What's his name again?

It's not often these days that I feel a sermon is particularly brilliant. While many are good, they don't always strike that perfect balance of entertainment value coupled with hard-hitting message. Usually they're either one or the other, or neither.

But this Sunday past was one of those rare occasions when I heard what I think must be the best sermon I've heard all year.

Sibs Sibanda. Google him. You'll find very little as far as his bio is concerned, but lots of links to his sermons. He's a preacher (part of a team of people) at a church in Jo'burg called Godfirst.

The man is a gifted communicator. No. He's a genius at communicating.

While he's driving home the most incredibly hard-hitting stuff, he has the ability to give a little humourous aside that allows the congregation to chuckle, without losing the building tension of the message itself. Brilliant! I want to learn to do that.

Plus he's just very funny.

Plus he really has a gift for opening up the scriptures to us.

I would say I know my Bible pretty well. I've read it through more times than I can remember. (Not lately, of course, but in the course of my Christian life.) For this reason I find I often skim read passages, because I feel like I know them so well I can't really learn anything new from them anymore - I can just be reminded of what I already know. I recognise, of course, that that is just my own arrogance, but that's the way I often feel.

Well, Sibs Sibanda shure showed me. He took a passage I was very familiar with and blew it completely wide open for me. He showed me things I'd never realised before (about the passage, I mean).

Oh. My. Word.

All the while, making me both laugh at myself and take a good, long, hard look at my sin.

PLUS - not once did he make me feel judged or inferior.

Incredible.

Just incredible.

I don't ever download the podcasts from the sermons. I think I just might have to download this one to listen to it again. If you want to have a listen, you can find the mp3 here. Give it a listen, seriously. It'll be worth both your time and your bandwidth.

OMW - the best day ever?

Do you ever have those days where everything just seems to go right? Where you find yourself getting more and more excited? Where you find yourself getting creative, making connections, seeing possibilities? Days when the future is rosy and golden?

I had one of those days today. It was so great that I had verbal diarrhoea for about 45 minutes when G and I met for coffee at lunch time. And then again all over my principal when I reported back to him about my day. Terrible, really, but I had such an amazing day I couldn't help myself.

I think one of the reasons that today was so awesome is that it ticked all my boxes for the things that really make me happy - meeting new people, learning new stuff, playing with technology, getting creative with problem solving, and lots of excellent, free food!

I went to a breakfast this morning, at the Mount Nelson, on someone else's account. What a great start to the day, right? I have to say, it's been a while since I have had a breakfast that awesome. Truly. There's a reason that the Nelly has such a great reputation.

But even before we got to the eating bit, the day got off to a great start. I had just walked through the door, when in walked someone who's face I recognised. (I'm good with faces, hardly ever forget a face, but names! Ooh boy, I'm rotten with names.) Since I was there on my own, I decided to take the bull by the horns, figuratively speaking. I wandered over and mentioned that I recognised her face, and would she mind telling me her name.

Wouldn't you know it? It was Maggie Verster! (She had been the keynote speaker at an ICT conference I went to 2 years ago, and have been following on Twitter since.) So the conversation goes like this:

Me: MAGGIE! Of course! Now I remember.

MV: (looking mildly confused)

Me: (seeing her confusion) Oh, not to worry. I've followed you on Twitter since the ICT conference 2 years ago.

MV: Oh! Right! (brightens, smiles broadly) What's your twitter designation?

Me: I'm Nixgrim.

MV: (huge smile) Of course! Fabulous to finally meet you! (and gives me a bear hug)

Turning to the others standing in our circle, she says: See how amazing Twitter is?! Isn't this amazing?

LOL!

I follow a blog of a woman in the US who frequently goes to conferences where she meets people she follows/ is follwed by on Twitter. She often comments on how lovely it is to meet people and put faces to names. As the above scenario was playing itself out, I couldn't help but think of Cecily and think to myself that this must be what she experiences on a regular basis. It's SO COOL!

Then I got to chat to a whole bunch of other people, Maggie included, who are keen to see how they can use web 2.0 and technology in the classroom. This was awesome for two reasons - firstly, I got to meet new people. I love meeting new people. It gives me a certain kick. However, I like meeting people with whom I have something in common even more (who doesn't?!). So meeting the people at this breakfast was exciting because I found myself having conversations that were meaningful, not just the usual social chit chat that one makes when meeting new people.

The purpose of the breakfast was to officially launch FullMarks (see yesterday's post). Hearing afresh the details about the programme, what it does and how it works, got me thinking long and hard about what's happening at the school. It struck me, as I was listening and pondering, that we aren't going about things the right way. We're doing it all (as my father would put it) arse-about-face. (I think that's a rather apt description...)

Not being one to be satisfied with identifying the problem, my brain immediately set to work trying to find a solution. This in itself was fantastic. As long as I'm not tired, I love problem-solving. I love working at a practical problem and finding a practical solution.

Well, I came up with a possible solution - KACHING! - one that has the potential to make my job even more interesting, which would be a win-win. So I'm feeling good because I think I've found a workable solution, and I'm feeling excited at the possibility of what the future might hold.

Then, since the brain cells have been nicely oiled, and since I was sitting at a table of like-minded individuals, we got to chatting about other problems. During the discussion, I came up with yet another solution to a problem we are currently facing at school - KACHING! Now I'm really hitting the ceiling. I'm on top of the world!

Things can't get any better, right? Wrong. I've had a particular problem/ project I've had for several weeks now, that I've been trying to solve, to no avail. In chatting to Maggie this morning, she made a flyaway comment that could be the solution to my problem. Wow!

Oh there were a few other small things, connections I made for myself, with things that I can do to help my kids, but they're small, so I won't waste time on them now.

End of the breakfast, and off I went to a meeting that didn't happen. Instead, G and I went for coffee and biscuits. And I got to pour all my enthusiasm and excitement over him. Poor guy. He took it really well and even asked some really penetrating questions. I love that he listens to me, really listens to me. I'm a very blessed woman!

So feeling more grounded, but still buzzed, off I went to school and happened to find the principal with a few minutes to kick around. I promptly sat him down and gave him the edited highlights package. Nervously. In a completely unrelated situation I discovered that some people don't react well to initiative. While I know that the principal isn't one of those types, my confidence was shaken, so I'm nervous of over-stepping boundaries. But he responded very positively to my comments and suggestions. Very well. Yay!!

Reading back through this, I know that I haven't really given you the details that some of you would like. Sorry. You can blame that on a crisis of confidence too.

The 18-month itch

Yup - it's that time again. I've got the itch...

For those who are relatively new to my blog, let me fill you in. When I was a kid I used to move home, on average, every 18 months. Shocking. I know.

So, roughly every 18 months I start to get twitchy. I feel it in my bones, in my blood, in the very fibre of my being. I feel the need to MOVE.

However, my financial situation being what it is (see my post about why teachers are currently striking) I can't afford to move house. Plus it's just a huge hassle - all that packing and unpacking. Really, dahling - that's just, like, SO for the birds!

But never the less, I get the itch. I think it's built into my DNA now. Every 1-2 years, G will come home and find one of our rooms rearranged. And my blog gets a new look too. And anything else I can find to change that doesn't cost me the earth. (Except my hair. I don't ever change my hair. Not sure why.... hmm... food for thought, and maybe a separate blog post, that one.)

Et Voila - the blog has had a face-lift. I quite like this template, don't you? And yes, Nellie's room will get a reordering over the weekend. The difference this time is that she requested it. She told me she hates her bed next to the wall cos she's scared the spiders will come down and bite her. Poor mite!

Since G's away for the weekend, I'll wait till he gets home on Sunday and we can do it then. After all, it's much faster with two. (Although, given the state of his shoulder after his recent bike accident I'm not sure how much pushing and shoving he will be up for.)

(Did I tell you about his bike accident? Yes, I thought so. I'm still cross with him about that one.)

Breakfast at Tiffanies (or something like that)

So I get to have breakfast at the Mount Nelson tomorrow morning - and best of all, I don't have to pay for it! How exciting!

Of course, there is a catch - there always is. In order to be given this fantastic breakfast, I had to give away something in return. Fair trade, and all that.

The Shuttleworth Foundation are launching a programme called FullMarks, which is an online database of assessment questions for the South African syllabus, particularly aimed at under-resourced schools or at teachers who are inexperienced in the subjects they are teaching.

The idea is that teachers will continually add to the database. However, in order to avoid the 'chicken or the egg' scenario, they asked for teachers from high performing schools to contribute some of their questions to set the database up. From Pinelands, three departments decided to help out.

Finally, the official launch day is here, and so some of those who helped out have been invited to share in the launch of the project they helped to build and create. And hence, I get to have breakfast at the Nelly.

YUM!! Now then, what does one wear to an official launch held at the Nelly??

Spreading the love

What a day of mixed emotions...

The wife of a friend went to hospital this morning only to be told her worst nightmare had come true: she was having a miscarriage. I feel their pain keenly.

Then came the news item about a taxi accident in which 9 children were killed. The taxi driver decided that he couldn't wait for the train to pass the level crossing, so jumped the queue, and got hit. He survived, but 9 children ranging in age from about 9 to 16 died. Normally, I would read a story like this, shake my head, and feel mildly outraged for a while. Today, I read it and burst into tears. All I could think about was those poor parents who kissed their kids goodbye this morning, only to receive a phone call an hour or so later to tell them their baby was dead. If that were me, if that were Janel.... my world would implode again. I don't know if I could survive another grief on that scale. How these parents will survive to pick up the pieces and move on with their lives is beyond me, even having walked my own grief journey.

Then, I did some community service with the kids on cross-curricular week today. We were making sandwiches (over 800!) for the School Buddies programme. The kids were wearing aprons with the slogan "Spread the Love". One of the kids piped up with the tag line - spreading the love one slice at a time. Beaut!

But a highlight was coming home. Nate was having a bottle. I waited until he was basically finished, then walked in and sat down next to him. He squealed, jumped up and burrowed himself into me - not just once, but several times in a row. When all is wrong with the world, there's nothing like a hug from your baby to make you feel loved and special.

All my boys

When you're a teacher, you are not just a parent to your biological kids. You wind up being a parent to lots of other kids too. I don't consider myself a parent to all the kids I teach, but there are lots of them for whom I do have parental love. I cry when they are hurt. I worry when they are sick. I laugh when they are happy. I celebrate when they succeed.

This morning I just got some fantastic news about 3 boys for whom I do have parental feelings. These boys are in my chess team, plus I teach them. So I get to see a lot of them. They are all wonderful, wonderful boys - typical boys, but that's what makes them so lovable. The fact that all 3 are fairly bright helps too, because they keep me on my toes too.

Well, like any parent, I just have to brag when I get good news about them. After a year of hard, hard slog, near-daily practices, and long hours over countless weekends, all three boys have made the under 18 WP chess side!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't begin to tell you how excited and pleased and thrilled I am. My boys are just awesome!

End of an era (video post)

I can still remember when the cooling towers at the current Old Mutual HQ site near the Old Mutual train station came down. I remember being on my father's shoulders, and wishing I could be up on the roof instead. Today, nearly 25 years later, I got my wish!

Up on my own roof this afternoon, I nearly missed the implosion. Yup, the organisers and Dan Plato (the mayor) hit the button nearly 5 mins too early! So, although I had the video camera, I missed it. However, thanks to the marvels of modern technology, I can show you the video that someone else took.

First though, here are some of my photos:

This one comes from 94.5 kFm's Jacques:

And finally, the video... (There's an even cooler vid from News24 here.)