Answered prayer

We got offered a College unit and are very, very happy.

Today I was walking along, and for the first time in ages I noticed again the roses that line the walkway from the station to the church.

Why is it that when I'm happy, things that make me happy appear everywhere?

Why is it that when I"m not I don't even notice them?

Curious.

love B

Dealing with uncertainty

I hate uncertainty.

I hate it with a passion.

Most of the time i deal with it, following my mothers advice and trying to see it as "an adventure".

Most of the time I tell myself that God is in control and that even if I don't know what is going to happen, God does and that should bring me comfort.

Most of the time I can cope with it.

Not yesterday.

Yesterday I spent the whole day stressing, assuming that it would be the day we would find out if College had a place for us to live next year. You see, they don't have enough for everyone, so you apply- write a letter about your circumstances and hope for the best.

I spent the whole day stressing, until I got the call from Tim saying that they couldn't tell us yet.

It's not just the housing thing. It's everything. So much uncertainty. In everything. My future plans always start with: "If this happens, then this". I hate it. And I couldn't cope.

I woke up this morning. Tim's sister and her husband were staying with us. It was fun. They really like the place that we live. I felt a bit better.

I was so stressed about where we would live when we first moved up. And this place has been a huge blessing.

(Sigh)

I hate uncertainty. Please God help me to keep trusting you through it. Amen

Update

Well, well, well- this blog has been pretty low on my priorities these last few weeks!

In fact, I keep toying with the idea of canning it- as the reality of things like blogs is- if you don't write regularly people stop reading, and when people stop reading...then motivation to write gets a little low. But I think I'll keep it up, for those of you who still read it, and in the hope that one day I might actually get into the habit of writing more, I'll get more people reading it, and so on.

What's been happening?
MELBOURNE!!! Times Two in fact.

Our trip down to Melbourne was lovely. Absolutely lovely. To give you a sense of how good it was, Tim had been talking it down for weeks, because he knew that often when I look forward to something I get such high expectations that when it happens I'm bound to be disappointed. But not this time. Melbourne was so much better than I expected.

It wasn't hectic, or at least, I didn't find it hectic! By other people's standards it might have been seen to been a tad people heavy! But it was perfect for me. We had some great catch ups with friends, we had some lovely family time, and we had some lovely Tim and Belinda time- including a trip down to our old favourite haunt: The Snooty Fox.

A personal highlight for me was a small but significant one. Some of our dear friends in Melbourne are a couple that got married two weeks before us, and who went to church with us for many years, and who we used to spend a great deal of time with. They have two kids, a 3 year old and a one year old- and I was a little worried that after 8 months their three year old daughter Luella wouldn't quite remember us, (just one of the prices that you pay for moving interstate and not visiting as often as you like). But while Luella was a little shy when she saw me at church, when we came to their house, she was in the bath and wanted to see me so she began to yell out across the house "BBBBEEEEELLLLIIIIINNNNDDDDDAAAA, BBBBEEEEELLLLLLIIIIIINNNNNDDDDDDAAAAAA!" So cute and very nice to know even our littler friends haven't forgotten us!

The week back was hard for various reasons, one of them being I was home sick. Tim was also stressed about his essay he had due the following Tuesday.

But bless is cleverly-hidden-until-now-academic-side, Tim has an amazing capacity to write essays very fast. He began actually writing late on Sunday and still had 2500 words to go on Monday morning. He got home at 2 and started work. One minute he was planning on missing class on Tuesday to hopefully finish it off, the next minute he was suggesting I proof read he work. He got it done so early we could spend the evening watching Stargate Atlantis. My clever, clever boy!

And then, then it was off to Melbourne to see my Sainters take on Geelong- thanks to my incredibly generous parents. It was a lovely family time- as Dad had been away two weeks before, and our time with Mum had been limited to breakfast at the airport before she joined him! It was a fantastic game- with a not so fantastic result. As Tim reminded me though, as I dejectedly dissected the game, in a world (or city at least) where sport is the main idol, it is great to have a relationship with the real God that puts everything in perspective.

And, funnily enough, after an Afternoon in the rain and cold, I find myself sick at home with the first proper cold I've had all year.
So that has been the last m0nth.
Prayer points: Please pray I get better, pray I have a productive forward thinking time as I work through the school holidays (no formal programs so good time to prepare for the term/year ahead). And pray that I trust God with my health, my future and my job.
And Thank him for a fantastic time in Melbourne
love B

48 hours

Before I go to Melbourne:

-I need to cook dinner for 11 tweens/teens/us

-I need to shave my legs

-I need to take 9 teens/tweens to the movies

-I need to drop one teen off home

-I need to clean the house

-I need to clear out the fridge of perishables

-I need to dress for a wedding

-I need to buy a birthday present for my sister-in-law and her husband

-I need to empty the bin

-I need to go to a wedding, help set up flowers, and go to the reception.

-I need to send 3 work emails

-I need to do a load of washing

-I need to pack

-I need to sleep at least twice!

-I need to get up at around 5:30 to be ready to catch a plane at 7am

I need to do all these things. But before I do, I'm going to spend half an hour reading a book. I don't know if I have time.
But I don't care.

I really need to.
love B

Writing Update

I've discovered a new way to write. On the train.

In many ways its an old way to write. In a box, that sits under two other boxes in the study, are notebooks filled with writing done on the trains, years and years ago. But until a few weeks ago, writing my novel on the train wasn't something I thought to do.

Now I love it. I love it because it's otherwise bludging/reading MX time and so its not like the "I'm too busy" excuse can come out. And I love it because work has been a tad stressful of late and so having something fun and engaging to keep me occupied on the train when I could be stressing puts a really lovely spin on the working day.

But one of the best benefits is that on the train I spend more time writing than reading- and so I get allot of new stuff done.

When I sit down on the computer to write, inevitably I find myself reading over what I've already done. And fixing it up. And reading some more. And getting sucked into the story.

This might seem weird (as I wrote the thing), but just like I love re-reading old books, i actually enjoy the journey back into my world, and reliving the events again. In fact, I'm ashamed to admit it, but when I'm on the computer I read a great deal more than I write. It means keeps getting edited, which is good. It means that sometimes I get discouraged if I read a bit I don't like as much- which can sometimes lead to weeks on end where I think I can't write so I don't.

I'm getting better at fighting this discouragement. It's been helpful hearing that other writers feel this way. And I try to push myself to think "Okay, it's sounds bad, how can I make it better?" And the editing process starts me thinking again, "Maybe I can do this".

I remember the first time I really, really began to think I could do this.

When I first started my story, it was something of an amusement to Tim. All I told him was some names of the characters, and a few tiny aspects of the story- which was probably a bad idea as in hindsight most of the names were pretty bad, and most of the things I told him were pretty amusing in their infant stage.

So Tim would tease me whenever I would write. Not in a bad way, in a very funny way. But he definitely didn't take that seriously what I was doing, and quite frankly I wasn't taking it seriously myself.

One day I was working on my prologue. The prologue was the first thing I wrote when I felt like doing some fiction writing and so dusted off an old idea for a fantasy novel from a few years previous. It was the setting of the political and historical scene of the nation. And even after re-reading it over, and over again, I've made very few changes and I still think it's good.

One day I was reading it (again). Tim was in the study. Previously I hadn't let him read anything. He would be nice and supportive whatever he thought, but I would see right through him if he didn't like it. I was scared. But this day I decided I would actually read it to him.

So I read the Prologue.

Tim's response was to be quiet for a second. Then he said "You know, I think you could actually write this thing and get it published"

That was the moment that we both started taking my writing seriously.

That was the moment the dream began.
love B

Psalm 51:16-17

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

What an amazing God we have, who deserved everything, who we have treated with such disdain.

Yet what sacrifice does he require? What do we need to present to him?

Only our broken and contrite hearts
He will not despise

Praise God!
love B

Adopting a 23 year old male

Last Monday Tim and I adopted a 23 year old male.

Of course- that's not really what happened. Our friend was moving to Sydney for work- and asked if he could stay with us until he found a place to live. But to me it feels like we've adopted him.

There are real pluses to adopting one at such a late stage in life. He has already been house trained- he is a firm believer in the concept that the one who cooks shouldn't be the one to do the dishes (which as a the family cook I greatly approve of), and every time i turn my back- another surface has been whiped down. He's also a firm believer in Christ- which is a great encouragement to Tim and I as we've been prividged to witness God's work in his life from a baby Christian when we met him- to one of the most enthusiastic Christians you will ever see.

It's will be a big adjustment for Tim and I. We are so used to it being just us- so little things like having to get properly dressed before leaving our room, and having to share a television are very foreign concepts! But it is exciting too. Tim preached recently on 1 Peter 4 (have I mentioned recently that my husband is the best preacher in the world) and we were both challenged by the call to "Offer hospitality without grumbling". And a few weeks later- that is what we are doing!

Please pray that we will "offer hospitality without grumbling", that our friend will find a spiritual and physical home up here soon, and that through it all Tim and I will still have the "quality time" we need together.

Oh, and did i mention "FOUR WEEKS UNTIL WE ARE DOWN IN MELBOURNE. YAY!"
love B