Bubbles

I love bubbles. Soap bubbles that is. Weird as it may be, I could watch them all day. They are so fascinating. The perfect spherical shape; the way light is reflected off the surface; the colours of the rainbow which you can see; the way they float around; and even the way they pop. Before you doubt my sanity, as could be the case with such a fascination with these objects, think back to your younger days when playing with bubbles was so much fun. Think about how much you enjoyed the beauty of these objects as you tried to catch them in your mouth. I'm not that insane after all now am I. As simple as they are they are beautiful. And, wikipedia tells me that they have been around before 4 centuries (a 17th century painting shows children playing with bubbles apparently).

Bubbles are not the only beautiful thing that some of us may have forgotten about. How often do we stop in our busy lives to appreciate the beauty around us. It is there. God has revealed himself to us by his creation and we can see it in everything around us. But how often do we stop to appreciate this beauty. How often do we stop to take in the breath taking awesomeness of the sunset, or the power of the waves, or even the beauty in the the wild flowers along the roadside. We can see the power and awesomeness of God everywhere, we just have to remember to look.

On a little side note, have a look at this website: 1000awesomethings.com. It's really cool :D

LOVE

Love is, or at least should be, a big part of a Christian's life. My life is full of love and I want to share it with others. To do this I am going to endeavor to list 15 examples of love and explain why I chose it as an example.

1. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." That is the greatest example of love that I could think of and I don't think there is anything like that love.
2. Christian love. Because God has loved us we are required to "Love your neighbor as yourself." Sometimes this type of love can be hard, especially when we don't like our neighbor. But because we have recieved such a great love, there shouldn't be anything stopping us from sharing this love with others.
3. The love between brothers and sisters in the Lord. The church community is bound by the shared love of Christ and each and every church member has the common bond of a shared faith. In that way, church members are there for eachother, willing to lend a hand and show support when needed and sometimes even when not.
4. The love shared between husband and wife. My grandparents have been married 50 years yet it is still amazing to see the love which they share, and the blessing which they have recieved of a lifetime together and the stories which they can tell together.
5. The love between mother and child. The love and care a mother shows to her child even when they are older and don't always agree. My mum is the best mum in the world (yes I probably am biased when I say this) and the love she shows to each and everyone of us is wonderful, it's true when they say that a mothers love doesn't divide, it multiplies. Each child requires the love of a mother in a different way, yet a mother is able to show that to them.
6. The love between father and child. And yes I do think that this love is different. A father and mother show love in different ways, while a mother may be more caring a father will be more protective.
7. The love between old friends. The kind of love where there is no secrets and even if you don't see eachother  for ages, when you get together it is as if nothing has changed and you can still talk for hours.
8. The love between brothers and sisters. I'm sure not every family is like ours, but the love that is shared in the teasing, heckling, joking and other antics, is truely a blessing.
9. The love between sisters. Sisters are always there for you to talk to, to share your secrets with and to be a listening ear. When you begin to get older you really begin to appreciate it.
10. The love of life you can see in the eyes of a disabled child. Sometimes the most simple things are fogotten, as I work with people with disabilities it often makes you stop and think.
11. The love of new friends. I love making new friends and establishing new relatioships. There is something special about establishing friendships and finding more about another person.
12. The love and devotion a dog shows to it's master. It is true when they say that a dog is man's best friend. A dog will always be there to listen (not that they can talk back) and will be willing to shower you with love even when you are not in your best of moods.
13. The dedication and love of animals to their children. Living on a block of land we have had lots of animals, one example of this dedcation is the birds which nest under our back veranda, 2 pardelote birds nest in the bird box there each year, the amount of dedication these parents have to their little chicks is inspiring, once the little birds have hatched they are constantly running back and forth with more food.
14. The warmth of a hot chocolate in front of a wood fire on a cold wintery day. I know this is not really an example of love and devotion as the others are but I still think that it is something everyone loves.
15. and ummm.... I'm sure there is lot's more but lets just change the 15 to 14 :D

Food for thought

This weekend we had a youth camp, although I did not attend the whole time (due to work and extreme tiredness) it was a great weekend full of lots of fun and great discussion on the most important thing in the world. The word of God - centered mainly on the book of James.
Here is just some food for thought which I have taken away from the weekend and would like to impart to others also.

• James Ch 1: Perseverance
• Consider it JOY when you face trails - vs. 2
• Trails test our faith, and the testing of our faith produces perseverance.
• perseverance produces character and character hope - the hope that we have in God is a firm and steadfast hope which does not waver, it is a firm confidence.
• Do not just be hearers of the word but doers
• Are you really applying what you have heard and learnt?
• Do you practice what you preach? (to put in a cliched way)
• vs. 25 - But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
• It is a hard thing to do sometimes but we have to work at putting into action what we have heard and learnt.
• James Ch 2: Faith
• Do not show paritality.
• Favouritism is something which is very easy to show. It is easy to speak to certain people because they think like we do and they have the same interests as us.
• BUT vs. 9 says "if you show faviouritism you sin, convicted by the law as law breakers". We are not loving our neighbor.
• As Christians we are united by a common faith.
• SO, lets try step out of our comfort zone and reach out to others who we do not usually talk to.
• James Ch 3: Restraint
• Think before you speak. Are you words
• True?
• Helpful?
• Inspirational?
• Necessary?
• Kind?
• The tongue is impossible to control. We need to continually pray to God for the wisdom to control the tongue  because it is only be the power of the Holy Spirit that we will be able to do so.
• James Ch 4: Submission
• Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up vs. 10 
• It is very hard for us to be humble, but humliity with one another and before God is an important part of the life of a Christian vs 6 says: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
• Draw near to God and he will draw near to you - vs. 8.
• Many people within our Church circle will react to this verse and state that in quoting this verse in such a way you are very 'evangelical' and taking responsibiltiy for your own faith. This is not what James means. We draw near to God in humility, with a contrite heart.
• James Ch 5: Patience
• The book of James comes round in a circle and the theme of Ch 1 is also related to the theme of Ch 5. James encourages and reminds the readers to be patient in their sufferings.

The book of James is FULL of great riches and what I've written here is only a brief summary.

Words of Encouragement

Recently I had an article published in our youth magazine called the 'Contender'. It was based on one of my earlier blog posts titled New Shoes (I embelished it a little and added in some quotes and Bible texts but the idea was still there).
Last night I reccived a phone call from an older member of our church asking me if I was the person who had requested someone to go shoe shopping with them. Basically he just wanted to say how much he appreciated and enjoyed the article. He then told me to
He was not a member of our congregation but of one in the area, and to be honest I still do not know who he is exactly.  But he still took the time and effort to look up my name and phone number in the Church phone book and to contact me in order to pass on some words of encourgaement. Isn't it wonderful when someone much older and wiser than you, also someone who you don't actually know, goes through the effort to come and provide you with wonderful, inspiring words, encouraging you to keep motivating other 'youth' to come 'Shoe shopping' (that was a quote).

It was very inspiring and I definately want to get EVERYONE I know to come shoeshopping!

Rain

Rain. Wonderful, refreshing, rejuvinating, reviving, renewing, revitalising, regenerating, restoring, repairing, invigorating RAIN! So much rain has fallen this morning and it is continuing to bless the land around us.

I must admit that all the rain which has fallen in the last 12 hours has done something to my sanity and the adventures which I have had this morning don't really attribute to the amazing qualities of rain which I just desribed. Let me explain.

1. To begin with my alarm went off. Not a great start to the day (although it is usually the only start I get to the day), especially because I do not like mornings. This morning was not the best mornings because it was raining and the only thing you want to do when it's raining is snuggle up in bed.
2. I was locked out of the house. I had a sleep shift last night and then I went to the gym. When I got to the house I'm housesitting, my sister had left and she took the key with her. I was stuck there in my gym clothes, on the back verandah , without a proper means of showering, to get ready for uni. I didn't have breakfast or grab any food for uni.
3. I drove to uni. On the roads that had turned into rivers. In reality, I'm sure that it would have been much more effective if I had taken a boat, but that wasn't working. Fortunately I got to uni without my car breaking down.
4. I was late. I am regualrly late for class but not 25mins late for class.
5. I didn't have an umbrella. Due to the fact I was locked out of the house, I couldn't very well grab and umbrella to attmept to keep myself dry while walking in the rain.
6. My socks and shoes got wet. As well as the rest of me. But my cold, wet feet are the most uncomfortable.
7. The lecture theatre was flooded. Not that this was a problem for me but the soggy floor wasn't the nicest.
8. I'm still wet.
9. I'm also hungry.
10. I also should be doing some work.
11. I also cannot be bothered.

Still, I am very thankful to our heavenly father for blessing the lands with so much rain, even if it is falling in such a short amount of time.

Dare to stand Alone

One of my more recent ‘likes’ on facebook was the page, “standing up for what you believe, even if it means standing alone.” This can be hard. Standing up for what you believe is one thing, but when noone else is standing with you, it can be a big challenge. Being a christian, we often find ourselves in situations where we are the 'only one standing'. With the Bible as our standard for what we know as right and wrong and for what we believe we have an absolute standard. 

Sometimes it may seem that we are standing alone when we stand for what we believe, but if we are standing for what we believe in relation to the word of God and what he wants from us we are not alone. We have God on our side and "If our God is for us then who can be against us." Just think of Daniel, he was the only one in the whole kingdom who did not bow down to Nebuchadnezzar. He stood up for what he believed. His friends literally stood up for what they believed when they did not bow down to the statue. What happened to them when Daniel and his friends stood up for what they believed? The rulers tried to punish them, he threw Daniel into the Lion's den and he threw Daniel's friends into the fiery furnace, BUT God saved them. He sent an angel to close the mouths of the lions and he protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace by sending an angel down with them and they came out of the furnace without even smelling of smoke. When we stand for what we believe God will be standing there with us, protecting us AND will also bless us for doing so. God blessed Daniel and his friends because they stood up and they all recieved promotions within the kingdom of Babylon. He can bless us also.

So dare to stand for what you believe and dare to stand alone.

As the words of the children's song go:

“Dare to be a Daniel,

Dare to stand alone,

Dare to have a purpose,

Dare to make it known”

Thoughts...

So, um... yeah. It's been a while since I've posted on here. So I thought I had better write something just for the sake of writing something. In the meantime I've been doing battle with the extensive amont of uni work which has flooded my existence; giving my immune system a workout as it fights numerous infections; sleeping (in order to boost my immune system); and thinking, just because you have to think.

I've been thinking about a lot of things. Like if what I'm studying really is what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. And about all the other things which I enjoy so much more than uni - work (yes I do like my job), hanging out with my AMAZING friends, and the amazing mediums of music and art which are a great escape from the rest of the world. And lots of other thoughts, such as how we have so many blessings, which a lot of us take for granted.