Grace's Blog

Sing it out, take what is left of me, make it a melody

2010-06-19T23:58:00.005+10:00

I'm really loving this song at the moment "Sing it out" by the Christian band Switchfoot.

I'd struggle to pick out just one part that I like best, as all of it really speaks to me at the moment.

Have a listen, hope you like it :)

Oops!

2010-06-04T14:47:00.003+10:00

I checked the date on my last post. It was a year ago.

Oops.

I confess, I don't really have much time to blog these days. Life has become very busy recently. A wonderful man asked me to marry him :), so consequently, wedding planning now takes up what little free time I had before.

We're getting some pictures taken soon, so I should post them here.

And now, I must dash. I do doubt anyone reads this any more, but if you do *waves*. Nice to see you! I'll try post more, I promise!

Wow!!

2009-06-02T17:32:00.003+10:00

May 27 Update: Thanks to the blessing of God, and His working through the thousands of people who supported us, we have met our June 3 goal of $51,644 a week early! Honestly, we never expected to receive this much response, and are in awe of the Lord's mercy and power!

www.littletait.com

Seriously. Wow. Simply amazing.

How good is our God!!!!!

Thats all I can say.

Experimenting with Pretzels (and Pie!)

2009-06-02T17:16:00.004+10:00

A wonderful new store has opened up in Melbourne Central called Pretzel World. On the days I go through there to get to the station I love to buy a lovely warm soft pretzel for my lunch. I went through there yesterday, and couldn't buy one because I didn't bring any money with me. But my tastebuds still wanted one none the less, so there was nothing for it than to try baking them at home.

I used the Soft Pretzel recipe from here and didn't make any modifications. I think they turned out pretty well for a first timer ^_^
The top one had been boiled in the bi-carb mix, and the bottom one was just about to be boiled.

A salted pretzel. (This one was the prettiest I think :) )

Plain pretzels.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the bi-carby taste, and they weren't as soft as I hoped they'd be. Tonight I'm going to try baking these pretzels for breakfast at work tomorrow. Lets hope they turn out as good as the ones in the picture!

I'm also excited to be experimenting with this Apple Pie recipe from Tracey at Mama's Fixins. Wish me luck!

May

2009-05-30T23:35:00.005+10:00

My poor blog, I neglect it so! Here is a brief photo post of sorts to share some things that have been going on recently.
My university campus is starting to look lovely with all the pretty autumn leaves falling. It is a lot quieter too, now that classes are over and everyone is studying for exams, which I do appreciate.

I decided to take two of my ferrets down to a local park to give them some "out-of-cage" time. Much cuteness ensued. Yeti (below) was a shelter ferret, and to my knowledge this was his first time in the great outdoors. He spent a lot of time trying to hide in my shirt when I was sitting down. I don't think he liked being outside very much!

And some beautiful pictures of New Zealand. My wonderful grandparents are coming to see us soon, which is something I'm looking forward to. Its amazing to think that our family trip to New Zealand was five months ago. Time has flown!

2009-05-21T22:12:00.000+10:00

Little Tait

2009-05-18T20:52:00.001+10:00

I heard about this from Jasmine at Joyfully Home. Basically, Tait was born 3 months premature, and his family need some help from the body of Christ to pay a medical bill of $51, 644 by June 3rd and as he was born premature, he was born too early to be covered by his parents medical insurance. They've already raised close to $30,000 already. They still need some help, so if you can pray for them or can donate, I'm sure they'd appreciate it heaps. Here is Tait's story:

"My name is Tait Zimmerman Jr. and I am a little baby boy who, without the help of modern medicine, dedicated care and God's hand, would not be alive today! I was born 3 months before I should have been and am miraculously doing well today. I spent the first three months of my life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, cared for by some terrific doctors and nurses! Now my mommy and daddy have to get creative to pay the hospital, doctors and the whole team who took care of me. They have included a lot of information for you on this site about me, and our specific needs. Thank you for your consideration and support!"

You can also check out his website at http://www.littletait.com/

New Bible!

2009-04-10T13:56:00.006+10:00

I've been needing a new bible, and keeping an eye out in my local op shops for one. I found one last week for the bargain price of one dollar!!! The only problem was, its last owner had gotten a bit excited with the coloured pens and the stickers on it, so I needed to tidy it up a bit.

I had some fabric that I had bought to try make a bag, and practice quilting stuff on, so I decided to use that.

I'm really pleased with the way it turned out! I'm happy I used the colour green. I think its appropriate, as it symbolises our new life in Christ, and growing as a Christian.
I still need to tidy up the back and front page where the book attaches to the cover. You can see how at the moment its held on by sellotape. I'm going to find some glue that attaches to fabric and use that, and also get some dark green paper and stick that over the back and front pages.

Quick Update

2009-03-24T01:15:00.002+11:00

Things I am enjoying at the moment
Having an oven
Baking
Baking bread
Working productively.
Austenbook
Bible study at uni
Sewing my dress. It will soon be too cold to wear it, but I intend to combine it with a cardigan and I'm sure it will be fine. Its Melbourne, Australia, its not like its going to rain or anything :P

Things I'm not enjoying at the moment
Uni. In general.
Socialist Alternative people making nuisances of themselves and being disruptive all around campus.
And the general extreme socially liberal attitudes on campus.
Having Al Gore's "An inconvenient truth" be one of the texts for one of my subjects. Whatever your position on global warming, you can't deny that the film is riddled with errors and he is wrong at best, and dishonest, misleading and manipulative at worst.

I'm thankful for

My wonderful family
Being able to fellowship without fear of persecution
An abundance of good food.
God's faithfulness.

I'm praying for:

Strength
Patience
Wisdom

12 Year Old speaks out on abortion

2009-02-26T23:27:00.002+11:00

From the Rebelution Blog

12 Year Old speaks out on abortion

While Lia didn't win the regional contest, her speech saved an unborn baby's life.

¹⁸"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

John 15:18-19

I'm praying for her, that she will have the strength continue sharing her powerful message. We are told that because we are not of this world, we will be hated by it. We can draw comfort from the fact that we are chosen out of this world, but its still tough to be hated when you are 12, and especially when you go to a public school.

Government Censorship

2009-02-26T17:36:00.003+11:00

This makes me so mad!

Our government is trying to censor the web. They say that this is to protect children, which I would support, but I've been suspicious that this is just a front for them to censor those who don't share their views. However today my suspicions were confirmed when I read this.

It just makes me so mad that our government, which funds abortion through Medicare, and keeps passing laws making it easier for women to kill their babies at later and later stages, can stand in front of the nation, and state that they are committed to protecting children, while at the same time, they are calling Pro-Life websites "prohibited content". The website is hosted outside Australia, but if it were in Australia, its ISP would be asked to remove it.

The hypocrisy of it all is breathtaking. They are trying to push through deeply unpopular legislation, on the basis that it is necessary to protect children, but at the same time, they are actively surpressing Pro-Life websites and information, as it is "unsuitable" and "prohibited content" and also funding over 80 000 abortions a year .

I sure am glad that the Australian government is so committed to protecting children. I'd hate to see what things are like if they weren't.

Prayer request!

2009-02-09T21:32:00.003+11:00

So far 130 people are confirmed dead and the death toll is tipped to rise to at least 230. Some of our friends are so grateful to still have their homes. We've been told of one family who sheltered in their dam, only coming up to snatch a breath, as the fire raged around them for two hours.
Its just devastating.
Please pray for the victims of the Victorian Bushfires.

I'm so thankful I'm (almost) an Australian!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-27T21:31:00.003+11:00

Well, yesterday was Australia Day. At the moment, I'm a New Zealander and although I've been in Australia for ten years this year, Australia Day has never been something that I celebrated much. Like I said, I come from a New Zealand family, so we don't tend to host big aussie BBQs on Australia Day, and the day as a holiday never had much significance to me when I was younger, as Australia Day falls on the 26th of January, and school went back the week after, so I had no holiday to celebrate, as I was already sick of summer holidays by that time. But this year was different. This year, I was excited to take part in the celebrations of our nations birth!

I think its for two reasons.

The first reason, is that this year I am becoming an Australian citizen. I already have the letter that congratulates me on being accepted, so all I need to do now is wait until the government arranges for me to attend a ceremony where I will take a pledge to Australia, and then I will be 100% aussie! Well, 50 % Aussie, 50% NZ if I keep my New Zealand citizenship. I'm really excited about becoming an Australian. I feel Australian. I like Australian things, (except for the cricket!) and my New Zealand relatives lovingly mock my Aussie accent. It will be good to formalise my commitment to Australia. I think its important to do this now as this year, I'm turning twenty. My family moved to Australia a few days after when I turned 10. That will mean that this year, I will have spent half my life in Australia, which I think is a pretty big thing. I'm definitely ready to take the plunge and don the ceremonial cork hat.

The other reason I was excited about Australia Day this year, is that I am really thankful to be in Australia! When we first moved over here, we all grieved for New Zealand. Our beautiful green country, where it rained enough for everyone to have showers as long as they wanted, with water spare to water their lawns. Our country, where there was only one poisonous creature, and even that was confined to a relatively small area. (Contrast that to Australia, where even the bugs are out to get you!) For a while we all looked back with perhaps a little too much fondness on NZ, and were perhaps a little too harsh in our complaints about Australia.

However, all that changed (for me at least) when our family went back "home" to New Zealand this summer. And I couldn't breathe.

You see, a few years after we left NZ, I got diagnosed with atypical asthma. And the main thing that triggers my asthma is the cold. However. We don't get too much of this "cold" thing in Melbourne. We do compared to the rest of Australia, but nothing like New Zealand. There it is common for it to snow in some places on Christmas. Which would be fine if NZ were in the Northern Hemisphere, but its not, and it should be experiencing summer in December.

So, after not really having to worry about asthma for most of the past 5 years, we set off for NZ in December. And it was cold. Really really cold. This photo probably doesn't convey how cold it was, but this is just a typical New Zealand summers day.

Really makes you want to break out the bathers, doesn't it.

Anyway, I went over there unprepared for it. I didn't take any medication, or preventers. And on the 23rd of December, I realised that it was 10pm, kind of chilly, and I couldn't breathe. We were in the middle of nowhere, and the closest hospital was 2 hours away. That was really scary. If you've never had an asthma attack, it is horrible. Your chest tightens, like someone is squeezing you, and it feels like you can only fill your lungs about 1/3 the amount they are normally filled. You feel like you could die.

It took a lot of prayer, and faith and trust to get through that night. You're not only praying that God will heal you, but you're praying that he will give you the strength to keep calm, so that you don't make it worse! But He is....amazing is the wrong word, He is everything we need, and He is so good. So the next morning (on one of our shopping trips where the entire family descended upon the tiny town and horrified them with the size and frequency of our grocery runs) we went to the pharmacy to get some ventolin. I returned to Aus a week later with a sense of humilty (no more, I don't need to take my medication, I'm tougher than that asthma!) and a real appreciation for Australia's hot dry climate.

Thats only one reason why I'm thankful to be in Australia. I could go in to many more (beautiful beaches, wonderful cities) but we'd be here a while, and this post has already gone on a bit longer than I intended it to. So, with out any further ado.

Happy (Belated) Australia Day!!!!!!

Abortion.

2009-01-25T13:12:00.003+11:00

If you're pro life, and haven't already read its, read this post by Jess of Making Home, do so. Its challenging, and some of the descriptions are a bit graphic, but then, such is the horrific nature of abortion. It got me to think about what I can do to help in this struggle, not just by condemning this government approved slaughter, but by loving and serving these women who need our help. I'm excitedly awaiting a reply I sent to my local pro-life organisation, asking if there is any agency that I could help with my time.

So, what can you do?

Peace and questions

2009-01-24T22:28:00.007+11:00

I've prayed some more, and I feel more peaceful. Whatever happens to my little Boo isn't in my hands. He seems better now, he is sleeping peacefully all cuddled up in a blanket. I don't think he is out of the wood yet, and I admit, he is in such a deep sleep that I am concerned he could be unconscious. I accidentally let his head slip so he was hanging upside down, and he didnt wake up! But like I said, its not in my hands.

But, I have a question, and I can't find the answer to it. Is it in Gods hands?

I don't mean is it something God has control over, because of course He is Lord over everything. Just, what my primary school teacher said about praying for animals is sticking in my head. What I'm really asking is, does God care about animals? And I don't mean that in the crazy vegetarian nature worshiping environmentalist kind of way. I think God wants us to save souls more than He wants us to save the whales/ trees/ chipmunks/ earthworms. But does he care about them? Does it matter if we pray for them? Should we pray for them? Or is it too worldly?

Some photos of the poor wee thing (please excuse my messy desk, I can only blame some of it on the ferrets :P)

2009-01-24T12:16:00.002+11:00

I have a cold, almost scarily still ferret wrapped in a blanket in my arms. He wasnt looking to good this morning, and he seems to have gotten worse. We've made a vet appointment, so we'll see what happens. I'm praying that he is going to recover. The voice in my head is my primary school teacher who told me not to pray for animals, because they dont have souls and God doesnt care for them. I'm praying all the same, its all I can do. I hope He cares about my little Boo. I know I do.

:(

Quilting

2009-01-13T23:18:00.007+11:00

Some ideas for my quilt. I want to make a simple one, as I've never made one before.

American Hopscotch-Rita Fishel

This one is called "Baby at Home" by Erica's craft and sewing centre. I think its sweet, and I'd like to use it, even though there are no babies at home :P

And a quilt that looks far too complicated for me to make, but something to aspire to as it is so beautiful. I especially love the colour scheme, as I'd love to make something in purple.

Tree of Life-Bible Blocks

I have a longer post coming soon, I promise! I've been so busy this past week, in fact, its almost two weeks that I've been home, that I haven't had the time to make a post and upload some photos.

Things that have made me happy in the past few days.

2009-01-02T11:18:00.009+11:00

One of the best things about staying here has been that there are lots and lots of chickens. I'm a city girl. I dont see these animals often, but when I do, I want to play with them and love them and give them a pat. However, unfortunately they don't feel the same about me...

The chase begins.

I did end up getting to catch a chicken in the end. The owner took pity on me (or perhaps he wanted me to stop harassing his chickens, and putting them off their eggs) and he caught one for me. I got to pat it and then he hypnotised it by putting its head under its wing and then swinging it in a circle. I was very impressed.

I've also loved L&P (Lemon and Paeroa). Its a soft drink that you can only get in NZ. It used to be made from the spring water of a town named Paeroa, hence the name. Now its made by Coca-cola. It still tastes good, and it brings back many childhood memories for me and my family.

I've also been taken back to my childhood by icecream. Goody-goody gumdrops icecream to be precise. We can't get this in Australia, so we love it when we come here. Its just so good! All dairy products are better here. I think its because NZ cows get more grass, as Australia is in a drought, but don't quote me on that, as I don't know very much about farming stuff!

I've also loved learning to make cheese. Did you know it takes 8 litres of milk to make one kilo of cheese? I was surprised to learn that, it seems like such a large amount of milk for such a small amount of cheese, but I guess you're trying to separate the milk solids from the liquid in the milk, and there can't be that much solid in the milk. It was lots of fun. We won't get to taste it though, as its feta, and it hasn't sat for long enough, or been in the brine yet. Hopefully it tastes good for our hosts to eat.

I've loved this holiday. Its made me wish I lived on a farm, I love the rural lifestyle, and just being in the country. It seems so much healthier than the city. I'll be sad to go home tonight, but excited as well. I'm looking forward to seeing my ferrets and my friends. We have a long day and night ahead of us. We're taking the ferry back from Coromandel town to Auckland, and it gets in at about 11pm. We have to be at the airport at 4.00 am tomorrow morning, so we are going to go straight to the airport, as there would be no point in getting rooms for only a few hours sleep. I'm just praying that we can catch a bit of sleep at the airport, and on the plane. I'm also a nervous flyer, so I'd really appreciate it if you could pray that we have a safe and restful trip.

The next time I post, I'll be in Australia. Happy New Year! 2008 has been a fantastic year for me. God has been so amazing, life has been wonderful, I've been so happy. I feel I've been richly blessed. I hope the Lord blesses you and your families in this coming year!

A proper photo dump.

2008-12-31T11:07:00.018+11:00

More photos.

A couple of photos of the ferrets, taken as we left at 5am for the airport.

A few from the ferry, as we were leaving Auckland.

The city is on the harbour, so ferries are a main form of transport there.

Leaving the city we got some beautiful scenery.

As we entered the Firth of Thames, it got choppier, and I stopped taking photos.

Some photos of the beach near we are staying. As you can see, it was just another lovely New Zealand summers day.

Pohutukawa (N.Z Christmas Tree)

This has been my view a bit recently. I've been sick, so I've spent a bit of time lying down in the hamock. I suppose there are worse things in life than having to laze, swinging in the breeze.

Some photos from the drive to Rotorua.

That plume rising from the road isn't cloud, its steam from all the volcanic activity that goes on around Rotorua. The city is on a lake, and I think the lake is actually a volcano crater. I'm not sure if it is still active or not, but all the activity heats the water to about 40 degrees celcius as it comes out of the ground. Pretty nice for a dip, as opposed to the miserable weather we've been having on the Coromandel. Although you can't put your head under the water, as there is something in the water that is really bad if it gets up your eyes, nose or ears.

There are two lakes in these pictures, one is called Green lake and the other is called Blue lake, athough, because it was raining when we went there, they were both Grey lakes. However the one on the right, Blue lake, is also a volcano crater, and its REALLY DEEP.

And a few photos from a hike yesterday.

Finally! That took a long time. Does anyone know an easier way to add pictures than adding them, scrolling up to move them down, and pressing enter a gazillion times to get the formatting right again? It annoys me that I can't add the pictures where the cursor is. Is there anyway to do this?

Hope you enjoy,
Grace

Photo Dump!

2008-12-28T11:00:00.007+11:00

Some of the photos from the ferry from Auckland. I would post more, but I can't figure out how to make the formatting work. >.<>

2008-12-24T15:19:00.000+11:00

Merry christmas !
New Zealand is beautiful, I'll post pics when I'm able.

FInally!

2008-12-21T03:12:00.006+11:00

It has rained all week. The driveway is sodden. Every time I venture out my door I risk loosing a shoe in the sticky mud that sinks up to my ankles, and woe betide me if I wear sandals! But, at last, today was a sunny day. Not a proper aussie scorcher, but still, the sun shone.

I'm not complaining about the rain, Melbourne has been in a drought for the last 7 years or so, and this unseasonal rain is helping boost our struggling dams, which have been hovering at around 30% full for about a year now, which is never a good thing as we head into January-Bushfire season. But today was beautiful. As I was walking home, I took pictures from the hill.

I'm not sure how well you can see in these photos, but in the distance there are some hills, and you can kind of see where the trees meet these hills. You wouldn't know by looking at those photos that the city goes out until the base of those hills! Thats what I love about my adopted hometown, its so green, even though its parched. There are trees everywhere. Only a few minutes walk from our house is a park with a creek in it, where its easy to forget you're in the city and imagine you're in the bush. Lots of native animals live there, its common to be walking along the path and to see a couple of Rosellas poking their cheeky heads out of a hollow in a tree.
I love Melbourne ^_^

However, I'm even more excited about the fact that in just over 24 hours, we will be on a plane going to New Zealand!! We fly in to Auckland, arriving there at around 3pm NZ time. The next day, we take a ferry to Coromandel Town, and then on to Matarangi, to join the rest of the clan. Cousins, aunties, uncles and grandparents, oh my! You can tell that I've really missed my extended family, can't you!

Yum

2008-12-21T03:01:00.003+11:00

I've been busy!

I've also been trying my hand at making a scrap book for my Dad. It was his 50th a few days ago, so I made a powerpoint of special photos for him. I thought I'd print them out and put them in a beautiful book so he could have a hard copy. Its the first time I've ever tried to do a scrap book properly. At the moment, it only looks like a photo album. I might post some more photos when it is done!

It looked better in person.

2008-12-16T22:56:00.001+11:00

I took this picture as I was coming home on the bus tonight as the sun was setting. I liked the way the cloud cover above and the Dandenongs rising in the distance seemed like a covering. The photo also seems quiet. The scene reminded me of the end of the day, when I jump into bed and feel warm, relaxed, cosy and safe.

I took the picture with my phone. Unfortunately, I just missed the moment when the last of the sunlight was hitting the clouds and tinting them with gold. Like the title says, it looked better in person, but I thought I'd share it anyway. It was a beautiful scene, while it lasted. Then it changed. The light faded, the traffic started, and the bus drove away.

Only 5 days until we leave to go to New Zealand.

I can't wait til wego home!

2008-12-12T15:53:00.001+11:00

I passed!

Not only did I pass my first aid course,

But I passed my first semester of uni as well!

And I am very happy.

So in celebration, I shall spam you all with photos of things that make me happy.

Such as sunny summer evenings

And of course, many photos of my gorgeous ferrets

And finally, they stopped trying to bite each other and stood still!

Them being cute and sleeping together

Thank you Lord, for listening.

Busy!!

2008-12-09T22:59:00.000+11:00

I'm tired. I really need to get to bed earlier these days. However, I'm excited. I have a busy 2 weeks ahead of me, starting with an intensive first aid/ CPR course on Thursday and Friday. I'm really excited about this course, I've wanted to do it for a while. It will be so good to have a little bit of knowledge that might one day be useful if someone is injured. Saturday I'm taking my little sister to the movies. Then she and Dad fly off to New Zealand, and I won't see them until I arrive there on the 23rd of December. Poor Mum. My little brother is away in France, Dad and my sister will be away in New Zealand :( I hope Mum doesn't feel too lonely with almost everybody in different countries! At least she'll still have me, and Max (the dog).

Then there is a Christmas party on Saturday night, which I've been looking forward to. Something else is happening on Sunday, I think, although I can't remember now what it is. Next Thursday I have another course. Then on Monday the 22nd we get on a plane to fly to New Zealand. I'm so excited at the thought of spending Christmas with all my extended family there. My little cousins will probably be taller than me now, seeing as I only see them about once every 2 years, and they grow so quickly!

In other news, the kitchen almost got set on fire. Again. How many times do I have to go through this before I learn that you can't leave oil in a pan and forget about it. Ever. At least this time it didn't catch on fire. The pan was smoking, but it quickly had the mince put in it, which cools it down, or something... (A quick mental re-check of Yr-12 physics tells me that, yes, putting a cold thing in a hot thing will cause the hot thing to become colder. Hurray for conduction!)

Anyway, I need to go to sleep. But, dear internet, could I trouble you for a small favour? You see, tomorrow is a very important day for me, and I am nervous. I would really appreciate any prayers you could spare my way.

Night!

2008-12-08T20:35:00.001+11:00

I had the most amazing experience on Saturday. Recently I've been praying for God's guidance on some questions that I feel are just too big for me to see the answers for. I've been caught up in them, and struggling a bit, because I've felt like there is no one around here I could turn to for guidance. Until Saturday!!

Well, on Saturday afternoon I walked down to the bus stop and waited for the bus. On the weekends, the buses only come once an hour, and there is a lot of variance in the time they can come, so you have to be there early, just in case the bus is early. If you miss it, you have to wait at least another hour.
Anyway, as I stood at the bus stop, it began to rain. Really, really heavily. When I started walking, it hadn't raining, so I was dressed in my summer clothes and I very quickly got soaked. And then the rain intensified, and I just felt miserable. Overwhelmed by the rain, by the lateness of the bus (because I needed to be somewhere at 6, and it was already 5.40), and by these questions I've been struggling with. For the first time I just truly surrendered to God, and said "Lord. I need some help."

The first amazing thing was that the rain stopped. I could still see it on the hills a little further off, but all around me was dry. The second amazing thing was that a lady pulled up, stopped her car in front of me and wound down her window, and asked me where I was going. I told her, and she said she was heading that way and would I like a lift. Now, I have never accepted a lift with a stranger before (and she had never offered one before either) but I felt it was God's will that I get in the car. So I did, and we began conversing, which was when the third amazing thing happened. It turns out that she was a Christian lady who had had 7 children, and she made some comments off hand that related to the issues I've been praying for guidance on. By this stage, I knew these happenings weren't a coincidence, so I poured out my troubles, and she offered me some very wise advice, and by the time our 20 minute drive was up, I left her car feeling as though a great burden had been lifted from my shoulders.

How great is our God! That He knows our troubles, and He cares for us so tenderly. I'd love to be able to express better how this experience has affected me, but I can't! Its the first time I've really felt God's hand at work in my life. If anything, I feel so humbled that he cared enough about me, and my little prayer of "not-being-able-to-cope" when I didn't even know what I was praying for, except His help. And He gave it. In such a perfect way, so that I received aid in all the areas that I needed it. As you might be able to tell, I'm a little moved by the experience! Thanks be to God!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5)

Sewing machine woes.

2008-12-06T12:15:00.001+11:00

Recently, Kyle's mum very generously lent me her sewing machine, as I don't have one, and the cheapest ones cost over $300 and aren't very good. It is a little old, as it was her sewing machine when she was my age. But we oiled it up, and it still works fine, except for its little habit of catching on fire...I went over to her house, and as she was showing me how to use it there was this noise then a big cloud of acrid smoke came out. The boys came and took it outside and did things with the machinery and pronounced it fixed. It worked fine after that at her house, but I took it home and I haven't used it since. I had a look at it this morning, as I wanted to do some more work on this dress that I'm trying to make, but the belt kept slipping and it won't sew :( . I don't feel very confident about fixing it, as things always seem to go wrong whenever I'm home alone (fires, minor explosions, accidental squashing of the ferrets) and fixing it would require taking it apart, fiddling with the machine's insides, and then putting it back together. And I'm not very good at any of that.

I have the ferrets inside at the moment, and they are being very cute. However, I can't hear them, and this makes me worry.

Old posts

2008-12-06T11:20:00.001+11:00

I had another blog, but I didn't like the name, so I chose this one. This was the only post I'd done, so I thought I'd move it over here, because I now find this story pretty funny. Even if it wasn't at the time!

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An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

As I was setting up this blog, I had (yet another) insight into how the Lord keeps me in the palm of His hand. I was making breakfast, and I moved the pan off the stove to put the bacon and eggs in, and somehow I tipped the oil from the pan all over the stove. And it went WHOOSH! As panic gripped me, and I mentally screamed HELP, whilst frantically trying to remember the Australian fire brigade number (000), the flames started to drop, and I was able to dart in and turn off the stove. As soon as that happened, the flames pretty much went out. The day was saved, I flopped onto the sofa with trembling legs, and thought about the merits of getting a fire blanket.

I am very accident prone, and this seems to be made worse whenever we hold a party. The first party we held, I had an allergic reaction to chilli and my hand swelled up. The second party, I shorted out the house (twice) and stabbed myself in the hand. The most recent dinner party we held, involved the blender regurgitating its contents all over the kitchen. And well, today I came just short burning down the house. And there are a plethora of other incidents that I can't recall right now where accidents have happened, but I've never been seriously hurt. Having the kind of experience I just had just makes me want to praise Him so much, for I am so thankfully for the ways He works in my life, for the many blessings that I have been given, and for the way He has sheltered me.