terdekat

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
- James 4:7

There's a really good sermon by John Bevere everyone should listen to. I think it's somewhat related to his book A Heart Ablaze (which I am yet to read).

He says in this sermon that we need to initiate the drawing near to God. He asks, who draws near first in this passage? We do.

Anyway it's a really good sermon, check it out on his website www.messengerintl.org, it's not working for me at the moment.

When I listened to his sermon, I was driving in the car home to Pinnaroo, and it was one of those moments where you feel like a blindfold has been taken off, it was like, YES!

On that note, meanwhile back at the ranch...

I went to a different church service on sunday. It's very small, and the church members often add in something on top of a message, or just freely give testimonies. Anyway, one man was telling us about how he had these two young guys that were studying the bible and came along this verse.

Now the translation they were using actually used the words draw nigh. The young man didn't know what this meant, and asked him what nigh meant. Anyway as we were being told this story, the man got up, out of his seat. Grabbed the pastor and gave him a massive hug, and said that was exactly what he did with the man. "This is what it means to draw nigh. DRAW NIGH TO GOD!" (please correct me if I've spelt that wrong)

Anyway, that illustration was another YES moment. It was such a beautiful picture to have in my mind of drawing near to God, getting right into Him!

sms pagi ini

"Hey how r u? Do u know any1 who mite be interested in teaching kindergarten kids in Bandung, Indo? Speaking in english of course. Visa& airfare paid for by kinder..."


AGh! Pick me!!!
OK, need to calm down, pray, pray, pray... Do my lit assignment, as well as the other two which await me.. Pray more!

... Oh my gosh, just I just got a number in Indonesia to sms about it!!!

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!