Lat jou liggie vidag so skyn dat die mense om jou vi jou sê:
'Nei man. Dim jou se lights.'
Da moet jou antwoord wees:
'Dai's net my parkin lights - check my brights!'
En as hulle dan vra: 'Wa koep jy sulke lights?'
Da antwoord jy:
'Dis nie te koep nie, ek kry dit veniet by die Jirre.'
stress. we all know it so well. we all have it. it is the disease of our modern lives. it isn't altogether a bad thing, as it is what motivates us to get up and do something. it drives us to work, and it motivates us to change.
but what if stress gets bad? what happens when we get so stressed, that we feel we can no longer cope? when we feel tired, and irritated, and nauseous, and overwhelmed? when our stress saps our energy and leaves us too exhausted and empty to do anything? when we snap at our loved ones and make them feel in the way, and somehow at fault?
at this moment in my life, there are a number of things, that in themselves are stressful and difficult but quite manageable, but all added together at the same time, are simply overwhelming.
every morning, in the shower, i pray, no, cry to GOD, for 4 things for today:
1) strength. please give me enough strength, enough energy, enough petrol, just to make it through today.
2) please give me just one opportunity today, to make a tiny difference in someone else's day. i don't have to run into a burning building to rescue a family and their kids and their pets, just give me a touch, a smile, a word, a gesture, a blessing to pass on to someone who needs it at that moment. obviously we all want to be able to change someone else's life for the better for ever, but it doesn't work that way for most of us. so all i ask is that GOD helps me let my parking lights to be bright enough today, to illuminate a moment for someone else. because i believe that when GOD blesses me, i have to pass that blessing on to someone who may need it more.
3) please give me just one opportunity today, to make a difference in my own life. please give me a chance to take one step, do one thing, cross one small item off my list of things i needed to have done yesterday. let me do just one thing off my short-term list, and one small step towards crossing one thing off my longer-term list. help me to sort out those energy-stealing, crisis-causing, stress-inducing things.
4) let me feel YOUR love and presence, and help, and strength today. help me to see YOUR hand in my life. help me to experience YOUR plan. and, above all, give me YOUR peace in my heart, so that i can hear YOUR words. give me, for free, those lights that shine so bright, that no cloud of stress can darken it, and other people cannot help but notice it.
and when i collapse into bed every night, and think back over my day, i realise that i DID indeed get just enough strength to get through the day. often none to spare, though, but enough. and i hope that i touched someone's life today. usually we do not know what we mean to others, and i endevour to let more people know when they have touched my life in some small way, we all need to know that. and every day i do indeed manage to do quite a number of things on my list. some days are better than others, and some days i squander some of my opportunities. and occasionally i manage to take a step towards resolving those bigger issues in my life.
and so, in our lives today, there are not that many big, dramatic miracles. not so many get-up-and-walk moments. but, if we are open and aware and living our lives in GOD's presence, we experience lots of small but amazing, daily miracles. and for that i thank GOD every day!
love, jacki
