Thankful Thursday

Here are some things that I’m thankful for this week:

A baking day
On Saturday I decided to do some baking because I hadn’t done any in a long time.  I made some brownies and some ANZAC slice.  I think I’ve avoided baking because I didn’t want to be tempted to eat all of the end result.  But I plan to freeze some of this to pull out in an emergency.  I realised that I’ve missed baking so Saturday was fun. 

Enjoyable nights because I finished my assignment
I submitted my last assignment on Tuesday of this week and I was really excited about the nights for the rest of the week.  Wednesday night was Bible study end of term social where we also finished off the Bible study that we had been preparing and writing this term.  I’ve loved talking about the Bible and our faith with these wonderful ladies.  Tonight we had dinner with another family in our college community.  I love this couple and their cute kid, even though we haven’t known each other for very long.  I’ve loved helping out with dinner, playing with their kid and chatting and laughing together.  I love the way that we can share our lives together in this community.  I’m also looking forward to tomorrow: the second years in our community are having an end of term party, which we do every term.  It’s always been a great way to debrief and relax, and spend a bit more time with the other wives and kids. 

Phone call from home
My sister was at my parent’s place for dinner tonight so they decided to give me a call.  It was lovely hearing their voices and listening in on the banter.  Thanks for thinking of me and just chatting.

What are you thankful for this week?

Thankful Thursday

Here are some things that I’m thankful for this week:

New Shoes
I’ve been looking for some black boots for a very long time and I’m very particular about what I like.  Basically I just wanted something like my old ones, but they’ve proven very difficult to find!  On Saturday we went shopping and I found a pair that was half price and real leather (a bonus that I do preferred but expected to be too expensive).  Here’s hoping that they last longer than my old pair.  I’m very thankful to have finally replaced these shoes in my wardrobe.

College Revue
Before I got to college I didn’t know what a revue was.  Here it is basically a bit of a talent night mixed with a comedy night.  It is expected that all acts will be funny.  I enjoyed the fun and laughs of last year’s revue but this year’s was even better.  There was much less of the (admittedly very Australian) humour of paying each other out which made the night feel much friendlier.  I was in two acts; one a medley of songs re-written on the theme of Jesus’ ascension (a comedy of our recent second year hymn-writing Doctrine 2 assignment), and a dance with some boys attempting ballet in the background (they were the funny ones, not the ‘real’ dancers).  One of my favourite acts was about the strange things that some people donate to our college op-shop.  It was such a fun night and I am truly thankful for the community that I am a part of at college.

What are you thankful for this week?

Thankful Thursday

This week has been… well actually I’m not sure how to describe it.  Perhaps I’ll just tell you what I’m thankful for and you’ll get a picture of what my week was like from that.

Showing off my knowledge of the Zoo
Well perhaps that’s not the best way of putting it, but I was in charge of the map and the route we took to tour the zoo so I did feel a bit like a tour guide.  On Saturday we took three friends from church to the Zoo with us.  In our college community a number of families, including us, pool some money together to buy five Zoo membership passes and this means that we can essentially treat friends to a free trip to the zoo.  One of the girls we took on Saturday is new to our church and new to Australia so it was lovely to show her some Australian animals in particular.  I’m thankful for this opportunity to bless our friends and the fun that we had together at the Zoo.  I’m also thankful that the rain stopped pretty early on in the day so we weren’t miserably huddled under  our umbrellas the whole time.

Learning more about the Holy Spirit
This week our college has been having their annual lecture series.  This year the lectures are being given by Michael Horton, on the topic of the Holy Spirit.  I’ve really appreciated learning more about the Holy Spirit.  He’s the member of the Trinity who is spoken about the least so it has been good to look deeper into who he is and what he does.  Though there are moments when the technical terms go over my head, I’ve been pleased at what I have understood and it has shown me that I really have learnt lots over my time at college so far.  Last year I certainly couldn’t have understood as much as I did of these lectures. 

Opportunities to exercise
I’ve fallen out of my regular exercise routine, since the mid year holidays.  I haven’t been very good at getting back into it after my fitness slid downhill over the break.  Interruptions from sickness, study and being away haven’t helped, but this week I seem to be getting back into it.  I exercise with one of the other wives in our community, I play netball and I do ballet.  I’m hoping these things can help get my fitness back up and give me some more energy. 

What are you thankful for this week?

Why you don’t have to hear God’s voice in your heart

So I’ve finally gotten around to starting to write about each chapter of this book.  Sorry for the wait, I promise this book is worth it.

In this first chapter of his book Good News for Anxious Christians, Cary writes about hearing God’s voice and trusting your own hearts.  He states that you don’t need to figure out which of the voices in your heart is God’s voice, simply because none of them are.   Listening to your heart gives us self-knowledge, and this is good to have, but it doesn’t give you knowledge of God.  To know God you have to listen to God, and this means listening to a word that comes from outside yourself – the Bible. 

The Bible says that  Christ dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph 3:17), but it directs our attention outside our hearts for what we should put our faith in: Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of Christ (that is, the good news about Jesus) (Rom10:17). 

We should be confident to name the little voice of wisdom in our heart’s as our own.  But often we label this voice as God’s in order to be able to take it seriously.  We think that our own voice or feelings are unimportant or wrong and not worth listening to.  This belief undermines our sense of morality, responsibility, and self-knowledge. 

Our hearts are largely shaped by what comes from outside them so it is important to hear the word of God properly preached and to take it into our hearts.  God does speak today, but it’s not in the voice of your heart.  God speaks through the Bible, which is his word.  This word gets into our heart and we repeat the word’s of God in our hearts, but this doesn’t mean that it is God’s voice.  God’s word shapes our hearts, but he speaks externally to our hearts. It has always been this way: God in his wisdom has chosen to speak to his people externally through the words of prophets, apostles, preachers and teachers.  

Cary also has some thoughts about how this idea of hearing God’s voice in your heart has gained traction which I won’t go into, you’ll have to read the book. 

This chapter was so warming to my heart.  I realised that guilt that I have felt for not hearing God’s voice is totally misplaced.  I was encouraged to memorise Bible passages so that I have the word of God in my heart.  This chapter has implications for decision making but that will be discussed in a later chapter. 

What are your thoughts about this?  Do you have any questions?  I’m very happy to chat about it so feel free to comment below this blog post.

Next up is ‘Why you don't have to believe your intuitions are the Holy Spirit’ (probably not until the weekend).

Postponed Thankful Thursday

Again I have been lax in writing here on my blog, and particularly in keeping up with my weekly Thankful Thursday posts.  Right now I’m just thankful that I’ve finally finished my essay (which I got an extension for because of being sick the week it was due).  This may be a short post because I am also thankful to be going to bed very soon.

This week I’m thankful for:

Help at Kid’s Club
J had to fill it at Kid’s Club last minute today because a couple of leaders were away, including the one who was due to do the talk.  With little preparation J did the talk on the relevant passage, brilliantly fielded some tricky questions from the kids about eternal life, and threw himself into the games.  I love watching him interact with children and seeing how much he enjoys it. 

Netball
On Tuesday we had our first game of netball and it was good fun.  I haven’t run like that in quite a while so even though we only played two 12 minute halves that was enough for me.  It was fun to do something as part of a team again and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to get to know the people in my team.  I’m thankful for the invitation to join the team, which came as a surprise for me. 

Baby cuddles
A friend who I studied with last year and who lives near our college community has just had a baby.  One of the wonderful ways our community supports those with newborns is to organise a meal roster.  Today it was our turn and when we dropped off the meal J and I both got to have a hold of the little 3 week old cutie.  I’m always amazed at how little babies start out. 

Now I’m off to bed.  What are you thankful for this week?

The long-awaited wedding

Last weekend I was thrilled to be a part of my dear friends’ wedding.  You may have seen some photos on Facebook already.  These friends have been dating for a long time, so it was wonderful to see them so happy to marry each other that day. 

There were a few things that I particularly liked about the wedding that I thought I’d share with you. 

On the Friday I helped out with making table decorations.  I’ve never done flower arranging before, but it was lots of fun.  I oiled vine leaves, cut them up and used them to cover an oasis (the green pad that you stick flowers into).  Someone else cut all the other pieces and eventually it was organised into an assembly line.  Here’s the final product:

I was one of the bridesmaids and I loved the dresses and shoes that we wore.  It wasn’t a typical ‘formal’ dress,  and I think this is what the bride was going for, something a bit different.  They were a beautiful blue and white pattern with some white stripes.  We also had orange shoes to contrast.  I liked that it was different from the typical or traditional wedding style (though my own wedding was pretty traditional).  I like that the bride and groom were happy to do things their own way.  I love that I’ll definitely be able to wear this dress again, and it will remind me of this wonderful day.

Another thing that was different than typical was that the bridesmaids didn’t have flowers.  Instead we carried large Scrabble-style letters, representing the bride and groom.  This photo was taken outside after the wedding and we’re huddling close together because the breeze was cold.  

But the best part of the wedding was seeing these two dear friends finally getting married.  They looked so happy as it was happening, and then relieved when it was done.   I am looking forward to seeing their love for each other grow and continuing our friendship with them. 

Congratulations J & E!

Thankful Thursday

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything and I’m sorry for this.  Last week was also a busy week and the weekend didn’t slow down at all.  Here are some things that I’m thankful for this week:

Helping friends as they marry
Some dear friends got married on the weekend.  She was my maid of honour and he was one of our groomsmen for our wedding.  I was thrilled to be one of her bridesmaids and to be able to help her as she prepared for marriage and on her wedding day.  I’m so thankful for our friendship and that she lets me love and support her.  It was a joy to see them so happy to get married.  I’ll write more on the wedding later, but for now, here is a picture (with two groomsmen missing, I’m not sure where they were). 

My popcorn machine
I got this for Christmas from my sister because I asked for it.  Last year I tried making popcorn in a paper bag in the microwave and it failed miserably (and I was quite upset, perhaps I shouldn’t have tried to make it for a special reason; a date night movie night at home).  I’ve used it a couple of times this week so I could eat a light snack when I got home and I always love how easy it is to use, and it actually works.  I know that some people disparage one-function or ‘specialty’ kitchen items but the heartache that it has prevented is totally worth it.  Thanks sis!

The chance to play netball again
Today I was approached by a third year at college who asked if I was interested in joining a college netball team that plays on the uni campus just near college.  I haven’t played in a few years but I love the camaraderie of team sports and the fact that it’s a fun way of doing some exercise.  I can’t promise to be very good but I’m looking forward to running around on the court again.

What are you thankful for this week?

Thankful Thursday

I don’t really want to write this today.  This week hasn’t been a great week, and it’s not going to end soon enough for me.  But as I look back there are still some things I can be thankful for, which shouldn’t surprise me.  God’s blessings are all through my life if I only look.  And part of the point of doing this Thankful Thursday thing was to remind myself of the things I can be thankful for, even when I feel like life isn’t great. 

College friends
On Saturday night we had some friends from college over: two ladies from our year who live in the residence at college.  It was lovely to have them over.  I asked for advice with my knitting, a car was washed and we played a few games after dinner.  It was just nice spending time with them.  I’m also thankful for my friends at college and enjoyed seeing them again now that semester two has started.  I had a good conversation with a friend over lunch today about why this week is stressing me out and she was lovely and gentle as we discussed together.  Thank you friend.  

Chaplaincy Group
This morning I had chaplaincy group, a group of second to fourth years who meet weekly to discuss various issues of theology and life.  This is also the group we went with on mission together.  Today we met our new male chaplain, because the one we had last semester is now away on study leave.  He is a new lecturer at college.  It was lovely to meet him and get to know him a bit, as well as be back together as a chaplaincy group and laugh together.  I enjoy our camaraderie. 

Hope
I wrote about this already in my previous post so I’ll just mention it briefly here.  I heard a wonderful sermon yesterday that was so encouraging.  I am thankful for all that God has done, who he is, and who I am because of him.  I have hope because of Jesus, so I try to look up at him. 

What are you thankful for this week?

Look up with hope

Yesterday I heard a wonderful sermon in Women’s chapel from a friend and fellow second year.  She preached from Ephesians 1:15-23 and reminded us why we need to keep hearing the truths about God and the good news of Jesus.  And she blessed us by encouraging us with these truths.

Sometimes we know things about God and we can even explain them well, talk about them and write about them in an essay.  But do we really know know them?  Do they change our lives, our hearts, our focus?  We have to keep hearing the good news because we so easily forget.  We forget that God has saved us from the evil in our hearts, that he has forgiven us for our rebellion, that he loves us.  I have forgotten this. 

Look up and know the certainty of the hope that you have in Jesus if you belong to him.

I’ve been having a tough week.  Too many things have to get done and I don’t want to do any of them.  I want to just escape.  My friend’s words as she explained this part of God’s word to us were a soothe to my soul.  I have hope in Jesus, and nothing can take that away. 

I needed to hear so much of what she said. 

And then in the afternoon I heard another encouraging sermon from a friend in preaching group (one of my subjects at college).  She reminded me that God is sovereign.  That means that he is still in control even when I feel that there is no control in my life.  I grasped at this truth in the restlessness and chaos I was feeling. 

Thank you God for these sisters.  Thank you for these truths. 

Late Thankful Thursday

I’m sorry that this one is late.  Yesterday was full of house cleaning and friends so I had no time to sit down and write this.  But here is is, better late than never.

Here’s what I’m thankful for this week:

Our time in Adelaide
We had a wonderful time in Adelaide, catching up with some family and friends.  We didn’t get to see everyone, and for that we are disappointed, but this did mean we didn’t completely tire ourselves out hopping from one appointment to another.  It was lovely to be back in our familiar places, hanging out with old friends, having meals with our families.  We are both looking forward to returning to Adelaide after we’ve finished at college. 

Being home again
But as nice as it was to be in Adelaide with friends and family, it’s also nice to be home, in our own bed, with our full wardrobe, our own bathroom.  Not that I didn’t appreciate the spaces that our parents made available to us.  There’s just something about being in your own home, where your things are packed away into cupboards and not a suitcase.  Now that we’re home I’ve been watching some TV, reading and relaxing before we go back to college next week. 

Time with friends
Yesterday we spent the afternoon with friends in town, walking through some of the Botanic Gardens and then visiting the Art Gallery.  Though we’ve been here for a year and a half, we still haven’t seen many of these things of this city.  Afterwards we had our friends over to our place for dinner.  It was lovely spending time with these friends.  They shared with us things we didn’t know about the Gardens or the Gallery.  They we’re patient with us as we finished preparing dinner, and we just enjoyed chatting and sharing our lives.  We are thankful for these friends.

What are you thankful for this week?

Learning an old skill

I don’t know if people say that knitting is dying out.  I sometimes wonder if old ladies think that it is.  It kind of seems like it’s something that only grandmas do: they knit little booties and bonnets for their baby grandchildren.  But I’ve seen enough young women knitting to know this isn’t true. 

There are a number of women at college who knit: beanies, scarves, gloves.  And finally, they have inspired me.  I’ve decided to learn to knit.  

While back home I asked my mum to teach me to knit.  I'd learn before, as a child, but it never really went anywhere.  I think I only ever knitted one square. 

Here's my practice knitting.  

Now I've decided to knit an infinity scarf.  But I haven't decided what stitch to use.  I'm hoping to get some advice from my knitting friends. 

I know that knitting isn’t dying out, but I sometimes wonder about other ‘old skills’.  I remember a pin lace artist telling me that she thought her art was dying out.  What beautiful skills are we leaving forgotten because of our fast-paced, consumerist, machine-enabled culture?  It makes me sad to think about knowledge that has been lost or forgotten. 

Now I know learning knitting doesn’t really change anything.  If I really wanted to continue the knowledge of a dying art perhaps I should have tried pin lace.  But I do enjoy the feeling of accomplishment from learning the skill of knitting and I’m looking forward to having made something with it.  I won’t have relied on a machine, or someone else, to make me something.  And that makes me feel a little better. 

The faith of an old man

Today J and I visited a man who used to go to our church in Adelaide.  He now lives in a nursing home, at the age of 99, because he can't really care for himself anymore.  Visiting him was such an encouragement for me.

He was excited and surprised to see us, not knowing that we were in Adelaide, and told us that he had prayed for us just this morning.  This man is an exceptional man of prayer.  His eyesight is poor and his hearing is going so he can't really watch TV or read a book (not even the Bible.  He now listens to it through headphones).  He told us that instead he spends his evenings praying, every evening.  I suspect that he spends most of his time praying really.  I couldn't imagine concentrating on prayer for that long, but hearing his commitment to prayer was an encouragement for me to keep working on my discipline for spending time in prayer.

He is very old and is eagerly awaiting his death so that he can go to be with God.  When I asked how he was he complained that he was too well!  But he expressed his trust in God's timing and he makes the most of the time that he has left. 

Here is one example.  He told us that he spoke to one of the cleaners who works in the nursing home and asked her if she loved Jesus.  The cleaner told him that she did, and he was so pleased.  When he found out she didn't read the Bible often he encouraged her that she needed to be fed from God's word.  Later on he gave her an old copy of a Bible reading plan and commentary notes, which she found very useful and encouraging. 

I always find myself encouraged after speaking to this faithful old man.  He always encourages us to keep loving and serving God, and his faith shines through in everything he does and says.  I can only hope and pray that God would create in me such a faithful heart.

Thankful Thursday

Here are some things that I'm thankful for this week.

We're in Adelaide! 
This is one of the big things that J and I are very excited about and thankful for this week.  We're thankful that we had the money to buy flights home (and that we found cheap flights with Jetstar).  We're really looking forward to catching up with friends here.  We've already got some catch ups organised but we still have time for some more so please get in touch if you'd like to see us.  We want to make the most of our time here and catch up with as many friends as we can.

People who drive us places
Since we've flown to Adelaide we don't have a car to get around, but so far our friends and family have been lovely picking us up and dropping us off places.  A big thanks particularly to our college community friend who dropped us at the airport (and his kids for being fun in the car).  Having others drive us around makes me thankful again that we do have a car, even if it's not here.  It is a privilege to be able to drive at all, and to be able to afford owning and running a car.

A haircut
This morning I went with Mum to the hairdresser where we both had a haircut.  It's nice to go back to my regular hairdresser and catch up with them.  It's also a lovely feeling to have freshly cut hair.  I'm also thankful that they were able to fit me in while we are in Adelaide and that it's before my friend's wedding so that my hair is easy to work with for the wedding hairdresser.  It was also a bonus that Mum insisted on paying for my haircut, thanks Mum!

What are you thankful for this week?

"Good News for Anxious Christians" book 'review'

This book was recommended to my class at college this year by one of our Mission and Ministry lecturers.  I've been wanting to read it all term but never really got the opportunity until the holidays.  J read it during semester and liked it so much that we bought it. 

The sub-title of the book is 'Ten practical things you don't have to do'.  I haven't finished reading it but what I have read has been such a soothe to my heart.  I've decided that I'd like to blog through the chapters of the book and share with you my highlights.  Hopefully you will find it helpful, as I have, and perhaps are even encouraged to read it yourself. 

In his preface Cary describes his book as an attempt to 'preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to Christians'.  His introduction is about why trying to be Christian makes us anxious and how we can see God's commands in the Bible as freeing us from anxiety rather than producing anxiety. 

Cary attacks what he calls 'the new evangelical theology' which has introduced supposedly practical ideas to help us in Christian life but which are not Biblical, and actually get in the way of believing the gospel. 

These are the areas he addresses in each chapter:

1. Why you don't have to hear God's voice in your heart
2. Why you don't have to believe your intuitions are the Holy Spirit
3. Why you don't have to "Let God take control"
4. Why you don't have to "Find God's will for your life"
5. Why you don't have to be sure you have the right motivations
6. Why you don't have to worry about splitting head from heart
7. Why you don't have to keep getting transformed all the time
8. Why you don't always have to experience joy
9. Why "Applying it to your life" is boring
10. Why basing faith on experience leads to a post-Christian future

There's so much of this that I'm looking forward to reading.  I hope you enjoy learning along with me as I read this book!

Thankful Thursday

Here are some things that I am thankful for this week:

Holidays with friends
This week J and I are up in the Blue Mountains with some friends from college.  We've spent the week so far sitting in front of the fire and listening to the 'cyclonic' wind outside.  We've ventured a few trips outside: once to a gingerbread cafe, once for op-shopping, and once for a short walk (which I didn't go for because I had some work to do).  We've completed two 1000 piece puzzles, both without a picture to refer to.  We've watched a little bit of TV, enjoyed everyone's cooking (but especially S's baking).  Many of these friends are the same ones we went away with in Spring last year (you can read that post here).  I love these friends, the conversations that we have and the care that we show each other.  This has been a wonderful holiday. 

Starting the third jugsaw puzzle

Tea
Many of us have brought tea away with us on holiday so we've been able to try different teas throughout the week.  There's something so lovely about curling up on a couch with friends, sharing a pot of tea.  The weather being so cold, has made it feel even more cozy than normal. 

The internet on my phone
Since we're away on holidays we don't have our home WiFi.  I've had a few things that I've needed to do this week that require the internet, and so I'm very thankful that I can use my phone to do these things.  Technology has progressed so much, even just in my lifetime and so often we take it for granted what we can do with it.  So I'm thankful for this blessing this week. 

What are you thankful for this week?

The Bible and church

Lately I’ve been thinking about Bible reading in church.  I've posted about an aspect of this before in this post.  This week I'm preparing for service leading at church and it has got me thinking about it again.  How much Bible should be read in church? 

I’ve been in a number of church families with different styles of worship or format of service.  At my first church, a Uniting Church, we followed a lectionary, a three year cycle of Bible readings consisting of a reading (usually a whole chapter) from the Old Testament, a Psalm, a reading from one of the Gospels and one from the rest of the New Testament.  Not all of these readings were done each week at church, but at least one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament was read.  The Psalm may have also been incorporated into a prayer or some other part of the service.  One of these readings would usually be linked to the sermon.

I went to a Roman Catholic high school that followed the same lectionary in their weekly chapel service, so often I would hear the same readings twice a week.  Then in my later years of high school I attended another Uniting Church.  This church usually did two of the lectionary readings and almost always the sermon was was based on the gospel passage.

When J and I got engaged I started attending his church, a small independent church.  This church didn’t follow any lectionary.  There would be a Bible reading before the sermon, being the subject of the sermon.  Some shorter Bible passages may have been used by the leader throughout the service, but no other parts of the Bible were intentionally read.  The same is true for the Baptist church that we’re currently attending.

At college we follow our own lectionary.  We read a chapter from the Old Testament and a chapter from the New Testament each day that we have chapel.  They follow on from each other and when we reach the end of a book we start a new one (not necessarily the next book in the Bible).  We've just finished Ezekiel and 2 Thessalonians.  The sermon is rarely on one of these Bible readings so another reading is done for the sermon, sometimes read by the preacher himself. 

I don’t know if the churches that used a lectionary did so for any reason other than tradition, but I still think that reading from a lectionary is a good idea.  It gives the benefit of hearing from more of the Bible each Sunday at church.  After all, what is the most important part of the church service?  I acknowledge that people may have different opinions on this, but I want to argue that hearing the word of God is the most important.  More important than singing good songs, praying, and even the sermon.

With the lectionary you get to hear from more ‘obscure’ parts of the Bible that wouldn’t normally be preached on or talked about in Sunday school or Bible study group.  And even if your church does preach from the lesser known parts of the Bible, they don’t come up very often so reading from a lectionary means that you read more of the Bible more often. 

Of course, as the service leader I will read from more of the Bible than just the reading for the sermon.  Perhaps this is one of my responsibilities as service leader rather than anything rostered and organised by the church leadership.  But what I read is not going to be consistent with the previous and following weeks.  I could read a chapter from Zechariah but there will be no context for the people to understand it better, and it would just feel very random.  They won't have heard the previous chapter last week or the next chapter next week.  The Bible is meant to be read, it is meant to speak to us.  After all, it is where we find the truth about God.  If we sing five songs, pray three prayers and hear a half-hour sermon, surely we should read a few chapters of the Bible.  Church notices shouldn't take longer than our reading from the word of God.  So I'm working out how I can include more Bible in the service this Sunday. 

I’m not saying that my church isn’t doing things well.  I just wonder if we should be reading more of the Bible in church than just the reading for the sermon.  Because by doing this it can make it seem like the sermon is more important than the Bible reading.  This is because the reading feels like it is done for the sermon, when it should really be the other way around.  The sermon should be done to complement the reading, to expound it for the congregation.  But we shouldn’t ignore the fact that God speaks through his word without us having to say anything else.  Reading more of the Bible in church, parts that the sermon doesn’t talk about, helps to remind us that God’s word is powerful to speak to us all on it's own.  As people who base their faith on what the Bible says, do we believe this?  Do we let God speak from his word?  So let’s do this by reading more of the Bible in church. 

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:

Exams are over now!
This week was exam week, and though we second years only had two exams I feel like I’ve been on the back foot the whole time.  I started study week with a cold and it lasted longer than that so my study has been slow and struggled.  So I’m thankful that now as I post this exams are finished!

Two wonderful years of marriage
On Monday J and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary.  We had an exam in the morning so we left the celebrations for the evening (and prepared during the afternoon!).  J made me a lovely dinner (chicken schnitzel and apple sauce) and dessert (salted nutella-chocolate tarts!).  He set the table with a new table cloth and placemats (all cotton, as the traditional second anniversary gift) and we exchanged presents after dinner.  I love how well he knows me, and the love and care he has shown me over the last two years.  Thanks for a wonderful marriage, my husband!

The Reformation
Monday’s exam was Church History, and we’ve been studying the Reformation this year.  I didn’t enjoy studying history at school, but I’ve loved church history at college!  I’m thankful that the church was reformed and as a result of it we have the Bible in our native languages (and we’re allowed to read it!), and we don’t trust in our own merit to save us but rely on the grace of God that through our faith we are saved.  Thank you God for the Reformation!

What are you thankful for this week?

A different type of Bible

I said in my previous post that I would share a bit more about the recommendations from our end of term Bible study group.  People recommended things such as recipes, websites, tea, apps and other things. My recommendation was for a Bible. 

Now that doesn’t really sound like anything too exciting. Why would I bother to recommend a Bible to a whole Bible study group (who already have Bibles)?  But this Bible is a little different. 

It’s called The Books of the Bible.  It’s different than other Bibles because it has no chapter and verse numbers.  It’s laid out in a single column like a regular book.  The textual notes notes are discreetly indicated by a grey dot and are listed at the end of each book rather than at the bottom of each page.  All this is to put the Bible into a form that we’re more used to reading and so make it easier to read.

I first heard about it from Tamie and Arthur’s blog, in this post.   Arthur has reviewed it there so I won’t go into his level of detail.   But I want to tell you why I recommended it. 

For me, I’ve found that without the chapters and verses I am less concerned about reading a set chunk of the Bible (such as a chapter or two) and instead I read until I get to a suitable break in the story or section.  Sometimes this means I read more than I normally would, sometimes less.  But that doesn’t really matter.  Reading the Bible has become less about ticking that box each morning.  I’m more motivated to read it because of this.  The Bible has become less of a textbook to me, and as a consequence has become more interesting to read. 

If you’re finding regular Bible reading dry, or you never really tried to read the Bible because it didn’t seem very interesting, then give this book a try.  I pray that it will help open up God’s word for you.  Because that’s what it is, and it’s worth getting to know. 

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for these things:

A hen’s weekend in Adelaide
I’ve already talked about it here.  It was lovely to go to Adelaide and spend some time with my family as well as some friends for the hen’s event.  I am thankful that we had the money to fly me there for the weekend, and that my family was so generous with picking me up and dropping me at the airport, as well as with quick dinners, gifts and hot chocolates.  I’m thankful for the friendships I have with the girls I spent the weekend with and the fun that we had together.  I’m thankful that my dear friend is getting married and that I am able to support and help her as she prepares for her marriage. 

Studying with my husband
I love that J and I are studying the same course and almost all the same subjects.  This not only means that we can study together and help each other out, but our holidays also happen at the same time and we’re both really looking forward to them! 

My women’s Bible study group
Our college organises women’s Bible studies for the female students and wives of students.  I’m in one of the groups that meets at our college community.  So I only have to walk over to the next block of units to get to Bible study!  I’ve been in one of these groups since we got here and have loved it.  It has been a great way of getting to know some of the other wives in our community here, and a great encouragement to me.  All of the women are godly and switched-on theologically.  This week was the last week that we met for this term and so we had an end of term party of sorts.  We each brought along a recommendation.  More on that later!

What are you thankful for this week?

Barossa Hens

This weekend I flew back to Adelaide for a very dear friend’s Hens weekend.  Admittedly I was a little nervous flying by myself, afraid that I would miss my flight home because the timing was pretty tight.  But it turned out that my Sunday afternoon flight was cancelled and I took the option of an evening flight which made everything much easier. 

Flying in to Adelaide was lovely.  Firstly, I was seated in an exit row so I was very glad we’d made it without me needing to operate the escape hatch!  I had a window seat so I got great views of the city lights at night as we flew over.  Though I wouldn’t necessarily be able to recognise my home city from an aerial viewpoint there was something comfortingly familiar about seeing all those sparkling lights in neat rows and straight lines.  That’s very unlike the city we live in now!  I wish I had a photo to show you but I couldn’t use my phone in the plane at that time.

My sister had taken the night off work so she could pick me up from the airport.  Thanks sis!  We had a fun night of snacks and a movie with a bit of catching up in between it all.  In the morning Mum and Dad got home from Europe, where they’d been for a month.  We caught up for about an hour, I saw photos and was given some gifts to fit into my carry on luggage, before I had to leave for the start of the hens weekend!

We started the weekend off with breakfast at the hen’s house with her mother, mother-in-law-to-be and the girls who were coming for the weekend. 

 

Then we drove through the hills to the Barossa Valley, with the hen blindfolded all the way.  She had no idea where we were going.  I tried to drive gently. 

We stopped at a few wineries for wine tasting, went to Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop, had a picnic lunch in a park and pizza dinner at a local restaurant, and played pool in a pub while attempting to fulfil the dares we’d given the hen.  Our evening consisted of silly games, junk food and a Disney movie. 

In the morning we went to another winery for wine tasting and then played croquet.  That was one of the highlights for me.  I’d never played croquet before and it’s not really like anything else.  At our cafe lunch after the croquet we asked the hen some questions about how well she knew her fiancé and then called him to check.  She passed!

The hen is a very dear friend to me and I’m so excited to see her getting ready for marriage and to be able to stand with her on their wedding day.  I’m thankful for her friendship and the support she has always shown me and I so value that she trusts me so that I can support her also, particularly as she prepares for marriage.  I’m looking forward to many more years of friendship with you, my friend!

Thankful Thursday

This post is inspired by another blogger who I’ve been reading regularly.  Unfortunately I can’t link you to her blog because it seems to have moved or shut down.  But a shout out to Samara for the inspiration.

The plan is that I will write a thankful Thursday blog post each week.  I want to do this to remind myself of the things I have to be thankful for in my life, and hopefully encourage others to be thankful as well.  I don’t want this to ever turn into a space for the ‘humble brag’, so if it does sound like that to you, please pull me up on it!  I err on the side of pessimism sometimes so I want to remind myself of the things I can thank God for.  I used to have a notebook where I wrote down things to be thankful for at the end of each day, but that fizzled out a while ago.  Hopefully making this a weekly blog thing it will also keep me accountable to actually doing it.  Here it goes!

Encouragement from my husband
This week and last week I’d been feeling stressed out about getting our final assignment done for the semester.  I hadn’t left myself enough time to do it, it was making me feel guilty and worried.  J was very encouraging, reminding me about why I’m at Bible College, telling me not to worry about marks and praying with and for me. 

Kid’s Club
I have a bit of a mixed relationship with Kid’s Club.  Particularly when I have to do the talk, and that was my job last week.  I don’t like public speaking and I just wanted to stay home and work on my assignment so I didn’t really want to go to Kid’s Club.  To top it off I also left at home one of my props for the talk.  However, somehow (through God’s work I’m sure!) it all pulled together.  I thought of some different illustrations and easily-located props to use in the talk, the kids listened pretty well and were great at memorising the Bible memory verse.  “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1).  Please pray with me that these kids would be God’s children by trusting and obeying him. 

Time to spare
Normally I finish my college assignments with minutes to spare.  This means I’m up until midnight on assignment nights, rushing to finish and get all the formatting correct before it hits 11:55pm, the deadline.  But this week I finished and submitted my assignment before dinner.  I was much more calm and had time to check my references conformed to the referencing style.  This was a welcome change and will hopefully help me to aim for this again next time. 

What are you thankful for this week?

Help with my assignment

The study rooms were full on Friday.  Everyone was at the their desk, clicking and typing away.  Every so often the air was punctuated with a heavy sigh. 

That was the first Research Week that I was in the studies (last term’s Research Week I was sick and didn’t want to share my cold with everyone). 

I think I liked writing my essay there.  There’s a sense of camaraderie in the studies.  Everyone is working hard, and those who are struggling are happy to say so.  People would ask each other questions, talk through thoughts they were having and borrow books from each other.  We’re all in this together in some sense.  I also found comfort from the people who were still there, late into the night. 

But there was something else that struck me even more.  I was struck by the fact that there were people praying for me as I wrote the essay.  Not just the unknown-to-me-people who regularly pray for students at our college, or the friends I had asked to pray for me, but even some of my fellow students, also working hard to get the essay done.  Not just praying that I would get it finished on time, but that I would learn and grow from doing it.

In the spirit of the passage I looked at for my essay (Deut 4:32-40):  Search in days gone by and over the world, in what other field of study have you ever hear of this happening? 

This is such a great comfort to me.  The people who I study with aren’t students who I compete with for marks or try to beat in the bell curve.  Or even people I am ambivalent towards as I focus on my own learning.  They are friends, family in Christ, who care about each other, help each other out with resources, and even pray for each other. 

But this is not just a comfort to me.  It is also a rebuke.  I was so focused on my own essay; getting it right and getting it done, that I didn’t really think about asking God to help anyone else with theirs.  How selfish of me.

I am thankful for not just the things I learn at college, but also the way that my attitudes and motivations are being reshaped.  Please pray that God would continue to change my heart to be more like Jesus, as I will be praying for my fellow students.

When you don’t like public speaking…

This is only a short post because I’ve still got a lot of work to do.  I just thought that since it has been a while since my last post I’d let you all know what I’ve been up to and what is coming up. 

The biggest thing on my mind at the moment is the fact that I’m preaching in Women’s Chapel at college tomorrow!  Eeek! 

I have never preached before, I’ve never really written a sermon before.  It has been hard.  I didn’t even know where to start!  This has given me a greater respect for those who write sermons or Bible talks week in and week out.  Of course, they have had more practice than me, but it’s still something that takes a lot of time and creative energy. 

Even though it has been hard I’ve enjoyed the process of digging deeper into my passage and working out how to preach it.  I’ve had to understand how the passage fits within its wider context (the letter that it’s from), and the logic of the passage.  I’ve looked at other parts of the letter that talk about similar things to help me to understand my section. 

Here’s a picture of my work station.  I’ve got a screen at the back showing the feedback notes I took when I gave this sermon in my college preaching group.  My Bible is open to the passage, and I’ve got some notes written down on the paper on my left. 

On Sunday I also lead our church service for the first time.  For someone who doesn’t like public speaking, this has made for a lot of it in one go!  Though I was nervous and unsure of myself the people at church were very encouraging.  I also found it spiritually encouraging to have prepared for leading the service and feeling responsible in a way for leading the congregation in hearing God’s word and worshipping him. 

Next week is also a busy week.  It’s research week, a week when we have no classes so that we can dedicate our time to the big assignment that is due at the end of the week.  For second years it is an Old Testament essay on a passage from Deuteronomy. 

And everything that normally happens is still happening.  Winter dinners have started up at our community, church Bible study group and women’s Bible study group are still running.  I’m still doing ballet with some girls from college each week, and I’m enjoying running with some of my neighbours a few times a week. 

If you are a praying person I would appreciate your prayers.  Please pray:

• that I would preach the truth tomorrow and God would use what I say
• that God would calm my nerves and give me confidence in him
• for all the students at college as they complete big assignments next week
• that we would take time to rest and be thankful to God

Thanks,
Rachelle

The creative college assignment

Our most recent college assignment was quite different from the usual essay.  For Doctrine 2 we had to write a hymn or a prayer on one of four set topics.  The aim of the assignment was to get us to express theological truths in simple ways for congregational use.  I chose to write a hymn about the ascension. 

I'm not sure how everyone felt about this assignment, but the general vibe I got from the people I talked to was that of excitement.  It was nice to be doing something very creative and more practical than an essay.  I really enjoyed doing mine (apart from the sometimes frustrating nature of metre and rhyme!) and so I thought I'd share it with you and I hope it encourages you like it did me. 

It doesn't have a name because most hymns only have a number.  It's the tune that is named, and that's what I've provided with its metre, as well as a song with that tune and its number. 

FOREST GREEN 86.86D
(“O Little Town of Bethlehem”, hymn 240)

The Christ has died that we might live,
yet rose up from the dead.
Eternal life to us was give,
it was just as he said.
And then he rose up in a cloud,
was hidden from their sight.
With kingly reign he was endowed,
and sat down at God’s right.

When Christ ascended to his throne
he left the earth below.
The Holy Spirit he has shown;
a gift to us who know.
By Spirit Christ abides in us,
his likeness to instil.
We’ve knowledge of his mind to trust
that we can know his will.

From heav’n Christ intercedes for man,
before our God as priest.
By his humanity he can
our weakness know not least.
As envoy to the holy one,
God’s mercy he doth win,
he stands forever, failing none,
our confidence in him.

As king in heaven over all,
the Christ at God’s right hand.
He shares the power in God’s hall,
he’s gloried as God planned.
A place prepared is his intent,
where we’ll forever spend.
Then he’ll return the way he went,
to judge all at the end. 

Of birthdays, car trips and projects

My parents visited us last weekend.  They arrived on Friday, which was Dad’s birthday, and left Sunday night. 

On Friday night we went out to dinner for Dad’s birthday, but he still ended up paying for everything (or maybe Mum did, but it comes out the same anyway).  We even got to go to the Lindt cafe, something which I’ve been wanting to do since we got here (and last time Mum and Dad were here!).  We missed out last time because the one we tried to go to closed at 6pm.  This time I was prepared and I found one that stayed open late enough for birthday dessert. 

On Saturday we went to the zoo.  Taking people to the zoo seems to have developed into a ‘thing’ for us since we got here, much because of the communal zoo membership passes that we have in our community.  On the way to the zoo we missed the turn off  so it turned into a bit of a tour of the north shore.  Dad was particularly impressed with the bird show at the zoo. 

On Sunday they came to church with us in the morning and then we drove all over town to find a new laptop for me.  I’m pretty please with the result, but still setting it all up. 

Mum and Dad also bought me a passionfruit plant (I love passionfruit!) and a wire trellis to train it on but it rained all weekend after that so we couldn’t put it up.  This means it’s now my project.  This is as far as I’ve gotten, which is okay really for the stage that the plant is in.  Now that it’s holidays and I’ve finished me recent assignment, it’s time to set it all up.  I’m not sure if this pot is wide enough, anyone have any ideas?

Thanks Mum and Dad for a lovely weekend together!

Testimony

While on college mission I gave my testimony at a country dinner.  In was in a tiny town, half an hour’s drive out of Gunnedah.  There were about 20 people there and I shared with them what God has done in my life. 

I don’t remember when I first heard about God.  When I was young I started going to church with my family.  There I learnt about how God loved me and cared about me and was interested in me.  Somewhere along the line I learnt that God had forgiven my sins, but I didn’t understand why Jesus had to die for my forgiveness.  So I wanted to learn more about God, get to know him better.  I decided to start reading the Bible because I knew I could find out more about God there.  I started from the beginning but I got a bit stuck in the Old Testament.  I didn’t understand what all the short stories said about God or how they were relevant to me. 

It wasn’t until I got to university and joined a Christian group there, that I understood how the whole Bible fits together into one big story of God working through history, and that it was all leading up to the coming of Jesus.  I understood in a deeper way the reality of my sinfulness and how serious sin was.  I thought that sin was just things like lying, stealing or murder.  But I realised that these are symptoms of a deeper problem, a rebellion against God and the way he says is the best way to live our lives.  So it wasn’t just borrowing my sister’s clothes without asking that was a sin, but my unkind thoughts and my selfishness and my desire to live my life my own way and not God’s way.

I learnt that this rebellion against God is so offensive to him that it deserves punishment: death.  But I also learnt even more how great God’s love is, that Jesus died to take this punishment instead of me.  This is why Jesus had to die for me to be forgiven.  There’s a verse in the Bible that describes this well. 

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him shall not die but have eternal life.  (John 3:16)

Because of this I know that my life is not my own, I should be living it in service to God. Jesus died when I should have died, so I now live my life for him.  Part of this is why I’m studying at college to learn more about God and how to share this good news with others.

Going to the country

While we have some access to the internet I thought I'd write a quick post to let you know what we're up to this week.

For one week of the year we have what's called College mission, where teams of students from college go out to various churches around the city (or even further away), to partner with the church in sharing the good news about Jesus and serving the community around them.  Our team was partnered with Gunnedah Anglican Church. 

Gunnedah is a country town in NSW, of about 8,000 people, an hour's drive from Tamworth (or if you don't know where that is, it's also 4 hours from Newcastle and 5 or 6 hours from Sydney).  We are being billeted with church members living in and around Gunnedah.  J and I, along with two other guys from our team, are staying with a couple who live ten minutes from the church, south of the centre, in an area that feels "out of town" because you drive through a 100 kilometres per hour speed zone to get there. 

This week we are involved in church services, playgroup, community visiting, scripture classes, outreach events for men and women, door knocking, training sessions, youth group and nursing home services.  So far we are very thankful for the welcome we have received, getting to know our hosts and the much needed rain in this dry part of the country (not to mention the cooling effect it has had on the weather!).

Please pray for us as we partner with the church serve the community here in Gunnedah. 

Bible reading practice

I’m reading the Bible in chapel this week at college.*  That might sound a bit ho-hum, but I’m actually really looking forward to it.  I’ve often enjoyed listening to the Bible read at college because it is read so well.  I think it’s something that you don’t realise you were missing until you hear it.  It is definitely more than someone realising on the day that they were rostered to read the Bible and quickly finding it in the Bible, then stumbling over the words as they read it out loud in a monotone. 

Part of the preparation for Bible reading at college is to attend Bible reading practice with Greg, the lecturer who organises the chapel services and rosters.  I love the passion he has for good Bible reading so it’s a joy to hear his spiel about it even a second time (I also went last year when I was rostered on to read the Bible in women’s chapel).  Here are some of the things he said about reading the Bible in public. 

Reading the Bible in chapel or in church is really important, in fact it is (or should be) central to the whole church service/meeting.  While we would sincerely hope that every sermon you hear is God’s word, we can definitely be sure that the Bible reading is God’s word.  So it’s important that we prepare the reading so that we can read well and not create any barriers to hearing and understanding God’s word because of the way we read.  We want to read in a way that brings forth the meaning of the passage.  The way we can ensure that we’re doing this is to make sure that we ourselves understand the passage so that we  bring the meaning out in the way that we read it.

Greg talked about three ways that we can bring out the meaning in the passage: emphasis, pace, and feeling.

Emphasis
It’s important to emphasise the right word in a sentence or phrase because it can really impact the way that the reading is understood.  Emphasis is best used when the passage introduces new information or suggests a contrast.  If this is done badly it can change the whole meaning of the passage, so it’s important that you understand the passage before reading it publically. 

Pace
If we spoke at the same speed all the time the people would stop listening and simply tune out.  And why not?  It’s boring to listen to!  But if we change the pace of our speech we can help to keep people engaged and  emphasise what is important.  Last week I even heard someone use pace to describe how the disciples ran to the empty tomb after Jesus was resurrected.  It really helped to capture the mood excitement and urgency as he spoke faster. 

Feeling
This is about the emotional vibe of the passage and is conveyed by the tone in your voice.  Greg said that often people worry that they will be overacting by conveying the feeling of the passage, but the chances of this are very small.  It’s more likely that we won’t act enough.  Examples of this are speaking joyfully when reading a Psalm of praise, sadly when reading about repentance, or strongly/angrily when reading about God’s judgement of sin. 

I’ve tried to incorporate these things into my reading when I read the Bible at church and I really think it has helped.  I’ve noticed that I’m much more easily engaged with the Bible reading at college chapel because it is read well and I hope I’ve been able to bring this to church as well.  I hope this has also been helpful for you in making you a better Bible reader.

 

*since writing this I’ve discovered that Friday chapel has been cancelled because of graduation the night before, and therefore I won’t be reading the Bible at chapel this week. 

When weeds look attractive

A few weeks ago I noticed that the vine in our backyard had started flowering.  The flowers were pretty little white things with a beautiful scent that reminded me of stephanotis.  So I did some research and decide that it must be stephanotis and I was quite please because the websites I looked at said it was really hard to grow, and because it reminded me a bit of home.  My Oma has some growing at her house and the smell reminds me of there.  Here’s a photo of stephanotis.

Yesterday our neighbour overheard J and I talking outside about the vine and warned me that it could be a cruel vine, well known by local councils to be a weed and a big nuisance.  He told me to look out for big pods growing on the vine and just kill it if that happens.  I told him that I thought it was a stephanotis but promised that I would keep an eye on it for the pods. 

So I thought I’d better do a bit of research about this cruel vine that I’d never heard of before.  I found this website.  I’d seen those pods before when we did a working bee last year in our college community spaces.  Someone thought they were choko, but the seeds inside behaved exactly like the website said.  The vine out the back did seem to fit the description in the website.  My heart started sinking a bit. 

Then I checked again at pictures of a stephanotis.  Of course, I remembered now that they had waxy, rounded leaves, and large clusters of long stemmed flowers.  My vine wasn’t like that…

So now I feel stupid for nurturing a weed.  I’d been trying to train it to run along the bamboo fence we have between us and the neighbour.  I’d been hoping to take a cutting to grow a new plant for somewhere else, but wary knowing that stephanotis was hard to propagate.  No wonder it had been growing so well without any help!

It makes me think of sin.  Sin is our rebellion against God our creator by living our lives our own way.  It is rejection of God and his words.  Sometimes sin can look attractive.  Sometimes it can look like it’s not doing any harm.  But it chokes the life out of us.  Unchecked it can grow and grow, without us even really noticing. 

This weed, that I thought was pretty, will remind me that sin is deceptive.  It will remind me to identify and root out the sin in my life.  And it will remind me that nurturing sin does not bring life.

Desk borrowing

I am currently borrowing a fellow student’s study space, in a kind of desk-share situation where he never uses it and will only take it back when studying at home is no longer convenient.  It’s an odd, indefinite sort of situation where I don’t know how much to make the space my own but do have the freedom to do so because he never made the space his own.  In fact I had to ask the other students to clear the desk for me because they had been using it as extra storage space.

In our college live-in community the garages of one set of units have been converted into study spaces for the students.  The front of the garages have been made into storage shelves and the actual study spaces at the back are accessible from inside the building.  There are three single rooms on this ground floor which are considered the ‘quiet’ studies, each housing 2 students, and the bigger one with 4 students.  The remaining four garages/studies are interconnected and are considered the ‘big study’ or the ‘communal study’.  Each ‘car space’ has three desks in it. Many also have bookshelves of textbooks, including a small selection of the college library that they have made available for our community.

J has had a space in the big study since last year and I studied at home.  But I found that I was easily distracted studying at home.  It was so easy to get up and make a tea or get something to eat, or just do something else entirely (anything but studying!).  This was particularly easy because I was the only one in the house.  I made it through the year fine but I thought it would be useful for my study habits if I could get a space in the big study.

I made inquiries but the studies were pretty full.  Priority of course had to be given to students with children who therefore didn’t have a spare room to study in.  However I knew that one of the guys in my year at our community had a study space allocated to him last year but never used it.  He was happy for me to use his space until he needed it.

So I’m using his study space for now.  I’ve stuck some things on the wall, put some books and pens on the desk.  Having other students studying around me has really helped me to concentrate on also studying and not wasting time.  I don’t know how long I'll be here but for now I will make the most of it.  Back to it!

One week down

We’ve finished our first week back at college and are quickly onto the next.  I admit that I was having some doubts about going back to college.  Was this really the right decision?  But as soon as I arrived I felt much better.  There were a number of things that affirmed this for me during the week. 

New things to study
I’m really looking forward to some of the things that we’re going to study this year.  We get to go into a lot more depth in doctrine and Old Testament this year.  I’m looking forward to studying John in New Testament (because he’s just so confusing sometimes!), and we start philosophy this year as well.  We also look in detail at the Reformation and I’m really looking forward to learning about what happened then and the detail in the differences between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. 

A focus on prayer
This year in women’s chapel we’re having a focus on prayer.  I’m not really sure what that looks like in practice, but I’m excited to be doing this.  I’ve been wanting for a few years now to look at prayer more closely and to improve my prayer habits.  I hope that this focus will help me to do that. 

The need for musicians
Due to some shuffling of people, Wednesday’s women’s chapel has been left with fewer musicians than normal so I volunteered to not only song lead (which I did last year) but also play the piano in chapel (as long as they’re happy for me to just play chords!). 

Filling out my committee
At college everyone is involved in a committee, be it prayer, tutoring, orientation, library.  My committee leader was pleased when he found out that I was continuing at college because it meant we had exactly enough (the minimum number of) people on the committee.  I loved helping out with my committee last year, I’ll write more about it soon. 

Keeping up in class
We heard last year that second year is a bit of a step up from first year in terms of workload and expectations.  I’ve been please that I’ve been able to mentally keep up in class (at least for now!), particularly in Greek, which is much more complicated and fast-paced than last year.  Additionally, though I wouldn’t be surprised if I drop behind in the set readings (as almost everyone inevitably does), it feels good to have started reading for a number of subjects. 

I’m excited to see what God will be teaching me this year and I hope you enjoy reading about it. 

If I were a millionaire…

Every time I think about writing this post I get the song “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy stuck in my head (actually until now when I looked up who sang this song, I thought it was “Millionaire”).  I don’t like this song, so I’ve shied away from writing this post.  But a grumpy off-hand comment from J the other day made me decided to write it. 

“Shelly, why aren’t we millionaires?”  I knew the question was rhetorical. 

“Why? What do you want to buy?”

“A new bike.  And new shorts!” 

J had been fixing his bike (again) and his shorts got dirty (again, and a different pair this time too).  The easiest solution would be to get a fancy new bike that wouldn’t break, but of course that would cost a lot of money.

I’ve had thoughts like this too.  If I were a millionaire I would buy a new wardrobe of clothes that suited me fantastically.  I’d pay a personal trainer/dietician to make all my meals and healthy snacks so I could still eat yummy things and not feel bad about it.  I’d buy a new car, with five doors instead of three (apparently the boot is counted as a ‘door’) so that our college neighbours could get in easily for the car pool to college.  I wouldn’t feel guilty about the expensive new running shoes I just bought. 

But we’re not millionaires obviously.  We don’t even have jobs!  We’re both students and we’re living off our savings (from when we did have jobs), and donations from friends and family (church and biological) who value supporting us in this way.  We’re also highly unlikely to become millionaires considering what we’re studying for. 

Sometimes I think having more money would make life better, easier, more secure.  But wishing for more means that I’m not grateful for what already I have.  We have a house to live in, money for groceries, dirt cheap clothes to buy at the college op-shop.  We also have friends and family and support.  Maybe life would be at little easier if we had more money than we knew what to do with, but we don’t, and I don’t think wishing helps in any way. 

Whenever I have those wishful thoughts about being a millionaire I will use them to remind myself of how grateful I am for what I do have, and I will thank God for all of it. 

Chinese New Year generosity

Friday the 31st of January was Chinese New Year and we were invited out to lunch after church this Sunday by one of the elderly Chinese ladies at church, Rosey.  She had booked a table in advance and invited people at church to join her.   I’m not sure if she had any particular people in mind, she just invited people until the table was full. 

So after church we were ready to go, but we didn’t know where we were going.  Rosey can be a bit hard to understand at times but she said something like “we’ll eat barbecue”.  Alright, sounds good to me.  She had an agitated moment after church that made us wonder if lunch was off and she should just go home.  But she was persistent; we were going to go and she was paying. 

She said we could just walk, it was close.  But then she had a sore hip so we decided to drive her.  Those who didn’t fit in the car opted to walk rather than take another car.  But we still didn’t know where we were going.  She would give us directions as we drove (and then we would text those who were walking to let them know where we went!). 

Once we got there, of course!  She had said “Wok and BBQ”, that was the name of the restaurant. 

When we were seated Rosey got busy diving through her three bags looking for red envelopes and money and pens and her cheque book.  The lady sitting next to her at the tabled helped to write the messages because Rosey couldn’t see very well.  Rosey gave an envelope to everyone who came, even if she didn’t know their names yet (and I had to look up someone’s last name on Facebook to write on the cheque). 

We ordered a few dishes to share across the table.  Well, Rosey ordered for us.  She has been there a number of times and the staff there know her now. 

When the fish dish came the waiter expertly split the fish and pulled out the spine.  We smiled into our plates of rice as Rosey confused the waiter with where she wanted him to put the fish spine.  On her plate?  No, she wasn’t going to eat it!  But not back on the plate! 

J and I were touched and blessed by Rosey’s generosity towards us in paying for lunch and her gift in the red envelope.  This experience has been a challenge to me about being generous, not just with my money, but my time as well.  Relationships require generosity and I look forward to the growth that results from this in our relationships at church.  Thanks, Rosey. 

A week with old friends

This past week we’ve had a couple from home stay with us.  I’ll just call them A and R for short.  They are very close friends of ours; both were in our wedding party and we were in theirs.  They drove over to see some of her family and spend some time with us; to see where we were living and taste a bit of our world. 

Now when I say that they were staying with us, I mean that loosely.  After all our place has only three rooms (bedroom, small study, dining and living combined), plus a bathroom and kitchen.  But we live in a wonderful community of college students who lend out their houses for occasions such as these when they themselves are away on holidays.  A and R got to stay in a place in the unit block next to ours. 

While they were here we took them to the zoo, showed them our college and fed them King Street thai, went to the Rocks Markets and brought them to our church.  They also went to the Powerhouse Museum and saw The Lion King Musical.  They met some of our friends here in our college community and we played a lot of board games. 

It was wonderful to have them here with us and show them a bit of what our life is like here.  Now that they’re gone we’ve hit the books hard with three holiday assignments to complete over the next two weeks!

The number one ladies running group

I went for a run on Saturday morning, ahh I am sore!  I think I ran further than I have for a long time.  I haven’t been doing the couch to 5k for a while because my knee started to hurt every time I ran, so I gave it a rest and never quite got up the motivation to start again for fear of injuring my knee. 

One of the student’s wives in our community here (I’ll just call her V) started up a ladies running group late last year.  It was around the time we were leaving for our trip back home so I didn’t get involved.  But now that we’re back I wanted to give running a go again. 

We got up to start at 6:30 (on a Saturday!) to beat the heat.  There were four of us and I certainly felt the most shabbily dressed!  I’ve been exercising in my old Green Team t-shirt and school basketball shorts.  My running shoes cost about $20 because they were bought in a hurry on a holiday for walks in national parks. 

The loop we ran was about 2.7 or 2.8 km (someone had an app on her phone that tracked the run for us).  We kept a steady pace the whole time, stopping only at the top of a hill for a little walk, and waiting for the traffic lights to change in our favour. 

I know I’ve said before that I liked running by myself but I may change my mind.  If I had run the route we did yesterday by myself I definitely would have stopped half-way up the hill.  But because I was with others and V encouraged us to keep a steady pace up the hill and not stop until the top, I kept going.  I kept up with the others, because I had to in a way. 

When we got back to our houses V gave us the option of of doing another lap or calling it a day.  I certainly wasn’t capable of doing another lap!  I was finished, but I felt good.  The others did another lap (despite some looking as tired as me!).  Perhaps I’ll be able to work up to a second lap eventually! 

I’m excited about this running group and the motivation it gives me to run.  I may need to invest in some good running shoes though…

 

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Questioning “self-improvement”

Sometimes I think to myself, “you shouldn’t do this so much”, or “you should do this more”. Ways of ‘improving’ myself I suppose.  “You shouldn't laugh so loud”, “you should eat slower in company”. 

 

 

While some of the things I tell myself probably are good changes to make, not all of them are.  Some of them are simply things that I think would make me more agreeable to others.  They’re not good or bad changes to make, they’re just neutral. 

Then I wonder, shouldn’t I just accept myself how I am?  This is how I was made, why should I try to change that?  What’s so bad about having a loud laugh? 

But it is true that I should be working to better myself.  At least, I do want to be a better person!  Just as long as it’s in the right areas.  The areas that make me a better person, not the things that will make other people like me more.  “You should offer to help”, “you shouldn’t join in with the sledging”.

But even more than making myself a better person in the eyes of other people, I should be making myself a better person in God’s eyes.  Not all of ‘how I was made’ is good.  I, like all of us, was born into sin; it is in my nature.  And God hates sin. 

 

I should be getting rid of my sin, because I love God.  But actually, I know that’s not something I can do on my own.  It is God, not me, who makes me a better person. 

I know that my effort doesn’t count for anything with God, he has done it all and the only way to be saved is faith. 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph 2:8-9)

It’s not being a better person that saves me, it is my faith and trust in Jesus, the only perfect person, who died in my place so that I could be free.  Thank you God for that. 

Service on CE Camp

J and I just got back yesterday from CE-SU Kid's Camp, something we've been doing together for a number of years now and J for many years before that.  CE stands for Christian Endeavour and SU is Scripture Union.  This camp we had about 80 kids and 30 leaders away for four nights with the aim of giving the kids a genuine encounter with Jesus and encouraging and equipping them to serve him wholeheartedly.

This was one of the pictures we used this year because we had a medieval theme.
Photo from cenetwork.org.au

J was the director, a role he also had last year, and I was a pastoral carer again.  This meant that I was available as a support for four leaders, stepping in to help as they needed me, or listening if they needed to talk about something, camp related or not.  If I wasn't busy with those things I found jobs to do, such as stray dishes, set up for the canteen, sweeping and cleaning and other things.

I love this role for a number of reasons.  Firstly, I get to pastorally care for people, which is exactly what I want to do.  I'm not sure how good I am at this yet and I do doubt myself sometimes, but I love the opportunity to listen to people, to comfort and support them and hopefully be helpful to them in the process.  I also like that the role of pastoral carer is so self-directed as I enjoy the opportunity to be working on this skill.  I really value this opportunity to serve and it's this that I want to write about a bit more.

A lot of the work that I do as a pastoral carer is unseen, or seen by only a few people.  I like this 'background' kind of service, not just because I am shy and don't like being up the front, but also because it prevents me from getting proud about my work.  There's something about hidden service that makes me feel closer to God.  Because I know that I'm not acting for my own benefit but for others.

This reminds me of something that the speaker talked about on camp.  Though I'd heard this before it was a good reminder.  He said that if you put Jesus first, others second and youself third, you will have true JOY in life.  I'm still working on this, I certainly don't always get it right and it isn't always easy, but serving at CE camp this year was a reminder of the joy that it is to serve others.