South Africa...my new home

Hi everyone!

I will not even begin to explain where I fully disappeared to but I will say I have been busy having fun and discovering myself. It has been a journey full of ups and downs but I am so grateful that I have gone through it-heck, I am still going through it!

So I recently went to South Africa to volunteer for approximately three months focusing on developing health and hygiene within a township in Grahamstown.

Lovely experience? Where do I even begin? From the lovely community and the mama's, to my host family, amazing counterpart and diverse team of people I was working with.

It was an experience that I can never forget and I will be sharing more of it in due time.
For now I am going to share a few things that I learnt in true Rubologs tradition:

1. Everyone deserves the chance to smile
I don't actually know how to explain this point lol but let it marinate in your mind...

2. Patience is a virtue
It is hard working in a large group of people with different characters and personalities and this was a major challenge that we faced during our placement. However, being open to accept people for who they are and what they stand by truly helped me to work with rather than against them. It is good to work with people you have a lot of similarities with but at times it limits your personal growth.

3. As faces differ, so do their needs 
It was not always obvious until you got close to someone to hear their life journey and their aspirations. I now know not to always judge a book by its cover but to sometimes get closer to people. 

4. Access to practice good health and hygiene should not be taken for granted
In the community I was working in, health and hygiene was an issue we were dealing with. We did this in various ways through community workshops, events and lessons in schools. Whilst the knowledge was being passed on, it could not always be applied. How do you maintain personal hygiene, if the water supply was turned off for three days? 

5. South Africa has winter
No but they actually do. I was soo ignorant of the fact that just because I'm in a tropical country, it automatically means bikini! Wrong. It was freezing and I had a cold. 

I have learnt a lot during my time away and will cherish these moments and the people I met forever.

For now I will  leave you with a few snaps...see you soon! 

Plenty of love

Rubo xx

First day in SA

At the National Art Festival

National Arts Festival

Snippet of a township

View from my home

View of town centre  

Me being me

My working group-aka the best 

My counterpart who became my sister xx

Anger affects your fruit

Source: www.notable-quotes.com
Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires (James 1:20 NLT)

Ever been angry? Rained a few choice words at a loved one? Felt like you could have pulled someone's brains out? Read on...

There are two scriptures I've been pondering on for a few weeks, if not months, at the back of mind that relates to anger.

Ephesians 4:25-27 (NIV)
 “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."
James 1:20 (NLT)
"Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires."

See when I first read these scriptures, I actually became more aware of the importance of remaining calm in situations that warrant anger.  However, my awareness was blinded by the reasoning that this wasn't right 'because the bible said so'. Recently I read these scriptures again when sharing it with one of my mentees and then it became clearer to me.

"Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires." James 1:20 (NLT)


Lately, I've been angry. To an extent, I'm not too sure I know why I've been angry but I've come to realise that this has to do with the fact that I keep running away from God and the responsibilities He's placed in my hands. (Read my post on running away) Simply not doing as He's asked or responding to His calls can change your emotions FOR Him, AGAINST Him. Yeah, it's funny right, I did not believe it till I experienced it,hence it affected me gravely. After close examination, I caught a glimpse of what the scripture was referring to in terms of righteousness and not being able to be the Christian I'm daily growing to be. 

Anger blocks the fruits of the spirit being used. In other words, it inhibits you being patient with a person who seems to be unaware of the discomfort their actions bring you. It doesn't allow you to view that person in love or be gentle with them. It completely blocks you from using kind words towards them if and when correcting them. It disables you from living in peace with all men. It robs you of your internal joy. It discourages you from being faithful to your prayers for them (for example in the event that this is your spouse, friend or even child). Anger encourages a lack of self control and it's in these circumstances that you find people uttering words they never would have in the first place and in summary it produces no good.

There is a way that God requires us to behave as listed in Galatians 5:22 and anger is one of the things that blocks us from acting in such a manner. 

I'm not sure who I wrote this post for but I know that at one point or the other, we may have been angry and displayed characteristics that we otherwise wouldn't have. I implore you to forgive yourself but take conscious steps to avoid such a state (whatever that means for you) next time.

Let's not allow anger to block our fruit and ruin our testimonies as Christians

Rubo 

Where are you running to?

Still running? 
Source:www.alignfiles.com

So last week I posted on my Facebook that we should stop running away and go back to God as He's waiting to hear from us. He wants us to continually dine with Him. How humbling is that? Therefore I embraced Him and encouraged others to do the same thing.

A trial appeared and all of a sudden I found myself running away again. I heard His calls but decided to ignore, I felt His nudges but decided to move away and ultimately I was back at square one-confused. My prior convictions, visions and decisions were clouded. Discouragement set in and I was running on auto pilot.

I'm currently undergoing something called 'the wait'. A period of time Christians frequently find themselves in according to scriptures such as Psalm 40:1-3 and Isaiah 40:31, for example. 

The wait can be described as a period of silence. A moment where things appear not to be working, prayers unanswered and worship apparently blocked. Funnily enough, this is a time where deep intimacy has the potential to be built. It's in such a time you cannot depend on your feelings to know God is near as your feelings will ultimately fail you. It's a time where you evidently build your inner man. You pray till you can't pray no more, you worship till you can't find a song ('ultimately' make your own), you sacrifice till there's nothing left and you study until you close your eyes and can only see scripture. In other words you keep pressing on and keep chasing after Him. Yes Him. Not the answers to your prayers but Him.

As mentioned before, God kept calling me to talk to him, to simply pour my emotions before Him, but I declined. I think I know now that I didn't know what to say. It's situations like these that I value the scripture Romans 8:26 (NLT):

"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words."


I've read this scripture a few times but to be honest, I'm grasping the concept of this verse more and more. The Holy Spirit is aware of our weaknesses and shortcomings. Instead of judgement, He's readily available to help us. A common example described in the verse in relation to prayer accompanied with the solution. So why on earth are we running away if He's actually willing to help with even the most basic things? 


Sometimes God only wants us to come. Imagine when you've had a bad day and your mother or spouse cuddles you up on the sofa with hot chocolate and holds you in the silence whilst you cry and fall asleep. It's such a comforting experience and I realise now, that's all he wanted to do.

Listen, waiting can be exhausting if you're doing it just to find an answer. So instead, wait on Him. Let Him renew your strength. Let Him revive your relationship.

But more importantly, stop running away and talk to Him.
I'll leave you with this scripture from Matthew 11:28 (NLT):

"Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."

Much love, peace and prayers 

Rubo