Plans

Don't you love having a whole lot of 'things' to do to fill out time?  I love being at home but I am also a social butterfly (or so my Mum tells me).  I am rather excited about the upcoming months - we have an 18th party to plan and host and a 70th to help with and attend - but outside of parties, there is still so much going on.

The one I am really looking forward to is the Tahlee kid's camp.  My family aren't fans of sending kids of camping on their own and there is no way we would do it except this time it's played out at the other end.  Jess and I are leaders at this camp which means we'll be looking after the kids, eating with them, sleeping with them, playing with them, keeping them in check.  Being a Christian camp, we will also have a unique opportunity to minister to them  and input into their lives.  Grace and Joy are also going along to help out adopted grandparents in the kitchen to cook for everyone.  It should be a fantastic week.

The other thing I am really - and I mean REALLY! - excited about is our church's Christmas production.  Because she is the 'unofficial music director' (it's a long story... ;) )  Mum is in charge (under out pastor) to write and direct the show.  True to form, my sisters and I have a lot of ideas, some more ambitious than others, and we are having so much fun in the lead up to Christmas practices.  I won't give away anything here, but it is going to be awesome - we have some really talented people in our church who are really going to add a lot to the show.

For Christmas itself, the plan is to go up to our Grandparents in Toowoomba.  They are really excited about it and we are looking forward to seeing them and Dad's sister as well.

Training and Mission Grounds

Just now, as I sat in the lounge room with my laptop, it suddenly occurred to me: my blog is a year old.  Fancy that!  It's amazing how time flies, even when you feel like you haven't been doing much.

Not that I haven't been doing anything, but sometimes the little everyday things can add up to nothingness because they are everyday, you forget about the little things that make up your life and how each in their own way - with the people you love - they make the emotions and the memories that stay with you forever.  If you were to ask me what I have been doing, I would probably answer something along the lines of, "Not much - maths, chemistry, biology, literature, modern history, online drivers tests (yes - I'm still trying to achieve the five perfects in a row!) and just everyday life stuff."  It doesn't sound particularly exciting.  I wake up every morning and painfully try to open my eyes with the thought I have to get up - but I don't want to do everything again!  Once I'm into it, though, it doesn't seem nearly as bad.  (With the exception perhaps of biology. Blergh!  I'd just as soon leave that out, but if I am heading to a future in doula-naturopathy, I guess it is something I will have to learn!)

It is easy to wish these days away - and I am ashamed to say I have done it many times.  We can be encouraged, however, for we know that nothing happens without purpose and that God is constantly guiding our lives, molding and shaping us to who He wants us to be.

 "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the lord rejoices to see the work begin..." (Zechariah 4:10) 

He rejoices over the work He begins in you!  And what's more, we read in Philippians that the work begun inside of us will be completed until Jesus returns, for the work that is inside of you is far richer, far more valuable and far more important than the work you achieve throughout your life.  I firmly believe (even if I struggle with it myself) that everything in life, especially the mundane things that you really hate, are God's training ground for us.  He is building up the character in us that reflects Christ so that we will be ready for the ultimate work He has for us in our lives.

But guess what!  God also believes in learning on the job.  That's right!  Where you are now is just as much God's work for you as the 'ultimate task' He is building you up for!  I have dreams of being a doula but I believe my ultimate task is someday to be a wife and a mother of many children.  I believe adoption is in my future and training and homeschooling my children will be a main mission field.  But right now, my job is to serve and minister to my immediate family.  Not only to I get the privilege of inputting into their lives, but it is a training ground for the 'one day'.  

Trust God!  He knows what he is doing and will direct your life if you submit to His will and allow Him to shape you.  It's not easy - I know that, but I have also learned that it is so worth it to let go and let God.  I pray you will have peace throughout your life's journey and contentment where God leads you... He loves you and will never forsake you... I can't express everything I am trying to convey, so I'll let God do that for me.  :)   This is one of my favourite Psalms - I pray it will bless you richly and eternally.  :)

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

3Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

4He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

8Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

9Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

15He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

16With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

School, Books and Fifteen Laps

So this is the post to write when I can't think of anything to write right now, but feel obliged due to my long silence to write something.  I suppose I shall just tell you what I have been doing over this last week... :)

After a VERY long drive home from Victoria on Sunday a week ago, we were exhausted and spent the next three days pretty much just lying around and doing just what we pleased to catch up on some much needed sleep and energy.  Then Thursday last week, we hit the books again.  I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but after holidays, it always takes a couple of days for my handwriting to appear cultured and 'used' again... this time is especially bad and I am having to force myself to write slowly or the poor principal at Eastgate collage will have a hard time when he goes to read my work.  :P   Surprisingly though, my maths skills haven't suffered too much this time round.  I usually forget everything I have ever learned in holidays and have to re-learn it when coming back to our regular routine.  I am sure you all know what I mean.  ;)

This weekend just gone was my town's annual second-hand book fair.  My sisters and I all wanted to go, but we weren't sure that Mum would be up to taking everyone down, so I was the only one the voiced the desire to go and pick over hundreds of used books.  As a result, I was the only one who was dropped off at the showgrounds while Mum and Dad went shopping with Annie.  I assure you, I had a glorious time there, although it seemed too short a time before Mum came in to find me.  Because all the other girls had really wanted to come, I set about to find a book for each of them - after all, it is the exciting part of the fair, to find a treasure that you may not have read before, or finding one that you have looked for for a long time.  For its not being a Christian event I found some wonderful Christian books down there including Christie by Catherine Marshall, Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John, A School of Her Own by Atlanta Richards, and Early Evangelical Revivals In Australia or something like that by Robert Evans.  I also found more books to a series we have some of, and a book on Helen Keller that I thought looked good, as well as a set of Jane Austen's novels all in one volume.  (That was Grace's book.  Personally, I would rather have each story in a different volume but Grace is the queen of matching book sets and I knew that if I tried to get just one book, she would spend the next few years trying to collect all of the other books in precisely the same edition.  It was easier this way.  :P)

Our church supports some overseas missionaries who work to get water filtration systems installed where they can so that the people are healthy and can work to improve their level of living.  A lady at church decided to hold a fundraiser for the project by having people register to walk around the running track at the school (which is on the same grounds as our church) for as many laps as they can.  Elise wasn't well that day, so Mum and Dad stayed home with her, but Jess, Grace, Joy, James and I all participated.  The track was three hundred meters and when you did a lap, you stamped a stamp on your arm to keep track of how many laps you had completed.  As it turned out, we eventually had to go because everyone was leaving and our pastor was driving us home, but I walked 15 laps which is a bit over four and a half kilometers (although it felt longer than that.)  Jess did 14 laps, Grace walked 13 laps, Joy walked 12 and James did 8 laps.  Two days on and my legs are aching really badly.  They were't too sore yesterday, but it has kicked in now.  I suppose it is good for me, so I'll just wait it out - there is nothing else to be done about it anyway!

I have a feeling there was something else I was going to say, but I can't think of it for the life of me... oh well!  :D  Have a great week!