New Dimensions

  There comes a time in one’s life that you reach a milestone. When that happens you can stop and look back at what you have managed to do. Exactly fifty years ago I made a promise in the form of a wedding vow that I would love my bride until death do us part. We have both been through troubled waters that have tried to shipwreck our boat many times and have managed to weather all sorts of adversities. People wish us well with kind words and say, “Well done, congratulations.” It’s nice to hear those words because it makes one feel good. If they only knew of all the times, we had to bite the bullet, knuckle down and keep going. I remember the very first time I had to resign from work in Cape Town and move back to Johannesburg without having a new job and a wife and two kids to support because my salary couldn’t go far enough every month. Then, I got a fantastic job and managed to buy a car because I got a salary raise and back pay plus a Christmas bonus for excellent work. Imagi...

  When I was a young man, I was searching for a partner that would love me in return. It so happened that I corresponded with a young lady who lived far away in the country. We didn’t have mobile phones then and she never sent me a photograph of herself, so I had no idea of what she looked like. Because I didn’t own a car, I decided to hitch-hike the distance of 960 km (596.516 miles) to her home. That was a crazy idea and a first for me, but love showed no boundaries since I was determined to get to her. Fortunately, the journey went well, and I arrived at her home without any problems. She turned out to be quite pretty and I felt a wonderful connection with her. It looked like we loved one another, and we enjoyed the time together. I helped her with her daily chores on the small farm where she stayed and even milked a goat. We swam in the Orange River and picked ripe tomatoes for supper. In the evenings we prepared all the beds outside round about the house because that is ...

The people from Brakpan are quite often ridiculed. How this came about is a mystery to me. I suppose someone started with a joke and others added to his comments and it grew from there. We live in a world where we put people into boxes with labels. Most often it is cruel and incorrect. Fortunately, someone's story comes along that changes our perspective. Yesterday I accompanied my wife to her uncle's birthday party in Brakpan. The Maps app on my iPhone gave me conflicting information so I had to use intuition to home in on the venue. Luckily my decision was correct and then the voice on my wife's smartphone announced that we were at the right place. Nice! all this technology that we carry with us. Well, we pulled into the parking area and went to meet the people. First up were some folks standing outside by the braai fires - I was glad that we wouldn't have to wait too long before we could get our meat on. Her family was very glad to see my wife Maggie since w...

Material possessions. Yes, I have some of those. In terms of what I have, I would say I am middle-class. I live in a house with four bedrooms and have built a carport for my car. The grounds are quite big with a garden in the front and an enclosed vegetable garden outside of my kitchen in the back. I bought the house to raise my children in, but they are all grown up now and married, so it's just my wife and I living here. We have all the basic necessities to live reasonably well. I still work and enjoy being creative and serving my clients doing photography and designing websites as well as Search Engine Optimisation. More clients are being added to my portfolio on an ongoing basis and therefore I am eternally blessed. This is not what I am writing about today. What I actually want to write about is my experience of today. Friends of ours were not feeling too well and my wife asked me if we could drive over to them after the morning church service - which was fantastic by ...