God said,Let there be LIGHT!

To best describe in a single word....electricity! The times that we are currently living in we just cannot function without it... or what am I saying?

One sunny, almost summer afternoon an unmarked white Nissan bakkie pulled up to our front gate. Who and what was this vehicle doing, tarrying at our home entrance? Let me tell you, due to previous distasteful experiences being sued by family members and encountering the sheriff of the court more times than I care to remember, I am suspicious of anyone being where they obviously weren't supposed to be, I get jumpy... Enough already! Let me have some peace, was the first thought that entered my mind. Ready to take action,armed with a baseball bat I couldn't even swing with spike-like arms, I would protect myself from systems and regimes that dictate to us what may and my not be! Yeah, I am referring to the municipality just in general. Way back in the day, my power were cut because I really couldn't pay my bills due to a serious lack in funds. But, more about this in 'If the Shoe fits', Chapter five to be exact.

Anyway, we were now experiencing the same only this time, my bills are paid! Electricity,water and sanitation are all paid up to date yet I found myself without any power this particular afternoon. This was not the first time either. We have encountered these wolves in sheep's clothing twice before...

THIS WAS THE LAST STRAW!

Being in the process of buying the property we have been renting now for more than five years, we became the victims of an 'owner' who had never paid his rates and taxes bill that law predicts he was liable for. In excess of five years' rates and taxes he owed the council amounted to approximately R 127 ooo.oo Rand. Failure to make contact with the owner, it became a hellfire feeding and gnawing away at our sanity and nervous systems alike. Now what! The transfer attorneys battle to finish the transfer due to governmental strikes and the bank that were dragging their heals since they have foreclosed on the property in question. Well, it would seem that the almost former owner had disappeared shortly after signing an acknowledgement of debt and the municipality were now holding us liable for outstanding rates and taxes. Being in the process of ownership transfer these cancellation figures change by day due to to interest charges and monthly rates that were multiplying like rats in a sewer!

What do we do? Being caught between the repossessing bank and the transport attorneys our services are being suspended even though our bills were paid in full.

This was not on.....

When God created heaven earth he said... 'Let there be light! and there it was! In addition to His creation, He separated the sea from the dry land and He saw, and he declared it to be GOOD. The Lord was satisfied but we were strugling without our most basic needs that a modern world had prescribed and now its users insisted on. Our electricity was cut at 5H30 PM followed by our water 'supposedly' cut the following day.

Were the municipality legally within their rights to do this? Or was this a gross misconduct of justice on government level? I lean toward the latter.

Anyway.... the advice received from the transfer attorneys was to break open the box, you know that grey thingy sitting on every ones' sidewalk, this was the box! The box was "open".......BUT the main circuit breaker was removed altogether. We were stuck like before.... how in heavens' name were any electrician worth his salt to reconnect without the darn breaker? There was just no way...BUT then the miracle happened... a 'spare' breaker.....? Just sitting there, not being attached to any wiring...! A few seconds later, our power was restored...?

Question was... who had put it there? Was it left by accident or was it the faith that I choose to walk by instead of sight that allowed this Godly miracle? Just the same the Lord made water flow in desert lands. Desert lands represents 'difficult times'. Yes indeed the council had also stopped out water supply. Checking all the taps in our home, the water seemed fine. Even the pressure was higher than normal. Water just flowed in 'desert lands'. Council may have cut these services, forcibly removing from us our basic human rights to these services, then God intervened.

He said, 'Let There be LIGHT! And there it was.... LIGHT! No hassle no laws were broken because God said and it was and He declared it to be good! The water ran free..... our power were restored because we heeded a message earlier that afternoon that read.... 'Walk by Faith and NOT by sight, which is exactly what we had done! We walked y FAITH and God did the rest!

Ironically and in closing.... this message; Walk by Faith and Not by Sight, reached out to us from a different white Nissan bakkie traveling in front of us on the highway leading back home from Kempton Park rather late that afternoon. Late enough so that we were left between the devil and the deep blue sea. Our children were home alone without any kind of security system as result, and the dark was closing in on us at the speed of light.

Pretoria may be our home BUT ultimately God is our refuge and Jesus christ the Light to our path while the God of Isael protects our rear end!

Again... this is how good God really is! All that is ever needed is FAITH in ACTION!

In other words, do it, don't just talk about it!

BELIEVE!

Ain't God Great!

Many know the story about the ash girl and her ugly step sisters, right? Well, I guess then you all know that the ash girl or better known to us as Cinderella, won her prize too?

She got to marry her prince in the end and this is certainly a topic familiar to most....

Youth United also known as WHY YOU? (YU) and RAW - will be hosting their own Black and White Cinderella Ball soon. But, before we get there, we would need a few applicants to contend for the prize. The prize being a dream fulfilled; the impossible made possible and those who dare. Three winners will each receive a full scholarship program and can choose between these three categories to tell their stories.

This is how it works...

• The competition is open to all God's 'little children' aged thirteen to nineteen to enter this once in a lifetime opportunity while exhibiting their God given talents.

As a reminder- The Categories are...

• A Dream Fulfilled..
• The Impossible Made Possible..
• Those Who Dare..

This is how...

Write us a short story no less than 250-300 words, or a single page poem... OR Paint a picture on canvas no smaller than 1 Meter x 1 Meter... OR a pencil sketch on A2 sized paper. The contestants may choose any of the three categories... yet, only one is allowed!

Contact details must appear on the back of the work in the following order... (Entry Forms can be downloaded or printed from our website www.r-aw.co.za under the 'Project Four' link from our Home page).

• Name and Last Name
• Physical Address
• Age
• Gender
• School Attending/ed.
• Contact Telephone Number/s.... and last but not least, yet MOST important.... the Title.

Can't wait to see how Great God is BUT YOU have to enter the competition first!

Tomorrow I'll share my Cinderella Story with all you bloggers out there........ so, keep watching this Hot Spot and send us your entries and ideas.