Happy Valentines Day!!!

There was no greater sacrifice for the sake of love than God giving us his only beloved son, Jesus. Let's take time today to thank God for his love which is everlasting and unconditional.

I do wish everyone reading this blog a wonderful and love filled day. May grace, mercy, peace and love be yours now and until eternity.


“Love is patient; love is kind
and envies no one.
Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude;
never selfish, not quick to take offense.
There is nothing love cannot face;
there is no limit to its faith,
its hope, and endurance.
In a word, there are three things
that last forever: faith, hope, and love;
but the greatest of them all is love.”

****************************************LOVE************************************


Valentine’s Day is for honoring love;
To show those we love we care.
Red hearts with tender sentiments
We send, our love to share.

So on Valentine’s Day we’re reminded
Of our very first Christian goal:
To love the Lord with all our heart
And all our mind and soul.

To love our neighbor as ourselves
We are also told to do,
So let’s live our love by the Bible;
It’s God’s word, flawless and true.

If we give this Christian Valentine first,
We’ll never run out of love,
For infinite love will come to us
From God in heaven above.

By Joanna Fuchs

*********************************LOVE************************************
Avalon - Testify the Love

Thirsty Thursday!

Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri

The perfect drink for a hot summers day! Refreshing and healthy!

Ingredients

* 1 ounce fresh lime juice
* 3 ounces frozen sliced strawberries in syrup (or fresh)
* 1-3 teaspoon sugar (or to taste)
* cracked ice

Directions
1. Fill a blender with cracked ice. Add lime juice, strawberries, and sugar. Blend until smooth. You may add a little water if too thick. Pour into a chilled glass.

2. Garnish with an extra strawberry or an orange slice. Enjoy!

Travel Companion

I boarded the plane from New York to California hoping for no turbulence and praying for a friendly fellow passenger as good and lighthearted conversation is always welcomed. I found my seat, made myself comfortable and took out a book. Before I could turn the page, a gentleman sat down besides me. I didn't look directly at him, just caught a glimpse of his worn hands and somewhat long fingernails. From the corner of my eye I could see him take out a notepad and begin to write. By nature I'm curious. I was most interested but didn't want to be intrusive by asking him what he was writing.

The captain welcomed us and wished us a safe journey. The cabin crew went through the emergency procedures, of which I didn't pay any attention. My focus was on his writing. I wondered if he was a writer or a poet, perhaps a director mapping out his next Academy Award winning script. No sooner had we taken off, he got out his seat, placed his notepad on the serving tray and made his way to the restroom. I tried to take a peak at his notebook but couldn't make out his handwriting. His handwriting was similar to those of doctors - totally illegible. "Oh bummer", is what I uttered.

As he returned to his seat, we made eye contact and he nodded. He looked strangely familiar as if our paths had crossed before. I spent the next ten minutes trying to remember where we had met. I knew I had to at least introduce myself -- hoping he would provide the missing piece of the puzzle. I mustered up the courage and introduced myself, "hi, I'm Belinda". All I got from him was a mumble "yeah" and he resumed with his writing. Another bummer. Why had he not revealed his name? Did he have something to hide? Did I perhaps see his face on America's Most Wanted? All this was so intriguing and puzzling!

A few minutes later, one of the cabin crew members stopped at his seat and greeted him as if they had been old friends. She called him "Carlos". Didn't Carlos have a last name? If only internet access was available on flight, i would've used google! Google is amazing if you want to find out neat little facts about people. I always google my first and last name, unfortunately I'm not famous or rich to make a hit.

I try to eavesdrop on the conversation and the cabin crew member mentions music. Ah, another clue -- finally! No matter how hard I try, I just can't remember who he is. Eventually I quit eavesdropping and begin to focus on my book.

Twenty minutes later, he leaves his seat and heads to the restroom again. I peer over my shoulder to see if I can see the cabin crew member so I can ask who he is but unfortunately she's no where to be seen.

He returns, sits and resumes writing. I continue reading when I feel a nudge on my left shoulder. It's him, the mysterious man. I look at him and he points forward. I look ahead and see a lady who i chatted with briefly at the terminal. Her name is Mary Beth and she's from Barbados. A very sweet lady I must add. She waves her book in her hand and smiles. I recognise the book, as it's the same one I'm reading "Faith of my fathers" by John McCain. I laugh and in return wave mine.

She sits down and I continue reading. Half hour later, mystery man nudges me again. I look at him and he points ahead. It's Mary Beth again, this time she's pointing to a can of soda - gesturing if I wanted it. I gestured no with the nod of my head and continued reading. A while later, I thanked him for nudging me. He replied by saying, "no problem young lady", in a deep spanish accent. Who would've guessed that mystery man "Carlos" was so sweet?!!

Cut a long story short, we land at LAX and the mystery man and I say goodbye.

I hurry towards the baggage claim and make eye contact with Mary Beth who seems rather excited to see me. She asks me how did it feel to brush shoulders with a celebrity. A celebrity??? I'm dumbfounded. I ask innocently, who the celebrity was. She takes a gasp and says "The man sitting next to you was Carlos Santana"

Not so smooth transition, Mr President!

Ever since the election, the media has tried to convince us that Barack Obama’s transition effort was unparalleled in history. They heaped praise on him for having picked his Cabinet before his inauguration, as if that had never happened before, and for setting a clear path for their confirmations, as though a Democratic Senate would create much of a hurdle. Since the inauguration, though, a series of errors ranging from technological (e-mail and phone systems) to key personnel have grabbed headlines and shown Barack Obama as a bumbler in his honeymoon period.

Will the media quit fawning over Obama now? At least they’re starting to notice:

President Obama acknowledged yesterday that he had “made a mistake” in trying to exempt some candidates for positions in his administration from strict ethics standards and accepted the withdrawal of two top nominees, including former Senate majority leader Thomas A. Daschle, in the first major setback of his young presidency.

Obama officials had sought a seamless transition, nominating most of his Cabinet at record pace and taking office ready to implement a raft of new policies. His reversal yesterday suggested that speed may have come at a cost, and that Obama, despite the overwhelming popularity he had upon taking office and the major challenges facing the nation, will not be spared from the same kind of scrutiny his predecessors have faced.

In jettisoning one of his closest and earliest political allies, the president appeared eager to make a course correction after days of criticism that his administration was not abiding by its own stated ethical standards and questions about his ability to bring change to the capital.

“Did I screw up in this situation? Absolutely. I’m willing to take my lumps,” Obama told NBC’s Brian Williams, one of five interviews he gave yesterday afternoon. Obama told the network anchors that there are “not two sets of rules” for people, and said that average taxpayers deserve to have public officials who pay their taxes on time.

Daschle’s exit from consideration to lead the Department of Health and Human Services after a firestorm over his failure to pay $146,000 in taxes on time came as a shock to the president’s supporters in Washington. Just a day earlier, Obama had pledged his full support for the former Democratic Senate leader who was widely expected to be confirmed. And just hours before Daschle bowed out, Nancy Killefer, Obama’s nominee for the newly created position of chief performance officer, also stepped aside because of a tax problem.

In two weeks, he nominated two people to Cabinet positions who turned out to be major tax evaders, and a third tax evader who was supposed to measure performance in the federal government. Most transitions feel embarrassed by one high-profile withdrawal, but Obama’s had three: Daschle, Killefer, and Bill Richardson, who had to leave before being confirmed because of his involvement in a pay-for-play scandal in New Mexico.

Clearly, the Obama transition team doesn’t do its homework. The tax problems of all three, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, should have been caught months ago, especially for a transition team and effort as highly praised as this one. The investigation into Bill Richardson came to light last August. Didn’t anyone bother to even Google these candidates? Worse, even after the tax problems came to light, Obama acted as if it meant nothing until it became obvious that he was the only person in the country who didn’t understand how it looked to put tax cheats in charge of major federal bureaucracies.

And how do we know that the rest of Obama’s appointments are clean? After all, Obama promised a new era of government free of conflicts of interest, and then in two weeks appointed at least 13 lobbyists to key positions within his administration, including Daschle, who avoided registering as one. After months of demonizing lobbyists, Obama has quickly found ways to jump into bed with them, compounding the optics of cheerleading for tax cheats.

Now Obama looks weak and inexperienced, flailing at his first executive position in government — just as many of us predicted he would do during the campaign. The media never bothered to ask the tough questions about his lack of experience and instead extolled his coolness and his competence. Maybe now they’ll at least drop the Greatest Transition Ever meme and start reporting on what a train wreck it became.

Wacky Wednesday

Iman Crosson a.k.a AlphaCat does a mean Barack Obama impression. I had a good laugh. Take A look. Check him out on youtube as Alphacat and on facebook as Iman Crosson!





Here's another funny clip - The Obama and McCain dance off.

President Obama Inauguration

January 20th 2009 marked the historic inauguration of the 44th U.S. President, Barack Obama. It was a blustery cold day but the smiles of strangers seemed to warm me up! Being at Washington’s National Mall for the inauguration of President Barack Obama, with close to 2 million people, is something that I will never forget.

It was truly a historical moment. Any time you can be a part of history, it’s special. The atmosphere was electrifying! In all my life, i've never seen such a huge crowd or record number of porta potties!!! Close to 2 million people! There was no division amongst the masses, everyone was there with one common cause to be part of something great.



I won't lie, I choked up a couple of times...alright I cried. I even cried when Aretha Franklin sang My Country Tis of Thee.

What also got me to tear up was speaking to an elderly lady, Dixie. She was in her 80's and from Alabama. She lost one of her cousins when white extremists petrol bombed their church during a service, back in the 60's. She was in tears throughout the ceremony because she never believed this moment would take place in her lifetime. Just hearing her stories of the struggles she and her family endured brought me to tears. There I was in the midst of chaos and excitement, crying.



All the traumatic experiences I have been through are nothing compared to the traumatic experiences of those brave citizens who paved the way for Obama....The Jesse Jacksons...The Martin Luther King Jnrs, The Ruby Bridges', The Homer Plessy's, The Rosa Parks, The Sojourner Truth's and the Harriot Tubmans.

After Obama took his oath, it hit me that our generation has just witnessed an amazing historical moment. It's a moment we'll never forget regardless if you're black or white; a democrat, republican or independent; american or south african; kenyan or hawaiian.




The sights and sounds of over a million people does become overwhelming-- your senses are heightened...your heart beats faster, you get sweaty palms...you feel like a tiny fish in the indian ocean - insignificant, somewhat. You begin to realise that we all need to put our differences aside and come together in order to bring about the change we want to see in our world.

Music

Music's the medicine of the mind. ~John A. Logan

Music moves me deeply. Music has the power to cause emotions to well up within us. These feelings are gripping - often irresistible - and seem to emerge from nowhere. These feelings colour our moods, affect our perceptions and generate a behavioural pattern. The indisputable fact about music is its power to evoke emotions.

If ever you want to know what mood I'm in or how I'm doing, just ask what I'm listening to. The last 2 days, I've been in a reflective mood and been listening to Beethoven. There is something intriguing about a man who's hearing gradually deteriorated yet he continued to compose, and to conduct and perform, even after he was completely deaf.

My favourite is Beethoven Symphony no. 5 in C minor. It takes me back to a place when I was in South Africa with family and also stirs up these images of what heaven would be like.



What are you listening to, currently?

Chocolate Frosted Brownies - Recipe

I have always been more of a baker than a cook. My love for baking developed in my home economics class in High School, with Mrs Fenner. I'll never forget her and what she taught. To be honest, she taught more than baking and cooking -- she taught life skills that I carry around with me every single day.

I tried and tested this recipe and they came out totally DELISH! Make sure you limit yourself to one because I guarantee you'll be wanting more than one!

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

* 1-1/3 cups flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 cup butter
* 1-1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
* 2 cups sugar
* 4 eggs at room temperature
* 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
* 2 cups broken walnut pieces, lightly toasted
* ----
* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 2/3 cup cocoa powder
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
* 1/4 cups plus milk

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. With a wire whisk stir flour, salt and baking powder together. Mix well. Set aside. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa powder. Stir well. Add sugar. Beat in eggs one a time. Stir in vanilla. Add premixed flour mixture. Mix well. Stir in walnut pieces. Bake in prepared pan for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Ice with chocolate frosting when completely cool.

---- With second set of ingredients, over boiling water mix butter and cocoa powder. Stir in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and enough milk to make a thick, but spreadable icing. Spread on cooled brownies before icing hardens.

"Love Story" One Man. One Dream. One Chance.

I was sent a link to a video about one man's journey to find the love of his life. As I watched this movie, I couldn't help but think of Jesus' love for us and how he wishes we will be in communion with him -- to be in a perfect relationship with Him.




God's love for us is tenacious, everlasting, timely, unfailing, wondrous, giving, good, life-giving, priceless, redeeming, sacrificial, and satisfying!

Valentines Day Conspiracy

We're in the month of February (wow, time really flies) and I've been thinking about Valentines Day.

It has been written (by women’s magazines) that they truly understand why some single women feel completely bad about Valentine’s Day. It’s as if everyone completely conspired to get out their dates, their significant others, their husbands to show off how how coupling is done.

Anyway, that’s what I felt when I was in high school where everyone was being sent their roses and got their serenades while I had none.

But then I grew up and realised that “everyone” conspiring to do that is an exaggeration. Plus, couples who do go out on what most couples now consider cliche don’t even think about you when they do go out on Valentine’s day. They’re eyes are all in sparkles and they’re in cloud nine that they don’t even have time to think.

Now, this is not me sounding bitter. For my Valentine’s message, I’m here to reminisce.

Valentine’s Day was a heartbreaking day for plain girls like me back in high school. I became jaded enough to be pessimistic about men while at times, secretly waiting for when my turn will come when I’ll finally get some flowers.

Then later on, the men did come (and still didn’t get me my flowers! geez… is that hard to ask?) but well… either those didn’t seem to be the right time or I’m still not the right person or they’re not the right person… all these complications. The thing is that my friends wonder about me. Some guys do flirt and wonder, giving me the age-old come-on question, “Why don’t you still have a boyfriend?”

There were years I think, that I pondered over that silly question. Was it the clothes? Was it my dominant personality? Was I intimidating? Was it my friends? Was it my being brought up in a christian household? Was it my faith? Was it my job?

Was it my excessive love for songs that I have to play at least 5x a day for 3 months?

It’s ironic that I’ve come to ask these questions when the men who asked them are the ones who I thought shouldn’t matter. And it has become extremely tiring and hurtful to reminisce why I am the way I am.

So my Valentine’s message for all of you single girls, stop asking what’s wrong with you.

If you still want to ask that anyway, then ask someone whose an expert at it and who will give you an objective answer:

“…so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.” — Ezekiel 16:13b (NASB)

“You were absolutely stunning.” — Ezekiel 16:13b (The Message)

That’s God’s answer. Nobody can be more objective than that. His opinion should matter the most than anyone, shouldn’t it? He’s the one who made you.

Valentine’s Day was a conspiracy. Now you know a lot of people who are that crazy to wear red and make sure it’s a day for coupling are just… people having fun.

But you’re beautiful. Nothing’s wrong with you. Singlehood is just a season. Enjoy it this Valentine’s Day with God, just you and Him, while you still can.

(When you get married, that makes you three! -_^)

Amandla! Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony

Being South African, I was drawn to this documentary. Through a chronological history of the South African liberation struggle, this documentary cites examples of the way that music was used in the fight for freedom.

I'm grateful to be a recipient of freedom and that I don't have to live under the conditions of apartheid any longer.



"I am the product of Africa and her long-cherished view of rebirth that can now be realised so that all of her children may play in the sun."
Nelson Mandela's final speech as president to the South African parliament, Cape Town 26 March 1999.