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

The month of May

I posted on Facebook a few days ago that the month of May was an emotional and spiritual roller coaster. I was literally left with two options. I remembered the scripture of 'life and death' but it came to me in a different way. I could've chosen to be bitter towards God and the people involved or chosen to view this as a learning curve and hold on to God even more.

So this month I realised that communication within a family is vital. Without it, misconceptions will arise, assumptions will be made and confusion will take place. In fact, I understood this point so much this month that I was given insight to the damage it could do if it was missing. I also began to understand why married couples always pin pointed that communication was or shall I say is important to a marriage. Please don't take it lightly. If you notice a gap in communication with your loved ones, build a bridge.

Treat others the way you would like to be treated. The problem is we know these things but we choose not to apply them.

How you make your bed, is how you will lie in it. Excuse my proverbial language, however it's something that was reiterated this month to me. Don't expect an output if there's no input.

Prayer is essential. I think I may expatiate on this point with another blog post but for now, I learnt that communication at all times with the Holy Spirit is what kept me sane or on track.

This is one point that I'm still trying to grasp. I realised that I was not happy within me when I didn't use my gift to serve at the right time. I also found out that if I didn't do something that I was meant to do which could bless someone then someone else would replace me, do that thing and do it better *insertappropriateemoticon*!!!

Before I leave, this might make you laugh but I learnt that money is good!! Lol.

See you sooner than you think whilst we discuss practical ways to deal with lust.

Rubo

Lessons learnt in February

Source: www.my.englishclub.com

You may or may not know but I take stock of everything I learn in each month. It's something new I started this year and so far it's helped me to mature and become aware of growth or in some cases the lack of growth.

I base this task on this scripture from Proverbs 9:9 which says,  'Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more.' 

I want to be a person who learns from their mistakes and from that is able to help others not make that mistake. Therefore, I must first of all identify and address mistakes or habits in my life that need to be removed and put structures in place that will help me not to make them again. 

May I just say however, some of the things I learn are actually positive things about myself or people around me that I never took notice of before and it really helps. 

Here it goes, my list of things that I learnt this February

1. Life gives you what you give it. If you're lazy, you'll reap poverty. If you're hard working you'll attain success. It's as simple as that.

2. I value and cherish my family more than I thought I did. They mean a lot to me and without their constant support, I genuinely don't know where I'd be.

3. I can easily lose myself, if I don't focus and keep the end goal in mind. I mean this in relation to my Christian walk with God but also other aspects of my life. For example, sometimes I lose sight of the fact that one day I want to inspire other young people so I may act or do things that are contrary to that. However, having such an image in mind helps me to refocus and keep my actions in line. 

4. I care about people a lot and sometimes I put them before myself which leads to lack of care to myself. Yeah soo if I say no sometimes, I do apologise but I need to take care of myself. Thanks!

5. Good things come to those who wait. This point may cause some controversy but after some careful bible study, I've seen those who wait on, depend on, trust in God for no matter how long usually end up with the best deal. You may have some reservations about this but Gods time is ALWAYS best.

6. God actually loves me and I will be able to accomplish those things that I desire to. I realised this after having a conversation with my mentors about marriage. From the beginning to almost the end of the conversation, I was in tears, not because of what they were saying per se but because it was proof that I was actually on God's mind. Yeah that totally blew me away, call me soft if you wish lol.

7. I'm shy, very shy. I recently attended a friends bible study at her church and can I just say that I almost fainted at the idea of being alone without her for a split second *coversface*. I never knew it was that bad. However, I'm working on it as I've signed up to go to a networking event exclusively for ladies so I can build on that area of my life. 

8. Last but not least. Laziness is deadly. My goodness, this is something I will kill! You don't become successful by chance, I must rid myself of this!

So, here's my list. I'm already making amendments as I type because it is necessary and essential. I'm definitely learning a lot about myself and so should you.

If you want to know how to do this too, spend a certain part of your day thinking about the events that occurred that day and simply jot it down. I currently put all these thoughts on my phone and then transfer them to my blog for y'all to see and also learn from. 

What are the things you learned in February? share it with me by commenting below!

Rubologs 

Lessons learnt in January

                                                                                                                                                                Source: www.get-covers.com 

Hellooooo February, I did just say Happy New Year so I'm slightly surprised as to how February came about. However, I'm extremely grateful to have entered this month. I do apologise for my absence during January as I had some familial issues to attend to, but I'm back.

Moving on, I've decided to take account of lessons I learn each month, whether it be one or two things and I definitely want to share this with you.

1. I don't need to know somebody's full story or be in their story to help.I'll explain what it is that I mean. At one point I felt guilty for not having been around as much as I wanted to in regards to a few people so I was reluctant to help spontaneously or even when asked. The reality is you can't be there consistently for every single person you desire to be there for, so the best thing is to give what you can and when you can.

2. God's will is ALWAYS good but very hard. If anybody disagrees it's obvious that they haven't read their bible properly and they possibly don't follow God themselves. I've had to realise this in a harsh way but like I said God's will is always good.

3. My gift is to make people laugh and forget their troubles for a split second. I think I've always known that I can change the atmosphere of a place but this month it became more of a reality so I've decided to use it more often!

4. Things you did last year and worked, cannot always be applied to this year. Let me give you an example, last year I started a bible study plan and it worked wonders. It was amazing, I read my bible, studied it regularly and I totally enjoyed my time with the Lord in personal Bible study. However, I tried to follow the same format this year and I flopped on day 2 of 2014 through to day 7. I had to ask the Holy Spirit what the problem was and He explained that the previous method was for 2013 and that I need a new method for 2014. As silly as it may appear, another method for the same thing will produce different results and this is what I'm beginning to understand and implement.

5. Being there for someone is very challenging and takes a lot of strength. It is very rewarding but it can take a toll on you as an individual. It is definitely not for the faint hearted might I add. I'm praying that God will continually give me grace in this aspect as I know that as a lady, it is almost automatically wired in me to provide a shoulder for someone to lean on.

6. 2014 feels to me like 2013+1, not a new beginning but just a continuation. I have my personal reasons for saying this. My new year actually began in February lol. Life aye..

7. ADULTHOOD IS HARD. CAN I BE 12 AGAIN PLEASE?!

Here's my list and I'll be carrying this on throughout the year
What are the things you learnt in the month of January?

Till we meet again
Ruthie B

What I learnt in 2013

2013 is over! I don't know what your verdict is of this year but listed below are a few of my favourite things that I learnt in 2013...

Be persistent
Laziness, doubt, fear and lack of will power will not get you anywhere.
Believe in yourself first and others will believe in you I had a difficult time this year dealing with people's comments which at times were very negative. I've been brought up in a way that ensures I have support at all times. I don't think it's a bad thing but when I didn't get it, it affected me. I had to build a tough exterior, I had to believe in myself because if I don't nobody else will.


People don't like you
This was probably one thing that hurt me. Some people just have nothing good to say about you yet they don't know you. This is life and you must get on with it.

Life is tough
The things that life will throw at you can shake your foundations. It's either you overcome it or you will be overthrown.

The word you know is what will help you overcome situations
I can't stress this enough. The word you've studied, meditated on, discussed is what will get you through certain circumstances.

Don't depend on people
People are people and they will fail you at one point or the other. I've always known this but I think this year I've actually come to realise it.

Experience isn't always the best
Experience is good as you gain a deeper understanding of circumstances and why things happen in general. However, sometimes it costs too much. It's better to observe and learn from what another person may have gone through. It saves a lot of time, emotions and enzymes (there are enzymes in tears, no need wasting precious stuff lol)

Gods grace is all you need
The Grace of God is empowerment and ability to briefly summarise. This year, without His grace, I surely wouldn't have gone through it.

What are your lessons that you learnt this year?

I implore you to quickly jot down a few notes, it'd make you grateful for the year in itself.

On that note, I wish you all a happy new year!
God bless
Rubo