Start With Simple Faith: 2009

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Remember the joy of Christmas presents

Do you remember what it was like when you were a child at Christmas? For many a year I would rip off the paper to discover my presents, one year my brother pulled out his pocket knife and cut the paper without ripping it, taking his time to gently unwrap the present, prolonging the suspense of the unknown object that awaited his viewing inside; but the time I had opened all my presents my brother had done three and we all had to sit there watching him slowly and carefully open his presents.

That was the year I learnt that there are different ways to unwrap your presents.
Some people believe that when you get older Christmas is not so exciting; well those people forgot to tell my sister, as when she lived near my parents home in her twenties she was up at five am with all the excitement of a child, and was very upset when my brother did not arrive with his wife early enough one year to open the presents.

I like to think we all have a bit of the child still inside of us at any age. Presents are fun, and it is a good time of the year to let the ones you love know just how much they mean to you. I wish you all merry Christmas and a happy new year. God Bless.

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Sunday, December 13, 2009

My Christmas inspiration story

There are many events in your life that can shape you, one event that has been in my life began to shape and inspire me as a young child and the effects of this event still lives inside of me today in the ministries I have chosen to be involved with. I would love to share this Christmas story with you.

In my childhood home town we had an evangelist who started a bi-yearly acting out the story of baby Jesus’ birth. Big deal you might say – my childhood home town has about 75 people who live there. The surrounding farming communities can raise the number more, but this evangelist vision did not have the little children acting out the story – NO! It has the local teenagers as the shepherds, the family that has the newest baby is called to be Mary and Joseph and their new baby is Jesus - and they don't have to go to church to take part. This service has been running for nearly 30 years and because the local church can not do it on its own, the other different church based families have been heavily involved for years. Because this is a farming community roughly about seven years ago they were finding it too hard to manage, so it was not done that year and looked never to return.

A much loved and wanted baby was born, and as it was the newest baby that year around Christmas, his parents realized that it could be their turn to be Mary and Joseph and what an honor for their baby son to be Jesus, so they started to rally support for our towns Christmas event just under two weeks before Christmas. All I can say is that God works in mysterious and inspirational ways. With just three days notice and a change of venues as the town decided that having people dress up as shepherds and wise men and a big event next to a major highway can actually be a traffic hazard - even though so far all we had was a few strange stares and no accident. My small childhood home town held their Christmas celebration drawing in around two hundred and fifty people. It has now gone from a bi-yearly event to a yearly event which is supported by the community. It is an event I try to take my children too. My home church is great and puts on really great and inspirational Christmas services, but I still like the wooden stables and chairs under the night sky, and the low key way the night is run. My children enjoy it as it is a special time with their cousins while still being about the true meaning of Christmas.

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Monday, November 30, 2009

Dear God

I was in the mood for a movie last night and found one titled ‘Dear God’. Now I was not sure of what to make of the information provided for the movie, but I did decide to watch it for about twenty minutes. At the end of the movie I was left with two questions. Can God use ordinary people to do extraordinary things? And should we literally play God? Now the answer to the first question is found all over the bible and the answer to the questions ‘Can God use ordinary people to do extraordinary things? Is yes, if you don’t believe me take a look at Esther, Gideon and the twelve disciples to see just how much God uses ordinary people. The Second question ‘Should we literally play God?’ is also a yes and is again in the bible (2 Corinthians 5:20) states that God can make his appeal through you.

‘Dear God ‘ (1996) is about a con man named Tom Turner (Greg Kinnear) who to get out of jail needs to work for a year, Tom gets a job at the post office and ends up in the dead letter area; which is where curiosity gets the better of him and he opens a Dear God letter. Tom accidently helps someone and suddenly he find himself viewed as the leader for a group of people who want to help the people who write the Dear God letters. Dear God is a comedy movie, and the only film clip I could find shows funny scenes. It is a good movie well worth watching

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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Just Relax

You deserve a break! When was the last time you put your feet up and just relaxed? During the lead up to Christmas we tend to be in a mad rush organizing presents and going to multiple Christmas functions; we end up so rushed off our feet that Christmas can seem like an event we just want over. For some of us Christmas day brings the added tension of how we spend it as a family. Which grandparent gets to see their grandchildren on this day and which ones miss out? The lead up to this one day in a year can be very stressful and the real purpose of the day seems like a distant memory. So again I say “You deserve a break.”

Get yourself a drink, put on your favorite music and just relax. Read your latest book for a day. Just play with the kids and forget the housework. Spend time doing something you enjoy – even if it is messy. Life is too short to look back upon not to enjoy the small moments, it is not just me who believes that you should enjoy life but also God. In this season that is now known as the silly season take a break and just relax. Read your bible. Don’t worry about presents; you make get some new and better ideas while you are relaxing. Don’t be afraid to have fun. Spend one day this season relaxing. Go on you deserve it. May God Bless You.

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Three steps to choosing a bible.

Don’t be fooled there is more than one bible in the world. The bible industry has grown since I was a child and there is a massive range of bibles to choose from today. So don't let the massive range of bibles confuse you - the right bible is there for everyone.

Step 1 – understand who you are buying the bible for.

How old are they?

Where will they be using the bible?

Step 2 – Physically look at the bibles.

I have brought bible over the internet for my children, but the one I got for my six year old recently was not what I would have brought if I held it in my hands and looked at it with my own eyes.

Make sure the bible is suitable for the age you are looking for.

Read the cover slip and check out the sample bible that is there to look at.

Keep in mind who you are buying the bible for.

Step 3 – Remember what you want them to get out of the bible.

My own personal bible is a study bible. I wanted a bible that was quick to look up scripture for my prayer time. For my children I wanted them to each have bibles that they could grow up with. My son is now on his second bible which is aimed a teenage boys, my daughter have bibles aimed at 6-10 year olds. My oldest daughter loves the extra questions and thinking points in her bible. I have given my nieces bibles for Christmas one year aimed at their ages with questions for them to think about.

Happy bible hunting - remember that bibles can make a great Christmas present.

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Sunday, November 15, 2009

An Interesting Quick Read

I grabbed the latest Christian book catalogue and instantly my eyes went straight to the book displayed on the cover ‘Have a New Husband by Friday’ and laughed it was Wednesday and interestingly enough I didn’t believe my husband could change that much in two days. Now I will admit that I have not read the book, but it did bring up a question – Do I need to change my husband?

Now when I showed my husband the title of the book he just laughed also. Maybe I do need to change my husband also. But if I think that I need to change my husband, does he think I need to be changed. The last book I read about changing my husband was the ‘Five Love Languages’ and in the first chapter of that book it said I have to change me and then my husband will follow . Now I love the ‘Five Love Languages’ book as I have discovered my personal love language and my husbands love language. For me personally it was a great discovery as I am physical touch and I have grown up much to the shock of friends and family hugging people and after reading this book am aware that there is nothing wrong with that.

For an interesting quick read I do recommend the ‘Five Love Languages.’

The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate

by Gary Chapman

To check out 'Have a New Husband by Friday'

Have a New Husband by Friday: How to Change His Attitude, Behavior & Communication in 5 Days

by Kevin Leman

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Gabriel at your door

What would you do if the angel Gabriel came to your door? Would you answer it? Now the reason I ask you these questions is quite simple. Gabriel is mentioned as telling both Mary and the couple Zechariah and Elizabeth that they were to have a baby in impossible circumstances. Now most of us know the Nativity story – the birth of Jesus. But before Gabriel went to Mary he was sent by God to Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. Now I asked this question to some friends as we looked at Jesus birth and what was happening around the time of his birth. What would you do if the angel Gabriel came to your door? Would you answer it? My friends are like me and have husbands and children; a couple of them even have up to seven children. The agreed method to deal with Gabriel was to shut the door in his face and hide. Now if we did not have any children we would gratefully accept him into our houses and praise the Lord that he wanted to bless us so much.

What else that is interesting when you read up about Gabriel in the bible (Luke 1) is the difference in the way the women responded to Gabriel to their male partners. Mary and Elizabeth understood this was the working of God and happily took on the role God wanted them to do; even if Mary was a little bit afraid and unsure at first. Zechariah did not believe Gabriel about his wife Elizabeth coming pregnancy and ended up not being able to tell anyone what had occurred until John was born. Joseph a righteous man had to have an angel appear to him in a dream to marry Mary; before the dream he was trying to figure out a way to not marry her (Matthew 1:18-24).

God definitely works in mysterious ways. So I ask you again - What would you do if the angel Gabriel came to your door? Would you answer it?

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Monday, November 9, 2009

Days of destiny

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. These words were written a long time ago, long before I was born yet today these words are meant for me also. So the question is – Who is really in charge of my life? I have just finished watching an episode of Flash Forward were they are struggling with why some people have had visions of six months in the future and others don’t. Know I realize that this is only a story, but it is an interesting concept.

When we move away from the show these words are still here - All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. I have argued with someone over these words; some people believe and accept them while others believe that they mean nothing. Can someone know about our existence before we were even born? How powerful is the idea of that. Why would anyone care about me that much? Often in my day to day struggles I forget that I am on a journey that has the capability of going anywhere. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. I have grown to love these words and I have heard how people have over the years when they have allowed these words to entre their souls have found themselves a completely different person to the person they were before.

Do we have a destiny? All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. If you believe this word then we do. Where do these words come from? You will find these words in the bible in Psalm 139 – well worth a read.

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Sunday, November 8, 2009

Who is your hero?

As a child heroes were often people of the bible who did extraordinary things in extraordinary times. Today if you asked someone to name their hero you would often get a sporting hero but here in Australia many a sporting hero has fallen due to bad behavior, sparking much anger from parents and media. So who really is our Hero’s of today?

Last Friday night my husband was a hero. He did not do anything brave, he did not save anyone’s life, but last Friday night my husband was a hero for my kids when they went to their schools annual Hero’s night. Now my husband may not deserve the title of Hero in some people’s eyes, but my kids are my defiantly proud of him and believe that he is well worthy of the title. Can our children’s dad be heroes? Who do we really want our children to look up to? My children’s school thinks that the dad’s are important. Hero’s night at my kid’s school is a time where the kids get to show their dads who may not spend that much time around their kid’s schools what they are doing and have a fun evening together. To a lot of the kids my children’s age their dads are their heroes.

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

The art of gaming consoles.

My son’s teacher did a quick survey of the class to find out how many families have gaming consoles at their house and which ones they have. Every family had one if not two. Now considering that we personally own two gaming consoles I was not really that surprised with the results. I personally have been around gaming consoles since I was around ten years old and have enjoyed them immensely.

Today’s versions of games and the graphics have come along way since the simple game of a dot moving over a television screen being hit in turn by two vertical lines. You only have to look and read Facebook to find out how many families are enjoying using their gaming consoles. The diversity of the games out there is so huge that you are able to find a game to suit any person no matter what age they are. It is easy to get lost in the games as you can loss yourself in the different worlds they have created and not realize the time that is slipping away. Game designers are so talented that they have even brought the real world into your home; many a sport is played out inside one’s home.

But still nothing beats playing a real game in fresh air. Today I played a real game of tennis with a friend, we may not be the most talented tennis players in the world – proven by how many balls we missed, but we had fun and we certainly knew we were exercising. Gaming consoles may be here to stay, but it is important to simply get outside and attempt the real sports even if it is just for fun.

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Monday, November 2, 2009

Discovering God’s designs.

I was sitting on the beach when my son discovered an unusually object by the piles of seaweed, I watched him examine it. On discovering no answers my son decided to break the object apart to discover what was inside. He spent 5 minutes trying to break it apart and on finally succeeding discovered that the object was rotten and we all had to leave the beach to get away from the horrible smell. The smell had not stayed at the beach but was now fully on my son. Inside the beach shack he had to shower and much to his disgust wash his hair. His clothes stank and needed instant washing. My mother –in –law was completely disgusted.

Apart from the smell I was amused. I had seen the object my son had found and thought it had been harmless and apart from the smell it still was. Take my son away from the city and his gaming machines like the Xbox 360 and in a short period of time he starts to discover the environment again, his natural curiosity comes into play and he begins to discover how God made things to work. I personally believe this to be a good thing, and often you will discover that many designs are first noticed by people who have explored the world God created and have adapted God’s designs into the modern world.

Have we discovered all there is to discover of what God has designed yet and the uses for these designs? I personally don’t believe we have yet. Will the children today who look to discover God’s designs today be unlocking the keys to mysteries today? Or will they be building great architectural designs of their times. Only the future will tell.

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

A successful secret to growing plants.

There are some traits we would love to be able to claim from our grandparents. Both my grandmothers were wonderful gardeners that had gardens that your imagination could run wild with. Sadly that gene has missed me. I love plants, and I have no trouble buying them and planting them the problem is quite simply I forget that they are there.

Over the last couple of summers in Adelaide we have had some of our plants die due to water restrictions and hubby desire to see which plants will last in the climate we now face. Plants can be watered by rain water tank, so I have decided that with my kid’s love of salads I would again try to plant vegetables. Last year we grew a few zucchini and cucumbers with hubby and the kids watering my plants. This winter I tried growing beetroots, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce and carrots. Most survived thanks to the rain although I did forget to weed out the carrots and we did not get to eat any broccoli or cauliflower. Feeling proud of my winter gardening achievements we have now undertaking growing strawberries, sweet corn, tomatoes, eggplant and capsicum.

But now we are wiser and have a fence around our little veggie patch to keep out the pest. The reason we did not get to eat any cauliflower was that the dog decided that he really liked the taste of the leaves and had pulled up and ate the plants before we knew what was happening. Only one broccoli grew and as the kids informed me a week ago actually was ready to eat, that was until I was outside with the kids looking at the broccoli deciding its fate, when the dog joined us and after a glance at us walked over to the plant and took out a big chunk and walked off happy with his meal. Our new successful secret to growing plants - Keep the dog away from them.

Sometimes in life we will start things that other will be happy to assist us with to see the final product. I thank God for my kids and hubby.

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Monday, October 26, 2009

Start Walking Again.

Yesterday I fell over. I seem to do this once a year. I guess it is part of my old co-ordination problem I had as a child. I knew I was about to fall, I registered in my brain that my feet were not walking right, and then I fell. I landed on my hands and knees. Annoyed with myself I got up, looked around and saw that I was by myself, now I had a problem – I was on my way to see the movie Julie & Julia with a friend, I could turn back and walk home, or I could continue walking and meet my friend at the cinema; I did not have time to change and start walking again. I decided to continue walking even thought I had nice green stains now on my knees.

Sometimes the hardest thing is to get up and keep going even as a Christian. The movie Julie & Julia show two women who in the end achieve more than they expected, even though along the way the both stumbled. Stumbling on our life journeys are just one of the hazards we face. For me personally understanding my importance to God and trying to keep my eyes focused on Jesus to get to where I am meant to be keeps me getting up and moving forwards again.

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Temptation - The Price to Pay

My husband was watching the movie ‘The price to pay’ or as it is known in France ‘Le Prix a Prayer’ the other night, he had not seen it before but I had, it is a movie which made me laugh. It is not a Christian movie, but it does demonstrate temptation in the movie. What I love about this movie is that the husband (Christian Clavier) has worked hard all his life so that his wife (Nathalie Baye) and his daughter (Anais Demoustier) can enjoy everything in life, until one day he has enough and realizes that his marriage is in bad shape turns to his chauffer (Gerard Lanvin) for advice. His chauffer has been living with his partner (Geraldine Pailhas) is tired of her wanting to spend time writing than spending time with him. The men devise a simple plan – cut off the money to the women and they will in turn come back to the men. What the men soon start to realize is that what sounds great in theory doesn’t always turn out the way we want it to.

With the money gone for the two women temptation comes as they struggle to deal with what the men are doing to them. The women react in different ways. The men so sure that the women will be back in there arms so quickly once the money is gone, go from one extreme to the other to prove their point.

Bottom line of this movie – Choose wisely who you get marriage advice from.

Proverbs 13:20 – He who walks with the wise grow wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Perfect

In my lead up to my wedding I wanted to look perfect. I wanted my hair perfect, my make up perfect, my dress perfect and even my hands perfect. Having organized and arranged everything I could do to get myself perfect for the big day, I felt secure in the knowledge that my wedding was going to be perfect. God had other ideas. Now I am not a perfectionist, it just that from a small age I had dreamed about this day. This was the day I would be a princess.

The day before the wedding my family and my future husband got into our cars and drove the thirty minutes to the church we had chosen to get married at – a simple thing or so I thought. Ten minute before we got to the church, my car had a flat tyre. In the car was my future husband, my sister and myself. We started to organize who would change the flat tyre, now my future husband was all set to change the tyre until he realized that he did not know how to work the jack. My sister just plainly refused on the grounds that she would get dirty; which left only me. I started getting the jack to work, when it happened, one of my false nails snapped off and flew into the surrounding country side. We fixed the tyre and meet everyone at the church for our wedding rehearsal.

At the wedding rehearsal I could not take my eyes off the one nail that was no longer perfect, at the end of the rehearsal as we went to leave; God whispered to me “Why do you have to be perfect?” The answer was easy – isn’t every bride on her day. God whispered again “I did not make you to be perfect. Do you think your future husband will love you less if you marry him without the false nail on your finger? Is this how you want to start your marriage? What happens after tomorrow; are you still going to be perfect?” I pulled my future husband aside and we talked for a little while and agree on one thing.

The next day I got married to my hubby and I was not perfect on that day, we had both agreed that I did not have to be perfect to marry my husband, and he thought that it kind of suited me. He loved the fact that neither of us had to bow to the pressure of having looking perfect on our wedding day. We enjoyed our wedding day and found ourselves going with the flow of the day.

Today having been married twelve years I am glad I chose not to be perfect on the day. God was right – You do not have to be perfect to get married.

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Sunday, October 18, 2009

A simple instruction.

It happens every time I wash the dishes. I just can’t help it. It enters my mind for only a fleeting of a second and then it is gone again. It happens just as I am about to start washing the dishes. I am suddenly in my grandparent’s kitchen (I call these grandparent’s Nana and Poppa) and I am about nine years old and it is my job to wash the dishes. The water is already in the sink and I have placed all the dishes near by into the water and my Poppa enters the room and a look of shock comes over his face. “You are not going to wash the dishes like that, are you?” I have no idea what I have done wrong as he starts to remove all the dirty dishes from the water. He empties the water out of the sink – not one dish has been washed. He quickly refills the sink with water and detergent and turns to me. “This is how you wash dishes. You first place in the glasses, because they are the least dirties out of all the dishes, and then you slowly place dirtier dishes in the sink after the glasses and mugs are done.” He stands by me as I follow his instructions. As quick as a blink of an eye the memory is gone and I am there in the present still following his simple instructions for washing dishes.

My poppa died when I was twelve and I have lots of memories of him, but this is the one memory that comes to mind the most. Over the years I have found that I agree with his simple instructions for washing the dishes. It is funny how today we still follow the simple instructions of the people God has placed in our lives as children. Memories of them can be found in the weirdest places and sometimes at the weirdest times. The bible states in Titus 2 about older people instructing younger people in life. My Poppa instructed me as a child in how to wash the dishes and it still has an effect on me 24 years later, image the effect we can have on our children today. When was the last time you instructed your children or grandchildren? Remember that sometimes the most simple of instructions can have a great impact.

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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

What I thought of Faith like Potatoes

I watched a man on the screen who was trying to keep his family and lifestyle of being a farmer together, he did what a lot of farmers in Australia and particularly the area I grew up in are doing now, shifting farming locations to survive and have a future for their families. Angus Buchan went from a house to a caravan and felt like his whole world was falling apart, his loving wife followed him and was determined to make a home out of whatever situation they now faced. The hardest thing for Angus was that he was learning that he was not in control of the situation he was in, but he was determined to try and control it. Anger, frustration and the feeling of approaching failure turned Angus from a loving husband and father into a man his own wife no longer recognized. When Angus turned to God and this was not what Angus himself was any where near wanting to do, his whole life changed and so did his belief about the life circumstances he was facing. Angus began to inspire everyone he touched and the movie show his journey of how God made him into the man he is today and also how God used him.

In Australia many farmers are facing times like Angus, but it is not only farmers who are facing times of financial uncertainty. There is a lot that we need to be reminded about in Angus’ story. It is an important message that we all need to see at least once to make us think about the life circumstances we face now. Now I will admit I did enjoy watching the movie ‘Faith like Potatoes’. But I am too much of a thinker and it has raised some questions which I would like to ask you.

Is it possible for God to use you like he used Angus?

Should we expect that every circumstance God will use as a sign of his power and favor?

Should Angus have left his family so much to spread God’s word?

How important was Angus’ wife?

Should people be happy about the way Angus was changed?

How much impact were the churches having into the life circumstances of the communities in which they belonged?

What sort of people did Angus impact?

Here is a preview of Faith like Potatoes.

To purchase the faith like Potatoes books and dvd

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Thursday, October 8, 2009

An easy and unique Christmas present.

We tend to have the same problem each year. My husband was at his wits end one year trying to think of what he could give his parents for Christmas. We had gone for a drive and I was trying to think up ideas that could help. The problem was that his parents have everything they could need, and even though you could buy something for their shack, they would tell you it was too good to use at the shack. We needed something for them and time was running out. It was a week before Christmas. I suddenly had an idea – I would do a scrapbook album for them of the kids. Hubby unsure but with no other idea agreed. I went out and brought and album, paper and crafty bits to place on the pages. I sat down and started to create a unique present – I had never scrapbooked before and was surprised at how easy it really was. I had a magazine to try to copy some of the ideas. I was there for about an hour when my eldest daughter, who was five at the time, came down and watched what I was doing; within five minutes she had put a page together with her photographs and wanted to do her own page, reluctantly I allowed her, only to watch her scrapbook half of the album with me. I now do scrapbooking at home with my two daughters. We finished the album and gave it to hubby’s parents for Christmas and they were thrilled and happy with their easy and unique homemade present.

Two nights ago I started to place this year’s scrapbooks together. I had spent Tuesday running around organizing my mother in laws photographs from her camera, when I realized it was time for me to also get my photographs organized for this year’s scrapbooking present. With the photographs now printed; my nine year old daughter and I have begun our scrapbook albums for this year. I make small scrapbooks so that they can be placed in a drawer, but I am no longer making one scrapbook but six. One for each family and Grandparents still alive including my own Grandmother. My family looks forward to their scrapbook presents, but I will admit I don’t go over board on making them as the children help me and I find they will use all the good stuff on one page if you don’t watch them. Most scrapbooking essentials can be found in a bargain (cheap) store and if children can put a page together anyone can.

HOW TO MAKE A CHEAP SCRAPBOOK.

You will need:
Photographs
Scissors
Brightly colored acid free paper
Double sided sticky tape
Lead pencil, pens and Texas
Eraser
Three paper sandwich bags
Stapler
Glue Stick

STEP 1
Take one of the paper sandwich bags and fold it so that the seal end nearly touches the open end of the bag and fold it. Get the next bag and place on the first bag. Move the sealed end two centimeters away from the other sealed end and fold, repeat with the last bag. Staple bags in place. You should end up with a book with defined pages that will give a hint of what is too come.
STEP 2

Cut and glue colored paper on to the pages. Cut and stick photographs on each page. Decorate around photographs. You can use store brought materials such as rub-on, or you can decorate your paper with different papers and draw designs on your paper – a novel idea could be to get your children to draw a small self portrait and put your favorite picture of them next to it. Remember to write down comments or describe what is happening on the scrapbook pages – spelling should not be an issue. Creativity is the key and neat writing in a straight line is not a rule when scrapbooking.

Most importantly have fun.

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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Words people want to hear.

Sometimes in life we need to hear certain words, sometimes it can be a simple “I love you.” Or “I am sorry.” But sometimes we feel lost for words and I recently found myself in such a situation. I found myself looking into the tear stained eyes of my children as they try to understand why their beloved family member has died, and I hear the anger in their voices about the world around them and especially at God, because after all if God made the world and is so powerful then why did this family member have to die. It is at times like these that I found myself at a loss for words.

I found the words to answer my children and I told my children these words; and they were happy with my response; so happy in fact that my daughter read these words from the Bible at her beloved Opa’s funeral. I would love to share these words with you now. These words let my children know that there is a time and a season for everything.

A time for everything.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

A time to scatter stones and time to gather them, at time to embrace and a time to refrain,

A time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

A time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

These words are from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 in the Bible.

If you are anything like me you will find yourself in one of these situations. God Bless you.

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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Beautiful and Glamorous: some people might think so.

Recently everywhere I went the same conversation kept coming up. It did not matter if it was on Facebook, or at my daughter’s netball game. When are your children; especially girls too young to wear make-up? A touch of lipstick is alright, but full foundation, blusher, lipstick, eye shadow, mascara and eye liner is that what is considered too be too much for five to ten year olds to wear. To make the discussions grow they even expected the boys to wear foundation and mascara. Our school was having its junior primary concert and our drama teacher had a vision of what she wanted to do. The production itself turned out to be a wonderful event, but the question still remains did they really need to wear so much make up?

The theory was that the children would look too pale on the stage area, a fact that some of us were unsure about as we had just done a dance production with our children who did the dance classes wearing only a touch of zinc cream on their faces and they looked fine. I now have a nine year old daughter who can now put on full make up by herself yet she is beautiful without any make up on. I found it hard to recognize my six year old with a full made up face. I can understand that some dance styles classes require their children to wear full makeup, but not everyone has their children in those types of dance classes. In high school drama classes boys are required to wear full make up, but they have chosen to do these classes. I have found myself not sure what to really make of this issue, I can see both sides, but I guess the real issue was that the parents did not have a say in whether or not they believed that their children at five to ten years of age needed the cosmetic enhancements to make them look beautiful and glamorous for a primary school concert. Not only was it a parental permission issue a lot of us had to go out and buy makeup for our children as we did not have the right color lipsticks, or our foundations were too pale, leaving us with makeup that we would most likely never use again.

I tell my daughter’s that they are beautiful nearly every day and I believe that they are, but I know that being beautiful and glamorous is not the most important lesson they can learn in life. I am reminded of Proverbs 31:30 which states ‘Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.' I would really love for my daughter’s beauty to continue to shine from inside out; not from the outside only.

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

How you can make a fishing cart for free

I horrified my husband quite recently so much so that yesterday we went to three fishing shops to look for this one item. My hubby loves to fish off the beach and has found he has been able to catch more fish off the beach than off the Jetty; the problem is that he has to carry what he wants normally around his neck and around his waist, which means he normally does not take a drink with him for three hours. A retired man at Moonta where we tend to fish has made his own fishing cart that he carries different rods for catching different fishes on. His cart is made out of a plastic big box with bicycle wheels attached to it. Now with my husband’s birthday coming up I decided that my son and I could attempt to make my hubby his own fishing cart; hence the sudden fishing shop expedition. At the second shop we found the only fishing cart that was made commercially, and it was definitely not what we were looking for when an idea came to our minds about how we could practically made a fishing cart for free.

Now the biggest problem we faced was that hubby wanted a secure wheel based structure for the fishing cart, which meant that we would have to have something welded up, my brother and dad are both farmers so that would not be a major issue, but having grown up on a farm and had a go at making the old go-cart as a child I was talking out loud to hubby about the different types of wheels that had been used in the past for go-carts when we both turned to each other and said “Did we throw out the pram?” Now our children are aged 11, 9 and 6 so we are past the pram stage, but there has been some of the baby items that we have kept being too slack to have a garage sale and not wanting to throw away something that is still good. We returned home and discovered that we did indeed have the pram and it was worth having a go to convert it into a fishing cart.

Step 1
Find a pram or stroller.

Step 2
Remove all the material and padding from the pram so that you can see the structure.

Step 3
Add an esky where the child used to sit. Place fishing rods on the front away from the handle so you don't get tangled up in them.

In the end it was free for us to make the fishing cart and so now I have One happy hubby who cant wait to try it out this weekend.

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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Imagine God carrying you

I first heard this poem when I was a teenager, and feel in love with it. It author is said to be unknown. It would at times be forgotten about and then suddenly found to help me gain new understanding for the moment. You name it and most Christian will instantly know it. I am of course referring to ‘Footstep in the sand’ but one day something occurred to me as I was with my children. If God can carry us in this poem, and I can carry my children does God ever have a hard time carrying me? Have you ever thought about the different ways you carry your children? Well this day I did as I had a grumpy child and it made me rethink about this poem.

When do you really carry your child? Often we can pick up a sleeping child and carry them close to our bodies, without the child realizing that we are carrying them. Can you imagine God carrying you like that? I can. What about when you have to get your child and pick them up suddenly because they are about to head in to danger, they don’t want you to pick them up, so they struggle to get out of your arms, there is no way they want to be in your arms, but there is no way also you are going to let them go. Can you imagine God carrying you like that? I can, and I believe I have given God a real hard time while I was being carried.

What about when you place your child on your shoulders just for fun and carry them high off the ground, their hands pulling your hair or moving all over your face. Can you imagine God carrying you like that? I can and I know how special I would feel.

Sometimes your child just runs into your arms; because there is no place that is more special than being in your arms and knowing you are loved. Can you imagine God carrying you like that? I can.

But sometime your child is so angry that they just won’t move and so to do what you have to do, you pick them up their bodies rigid in your arms, they refuse to look you in the eyes, and you are having a battle of wills. Can you imagine God carrying you like that? I can.

If you have ever carried a child you will know that it is not always a pleasant task, so the question I ask you today, if God is carrying you in which situation do you think you are in and just like us God will not let us go until we know that the times and situations we are in are safe, so sit back and allow God’s arms to surround you.

Here is the poem, I hope you enjoy it.

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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Would you be a refugee?

I got the six kids to lie down in the big tent, they thought that they could probably manage sleeping here, they were already aware that there would not be any electricity where the people who were really living in a make shift tent home in a refugee camp. Then the guide came in and told us that this tent would be the home of a family of twenty people. Now even with the six kids in my group the vision of twenty people sleeping in that one small area was astounding, outside the tent there were shoes made out of tires, toys made out of cans, the kids were able to hold and look at what the refugee’s made, when their attention was caught by the next display.

“Can you lift this 20 liter container?” well my son thought he could, the guide pointed to a landmark in the distance and inform the kids that people would walk that far with the container of water. My son informed her that he could walk to the fence and back carrying the container, and followed through with his statement; a girl in our group tried but did not make the distance. The kids listened to the guide as she explained how much water we use in Adelaide compared to the twenty liters the refugees got in a day. The reality that most people would not be able to wash often hit home, so the guide took us to see the toilets. The kids placed their feet on the indicated markings of the long drop toilet and imagined what it would be like to go to the toilet; she started to talk about the hygiene and the importance of washing your hands, when the kids realized that you don’t have toilet paper, well this raised a few questions and a scream of horror from the girls in our group when they were told that if someone was in hurry and did not remove the cover of the toilet it was not washed, it just stayed there.

At the medical side of the display, one showed us how they tested for malaria, and what other diseases was a danger to people in refugee camps, another showed how medicines were transported to the places that they were needed, and the different type of boxes they used to transport the medicine. We were informed of how many immunizations they gave in a four month period, the number was astounding. We visited the cholera tent and were shown the beds with the hole for diarrhea, the guide went to show us another toilet when another guide lay down on a stretcher pretending to have cholera; let me just say this I would be very surprised if any of my group of kids became doctors or nurses.

All in all it was an interesting experience – my son comment was great and funny – there was a lot of toilet humor, but what can you expect from a group of eleven year olds. Please watch the clip below to find out what I experienced with my group of six kids for a school excursion.

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Monday, September 21, 2009

A lesson in Responsibility

I never expected to teach my daughters a lesson about responsibility this way, but it happened all the same. I have been trying to teach my children to take small step in them being responsible for their lives and like most parents I thought that it was going in one ear and out the other. Last year I finally gave into my daughter’s requests to get their ears pierced. I had not bothered too much about getting their ears pierces as the house tends to claim objects about that size. But after two years of my oldest daughters begging I thought that maybe it was time

Christmas holidays were coming up and I had discovered that year that you can no longer cover up earrings with band-aids when playing netball, so I this was the perfect time for my eldest daughter to get her ears pierced and while we were at it I might as well do my other daughter before she started playing netball too. We found a place to get their ears done and they bravely sat through the procedure. They proudly showed off their earrings to family and friends and this is where I learnt the lesson that my daughters were different in how they viewed being ready responsible for having their ears pierced. You see while my youngest daughter at six loved the idea of earrings and wore the first pair for the recommended six weeks, she didn’t like the hassle of take out her earrings and getting new earrings put back in their place. Her older sister on the other hand, was ready for responsibility of having her ears pierced and has taken responsibility for not just her earrings, but to remember to put them back in after her netball games.

As we come up to a year after getting my daughters ears pierced I have learnt that my eldest daughter has more of an idea of what she wants and will take the responsibility of looking after what will go with it. She enjoys shopping for different kinds of earrings. My youngest is aware that she was not so ready for the responsibility of earrings and is eager to try again in a few more years when she feels that she is really ready. It is a hard thing to know when your child is truly ready to take responsibility and are prepared to do what has to be done with it. But when they do they are taking an important growing up step and one that children need to encounter. It is funny how these little simple steps are shaping us for the future.

If you are interested in learning more about letting your child take responsibilities and allowing your children to take the next step in their life journey you may like want to take a look at this clip.

I have done his DVD series called BOUNDARIES WITH KIDS with friends and they loved it. You can also purchase the Books.

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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Thursday, November 12, 2009

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Monday, September 21, 2009

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