The journey started with a diary entry at Dubai airport. I was on my way to London.



I will never forget sitting on a carpet with other travellers, waiting for my adventure to start. I desperately wanted the plane to take me away from a life of brokenness and hurt. Strangely enough, I had no fear, no doubt. I  knew I had to make a change. God needed time to rebuild me, to clean my heart from past experiences and unwise decisions.  I still remember the sense of peace I felt the moment I wrote in my diary, "God I give you my all, take away and add and let me become who I am meant to be. I give you my life." It was me and God. It was our time. God announced a season of change, but never did I imagine my journey to be so amazingly strategic in the wonderful city of London, the city where healing flows.

I first arrived at the doorstep of my aunt in a small town called Bangor, Wales. It was a safe haven where I was introduced to the delicacies of the UK - the tea and the weather. This was a special time in my life. God had to bring me back to the Word, and for three months I studied the Bible while looking for a job. It was critical for me to rebuild my foundation on the Word, and I had to do it in a peaceful and godly environment. A part of me wanted to discover God afresh, but I was also in the UK for an adventure. I didn't have a lot of time though. According to my working holiday visa I could only work for one year. The plan was to make money and go back to South Africa. But I quickly realised that God had other plans for me when my uncle gave me James 4:13: Come now, you who say: Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit, whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow....." God had other plans. He had an adventure in store that would change my life forever.

When I finally arrived in London I was overwhelmed by the size and busyness of the city. It was a city unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced. There was an excitement and buzz everywhere I went. I didn't feel scared, even though I was alone without a job or money. The next couple of months I felt like a gypsy moving from house to house, interview to interview, temporary job to temporary job. I worked in the most unusual places, met the most interesting people, yet I struggled to settle down. London was not an easy city to make a home. The pressure of having to survive in a cut throat environment was extremely difficult yet unbelievably liberating. I had nothing, nowhere to go and no support, except God. I wanted to fight, freak out, rebel but instead I found myself humbled and desperate for the presence of God. I had countless nights of prayer - seeking, asking and knocking. God used it to soften my heart. The ground for the seeds of truth was hard and it needed tilting and my faith needed to be sharpened again. I needed to trust God with everything again.



During this desert time God gave me my greatest gift. I wasn't prepared for it, but you don't always have to be perfect to receive from God - you only have to be open and willing to follow Jesus. I met my husband. It wasn't glamorous at first, I had nothing to offer. God wanted to get rid of all the rubbish inside of me, the false fantasies and unrealistic expectations. So when I met my husband I had one pair of shoes, one pair of Jeans and many questions. Our one year friendship started off on nothing except our love for God. I did not expect my love story to start off the way it did. I was one of those who waited for the perfect moment, the perfect haircut, the perfect setting and the perfect thing to say. But God chose me to discover His perfection in my imperfection. He wanted me to understand grace, a grace that gives when you least expect it, and blesses when you don't deserve it. At the time He gave me a loyal friend, my best friend for life, my husband. I didn't know it at first, and it took a while for my heart to trust again, but God used my husband to help me make wise decisions and to position myself in such a way that I could operate under the laws of the Kingdom.

Positioning was always a difficult concept for me. I mostly made decisions to please others. The whole world (according to me) had to be saved and it didn't matter where I found myself - even if it was to difficult for me to handle. Deep down I knew I had to renew my mind about the value God placed on me, because from the choices I made it was evident that I had no revelation. It was during this time that the breakthrough came. I finally got a permanent job, at that stage a "small beginnings" job, but it was a job. God blessed me with a 5 year work permit which was unheard of, so I knew God wanted me to stay in London for longer. I moved in to a house with great friends and started planting myself in an amazing church.  I wanted to make decisions that positioned myself in a healthy environment where I could grow and receive from God. God is  faithful. He will always open doors for us to position ourselves in a place where we can prosper, but I had to first allow the truth to sink deep into my spirit. God saw me as valuable, and didn't want me to think less of myself.

He confirmed my value through divine appointments with people. God anointed them to spiritually guide me through a maze of confusion. Unforgiveness and hurt dominated all my choices, and left me dis-empowered to function normally. He gave me godly friends who only wanted to love me. They didn't try to change me but accepted me. At that time of my life I needed unconditional love desperately, and God provided me with a community of believers who spoke to the queen inside, and not the fool. I also started actively confronting unforgiveness in my life. It was one of the most difficult journeys I had to do. I had to break the lies the enemy tried to keep me in bondage with. A wave of emotions flooded my heart every week, and cleansed me of things that I didn't have courage to face in the past. Faith cannot operate where unforgiveness thrives. Love cannot be powerful where bitterness occupies your heart.

The moment my heart could love again completely, I felt the Spirit of God accelerating my life to go from glory to glory! The blessing of the Lord started overtaking me. I got married, started prospering in my job, approached relationships in a new and healthy way that established life long friendships. God blessed me with good gifts, and I started overflowing with the favour of the Lord. Life giving revelations entered my heart and changed my life forever. Adventurers were abundant. God satisfied my life with good things.

My prayer was answered. God restored my life in the city of London and I will always treasure the moments I had with Him. The season was fruitful and exciting, which makes it difficult to leave. But I am ready again to wait at the airport for the plane to come....and once again I will  write in my diary: ""God I give you my all,  take away and add....and let me become who I am meant to be....I give you my life."

His love never fails, never runs out, never gives up on me!

I serve a loving, faithful and gracious God.....a God of amazing journeys!

Thanks London......I will miss the city....I will miss the people!