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Showing posts from April, 2010

About Me

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Janine Claire Robinson
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Welcome to my little writing corner. I count my many blessings to be a cherished wife and an ever-learning-loving-growing mother to 3 amazing children this side of Heaven and a precious little boy in Heaven. Together as a family we pastor a precious church community called Redeeming Hope Church. I've had the privilege of loving and following Jesus Christ since my earliest memories as a child. No matter what I've gone through in life, He has always been so present. At heart, I'm an encourager ... so this is a place where I get to wear my heart on my sleeve and share my journey of learning to live a life of love in action.

Inspiring Testimony

Just the other day, a dear new friend of mine sent me the following testimony. It spoke so much to my heart that I asked her if I could share it with you. Here is Seantele's amazing encounter ... "I read your post from the other day about love and living as Jesus did...putting ourselves in the path of others...etc. I had to share an amazing experience that happened a couple of weeks ago. Over the last year or so, I have really been taking a look at my life and how I am or am not impacting others and showing love. I think often of that song..."If we are the body….why aren't his hands healing...." So, I'm out running errands and had to wait to go back and pick up my dog from the groomer because it's too far from home to not just stay in that area. I go into a Starbucks and decide to stay a while and prepare some things I had to mail. I had a little Bible because I needed to reference a couple of scriptures I was including with something I was mail

Getting Practical

Last post I shared my heart about "getting our hands dirty" when it comes to being a witness for Christ. Well today, as a family we jumped in boots and all as they say :) Here in Port Elizabeth, our city hosts the annual "Iron Man" event. It's an extreme sporting event run world wide for tri-athletes. Talk about a race of endurance!!! It requires a 3.8 km swim in the ocean followed by a 180 km cycle and ends off with a 42 km run. Can you even wrap your brain around that?! Quite a few of our friends in our church family are Iron man athletes who competed again today. This year our church family decided to get pro active and host a prayer event just prior to the event for any athletes needing prayer and encouragement and on race day (today) we set up a "cheering station" in one of the deadest parts of the race to encourage the athletes on. We pitched up as families with posters with words of encouragement from the Bible, Christian music blaring, glow in

Do I look like Him?

I've been thinking about why I started this blog and what I want to accomplish by continuing it. When I started this blog, the phrase "love in action"  was loud and clear in my heart. As a Christian of  28 years I have been assessing what it really means to be called and known as a follower of Christ. Do I love Him - yes!! Has He changed my heart and life forever - yes!! Do I know Him - well ... the more I get to know Him, the more I realise how much more there is to know and love about Him. I have also come to realise that to really know Him is to have my heart turned inside out with compassion. This I am still learning so much about. Jesus is love. Everything He does is motivated by love. How can I represent Him as a Christian and not be compelled to love? This is making me take a closer look into my own heart. Does my hand reach out to touch the untouchables like His does? Do my arms gather the little children that were so drawn to Him? Do sinners flock around me seeki

Grieving

Today my heart is grieving. As a mother, I cannot imagine the heart break of losing a child. No matter how old or young the child - the pain must be indescribable. From the moment that baby is placed in your womb, a connection is made for life. Today I got an sms from a family that I grew up with, very dear friends - friends that I call family to announce that their sweet little boy who was born 12 weeks prematurely went to be with Jesus. This precious miracle lived for just over a week and touched so many hearts in his lifetime. As I called my friends overseas, I had no words. What can one possibly say in the face of such loss? I realize that loving is not only about the words that we say. Love will point to the source of love. In situations like these, it can only take Jesus to heal a broken parents heart, or a grieving grandparent or aunt or uncle. Jesus is love personified. He gave us the Comforter - the Holy Spirit who is able to soothe our broken hearts and in time, repair what s

Take me away :)

Brett and I are currently away with the girls in Natal for a week. It has been the best week ever!! I honestly do not remember when we went away as a family alone for a holiday (our holidays are usually going away to or with extended family which we love), so this has been such a fun adventure for all of us! I do not know how we are going to get in the car to begin the journey home on Friday! When I get home, I will write a post with pictures (having a few networking problems out here) ... but my thought today is simply about making time for the ones we love ... to do new things together ... to laugh together ... to experience new adventures and to keep growing together. I am so aware of how quickly my girls are growing up. I want to make the most of these simple years with them. One of the things that touched my heart this week was watching my firstborn in the waves with her daddy. Just as I did with my dad at her age, this holiday she has fallen in love with doing "unders and ov