mau pulaaaang!!!

A quote absolutely nothing to do with this blog post:

"Steff, Sammy, block your ears, you're good little Christian girls and won't want to hear this." - My friend Kerri.

Be in the world but not of it?

Last night I had the best dream. I was doing my prac in Pinnaroo, and it was with the grade I wanted, and I was doing a really good job.

I woke up at 6, the aim was to get on top of some homework. Went to bed at 9:30, but was pretty insomnic.

I have been really home sick lately. I only got one week off, and I stayed in Bendigo. I really want to go and see my dog (Trav you'd like him. I hate dogs but he's a big old gorgeous lab), and my mum. Spend some time out in the abundant green open spaces. Refresh myself with some time away from Bendigo.

And then it hit me, I could go home and do my prac there in two weeks time.

My idea was to go to the prac office that day and tell them that I wanted to go to Pinnaroo or Murrayville. There's such a demand for prac places in Bendigo, I thought that they'd love me. And besides, last time I checked, I was still unconfirmed for my school.

Going home had its down sides though. I know God wants me in Bendigo. I know that there's stuff he is wanting me to do and be involved in. I'd also miss my best friends 21st, which almost made me cry at the thought of that.

So I knew I needed to pray about this. I prayed that if I was still unconfirmed when I got to uni, I would go to the prac office and tell them my idea.

I called my mum, got the phone numbers, discovered South Australia are still on school holidays. Walked to uni listening to compliments of gus, my first ever christian CD! Oh the memories of the young and wild days! (Anyone remember when you could download their music for free on gush??)

Got to uni and after 15 minutes of waiting we realised class had been cancelled. So what was supposed to be a 9am start turned into an 11am start - I could have slept in! With this I headed for the education building to discover my faith - 3 weeks in Bendigo or Pinnaroo?

I took a deep breath as I opened the education door, scanned the list of 190 students, to find that my name, was in fact, highlighted. My place in the small school on the outscurts of Bendigo, had indeed been confirmed overnight. I ripped up the peice of paper for Pinnaroo, and went and informed my friends of my fate.

So that's a nice little story for you. As for going home, at this stage I plan to go home during swot-vac. If they plan an Indonesian catch up day, I'm not going!

mau tiduuuur.....................!~

I'm soo tired.. It has been non stop since 7am this morning, including a meeting and then church, lunch, dishes, washing and homework, and I still need to live through church tonight and even possibly go out after that. Well that's my incentive.

I really wish I could drink coffee right now.. grrr.

I slept in a nice warm bed last night. When I first got in it had a really rough texture to it because of the fleecey underlay. So I just wanted to report that all that extra stuff has made my bed much warmer :)

At the moment I'm writting an essay in Indonesian, comparing and contrasting people in the Amish and Australian communities. Yeah, fun.

I think a power nap is in order!

mau mati hari ini?

Well, after I finished my last blog post, I decided it was time for lunch. I searched through what food we had, and what would take the least amount of cooking for the busy day in front of me. I found some frozen hash browns, and began to cook them on the George. Little did I know, the cord had become stuck between the plates.

While this was happening, I was still really frustrated about the fact that I really wanted soup, and couldn't find my can opener. I searched and searched through the drawers, and eventually found it with the small spoons in the top drawer. I was very happy, and opened the can, put the contents in the saucepan, and began to cook my soup.

Now by this time, the hashbrowns were almost cooked, so I put a bit of pressure on the george, when suddenly, BANG! This huge fireball emerges from the george. I immediately turned it off at the power point, freaked out, and got advice from Steff. It ended with me armed with two wooden spoons getting the plug out of the powerpoint. It's still sitting there with the hashbrowns still in it.

So that was a near death experience. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if the outcome was worse, how long it would take for someone to realise I'm not around.

I got this George for my mum for her birthday in 2005. She really liked it, however, was constantly frustrated because it was too small to cook her and Jess a decent meal. But she really liked the concept, so she went to the city and brought herself a BIGGER George, and gave me the small George. Being a uni student I happily took him in. There have been many fun days since then. We cooked steak together, we even cooked fritz together. There were many happy days of toasted sandwhiches and I even made Steff lunch on there once. Sigh.

So what will I do with George now? I think either a burial service in my back yard (lots of dirt and no garden), or maybe I could make him into an expressive form of abstract art?

Good bye George, I will miss you. Rest in peace.

In other news, I may be going back to Indonesia July this year!

bulu-bulu

In recent news:

Yesterday, in PE, we were trying to make a rain scene using clapping and clicking. Three of us were remeniscing about the time we did it at Youth Alive. The funny part about that is that those two were in Melbourne, and I in Adelaide. We're all connected in the great circle of life?

Last night for tea I was going to have soup. However it seems that the can opener has gone missing. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it!!

In other news, I changed my bed sheets today (hear the crowd go wild). When selecting new bed sheets from the abundance of which resides at this house thanks to my lovely mother, I found all of these really warm bed items. Now when I moved to victoria, my mum thought I would freeze, and geared me up with all of this stuff. However I have never used it, because I used to not feel the cold. I think it's just me that feels the cold, because my housemate is always saying how silly I am that I'm so cold. So now I have extra bed linen (including a very RETRO sheet) with some leesy underlay thing. I'll trial it tonight and report if it's any warmer ;)

And yes, I am fully aware it's only April

newspaper mama

OH MY GOSH!!!! PETER COMBE!!! I SO WANT TO GO!!!!

joining the frog club..

In the last few weeks, my friend Spatch blogged about 'Why I am a frog'.

I love Spatch, and Steff a great deal. They are two of my closest friends. But I don't want to be like them this much!

I usually love the winter. One of my motives for moving to Bendigo was for the colder climate. But this year I am finding myself to be continuouslly cold, and it's only April! That said I do love winter over summer any day.

I'm trying to work out why I'm so cold. My housemate (Melbourne girl) is always telling me I'm mad because I'm so cold when she runs around in a t-shirt and shorts. Maybe I've climatised to Bendigo weather, but wouldn't that mean I'd be ok with this weather? I know that to a degree that I have - the air in Pinnaroo is so dry my skin dries out! My only other self-diagnosis is that I am iron-deficient, or that I have lost weight and therefore have less insulation on my body.

But am I a frog? Spatch defined a cold frog as "someone who hates, and avoids, the feeling of being cold" (Tilley 2007) . I don't think I'm quite there... yet.

lost in Adelaide

Do you ever have a dream so scary that it disrupts your entire day?

I had a really frightening dream last night...

I somehow ended up in Adelaide in the early hours of the morning, and I was alone and really scared. I was having a really massive panic attack about where I was, what I did or didn't have in my posession. It was roughly five AM and I was lost in the city, in the darkness.

I began to scream, and for some reason, my mum was in Adelaide too and walked around the corner. I asked her to help me, but she told me to stop making such a scene, that I was making her look bad. We then came to the decision that I should catch the bus out to the Adelaide Hills so my auntie could come and get me and I stay with her. I then began looking for a bus as the sun was coming up. That's where the dream ended.

I'm not usually the one to have nightmares. I have my fair share of bizarre dreams - my friends all know this, because often when I see them in the morning the first thing I say is, "oh I had this dream last night..." But to actually have a nightmare is really odd for me, and to have one that has made my day feel so awful is also bizarre.

After the nightmare I couldn't sleep. It was about 4:30am and my mind felt really troubled. In a bizarre twist, before I went to sleep I had just messaged a friend telling her about how well I had slept the past few nights. All I could do was pray, quote scripture, take the thoughts captive, etc.

Has anyone else had such a bad dream like this before?

the active and the passive...

Now that I have your attention, Steff, this post is actually not about grammar...

This morning I was walking to uni, trying to figure out what I was really doing with my life, where I would end up when I graduate, when suddenly, this blue station wagon pulled out of a driveway. This station wagon was driven by a middle aged woman, and the passengers were and three younger children, obviously on their way to school.

She had the window hardly open and was smoking, these kids would have surely been inhaling second hand smoke. I felt so sorry for them, in fact it broke my heart. I know it's a parents choice in how they treat their children, but in the same way, I couldn't help but think about these poor children.

And immediately I was reminded of the harsh reality I live in. This day and age where children are abused, not only physically, but emotionally and mentally. It's something we've been learning about in our Health classes this week, that problems in childhood can lead to problems in adult hood. I was indeed thinking about this the other day on why these days there are so many people are diagnosed with depression. A friend replied with the response 'abuse of the mind'.. I cant help but think they were right.

And so while thinking about all of this in this instance this morning as the blue stationwagon headed for the traffic lights, I couldnt help but feel this sense of the fact that I am in a position that I can change the world in. I am at uni being equipped with skills to make a positive influence on these kinds of kids. And ultimately I believe that there is this ultimate higher power behind me, and that is the empowering of the Holy Spirit! I just need to surrender myself to that.. I know that there are several more hurting families and children in this city, that are abused, that are told they are worth nothing, but I want to tell them that there is a God who loves them, that God can heal their broken hearts!

mungkin nanti

This week I have discovered not only that I need to be more productive in the little time that I have, but also that I really enjoy Indonesian pop music. It makes me want to go back so much!!

This week I have listened to a song with the phrase 'pekat malam'.. Now I knew malam meant night, but I did not know what pekat malam meant. I knew it meant 'thick', but thick night!? So then after enquiring through my kamus (dictionary) and clarifying my Indonesian lecturer (native Indonesian lady). She looked at me confused as I asked her, paused for a moment, told me "a dark night", and asked why I asked such a question. The look on her face was gold.

So that was fun. If you want to hear some Indonesian pop music, go on myspace.com and music search for either peterpan or ungu.

a wedding with a side of eggs

Today I saw Karen and Steve finally get married. I can't believe the wedding is all over, after the big count down! Karen looked so beautiful!

After that, Spatch and I went to rivers.

And then after that, I got to my car to realise someone had egged it (I think it has been like it for a while, possibly done while I was at the movies on wednesday night). Probably a target because it's South Australian..

Car wash's arent cheap and we're in a drought!

Not so many people live in SA after all...

So get this.

A friend of mine in the same course as me is doing her schools based practicum this year in Adelaide.

It turns out her supervising teacher is a relative of mine.

It also turns out that I have a friend who used to go to this school.

But wait there's more... it also happens to be the school Guy Sebastian went to.

Small world. Seems that we're all connected in the great circle of life after all.

higher?

So they have christian aerobics now.. what next? It seems limitless the amount of 'christian product' out there lately.

When I first saw this I laughed so hard I cried. I tried it out, and because I am so unfit it actually gave me a work out. It was fun to laugh at myself. Maybe I'll start up a Bendigo Christian Aerobics club at lake Weeroona?

Oh the rediculous things you find on you tube!

Confessions of a South Australian drama queen

I thought I'd better clear things up over an anonymous comment posted on my blog in regards to my over-dramatised obsession with my state.

"Why do you live here if you hate us so much?" asks a very good friend of mine. Good question. And my answer is, I don't hate you. In fact, why would I live in Victoria? Did you know that even if I DID have the marks to get into uni in Adelaide, Bendigo was my first preference? Why? Because, I felt this, drawing, longing, to come to this utterly bizarre town, and also the course structure and subject range seemed more appertising than that of Adelaides. I know that God wants me here in Bendigo, and I also know that He put me in this course for a reason.

I like to embrace my South Australianism. I like it that I'm that bit more different, it makes my world that bit more interesting. I do understand that I often do get a little carried away, in fact, some of my accent can be a little 'over-dramatised' Adelaide style at times. I'm not sure if even some of the words I say I'm pronouncing correctly, but I just think that if it works for one word, wouldn't it work for another?

And of all places, moving to Bendigo, where they speak over-dramatised victorian, that being with things like Pall Mall - wha??

Being South Australian makes me feel different. It makes me feel special. But I know that if I had ran out of options and was forced to move back to Adelaide, I'd probably turn into a victorian.

But South Australia definately has it's flaws. And because of them, I am here in victoria. And if everything actually goes to plan, I plan to stay here in victoria as long as I'm in this country. This state is much more.. progressive.

Even a friend said to me the other day "I love it that you're South Australian!" I think that's so they can pick on me with "I demand an answer!", and on the weekend I had some kids throw a ball at me because I was South Australian. Hmrph.

My mum was Victorian, my dad was South Australian. I must just be confused :P

I hope this is enough justification, dear anonymous commenter. I am sorry if I came across as how you described, I did not mean it, and meant it all in good fun. Please forgive me.

Anyway, the answers to the quiz. This quiz was designed after I read some interesting statements in an article and apparently we say things different, and wanted to see if anybody had any idea, or if the statements were true.

1. Pusher. We call them prams as well, but I grew up knowing them as pushers. Steff rested my mind that they call them pushers here too.

2. Yes it's a sparrow, but the answer I was looking for was Spoggie! That's some South Australian slang!

3. Cristop was right. So was Steff. Actually all the answers were right, but I was looking for the SA link to them. A terrace is a street. I read in the article that terraces only existed in SA, and I thought for a minute, looked at a Bendigo map, and couldnt see terraces anywhere! I was convinced, and thought, wow, how posh are we! But then my housemate reminded me that Bendigo actually has Lyttleton Terrace, and like Steff said 'The terrace'.. damn. Thought I was unique for a sec.

4. Peanut paste. I was living with another South Australian on res last year, and he was making some satay stir fry. Anyway he sent this girl down to the local IGA with a list of things, and on this list was "peanut paste".. Now she got to the supermarket and didn't have a clue what it was, and was looking all around the supermarket for this peanut paste! She came home with a packet of peanuts.

5. Steff was right except they only exist in South Australia, and yes, us weirdos do associate them with the word stobie. And it's not a nonsense word, it's the sername of the men who created them.

Switch ~ simplemindedness? How is any of this making anything simple ;)

< so what do you think I call one of these??

I'm South Australian, but that's ok, God loves me anyway!! (in-joke.. except it's true)


So anybody who wants to discuss this further can meet me at polites (mysterious buildings every interstate visitor always has to ask about) half an hour ago!

References:

• South Australia - 'Kind of different'?
• It's time South Australia was fenced off from the rest of us

get together

Introducing Sammy's newest time wasting hobby - redesigning free uni postcards.

This was inspired by something I think a lot about. We gotta stick together! Prayer is so powerful! And ever so powerful when you pray together!!

the power of my prayers are more powerful than my car!

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. - Romans 12:14

Last night I was on my way to Elizabeths party, and I was driving up a hill. Now my car is a 1.6 power corolla, and it doesn't like hills very much, so often if I don't get a good run up (in this instance this was the case because it was at traffic lights) my car will do roughly 40kmph up the hill (if that).

Anyway so I'm at this hill, and my car is doing exactly that. Slow, slow, slow, when suddenly a P plater car zoomed up beside me (the lane beside me was ending), over-took me and almost took me out! They then zoomed out in front of me giving me the 'finger'. I didn't even know these people!

Now usually I'd be like, "agh victorian P-platers, who do they think they are!!", but I thought, no, I'm gonna pray for them, they need it ;)

So that was fun, and I'm gonna do that for every P-plater hooligan I see now.

Hope this little story has inspired you to pray for your enemies :)

grace that blows all fear away...

The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe. - Proverbs 29:25

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:34

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. - John 8:32

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “ For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:28-39

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. - Romans 12:1-2

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. - 1 corinthians 10:13

casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ - 2 corinthians 10:5 (ooh yeah!)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. - Phillipians 4:4-9

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. - Collossians 3:1-2

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
- 2 Timothy 1:6-7

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly “ The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” - Hebrews 13:5-6

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. - James 1:2-4

Cast all your anxieties onto the LORD, for He cares about you!!! - 1 peter 5:7

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. - 1 John 4:18-19





These are great! There is so much power in God's Word! I need to keep telling myself that

sucked in?

Romans 12:2 - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (NKJV)

I was checking out an old friend's blog (hey Bec!) and all of the interesting things she has on the side when I came across churchmarketingsucks.com. Things like this always interest me, and I decided to take a look.

It got me thinking (actually there has been a lot of thinking about this recently) on how much the church in the western world conforms to this 'marketing'. I guess it's almost like making church appealing to unbelievers, stooping down to the worlds standards to make church look great.

And while we are decorating and polishing and making things shiny, I think that we are forgetting one thing..

Where has the power of God gone?

We can make things as material as we like, but if God's not there, and if He's not in control.. what's going to happen? Are people attracted to the shininess or God's spirit? Are they going to be living in the fact that it's cool, or because of Jesus? hmmmm..

This easter it will mark the 6 year anniversary of the day I decided to follow Jesus. And with all this I started thinking about why I made the decision at the time. I wasn't anywhere fancy. I was at this unitinf church camp at a beach called Robe in South Australia, with a few guys from Pinnaroo, and other various other people in the South East.

I had been there over easter, and I was probably the most rebelious, furtherest from being saved person ever. The last night of the camp (what is it with last nights of camps being 'so spiritual'?) was when I decided to let Jesus into my life. This man spoke with such a power, like an anointing. It wasn't just emotion. But every heart was just drawn to God and what he was saying. I knew that I needed God, and I could feel just this tugging at my heart. You could feel the hunger of everyone in the room. The guy told us that if we wanted to invite Jesus into our heart, with every eye closed, we walk up the front. EVERYONE on this camp stumbled over the chairs with their eyes closed and raised their hands toward heaven and bawled their eyes out. Myself included, except I didn't cry. Which I found bizarre, because I used to think I wasn't properly 'saved' because I didn't cry. I was just shaking, uncontrolably trembling at the spirit of God.

The point of that story pretty much was that I was attracted to God because of His presensce. I had such a hunger to leave my life of sin, I wanted the renewing. Someone even said to me that night, "your life will never be the same again.." They were too right.

I think people half expected 'the christian thing' to be just one of my 'phases'.. Like the retro phase, the Sammy airways phase.. nuh uh!

I got thinking about this renewing power of christ. It's so powerful. I was a wreck before I decided to follow Jesus, going down fast in the world of high school worldliness and conformity. I even got thinking about what my life would be like if I hadn't of followed christ, I don't think I would be a good citizen. But that's the power of christ! And it constantly transforms me day after day after day given that I let Him.

I had my own struggle with shininess. After this amazing experience at Robe I had to go home and face non christian parents and friends, "what will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak?" - DC talk. I had to deal with the struggles of living hours away from anywhere, and having no way to get there. Luckily I was blessed by a very strong youth leader who has influenced me so greatly (it only takes ONE person) and has played a definate part in who I am today. Living in Pinnaroo was a struggle. It took perseverence. It took the power of God. In fact I want to take a whole bunch of my Bendigo friends back with me so you can see how small and desolate it is and be amazed (I think there's a lack of comprehension sometimes, Pinnaroo is probably barely a quater the size of Castlemaine and in the middle of nowhere. And I'm not exaggerating)!

Back to my shiny struggle, sometimes I would get to go to some really cool events in Adelaide from time to time and that was really awesome to get different culture. But as a crazy teenager, I was drawn in by a lot of cool things there, get back to Pinnaroo and be so discontent with what I had. I just wanted to move to the city and be where the cool christians were. I felt like I needed this to be complete, and suddenly I was critical of the power filled hymns the old ladies sang at church. Suddenly I wanted to get guitarists, drum players in and make my church this rocking place! But I soon realised that my motives behind this were all wrong. I just wanted to 'fit in'. Hello? We are called to be set apart! Be in the world, but not of it! Sammy you crazy girl, what are you doing?

It's not to say God can't use big churches, however I think christians some times need to be encouraged that God doesn't just work there. God can work with very little. His word says that where there is two or three people are gathered in His name He will be in the midst of them (Matt 18:20). Two or three people!! That's not many! What are we waiting for? God is ready to work when you let Him!

I hope my stories have encouraged you. This isn't an attack at any particular church or denomination, but just an observation of western churches really.

screaming sanity on a Friday morning

So I've changed my timetable so that sometimes (not always) I have class on Friday morning. This is really cool because I get to spend this time with my best friend Steff and my housemate Claire, and also I function better at 10 after no classes rather than at 12 after 2 hours of classes. It's also good because there aren't 50 people in the one class, and my lecturer will probably now give me an A because I swapped into the smaller class (haha I wish!)

The class we do is PE, and I actually don't mind it. Today we made an obstacle course and ran around. Then we did some skipping which was fun, but I was really unco and usually messed up the whole routine. It was fun none the less. I was running around crazy, and having so much fun I couldn't breathe! Then a girl called Ange did some line dancing with us which was hilarious. Ange will make a great teacher! It was the best fun..

And then..

We ran around screaming!

Claire went first, then Steff, then me, but I didn't get very far, because the screaming was so hilarious I cracked up laughing! (the objective is to see how far you can run while screaming, and when you stop screaming, you stop running. It's like a race! It's fun. You should play it some time.)

So that's how they teach us to become teachers.

Usually I hate PE. But I think a recent change in lifestyle has helped me a lot.

I was never the one to do any type of physical exercise. In the last few years, the most I would get was the walk to uni every morning (I lived on campus) and even then sometimes Steff would drive me home (not leaving campus).

This year I moved off campus. Luckily I still am in walking distance to uni, but it is about 4 blocks away up some very steep hills, which gives me plenty of exercise. I usually walk every day. I eat a lot better because I often share food with Claire. And I am seeing results.

Just last week (or the week before) some 'parents' (not mine, just some at church) said to me that I was looking so much healthier, radiating with life, and that even my skin looked better! And today in PE I was constantly hitching up pants that four months ago were almost too tight!

The results haven't just been physically, but also emotionally, and mentally. I think I am doing better academically (now just need to get over the procrastination). And it's like Maslow's hierarchy of needs, when these things are in place, we will probably function better spiritually. Well, I think that may be the case for me. And that's not to say that you wont without fulfilling needs. I have no scripture here. Don't listen to someone who doesn't back up what they say without evidence :P (I'm the evidence?)

God gave me a body. He gave me free will. The choice whether to neglect it, or to actually make a difference and make it more effective (durable). I think that God wants me to take care of what I've got. I was sick of feeling so yuck. And I'm glad I started doing something about my health!

Thankyou God for steep hills! (never thought I'd say that!)

Like those hills are hard, if you keep persevering, you can conquer them!

How to get through a 2 hour literacy tute in the late afternoon on a thursday

Act like a 5 year old.

(sometimes you just have to 'be like the child'.. thank goodness for that, it keeps me sane)

strange things I do when I'm sick

Be utterly emo and cry because I can't stay at uni because I am so sick - if only I could be this motivated every day!
Change my timetable to have 2 hours of class on friday (don't worry Spatch it's not gonna clash), which would normally be a day off! Oh and did I mention the class is PE!? Haha,
Actually be very academic.
Say rather stupid things.

Chicken soup for a sick little Sammy...

From soup

I went to the airshow on saturday at Avalon Airport (which is near Geelong, which is near Melbourne, for my interstate readers - and I am yet to properly blog about it). I just happened to go on the coldest day of March, and I was stupid enough to not rug up enough, and the weather was a bit cold and miserable, but despite that, it was the best day ever that I'd been counting down since february.

Because of my stupidity, I have become very sick. I was like a zombie at church on sunday. I didn't go to uni on monday, missing three hours of class. Yesterday (tuesday) I went to two hours out of five hours of class, falling in a heap by lunch time, and bawling my eyes out because I just wanted to persevere and stay at uni. My friends wouldn't buy it, and insisted I go home.

I got home and was feeling rather miserable and depressed, sitting in the lounge room watching some cheesy day time TV, all I wanted to do was be back at uni! (wow, imagine if I had this determination when I'm NOT sick!).. Then...

...SUDDENLY...

...the most RANDOM thing happened!

This retro looking car pulls into my drive way, and it is none other than my friend Stoz (who just happens to be the boyfriend of my wonderful friend Steff). I was rather confused as I answered the door, and then Stoz places in my hands two cans of chicken noodle soup (two different brands, in case I was picky I suppose), and said these gifts he beared were from my very dear friend Steff. It made me smile. In fact I am smiling as I am writing this because it was so incredibly sweet :)

So Steff, I've said this many times before. (actually I am stealing this off you).. You're a dag, but you're my dag!

And Stoz, thanks for the delivery!

May God bless you guys heaps as you bless so many people! You guys are invited around for a soup-night at my place - I will cook it for you - when I am not so sick! :)

Here are some pictures of the exciting soup experience - Very nice for canned soup!

From soup

Kind of different

OK, here's a test for you Victorians. If you're from SA you're not allowed to play..

What do you think these are???

1.



2.

3. A 'terrace' is a what?

4.



5.
Answers (pronounced aarnswers) soon!

Through the harshest drought...

Jeremiah 17:7-8
7 “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
And whose hope is the LORD.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

(coincidently also biblegateway's Verse of the Day)

I found this verse pretty encouraging. God is still here and is still faithful in whatever drought or trial I seem to be facing (many). I also feel a great sense of joy through it all (joy shouldnt be confused with the worldly view of 'happiness'. There is a difference! One is of God, the other isn't.)


This is the way life should be. In fact it very much should be if the bible says so!

I hope this encourages someone as much as it just encouraged me..

On that I got thinking about the drought Australia is in. I know a lot about the drought. I grew up in the outback (although we had an abudnace of underground water), and now I live in the very drought-stricken Bendigo.

Last week I went to an event that raised money for 'drought-relief'. Now this is a really good cause, and I love to get behind drought relief, because the drought has distraught so many lives. But on that I know that the true drought relief we need is rain.. And I've come to the realisation that we can raise all of the money we can, but only one thing is going to make it rain.

And that is God!

And in my honest opinion, I think we, as God's children, need to get down on our hands and knees and pray for rain! Because, I look around, and this place needs it! Also for a spiritual rain to fall down! Because like water, this land can be so void of God's spirit! Because a tree needs the water to survive, and we can't survive if the tree isn't planted near the water when there isn't any!

Stay green, Australia!

passionate?

This morning I was innocently sitting waiting for a lecture on health to start, when one of the guys in my course stood up the front with something to say.

Now I do know this guy, we're not best friends, but we worked on a tute presentation together, hence why I know him. He's a very rough type of guy, known as an "emo", a bit out there and crude, almost what your average education student would be.

Anyway he starts off speaking about something utterly random, but then goes on to talk about his beard (..okay?) and to answer everybody's questions, he had been trying out new styles with his beard because he was going to shave it off.

He is doing shave for a cure, and in my mind, I thought, fair enough, so are a lot of people. I then waited for the general ask for a donation, but instead he went on to say why he was doing this.

It turns out he has had people close to him (some pretty young) pass away from Leukemia. And he was so serious about raising money to fight the disease that he said he was going to match whatever somebody donates to him (ie, if I give him $2, he would then put another $2 toward the cause = $4).

Now, I don't usually like to compare myself to the world, and although this man isnt a christian, I could feel this passion just radiating off of him. This had touched his heart so much that he was willing to sacrifice his finances, and hair to make a difference in this world.

This got me thinking, what am I passionate about? What has touched my heart so much that I am passionate to see a change in the world?

May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your purpose. - Psalm 20:4

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. - Ps 145:19

Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O LORD, we have waited for You; The desire of our soul is for Your name And for the remembrance of You. - Isaiah 26:8

It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. - Romans 9:6

I've found so many good verses I wanna blog about! Maybe later..

My desire, my passion, is to see God's will be done! I want that at the moment above all shiny things. I desire to not conform to the world and to be content in that.

I may be back!

So I'll do a Cara (pose a question).. what are you passionate about?

when I'm found in the desert place...

A friend asked me a little while ago what psalm 63 meant. I decided to write her an email, going through it bit by bit, and it ended up being a sermon.. I've added more since I sent it to her!

Psalm 63
1 O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

6 When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7 Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall fall by the sword;
They shall be a portion for jackals.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

OK, so starting at verses one and two..

1 O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

We find ourselves in different situations that seem like a 'desert place'. Everything seems to be going not our way. It's like being thirsty, and needing to be refreshed by something, and God is that refreshment. God can only supply the needs for our deepest longings. Jesus says in John 4:14: but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

It also says in this verse: 'early I will seek You'. Have you ever looked for an answer for something and it be there right in front of you, but you seem to take ages to find it? It's somewhere I seem to find myself often, searching for something that I have left in the most obvious place, but I search everywhere else until I find the thing I am looking for in the place I should have looked at first.

Early we need to seek God. He has the answers! Why would you look everywhere else when our answer is right there? I am very guilty of something going wrong, and then instantly messaging Steff saying "the sky is falling!". God tells us to seek FIRST the kingdom of God (says it twice in the Old Testament and Once in the New Testament). Seek for a godly response to situations in everything you do. God's power and glory exists in the people who dwell in Him, and seek Him first.

3Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

God is ultimately awesome! And he deserves our praise all the time, when we have an abundance of good things and things are going great, and even in the desert place. It's like in the song: Blessed be Your Name.

6 When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7 Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.

This sounds like me the other night. As a little girl I used to be really frightened of thunder storms. Now I open my bedroom window and watch them from my bed all night! I love storms, it reminds me of God's great power! :)

God protects us. We are so precious in His sight. Cling onto this promises. He is the creator of the universe, he is MASSIVE! And he knows you by name. He cares about you so much and would not let anything bad happen to you.

Jeremiah 29:11 says For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope... This verse is often quoted to give inspiration, and I agree whole-heartedly, but I think an important part of this is in the next few verses.. When you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD.

So many people throw this verse around here and there, sometimes just as a general band-aid fix, but forget that end bit. When we pray, GOD WILL LISTEN. When we seek earnestly with all we have for God, WE WILL FIND HIM. It sometimes just takes perseverance. The enemy often fills our heads with doubt that we will never get anywhere, that this is useless.. It just takes a lot of perseverance through everything.

Rely on God through the storms in your life! It's through these we can grow stronger with God (when we let Him) and He teaches us important life lessons. I find that most of the hard things I go through, down the road I will stumble along someone who is in the same situation, and I can help them because I have been in the same thing. Evidence of this can be found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. (oops I have totally tangented here.. moving on...)

9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall fall by the sword;
They shall be a portion for jackals.

God has absolute favour on His children. You ARE God's child. Jesus never promised it would be easy, and there sure can be persecution from all directions sometimes. People can try all sorts of things to manipulate us, to make us feel low, but we are God's, and the people who do wicked things against his genuine children will pay in the long run. What makes me so sad is when God's children do things against their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ! But God is a just God. He knows what is right and wrong, it just takes discernment (which can be gained simply by knowing what is right and wrong according to His Word, and also that 'spiritual' discernment) on our part. Sometimes it's obvious and people don't want to admit it.

God's word is like a double edged sword. It is the TRUTH. And I wholeheartedly believe that what is in there is how God wants us to live. If something someone is doing doesn't have the same values as the bible, I am always wary of if it is really Godly.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

OK, we are not kings, that was probably relating to David, the author of the psalm, who was a king. But God has called us to be His children, and because of this, we are children of the king (God being the king!), and when you're that, it means we are princes and princesses!

Whoever says that they are His, and works with what he asks, are seen as so precious in His sight. But those who want to go against the children of God, the ones that speak lies against us, will be stopped. It's a promise. Don't see it happening? Pray. Claim it as a promise, because God's word is full of them!

[ Kudos to Spatch for sending this verse in a sms to me :) ]

do yourself a favor

To me this is the funniest commercial ever. For those *cough*victorians*cough* who don't understand, there's an intense rivalry against victoria here in South Australia. This commercial made me LOL! (yeah, I know it's a beer ad, but it was oh-so south australian!)



Will blog about my South Australian experiences later!

God has ADD

It's true! I swear. I think I am a creation person after all!

"look at me, Sammy, look at me! Look! Look! Look at me now! Look, look look now what I'm doing!"

I think I've become a nature admirer. I've had this thing for clouds lately. We've had some beautiful clouds and storms over Bendigo lately.

Just ask my housemate Claire how much I'm obsessed with clouds. We were sitting out the back yard and I was in total awe of this cloud.

The other night I was staying with Cara. She lives a little bit out of Bendigo now. I like going out there because it's really peaceful. A real change, as I live pretty close to the city near a very busy road. (can you tell I'm from Pinnaroo, land of no-cars and technology?). At about 4 in the morning, there was this absolute massive downpour of rain, thunder and lightning! At first, my anxiety kicked in and I felt really scared. My mind went in and out of, is my car safe, is my underwear on the line going to end up in Mandurang? Stupid little Sammy-thoughts. But then God was doing his ADD thing. "Bang, crash, flash! Sammy, look at me! Look at me Sammy am I not pretty? You have nothing to fear, this is Me! Bang, crash, flash!" Yes God, YES GOD, OK. But it's 4am and I have to be at church tomorrow.. No, actually. I felt really happy and content. I wanted to stay up and watch God all night! I felt safe. I felt like the same God who is putting on a mighty storm out there was also looking out for me, and knows the number of hairs on my head.

After church the next day, God did the same thing. The clouds formed a beautiful storm over the city. More and more of "look at Me! Sammy!" Bang crash flash...

Days go on, and I am continuously telling Claire that I love the clouds outside.

Last night I was with Cara again, and I was telling her and Sandy how much God has ADD, and is screaming "look at Me! I'm pretty!"

Then today, I was innocently doing something on my computer when I heard God again.. "booooom. Thunder! Look at me Sammy!!!" So I go and lie on my bed and look out the window. I'm just like, wow God.. Then I fell asleep!!

After I woke up, Cara came around to find me very dopey and sleepy. We went out for tea at this Turkish place on Mitchell Street for a 'kebab' (get it right, it's a Yiros stupid Victorians, a kebab is meat on a stick!). As we were innocently eating, there was this glorious sunshower. It was actually really bizarre. More, "hey look at me now! weeee!" Usually sunshowers don't last for long. This lasted for a good 20 minutes, and stayed in the exact same spot (we were on the edge of it). It seemed so bizarre, there was heaps of wind but no movement of the rain! At one stage I went outside to investigate (perhaps it was a leak somewhere.) But yeah, it was God, showing off again :P

When we were walking back to the car, I noticed a rainbow.. Oh God you really are showing off now!

How awesome to think that this great mighty God who puts on all of these weather displays is looking after us! It makes me fall more and more in love with who He is. Yep, maybe I'm a creation person after all!

As Cara and Sammy were going home from the airport on Monday, Cara realised that the water in her water bottle, was in fact from New South Wales! Interstate water! Sammy then came to the realisation that her water was indeed from South Australia, as her mother gave her an abundance of this under the realisation that Bendigo is indeed in a drought. Cara and Sammy rejoiced in the fact that there was water from two states in the one place, not the state we were currently located. The duo then looked over to notice that their travelling buddy, Luke, also obtained some water, and it occurred to the trio that Luke in fact had Victorian water. The trio (more so Cara and Sammy) then rejoiced in the happiness of having water from three states.

The end

This is just a preview of what you will find in The Adventures of Sammy and Cara.

Yes another blog!

RSS it today! Remember the URL: http://samara-adventures.blogspot.com

Hungry!

(Sammy amuses herself further...)

*Meanwhile, back at the ranch (mission HQ), Cara and Sammy outside having a 'd 'n' m'.. Rach then walks outside*
Rach: "girls, dinner's ready!"
Sammy: "I'm not hungry"
Cara: "You told me before you were hungry!"
Sammy: "I meant in a biblical sense, you twat!"

Have you ever felt so hungry for God that you just want to eat him? Ok, enough of the silliness now. I'm serious, I have these days where all I want to do is know God more and more and it's just like, wow!

You can be hungry for many things, but in my honest opinion, and what I've come to know, is that knowing who God is, and knowing his character, comes from his word. It is a crucial link that I see is lost in so many scenarios today. The way to know God is to know His word. I encourage you - read it, it's tasty! Get into it, it has so much good stuff in it, and it's so so so so powerful!

(then what? Pray about what you've read, that's another crucial way of getting to know him too!)

Amazing grace.. how sweet the sound...

"There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less"

I actually read a book, and finished it.

The book: What's so amazing about Grace by Phillip Yancy.

And I know, I know, you've probably read it. But I think it came up with some good points.

"Church! Why would I want to go there? It would just make me feel worse!"

You know what's funny, though, is that many Sunday mornings I have woken up and thought that same thing in my own church! I think it is impossible to find a church that is fully 'graced'. We get so tied up in condemning people who don't follow the rules, that we completely overlook forgiveness.

"God in heaven holds each person by a string. When you sin, you cut the string. Then God ties it up again, making a knot - and thereby bringing you a little closer to Him. Again and again your sins cut the string - and with each knot God keeps drawing you closer and closer."

I really like that quote. It is how I want to view my life at the moment. I'll let you reflect on that...

Review:

Good things:

• Real life situations
  
• Easy to understand
• Thought provoking
• Can be applied to everyday life
• 
  

Not so good things:

• American (haha, sorry Jamie :P )
• I really would have liked to have seen more scripture references to see how it links back to the bible. That could just be me and the way I learn.
• Still a good read and I HIGHLY recommend it!
  

Blasphemy Challenge?

I don't know about you, but I find this really sad!

http://www.blasphemychallenge.com/


My 2 cents is that they are in such a position of influnce, and so many people don't even know what they're doing. It disturbs me!

hatiku percaya

(title is Indonesian for "my heart believes")

Over the course of the mission in Bendigo, I was constantly reminded about my desire to be a missionary in Indonesia.

Things were really confirmed for me on Sunday at church when my friend Zoe told me that she was serious about coming with me. She said that we probably couldn't do it this year, and I don't think that God is really calling me there yet, but I think that when He does, it may happen all very quickly. I have no time frame at the moment, but I know God does. Yagh! It freaks me out that there is a possibility that this is probably what God has in store for me, yet it is all exciting at the same time...

Before mission, I didn't want to go. I didn't want the stress, I didn't want to be tired, I didn't think I could do it, and I didn't think I could handle the heat... How ironic, hey? God put that all back to me and said that if I couldn't handle these things here in Bendigo, how on earth would I survive over in Indonesia?

For those who don't know.. I have actually been there before. I went back in 2002 with my school to places now you could only dream of going to (due to the danger). There was so much poverty. I grew up so much. I remember sitting on a bus, going through the city of Yogyakarta (yeah, no exotic trip to Bali), and watching all of the native Indonesians go about their business, and I thought to myself that God has made them, just like He has made me.. But nobody here knows Him. It broke my heart. My heart is absolutely broken for this country.

When I came back to Australia, my friend Kylie described me as a 'fly buzzing around in a jar'. I felt so depressed, and heartbroken about this country, about how they could not see the light of God..

For those who are statistically minded or want to know, Indonesia is made up of: Muslim 88%, Protestant 5%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 2%, Buddhist 1%, other 1% (1998)

... Is this hope?

(youtube video)



The words to this song are
TUHANLAH KEKUATAN DAN MAZMURKU
DIA GUNUNG BATU DAN KES'LAMATANKU
HANYA PADA-MU HATIKU PERCAYA
KAULAH MENARA DAN KOTA PERLINDUNGAN

REFF :
KU MAU S'LALU BERSYUKUR
S'BAB CINTA-MU PADAKU
TAK KAN PERNAH BERUBAH
HATIKU PERCAYA

WALAU BUMI BERGUNCANG
GUNUNG-GUNUNG BERANJAK
NAMUN KASIH SETIA-MU
TAK PERGI DARIKU

I dare you to try and sing along! And for those who are not Steff (I expect you Steff to know all this... says the girl whose about to get their dictionary to translate this), the rough translation of this is:

God who is strong and my song
He is a strong mountain and my happiness
Only unto You my heart believes
You are a tower and a city of protection

I always want to thank God
Because my love is in You
It cannot be erased
My heart Believes

Even though the land may shake
Mountains move
Your love is always there
It won't leave from me

Does this look like an Indonesian Hillsong to anybody else? Me being against 'shiny christianity', this concerns me for some reason.. I'm guessing these guys would be in the city of Jakarta, but this isn't what Christianity is about? Worshipping God, yes, but it is really hard to imagine it is in Indonesia? After what I saw when I was there?

Bizarre...

kids4life

I'm sure a few of you have noticed my absence for the past few weeks, the reason for this is I have been away being a missionary. I'm amused that I am the first (Trav, you don't count! You get half a point :P) one out of the immediate Bendigo team to actually blog about this, and I thought I was slack!! I'm sure they are all catching up on some much needed rest! Wait, no. I was wrong, Craig has bet me.

Now when we think of being a missionary, we always think of being in an exotic place overseas, near a beach (for those from Bendigo usually involved in mission there was beach mission to Warnambool). This mission was at the drought stricken land of Bendigo.

It made me think about how we can get extremely concerned about things going on a fair distance from us, but there is always a 'mission' closer to home. That said I do believe Jesus does send us out into the world.

At first I didn't want to go on mission. I didn't feel like I was 'fit' enough in many aspects, and also another contributing factor was that in the past few weeks the Bendigo weather had been making me sick (I'm DEFINITELY a winter person!), luckily, God pulled me through, and, haha God you are funny, it rained! On top of all of that, my anxiety has been a bit rough.

Upon arriving (we stayed at the Bendigo AOG, while the mission itself was held at a school in Golden Square), it was clear to us that satan didn't like what we were doing in the city. One of our team members (and I think others) had become unwell. Prayer for team health was a priority.

Every day we were blessed by having 'quiet time' for about half an hour each day. I spent my quiet time trying numerous different activities. Usually I spent it outside at the end of Soloman Street watching the sunset over the city (a truly remarkable experience), praying, one day I actually had a shower. Oh the possibilities!

Back to seriousness now. It came to me (well, I kind of have known this for a while now) that Satan sometimes can attack us in ways that others can't see. For me it has really been anxiety. Although my anxiety levels on mission were remarkably lower, there was the odd occasion where I would feel unbelievably feel anxious and loose focus. I almost didn't go on mission because of my anxiety. It's a growing progress, I really just want to be 'healed'!

Another strange thing that happened at mission is this. I had my bible out, ready to read from it to the kids, and suddenly something just grabbed me, like, it literally felt like someone had put their arms around me and squeezed me so tight I couldn't breathe! I went away for a moment, just crying out to God to help me. Slowly whatever it was let me go. The whole thing probably only lasted merely 30 seconds.

I have been on many camps in my 20 years of life, but this was my first mission. I found that some people struggle to distinguish the difference between 'mission' and 'camp'. Camps are usually where we go out bush somewhere and build ourselves up, learn about God etc, have a great week. A mission is different. We are literally on a mission. We need to be focussed on what the Will of God is, and the task at hand.

That said, mission has been an immense time of spiritual growth for me. I feel as though I have matured five years. God has revealed many things to me, I even have realised who I really am. From this, however, I have a lot of things to work on now that I'm back in reality.

Another thing I have come to realise over the duration of mission is that to see change, we sometimes need to make sacrifices. Many have sacrificed family, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, finances, time etc to see change. It's that whole 'storing up treasure in heaven' thing.

I've learnt a whole heap about being genuine. We had a few 'situations' on mission where things just didn't sit right with me. In fact, in one of these situations, I got up, and ran out of the room! Now I was seriously so upset, I went and sat on the curb and cried, and I didn't understand what God was doing, but then I realised (with a little help from other wise individuals, you know who you are) that I really had discernment that night.

I hunger to know God as He is, not in the places so many people put Him. I know the way to do this is to read His word and, yep, pray.

But more about the program itself. I was the head-leader-doosy-whatsit person for the kinder-prep group (being the prep expert that I am! haha). Although they're only preps, amazing things happened. God really 'facilitated' a discussion and we were all running around so happy! God really worked in these kids lives.

I began to get discouraged on the last day as there were not any 'decisions' been made from the kids to follow Christ. Sometimes we can be so concerned that we get them 'over that line', that we forget that God is even working in their lives, preparing them to make the decision.

Anyway, here are some key memories from mission:

• The kinder-preps saying "It's ok, God loves you anyway".. became a bit of a catch-phrase
• That whole "poof" thing
• I said a Boom-chicka Boom!
• We don't burn down the school, we don't eat soap, we don't drink vinegar (eeewgh!)
• Doug, Dougless and Dougette (yay, I was Dougette!)
• McFlumpy
  
• "one" - haha, on ya Craig!
• The whole joke thing
• The censored word: M-ne
• Hey ain't that funky now
• Praise the Lord, I saw the light!
• I feel like Royal- Tea. Woah woah (Sammy's pathetic rip-off of Hillsong Kids song "royalty")
• Steff and Sammy's stupidity on friday night. (Think Sammy with a red cup on her head and Steff very much ROFLing. Gotta love tiredness)
• Late nights
• Early mornings!
• And above all, God and his power moving in everything.

And just for the record, check out what I wrote about mission back in September

wiiouch!

who needs a gym when you have the wii. I was going mad in baseball New Years Eve, and I woke up with the SOREST arms. I woke up this morning and they're even looking bruised.

Ouch. :(

a bronze babe and a chocolate Steff

On Wednesday night, Steff and I dyed our hair at about 1 in the morning. Oh the things you do when you're tired and under the influence of Sammy!

The lovely Steff went a lovely brown chocolate, while I went for a bronze babe. (How wrong does that sound!?) The results were impressive.

We also watched a retro movie called Down with Love. Well, Steff watched it, I slept through parts, munched on chicken twisties to try and stay awake, and still managed to get the general jist of the movie. It inspired me to invest in a beret.

4-5am saw us in bed, sending hilarious 1c texts across the house. I somehow managed to get up at 10am and cleaned parts of the house.

Pictures? Well, because it's either my dial-up or blogger being stupid I have uploaded them to my deviantart. Click here to see before and after pics. Click here to see even more pics!!!

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind.You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's" Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

so this is christmas...

I have noticed that so many people get caught up in the commercialism and business of Christmas. It doesn't have to be like this, there is a choice.

In John Lennon's song "So this is Christmas", the end line repeats and fades into the end of the song: "war is over, if you want it". It's true. Christmas is like a war. A war with commercialism. But it doesn't have to be like that at all. It is only this commercialised stress because that's what you make it. The war can be over, but only if you want it...

community scale

This is what I call the 'community scale'. The orange pentagon is the church, the green is our community (not the church community, for example, for me, it would be Greater City of Bendigo), and then the blue is more on the world scale.

This has come from me thinking about how I see churches 'reach out' to the community. Vinyard Church run breakfast for people who don't have enough to eat, the salvos, well, do lots. And our church? I'm not sure what we do. I guess we are reaching out to the community of Epsom by planting a church there.

Me, personally on the scale? I can be in many places. I can be very church-centric, hiding between the walls of the church. I am involved in a mission that is reaching out to kids from Bendigo, and then then I am a bit in the blue, too. I'm here and there in SA, I sponsor a child in Senegal, and I plan to go back to Indonesia.

Jesus told us to go out into the world. Where are you?

the worship language of Sammy

after God's own heart.... by ~notsoemobadger on deviantART

^ If you can't see the picture in the embedded object up there, click here.

I have realised that I need to paint more.

I believe we have different 'worship langauges', and I don't think they should be limited by what a book says, if that is there are only 5. Some people do it through singing, some dancing, some through conversation (another one of mine).

Worship is a when you are 'connected' with God. I discovered my connection when I painted this picture.

I have always liked art (yet this doesn't mean I am good at it!). It is a way I can just sit back, relax, and draw/paint what's on my mind. I notice that when I don't do it once in a while, I begin to get agitated! I felt like I could really connect with God by doing this. I listened to a sermon, and some music while doing it. I could pray, I expressed to God through what I was doing. Worship is a verb, it's an action!

The painting I did this morning was inspired by David, known as a Man after Gods own Heart. And you can see that through the kind of things he wrote in the bible (if this is wrong please correct me!). That's what I want to be. A woman after God's own heart.

My worship language is seemingly art, and I'm happy with that.