He Careth For You

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you

I PETER 5: 6-7

Oh, cast your cares on Him; He careth for you. Now, He cares for you, now we know. Let's ask a few minutes if He cares for us.
All right.

He cared for the leper when He was here on earth. There set the leper. Did you ever see a leper? Oh, I've seen many of them, hugged them in my arms, them white with leprosy. Looks like a seed wart turned inside out. Setting where nobody would touch him, down in the slime and dirt and filth of the street, about as low as he could be, where everybody was afraid to get around him. He was a outcast. He was cast away from the society of the city, from the society of the church, from the society of everything there was in the city. No one wanted nothing to do with him. If they done anything, they'd pitch him a piece of bread and let him get it out of the dirt. They wouldn't get near him. But Jesus cared for him. He walked right down with him and set down. I can just see Him lay His hands upon him and said, "I will, be thou clean." Oh, He cared for him.
When nothing else could care, He cared. When nothing else will care for you, He still cares.

There was an old blind beggar, with his sleeves all torn, whiskers all over his face, and not nothing to eat, sit by a gate side one day, begging. And the Son of God, on His way to Calvary, to be crucified with the sins of the world on Him; but one screamed, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on me."
Would a man of that caliber, would a man, would a President, would the mayor, the governor of state, one on the police force, stop for such a thing as that? Seldom you'll find it.
But Jesus cared. He cast his cares on Him, and He cared. He said, "What would you that I would do for you?"
Said, "Lord, that I might receive my sight."
He said, "Thy faith has saved thee." He cared for him.

There was an immoral woman one time, like an alcoholic or a prostitute, so immoral till the women of the city wouldn't touch her. She was an outcast. She come out to get her water; she had to wait till noontime. She couldn't come with decent women. Nobody'd have anything to do with the woman. She'd been married, and had a bunch of husbands, and living common law then. Nobody cared for her. They were too stiff and starchy. Nobody cared.

But He cared for her so much that He told her the secrets of her heart, and forgive every sin, and put Something in her, that she run into the city, saying, "Come, see a Man that's told me the things that I've done."

See, that's what makes Him great to me. He isn't a stuffed shirt. He was God's grace to the people. He was God's love expressed in human flesh. No matter how little or insignificant, He cared; immoral, drunks, alcoholics, whatever it was.

Now, the question is for us tonight, do you care? He cares. But now do you care? If you do not care, then He can't help you. But if you care enough, or care enough about yourself... I've heard people make this insane remark, "I don't care what becomes of me." Oh, my. I sure care what becomes of me. Sure, I do. I care. And I believe any person in their right mind cares. I want to know what's going to happen to me. And if I know He loved me, there no one else could love like that. He cares for you. He cares for you. No matter how little you are, how insignificant you are, how poor, how indifferent, how many times you've tried and failed, He still cares. His love still knocks at your heart's door. But are we ungrateful for that?…

Bro. William M. Branham  - HE CARETH FOR YOU 60-0301

Where's the Chameleon?

Where's the chameleon? - This is a question often asked in our family...the reason being that we have often been privileged to share our garden, (and sometimes our house), with these little creatures. Being really expert at camouflage though, they can 'disappear' quicker than you can imagine. One minute they are there and the next they have disappeared!
It always causes excitement whenever we discover a new chameleon in the garden or re-discover one that had disappeared for a while.

As with any wild creature, you are not allowed to keep them as pets without a special licence. Because of this, and because we believe that wild creatures should be free, we don't keep chameleons as pets - though they do make fascinating ones! We do sometimes "keep" them for a few days just to watch and learn more about them and of course, just to enjoy these amazing little animals which are part of God's incredible creation. "Keeping" them usually means filling a vase or glass bottle with a bunch of leafy branches or twigs - usually from the plant the chameleon was found on - and then 'adding' the chameleon. :) They become tame very quickly, especially if you handle them a lot. They seem to find us as curious as we find them!

Although they spend much time sitting still on a branch basking in the sun or waiting for prey, and although they have a slow, swaying walk, they can move quite quickly when they want to! Add to this that they are masters at camouflage and can change colour to blend in with their surroundings - no wonder they can vanish so quickly. Our "house" chameleons often decide to explore and then what a time we have finding them! They love to climb the curtains and often we will find them perched on top of the curtain rail.

Chameleons are such fascinating little creatures and there is so much we could tell you about the ones we’ve known, but instead here are some photos we’d like to share…
                                        

This is a photo of a baby Flap-neck chameleon. Unfortunately our camera wasn’t working at the time and we had to use the cell phone to take a picture. This little creature stayed with us for about 3 weeks before it decided it was time to move on.

We decided to post the following pictures as they are some of the best we have of ‘our’ chameleons. This particular chameleon made it’s home in a large flower bed not far from our kitchen window at one of our previous houses.

Here is a photo of the creature - a full grown adult Flap-neck chameleon - 140mm long.

In the photo above, the chameleon is ready to catch a bee. It's always so interesting to watch a chameleon catch it's prey. The long tongue (which can be longer than the length of it's own body) shoots out at tremendous speed - actually faster than the human eye can follow, at about 26 body-lengths per second.. The tongue hits the prey in something like 30 thousandths of a second! That's fast!! The tip of the elastic tongue has something like a suction cup on the end of it. When the prey sticks to this, it is pulled back into the chameleons mouth and eaten.  

The chameleon changes colour in response to mood, light, tempreture or it's surroundings. They can blend in so very well with the surroundings and are very difficult to spot...There is a chameleon in the photo below, but "Where's the chameleon?" can you spot it? :)

"All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small,

 All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all."

The Shortest Day Of The Year

Today is the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. I'm so pleased about it because it means that the days will slowly begin to get longer, the nights shorter and that we are heading towards Spring again and Spring is my favourite season of the year! :)

Today the Sun reaches it's northern-most point in planet Earth's sky, making it mid-summer in the Northern Hemisphere and mid-winter in the Southern. This event is known as a solstice and happens twice a year when the Earth's axis is most tilted away from or towards the Sun.
It's interesting that the word "solstice" comes from the Latin 'sol'(sun) and 'sistere'(to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south comes to a stop before it reverses direction. Summer solstice for the S.H. is on December, 21.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?

- Psalms 8:3-4

Shepherd Of The Sheepfold

We pray that the 'Sunday Scriptures and Quotes' will be a blessing to you!

 7  Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

 8  All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

 9  I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
- JOHN 10: 7-11
~

"One time when I was over in the orient, I learned a great lesson in Saint John, I believe the 10th chapter, where He said, "I am the gate to the sheepfold," or the door to the sheepfold. I often wondered how could He, being a man, be a door? But then when I was over there I learned what it meant. The shepherds drive their sheep into the sheepfold, and they got a arch that they go in at, and when he drives them all in there, then after they're all in, then he counts them. If there's one lacking, he will go out and get it. He has to bring it in. Every sheep has to be accounted for every hour of the day.

Oh, what a Shepherd He is. He gives an account for every sheep every hour of the day. No matter where you're at, He knows where you're at. He knows all about you. That's the reason He can stand here at the platform through yielded people and reveal and tell and talk; He knows. He knows where you was at a year ago. He knows where you was at all the time. He has to give an account for His sheep, and especially they're all renumbered again after they're gathered into the fold. I thought, "What a beautiful picture, gathering them into the fold and numbering them."And then after he gets them all numbered and they're all bedded down, the shepherd goes down by this hole where the sheep come in at, and lays himself down across the hole. Then no wolf can come in, no thief can come in, no harm can come in, 'less it comes over the shepherd first.

What a picture of Christ laying Hisself down for us, that nothing can harm us unless it comes over Him. So if you're sick and you say, "Brother Branham, sickness crossed over Him." But it was for the glory of God. That's right. He wants to maybe give you a testimony. As the fellow said one time, he seen a shepherd packing a sheep. And he said, "Well..." Had his leg all bandaged up, and he said, "... What's the matter, did it fall off a cliff?
Said, "No," said, "I broke its leg."
"Oh," he said, "you must be a cruel shepherd to break your own sheep's leg."
Said, "No, the sheep wouldn't mind me, so I had to break her leg in order to hold her, pet her, and love her, and give her a little special food, so that she would love me and follow me."
And so sometime God has to do that to us. Let the doctor say, "Oh, it's all over; nothing could be done."
And then God takes you up in His arms and pats you a little bit, says, "Child of Mine, don't you know I love you? Don't you know I'm the Lord that healeth all of thy diseases?"
"But Lord, I was taught that the days of [miracles was past]..."
"I know you was, but I just had to let this happen so I could just show you a little special favor. Now, don't you love Me just a little more now I'm going to let you get well."
Did you ever have that just come to you? I have many times. Let something happen, just to check me down a little, to let Him express His love..."

Br William M. Branham - SHEPHERD.OF.THE.SHEEPFOLD 56-0403

In South Africa They Say...

As I mentioned in the post about population and language, we thought it would be fun to share some of the words and phrases used in S.A. and so here we're starting off with some of the most common expressions. Hope you'll enjoy it! :)
ag (pronounced 'agh') - This one of the most useful South African words. Pronounced like the "ach" in the German "achtung", it can be used to start a reply when you are asked a tricky question, as in: "Ag, I don't know." Or a sense of resignation: "Ag, I'll have some more food then." It can stand alone too as a signal of irritation or of pleasure.
--------
deurmekaar (deer-muh-car) - An Afrikaans word for confused, disorganised or muddled up as in "He's a bit deurmekaar today". (A very useful word, by the way!) :)
--------
eina (ay-nuh or ay-nar) - Ouch! Can also mean "sore". A mother might ask a child that has just tripped and fallen, "Did you get eina?"
--------
eish (aysh) - Used to express surprise, wonder, frustration or outrage: "Eish! That price is too high!" 
--------
hang of - Very or big, as in: "I had a hang of a problem".
--------
ja (yaa) - means 'Yes'. Very similar to "Ja" in German and Dutch.
--------
jawelnofine - Literally, "yes, well, no, fine", all scrunched into a single word and similar to "How about that?"
--------
just now - If a South African tells you they will do something "just now", they mean they'll do it in the near future - not immediately: "I'll go to the shop just now after I've finished having lunch."
--------
hey - Often used at the end of a sentence to emphasize the importance of what has just been said, it can also stand alone as a question. Instead of saying "excuse me?" or "pardon?" when you have not heard something directed at you, you can say: "Hey?" (Although this is not very polite!)
--------
howzit - A traditional South African greeting that translates roughly as "How are you?", "How are things?" or simply "Hello".
--------
Isit? - This is a great word in conversations. Comes from the two words "is" and "it", it can be used when you have nothing to contribute if someone tells you something that you are not quite sure about. It is appropriate to respond by saying: "Isit?" /:)
--------
lekker (lekk-irr with a rolling r) - Nice, good, great, cool or tasty.
--------
nê (neh) - Really? or is that so? Often used sarcastically.
--------
now-now - Shortly, in a bit: "I'll be there now-now." 'Now-now' is sooner than 'Just now'!
--------
shame - Broadly denotes sympathetic feeling. Someone admiring a baby, puppy or kitten might say: "Ag shame!" to emphasise its cuteness. Or if they heard that someone was ill they might say, "Oh shame, I'm sorry to hear that!" or simply "Shame!"
--------
yebo (jebaʊ) - a Zulu word for 'yes' or 'I agree'                              

A note about pronounciation:                                                                               In many words derived from Afrikaans, the letter "g" is pronounced in the same way as the "ch" in the Scottish "loch" or the German "achtung" - a kind of growl at the back of the throat. In the pronunciation guides above, the spelling for this sound is given as "gh". 

A Little Bit of Geography, History and, um..."English"

 It's a long post today and you're also going to get a bit of a "history" and "geography" and, um..."English" lesson. :P

My family and I are classified as "English South Africans" as English is our home language, although like many people living here, naturally-speaking Rachel and I are a real mixture of nationalities - Greek, English, Irish, Scottish, and Lebanese! We were born in S.A. and are 2nd generation S. Africans on our dad's side and 3rd on our mom's. Our great-grandparents were born in New Zealand and Sudan and our grandparents (Dad's side) were born and raised in Egypt and later immigrated to S.A.
(History lesson finished, now for the geography.)

There are about 47 million people living in South Africa. They come from many different cultures, backgrounds and origins. (You can read more about South Africa's population by clicking here). So you can imagine that there are many different languages spoken in the country. Actually S.A. has 11 official languages and then lots of others besides. (Click here for more info). Of course all these different languages have an effect on one another and are often mixed-in to each other.

English is understood by most people and is used as the official language for business and by the media, etc. But as a home language it ranks only 5th out of the 11. Although South Africans speak English it's not always easy to understand them as there are many words and phrases that are only used here. As one writer puts it: "SA English has a flavour all its own, borrowing freely from Afrikaans - which is similar to Dutch and Flemish - as well as from the country's many African languages, with some words coming from colonial-era Malay and Portuguese immigrants."

We thought it would be fun to do some posts about some S.A. words and phrases, so keep a look out for up-coming ones on S.A. English. :)

Winter Has Arrived

We woke up to chilly weather this morning. One look at the sky told us that there is a cold front passing by - not surprising as snow has fallen on some of the Cape mountains and when that happens the whole country feels the chill!

We woke up to a sky of cold-front clouds

Up till now we haven't had much of a winter this year - the mornings and nights get cold but the days are still warm and sometimes hot. In this part of the country the grass usually gets dry and dull when Autumn sets in as we hardly get any rain in winter but this year our lawn is still green and some of the deciduous trees are only now starting to loose their leaves.

At the moment the sky is bright blue but the wind is cold and blowing quite strong. It's nice inside the house though as it's North-facing and gets a lot of sun. Houses here don't normally have central heating - it doesn't usually get that cold but when we do have a cold spell we can turn on the heaters or light a fire in the fireplace. It's also time to make a big hot pot of homemade soup!

Jessica's cat, Thomas, in a sunny, sheltered spot.

Jessica and I have never experienced a real snowfall before. We've seen snow at a distance laying on top of mountains and about three years back we had a sprinkling of snow one very cold winter morning - it was very little though and soon melted away. We are always hoping when winter arrives that just for once there will be a nice heavy snowfall so we can make a snowman! :)

Flags and Vuvuzelas

Two days to go before the Fifa 2010 Football/ Soccer world cup begins here in South Africa. The preparations for it have been going on for the last five years and many South Africans have looked forward to it with excitement and many with dread.
As we don't have an interest in sport or worldly events, I wouldn't have mentioned the World Cup but for the fact that it's had an impact, especially this last year, on the lives of just about everyone living in South Africa. I can't even begin to describe the build-up over the last month, but here's just a tiny insight...

It is impossible to go anywhere around town and not be reminded about the event. There are massive "soccer balls" on display everywhere - even on top of the towers and buildings! Then there are hundreds of other soccer balls in all sizes and colours on display wherever you look. And of course, all the paraphernalia that goes with the game is strung out all over! Flags of the countries taking part in the Cup are very popular items.

They are flying all over shopping malls and municipalities have put them along the main streets. (By the way, it's been a good geography "lesson" for many of us - we can identify a lot more flags than we used to! :D )

South Africa has lots of street hawkers - at all major intersections you will find them trying to sell all kinds of things, from coldrinks to car chargers, DVDs, hammocks, etc, etc the list is endless. My mom says that one just has to look at what the hawkers are selling to know what's the latest fad. For the last few months there are hoards of "soccer" hawkers on the streets - Flags of the different countries are top-sellers. I wanted to take a picture of some of the hawkers to post here but it's not something you can easily do. Already one has a hard time trying to ignore all the hawkers whenever you stop at an intersection or traffic light, if you show the least bit of interest, never mind taking a photo of them, you are surrounded in seconds by at least ten, all shouting at once and insisting you buy something from them.

Flags come in all sizes, there are ones specially made for attaching to your car - almost every second car has a flag flying or has mirror covers. These flag mirror covers tie onto the cars side mirrors.

South African flag

Actually there are all kinds of soccer goods for sale but most popular of all, even beating the flags, are the vuvuzelas. Up until a year ago Mom, Rachel and I didn't know about something called a 'vuvuzela' - now it is part of our daily lives - not because we choose for it to be but simply because we have no choice! And after this World Cup probably the whole world will know what a vuvuzela is as well! :P Here follows a description we came across on the net:
"What's plastic, up to a metre long, brightly coloured and sounds like an elephant?
It's the vuvuzela, the noise-making trumpet of South African football fans, and it's come to symbolise the sport in the country.
It's an instrument, but not always a musical one. Describing the atmosphere in a stadium packed with thousands of fans blowing their vuvuzelas is difficult. Up close it's an elephant, sure, but en masse the sound is more like a massive swarm of very angry bees. And when there's action near the goal mouth, those bees go really crazy."

Passing cars, school children on their way to and from school - so many are blowing the vuvuzela - and at all hours - you just can't get away from it.
Last week Dad had stopped at a shop to buy us each a coldrink and when we opened the shopping packet we found 5 bright red vuvuzelas and 5 South African flags in there as well - the shop was giving them away to customers. As much as we dislike the noise, I must admit that Rachel and I were curious enough to see if we could get any sort of sound out of the vuvuzelas - the best we could manage was the normal "blowing sound" you hear when blowing through an empty tube! :P

Anyway, our dog, Lama found them to be great new toys! :D