Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
There we were sitting in the lounge chatting when my dad suddenly marched in with a cake that he had baked and iced. Proudly he set it down in our midst. It was a Mocha cake and he had done a great job of icing it.
I was continually amazed by my dad…whatever he decided to do, he succeeded at.
His motto…”I have exactly the same as every other person on this earth and if they can do it, then so can I”. And he did!
He could build, do tiling, fix cars, fix anything, sew, knit, garden…I cannot remember my dad ever being stumped by anything. His greatest passion by far though was to teach the next generation…
My mom and dad came over to South Africa from Holland in 1952. He had been offered a job here in South Africa and they were excited about the opportunity.
It wasn’t long after that my dad decided that he would study further. The problem was that his command of the English language was very limited. This didn’t deter him however, and so every night, he would go to night school after work. He wrote the words that he heard and then using a Dutch/English dictionary he would sit with my mom until the early hours of the morning and together they would work out what the lecture had been about.
It’s all about being determined. Successful people are determined people.
My mom and dad were poor but my dad was determined that he would succeed and he was willing to pay the cost, no matter what.
My dad continued to study, year after year after year. When I was in Matric, he was still studying.
By that time he was the Principal of the Coloured and Indian Technical Colleges in the Transvaal.
The students, teachers and colleges were to remain his passion all of his life.
I thank God for my dad and for the way that he lived his life. He taught us that if we were willing to pay the cost, we could do all things…
The journey is the same for each one of us. There is no shortcut.
For us to discover who we really are we must be determined and willing to work hard.
Be strong, be courageous, be determined, ignore the fear and take that step.
Ready…? 1,2,3…LEAP!!!
XXX
Sylvia
