Run up to Christmas

I just realised that in the run up to Christmas I'm gonna be quite busy with frequent activities to go to.  Prior to my driving instructor check test (like an audit) which took place on the 29th of November, I could not really think about Christmas and the season we are about to embark on.  Thank God the check test went very well and I not only passed the check test but improved my overall driving instructor grading as well!!  :)  With that over, I can now focus on the next few weeks as we countdown to Christmas.  Lots of activities to take part in and I am very thankful for my friends and family whom I can share these special moments with.

To start things off I went to the Christmas Show at Destiny Church in Shawlands last night with Mum, Rebecca and my cousin Mankit.  The show was a really good production by the members of the church and the title was "Home for Christmas".  It was a good performance put on to show the different things that we as people put up with in the world, how we often put on a facade in hope of wanting to be accepted by those around us.  How we can make ourselves fake by pretending we're something we're not.  How we put on nice clothes to make ourselves look good.  But at the end of the night, after we go out and see friends and return home, we close the door and we remove the clothes, the make up, the smiles on our face, and we return to the "real you".  That is very often very different from the "you" that others might see.  Why is there need for that?  Are we always so hungry for acceptance that we have to be fake?  It is a struggle and sometimes it is very difficult to keep up.  Because at the end of the day, you will be found out.  The real you will surface, through our anger, our temper, our lies even, our attitude, our words.  We shock ourselves and those around us.  But God loves us for who we are.  No matter who we are, where we are from, no matter what you have done, God accepts us and wants to have a relationship with us.  It doesn't take much to be close to God or get to know Him.  We just need to have an open heart to receive this love He has for us.  His love is like no other love the world can give us.  We don't have to "work" to gain His favour, or dress nicely for Him, or speak "proper English".  Just be who you are with God and let His love fulfil you.  At the end of the play, the characters who were once in a argument and fight with each other learnt to accept one another, learnt to forgive one another because they learnt the true meaning of Christmas: and that was Jesus coming to the world to become our Saviour and He was sent by God, because God loved us (mankind) so much!!  I hope that more people will get to realise this truth this Christmas, and that Chistmas is not just about presents and parties as the characters in the play had assumed.

That was a nice start to kick off the Christmas feeling for me.  Tomorrow evening I will be going to watch a Cineworld Unlimited card advanced preview of "The Life of Pi 3D".  Tuesday evening there will be a Korean movie event happening at the Art School.  Wednesday I'll be meeting my oldest (longest) friend Bobby for "End of Watch" movie as it will be Orange Wednesday  ;)  Saturday after work I'll be joining in for a birthday dinner and some drinks.  Then Sunday will be church then weekly badminton.  Really happy playing badminton with the group in the past couple of months.  Have given me another activity to do besides going to the gym so it works my body in a different way.  Yep, still sweat lots when playing but it's all good!!  ;)

The following week, the last week before Christmas I will have even more exciting activities to look forward to!  Another visit to Viva Brazil, my first time at a Masquerade ceilidh/ ball, and possibly going to see "The Hobbit" on the Orange Wednesday.  Whoo-hoo!!  Bet there are more unplanned stuff happening as well in which I will be attending.  Just really thankful for friends and family whom I can spend this special time with and whom I can share God's love with also.  Awesome!

God bless y'all!