The brevity of life

To live everyday as if it were your last...About a week and a half ago I received the sad news that a close friend of mine from school had passed away. She was my age (27) and was one of the most loving, caring and enthusiastic people that I’ve ever known. Her life touched so many people and she will be missed dearly. I’m comforted by the fact that she was a child of God and is now in heaven with Daddy. Her death made me think of life. I know I spoke about leaving a legacy in my previous blog, but this just brought the urgency of it back to me. What am I doing today??? Who are there that I can call, that I can say to: “I love you” or “I’m grateful of having you in my life”? We can so easily live our lives as if we’ll be on earth forever and we become lazy in doing good...even to step out and make a difference. I don’t want to waste the life I’ve been given... I want to live it to the full! I once heard the saying: “Only one life, it will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ, will last”.

So, family...here I come
Friends...here I come
Home cell...here I come
Work...here I come
Bosnia...here I come
Children of Mostar...here I come! :-)

Bosnia News:

I finally bought my U.K to Bosnia tickets this past week. It took a while, because I first needed to confirm the dates and also find out about the voyager miles a client had (mentioned in previous blog). Unfortunately the voyager miles available were not enough for the ticket, but it was worth a try. I might look into getting a credit card with voyager mile points...it could come in handy for the future.

Other news is that I will be sharing at a big home cell gathering this Friday (25 June) at church. For friends in the area, you are welcome to join us @ Rhema church, FH2 at 19:30pm. Please pray for God’s guidance as I prepare for that.

I’ve also confirmed the date for my “Bosnian Party”. I’ll be having that on the 24th of July at my house in Randburg @ 15:00pm the afternoon. Anybody interested, please give me a call or email me so I can forward you the details.

The next step for me is visa applications. For the U.K visa, I need to apply about a month before departure. Thus, am looking to submit that around the 15th of August. This gives me just under 2 months to raise some more funds as you have to have about R20 000 in your account to show you’ll be able to support yourself whilst in England. For the Bosnian visa, similar requirements apply but as mentioned before, I’ll need to personally go to the London Bosnian Embassy to submit the application even though I’ll be emailing some of the documents prior to that time.

Praise report – I thank Jesus that I’ll be able to stay with friends from Novimost for my time in England. They’ll also be getting me from the airport ... so I won’t have to worry about additional travel expenses!

That’s about it for now...have a blessed week and remember...”Only one life, it will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ, will last”.

Laura xx

To be the change

Last weekend I attended my church's annual women's conference. It was titled "Legacy" and oh how inspiring it was! I've also been reading Joyce Meyer's book the "Love Revolution" and more than ever I've been challenged and inspired to 'be the change'. I want my life to make a difference...to leave a legacy of love...to be someone who goes out of their way to be a blessing and help others in whatever way possible...to be a world changer. We might not be able to help every single person on the earth...but the few we do help will make all the difference. With Bosnia coming up, I pray that my life will make a difference in the hearts and lives of precious Bosnians who will in turn make a change in other Bosnians who will in turn make a change in other Bosnians...with a ripple effect that will continue for generations to come! In one of the workshops at conference, a pastor said that there was a statistic which stated that an introvert influences 10000 people in their lifetime. Now if an introvert influences that many people, how much more will our lives empowered by the Holy Spirit influence and touch other lives!!!!

For all my friends in JHB, I'll be speaking on the 25th of June at a big homecell gathering at Rhema Church Randburg sharing my vision and dream for Bosnia. Initially I was planning to have a "Bosnian Evening" on that night, but as it worked out (trying to arrange the venue) my homecell leader suggested we iclude it with the homecell gathering for more people to find out about BiH and get involved. I still want to have a proper Bosnian "party" which I will have at my house in July. Will keep you posted with details of the events.

Prayer Points & Praise reports:

* I thank God for feedback from the Bosnian Embassy in London! According to a contact there, I'll be able to start the visa application via email before September and hopefully that will speed things up once in London so that I'll be able to go to Bosnia in the beginning of October allready!

* Praise God for a customer at work who contacted me regarding extra voyager miles that a friend of his have which I might be able to use for the airplane ticket from London to Sarajevo!

* Please continue to pray for the Lord's guidance regarding preparation for my time in BiH,favour with regards to sponsorships & visa applications, that I will run and not grow weary...

God has an amazing plan for each one of our lives. Let us hold on to Him and His Word and run the race set before us with endurance and determination. Let's not focus on self and our own conveniences...but let's be bold, step out and BE THE CHANGE in the world!

With Love,

Lxx