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Thursday 24 November 2016

The Cinderellas of the Bushveld - Vultures

Vulture Week 19-27 November 2016

The Cinderellas of the Bushveld

Imagine no cleaning machine for the bush
No Municipal refuse pick-up once a week
All dead animals lie – just where they died
What a ghastly sight!
Not even to think about the pungent stench
Strong enough to knock you off a bench

Anthrax, Rabies and various other diseases
Spread quicker than wildfire
The Situation so dire

But wait!
There is this really great group of birds
Slowly getting pushed off the grid,
That cleans up and stop this mess
Most are bald so that blood don’t clot their feathers
And they smell a carcass from over yonder
Quickly they clean up the bush
Flesh devoured in no time, bones crushed
It should make you to ponder
The important role of vultures
They’re all endangered, some more than others

If we don’t act now
The scenario above might be our future


Riana Odendaal 
November 2016

Saturday 23 July 2016

Live a different life



Live a different life

As someone once sang
“If we knew all truth, we will live a different life”
We live in a country where the truth is freely known
And go to a church where all truth is powerfully preached
Sunday after Sunday,
We hear it. Ear in and ear out
Or does it stay in?
Are we convicted of the truth we hear
And is your life different than what is was?
Where is your focus …..
in this momentarily life
or on the eternal next life,
on the god/s of this world
or on the Great Unchangeable Eternal I AM
Who is All Truth.
If you knew Him, you would live differently

Are you? 







(Riana Odendaal, July 2016)

Thursday 12 May 2016

Gimme Gimme Gimme




In a world where everyone screams
"GIMME GIMME GIMME"
I want this and that and that 
always some money
Oh, what's that thing so shiny,
and someone to call hunny
to make me a happy chappy

everyone living for the moment
and no perspective for what lasts

May our prayers be
Lord give me: 
New eyes to see
Your majesty
Your love and grace
and to seek your face

Lord give me
New things to delight in
delight in Your beauty
Your eternal faithful word
Your plans for the world

Lord give me
a Mind that ponders
on all Your wonders
a mind that yearn
to learn of You more and more

Lord give me
A new heart
That accepts your forgiveness
and a heart
that loves others
but loves You more


Riana Odendaal
May 2016



Wednesday 11 May 2016

Behold my Servant - The Ultimate Promise Keeper - The Messiah



Behold My Servant: The Ultimate Promise-Keeper

My dear people Israel, behold my Servant
My Servant the Ultimate Promise-keeper
A promise He made to you
To send you into Babylonian exile
And that the stones of Jerusalem
Will all be on a pile
Which, in time, you found it to be true

A promise He made to you
To send His shepherd Cyrus
Who will send you back to the Promised Land
A promise made nearly two centuries
Before Cyrus was even born
Or any of you found yourself in Babylon
And… you found the promise fulfilled

A promise I made to send My Servant
The Messiah
That will save you from sin
A Child that will be born
And later suffer on a cross
For the sins of many
A promise which you all saw was kept
To the very last detail

A promise that My Servant, the Messiah
Will come again, and will reign forever
Is yet still to be fulfilled
But keep your focus on HIM
He is the Ultimate Promise-Keeper
He will come again
And reign forever
He is faithful!


Riana Odendaal
May 2016

(Scratching the surface on Isaiah) 


growth



On a sweet crispy Fall morning
under a bright blue sky
a little seed fell to the ground
pushed into the earth by feet trodding over
till no longer it a trace of it could be found
Deep under the dust, still it lay
hibernating
Throughout the cold winter months
drinking in the few dew drops
and every last little ray of sun

Slowly but surely
A little root grows out so lean
and by the time Spring comes around
It pushes out a brand new colour of green
a new plant sprouted
and drinks in the early spring rain
till it grows a beautiful crown
which turns many a frown
into an appreciative smile


Riana Odendaal
May 2016