June 2018… Its hardships and magic!

I have known hard years and crazy days, lean times, and fatter times, but this June 2018, must have been one of the craziest and hardest months I had lived through! And yes, that we have managed to LIVE through it, is by the grace of God alone! To mention but a few… My husband Maré had been ill since last year and has been struggling to breathe now for almost a year after two bouts of flu which each had been followed by pneumonia. In May he was taken to hospital by ambulance. Many tests done, they drained fluid from his one lung, but apart from chronic inflammation, they could not find anything else wrong! We were very thankful, and with him not smoking any longer (after 50+ years of smoking!), a smoothie made with raw eggs and bananas and an apple every day, as well as hot turmeric milk every night, he is starting to get better and has even managed a short walk down the road recently! Thank you, Father!

Also in May, the Telkom cables in our street had been cut and stolen by criminals, twice! So, we had to go over to another internet provider while still having to pay the old one and Telkom! And it is also with great thankfulness to the graciousness of Steve Cope and his team that we could be connected again. Thank you! And thank you, Father!

On 5 June, a friend contacted me after almost three years of not having had any kind of contact. While on the phone with her, a man of God who had been visiting in Hermanus and was staying with her and her family, took the phone from her and said this to me: “I have a message for you from our Daddy God!” He then started off by saying, “Although you are in a place of total insolvency now, Father is going to turn it around completely…” He then asked to see me personally. The next day I went to Hermanus and for five hours this man in whose eyes one can see into eternity, without knowing anything of me, and not having had any contact with me ever, told me almost every word the Father had spoken to me over the last twenty years! I sat there weeping for almost the entire time! There were times during these years when I thought I must have heard Him wrong… I must be crazy… perhaps this… perhaps that… Not only did he confirm the words spoken directly to my heart, but also those which came through others from all over the world! (Some of it has been posted on my blog: https://annalizemouton.wordpress.com/about/my-story/)

Then over the weekend of 16/17 June our beloved Great Dane fell ill, and died on Monday, the 18th. After Anna’s death, Kerneels, her canine mate, refused to lift his leg in our own garden, so I had to take him walkies three, four times per day. And he’s a fast walker that one! So, each day I had to fit in at least 4-5 km of “walking the dog” in with everything else I had to do! So fitness, here I come! Thank you, Father! And just so you know… Kerneels is normally a handsome dog, with ears alert and tail curled and bushy… but he hates having his photo taken! Then he gets this dejected, feeling sorry for himself, look! 

On top of all the financial challenges, on Friday evening our geyser packed up! And to stop the overflow of water inside and outside the house, we had to turn off the main inflow to our house after first filling buckets of water to flush the toilets with and for ordinary use in kitchen and bathroom! On Saturday the local plumber graciously replaced the element and accepted the fact that we might have to “pay off” the bill. Thank you, Father! _MG_8314

Over the weekend it rained… and it rained… and we are so grateful and thankful for the rain after a long drought. Our dams are filling up. Thank you, Father!!!!!!

On Saturday I took photos of the drops and that which was easily accessible near the sheltered front stoep.

On Sunday we had no electricity as two poles were blown over during Saturday night’s storm on a nearby farm, and again I parked myself on the front stoep, and took photos… And was in a sense almost totally mesmerized by, not the proverbial “storm in a tea cup”, but the storm in the bird bath right in front of the stoep! The ripples of the raindrops as they fell into the water formed concentric and interconnected circles. The drops also made waves and little funnel-eruptions! I could not stop taking photos even though the light was low. Again Father was speaking… All ONE… interconnected! Thank you, Father! And a great thank you to the guys who worked in the storm and rain to get the power back on again!

Then the magic continued… inside the house we had to light candles as it was getting too dark inside, but outside there was still some light… and as I turned around to look out into the “jardin sous la pluie” (garden in the rain), it was truly like it had been turned into a magic garden! Thank you, Father! See for yourself… Here are loads of photos… Enjoy!


I think this June 2018 and all that’s transpired just in this month, could fill a whole book… Not only of human suffering and hardship, but mostly of His faithfulness and grace. Of His love and glory! The story continues… And I’m sure in my heart that it would be a story of OVERCOMING! Thank you, Father.

Oh, and I won twice… on 15 June, Top Photographer out of 12 711 photographers world-wide (42 020 photos altogether) in the “Bursts of Laughter” challenge on Gurushots and also on 19 June Top Photographer in the “High Key” Challenge on Gurushots! Prizes?  Swaps, autofills and boost keys to be used in Gurushots challenges. 

Category : Life in Christ