Wearily upward

A couple of weeks ago I tried making lemon curd. Those who have made lemon curd before will know how easy it actually is. Only a few basic ingredients are needed to make something delicious -which are the kind or recipes I like to try. But only if you follow the recipe. At one point I was stirring the mixture of butter, lemon juice and zest, sugar and egg without anything happening. The recipe said to keep stirring until it thickens, but mine wouldn't. So I started to panic. Did I do something wrong? Dit I forget to add something? Did I get the measurements wrong and messed up the whole thing? Is the recipe even correct? After some more stirring the mixture suddenly thickened beautifully to a custard-like consistency. Perfection! I was overjoyed! The recipe was correct, I did everything right and all the ingredients were where they should have been. The proof was literally in the pudding! All it took was some time doing what the recipe instructed me to do. I often feel like that in...

I try and stick to the rules as much as I can. It's not always convenient or popular, but I do it anyway. That means I'm usually the guy going 22 mph in a 20 mph zone with a string of cars behind me all wanting to go faster. My mom once said (about driving on the highway) that if there's a speed limit, there's a reason for the limit. I've learned that I don't have to understand why a rule is in place to follow it. Not even when it is inconvenient. So today, while driving to the grocery store, it was rather refreshing to be stuck behind a car going 20 mph in a 20 mph zone. There were no cars behind us, but it still felt liberating to not have the responsibility of sticking to the speed limit while others wanted to go faster. It felt like I wasn't the only one sticking to the rules. I almost wanted to pull up next to that driver and thank them for their wonderful driving. It reminded me of a Bible passage:  "And let us consider how we may spur one another...

I started making sourdough bread in 2020. This was basically because of a shortage in baker's yeast and boredom being confined to quarters for a long time, but only after I was able to get some flour. I'm sure many people would have experienced this for themselves. I had a lot of great plans and ideas, but sourdough wasn't one of them. I had other goals that I wanted to work towards, but didn't. There were some things that, all of a sudden, were of greater importance than what I wanted or planned. There were things that was lost completely - things I thought was an absolute necessity, but turned out to be things I can do without. Friends passed away and I was unable to say goodbye, grieving from a distance. Some people left and it didn't seem right. Issues were raised that I would have preferred to ignore a little longer from the comfort of my perfectly planned future. Things changed unexpectedly - my work, my daily/weekly/monthly pattern, my wasteline. Again I susp...

I attended an online leadership conference recently. It was a fairly intense day. I watched the keynote speakers passionately share their inspirational messages and research and insights while I casually gnawed on carrot sticks and freely got up for bathroom breaks at will. An introvert's dream conference. But the thing that really struck me was the speakers' credentials. Before every talk a female voice fit for radio would run through a list of things the orator accomplished, a couple of the multitude of books the person has written, the awards he/she has won and the nearly unbelievable influence and reach the person has. The credentials gave a sense of security and trust that whatever is about to come out of this person's mouth will be worth listening to. Especially the one-liner phrases that was conveniently and trendily jotted down in the downloadable e-resources pack. And it got me thinking about how we measure the value in people. The thought occurred to me that if I ...

I've learnt a lot about myself and the way I think in the last couple of months. Stressful, strange, uncomfortable circumstances have a tendency to do that. One of the things I've noticed about myself is how I approach days and weeks; how I go about stepping into the future. I've started thinking through my day in the morning and finding something to look forward to in that day. Sometimes I look forward to catching up with a friend. Sometimes it's a nice meal I have planned for dinner. Sometimes it's as simple as looking forward to a bad day ending. It varies, but I've found it helps me stay positive(-ish) in the kind of times we're dealing with, because sometimes what I look forward to is on the other side of something difficult. Sometimes it's a tough conversation to be had. Sometimes it's a life-draining meeting in the diary. Sometimes it's just my turn to get up with the kids in the morning. In Romans 5:3-5 (NIV) we read: "Not only so, b...

The other day I was in the bathroom for my morning routine of washing my face, brushing my teeth, etc. Ruben (my son) was already dressed with teeth cleaned, so he was in the living room getting out his toys to start a day of carefree playing and potty training. Life is so much simpler when you're nearly 3 years old. Just as I started brushing my teeth I heard Ruben calling from the living room: "Pappa, can you weed me a tohwy!?" (Translation: Daddy, can you read me a story?) I was caught with a toothbrush gently carressing my molars and a mouth full of minty foam, so I couldn't answer him straight away. He obviously repeated the question... in exactly the same way... with exactly the same intonation. "Pappa, can you weed me a tohwy!?" "Pappa, can you weed me a tohwy!?" "Pappa, can you weed me a tohwy!?" "Pappa, can you weed me a tohwy!?" "Pappa, can you weed me a tohwy!?" This continued at a steady tempo, almost metro...

A while ago I worked on a set of devotions looking at different people Jesus met during His time on earth. A fascinating exercise. Jesus interacting with different people in varying contexts, as told by His friends and followers. It is very revealing. It shows us not only the immense power of God in human form, but also His humanity and his intricate and intimate knowledge of those He deals with. All done in love. One of the more famous episodes takes place just after dawn in the sandy temple courts in a crowd of onlookers. The role players: Jesus, the Pharisees and teachers of the law (the religious elite), and a woman caught in adultery. You can read the account in John 8:1-11.  Most of the time we focus on the interaction between Jesus and the woman. It's a beautiful story of grace, redemption, safety and transformation. But recently I started wondering what the religious elite (let's call them The Squad) must have been going through. They were right to bring the adulterous ...