just me.

We,  the  people of South  Africa, 

Recognise  the  injustices of our past; 

Honour  those  who  suffered  for  justice  and freedom in our land; 

Respect  those  who  have  worked  to  build  and  develop  our country; and 

Believe  that South Africa  belongs to all who live in it, united  in our diversity. 

We  therefore,  through our freely  elected  representatives,  adopt  this  Constitution  as the  supreme 

law  of the  Republic so as to- 

Heal  the  divisions  of the  past  and  establish  a society  based  on  democratic  values,  social 

justice and fundamental  human  rights; 

Lay the  foundations  for  a  democratic  and  open society  in  which  government  is  based  on 

the  will of the  people  and  every citizen is equally  protected  by  law; 

Improve  the  qualiiy of life of all citizens and free  the  potential of each  person;  and 

Build  a  united  and  democratic  South  Africa  able to  take  its rightfill place  as  a  sovereign 

state  in  the  family  of  nations. 

May  God  protect our people. 

Nkosi  Sikelel’  iAfrika.  Morena  boloka  setjhaba s a  heso. 

God  seen  Suid-Afrika.  God  bless  South  Africa. 

Mudzimu  fhatutshedza  Afurika.  Hosi  katekisa  Afrik

God has given us a promise…and we are reminded of it through the rainbow.

God put a song in my heart about His promise in the rainbow and the expectation that i was to see this beauty  in the morning when i woke up…and i believed!

morning cam but i didnt see…

we expect with our own expectations…yes God has put it on our hearts but His thoughts and ways are WAY above ours.

we may be disappointed when we dont see it our way BUT today (30 Jan 2012) i saw the most amazing sight as i drove home through the golf course…three sprinklers are on spraying the most amazing array of colours…

it had to be one of the best i have ever seen!

God is amazing..

keep expecting..

but dont limit it to your own expectations…

God is higher, the creator, majestic

His ways are higher than ours

His thoughts greater

He is ALL KNOWING

the author of salvation..

OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE GOD IN EVERY SITUATION!

we so often adopt the ways of the environment that we are in…yet somehow we seem to loose ourselves.

and loose His ways…

we need to keep our eyes open, being sensitive to the way He does things and not the way the world does them.

adopt the principles of God.

• i realised this when i started teaching my new class…i was adopting the ways of my teacher instead of keeping my own and keeping Gods. But with this realisation God is showing me the way He and Jesus taught/teaches and how they would like me to teach and treat children.

and this can be applied to ANY area in your life!

its sports day for the junior primary. the parents have been called out of the stands to join their children for the potatoe and spoon race. but Connell (7yrs) is walking around sobbing! so i try and comfort him, its the second time today that he has been crying. the first time was because he realised that the reason he wasn’t getting any stickers was because he kept coming last in all his races. but this time it was something deeper inside him…

His parents aren’t here to race with him…

i just show some love and directed him to his teacher to give her a hug, he was on his way to smiling again, until…another teacher interferes with his journey to his teacher and asks him where he is going. after explaining, the teacher has absolutely NO COMPASSION, shouts at him and tells him to sit down. Connell sits obediently and just glances at me again with teary eyes…

After telling the class (ages 8) about Jesus and His first miracle, I asked them to write down what they would want THEIR FIRST miracle to be…

some are worth repeating…

“Save the poor, a clean earth rais the dead I would ask God to help and I know that He would say yes.” -Zara

“my first miracle is to heal the people that are in hospital by raying to God” -Michaela

“Water into fire. I want to do it at the farm why because it is so coor (cool) and imagine what it wid look like.” -Marc

“walk on water! at my home because it would be fun” -Melissa

“my first miracle is to help people if they are stuck. because I feel sorry for the people. So I help them. and I would love praying for my friends. so if they are sick I would pray that they would feel much better when they come to school again and play with me.” -Peyton

“Shoot Acid out of my left hand and bulets out of my right hand. I would kill the bad people and stop crime. I will melt steel and gold. I would melt cooper because it will be cool.” -Saien

“I would like to help people that ar in danger because I love them.”    -Justin

“I would not litter and tell everyone not to. I would blelieve in God and walk on water. I will play with my enemies and change their hearts. I will heal the blind, dumb and deaf. I will pray for those who have cancer. I will give to the poor. I will teach those who don’t know God.” -Anna

“I be able to bring people back to life so when my grand parents die I can bring them back to life.” -Matthew D

“To walk on water and save people from pirates so that they dont get robed.” -Jared

God will use them!

Matthew 18:1-6 and 19:13-15

This blog is a reminder to myself of what I do not want to become…

On this day I witnessed something that made me burn inside…

my experience…

During break I was pouring a glass of juice for myself in the staff room. There were some teachers sitting and chatting and it just seemed to be usual staff room gossip chatter. (another thing that grates my carrot-staff room gossip)

There was a soft knock on the door and we all turned to see Luca, a sweet small Grade 1 boy, venturing into the staff room (which is apparently forbidden) making his way to his teacher Mrs P. He is innocent…coming to tell some important information to some one whom he looks up to very much. (firstly my hat goes off to him..when i was his age I would never have gone any where near the staff room on my own) But something happened that he was most deffinately not expecting and something that I was not expecting either…

A ‘well respected’ teacher..an intern MENTOR (definition=example)…pipes up and says in her usual loud voice so that every one can hear..”Ah excuse me what are you doing in here?”..Luca tries to explain while all these faces are staring, glaringly at him, but he decides that the comfort of his teacher would be the better option..so he ventures further towards Mrs P. There is some sniggering and Mrs P reaches out her hand toward Luca. But, instead of an open welcoming palm, its hard, firm and telling him to STOP!

In that booming voice once again “Ah excuse me, turn around, go back to the door,knock and wait!” This small boy stops and uncertainly turns away towards the door but unfortunately does not see the staff door and carries on towards the door further away. He is stopped again by a whole lot of booming voices telling him, “NO NO NO NOT THAT DOOR!” feeling more uncertain and confused, he ventures back into the staff room. At this the teachers there find his hilarious and it turns out to be a mocking, humiliating moment…who is truely raising this next generation?

Luca was left standing and eventually runs out the room not finding comfort in his teacher or any other…including me.

I was filled with a lot of anger and disappointment, my face describing my feelings as I looked around the room.

Who are you to treat a person like that?

Who are you to think you are any higher than a child or any other person?

Who are you to humiliate?

Who are you?

Who?

WE are called to raise the next generation.

We are called.

We are called to..

LOVE THEM.

My Creative Board.

Not many children in our classes have a responsibility. Unless it is given by the teacher and over looked by her/him. Children need to grow and learn in responsibilities. Ones that they can choose to have, whether to make it their own or shift it to someone else and then if they choose to take it on, then to make it their own.

In my future class room i would love to have a ‘My Creative Board”

This board is placed somewhere in the classroom that is well seen (not hidden away in the store room) but where everyone can see it. This board has nothing to do with the teacher but everything to do with the children.

It’s a plain board in the begining of each week, month, term, year..what ever you decide. The children do with it what they want. They can put up their spare time art work, pictures and what ever floats your classes boat.

Obviously there has to be some kind of censoring depending on your age group but other than that its up to the children.

A thought that came to mind…what if there is some kind of vandalism between children or unfairness? And my solution thought?…let the children deal with it.

That is where they learn…