Apology

Hey all,
I just wanted to apologise for not posting regularly and to tell you that I probably won't be blogging for a couple of weeks. I am bogged down by so much school work - assignments, tests, etc. - not to mention exams in a few weeks - it's unbelievable. I simply don't have time for anything but schoolwork at the moment, so I'm sorry, but I'll be away for a number of weeks, possible the next couple of months. I hate it, but it's true. I'd really appreciate your prayers for wisdom, patience, and good time-management, among other things, as I work through my projects - starting with the 6 essays I have due in the next week and a half alone.
Thanks so much, for your understanding and prayers, and I hope to hear from you all again in a while!
God bless.

Take a Break

It's been a busy day. You need a rest. So, go on, take 4 minutes and 11 seconds to stand up, stretch and boogie. It's Cha Cha Slide time, baby! Come on - click it and join in, you know you want to...

The Tuesday Think - All the Same

So, it's Tuesday, thinking day, once again. I'm not too sure where this one is gonna go yet - probably into rant territory, sorry - but today I thought I'd think about how we're really all the same. We may look different, but other than that, we're all pretty much identical. It's true, whether we like it or not. We're all the same.
Take celebrities, for instance. I mean, I love a good actor, musician, etc. just as much as the next person, but I'm sick of society idolising them and making them the standard, the goal, of what we're supposed to look like, act like, live like. When did being a good actor make you a good person? When did being able to sing make you better than anyone else? When did they stop being movie stars, and become gods? Why are we expected to meet Hollywood standards that are purely fantasy in real life?
And why do we only see what we want to see of people we look up to (or even look down to...) and not view reality? For example, millions of my fellow females would literally chop off their arms to meet Robert Pattinson for just a second, yet is he really the Mr. Perfect he is portrayed as? No. He smokes, gets drunk, swears - I'm totally not picking on him, he's just the first thing that came to mind - he's only human. Just a human - no different than the rest of us. A messed-up, frail, measly old human like all of our calloused, beautiful kind - from the sherpas of Tibet, to the child soldiers of Uganda, to the rich of L.A. and everything in between.
Am I starting to make sense at all? We're all exactly the same. No one is better. No one is worse. We all live. We all die. We all desire love. Security. Approval. Happiness. Hope. We're all afraid of something. We're all worried about something. We're all struggling with soemthing.
Some people have gotten pro at wearing a mask that says "I'm all good" but is anyone ever really "all good"? I don't think so. Some try so desperately to cover up their mistakes, flaws, faults - sins - whatever you want to call them. They put up happy facades of perfectness. But is anyone ever perfect? No. Is anyone ever happy all the time? No. Is anyone ever truly happy when they're trying to convince others they are? No.
Why do we all try so hard to impress each other? Who do we think we're kidding? And why do we still fall for people's lying games over and over? Why do we constanly compare ourselves to others? Why is our society so ridiculously obssessed with comparing and contrasting? Why can't we just be happy with what we've got? Why can't we accept our past failures and move along to a brighter future?
Why can't we grow up and realise that we're all the same? We're all human. We all stuff up. Over and over again. And again. We're all stupid at times. We're all suffering. Fighting. Wrestling. Battling. We all get angry. We all get embarassed. We all get depressed. We all need each other. We all need God.
When we boil down the hype and hash, we're all exactly the same. Let's accept it, and let that knowledge impact us in our dealings with others. Let's be careful, because we all have feelings and fears. Let's be loving, because we all need care and acceptance. Let's help each other, because we all have needs. Let's stop seeing what we want to, and start seeing through God's eyes, the truth. Let's stop letting the few (celebrities) set what is right for the many (the rest of us). Let's keep in mind that we. are. all. the. same.
This is getting loooong, so one last thing. I love humans. I love the fact that we're stupid. I love that we're helpless. I love that we mess up. Yeah, it sounds whack, but it's true. I love that we can't make it on our own, no matter how hard we try. I love our weaknesses. Because our every hang-up, mess-up and stitch-up screams that we need God. We cannot do it without Him. And I wouldn't have it any other way. But, I also love that although we are essentially the same, He has created us so uniquely, so differently, so specially. I love the gifts and talents He gives us. I love our sense of curiosity, wonder, discovery, creativity, responsibility, delight, humour... I love the beauty in each and every person. I love our crazy, mixed-up, gorgeous world. And God does too.
Well, good night. Happy thinking! (I always love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to follow my ranting lead...)

Grace

I want to share with you a poem I recently wrote. I love writing poems, so I hope you like reading them!

Grace

When you reject
The one who loves you
And run away
He runs to you

When you hurt
The one who loves you
And break His heart
His heart breaks for you

When you turn away from
The one who loves you
And leave His side
He won't leave yours

When you ignore
The one who loves you
And just don't care
He cares for you

When you mock
The one who loves you
And spit in His face
He'll wash yours clean

When you sin against
The one who loves you
And won't forgive
He forgives you

Though we don't deserve
The one who loves us
He takes our shame
And gives us grace.

The Fish

One of my favourite things in the world is sharing "God stories". These are testimonies of miraculous, moving, surprising, beautiful, etc. things God has done in your life. They don't have to be huge and amazing, just any kind of story of provision and blessing from the Lord.
I'd like to share one with you today - and hopefully you'll share one with me. I pray it will uplift your spirits and show some of Our Father's great goodness.

About 7 years ago, my family moved to Tasmania, the tiny island state of Australia. It was our first day there and we'd just moved into the little house we were renting. Being the first day, and being on no income at the time, we had nothing to eat and no money to buy food with that night. Anyway, we decided to go for a drive around the area, to see the new local sights, and stopped at a pretty little lake (of which there are hundreds in Tassie). My sisters and I stood and threw rocks into the water (as all kids do!) for a couple of minutes, before my parents noticed a man fishing a little way down from us. Dad thought the rocks we'd been throwing would probably be scaring the fish away, so we went down to apologise to the man. We talked with the man for barely a minute before he offered us one of the big trout he'd just caught. We never mentioned that we'd just gotten off the plane, had no food, or anything like that. He just gave us a fish - so, we didn't go hungry that night, as we would've. I thank the Lord for His provision and "earthly angels"!

It was nothing big, just a fish. But I have never forgotten that day, that man, or that fish. And I doubt I ever will. God stuff, no matter what size, impacts you in an inexplicable way...
I hope to share more of God's many amazing blessings upon my family and I with you soon. And I look forward to hearing your stories!

Song Saturday - The Crowd

So, I've decided on another weekly post - Song Saturday. I'll post a song I'm really loving at the moment and talk about why I'm diggin' it. And I fully want this blog to be interactive, so feel free to post a link to a song you're enjoying lately (keep it clean, please and thank you!) and talk about why you like it, what it means to you, etc.

So, here goes. My current absolute favourite band on the planet is The Cat Empire. I doubt any of you have heard of them, so here's a bit about them first. They're Aussie (like me!) and they play a unique fusion of ska reggae, funk, jazz, latin, rock... Hard to describe, but so infectious I can't help but dance! All their songs are frigintastic (Nick the Geek has me hooked on that word now...) but I especially like Two Shoes, So Many Nights (please ignore the weirdness of the video) and Days Like These (fast forward 32 seconds to start) ... but, as I said, they're all awesome! (It was unbelievably hard for me to narrow down those favourites.)
But today I want to feature one of their slower songs, The Crowd. I heard it not so long ago and since then I've been listening over and over. Now, they're not a Christian band, but this song expresses a message I really appreciate- the desire to be free to live life abundantly and exuberantly, and share that with others. Have a listen, if you like. Enjoy!

The Crowd - The Cat Empire

(Grr, I tried to embed the song but I had to link it instead because any time I try to put in a video the computer freaks out and freezes for some unknown reason. But whatever, you can cope with clicking a link, I think.)

So, I've introduced you to my best band and current favourite song - care to return the favour?

I'll Do What I Can

I recently came across this quote which blew me away. I don't know who said it, so I apologise for that.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Wow! This message of doing what we're made to do and using our gifts and talents has been bombarding me lately. I think maybe I should be listening...
I don't remember where I heard it, but I recently heard someone speak about how we are given talent and we should try to live so that we use them all up in order to "die empty". What a tragedy it is that so much wonderful potential and talent is lying buried in the graveyards of our world. Imagine if everybody who has ever lived used all of their gifts and talents, cultivated all of their good ideas and intentions, spent their life doing the thing(s) they could do... Just think about that for a second. How different would our world be? And what about if those who did use what they were given - whether it be musicians, authors, artists, political leaders, etc. - didn't? Where would we be today?
Another quote that relates to this topic and inspires me is by Helen Keller, one of my heroes. "I cannot do everything, but I can do something ... so I will not refuse to do the something I can do." Consider how awesome the world would be if everyone just did their one little thing -
Just something to think about. You are what you are and can do what you can do (and, conversely, can't do what what you can't do) for a reason. Please, do what you were made to do. The time is now. Celebrate life by living it!

Would You Rather

Let's play a little game.

Would You Rather...
1. Be forced to watch 4 hours of soap operas a day OR pee a little bit every time someone says your name? (I think this is a goodie...) Pee, definitely.
2. Be naked in winter OR wear a snowsuit in summer? Snowsuit.
3. Live in an igloo OR live in a tree? Tree.
4. Eat dog meat OR eat horse meat? Neither! But I'd had to take horse.
5. Have a cloud constantly raining on your head OR have a swarm of bees follow you everywhere? Rain.
6. Wear giant clown shoes everyday OR have giant ears? Shoes.
7. Be stunningly beautiful OR dazzling intelligent? Both?! Intelligent.
8. Drink a gallon of tomato sauce OR bathe in tomato sauce for a week? Bathe.
9. Eat a rotten egg OR lick a toilet? A clean toilet!
10. Never see another movie OR never read another book? I couldn't live without books, so bye bye movies.
11. Constantly smell like garlic OR have no thumbs? Garlic.
12. Live in a house made of bubble wrap OR a house made of pizza? Bubble wrap?

Play along!