The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust Him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. (Psalm 28:7)

My mind is spinning! So grateful that He is my strength and I do not have to rely on my limited resources.There seem to be an onslaught of demands on my time and my energy. While this digital age has its advantages, the digital expectations of being available constantly to the needs and requests of others can take its toll. Deep breath! Navigating what I perceive to be an overreach of politics within the school system where we are being threatened with legal action if we do not comply with political measures. Deep Breath! Red tape in the areas of work because although my services are needed in the school system and I am currently working in the system, hoops have to jumped through to get certain papers from SA because I have been educated in a different country. Deep Breath!

A smile is currently crossing my face as I recall: As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. Your laws are always right; help me to understand them so I may live. (Psalm 119:143-145) Yes Lord, thank you Holy Spirit for bringing this verse to remembrance. If we are able to affect change ourselves, let’s do so. For me that looks like giving myself grace in the duties that make a household run. There might have to be periods where I let things go until pockets of time and energy is provided by the Lord for these to be accomplished. Focus on prioritising what needs my time and energy this instant. So I shall purpose to make the necessary calls and write the necessary e-mails and trust the Lord with the outcome of those. As far as the things go that I cannot immediately affect change to, I pray….I pray that His Kingdom comes, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven in the areas of politics, education, the legal system, the lives of my children and my dear ones outside of my home. I thank Abba for His word and I personalise part of Psalm 121 stating: God gave family Kuenzler very great wisdom, knowledge and understanding as vast as the sands on the seashore. Isn’t that awesome, having wisdom, knowledge and understanding as vast as the sands on the seashore! The benefits of relationship with God is mind-boggling. I love it! Thank you Father for your Truth and the outworking of your Truth in all areas of our lives. I remember that God has brought me this far and His word says in Philippians 1:6 that we are confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the of Christ Jesus.

The fun part of this is… seeing that papers are required from SA, we spontaneously booked a family holiday there in honour of our 20th wedding anniversary :-). The cancellation of ski camp wasn’t so bad afterall. Note to self! Remember and Trust God in all circumstances and when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Till next time 🙂

Someone reading these words might wonder how I got to where I am now….confident in the Lord. Here is a bit about my back story. I grew up in a harsh area of Cape Town, South Africa. The grace of it is that when you are living like that as a child, you don’t actually realise it. I attended a Catholic church. In the area I lived there were also more charismatic movements in the beautiful body of Christ. I remember experiencing horrible nightmares as a child and one day I told a friend about the nightmares. Her name is Theresa. Her family was part of this charismatic movement. When I told Theresa, she asked if I knew what to do about it. I told her that I did not and she boldly replied that I should call on the name of Jesus if it ever happened again. It happened again…and in my dreaming state I remembered Theresa’s words. I called on the name of Jesus. It was not audible, I couldn’t actually get out the sound but in my mind I was shouting Jesus! Then the most amazing thing happened…the nightmare and fear subsided.

I believe that was the beginning of my heart growing confident in the Lord….and part of my journey of discovering that God is absolutely good. God the Father; Jesus, the Son of God; who is the light of the world, and God’s Holy Spirit; who is the third person of the Trinity. In Christianity, we believe in One God displayed in these three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. I am still on my journey of understanding the God of love who sacrificed himself for me. Romans 8:32 says: For He (God) who spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him (Jesus), grant us all things. How do you process this kind of love?

As a parent, I know the importance of boundaries. If you see your precious child running unchecked in the road, wanting to play with matches, making choices where you in your role as loving parent can foresee the danger, don’t you stop them or warn them? Well, God is our Heavenly Father, who can see the outcome of our choices. Thus there are boundaries in His Word, for our protection, out of a heart of overwhelming love for us.

Friends, we are in a battle, the battle is real and I believe it is to distort the image of our Loving Heavenly Father. If people are not aware of this, it is to our detriment. God is a gentleman! He gives us the freewill to choose His gift of salvation for ourselves. We get to decide which Kingdom we embrace and empower.

Every thought, word and action we undertake,sends ripples into eternity. We are very much responsible for the trajectory of our lives. Of course there are circumstances beyond our control…but what do we do with the things within in our control? There is great comfort in Deuteronomy 28. If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessing if you obey the Lord your God: Your towns and your fields will be blessed. Your children and your crops will be blessed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed. Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed. The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you…..WOW!

There is actually much more to this verse…read it for yourselves :-),but I certainly understand the principles being shared here. If you are on God’s team there are wonderful advantages but it is contingent on us choosing God and following His ways.

Till next time 🙂

As I looked around school today, the little ones having to cover up their faces with masks… These precious faces made in the image of God, the cog wheels in my mind start spinning. How did we get here? Which one of the above words in this title is responsible?

Fear I have heard it said is False Evidence Appearing Real. Could it be that simple? Simple perhaps but definitely not easy. What do we as people fear, fear in terms of what we worry about, stay up late at night about? I think of myself…what are the concerns I may have on any given day? Health issues, finances, the well-being of my family, the future?

Faith, the Bible says in Hebrews 11:1 is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. How does faith vs. fear play out in our daily lives?

1 John 4:18 states: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

1 John 4:16 states: God is love!

John 3:16 states: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Philippians 4:6-7 states: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Joshua 1:8 states: Keep this Book of the Law (God’s Word) always on your lips, meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

1 Timothy 1:7 states: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

So when fear arises amid any of the given challenges I choose to scan my spirit and I start proclaiming these verses and others out loud! I choose to remember what I know about my God. In other words, I choose faith (trusting God) above all else, even if my natural eyes cannot yet see the results I pray for… I remember how He has delivered me from so many challenges before and He will do it again because God is faithful.

Jeremiah 29:11 states: For I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD, plans to prosper you, plans to give you hope and a future.

2 Corinthians 5:7 states: For we walk by faith not by sight.

This is how I soothe my soul when fear comes. I stand on the authority of God’s Word and I choose to take it at face value. I know He is love and fear is not how God deals with His children. However the Bible does say to fear God, but fearing God is submitting to Him because He is worthy and it is revering Him for who He is. So I have a choice to make moment by moment each day. I can choose to fear God in awe of His goodness, mercy and grace and thereby walk in faith believing His Word and trusting His good plans for me and my loved ones….or I can be encumbered by worldly fear that comes from God’s adversary and is for the sole purpose of destroying us. How will you decide to walk into the future? When peace is present, we are walking in the fear of the LORD, when peace is absent we are walking in a destructive fear. Which option is better?

I pray that God gives us the discernment to know the difference and to choose wisely.

Till next time 🙂

I have the precious privilege of being a teacher. As I was reading the story of Christmas to my students during the past Advent season, questions came up about the angels appearing in the story. Are angels real? Have you seen any any angels and so forth. These children come from a range of backgrounds and they were hungry for answers. There in the middle of their questions I once again realised how grateful I am for God’s Word. It answers all of my questions and I point my own children to it when they wrestle with questions big and small. When you consider life’s questions, big and small, where do you go to for answers? Who do you go to for answers? I go to the God who created heaven and earth, the One who knows the end from the beginning. He is the only One who can answer the hard questions when life is not as I imagine it to be. I encourage you with (Psalm 34: 4-5) today. I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. Can you imagine being free from all of your fears and shame? It is possible. Trust Him and you will be set free.

Till next time 🙂