#Guest_blogger Nande – I bid you farewell

What if I tell you to let go of the very thing you think you have to hold? Will you trust me?

This question from one of the songs by Donnie McClurkin keeps ringing in my ear. I’m here trying to make sense of this sudden turn around that is my life. I’m an adjuster, I adjust easily but what’s happening now….why am I not getting used to this change? 

I had to say goodbye to my beloved P.E, my beloved church,my beloved friends,my beloved sisters and brothers, my parents…my people; what I’d come to call home. I was never ready for such a switch in what I’ve grown to know so well. It indeed feels as Kanyi  put it, “I am not finished, not yet.” It feels like I’ve been stripped of the most sacred of gifts. Everyday I wake up and I want to take off to my home,P.E…..yet with the stern knowledge that going back is not an option. Some days I hear the voice of my Pastor echoing the words that brought me to my knees before my  Potter when I finally realised what I’d have to carry; “WORLD CHANGERS CARRY A BURDEN” and I’m consistently reminded why I had to come back to this foreign land called home.

I will admit, my acceptance of my sudden fate had been prolonged possibly due to the fact that I’ve been running away a lot. It could be that deep down I’ve been hoping God will uncall me from my burden. But why would I rather God make stones do the work of my hands which through trial and tribulation, being chiseled and sharpened through fire, God made me the message the lost needs to hear. Lord knows how this is crushing me at my core. The silent sobs my heart cries that no one knows anything of in the midnight.

I’m not yearning to get my way anymore but rather yearning to be at peace with this my cup and cross. One day, maybe, someday,I’ll tell of how I left the people who were home to me, how I’d wake up yearning for their smiles and laughs and hugs because above anything, for the first time…I felt I belonged somewhere. But now, now I am stripped of that belonging back to finding my feet again, back to finding my muse, my place of belonging….yet even so, maybe contradictory to everything, I’m discovering me in the midst of the sobs and yearning for what I know I can’t have.

Discovering my tenacity, my anchor, my untapped reservoir of dreams and visions ’cause in the thick almost tangible silence that is my life…I face my inadequacies, my thorns and chaff and even though I find my imperfections I’m amazed how from an ordinary ragged and broken piece of cloth, God saw it fit that He turn this rag into a beautiful gown for nations to behold its beauty.

Though I sob, I’m submitting to His will for His will brings fullness of joy…so yes, I will trust in Him as I begin to let go of the very thing that was…is to me…my place of comfort. I thought I would cling to P.E till death but great are the plans which my heart had planned…It’s the Lord’s will that always prevails. Farewell P.E. Till we meet again my love 🙂

C.S Lewis on Friendship ll

In friendship … we
think we have chosen
our peers. In reality a
few years’ difference in
the dates of our births,
a few more miles
between certain
houses, the choice of
one university instead
of another … the
accident of a topic
being raised or not
raised at a first
meeting—any of these
chances might have
kept us apart. But, for
a Christian, there are,
strictly speaking no
chances. A secret
master of ceremonies
has been at work.
Christ, who said to the
disciples, ‘Ye have not
chosen me, but I have
chosen you,’ can truly
say to every group of
Christian friends, ‘Ye
have not chosen one
another but I have
chosen you for one
another.’ The
friendship is not a
reward for our
discriminating and
good taste in finding
one another out. It is
the instrument by
which God reveals to
each of us the
beauties of others.

C.S Lewis on Friendship

Lovers seek for privacy. Friends find this solitude
about them, this barrier between them and the herd, whether they want it or not.

[…]

In a circle of true Friends each man is simply what he is: stands for nothing but himself. No one cares twopence about anyone else’s family, profession, class, income, race, or previous history. Of course you will get to know about most of these in the end. But casually. They will come out bit by bit, to furnish an illustration or an analogy, to serve as pegs for an anecdote; never for their own sake. That is the kingliness of
Friendship. We meet like sovereign princes of independent states, abroad, on neutral ground,
freed from our contexts.

This love (essentially) ignores not only our physical bodies but that whole embodiment which consists of our family, job, past and connections. At home, besides being Peter or Jane, we also bear a general character; husband or wife, brother or sister, chief, colleague, or subordinate. Not among our Friends. It is an affair of disentangled, or stripped, minds.

Eros will have naked bodies; Friendship naked personalities.
Hence (if you will not misunderstand me) the
exquisite arbitrariness and irresponsibility of this love. I have no duty to be anyone’s Friend and no man in the world has a duty to be mine. No claims, no shadow of necessity. Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it
is one of those things which give value to survival.

#Feature Nande – echo my anger

Echo my anger

I’m angry
Angry at how you would make her an object though she screams and tears
I know that you know that she hates every ticking minute of it
See,some don’t see past your cold advances so they leave a trail of broken dreams

“Echo my anger” said my soul

When you hoot at her as she jogs down the street ,do you not see how she squirms in disgust of your perversity
Or do you concentrate on how you enjoy watching her ass ,her hips and thighs that she can’t conceal in her gym pants

What you don’t realize is that when she gets home she’ll look in the mirror to see if she showed too much
She won’t know that you hooted at 4 more girls though covered as nuns cause you can’t control your lusts

“Echo my anger” said my soul
Tell them she is not an object
She is a woman

How could you spank her ass when she walks the sidewalk like her body is a play thing
You are humiliating her
She’ll think its her body that protrudes too much and draws attention
What she won’t know is that it has nothing to do with her but your low close to non existent morale
”
“Echo my anger” said my soul
She is a woman
Not an object

She is stronger than you think
Stop stripping her down and getting into her though she screams “NO”
Why feed your lusts at the cost of her self worth

“Echo my anger
Echo my anger
Echo my anger” said my soul
“she is not an object
She is a woman”

Thank you for staying. (Probably Part 1)

hannah brencher.

I have stood on countless amounts of stages and delivered a talk called “Stay.”

The talk is broken up into three sections. Stay Hungry. Stay Small. Stay Here.

I never had an issue with being hungry. I have been hungry for my whole entire existence. I was always the girl who wanted to be used. The girl who wanted to be chosen. I wanted to serve God if it meant he would give me things to do. I remember wanting that before I even had a relationship with God. I remember high school parties. The room spinning. The drunkenness. Me in the corner, just thinking, “God, am I an accident for wanting to do so much and make such a difference when no one else seems to care?”

I never had an issue with being small. I have never puffed myself up to be big. I’ve honestly never believed…

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Follow up #Feature – Andisa Tundube

About two weeks ago I did a #Feature on a lovely young lady about an initiative that she is single handedly running. Her drive and ambition is highly contagious. Today, she’s letting us in on her life as a young, Christian, single (by choice) and entrepreneurial woman. Welcome to Andisa Tundube’s #Feature interview.

 

Place: social network (we’re worlds apart)

Date: 11 November 2015

Time: 18:00

Agenda: Knowing her 🙂

 

KQ: Thank you very much for agreeing to do the interview, it’s pretty sad that we’re doing it via social media. I have about 10 questions, both personal and professional. Feel free to be as expressive as possible. Ready?

A.T: I’m ready

 

KQ: Alright. Tell me, how were you as a child?

A.T: Growing up as the only child, I was pretty happy; fresh, always out and about. Everywhere I went, I made sure that I made friends and left a mark with my drama. My grandma always said that it was easy to notice that I’m not feeling well because things wouldn’t be the same around the house.

 

KQ: *chuckle* and you are dramatic hey 🙂 So I gather you had a good childhood…

A.T: Yes, I had a good one

 

KQ: Would you say that you’ve changed with the transition from high school to varsity to working? If yes, how so?

A.T: Yes Kanyi, I’ve changed. I…well growing up, or should I say since right before high school, since grade 7, I’ve struggled with weight issues. On top of that I had a dodgy hair cut (s-curl), I had acne and I was terrified about growing up. From that I had to find myself and discover who I really am. That went on from grade 7 ‘til matric but in grade 11, I started getting a clear picture as to who I am. That’s when I told myself that I have to start looking after myself, considering my flaws but changing what I could. That’s when I grew my hair, went on acne treatment, joined taebo classes that I’d go to when I go home during the holidays, lost weight…in that whole process, I got swine flu.

That happened when I was in matric. I then lost a lot of weight due to the illness. I was hospitalised for three months I think, right before my exams. Then when I got to varsity, things were totally different. I had to grow up a bit and be independent because I wanted to change my image (I was quite boyish). I then got myself a part-time job and started getting weaves, doing my nails and just being proper. I’ve come a long way but I’m enjoying the journey.

 

KQ: Wow, that’s pretty hectic and inspiring…and then came A Clear Perspective. How did the initiative come about?

A.T: The past two years for me were a mission in terms of school and just growing up. I’ve had to adapt to so many changes and I guess God was trying to get me to calm down because having calmed down, everything started making sense. Also, on a general day to day, I use public transport and I’ve been exposed to people who are just chilling doing nothing and I saw the need to communicate the way girls talk, how they dress themselves, how they portray themselves as human beings and brands ‘cause I believe that in our own right, we are individual brands. I then saw the need to uplift and acknowledge how far one has come, personal issues they’ve faced and a way forward from those issues. That’s where ACP comes in.

Having A Clear Perspective…meaning you have to think logically and rationally about things. Because I live close to quite a few schools, I also saw that a lot of school kids need guidance with their future. You’d find that matric students don’t have a clue about what they’re going to do after matric and having been where they are, I thought let me take this opportunity and introduce this clear perspective movement. It’s basically a lifestyle thing; how you talk, how you dress yourself, how you walk, how you portray yourself, how you do things and how you tackle things. So I would say that’s where it surfaced…I hope I’m making sense. Oh and another thing Kanyi was to drill in self-worth to girls and their parents as well ‘cause they need to learn such things at an early age hence the parents. That’s why I’ve taken this to schools. I think girls shouldn’t be shocked when random boys tell them they’re beautiful. That’s a truth that they should grow up knowing.

 

KQ: Lovely…so how did you get the name?

A.T: It’s really about how you think of yourself and about how you see things considering that your perspective will drive you to your destiny or purpose.

 

KQ: So basically changing the way you think of yourself to become a better you?

A.T: Well said, yes

 

KQ: Why a non-profit though?

A.T: It’s just me giving back to the community seeing that I saw a need for this movement and the need to make a difference in people’s lives. This issue that needs to be changed is really minimal; it’s just a matter of changing the way one thinks and does things.

 

KQ: So do you have partners or are you a one woman show?

A.T: For now, I’m a one woman show

 

KQ: Neat 🙂 have you always been entrepreneurial or did it just come with ACP?

A.T: It’s always been in me Kanyi. I’ve always known that I’m a starter of great things and this organisation is a starter 🙂

 

KQ: Halala! Haha…girl child, boy child or both?

A.T: Girl child, I’m all about girl/woman empowerment

 

KQ: Woman empowerment or feminism?

A.T: Definitely woman empowerment

 

KQ: Apart from ACP, what other ventures are you busy with.

A.T: I love clothes, love dressing people up and I love shopping. I’d say I’m an upcoming image consultant as I’m going into designing modest church dresses linking well with the ACP vision that is “Taking good care of yourself and your appearance.” It’s going to be a brand called clear perspective for now and the range mainly being dresses. In a few years to come, I’ll be sponsoring my girls from disadvantaged schools with a full dress up session (dress, shoes and make-up) for their matric dances but that’s a long term goal.

 

KQ: Lastly, plans for 2015?

A.T: You’re getting me very excited hey…my plan for 2015 is to just watch the Lord show off His works and wonders through ACP, for me to grow in business with a clear perspective, praying for consistency, wisdom and zeal to learn each day from each and every person I meet.

Also, I’m looking into officially launching the organisation on the 13th of February 2015 in the form of a high tea event; dresses, heels, fascinators and hand gloves. More elaborate information about ACP will be discussed that day. We will also have a guest speaker to address the ladies present on the day.

Time: 15:00 – 18:00
Venue: still to be confirmed, visit the Facebook page for updates
Registration: R30 for young ladies and R50 for older ladies.

 

KQ: Thank you so much hey, next time we’ll do this over a cup of coffee *yum*

A.T: We would take the whole day! Thank you Kanyi for your time

 

She truly is remarkable. Visit A Clear Perspective on Facebook and join the movement. Be blessed.

#Feature – A clear perspective

The two previous posts have links to a Facebook page called A clear perspective. A clear perspective is a non-profit organization that was started by a friend of mine, Andisa Tundube. The NPO is mainly aimed at grooming, motivating and acknowledging young girls that are pressing on towards their purpose in life. Yes, I’ve got incredibly smart and incredibly entrepreneurial friends 🙂 Andisa is a vibrant young lady from Port Elizabeth. She matriculated at Victoria Girls High in Grahamstown and went on to further her education at Varsity College in P.E doing Public Relations. She portrays great leadership skills and has a peculiar skill of reaching people at their own levels. She is known by many as an enthusiastic, fun and loving friend, mentor, confidant and daughter. She is a true reflection of ambition linked with a high level of work ethic. For more information about the NPO, visit the Facebook page by clicking on this link.