said he found it chewed up outside... the cat must have knocked it down and the dog got it.

Mark suggested we sit outside and chat a bit.  I opened the back door and there was a pathway of candles to the outside table.  On the table was a bottle of wine and two glasses.  Around each candle was a little material bag (from my jewelry box) with a note + an item of MY jewelry inside.  The first note said I had to find the odd bag out.

Eventually I found a bag with a key inside.  Then I had to figure out where the key fit.  It fit into the chest in my bedroom.  Inside the chest (right on top of my winter wardrobe) was a tiny little gift box.  Inside the gift box was a bracelet.  Every second link in the bracelet has something different written on it.

Mark says chose the links himself (you buy them individually).  The links say:

Friends for life, Cherish, Forever in my heart, Music lover, Integrity, Live Love Laugh, Follow your dreams, Faith Hope Love, I love You.

I must hand it to Mark, he always finds really cheap ways to be romantic, and he knows exactly what to do to make me feel like a Queen :-)

Oh, and my dog had a red bow around her... :-)

Ashleigh

My family always makes Black Forest Trifle for Christmas, and this year I was given the recipe by my mother.  I have decided to share it with you.  I hope you enjoy this recipe.

The original recipe (given to my mother by Hazel Myburgh):

Here is the recipe in text, easy to copy and paste or print out:

Ingredients:
• 1 tin condensed milk
• 1 x 250g smooth cream cheese ( 1 cup )
• 1 chocolate swiss roll
• 1 tin black cherries (stoned and halved)
• Flaked almonds
• 1 chocolate Flake
• Cream
Method:
• Mix condensed milk, cream cheese and lemon juice together.
• Slice swiss roll thinly and place layer at bottom of dish
• Pour a little cherry juice over.
• Dot with cherries
• Sprinkle with flaked almonds
• Spoon a layer of cream cheese mixture over.
• Sprinkle with choc. flake
• Repeat layers.
• Decorate with cream (stiffly beaten) and chocolate flake

I woke up in the early hours of Sunday morning.  It was still dark outside with no sign of light for a few more hours.  In circumstances such as this I would have normally turned over and gone back to sleep, but not this morning.  On this particular Sunday morning I could feel God tugging on my heart. 

Have you ever noticed that when God is trying to get your attention he usually does it halfway through the night?  I like to believe that when I wake up in the night it is God calling me to spend some time with him, and that is what I did on this Sunday morning.

What did God tell me?  Nothing in particular.  What did I learn from God?  How important it is to spend time with him.

Mark and I get married this year on 9th March.  At that time we will really be starting our walk together.  Our lives are very close right now, but living together is bound to bring more challenges, and hopefully strengthen our spiritual lives, no longer as two, but as one.

This year is full of uncertainty.  Uncertainty regarding Mark’s work, my ability to step up to the role of helpmeet, our ability to serve each other, weather it will be sunny for our outdoor wedding, if my dress will be here in time, how to fit all his stuff into my house, but most of all, uncertainty on where God is going to lead us in our spiritual lives.

Amidst all this uncertainty, the best we can do is pray and say “Blessed be the name of the Lord” in all circumstances.

I can tell that this year is going to be God’s Year.  Already he is working wonders in both our lives.  It is not like he wasn’t before, but 2012 was a fairly relaxed year as far as spiritual turmoil, a refreshing rest after 2011.

This is the season for rejoicing in the Lord, for growing in Him and for prayer.

What are my New Years’ commitments?

1. To pray more regularly and spend more time in reading God’s word.
2. To listen to God more.
3. To get more involved in his Church.

This morning I read the following Psalm and it spoke to my soul.  I hope it blesses you too:

Psalm 33

¹ Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
² Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
³ Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

⁴ For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
⁵ The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

⁶ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea into jars^[a];
he puts the deep into storehouses.
⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰ The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
¹¹ But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
¹³ From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
¹⁴ from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
¹⁵ he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.

¹⁶ No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
¹⁸ But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
¹⁹ to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ We wait in hope for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
²² May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.

 

May God bless each person who reads this blog.  I pray that you experience God this year just like I have begun to.

Last night I read Matthew 5:13-16.  I’ve read this part of the Bible many times before.  Have you ever noticed that when you read a verse or section it means something to you, then you leave it alone for a while, and come back to it after a few months it means something different, or you have gained more insight into the verse?  This proves that you are growing spiritually.

While reading the verses about being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, I had an Ah-ha moment, slightly different from ones I’ve had in the past.

When you think about salt, it can be good or bad.  If a person uses salt on their food it enhances the flavour, if a person pours salt into a wound it hurts, a lot.  It will definitely bring attention to the wound.

In the same way, if you, as a Christian, fellowship with other Christians, you enhance each other.  You can be there for each other in times of trouble, in prayer, in joy, in sorrow and in spiritual growth.  Christians fellowshipping with other Christians improve themselves.

On the flip side, if you, as a Christian, spend time with non-Christians, it is like pouring salt into wounds.  Let’s say (theoretically) you spend a lot of time with people who drink heavily, but you don’t touch a drop, at some point they will notice.  What makes you different from them will cause them to examine themselves and their drinking habits.  Usually people don’t like to see faults within themselves and they will be hurt (like pouring salt onto a wound), but the hurt makes them acknowledge there is something wrong.

People who get hurt usually try to bring the person who hurt them down to their level, or they try to get away from the person who hurt them, or they try to heal the wound.

Maybe, by being the salt of the earth we shine a light into the darkness in other people’s hearts, and expose their darkness to themselves.  What they do with it once it has been exposed, is between themselves and God.

(Note: For plain crumpets, leave out the cinnamon)

Ingredients:

• 250ml (1 cup) cake flour (140g)
• 10ml (2 teaspoons) baking powder
• 1ml (1/5 teaspoon) salt
• 30ml (6 teaspoons) sugar
• 1 egg
• 200ml (4/5 cup) milk
• 15ml (3 teaspoons) margarine, melted
• 5ml (1 teaspoon) cinnamon (optional)

Method:

1. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together.  Add sugar.
2. Beat the egg, milk and melted margarine together and add to dry ingredients.
3. Beat until smooth and leave to stand for 30 minutes
4. Fry spoonful's of batter on a hot greased griddle or frying pan.
5. Fry until golden brown, turning when bubbles appear on the surface.
6. Serve with butter, jam or honey.  (also nice with peanut butter and syrup!)