MICKEY ON THEM

Hey Lovelies! Trust you are all good. A lot is happening this side of life, trying to balance the blog and the business is proving to be quite the challenge. I had so many things I wanted to add to the blog by now, such as beauty products posts, recipes, more travel, etc. But I won’t lie, I currently don’t have the time to squeeze all of that in at the moment. I’ve even been slacking with my Marriage Monday posts, I have so many ideas concerning that, but don’t worry I’ll be on track very soon. I might be overwhelming myself  a tad bit and adding unneccessary pressure, but I just want to achieve the goals I set out for myself concerning the blog.

Marriage Monday is what I’d call the stepping stone into my calling/ purpose. If you know me, you’d know that I take quite a while to adjust to change, which sometimes means that I can linger long than I should in my comfort zone. When God calls you to new waters, He truly does equip you with everything you need and I can testify to that. I haven’t been married long at all, in actual fact I’d say we probably still at the “learning each other” phase ( not that you ever stop) , so I was really scared to launch out and start speaking on marriage. But, when God imprints something in your heart and solidifies it with a scripture, theirs no backing down. The scripture below keeps me going. I truly believe the marriages of old, will be the building blocks for the new. The past generations didn’t remain faithful to their spouses in vain, they didn’t pray in vain, they didn’t serve God faithfully in vain, they were all serving a greater purpose. They may not have known it at the time, but they most certainly were being used by God. It’s now our responsiblity to build an even more glorious story of God’s amazing institution; marriage. Divorce and separation statistics will decrease by the year. I truly believe that more and more marriages will be restored at greater rate that ever before. I really believe that. And even more, I believe that the church will rise up, and speak on the detailed truths of marriage more than ever before, and God will be glorified.

Isaiah 58: 12

You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.

This scripture speaks to me. I get it. I see what needs to be done. I believe that God founded, God inspired, God kept and God centred marriages will make the “community livable again”. These aren’t perfect marriages, oh please don’t get it twisted. Rather marriages that are sinking deep in the grace of God, bound by His perfect love. Grace pardons, Grace extends itself, Grace never gives up hope, Grace is married to faith, Grace forgives, Grace humbly teaches, Grace is a servant and Grace is patient. I’m telling you Grace ( Jesus) in marriage will make the difference in our community. In the times we are living in, monogamy seems to be a rear and sacred thing. Society as a whole is in desperate need for structure, firm foundations and fully present ,dual households. Social media cannot teach the world about marriage, because what is God created, can only be God kept. The truth is, it’s so hard to disect the truth from deception theses days. The same way we filter our faces, is the same way one can easily “filter” their marriage. Do not be deceived, EVERY marriage goes through trials, not a single marriage is exempt from the storms of life. People have just become really good in portraying “perfection”, when it doesn’t actually exist. I’m not saying you can’t follow celebrities, or that their marriages are fake. What I’m saying is that, the majority of the posts on every social media platform expose only the good and not the troublesome times. Your marriage is your #Marriagegoals,  because you and your spouse are a work in progress. You will never reach the state of perfection. Social media has created a comparative and jealousy culture, which I find extremely toxic, exhausting and harmful. Comparison truly is the biggest thief of joy, try your best not to get caught up in it. Run your own race, be inspired by other marriages, but to strive to be like another couple will in fact cripple your own.

So, it’s my mission in life to see that through, one marriage at a time. Whether God uses my website, leads me to platforms/pulpits/ stages, puts me on planes, or even allows me to write books, truthfully that doesn’t phase me. The how is in God’s hands, I’m responsible for the why. Why, this is so important! I want people to know that marriage is bigger than them, it has purpose and it can be a good teacher for this generation and the next to come.

One of the best things I did this year was co-run the Young Wives Club, I can’t even begin to tell you how much God has blessed me through those ladies. I was saying to them on our Whatsapp group chat the other day, that they have no idea how life changing these sessions have been for me. I couldn’t help but commended them for their vulnerability, the grace they’ve they extended and the purity of their hearts. To share deep, painful, intimate and at times sensitive stories about their private lives, all for the betterment of another person’s marriage leaves me speechless. That’s massive! That’s everything! You know when Thato ( co-founder) and I started the club, we obviously had somewhat of an idea of how things would go, but clearly God had even greater plans. For us, we grew tired of the “blind leading the blind” ( the blind being us), we wanted to form a network of young wives that we can lean on, pray with, vent with, praise with, share the Word with, learn from, laugh with and engage with. God has more than surpassed our expectations, He created a safe environment  and that to me has been the biggest blessing.

Ok, enough of the heavy stuff! I just had to share my heart. If you follow the business page: Marads, you’ll notice that we will be a vendor/ trader at the Brownsense Market at the end of the month. The details are all available on our Facebook or Instagram page. Peeps, you have no idea how much prep goes into showing at the market. Like I’m in awe! My sister and I are currently sorting out stock ( which means money), finding suitable display items, sorting out marketing tools ( which means more money)  and that’s just the top of the list. Also, it doesn’t help that my sister and I really want everything to be perfect on the day, professionalism is everything to us. So for those that have been asking me about the fragrances, the opportunity to sample and see the perfumes has finally presented itself.

Back to the reason for this blog post, my little human. How cute does  my Ponqoza ( my little nickname for him) look? Can I tell you, getting a toddler to do what you need them to do at the moment you need them to do it ( ha ha), is A LOT of work. I had my niece there the day we were shooting this look, and normally she’s easily able to make Kwando laugh or smile, but alas, even her efforts weren’t rewarded. To get him to look up, is by far the biggest mission, forget the smile or laugh. I was telling Mikayla ( my photographer), that if he doesn’t get used to the camera soon, I’m gonna axe him, ha ha. Thing is guys, it’s money having Kwando on board. Cause I have to find cute accessories or even worse, buy an outfit or two for him and obviously pay Mikayla for the photography time. please understand, I’m not being the mean mom or anything ,I’m just trying to be financially wise.

My favourite thing about H&M has to be that on going, never ending special they have on basic items ( t-shirts/ vests/ leggings /tank tops, etc.) This vest and the v-neck shirt that he wore in the previous post are all a part of the special I’m talking about. It’s a buy three, only pay for two special and sometimes it’s like a two-pack of vests / t-shirts that goes as one item, like what a steal! I’ll always say this, it’s important that a child look and feel like a child( for me), as much as the “swagger” needs to be present, I still want Kwando to always be comfortable. I’ve noticed that a lot of the children’s clothing is becoming “ grown-up” version looks. To be honest it’s a little bit scary at times, because gone are the days that kids looked like kids.  Dungarees- I’m sure every person has a childhood pic. Year in, year out I’ve seen dungarees in every store.

I still wat to turn this denim look into a family photo shoot, where we do the cheesy matchy-matchy thing. Now to get hubby on it! When Kwando  slightly outgrows these, I can always cut them and turn them into short dungarees and roll up the edges. This is definitely one of those items, that I’ll be keeping for our next child whether girl or boy, cause I want to do those adorable comparative pics , that make everyone ( mostly me) broody, ha ha.  The Mickey Mouse sneakers have to be my favourite though, how cute are they?! It’s one of those items that remind me that Kwando is still my baby. In actual fact I might just keep these for the next baby as well. Oh, and the hat, EPIC fail! trying to get him to wear it was rather interesting. My child really dislikes beanies and hats.

xx

H&M dungaree | H&M vest| ACKERMANS sneakers | H&M hat

Photography by Mikayla Birkholtz