Tuesday, June 01, 2021

Happy 'not 48th' Birthday to me!

 

Recently I celebrated what has become known as my ‘not 48th’ birthday.

Just to reiterate and for the record yet again, I am not nor did I turn 48 on my birthday. However, the cake that was put in front of me, is indeed the one you see in the picture complete with a ‘4’ and an ‘8’….and a few extra candles!

To complete the picture for you, some time before the cake was actually placed on the table in front of me, there was gross frivolity in the kitchen. Loads of laughter flooded the air and I simply put it down to the possibility of the children trying to find the right amount of candles for the cake or the possibility of the challenge of getting them lit without getting burnt by the sheer number of candles or before the first one burning down to the level of the cake itself!

As the cake was put before me proudly, our 12yr old daughter Cholae, spoke up with great certainty that her efforts would be rewarded. She announced that, “We didn’t have a ‘5’ mum, so we had to improvise!”

….and so my ‘not 48th’ birthday was celebrated!

Improvising is a skill – it requires spontaneity, quick thinking, a willingness to fail, a Plan B without time to plan and sometimes a hope that, as in this case, the receiving party will have a sense of humour about your solutions or better yet, be oblivious about any sense of improvisation at all!

We are a people who are known to improvise well though aren’t we? We come from generations of ‘number 8 wire’ thinkers.

If you can buy it, build it.
If it’s broken, fix it.
If you don’t have it, close enough is good enough.

Improvising is in our DNA…
Improvising within our calling, however, can be a whole other ball game.

While there are practical things that we can improvise on – a change in a programme, a need to step in and carry out an interview, a change in the order of our day, an unexpected visitor…

There are some things that you just can’t improvise.
There are some things that you just can’t substitute.

Christ cannot be substituted
There is no substitute for

His undeserved favour
His unconditional love or
His amazing sacrifice.

As you go about the duties of your calling this week, wherever God has placed you, may He sustain you, may He supply all that you need, may He give you grace to handle the unexpected, may He give you patience to work around the unforeseen, and may His presence be upon you as represent Him authentically, in all that is required of you.

May the skill of improvising without compromising be with you in abundance!

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