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Month: January 2009

Family Holiday 2008

In between comings and going, sicknesses and computers that don’t want to play nicely I never did get around to writing about our holidays. It’s a ll a bit of a blur now but I still want to talk a little about it.

Theres a bear in there...

There's a bear in there...

A few days before we set off to Broken Hill, Miss R’s friend “D” heard back from the doctor that he did indeed have whooping cough. 🙁  This wasn’t good. Not only had he been sick for a few weeks but now Master J was coughing and spluttering as was Miss R. I dosed Master C and Miss A up on some herbal/natural supplements. Seeing as how the two sickies had started their course of antibiotics, (thus reducing the transmission rate not the symptoms of the virus) we got started on our way. We’d planned to leave at about 7am but typically, we left at 10am. We were all squashed in the Tarago like a can of sardines. But that’s half the fun eh! Aside from washing our hands with antibacterial wash every hour and the coughing and spluttering, it was a fairly uneventful trip. Oh! About an hour out of Broken Hill, approximately 10 metres off the side of the highway is what looks like a pile of junk. We delighted in showing The Teddy Bear to the children. Tehee they had no idea what it was- thinking it to be a junk yard. But it’s not, it’s quite funny. The story goes that once, someone left a large teddy bear in the middle of a bare patch of ground, about half way between Yunta and BH. It became known as The Teddy Bear…there’s a bear in there, etc. Well, some bright person added a chair for teddy to sit on (there’s a chair as well).  Then others slowly added to the collection until Teddy has just about everything he needs! (see the photo)

Shrubs at Umberumberka

Shrubs at Umberumberka

I took a few photo’s from inside the car, while travelling. They don’t make for the best pictures but it’s all fun. We arrived, popped in on my dad and then settled into the cabin at the caravan park.

We spent the next few days wandering around Broken Hill, the ‘Silver City‘, reminiscing. I hadn’t been back to The Hill since my mum’s funeral (Dec ’97). It’s changed a fair bit since then…but that’s the nature of a tourist town, that’s population can be quite transient. We went to Silverton and went through the historic gaol. John has always teased me about the sights of Broken Hill. I think because it is a totally different type of scenery and historic place then most other places in Australia…but in his heart he really loves it. It’s an affectionate teasing. At least I think it is. While on the topic of Silverton did you know that one of Charles Dickens sons ran a stock and station agency in Silverton in the late 1800s? Who woulda thunk it? A Dicken’s…all the way out in little old Silverton!!??

We then went to the Silverton Hotel where some people wanted to have their picture taken with the Mad Max car. Okay so it’s a replica but do you think they care?

From there we drove 5 kms west and reached the Mund Mundi Plains. It is stunning! You have to see it to really appreciate it. It’s wide, flat, dry, red and goes on far as the eye can see. You would have seen it before, even if you’ve never been there. It is the backdrop scenery in quite a few films, including Mad Max II. (Not that I suppose many readers of this blog would have seen that movie or the others that have been filmed at Silverton – but one learns these as a local). I took a few pictures of the native shrubbery, and we had a quick lesson revision on methods of seed dispersal. 😉

We continued on for another 4 kms to the Umberumberka Dam, which has always been a favourite spot of mine. I simply love Broken Hill- the scenery is just stunning. Okay, so I know it isn’t  tropical Queensland but I love the dry, hot, red earth, the saltbush, the rolling plains and the odd hill. There’s not much to see at Umberumberka but I took quite a few photo’s anyway. 😎

On the way home, we stopped at Penrose Park to have a BBQ lunch. Left there and went to go home for a rest. Oh, on the way home, I couldn’t go past the White Rocks memorial. A distant relative was killed in the Picnic Train Attack so I had to stop by and show the children. On New Year’s Day 1915, two Afghanistan men flying a Turkish flag attacked a picnic train, carrying 1200 people, on the outskirts of Broken Hill. A gun battle later took place and both attackers were shot dead. Four other people were killed and seven wounded. One of the men was a butcher, the other an ice cream vendor.. They are also the only hostilities on Australian soil during WW1. The rocky outcrop of Quartz is where the gun battle took place. It’s known as White Rocks. Alma Cowie, aged 17, ws killed on the Picnic Train that was attacked. I’m distantly related to her on my mother’s side. You can see the pictures of the Ice cream truck that the men used in the photo album. There is a very interesting page at the SmithsonianMag about the Battle at Broken Hill.

 

 

The coffee isn’t too great in Broken Hill. It’s kind of surprising really, being a tourist town and all…and not that far from Adelaide, which is pretty well known for its good coffee. We had one decent cup of coffee while we were there and that was at the Broken Earth Cafe and Restaurant, which has been built as a memorial – to the many men who have lost their lives in mining tragedies in the BH mines.
I used to LOVE the huge, dormant, black mountain of ore body that stood proudly off the main street of BH.I used to think it was THE biggest hill ever in BH.But now there’s an ever bigger deposit of ore…but they’ve done something with it this time! The restaurant stands atop the Line of Lode.

I loved seeing my dad again but it was bittersweet because our time there was too short. If you’re looking for an educational, different, cultural holiday, do consider Broken Hill. There’s so much to see and do and experience…maybe you’ll see why I love it so much. We didn’t get to see all the things I wanted to: we just ran out of time. Still, there’s always another time eh? We left BH and arrived home safely. Miss A had softball training every day from the next day until the day she flew out to Melbourne.

It was about this time that I started to get The Cough. Ugh, not what I wanted at all! Anyway, we saw Miss A off at the airport, took Miss R over to her friend’s house where she was staying while the rest of us were in Melbourne. The boys, John and I set off the net morning, bright and early at 6am, in the trusty Tarago. NOT!  We got an hour away, into the Adelaide Hills, and the brakes were causing some terribly grinding noises from the wheels. It wouldn’t make it to Melbourne…we were lucky to turn around and get home again! Thankfully, Praise God, we did make it home. John tried to get the brake parts but they needed to be ordered so we transferred all the luggage into John’s work car, the Pintara, and headed out once again. Actually, it all worked out well taking the Pinnie, as it was more economical in fuel and it had a working air conditioner! We eventually got to Melbourne and had a week of softball, – what more can one ask for? Well, I would have loved to NOT been sick, but…oh well. The coughing spasms are horrid, causing me to lose my breathe, vomit and then get real dizzy, ending in me feeling quite drained. But I got through it. Another year, another Nationals tournament!

Links:

http://www.silverton.org.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Broken_Hill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Hill,_New_South_Wales
http://www.brokenhill.nsw.gov.au/
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/10/the-battle-of-broken-hill/

 

That’s about it! All over, for another year. Feel free to have a look around my photo album. I hope to add to it more as the year goes on.

Relationship or Religion

Won by One

To do what is right and just is more pleasing to ADONAI than sacrifice.
CJB

I’m a simple kind of gal. I love the poetic richness of the KJV but there are some times when I like to read other versions of the Bible as well. I’ve found it helpful in my walk as a believer but also as a parent, to learn the language of various Bible versions. I don’t talk in a ‘King James’ way. I can talk in a ‘ESV’ way but I often talk in a paraphrased way. I want to teach my children to walk in the ways of the Lord…to instill in them a love of God’s ways and discussion is one of my most influential and common ways that I can do this. It has something to do with living every day with my children- allowing them to see my life- letting them share in my life, that equals= relationship. This is why I tend to speak in paraphrased proverbs…it’s a natural thing for me to do.

I make mistakes. My children make mistakes. That’s okay. I don’t want them to grow up in an atmosphere of fear- scared to make a mistake. I don’t parent out of fear. None of that pleases the Lord.

Yes, it might good that my children would sing in the church choir, help lead the Sunday School class, and score highly in their Bible study curriculum test.  But that alone does not mean that their hearts are serving the Lord.

I can sacrifice my career to stay at home and teach my children, cook from scratch and sew all my own clothes yet my heart can still be far from what the Lord desires.

Good works aren’t bad. But by themselves they are just religion. Religion is simply ‘man trying to work their way to earn God’s favour’.  God isn’t interested in religion. He’s after relationship! He desires us to simply trust and obey Him more so than running around trying to prove our worth or earn His favour.

Proverbs 21:3
To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
NIV

To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
King James Version

To do righteousness and justice
Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
New KJV

Doing what is righteous and just
is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Holman Christian Standard

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
Amplified

Clean living before God and justice with our neighbors
mean far more to God than religious performance.
The Message

Father God would have you live right, to spend time with Him, to think of others, rather than running around working hard, trying to impress, by working for Him.
Susan’s paraphrase.

Again, some might say this is heretical of me to do but it’s real life- it’s allowing the word to penetrate my heart and my life. It’s then how I speak with my family. Speaking biblical principles in an everyday way that we each relate to. Speaking

What about you? Do you encourage yourself in the word this way? Or any other ways? How would you paraphrase this proverb? Go on, have a go – leave a comment and link to your post so other’s can see it and be encouraged. 🙂

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday Meme

Super Spiritual Sunday meme

Super Simple Spiritual Sunday Meme

I used to participate in the SSSS meme but I haven’t for ages. Weekly meme’s just come around far too quickly for me 😀  However, I do like to share links and today is Sunday! So, I’m going to do a SSSS meme again posting some articles or sites I’ve enjoyed over the last week. So here are a few of the sites I’ve gleaned from this month.

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  • I used to tell my children about the dangers and futility of MySpace but what’s a person to do with the supposedly more mature FaceBook? I liked this post from Elizabeth Esther as she explains why she ‘broke up with FB‘.
  • Along with my continued learning about evangelism, I found a post by TeacherDave. The video posted on this blog is a clip of an atheist and his thoughts on witnessing or proselytizing. It’s quite interesting. Something in it for all of us, mehtinks.
  • ChristianAudio:  Each month christianaudio gives away a premium audiobook download for free. The way it works? They give away one audiobook download each month totally free, available only during that month, only once – ever.
  • Want to instill music appreciation in your High School aged children but don’t know how to go about it? Use this free curriculum from Harmony Fine Arts. You might like to listen to the podcasts and get an idea of how it all works.
  • Robin has a list of helpful meme’s to participate in, if you want to. Check her list here.

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If you like this type of post, don’t forget to view the past ‘.

Best Argument for Christianity

“The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians–when they are sombre and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.

~Sheldon Vanuaken, A Severe Mercy

Wikipedia entry on Sheldon Vanuaken.

One might think that this quotes comes from a Bible belieiving man eh? But it doesn’t. It’s from an agnostic man! Have a quick skim of the wikipedia article on him, if you’ve not heard of him before. It’s quite interesting.

He and his wife were both agnostics, deciding not to have children as motherhood was an experience that could not be shared equally between them! This couple were intellectuals who had no interest in any “ridiculous” organised religion. They seemed very happy.

Then they befriended some Christians. They wondered why the Christian were so joyful. They began to read C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton and other Christian apologists and met with Lewis on several occasions. Whilst still an agnostic, Vanuaken wrote the above quote in his journal.

I’m struck afresh by this quote, as I continue to learn about evangelism. What do I portray to others? Is my life living for or against Christ? I’m also struck that Vanuaken (an intellectual) sees the life of a believer as the best argument/defence for our faith.  He, as a non believer, does not mention correct doctrine, logical reasoning, arguments of Intelligent Design, living a conservative, lawful life, etc. (having all my wrt theology)  Instead he talks of joy – the joy that can come only as a gift from God. The joy that comes through a deep, profound faith in that other gift, God’s grace.

What message am I sending?

Have you read the book, A Severe Mercy? What were your thoughts?

Confession: My Ducks Are Not In A Row

True confession.

I do not have all my ducks in a row. Not in any area of my life. Surprised?

I’ve been told that I can sound like I have it all together…and then people meet me in real life and come to see reality.

My ducks aren’t in a row when it comes to my personal life, family life, computer life, meal planning, health, fitness, housework, parenting, homeschool life nor my theology. I simply don’t have concrete thoughts or actions on it all. I might sound it, but I don’t. There have been times in my life when I mistakenly thought I had my ducks in a row in a particular area, like homeschooling. But then something will change and I’ll realise that I never did have it all under control…or maybe I did for that time, that season, that place. But life circumstances change. Right? Surely, at the very least, I would have my theology ducks all lined up in a nice, neat row eh? Ah! wrong again! Just when I thought I did- something happens and slowly I’ve come to see that I don’t even have a handle on that. (Yes yes, I can hear some of you giggling right now).

Would you believe that there was a time that I was firmly convinced that not all children who die would go to heaven? It just didn’t mesh with my theology. And then I had a child… I became a parent. My perspective changed. My circumstance changed. I was able to learn something through my experience. I learned something about the nature of God – God the Father. My understanding of God as Father changed, thus my theology ducks changed. Did God change? Of course not, but I did.

I used to silently believe that there were certain things that my children would never do. I would look at other children/youth and think that my children would be different. I would parent them so as not to harvest ‘that’ fruit. And then I became a parent. Then my children grew and started going through puberty. Then my perspective changed.

I had many dreams or ideals. They weren’t wrong or silly, but my dreams didn’t allow for deviation, therefore I often found my inner self struggling to accept things that were often outside of my control. Maybe I dreamed or aimed too high but I don’t think so. I just need to have the Father’s heart in it all – I need a godly perspective in it all.

Over the last few years, I’ve had to realise and accept that I can tend to be a control freak…and when it hasn’t gone my way I can get myself into a real head mess. It ain’t pretty. But it happens because I let my dreams and ideals take a place in my life that they shouldn’t have. I was still looking at all the outward stuff – I’d created images of what I thought was good, pure, noble, worthy, family, relationships, etc. A good homeschool student, a good homeschool mum, a good, Christian wife, a good Christian family, etc. I was looking to others and to images that I’d built up or created in my own mind. I saw these images as good – having all my ducks in a row. While it was a dream, it was a good dream but rarely reality.

ducks in a row

Many times over the last few years, life has felt like this!

Looking back over the last 2 years I would have to say that my life theme was “I don’t have all my ducks in a row”. You know what? I don’t plan a theme- I usually discern it at the end of the year but I can’t help but feel that it will be the repeated theme for me this year. But that’s life! I can’t control everything, regardless of how much I try. I will make mistakes. I will learn new things. I will pick myself back up and try again. That’s life. And I praise God for every breathe that He gives to me.

What If Starbucks Marketed Like the Church? A Parable.

Not only am I a follower of Christ but coffee is also one of my passions so this brief video is painfully funny but also relevant. Okay this might upset some readers so I guess it’s pretty controversial but I think for those who have been Christians for awhile or been raised as Christians there are some important lessons we can learn here. Actually there are many valid points of view that we can see from this quick video. If it offends you after watching it, ponder it for a day or so and then come back and watch it again…

I watched it with mixed emotions. I’ve been a follower of Christ for over 20 years so whenever the Church is poked I feel a little hurt but, as a follower who despises Christian-ese and the ‘playing-at-christianity‘ that many churches and Christians partake in, there’s a bit of truth in this message. So I watched it with a view to the Lord showing me His heart in it all.

You can find the original clip and more info at the Beyond Relevance site, which I’m not necessarily endorsing.
Plus I’ve had a few Starbucks coffee’s here in Australia and every cup has been bitter, which is a sure sign that the espresso shot was not extracted properly and I’ve needed 2 sugars, which is an indication that the milk has been scalded (burned) which is a big bad.


watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I

Perspective

Fount this at Fish n Cans…thought it was too good not to share.

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.
The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
“That laundry is not very clean”, she said.
“She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap”

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:

“Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?”

The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

And so it is with life.. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

Participating in…

I was browsing some blogs (again) and I thought this post was so true and yet so applicable to my life, and no doubt, the life of many other homeschoolers…although it isn’t specifically about homeschooling at all.

Go check it out! And The Rock Was Christ posting ‘Things that matter’

It seems to me that there are lots of things that matter in life. But, sometimes one is faced – or confronted, with the brevity of life. Like when someone you know is suddenly taken from this life. Death, can come so quickly. It catches us, it takes by surprise. It leaves its deep shock in our spirit.

So then, what matters? Just having fun? Doing lots of good things? Having lots of friends? Laughter? Joy? Or, as the cynics, might say… nothing.
http://nwcc.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/things-that-matter/

Calvinist? Homeschooler? Something else?

This quote sums up why I don’t call myself by any particular label. Granted I don’t know the complete context in which Mr. Washer is talking about or to whom he is addressing but the general thought is still good.

“Anytime your banner becomes anything other than Jesus Christ you ought to be afraid of Hell. If your banner is “I’m a Calvinist”, if your banner is “I’m a homeschooler”, if your banner is this, that, or anything else, if you’re rallying under any other name than Jesus Christ; you’re in danger. You are in danger!”~Paul Washer

Mother of Boys

I was catching up on some blog posts this morning and came across a gem (which is not unusual from Mrs. Wilson’s blog) about parenting boys. Here’s a snippet but do pop over to read the post in its entirety.

According to Proverbs, mothers are to lay down the law, particularly to their sons. “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck” (Prov. 1:8-9).

Mothers sometimes think that Dad is the one with all the authority around the house, particularly when it comes to dealing with the boys. But this is just false. God has established the authority of both parents in the home. Sons are to be well acquainted with the law of their mothers, and this is a good thing.  In fact, God tells the sons that this instruction and law are like a crown and a necklace.

Mothers need to establish their authority over their children when they are little (particularly the boys), but that includes bringing them up by means of godly instruction, not just by use of raw authority.  Children must obey both parents, and both parents must exercise their authority with wisdom and humility, knowing that they answer to God for how they are bringing up their children.

A mother who refuses to give instruction and correction not only damages the child, but also guarantees her own sorrow. “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame” (Prov. 29:15). “A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother” (Prov. 10:1).

Did this speak to you or encourage you as much as it did me?

Struggling for Sanctification?

While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves–blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do.”

~A.W. Tozer

Quote from Tozer

God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination and the divine sovereignty. The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, `O Lord, Thou knowest.’  Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God’s omniscience. Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints.”

~A.W.Tozer

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