Hier is ek nou!

As jy my as jongman sou vra, waarheen ek op pad was, dan sou ek vir jou vinnig en maklik, presies kon sê waarheen ek gedroom het en hoe ek van plan was om daar uit te kom. Soos wat ‘n mens ouer word, ontdek jy al hoe meer dat ons eindlik maar net so in ‘n algemene rigting kan dink en leef, want die strome van die lewe vat jou en die visse sluk jou en dan spoel jy soos Jona eendag op ‘n heeltemalle ander strand uit, as waarheen jy beplan het om te gaan. 

So sit ek nou hier en skryf aan Lewe Lig se eerste Blogpost, in Starbucks in Switzerland by my oudste dogter. Sou jy aan die begin van die jaar vir my gevra het, waar ek my aan die einde van die jaar sou bevind, dan sou dit nie my eerste opsie gewees het waarheen ek gedink en gemik het nie. En toe …? Toe sluk die vis my! 

Die afgelope klomp maande het daar so ‘n paar groot visse verby gekom wat my toekoms nogals radikaal kom verander het. Wêreldwyd voer baie kerke ‘n finansiële oorlewingstryd en so moes die gemeente waarin ek was, ook ter wille van fiansiële oorlewing, personeel verminder. En toe …? Toe land ek op ‘n baie ongemaklike plek – sonder werk van 8 Desember 2018 af. So met die HNA-gevoel (Hunker Na Aftrede) op die lyf, het my moedertjie se woorde in my kop gedraai; “My seun moet nie jou kuikens tel voordat hulle uitgebroei het nie.”

Jy sien die vis-storie hou baie waarheid in. God se pad is meeste van die tyd heeltemal anders as die pad wat ons wil en kies om te stap, want aftrede is nie deel van Sy woordeskat nie. Al hoe ek en jy by die beste in ons menswees mondering kan uitkom, is om maar toe te laat dat die visse van verandering ons kom sluk. Dis dan dat ons verras staan met die nuwe energie en dimensies wat in ons menswees losgemaak word.

Deel van my nuwe toekoms, is die begin en uitbou van ‘n Internet bediening onder die LeweLig/LivingLight vaandel. Deel van ons Pappa Vader se reis met my, was dat ek groot dele van my lewe, in visse se mage deurgebring het. Juis dit, was die tye waar ek al hoe meer bewus geraak het dat Sy pad en drome vir my, so radikaal anders is, as dit waaroor ek gedroom het. So? Hier is ek nou! Nuwe strande, nuwe uitdagings, nuwe groei-geleenthede – ‘n nuwe toekoms!

---

Here I am!

If you would have asked me as a young man where I was heading, I would have been able to tell you very quickly and easily, exactly where I was heading towards and how I was planning to get there. As you grow older, you discover more and more that we can only think and live in a general direction, because the currents of life take you by surprise and then there are also some big fishes around that wants to swallow you and then spit you out, like Jonah. Most of the time on a beach that wasn’t part of your planned journey. As Forest Gump used to say; “Life is like a box full of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get!”

So now, here I am in Switzerland with my eldest daughter and sitting in Starbucks, writing Live Light’s first blog post. Should you have asked me at the beginning of the year, where I would find myself at the end of the year, it would not have been my first option, seeing that I didn’t saw this whale coming my way. And then …? I got swallowed!

Over the last few months, some big fishes were circling around me, which have challenged and changed my future quite radically. Worldwide many churches are facing a financial survival struggle. So too, the congregation in which I was serving. In order to meet their financial challenges, they had to reduce staff for the sake of financial survival. And then …? Then I landed in a very awkward place – without work, jobless, from December 8, 2018. So, with the YFR feeling (Yearning For Retirement) foremost in my mind, my mother’s words rang true; “My son, you should never count your chickens before they are hatched.”

You see, Jonah’s story of the fish contains quite a lot of very relevant truths. God’s path is most of the time completely different from the path we want and choose to go because words such as retirement are not part of His vocabulary. The reality of life is that we will be swallowed by some big fishes every now and then. But it is then, that we will be astounded and surprised by the new surges of energy that comes with the brand-new growth opportunities that life presents to us.

Part of my new future is the start and expansion of an Internet ministry under the Live Light banner. You won’t believe it, but the biggest part of my life, I’ve spent in the belly of the fish. So fortunately, to me, it is not total unfamiliar territory. During these “stinky” times in the belly of the fish, I became increasingly aware that God’s plans and dreams for me, were so radically different from what I would have dreamed off for myself. 

So? Here I am! Swallowed up, spat out, new beaches, new challenges, new growth opportunities – a brand new future!

Be blessed!