The World According to Cara

news...

2008-04-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

TRAVIS AND I ARE ENGAGED! :)

I ALMOST DIED!

2008-03-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

well maybe that's a little exaggerated....

one quiet evening of last week i decided that a nice evening stroll was in order. Max, the crazy dog resident at my humble house in Huntly, looked keen so he joined me in this endeavour. off we go keeping to ourselves and calmly, or as calmly as Max can muster, walked along.

we didn't get too far before Max is telling all dogs on the block that he's the boss and making sure we all know it. there is a rather large red dog who didn't seem too keen on this idea on the corner. she was jumping up and down and barking for all she's worth. I'd seen her before and kept walking leaving her to it.

however, i hear something behind me and there she was, the red dog, much much bigger when she was that close, coming towards me rather fast. Max starts making noises like he's dieing, this dog was enthusiastic about being this close and jumping up and down and her face was right in front of mine!

as cleaver as i am i called out 'OWNER OF THE DOG!' this I'm not too proud of now but it was the first thing that came into my head. then i started praying 'God, HELP'. no one came. not a soul in sight and this dog was still too close for comfort nibbling on my elbow.
i did realise that i wasn't about to die at this point. the dog was still there but logic kicked in and it wasn't growling or biting. Max was though. he was making enough noise for all of us. i was trying to keep him quiet thinking the dog would eat him if he wasn't careful.

we proceed to continue about my walk seeing as i was half way and either was didn't matter. the dog was rather pleased at this and run around following me. i was not impressed.

we get to the corner near my house and the silly dog starts running laps around the house! how odd. around and around it goes. there are also dogs in this house and they start making noises like they're in excruciating pain. around and around it runs. strange.
i pounce on the opportunity and run home with Max, leave him in the back yard then head off to the dogs house.

with much relief i find the owner home, tell him in few words what happened and that the dog is now still running laps around the end house. to my surprise i watched him get in a car, drive down there, hang out the car window then drive back with the dog running along behind him!

the whole event was rather strange. i did resolve to never walk past that house again.
God did answer my prayer though. even though not in the way i thought was best with the dogs owner coming out and taking it away, i was much calmer after my cry of help and i didn't die!

2008-02-25T18:46:00.000-08:00

i was out walking last week and as i went along i was looking into this paddock where there were some horses. this isn't unusual, i see horses and i watch them as i pass. normal for me. but this horse looked sorta familiar. as i continued this horse gaging i was more convinced that it was an old horse i had called Aquaba (Arki). i stopped and called out 'Arki' the horses head shot up, then they came forward and then gets excited and starts running around the paddock with the other horse in there.

well now i was kinda excited. i waltz into the house next door and ask the dude it they're his horses. nope, some one had asked him if they can put them there and his payment suggested was a box of beer every so often (!). he didn't know his name even!. but he gave me some other clues and i walked away convinced this was my old horse and determined to follow it up and find out.

my detective work was slowed down a bit cos i don't know anyone around huntly really. didn't know the people who the dude was talking about with his clues he gave me. so all i really did was walk down to the paddock a few times and see if i could see anyone and if the horse was still there.

on one of these said trips i decided to go into the paddock. on my way in i started wondering if it was a good idea cos they're not my horses and i'm probably trespassing to some degree..... never mind i wanted to know. the horse was nice and friendly and i start patting it and looking it over. the head was similar but a few things started to say that it's not familiar, i put these away to not seeing the horse for a while, some actions were out of character but i was still wanting it my way. but then one thing that couldn't be explained away, it's a girl. that horse is not Arki.

i was seeing what i wanted to rather then the truth until it couldn't be any other way.

God and Prayer

2008-02-20T23:44:00.000-08:00

when praying, think of who you are talking to.
consider Revelation chapter 4

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

now that is awesome.
but look at what the passage says next.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

what on earth would you do if you were faced with one of these strange creatures?
these creatures, covered with eyes, declare day and night, day and night how holy, how great the Lord is. it's like they're saying, not me Him, God, God is holy look at him not me! everyone in this part of the passage have all their attention on God and acknowledge how holy he is and give him all glory.

now when i sit back and think about how great, how holy how big how awesome God is, that changes the way i pray.

Australia Post and my letter

2007-12-27T16:06:00.000-08:00

so during my time with world vision in the lead up to Christmas i had a few incidents. this is the story of one of them.

so i had been bored sitting in the one place having not much to do and hardly anyone to talk to for too many days that i had been writing people letters, and doing other random things that regularly on my way up to the marketplace in the morning i was posting letters. this said morning was nothing new and i posted a letter on my way. not just a random letter to anyone that i had written, but a rather important letter that was already supposed to be at its destination.

so there i was that morning just humbly sitting in my designated place, writing another letter and wondering if i had an envelop or stamp in order to post it later when it dawned on me, the rather important letter i had posted that morning did not have a stamp on it.... oops... what does one do when one makes such a silly mistake about such an important letter....

i realised at this point that there was nothing really that i could do about it as i had another few hours to sit and do nothing for, so i devised a plan. i finished at 3 and thought that the post was probably not going anywhere anyway until 6 when Mr. Post would pick it all up. therefore, i could go to that post box and call Australia Post and go from there before the mail went anywhere. good plan i thought.

i got to the post box as quickly as i could after i finished and call Australia Post i did. there are many options when you call them. they go something like this, if you are calling about international post press 3, if you are calling about postage within Australia press 2 and so on and so forth. there was however, no option about stamps and the like. i just pushed random buttons and got a rather unhelpful man who gave me information about the possible fate of my letter. 'i wouldn't worry about it, it will probably get there, you should have put a stamp on it, there is a chance it will get destroyed...' i was not impressed.

as i was talking to the unhelpful man, hope drove past me in the form of an Australia Post van. i quickly hung up on the Australia post dude and started waving frantically at the van and proceeded to chase them up the hill with some dude hanging out of the can yelling 'we don't have a key'. i didn't care, they were going to be more helpful then the dude on the phone in my mind.

these guys also proceeded to tell me about all the possibilities for my letter. one of them did call up some person who was supposed to be helpful though. everyone did say though, don't worry about it. so i went home.

the next day there i was again stationed at my post with my head in the clouds thinking about the world vision children and how i wasn't very good at this un-engaging job, when a random man walked past saying 'we got your letter' that woke me up, and i started thinking what on earth is this guy talking about? what letter? i continued to look at him with a blank face wondering what he was talking about.
'we found your letter, I'm the dude from the van, we found your letter, it's got a stamp on it'

the dude had found my letter and put a stamp on it to make sure it got to it's destination. what a nice man, and rather surprising.

so the moral of the story is, you don't need to put stamps on your letters they will probably get there anyway (i did try this, i posted a letter with and without a stamp and then contacted them the next day and they got both. i did this after Australia post people kept telling me it will get there anyway). and some people are willing to go out of there way to help you, even strangers.

it was a funny two days and it did keep me amused.

merry christmas

2007-12-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

it's that time of year again. the time when things either slow down for some or go more crazy then normal for others.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

a story

2007-12-18T03:02:00.000-08:00

i have spent the last week and a bit sitting at the World Vision stand encouraging people to sponsor children. it's been rather boring a lot of the time... so it inspired this story.

Boredom rained down on her. She couldn't think of anything worse to be doing.
"Oh Lord please me this stop" she mumbled.
Many people walked past but no one even noticed her. she didn't like not talking. she didn't like being alone. She didn't like being stuck with her own thoughts. all these combined was making time pass ever so slowly. the day seemed endless.

there are so many better things to be doing. no one could put a prince on this and pay me for it. she thought about her brother and their last conversation. it had been a long time since they had talked so freely.

as time dragged its feet she sunk lower in her seat. oh how she yearned to be outside. her surroundings had become familiar. she new much of what to expect. not much changed these days. she liked excitement and this was far from it.

it's not finished. just to clarify, it's inspired by my time in the marketplace, but not about it.

The Santa Quest

2007-11-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

So, the Quest has began to find out as many Santa's everywhere, sit on his knee, and if possible have ones photo taken with him!

so far the count it at 3 Santa's and 2 photos.

i will continue this quest until Christmas, join me in this if you will.

I'VE FINISHED!!!

2007-11-10T20:57:00.000-08:00

hello world,

I'VE FINISHED UNIVERSITY!

just thought i'd let you know.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

yay!

Batteries

2007-11-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

yesterday, everything in my possession that required battery power died...

silly me, i went to church, came back to my car after 6 hours, and found the car had no power. i had left my lights on... oops.

i called Travis, on my near flat phone, who came back. we both stood and looked at our cars, neither knowing too much about what was under the hood. or how to act without doing more harm then good.
Two guys walked past with the helpful comment 'why don't you call the RACV'.
me being the cleaver person that i am went 'ah, yeah, i could do that. i do have RACV membership'
so, call the RACV i did. the dude on the phone said, yeah he'll be there in about 60 minuets. this was not what i wanted to hear with my limited patients. about 10 mins later, the friendly and helpful RACV man turned up and jump started my car.
i then proceeded to drive aimlessly around for about an hour on the instruction of the friendly RACV man.

yesterday evening, on my way home from church my mp3 player carcked it, my transmitter thingy that sends the music on the mp3 player through the car radio also went, and my mobile phone also died.

so i guess the lesson of the day is to charge things that require battery power if one desires their use for long periods of time...
I'm not sure what else to get out of all these occurrences.

Ugh, Centrelink

2007-10-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

so the centrelink dramas continue.

at the start of the year i went 2 months without an income
then they cut me off, that was sorted out in about a week.
then they cut me off again for a few weeks and i got payments back. however, i got them back at less then half of what they were.

NOW i got a letter from them this week saying i OWE THEM money. $2,194.88 to be exact. not impressed. and it's cos they asked for an estimation at the start of the year to my parents income. how silly. i'm not impressed that i'm supposed to give them money because they paid me according to my parents income that really has nothing to do with me.

also, how can one give them back money when they're not even giving me enough to live on! grrr!

oh the centrelink dramas continue.

The University Journey

2007-10-19T00:12:00.000-07:00

When I began university I was doing it just for something to do after school. I went into health in year 12 cos I had a spare subject and a good friend said do health with her, so I did. It ended up being my favourite subject, how about that.

I wanted to stay in Bendigo. Leaving was not an option at the time. So I went to the Bendigo La Trobe open day and Public Health appeared to be a continuation of year 12 health. I made a decision that that was what I was going to do. I almost did education or arts.

Through year 12, I felt like I was in a hidey-hole and my world felt narrow consisting of just school and church. Through the weeks off, between school and beginning uni, I felt free and when uni started, going back into the hole of year 12 was not an option. I was so determined to continue living life that I ended up doing heaps, and I mean heaps. I was out every night. I had got a job at McDonalds and I was working there 3 to 4 nights a week. Doing children’s ministries, doing all sorts of stuff, every night of the week. I was also getting up early for uni and struggling with some of my subjects. By the time mid-year exams came along I was so very tired. I was studying on the floor in my room, and I fell asleep. That was when I realised what I was doing was rather stupid. (The crying at the drop of the hat and consistent grumpyness didn’t give it away.)

At some stage through first year uni I decided why I was in the course. I wanted to go overseas to the poorest place I could find, and fix it. We were doing lots of study on developing programs and helping communities and I thought the best place I could put all this in practice was overseas.

In second year I started ‘Masterlife’. This was a great discipleship course. I was so encouraged and it pushed me to focus on what God was really calling me to. I stopped lots of things I was doing that were really distractions, and focused on uni and mission. I was also able to find that overseas mission is not necessarily what God is calling me to. There are things here that I believe God wants me to do and that’s cool. From this I believe that I’m in a much better place for many things I want to achieve and feel strongly about.

My parents left at the end of my second year at uni. I have spent this year without them, and that’s been interesting. While having no income 3 times this year, I have been trying to finish and figure out what to do next year. There was one point about February, where I thought I wasn’t going to finish uni this year. I’m rather pleased everything appears to be ok and if all goes well, I’ll be finished in 3 weeks. That’s a wonderful thought. I am rather excited about what the end of uni holds. This will include finding work, directing a mission and moving to Ballarat.

Uni some of my lecturers have said, is a time of change and preparation for life and what that holds. I don’t think that this comes from the work we do at there, but from how we handle everything that goes on as well as the work. I do feel so much more prepared and grown up and ready for what life holds. It’s all exciting.

this happens everyday

2007-10-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

has this ever happened to you...?

you walk up to someone and they say "yeah i'm good, how are you?" and you haven't even said anything!
but then, no matter how you're feeling or what has been happening you say "i'm good"

all over the place i'm getting this, all i've said is hello, or nothing at all and people are answering my an asked questions however, with the same answer.

being open and honest can be difficult. and it's not like i'm expecting this complete stranger to poor out their life story to me, or me to them, or anything like that.

although, finding someone to whom we can talk to and offload with is hard. those who are on the same wave length who understand life's struggles as you experience them are rare.

life goes on

My favourite place in Huntly

2007-10-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is my favourite place in Huntly. it's so nice there. it's at the end of the road i live on (it's a long road though). i walk down there and just wonder around and do nothing really. it's a great escape. it's the place which inspired the poem a few blogs back 'escape'. it's very Australian there. all the Australian plants, birds and all that jazz.

introducing..............MAX!

2007-10-08T17:18:00.000-07:00

After Rock Solid Kidz i arrived home to .... Max.

Max is a very enthusiastic young chap with too much to do to enable him to sit still for longer than a split second. i walked in the door to greet him and he found the best way to do this was to cover me with slobber and kiss me with his teeth (gently though).

the first walk i took Max on consisted of him barking at anything that was remotely threatening, including this letterbox cow which has been barked at numerous times since. it has been rather amusing watching Max get up more and more courage each time we pass this cow. now he is able to get rather close. he would start off barking at anything but then when he got too close he would shy off and hide behind my feet. rather cute really. but he doesn't walk in a straight line. he would walk beside me then in front then behind then the other side, then stop dead in front of me. it makes walking rather difficult.

now don't let Max fool you. he may be small, but he has an endless supply of energy. he chases the birds, your feet, the dog next door, anything that moves really. so if you're coming by Max be sure that he will great you with all the enthusiasm that a little dog can muster, and that's a lot.

Escape

2007-10-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

When the world is so busy
And things get tough,
Sometimes I lose perspective.
Then I take a walk, and escape to God’s creation.
Out in nature it all comes together,
I can sit and admire God’s ever-changing masterpiece.
I look in wonder at His artwork,
The sky, the trees, and everything all around me
It’s never the same, each day it’s new
I never tire of watching it move.
His trees are unique, each one it’s own.
The birds all sing and call out their tune
They fly by, each in their own means.
The feeling of each day changes
From the sun warming my back,
To the cool biting my cheeks.
I never tire
Of what God has in plan

for how it will all turn out.
Each day is different
Not one the same.
To escape to God’s creation
Brings life back in perspective.

Rock Solid Kidz

2007-09-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

Rock solid Kidz kicked off last week and it was fantastic. Sharing with children the truths of God is such a privilege to be able to do. Kids are so open and have so many questions about God and being part of their journey towards God was so very cool. God is definitely at work in the lives of those children and being part of Gods work there was rather special.

We did many games and activities with the kids over 5 days. God answered so many prayers, and myself and the team were challenged in different ways over the period.

i continue to be challenged to grow closer and closer to God and to be more dependant on Him. when i do lots i tend to just do it all myself rather than wait on Him and do things in His strength and direction. something i'm going to work on.

it's now time to prepare for and launch full throttle into Kids4life and the things God is going to be doing there.

how old are we?

2007-09-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

so on Saturday night Travis and i were causally taking a late night stroll through the streets of Mr Clear in Ballarat. with some excitement i saw a playground!

we eagerly go and continue our conversations in various places on this rather colourful and welcoming equipment. so welcoming in fact that two car loads of people pull out and join us!

this, Travis and i found quite amusing as at ten o'clock at night in Ballarat there are nine people on a play ground. only two of them were children...

BUSY BUSY BUSY

2007-09-09T01:28:00.000-07:00

so much to do!!! so little time!!! (oh why am i blogging then?)

how much stuff can one person do?

i have been testing this theory lately and doing rather well at it. when one person gets up and doesn't stop till they're about to fall asleep in the evening it's a good sign that you're doing too much...

this makes me think what my priorities are. but then the priority ends up being what the urgent thing is, not what is actually the most important. this results in things that require more attention actually end up suffering because i'm just doing what needs to be completed next. rather disappointing really when looked at in this light.

these things can take time to build up so that others can take on more. so to start with may require more time and energy until others are up to the task of leading themselves. so to do things better it can take more time to start with in order to lessen the load later.

well instead of blogging about busyness, i might go and do some of those demanding jobs...

trust and faith

2007-08-29T03:08:00.000-07:00

when struggles and challenges come before us, especially those shaped as rather large sized mountains, facing them while trusting God with all your faith in Him, can become part of the challenge.

i personally, have trouble not going out and doing it all in my strength, my time and all by myself.

part of having faith and trust in God is going out with Him. part of trusting God is knowing that He has it all in control and asking Him for the right way to act.

So often through the bible God leads the way. God makes a way and fights for His people. God is the front runner in battles, the one who wins the fights. in light of this, some things that are required to be remembered are, that God is the one who fights the battles, the one who is able to be depended upon completely and who can be trusted. He never asks us to do anything that He does not equip us to do. He will prepare us and fight the battles with us and even for us.

with God, i don't need to go in in my own strength and i don't have to fight alone.

doubts and insecurities

2007-08-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

we all have doubts and insecurities to some degree in our life. it's how we respond to these that has an influence over our lives.

doubts and insecurities can either cripple us and we are unable to move forward, stuck where we are. or they can cause us to act, providing motivation and purposeful action to overcome them.

how do you respond?

more often then not, at least for a while, people are haltered by doubts and insecurities not wanting to be hurt, exposed, or to be seen as weak. only after these fears are overcome can a person move on.

strength can come out of doubts and insecurities when they are overcome. people can find the truth, and be free from those things which were holding them back in life. now that's cool.

Helpless

2007-08-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

often we view a state of being helpless as something that isn't good, isn't helpful and not something to aspire towards. in many cases i agree with this.

however, in prayer it's most helpful. when we come to God in prayer, we come helpless. we come to God surrendered, humbled in His presence, and needing Him. Helpless. this is not natural and not easy. a challenge.

when looking towards God, towards His sovereignty and power and greatness everything is put into perspective. I acknowledge me as being a small part of all He is and all He's doing. i know that I'm helpless without Him and am able to release the reigns into His control.

I'm helpless without Him.

Change

2007-08-15T00:03:00.000-07:00

life continues to change.

i have moved 5 times in the past 5 years. at the end of this year i intend to have life rather different with the entering into the workforce and another move of house.

work, school, life, it all has potential to continue to change whether it be for the better or not, the control is in my hands. often my attitude towards it all makes the difference to it being great or depressingly terrible.

there are also other stuff, like our relationships with others. as we move through life these can end, change and we start others as we change our lifestyles.

opportunities come and go, our choices remain as to if we want the changes they offer or not.

Miracles!

2007-08-06T17:06:00.000-07:00

when i think of miracles in the bible, i usually think of what Jesus did. now Jesus is pretty cool, he healed the blind, made the lame to walk, cast out demons and all those nasty things, raised the dead. And the biggest and coolest thing of all, overcame death and sin and all that. all that is really awesome!

but God was doing cool stuff all the way through the bible.

Balaams donkey is cool. a mans donkey saves his life! and he talks! (God was doing this before donkey and shrek). it's in the bible Numbers 22.21-39.

creation is rather mind blowing. who else can create the whole universe other than God.

God parted the red sea for the Israelites to escape, (Exodus 14.19-31) and then he rained food on them while they wondered around in the desert!

the prophet Elijah is great. i love what he does, he's even called a trouble maker. it stopped raining for 3 years and started again only after a competition between 450 prophets of Baal (a god dude) and 1 prophet of the Lord, Elijah. these prophets of Baal were to sacrifice a bull to him, but not light it themselves, Baal was to do that. They started at sundown and continued...

27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. Exodus 18

after this Elijah built an alter to the Lord, put a bull on it and then got these silly prophets of Baal to cover it in so much water that the trenches around it were filled. then he called to God and fire came down and burned it all up. it was all gone, water and all.

well, after God had been proved rather powerful the rains came and the power of the Lord allowed Elijah to run faster than a horse! how cool.

God does lots of miracles through the bible. he's continually handing huge armies over to His people who without Him wouldn't be capable of such a thing. He heals people and raises them from the dead, provides for His people from nothing, protects them from lions and fire and all sorts of things... lots of cool stuff! who ever said the bible is boring

God did all this a long time ago and i believe that He can and still does, do it today!

Disconnected

2007-07-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

how important is being 'connected'?

when a person is connected within their community, it has been proven in studies that they're health increases and their general sense of self and purpose increases and people are happier.

doing stuff, however much, lots or little does not mean that a person is connected. it can help if someone is alienated, home and alone, but for others who do too much it does not always mean that they're well connected with people.

sometimes those who do too much they can not really 'be there' with the people they're with. they are thinking about the next thing that is on the to-do list. to connect with others being there with them is a start, but having similar values and beliefs can be a determinant of whether or not the friendship will continue, or cease. a common goal, something that draws people together as they work towards achieving something brings people closer. on the other hand, it may tear people apart if they significantly disagree and can not move past it.

at school, uni, work and other regular places people attend we don't need to make any effort to keep in contact with friends as we see them in class and what-not every day. when these structures in our lives end, effort needs to be made in order to keep in contact with these people, or the friendship comes to an end. however, we do not need to see people every day to be friends with them, but for it to continue some action does need to take place or we run into them at some bizarre place and don't recognise them anymore...

is being connected with someone, and being friends different?

i think so. some friends we don't want to share intimate thoughts and struggles with, and don't share common beliefs or values with, we can get past that. but to connect on a deeper level with people they're involved in our life mission to some extent.

is God perfect?

2007-07-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

If God is perfect why did He change His mind?

So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people. Exodus 32.14

Curses

2007-07-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

Can you be a Christian and be cursed?

for instance if you have a curse running through your family and you become a christian are you still cursed?
or can you be cursed by someone while you are a christian?

are you saved?

2007-07-11T23:50:00.000-07:00

if you make a decision to follow God, but nothing changes, are you really saved and going to heaven?

the bible says to believe, and when interpreted from the original language means to believe and obey. to me this suggests that something will change in our lives when we do make a decision and believe and confess God as Lord and Saviour seeking to do His will.

any thoughts?

leaders

2007-06-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

As soon as you start looking for the easy option out as a leader, you've lost it. Step down and let someone else step up.

5 things i dig about God

2007-06-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

1. That He is both close by and far away. Nothing escapes Him.

2. That He is my tower of protection. I'm safe with Him.

3. My God is trustworthy and in control.

4. I have all i need in my God. He is a Father, a friend, a teacher...

5. My God loves me like no other. This love is not just talked about but displayed in all His actions in the bible and in my life.

what are you hungry for?

2007-06-17T23:52:00.000-07:00

we hunger for what we feed on.

this is true in both the physical and the spiritual.

if you feed on junk physically that is what you will hunger for. for example, if eat fast food and other junk this is what you will crave and then suffer the consequences of. if you feed on fruit and vegetables and other healthy foods this is what you will seek when hungry.

when taking a spiritual perspective, we either feed on the things of the world, or the things of God. we either hunger for Gods word and His presence, or for worldly things such as possessions, what we see on television, gossip and those sorts of things.

you choose what you fill up on and then how healthy you will be.

in the real world

2007-06-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

In the real world you are not the reason people feel the way they do. You are not the reason people behave the way they do.

In the real world you are not your feelings. It is not true just because you feel it. God gave us feelings to help us make decisions. But at the end of the day your feelings are your servants not your master.

In the real world you are allowed to make mistakes. One mistake does not make you a failure.

In the real world you can not predict the future.

In the real world you are not the one to decide what things mean. That's God's job and when He had finished creating everything he said it was good.

Paul taught us that mankind loses tough with reality when he removes God from his thinking.

This is from my dads book 'The Gumtree Pulpit'. thought it was interesting enough to blog.

martial arts....?

2007-05-23T03:01:00.000-07:00

what's your opinion on martial arts???

martial arts have all sorts of uses and beliefs associated with them, now and through the past. some have their leader that they bow down to, some channel inner energy, funky breathing exercises and many other weired things... parents encourage their children to take part in them for fitness reasons, to encourage discipline aspects of it in their kids and other reasons whatever they may be.

does it depend on the persons attitude toward what they're doing? for example, if a person is using martial arts for fitness or for personal safety does that make it ok for that person to practice that martial art?

some martial arts have a strange history and bad stuff associated with them and does that carry through to today influencing those who practice it?

i do believe that the person teaching the martial art will affect their students and their opinion of what they're doing. the teachers beliefs will influence how they instruct their students, what they expect from them and their practices, which then in turn will have an affect their students.

so are martial arts ok? is it ok for people (or Christians) to practice them, even for fitness reasons?

Safe.....?

2007-05-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

so, lately lots has been happening in the world that we could consider it as an unsafe place to be. there was the stabbing of a university student in Bundoora, shootings in America, and i guess anyone could name many many more so that we all would be shaking in our boots. any of these types of stories are enough to make us feel scared, afraid, alone and rather unsafe...

are we safe in this world?

well i thought about it and then i looked at the life that Jesus lived and how he lived.
for example, in the middle of storm Jesus is taking a nap while his disciples are rather unnerved. Jesus did get 'troubled'. he didn't go through his life without experiencing difficulties, but he always knew he was safe. the whole of Jesus' life people were trying to kill him. fancy living your life with people trying to trick you and kill you everyday. but Jesus knew that God was with him and continued on his mission.

then other events in the bible such as the fiery furnace. at a time when Shadrach, Meshack and Abendigo could have been destroyed they were protected and perfectly safe.
when Daniel was thrown into the Lions den, he was perfectly safe and he could have been devoured.
the Israelites were being chased by the Egyptians and had the terrible prospect of being taken as slaves or killed and they were protected by God as he made a way for them.

so many examples in the bible of the possibilities of dire consequences that turn out to show how God is protecting us and keeping us safe.

the world is a safe place to be.

'Even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for you are with me' psalm 23:4

'whoever trusts in the Lord is safe' proverbs 29:25

' you dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you in greater than the one who is in the world' 1 john 4:4

Dreams

2007-05-08T00:24:00.000-07:00

do you remember your dreams???

i do. and usually in great detail. it's great. i love dreams, they're so entertaining!

when I'm stressed, excited, upset i dream even more.

lately I've been dreaming lots and lots about kids4life. but there have been people in them who i haven't seen or heard from in a long long time. it's just strange.

I've been dreaming about messy houses, waterfalls and I'm riding down the waterfall (that was fun), kids4life activities and talks. i find it all exciting and interesting.

do you dream? remember your dreams? dream in colour? in detail?

funny

2007-05-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

A man lay on his deathbed, in the final hours of life, when he
called for those attending him to summon his doctor and his
lawyer. The two gentlemen duly arrived and were invited to
sit, one on each side of the bed. The dying man lay back
peacefully. After some minutes, the doctor spoke. `Well.
What is it you have called us here to do?' `Yes' added the
lawyer `we can't sit here all day, time is money.' The dying
man, now barely able to raise his voice above a whisper,
answered `Gentlemen, the good Lord died between two thieves.
I wanted to do likewise.'

i found this while trying to find relevant journal articles for an assignment and thought it was funny... hehehe :) it brightened up the assignment process of stuff.

Lookin' out my backdoor

2007-04-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

Just got home from Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Got to sit down, take a rest on the porch.
Imagination sets in, pretty soon I'm singin',
Doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door.

There's a giant doing cartwheels, a statue wearin' high heels.
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur Victrola list'ning to Buck Owens.
Doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door.

CHORUS

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Wond'rous apparition provided by magician.
Doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door.

CHORUS

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon?
Doot, doot doo.
Bother me tomorrow, today I buy no sorrows.
Doo, doot, doo, lookin' out my back door.

CHORUS

Forward troubles Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
Bother me tomorrow, today I buy no sorrows.
Doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door.

i've been singing this song for a very long time now. Sandy had the CD (another mystery, it's disappeared) so i'm stuck with the RECORD! but still good.
it's kinda like about nothing though...

Yanac...?

2007-04-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

so the phone bill came the other day. as they do.

as i was looking over the long awaited document i noticed an interesting phone call. a phone call to Yanac... where on earth is Yanac?

Sandy and i found this a grand source of amusement for a while as we pondered where Yanac was or still is, and which one of us is the culprit of the 1 min and 14 second phone call to this mystery location.

who called Yanac? (and who in there right mind calls anywhere such a name...?)

neither Sandy or i claim to have called Yanac. and no one else that we accused of such a crime called there either!

no one called Yanac, and no one seemed to know where this place was. no one had heard of it! the crime was unsolved and left both Sandy and i with a sleepless night wondering who could have done such a thing as that.

the next morning in the early hours (although much later then you may think, long after the sun was up) the mystery location was found. the marvelous champion known as Vic Roads has the answer! Yanac is situated over towards Adelaide of all places.

this however does not solve who made such a phone call..... the mystery continues as no one has owned up to the crime.

another of life's great mysteries...

experiencing God

2007-04-17T01:31:00.000-07:00

there are many different personalities and 'boxes' that different people fit into.

here's another!

how do you experience God?

relationally - through relationships with others. these people love to pray with others do bible studies with others. whenever praise, worship, being in a team with other fired-up Christians they can really feel the presence of God and get thrive.

intellectually - these people love finding out new things about God. when ever they read their bible they need more books to read along side it like a commentary. they love theology. they need to be convinced of something intellectually then their hearts follow.

serving - these people love to serve. they feel closest to God when they're serving to accomplish Gods work. they love to do things for God.

contemplative - these people love to get away and sit with their bible, a book something that gets them thinking. being with people and doing things are draining for them. just being alone with God is enough for them. these people are very tuned into the activity of of God where ever they are. they see the beauty of God in this natural realm like others don't. they are deep thinkers.

activists - these people feel closest to God when they're doing lots. they push to the edge of their potential. these people do more work then others think they could handle. their lives have a very fast pace. these people are known to say such things as 'i feel closest to God when i have wrung out every last drop of my emotional, physical, and spiritual potential for a worthy kingdom cause'

creation - when these people are surrounded by nature they feel closest to God. beaches, bushes, deserts, mountains anything God made. they love. these people are the tree huggers, the greenies. when they're around nature their awareness of God increases.

worship - these people feel closest to God and more fully alive when worshipping. Cd's music singing these people love it and come alive.

there may be more but these are the ones that are discussed in Bill Hybels book Courageous Leadership.

which are you?

Forgiveness

2007-04-15T00:52:00.000-07:00

i was talking to a friend, and some one i admire last week and they said something to me that i think i needed to hear.

"never stop forgiving"

it doesn't matter what happens in life we need to continue to forgive those who hurt us. it can be so hard. but never stop forgiving.

Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord how often will my brother sin against me, and how often must i forgive him? As many as seven times? Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven".
Matthew 18:21-22

Jesus came to forgive us, and continues to forgive us. so like Jesus we continue to forgive others.

hearing God not people

2007-04-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

so, once again i experience people trying to talk for God.

i really don't like it.

people are telling me what i should, and should not be doing. telling me what God is saying with no real right to do so. i have discovered people who like to talk for God. hint, YOU'RE NOT GOD!

we as human beings do not know what God has in store, what his plans for our lives are and so should be quiet and not tell others what their future holds for them. leave it up to God.

when people like this talk for God discerning His voice can get confusing. God may be whispering something and others are yelling and screaming their opinions.

ok so that's my rant for now....

on a lighter note, isn't the future exciting! I'm so excited about the future and all the possibilities there are out there. what God has in store and what's happening now, and what can come from it. God has some great plans (not planes) for our lives.

it's so exciting!!!

anyone else excited about the future and well just life in general?

Galactic Man!

2007-03-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

Meet Galatic Man.

On Saturday the 24th of March Travis and i performed a rescue mission! Galactic Man was saved from Melbournes Crown Casino! He had a lovely day in Melbourne before returning to his home now in the Greater City.

Galactic Man has learned many things in his time. He now knows how to play peekaboo. this game was played with a bus driver on a car trip. he's a very friendly monster.

Galactic many has many friends.

now he never has to go back to big bad Melbourne again.

The Dentist...

2007-03-19T23:27:00.000-07:00

Who likes the dentist?

only when I'm experiencing lots of pain do i consider going to the dentist.

this happened on Sunday, i had LOTS of pain. i was eating painkillers for lunch it was that bad. i suffered pain all day to ring the dentist on Monday and have an appointment made for Tuesday. that was cool, the end of pain was in sight!

so like six years ago when i went to the dentist i made up my mind that i did not like them. not at all. not even a little bit.

i had a tooth ache. my dad had a tooth ache. so off we went together to the dentist. dad went first. i waited..... and waited..... and waited.... and waited...... i am not a patient person and i waited for A LONG TIME! that was the start.

then after a long wait i was next. the lady looked in my mouth and didn't know what was wrong. she looked, and looked and looked and looked. then she did a test and another test and another test before she made up her mind what it was. a tooth with a hole..... ah! surprise a filling is needed!

then she proceeds towards my mouth and A VERY BIG NEEDLE! in goes the needle, then out it comes, then in again , then out, then in again! keep in mind THIS HURTS! then she does the SAME IN THE FRONT OF MY MOUTH!

i was not happy.

so after all that i get a filling. my first filling....

i don't like dentists.

anyone else have dentist horror stories?

what do you live your life by?

2007-03-13T22:17:00.000-07:00

think about your life.

What is one fundamental principle in the way you live your life?

how about the way you live alongside others?

what do you consider to be unethical about the way people live their lives? what are unethical behaviours?

thoughts from uni

2007-03-06T16:57:00.000-08:00

so i was doing this really strange reading for a class (most of which i didn't agree with) and found this -

any male who thinks he is in control of the courtship process is having himself on. once women started demanding their future husband should be 'tried out' before marriage, men lost control. in the USA of the 1860s, women made a virtue out of 'candour' to test men's real feelings. The practice of multiple 'dating' came from the urban poor in the 1890s but soon become a universal way of gaining confidence, especially for women, though the men paid for the privilege.

Edgar, D (1997). Men, mateship, marriage. Harper Collins. Sydney. pp2-31.

I'm doing a subject called 'relationships, gender and sexuality'. some of it is good and some, not so good. today in a lecture we were talking about what makes a family. the issues of gay families and multiple partners and marriage all came up as well as transsexuals. different values and world views were rather evident in the reactions of some who willingly expressed their views. all the guys in the class did not agree with families being anything other than a mother and father with kids, rather than two fathers or what not.

it was rather interesting to look at what families provided in their function. things such as
physical care and protection
socialisation and education
proceation and child rearing
economic support

these are all traditional functions and now shared by other organisations in society such as schools, centrelink, counselors and many others.

any thoughts?

HARRY POTTER

2007-02-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

ok so the new Harry Potter book is coming out in July. i must admit that i have read all the other books, and have seen the movies. although now I'm of a different frame of mind about the whole thing. now I'm not sure what to think, but i don't think that i will read the last one...

many friends and people i respect all hold different opinions on the topic of Harry Potter. some love him, some hate him, and others just don't care.

one pastor i know took his church on a field trip to see some of the movies.

other pastors i know say that if you expose yourself to them, your position in leadership in their church will be at risk.

what we dwell on will be reflected in us, in how we act and respond to situations, it will come out to those who we have influence over. how will reading and watching Harry Potter influence you/me and those around us?

the bible tells us to read and take in those things that are good, and godly. is Harry Potter?

too much of something...

2007-02-25T20:29:00.000-08:00

have you ever had too much of something such as chocolate, or being with a person, or been to a place too many times that you just don't wanna go there anymore...?

i have

on January 8 i went to SIX SUPERMARKETS!!!!

i never want to go to six different supermarkets again in one day. or six supermarkets in 2 days... or in a weeks....

has anyone else done anything like that before???

God is close by

2007-02-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

so the previous 2 months or so have been some of the hardest and most challenging times of my life. (i thought it was all supposed to be relatively easy considering it was the holidays and all!).

it all started when my family moved before Christmas. they're all now like a 14 hour drive away. after they had moved i discover that i have no income, and like, no where to live. i was living with friends temporarily. i couldn't move cos i couldn't pay my own way for long.

what do you do when you have no home, and no money?
a test of faith says my father...

i found all this out a week before we did the local Bendigo mission 'Kids4Life'. this in itself is a very challenging time. i was determined that nothing was going to stop me from doing what i belived that God had called me to do. nothing was going to stop it.

On mission i discovered just how lacking i am in mercy, empathy, patience and anything else along those lines. i also found out just how much some others have them, and when they do posses them how much those people give. they give even when they have nothing left to give.
i discovered, not for the first time, that God really does use anyone and everything to do His work. It didn't matter what happened or what was going on, God used it for His glory. It really was all rather amazing and inspiring. i was in awe of God the whole time of the answers to prayer, healing, growth in the team and kids. All that can only be attributed to God.

So after an amazing and very draining 2 weeks i came back to reality... no home, no income....

so to solve that problem i went to Tahlee, to my family to sort it all out, and well, for a holiday. i hadn't managed to get a job and there was like nothing in Bendigo for me. it was great at Tahlee. i rode a horse, went sailing, saw dolphins, did some cooking, played around with Besah. it was good.

on returning to a stressful situation everything was again rather difficult, although i did find a home! half the problem fixed.

through all this i continued to wonder where God wanted me... people were speaking for God and that makes things confusing. i just continued to ask God where i should be and seek His will for my life. difficult to do when people get in the way.

i found God close by through everything with the same verse being repeated no matter where i was, what i was doing, reading, people i was talking to - "seek first the kingdom of God and all this will be given unto you" as well as "you are worth more than many sparrows"

when i had no income, i always had enough money, which was rather remarkable.

i got many answers to prayer, although not the answers i expected or in the time i thought they should come. it was all rather hard, i had to trust God and not panic (i did freak out like once or twice ...)

i do have an income now. i got it back today and i have a home. the simple things in life should not be taken for granted.

God was close by through it all, and well, is close by now.

new blog!

2007-02-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

go have a look at the blog Sammy and I made

http://samara-adventures.blogspot.com

after a long blog bleak a new blog seemed to be the best thing to fix this blogging desire...

I'M BBAAAACCCCKKKK!

2007-02-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

hello blogging world!!!

these holidays i've done a mission, lost my income, moved house twice, gone interstate and been on every form of transport there is, incuding horseback.... and the uni holidays aint over yet.

so anyway through all that i've been doing a lot of thinking some of which i will share with you at some stage i'm sure.

i have been to a few different churches and different situations through these past weeks where i have noticed that there are points where people are no longer are led by God and just take over. this can go in two extremes where, for example, the church service is so rigid and things have to be done in order and there are not allowed to be any changes in the service. or the other extreme where the music is loud, the atmosphere is created and people come for an 'experience' or 'fix' of God.

neither extreme is good. i do however believe that God can work in these circumstances, but that God is not given control of them and that people have taken over.

when we do surrender control to God that's when we are safe and God moves.

Challenges

2007-01-06T23:35:00.000-08:00

God’s power protects you through your faith until salvation is shown to you at the end of time. This makes you very happy, even though now for a short time different kinds of troubles may make you sad. These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold, which can be proved to be pure by fire but will ruin. But the purity of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is shown to you. 1 Peter 1:5-7

Challenges are what life is. This is what we face each day. Some are easy, and some more difficult.

Some challenges can make us feel like giving up, and spending time with God can be really difficult. These are often the times when we need to spend more time with God and trust Him more even though this is the time when we may feel like God doesn’t care.

The scriptures talk about faith and worry. Jesus says that God watches the little birds and that he sees what they need and supplies all their needs (Luke 12:22-31). God knows all our needs, seek Him and he will provide.

Challenges in life test our faith. When life is all hunky doory it’s easy to trust God. Its easy cos you know where life is heading. When faced with things that challenge us this that’s when you find out what you’re made of. When you're worrying all day and still have you're faith and trust in God that's when the scriptures say you're faith is 'pure'. (see above)

If God knows what I'm going through and what I need, I am going to expect Him to answer. It may not be in the way that I want, but He knows best. I will expect something to happen, expect Him to be working.

Personality types - which are you?

2006-12-30T20:41:00.000-08:00

There are 4 in the Hippocrates basic personality types. I didn't used to like these, but I am coming around. they also help us to understand other people, and I like that. anyway here they are

Sanguine – lively, energetic, people who love to talk to anyone anytime. They make friends wherever they go. They lead meetings, motivate people and are great in front of people cos of their energy and enthusiasm for life. Often they’re not that organized and forget things often. they start lots of projects but often have problems finishing.

Melancholy – the deep thinkers of the world. They are often creative and artistic as well as organized, neat and tidy. They finish everything they start and are very faithful friends. These people can be negative finding faults in things that others missed. They love perfection.

Choleric – the leaders of the group with goals for everything in life. These people have opinions and are not afraid to share them, or tell you what yours is. They are energetic and often have a foot in many camps trying to accomplish lots of tasks at once, doing whatever it takes. They are confident in themselves, so great in front of people. They do have fault in sometimes instead of leading have a tendency to drive people and can leave the fun out of what they’re doing.

Phlegmatic – easygoing, relaxed, peaceful and generally agreeable people. They become whatever the situation they’re in asks for. It can take them a while to make up their minds. They like to go along with the crowed and dislike trying new things.

Which are you?

Faith

2006-12-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

so i was thinking about faith today as my father said that 'faith is a decision not to panic'. i've heard him say this before but have thought about it some more.

the bible says lots about faith, hebrews 11.1 says that 'faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see'

so if we are sure of what we hope for in Jesus and certain of what we can not see, it makes sense that we don't panic. when we step out in faith amazing things happen. all sort of hard things against us can happen along the way. but if we don't panic and keep placing everything in Gods hands, then we will reap the benefits and see lives changed and see God working.

what are your thoughts on faith? what is faith to you?

fear

2006-12-23T01:07:00.000-08:00

This year i have done some stuff that i found really hard. for some of it i was scared of what the outcome would be (and some had the undesired result).

fear was one of the reasons that it took me a long time to make the decision to act. once i relised this and made a decision to step upto the plate i was able to take control of the fear, and not be controlled by it.

in some things we do, we start afraid. some things we do and we are scarred all the way thru, but this shouldn't stop us from doing them. fear can control us, but we can make a decision to not let it take control of us. do it anyway.

once i had acted even though i was fearful of the result and what could happen, i was glad i did. it didn't matter what had happened.

By letting fear contain me, it not only limits me- it could very well hurt others.
Holly Wagner

$600 mints!!!

2006-12-17T23:54:00.000-08:00

i went and got my car fixed and tuned. it cost me over $600 and they gave me mints!

don't we just love the generosity of people with this time of the year.

i have $600 mints!!!

has that ever happened to you? pay some extrodinary amount and then you are given something like mints...?

Vulnerability

2006-12-12T22:21:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed that when things are rough and you’re feeling vulnerable that you take more notice of things and more careful in everything that you’re doing? Or do you get lazy?

Do you be careful about what you read, watch and expose yourself to. Are you more careful about who you are with, what you say to people, and your attitude about different things.

Feeling, or being vulnerable can come from different reasons - tiredness, stress, pressures, God teaching us different things, and many others I’m sure.

When we are vulnerable I think that it is a good idea to be careful about our attitude and who we are being. It can be easy to get lazy and not watch what we’re doing what we are surrounding ourselves with, and what we’re feeding our spirit with.
What you are exposed to is what you get out of yourself.

the little things...

2006-12-08T20:55:00.000-08:00

its the little things that get in the way and that people resist when change comes along.

the big things are exciting. they can be embraced and people want to get on board. but the little things... often these are put off and resisted and hard to get people to do.

one example of this lately that i have experienced are forms... getting people to fill out forms and hand them in. hard. no one wants to do a form but they want to be part of the thing that filling out the form is for.

we can miss out on the big things cos of resistance to the little things. when we are trusted with the little then we can be entrusted with more.

even with other little things in life i tend to treat them with a not so good attitude. the things of everyday such as cooking, cleanning and other such things are treated with no passion in many instances, just done on auto pilot. in doing this do we miss out on oportunities? on growth?

the big things we have no problem with. they are embraced, shared, talked about and get others catch the vision. if we do this with the other little things and share them with God, share with God in the little things with others.

can we find God in the little things as easy. is that becasue we don't feel like we need God in the little things. we can do these in our own stregth, in our own time and without God, without others. they're boring and we can't share these times?
it's not just the things of everyday but also anything else that's small. planning instead of implemetation, learning instead of teaching. anything considered to be small. these are not as readily shared or embraced.

we can in everything, experience God and share God. the big things may be easier and may be more exciting but God is in it all.

Moving

2006-11-27T20:29:00.000-08:00

i'm moving. i'm 20 years old and i'm moving for the 11th time...

the longest that i've lived in one house in one town is 4 years. i'm about to go into my 5th year in bendigo but my 4th house here.... little excessive i think.

i used to hate moving, esecially in the same town to a different house. that's just annoying. but this move i'm excited about. should be fun. a new adventure.

how many times have you moved???

what's the tiredest that you have ever been?

2006-11-25T23:12:00.000-08:00

The tieredest that I’ve ever been was a while ago. I was in my first year of and and working at maccas 4 nights a week till late, like 1 in the morning as well. Most mornings I was also getting up early to get to uni or other commitments. On Thursdays I was up at 6 to get to an early lecture then working till 1. I did this all semester….

I was also out every night doing something. Sometimes it was bible study groups, church and other stuff as well as work. The mornings I wasn't up early for uni, I was up early for something else. I was very enthusiastic though so I kept doing it.

Staying up all night then early mornings for a whole semester is not the wisest thing to do. But then when it came to exam time and I was studying I literally fell asleep on a textbook. I was just closeing my eyes for a moment and woke up a while later.

I had sat myself on the ground so I wouldn’t be comfortable and so I would stay awake to study for an exam that I was stressed about, and I fell asleep. (I passed the class, but only just).

I learnt my lesson, I can't do everything... although I do try.

What’s the tieredest that you have ever been????

what holds you back???

2006-11-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

i was reflecting yesterday on different things that i'm doing in my life, and where i'm at with them. some areas hadn't moved forward, some had, some are now non existent which wasn't a bad thing, it was just i had moved on or am trying to.

but in some areas i was wondering why i was still there, why nothing had happened and what was holding me back...

for some it was fear of rejection i guess, or just fear of the outcome. but as i thought and prayed i relised that my fear was silly. i shouldn't be afraid, Christ is in my life and all things are possible with him. i had nothing to be afraid of. i felt challenged to step up to the plate. to be bold. and i'm taking on that challenge. no holding back now. Gods power will be eveident in my life.

i was thinking also that life, and different things such as the values of our society can get in the way. the fast pace of the world and the push to leave mistakes in the past. that doesn't always happen. the past sneaks up on us, and we relise that we have been carrying around all this baggage for years. deal with mistakes and problems when they come up. don't leave it. it stays with us and we grow bitter. deal with them then and there, its much easier.

then i thought about Gods call and why we don't respond. there are so many reasons. fear is one, mistakes of the past is another. but also we just let life get in the way. if God wants us to be involved and do something to make a difference, to reach others, then we shouldn't worry about life and all the demands that have been placed on us. trusting God is the way. place your faith in Him and let Him lead. He created the universe He can supply your needs and my needs, whatever they are.

i'm not going to let anything hold me back.

some random stuff

2006-11-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

some cool random things in reply to Travs blog

* knee high toe socks
* fudge
* any good surprise
* favourite songs on the radio
* mail (that isn't bills or junk, but real letters)
* text messages
* 5 cent coins
* questions
* long walks

INTROVERTS Vs EXTROVERTS

2006-11-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

what are you introvert or extrovert????

the collins paperback dictionary and thesaurus (1994) says defines them as:

Introverts - person concerned more with his or her own thoughts, or feelings than with external reality

Extroverts - lively and outgoing; concerned more with external reality than with inner feelings.

extroverts generally get their energy from others and love being around people. they don't need as much space and don't mind making their thoughts known. introverts generally sit back and think more and don't speak up as much (although there is the odd introvert who don't mind making their opinions known). introverts need space and get their energy from spending time by themselves and need more reflection time.

do you agree?

which are you???

Questions

2006-11-10T02:43:00.000-08:00

do you think that people can be rich, powerful and famous and still be humble???

does God call some people to be poor and others to be rich???

does God want us to have more stuff/money/power???

love

2006-11-07T00:33:00.000-08:00

a friend sent me this quote a while ago by C.S Lewis "love is being vulnerable"

then asked me what i made of it. well i thought of it for a while and thought that unless you are volnerable with some one and ready to open up, you don't know them. you have to let some one know you to be really able to love them for who they are.

we also have to be able to talk openly. this is being vulnerable. letting people see you through the struggles in life and talking with them about how you're feeling. that can be hard. and it is vulnerable, putting yourself out there with all the risks in that.

another friend thought the same thing and said this

" how can you love someone without truly showing them who you are... doing that makes you the most vulnerable you will ever be"

i also think that love is more than an emotion, more than just feelings, but an action.

the bible says in corinthians 13
'love is patient, love is kind, it is not jelous, it does not boast, it is not proud. love is not rude or selfish.... '

all of these are actions, that is, more than an emotion.

Jesus had the ultimate act of love when He died for us.

"Greater love has no one than this than he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

to stick through things in life, the ups and the downs, love needs to be more than what we're feeling, but a commitment, a promise, a devotion to those we love.

if love was just a feeling, we would all be loving people one day, and not the next.

purpose

2006-11-06T01:56:00.000-08:00

do you think that your life has purpose????

are you actively working towards something? actively seeking for Gods purpose and direction in your life and seeking to go forward?

God has a plan and a purpose for us all, we just have to seek it and grow our faith as we head towards what God has for us.

i asked a friend on Sunday if his life has a purpose statement. when we do activities and run different things like ministries a purpose statement helps to focus what we do, and to really achieve something. it also provides a way to measure what we do and the impact that we make.

i'm not sure if it applies to us, that we need a purpose statement, but i do think that we need to think about what the meaning of our own person life is, and where we are heading.

God has given us a plan and a purpose... but are we living it??? i'm asking myself, am i living it?

2006-11-02T00:42:00.000-08:00

how many of you procrastinate???

i'm procrastinating right now... i have an exam tomorrow and another to hand in on monday and lots to do other than that, and here i am blogging...

it's not a healthy thing to do, it puts people under a lot of preasure to get things done. but that is when we do procrastinate. when we have lots to do.

then how do you prioritise what needs to be done, and what you do do..?

it's the busy people in the world that get things done. people who don't do anything i wouldn't ask to do something i felt needed to be done, cos they don't do it. it's those who know how to work and those who do lots that many ask a favour of, ask to do things, cos they know that they'll get things done.

oh well that's enough.
i'm just procrastinating....

back to the exams and study... or email...

just a thought...

2006-10-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

how do you know that you really know someone????

what sort of questions would you ask people to really get to know them????

Values

2006-10-12T23:21:00.000-07:00

Values

I have been thinking about my values in life and how they influence how I act.

Does what you value in life ever conflict with how you are acting???

I know in my life I do. Sometimes, more often than I would like to think about….

I was on my way to a class to do a presentation on a policy for healthy school canteens last week. As I was walking to class I realised that I was not acting in relation to what I value.

I thought that I needed to make a commitment to act more in line with my values. I did make a decision there and then, on my way to class, to be more enthusiastic and to care more about the presentation I had to do. To not have such a bad attitude about it. (the presentation went ok, I was trying to be enthusiastic about it… healthy school canteens is something to be enthusiastic about!)

It doesn’t matter what we value if we don’t act in line with them.

Our values should dictate our actions, not our emotions.

If we all let how our emotions rule our actions then this world will not be a pretty place to live. The Kingdom of Heaven then would not have a chance in being seen on earth.

If we control our emotions, and not be a victim of them, and act in accordance with our values and what God values, the world will be impacted so much more for God.

What do you value? how do they influence your actions?

have u almost died?

2006-10-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

lately i've heard a bit about death and dieing.... bit depressing i know. but i was also asked how many times i've almost died. i haven't blogged for a while and i'm interested to know how many of you have almost died before, and how many times.

at my most recent count i have almost died 3 times that's worthy of reporting.

1.) we were off on holidays with the family in summer. as you do on beautiful summers days you go swimming. we were on the murray river somewhere (i don't know where, when you're young you take no notice of such details).
my mum, brother jay, and i were all swimming and playing in the water happily. as we were walking back out of the water all three of us fell into a hole. jay found this fun and was jumping in and out of it. my mum was trying to make sure i was not drowning. and well, i was drowning. the hole sort of sucked the water into it and was pulling me under.
in the mean time my dad was swimming backwards and forwards out deeper having a lovely time untill he saw all of us drowning and came and saved us (or well me, cos i was the only one drowning).

2.) later that same beautiful sunny summers day when i was over the whole drowning thing jay and i went off exploring. we wondered along some rocks near the water and this cliff. a very cool cliff thing that we both decided would be a fun thing to climb up. it was nice and steep with some lovely rocks beneath it.
up went my brother, and i folllowed. towards the top i get tired. he's up looking around and i'm almost falling.... jay just reaches down and pulls me up. once again i survive a terrible ordeal.
i almost died twice in the same day. (i might not have died the second time but hey i would have been badly injurred on all those rocks, and it makes a good story).

3.) when we lived in Castlemaine we had this cool play equipment thing in our backyard that we had borrowed from the church for a while. my friend Katie and i were playing on this outside when it started to rain. we didn't mind, you don't when you're younger, it's just rain. so we're playing on it and sitting on the top having a lovely time.
all of a sudden both of us fell off backwards. lightning (or something) had come down and thrown us both off backwards. you can imagine that both of us got up, ran inside really quickly, and sat at the window looking out wondering what had happened....

have you ever almost died? how many times?

control

2006-09-19T23:49:00.000-07:00

I went to the AOG church on Sunday evening with a friend. The pastor was preaching about our influence and what we have control over. So this week I’ve been thinking a lot about that.

What do I have control over? Myself. That’s it. I don’t control anyone else and I if I tried to, that would just be stupid. There is no point in focussing on what we have no control over. If I put my time and energy into what I do have control of then my influence will grow, and I will grow. If that’s what I’m concentrating on and looking to improve, then I can do more, and be more. I will become more of the person that God wants me to be, and that’s what I want.

So then we have to keep control and focus on what we are doing. Our language and the way we think has lots to do with this.

If we say “I have to ….” Then we have no control over what we are doing.

When we say “I will ….” Or “I choose to …” then we have taken the control into our own hands. It’s a choice we have made not something that we have submitted into doing.

Also how we react or respond. Despite what you think, these are not the same thing. When you react to something you are not thinking about what you do. You haven’t chosen your actions, but are merely reacting to the situation. When you think about it and respond, you have taken control and have chosen what you are doing. Often when you think of how you respond, you get a better response and do not regret what has happened later. You can learn also from it.

For example, I have lots of uni work and assignments to do. I can react without thinking and become over-whelmed, stressed and feel like I have no choice in the matter and totally hopeless. Or alternatively, I can choose to respond positively, make a choice to do them, control my feelings and not be a victim. In doing this I then can do them with a more positive outlook, and then I imagine that the finished product will be of better quality.

That’s the easy part. Now I have to put all this into practice.

lost...

2006-09-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you are lost?

I’ve been lost with friends while driving in Melbourne and on our way to a party in Bendigo. Both times were very different to what I’ve experienced before with others.

In Melbourne my friend and I were distracted and talking and singing and missed some turn offs to get home. We ended up spending much more time in the car driving through Melbourne than we intended to. We were driving along talking in deep conversation and planning to take over the world. As we were deep in such plans we drove past turn off after turn off to get home. Each time we realized just after we went past the turn. This is not the time to recognise that such turn has gone. Se we just kept going. Neither of us too fazed about missing such a turn. We then just had more time to plan our take over….

Then the other night a different friend of mine and I were off to a party. We were already a fare bit late (just a couple of hours) and not exactly sure where we were headed. We just kept going. We stopped and looked at a map (where we were off to was not on this map so that wasn’t much help). Then kept going, not phased.

If we curse, rant and rave when such things happen we achieve nothing. If you are lost how do you react? Do you calming look at a map or keep going knowing that the way you need to go, a turn off or something similar will appear?

In these examples we kept planning, we kept going and were not shut down, and it didn’t stop us from loosing sight of the goal. but often that is exactly what happens...

story time

2006-09-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

i decided that my blog needs a story. here goes...

i used to do lots of horse riding and at one stage i was looking at a new horse with some friends. we were out on a trail ride. i was riding an arab named sugar who i hadn't riden before. she was a lean horse and when we cantered it felt like i was floating....

we were riding along a track beside an apple orchid all of us happily cantering along. i was steadily getting faster and my firends further behind me when i discovered that she didn't want to stop. one method that i have found usefull when trying to stop is to turn the horse in a tight circle cos they have to stop or slow down to be able to. so i tried this. i pulled her head to the left.... got half way through the circle just to end up heading down a row of overgrown apple trees....

so here i am heading down a row of trees on a horse that i'm falling off head first over her shoulder as trees are coming quickly for my head. i was pushing myself back up just to find branches and apples heading for my head again. then i'd duck some more braches, and find myself falling off again. this process went on for a while with me still on the horse trying to stop her as we went along.

the rows of trees were long with an occational break in them to provide easier access for those who pick apples and do whatever apple orchid people do. as sugar and i came bursting into the openess of one of these breaks in the trees and i became very determined not to go through the whole process of ducking from branches and apples for another long row. we pulled up. we stopped. i took a deep breath and jumped off...

i looked around at the horses head... there she was happily munching on apples! while i was attempting to stay on and not get knocked out, she had been pulling apples off trees as we went along. she had saliva and foam all over her mouth and looked very pleased with herself.

my friends came around the trees wondering what i was doing off the horse and why i had gone down through the trees....

i got back on, and we kept going. the rest of the ride quite uneventfull in comparison. but i didn't buy that horse.

sacrifice

2006-09-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

the way people are ready and willing to support others and sacrifice their time energy and money sometimes blows me away.

if only we were willing to do that more often to people who we don't know that well. that can be harder and yet can make a really big impact in lives. when some one willingly sacrifices for another person that is the kind of stuff that people remember for a long time.

we don't remember what people say but their actions and their character more than anything. people are attracted to those who are not selfish and willingly sacrifice for others. it's rarely seen today and we remember it when others do things for us that cost them something. Big or small, we remember.

The Spiritual Armor of God

2006-09-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

I’ve been doing a bible study each week called Masterlife and we’re learning about the spiritual armor from Ephesians chapter 6. this is some of what I’ve been learning.

We are at war, and every day is another battle. We are part of Gods army and should be prepared for each attack. Prayer is the first step that we take in advancing Gods kingdom. We put on the armor of God in prayer then enter the battle of each day. God equips us to win and we can advance wearing the armor of God.

The Helmet of Salvation
We receive this when Christ saves us and can be reminded to –
Thank God for our salvation
Praise God for eternal life, the helmet protects us at all time
Claim the mind of Christ (1st Corinthians 2:16) we received it when we are saved

The Breastplate of Righteousness
This protects our heart and will and can remind us to –
Ask God to search our heart and reveal any wickedness (Psalm 139:23-24)
Confess sins (1 John 1:9)
Claim Christ righteousness to cover sins.

The Belt of Truth
This holds the armor in place. Truth is integrity and moral uprightness. This can remind us to –
Be true to yourself and God
Hold onto the truths of God, then we can’t be deceived by the father of lies
In knowing the truth we can master our emotions. Emotions can be guided by truth.

Gospel Shoes
Readiness of the gospel of peace can prepare us for battle. It’s the gospel of peace and can remind us to –
Be prepared and ready before the battle begins
Share the gospel and be prepared to speak what we believe
Intercede for the lost and attack the enemy in prayer and witness

The Shield of Faith
The Roman shield was long and oblong shaped so when the enemies shot fiery arrows they were buried and extinguished. The shield can be used to advance with as we are protected from any arrows of the enemy. This can remind us to –
Claim Christ victory (1 John 5:4) faith is the victory that overcomes the world
Advance in faith – faith without works is dead James 2.20

Sword of the Spirit
Jesus went and prayed for 40 days and when he was tempted he used Gods Word to defeat satan. The word of God as the sword is in our right hand reminding us to –
Grasp the Word, it’s a living weapon (Hebrews 4:12)
It’s the Holy Spirits sword and we should let Him use it in our lives
In prayer we can let the Holy Spirit lead us to pray on the Word

so each morning i'm going to put on the armor of God and go into battle

confidence

2006-08-31T17:40:00.000-07:00

i have a new job which a friend got me at video ezy. on my first shifti didn't much feel like my usually self and was very quiet and didn't speak up much. everything was new and i was in an unknown environment. all strange. last night i was there again and things were not so strange or unknown. this gave me more confidence and i was with some one i know.

all this got me thinking about confidence. when we're confident we speak up. when you're somewhere you don't know in an unknown environment we generally sit back and watch others and observe before we make a fool of ourselves. the more confident i am the more i speak up.

i have also been learning to drive. thismorning on the way to uni with my dad we had a good old chat. both him and myself are more confident in my abilities to handle the car. when he was first teaching my neither of us said a word unless it was him yelling something about his life flashing before his eyes confident that something bad was about to happen.... (it didn't).

acting confident can be a good thing too. you then can act yourself into beleving that you can do somthing. act youself into feeling. don't wait for the feeling to come to you act yourself into it. this works with just about everything i have found not just confidence.

but when you act it and believe, it others do to.

i used to be part of the health club at uni and they sent me on a weekend to canberra to learn more about what they were at and to sit on the exect board and make decisions on things i new nothing about. on the first night i barely said anything. they were talking in acronyms and i had no idea what they were on about. on the second day i made a decision to have some fun and well look like every one else did in knowing what was going on. we were having discussions in small groups on this activity they run every two years that i know nothing about. i was all acting as if i new everything and had some big opinion on it all. these other guys there who had been doing it for years were all asking my opinion on the subject... i couldn't believe it.

i have a blog

2006-08-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

here you go i have conformed and have a blog....

now what?