I don’t do New Year resolutions and haven’t for quite some time. And yet here I am going to post a list of things that I’d like to either achieve, work on or try. But don’t be fooled into thinking it has anything to do with the New Year. It’s just timing. We’ve had our tree-change. A major family crisis also happened. One that has affected both John and I physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially and in any other way that I can’t think of how to express. You’ll have to stay tuned into future posts for more information on that one.

I miss reading books

I read all day. Online. It’s not the same. Even great blog posts don’t simmer in my mind as much as reading a whole book. I want to read more books.

I started a new novel yesterday and even though I’ve wanted to read it for a few years, it just didn’t hold my interest. But I’ll persevere a little longer. What did catch my eye was an autobiography. So I paid $1.99 for it and downloaded it to my Kindle app. That’s a start.But I’m very far away from what I used to read – I’d have at least three different types of books on the go at any given time.

I miss music

I’m not sure why music took a back seat but I want to listen to a wide variety of music again. I’m happy to listen to Giggle & Hoot but I also want some more Paul Wilbur, Enya, LOTR soundtrack, Paul Potts, Transiberian Orchestra, Classical and more! Pandora has been helpful and I will use it more each morning.

I want to write more

I am committed to only sharing my story and not that of my kids. And that doesn’t always leave a lot for me to say because our lives are so intertwined and it’s hard for me to write my story, from my perspective without intruding on their privacy. Whilst that is tricky, it’s not insurmountable. I used to write a lot, even when I homeschooled all four children and had a small business. This 500 Word Challenge is my way of starting to write more.

I want to exercise

Even just a little. Enough said.

My list is not very spiritual, is it? Read the Bible more, pray more, visit the sick, feed the poor, etc. are all things we should desire to do – borne out of relationship with Our Father. I have never put them on such lists.

I used to write passively, weak and ineffectual. (The archives contain old posts that haven’t been revised.) It doesn’t grab anyone. It looks wishy-washy. Why should anyone regard what I have to say when I sound so unsure of myself, of my own thoughts? I used words like “maybe, perhaps, in my opinion, for me, your mileage may vary, I think, there is no one right way,” and other such atrocious writing. I wrote this way because I didn’t have hard and fast rules, my life wasn’t black and white. I assumed people would appreciate that. After a friend offered me encouragement and advised me to stop writing passively, I spent a few years learning to be a better writer whilst also learning through living life.

Yes, my writing improved. I stopped writing passively and starting using words that displayed more authority. The problem is that now, a few years later with more life experience under my belt, I have realised that my original self was fine! Sure I needed some writing help, and it was necessary for me to learn how to communicate more effectively, but my style of communicating was okay. I think I am returning to my former self!

Not much to say

I don’t write about every new-to-me idea I read about or every new health cure that comes from the beans that the Himalayan goat digested on the peak of Mt. Everest. Maybe my experience and my opinion will not suit you. And that is okay. In fact, it is more than okay. It is good. Because our lives are not parallel or mirror images. I’ve gone back to using passive words. Again I am saying, “if it fits, maybe, perhaps, and if it works for you“.

I now see that there are more than one way to accomplish a goal, to eat, to be healthy, to exercise, to homeschool, to worship, to study, to serve. There is more than one way to live right. And I am a true homeschooler/unschooler at heart. I know that people will learn what they need to learn when they need to know it. And that what a person digs for herself will truly be theirs.

Ready for Long Service Leave

I’ve been homeschooling for 16 years now. What have I done with my 16 year effort? Am I an authority on the subject? Have I authored a book? No and no. And that is not going to happen. Because I can’t give anyone else explicit instructions about anything! I probably should have written that book years ago when I was more sure of things but now I have had more experience I am less dogmatic on many topics, I think more deeply about them now – I listen to different ideas with the aim of trying to understand.

The more I’ve experienced the more I have learned. Since gaining life experience I have more questions and less answers. More pondering, which in turn, leads me to say less.

Being that I primarily blog for the glory of the Lord, for my own enjoyment and for my family I’m going to start relating a few stories from my past. It’s been a long time since I wrote much about my children. That is a deliberate and intentional plan. I’m really thankful that my past was not captured on the Internet. When John and I met, we had to get to know each other the old fashioned way. We spent time together, asking questions and going through the full range of emotions that arose from those discussions. I want that for my children. I don’t want my child’s prospective partner to log on to my website and find out quirky little details about the person they’re interested in. I want a partner to learn from my child that they struggled in Maths, not read it on my blog.

Sharing My Story

I want to share my story with you, not my children’s story. Their story is theirs to tell.

Juicy Scandals

You’ll just have to sign up to receive all the gossip as it is written. Seriously though, I won’t be writing much of my early childhood and certainly not my teen years as to relate it via writing would not glorify the Lord. It would be about me, me and me in grisly detail. What’s the point of that? Sin is sin is sin is sin. That’s all I need to share about it and that’s all you need to know.

Why Now?

I have felt a check in my spirit about sharing such things before yet now I feel released to do so. I wanted my children to hear things first. I didn’t want them hearing or learning my thoughts, beliefs, values and events via my blog. They are my children. They deserve to know about me before anyone else does! But these things take time. Life takes time to live.

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So, are you going to sign up to receive email notification of new posts (see sign up form below) or will you join me at my facebook page?

The beauty of the written word is that it can be held close to the heart and read over and over again

Florence Littauer

It all started when I found myself on the cold, wet tiles of the shower cubicle floor.

Thursday morning started like every other Thursday morning since we’ve been on holidays. A cup of hot tea, my comfy chair, laptop and my man sitting right next to me. After doing the morning rounds on the Internet I jumped up and went to have a shower. I felt a bit light headed but that isn’t new for me, so I ignored it. I rationalised that I’d have a quick rest after my shower. I spent the next hour rationalising.

I didn’t quite make it to the end of my shower. The lightheaded-ness got worse, the walls were moving and the shower room floor cam up to meet me. When I came to, I felt weak and both arms were numb and I had tingly pins and needles running through them – from the shoulders through to the fingers. I tried calling to John but he was too far away and couldn’t hear my weak cries. I yelled but it came out as a pitiful yelp. I tried knocking against the glass shower cubicle but again, I was too weak for it to have any effect. All I could do was with lie on the floor until I regained enough strength to hoist myself up and out of the shower, slowly scrambling for the bed.

John was on the telephone (and as we all do when on the cordless phone, he was) walking around. He came into the bedroom to find me crawling halfway between the bathroom en suite and the bedroom floor, reaching for the bed. He hung up the phone and put me on the bed. I was having difficulty breathing, my arms were tingling, I was lightheaded and had a tennis ball in my chest. He didn’t waste any time and called the ambulance.

After resting on the bed for a few minutes I started to become more aware of where I was and what had happened. I tried telling him I didn’t need an ambulance. Both he and the ambulance telephone operator strongly disagreed. The ambulance was on its way so I should just lay down and shush. There was one huge, glaring problem that they didn’t seem to understand.

I WAS NAKED!

No, I was not dead nor paralysed but I was butt naked. Despite their reassurances and also despite the fact that I was a nurse (before children) this was of great concern to me. So I made myself slowly get dressed. Poor John was on the line with the phone operator telling him to MAKE SURE ‘she stays on the bed‘. He motioned and whispered to me to GET ON THE BED and I hissed with slurred speech through bared teeth the obvious statement… “I. AM. NAKED.”

Fast forward a minute or two and I realised that my teeth were not cleaned! I started to get up to find my toothbrush while John, the-ever-so-gentle tried pushing me down. I hissed at him again, “I need my toothbrush” and he rolled his eyes at me! Can you believe that? My husband rolled his eyes at me. Eventually he realised I was not going to stay still so he got my toothbrush for me.

Problem was …

My toothbrush was naked too! It needed toothpaste. It was about this stage that I realised that my darling, ever-so-patient-husband was actually running short on that quality – patience. There were were, he on the phone trying to talk to the operator whilst growling at me and running for toothpaste while I hissed at him with slurry speech. What a guy! Oh, not to mention the boys were running around not knowing what was happening and of course, as it typical in our house, the mobile phone was ringing right in the middle of the drama.

The paramedics arrived and the ambulance trip was rather uneventful. Everything was in full swing once we reached the Emergency Room and I was hooked up to machines, was poked and prodded with all sizes of needles and all the other excitement that is the ER. I was eventually admitted to the cardiac unit overnight for observation. Apparently I was supposed to rest.

Rest… in Hospital?

Hello? It is common knowledge that no one sleeps well in hospital. In between the hourly obs, the pinging and beeping of all the machines, the lights, the nurses station, the man opposite me who snored so loud I thought I was in a subway tunnel and the elderly lady opposite both of us who spent the night complaining loudly of the man’s snoring, how was anyone supposed to sleep? On top of that, I sleep on my tummy, at least that’s how I go to sleep. I can’t get to sleep in any other position. Yet with needles in me and monitoring cords attached to my chest I could only lay on my back.

I was released the next day with strict orders to go home and rest. Ha-ha, these people obviously have no idea what our family is like. Really. Rest? I’ll admit, it would have been nice but totally unrealistic.

Take Away Value

One very good thing came from this misadventure though. I was feeling at a loss as to Falcon’s academic lessons for this year. I felt like I just didn’t have it in me to go another year. Don’t get me wrong, he is a wonderful student, a fantabulous son and a pleasure to have around. I wondered if being at home with me was the best thing for him. But somehow during the whole drama I developed a new direction, renewed strength and vision for this year. After next year? Who knows? We’ll see when that time comes. But for this year I have the vision … now I just have to put pen to paper and organise some resources. I didn’t have a bolt of lightning from the heavens or anything totally miraculous like that. I just had a peace that this year is to be a season of focusing on Falcon.

I wish I had some profound wisdom to share with you all… a beautiful Scripture or quote. But alas! I do not. I am incredibly thankful to be alive … that I live to take another breath. I am more in love with husband today than I was yesterday. I love all my children and my dad to bits.

I’m here to blog for another day.

Courtesy of Kathryn Estry-Words of Faith

A few hours ago a precious man of God was taken home to be with the Lord. He was 90 years old. Family and close friends gathered with Stott today as they listened to Handel’s Messiah. Whilst I mourn the passing of such a dear man I am thankful for his years here on earth and all that he was able to accomplish.

The first book by Mr. Stott that I read was Basic Christianity but the book that had the most profound effect upon me was The Cross of Christ.

Visit the The John Stott Memorial

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as “God on the cross.” In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering. ”The cross of Christ . . . is God’s only self-justification in such a world” as ours. . . . “The other gods were strong; but thou wast weak; they rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but thou alone.”
~John Stott
The Cross of Christ

Have you read any of John Stott’s books? Which one had the most impact upon your life? If you haven’t read any of his works, I’d like to strongly encourage you to do so.

We, John and Susan, are thrilled to announce the engagement of their eldest daughter to *Mr. I on the 18th May, 2011.

The happy couple

Further details will be announced as plans are made.

We could not be happier and are delighted about the upcoming marriage.

*C’mon, you know I don’t use names here.

Shopping keeps us young! So go out: buy! Spend! Be a good citizen! Do it for your health!

Well! The The Herald Sun reports : “SHOP so you don’t drop. That’s the message from a curious new international study, which shows shopping could help you live longer.”

Older men who indulged in daily shopping trips were 28 per cent more likely to live longer, compared with 23 per cent for women.
Australian experts say shopping can lift spirits for all ages.

“Modern stores are bright, energetic places that I would think can be pleasantly stimulating occasionally if your alternative is largely being stuck at home with limited forms of communication or contact,” he said.

Sure the article does mention that it is the social interaction with others, the companionship that is beneficial and with this point I thoroughly agree. But HOW in the world do they arrive at the conclusion then, that it is shopping (spending money, being a consumer) that leads to longevity of life. How about other forms of social interaction like volunteer work in the local community, being an active member of the local community and being active within the church community? Making encouraging phone calls or sending cards, writing letters or the occasional visit is certainly more satisfying than spending money. Investing in relationships… putting time and effort into eternal matters has to be fulfilling and beneficial for everyone involved.

What a totally worldly way of looking at this issue. Not only should we aim to be interactive in our elderly years but as younger women, it is very important that we learn to respect the older women in our church community. If we treat them with disrespect or treat them as the world treats the elderly then they will most likely react accordingly.

The Scriptures tell us what to expect from old age… and how to spend our time:

Wisdom is with aged men, With long life is understanding.
Job 12:12

If any believing woman has widows, she should help them, and the church should not be burdened, so that it can help those who are genuinely widows.
1 Timothy 5:16

They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing.
Psalms 92:12-14

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
Titus 2:3-5

As a family we watched this as a news article on TV the other night. We used it as a way to teach the children how the media (and anyone pushing a bias) can attempt to manipulate the hearer by using faulty reasoning and jumping to unreasonable conclusions. Grrr, it makes me mad!

Rant over… back to your irregularly-never-scheduled blog. 🙂

Susan O Susan! Wherefore art thou, Susan?

One day I’m blogging daily like a mad woman and the next I seem to have dropped off the planet. So much for my new found commitment to blogging regularly again.

A few weeks ago, my Father-In-Law passed away. Naturally, that took precedence and we gathered together with family to mourn his passing.

Then my health went downhill. Regular readers will know that my health is an uphill battle. A few visits to the doctor left me more frustrated than ever. I was appalled by the doctor’s treatment, or lack thereof. On my first visit, the female doctor (I chose a female doctor for a reason!) only made eye contact with me once. And that was while she was giving me instructions on using the strong medication she was prescribing. She tapped away on her computer keyboard the entire time! This left me feeling like she didn’t care a jot about my condition, how I felt or me as a person. Anyway like I good little girl, I took the medication. But now I’m wishing that I didn’t.

I had been on the medication for 3 days when I awoke one night at 2am with the most burning, raw, stifling pain in my throat. I have never experienced anything like it before. Probably didn’t help that I didn’t know what it was- fear of the unknown does tend to scare the wits out of me. 😉 My throat started to swell up and I couldn’t talk and was having difficulty breathing. John thought it was reflux… and he would know having suffered with gastric and digestive problems a lot due to medication over the last few years. The next day was Sunday and after church we went back to the doctor to receive the test results. While I was there I asked her if the medication could have caused such a reaction. She looked back at the medication she had prescribed and said, “Oh yes, it probably would have – antibiotics with antivirals certainly would!”. Well gee, thanks for telling me beforehand! As it turns out, I had absolutely no need for either medication. Argh!

I rarely go to the doctor’s… only when absolutely necessary. This whole episode confirmed to me my reasons. I don’t believe that the general practitioner is overly concerned with health and how to get better. I often get the distinct impression that many of the are in it for the money- from seeing patients and prescribing unnecessary drugs. Now I know that there are many good doctors out there and I’m really happy for those that have found them. Sadly, it is not my reality.

I understand that doctors are not perfect beings and I don’t expect them to have all the answers. I wonder if a lot of CFS and other auto-immune syndrome’s are simply what a doctor diagnoses when they have no answers. I am sick and tired of how GP’s frown upon natural health practices and just try to shove toxic substances down my throat… when they can’t even give me a straight answer! They don’t look outside the box. They don’t look at the person as a whole person. They don’t connect the dots. They simply look at the test results on paper and match it up with the information in their books. Doesn’t matter if a thyroid level has been on the low cusp for years- it can’t be hypothyroidism until it goes into the red zone. Doesn’t matter that that red zone is 0.01 below my low reading! Argh!

SuperMoon in March 2011

Anyway on to other things… aside from all that things are pottering along. John’s fatty liver hasn’t completely gotten better yet so we’re still doing green smoothies, a little juicing, and incorporating more fresh foods into our diet. Stress plays a large factor in fatty liver and aside from his father’s death, work isn’t stress-less at the moment. The boys are continuing with their lessons and Cadets and astronomy. Miss A had her 20th birthday last week… we went to the Coffee Barun for a scrumptious breakfast.

That’s about it! Now it’s time for me to pop around to some blogs and catch up.

God has taken my salvation out of my hands into His, making it depend on His choice and not mine, and has promised to save me, not by my own work or exertion but by His grace and mercy.
~ Martin Luther

My blogging sabbatical started by choice but it ended up being enforced, by illness. I’ve had a flu for 4 weeks and even though I am still not better I am on the mend and starting to resume to my normal duties. Four weeks ago I started getting sick but I didn’t take the rest: I had things to do, places to go, people to see. I got sicker. Every weekend I’d just start to feel better and within a day I’d get sick again but with slightly different symptoms. The flu symptoms moved from my head to the chest to the throat to the sinuses. I don’t recall ever being that ill with the flu.

Our family has been under stress for a few years now. The stress peaks and flows depending upon life and family circumstances but has increasingly peaked over the last few years. I believe that this stress has contributed to the lowering of our immune system, which is why we have gotten so sick and why we’re having such troubles recovering from it. However I have been proactive in trying to recover and build our strength. We’re juicing fresh fruit and vegetables, trying to eat healthier food and be more regular with taking our supplements. We will get better… it’s just a matter of time.

The next two months aren’t likely to be easy for our family as we continue to build strength but John also goes away for the month of October. He’s been working very long hours (14 hour days) at work, even though he too is recovering from the flu. Suffice to say that we are really looking forward to Christmas holidays!

I want to thank each of you who prayed for me and for our family. Thank You! Despite the heaviness of the sickness I know that God is in control of our lives. Thank you also to those two lovely ladies who phoned me, just to say hi and to pray with me. You both know who you are but what you don’t know is how much your calls meant to me. They came at a time when I was feeling quite low in spirit. I was sick of being sick and feeling a bit lonely. Those phone calls, enquiring after me and praying with me really lifted my spirits. Thank you for reaching out to me. We started out as online friends but we know that we are more than that for we are Sisters in Christ.

I’m back to writing! I have missed it. I have so many things I’d like to share but as I’ve often found, when I have time, I have nothing much to say. When I have something to say, I lack time to write. Ah, what a quandary! Four weeks of being sick, watching tv, reading snippets of books and lots of time to think has meant that my mind is bouncing like the ball in a pinball machine. However I really must get my home back in order. Surely you can imagine what four weeks of Mumma being ill will do to a place, regardless of how great and helpful the children are! It is enough to say that I need to spend some focussed energy and time on the house and laundry.

Looking forward to re-joining the blogosphere!

We’re off! I’ll be packing my bags and heading to Melbourne after all!  :party:

Regular readers may remember where my 18yodd (the athlete) dislocated her thumb. You can read about it here. She has had it in a splint for the last 3 weeks and today we went back to the physio. We have been anxiously waiting to see if the joint is strong enough for Miss A to play in the U/10 Women’s Nationals. We prayed for her, believing for healing.

The physio said that the hand has healed as well as it possibly could, considering the damage! She said it had healed remarkably well…*and* she has permission to play in the tournament!

The daily splint she wears was cut down to allow for greater movement and flexibility which will help with strengthening. She is also to start strengthening exercises for the joint and surrounding ligaments. The physio also made another splint that she is to wear just when playing/training. This physio is pretty good- she specialises in hand physiotherapy and is accustomed to working with athletes. Miss A can go to training tonight and actually pitch and catch!

She has kept up her training routine as much as possible. She has had to change it a little by using pin loaded machines at the gym as these allow her to still do a complete workout but not risk further injury. She also runs, walks, does pylometric training, stretching as well as her softball training. Pitching training goes on top of all that as well.

Anyway, she gets to play – for His glory. And we get to go on holiday and watch ( :yes: ) and be with all the other softball families.

Thank you Father God… may you have all the glory!

Well, time for a family update I think. But where to start? Life has been so busy and hectic I hardly know where to begin.

My daughter has taught me something recently about trusting in God…really trusting in Father. One of my daughters works part time and studies part time. She pays for softball and her car and everything else but it leaves nothing left over for pocket money or girly things. In fact, with her hours she even struggles to pay for her necessities but she is learning the difficult task of money management well- lessons that will help throughout her adult life.  We have always chipped in and covered her bills whenever necessary. Not straight away- we leave it till the last minute as she wants to pay for as much as she can herself. Invariably though, we always help out. Lately, she has been stressing: fretting over how to get more hours at work, what she can sell to bring in a few pennies, etc. She’s actually been worrying about it despite my reassurances that it will all be fine. I started to feel like she didn’t trust us. We had come through for her before. We assured her that we would again. We told her that we were proud of her efforts. But still, she stressed. Yes, I felt like she didn’t trust us.

I wondered if our Father ever feels like that. I realised that I do the same thing to Him regularly! He has always provided for our needs in the past. He assures me in His word that He will continue to. We do try to manage our finances well and be good stewards (although we don’t always succeed)…but still I fret. I worry. I plan and strive…instead of trusting in Him. Oi voi! What a lesson.

Miss A came home this afternoon from softball training…with a black eye! Yep, while fielding at 3rd base the ball bounced nastily and she copped one in the eyebrow. Ugly eh? Meanwhile she is working, studying, gym-ing and training- sure keeps her busy!

Miss R is living back at home. She works at a local cafe, attends school when required and is doing two TAFE courses. However, she has just secured a Chef Apprenticeship at a posh place on the beach in Adelaide.

The boys are doing great! Continuing on with daily Maths and reading…chores and generally being fantastic young men! I love their company and just really enjoy being with them.

I‘ve been back and forth to the doctor recently. About 10 years ago I smashed my ankle while playing softball. The fracture was pretty bad and I had to have a large screw in place, along with a metal plate, secured by several small screws. After the scar line healed I went back in to have 2 inch long screw removed. I was told not to worry about the plate, unless it gave me trouble. Well, I don’t know if it is the weights training or going back to softball but my ankle has been giving me pain. It’s really swollen, red and burning. I had an xray and need to go back to the Dr some time this week with my original xray so they can compare them but the radiographer said it appears that a screw has come loose from the plate and is ‘floating’. Tehee, yes I have felt like I’m coming part at the seams…but my sister in saw said she always knew I had a screw loose. 🙂

I’ve also been at the doctors for my health. Had a large battery of blood tests done which showed nothing overly dramatic except anemia- chronic anemia. Seems my ferritin levels are ridiculously low so have been told to double or triple dose my iron supplements. Boy, do you know how much that costs? Double dose is about $60 per month! Oi voi! So, to help matters along I am using SpaTone in the morning and Floravit in the evening.

I haven’t been back to the gym in what feels like ages. I know I’ve lost condition, but what can I do? I’ve barely been managing to get out of bed some days…let alone to the gym to work out. However, that is only causing me to feel down so I am heading back to the gym this week. I will keep on keeping on! I’ll post another picture update soon, but due to ill health and not being at the gym you’re not in for any great surprises.

I love playing softball. I don’t know why I had those few years off again. I just love it! However, this is one case where the spirit is willing but the flesh is definitely very weak…especially since my health has gone downhill a bit.  John has resumed umpiring again too. He really enjoys it so life is almost as full as it was many years ago.

The Diana Waring Conference was here in Adelaide last week! Wow, what a blast! I had a memorable time and learned lots. Get-togethers are always filled with laughter and blessing, aren’t they?

Well it doesn’t seem like much when it’s put onto paper but there it is – the reason for my real life busyness. Friends will always be able to tell when I’m living a full, rich real life as I won’t post much. But when I’m posting a lot it usually means that I’m hermitting away in the house, spending too much time on the computer. 😉

My blog has received a few awards recently. Thank you kind ladies. It is very nice to receive such awards. However, for various reasons I have decided to not ‘do’ awards. Yeah I’m a party pooper eh? But you can read here why I don’t…I really enjoy blogging and being involved in the AussieHomeschool Blogging community and that is where most of my efforts lie – in contributing toward the development and growth of the AussieHomeschool community.  Rosemary awarded me with the Kreativ Award but if you want to know more about me you can read this page. Jillian gave me the Gorgeous Blogger Award and as much as I’d like to participate I just can’t right now. But Jillian, thank you very much. 🙂

That’s about it from me, for now. Who knows when I’ll be back. Have a great week all and spend lots of quality and quantity time with your loved ones!

Doctors spend more time looking at their computers instead of at the patient!

I’ve had cause to see the doctor on a weekly basis lately. During our nation-wide travels I’ve seen many different doctors so I’ve had experience with a few. Some are older, many are younger. Either way I am convinced that they all spend more time engaging with their computer than with me, the patient.

The elderly doctors have often seen their computer as a necessary evil. I’ve watched some struggle with it, longing for the ‘good ole days’. Nevertheless, whether they want to or not, most of their attention is given to the computer.

Some of the younger doctors have a pretty good handle on the whole computer thing. They’re proficient at researching, documenting and printing with their computer…yet for some reason their computer still gets more eye contact and more one on one engagement than me, the patient.

I remember when doctor’s would face me, listen to my story and take notes. The thing about taking notes is that the body language is open, toward the patient… eye contact can still be made while the notes are being jotted down. Not so with a computer!  I know some people might think I’m a bit loony but I have researched how to talk with doctors. I understand they’re busy and hear the life story of a new patient every 20 minutes or so. I get that. So I try to be organised and concise while conveying my story. Studies have shown that a patient will be interrupted by the doctor within the first 18 – 23 seconds. Whew! That gives me about 18 seconds to get the most important points out…for once I’ve been interrupted it’s hard to get back on track, especially if the story is involved or complicated. Not only that but it’s likely that the doctor’s mind has wandered, thinking about the first few issues I’ve raised.

So where does one start? Do you start with your history or the current issue? the current issue often comes on the back of the history so that’s important. I try to open with a brief statement relating to my current issue…and then delve into the history a little but I seem to lose the doctors attention very quickly. (Of course I also recognise that this may not be the case for everyone… especially those who have had the same doctor for many years. I’ve had a new doctor every 12 months, due to moving interstate)

I love technology. I love my computer. I love the Internet. But just in case I needed the reminder I’ll take it. My computer does not listen to me. It does not need my love or attention. My family does. I need to make more time to fully engage with my family- to really give them my full, undivided attention…eye contact, verbal affirmations, smiles, touches and to turn my body in an open way toward them when they are talking.

Just wish my doctor would do the same…they even get paid to do so!

My dad called me this afternoon. That was a little unusual as we usually speak in the mornings. He had called to tell me that it was pitch black – at 3.30 in the afternoon! He said in his 50 years of living in Broken Hill, he has never seen a dust storm as bad as the ones that it there today.

Of course, people have already uploaded their videos to youtube…check out these videos of today’s dust storms. Freaky! I do not envy the cleanup…red dust would be everywhere and in everything.

More links:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLw8dPlxDH0

Why is this of interest to me? Because I’m a Hill gal- born and bred!

I’ve been MIA from the blog but so much has happened in real life. That’s usually the way, isn’t it? I have so much blog fodder but no time to write! 😎

We’ve had a very ‘light academic’ week this week. It wasn’t planned that way but real life took over. I have resumed softball coaching this year and I’m really looking forward to it but I also know that it takes a lot of mental time and energy so in preparation for that I’ve felt the need to declutter. With the help of my boys, I moved 4 bookcases to other rooms in the house, with the aim of making the kitchen/dining area look more open and less cluttered. I’ll also be taking everything out of the buffet hutch and packing it away. I simply don’t have time to dust all the ornaments, as much as I love the atmosphere they help create in the home.

Master J is getting all his gear ready as he heads out for a cadet bivouac this weekend. That’s always exciting for him.

Things seem to be looking more positive for Miss R as she is doing her Cert1 in KitchenHand (already has Cert1 in Hospitality), work experience and part time paid work but she also has an interview today for a full time trainee ship. She still isn’t living home but we saw each other a few times this week again, which is positive.

I have a great story that gives praise to God, even though it isn’t really my story but Miss A has allowed me to share it as she doesn’t have time to write/blog it herself. When the ToolBox cafe closed down we didn’t encourage Miss A to look for another full time job. She already had a part time job lined up with some fellow Christians at their cafe. However, we did recommend that she devote her energy to finishing her Cert3 in Fitness studies. She’s been doing really well with it plus training for the Developmental Australian Tournament, plus fitness training. I’ve really loved having her home again…homeschooling her all over again. 🙂 However, with car registration and 6 interstate softball tournaments this year she really needed some work as well. Softball is a fairly expensive sport once one gets to the higher levels. I suggested that she prioritise a list of her needs and put it before the Lord, asking Him to provide for those needs. I just left the idea with her. (Rewind a few months now) A few months ago she had a great job offer, one which any average young person would love to have but it just wasn’t right for her. She declined the offer. Well, two days ago she received a phone call asking if she could work at this place…any hours of her choosing! We talked about it and agreed that she didn’t go looking for it but instead asked God to provide so we saw this as His provision! Hallelujah! So she is now going back to work 4 days a week…softball takes 2 full days a week and study, fitness and committee work will be managed in between! Ah it’s a good job that she’s young and fit eh?

It’s great having John home again. The time away actually benefited him, physically. He worked out at the gym but didn’t have to drive for hours a day so his back was doing great. However, I’ve noticed that he’s been strained and stiff and in pain again for the last few days. We know it is all the driving but…? He drives an hour to work each day and an hour home each and every day. But it’s not the driving so much as it is this particular trip. It is through the Adelaide Hills which is a little up and down but worse than that it is windy…very windy with hair pin bends and sharp turns while going up and down hills. It’s not a leisurely drive at all…one has to remain braced and fully alert at all times. This is what prevents his back from healing and strengthening properly. In 2007 he had an accident at work and after a few weeks of agony, he had to have a shoulder reconstruction, which had him out of action for months. He went back to full time work too early and did a back injury He’s had x-rays and MRI’s and various other tests in which he has been told that he has a ‘blown disc’…that there is no cartilage between 2 vertebrae. Driving exacerbates the condition and causes pain. However, he’s allergic to many pain relievers and anti inflammatories so it isn’t as easy as taking a few pills.

I’ve been exercising regularly for nearly 19 weeks! In that time I’ve had about 3-4 weeks off but otherwise I’ve exercised at least 3 times per week. I’ve gotten a bit stronger and had a few positive results but am nowhere as fit, strong and healthy as I expected. Actually I’ve been more tired and lethargic than ever. Exercise really tuckers me out! So I have consulted an online naturopath and have received my new nutritional program which I will be starting on Monday. I’d like to blog regularly about it but won’t make any promises.

On top of all that I am teaching my Dad to use a computer and the Internet. Difficulty in that is that he is in Broken Hill and I am in Adelaide! When he was here, John built him a computer and he took it home, set it up and is patiently working on it a little each day. I’m so proud of him as I know how difficult all this new technology is. But I can easily be on the phone with him for 30min or more just trying to instruct him on how to read an email! (I try to remember that I have trouble operating our several remote controls just to watch TV) But he’s keeping his mind active and staving of dementia and other conditions by learning new skills. Go Dad!

I still read my regular blogs but have done very little popping in and commenting this week…sorry! I hope to visit them again next week.

One week down only five more weeks to go.

The house is clean, tidy and everything has a place and (here’s the real miracle) everything is actually in its place!  A few weeks ago, my dad visited and stayed with us for 3 weeks. During that time Damian also popped over and stayed for a few nights. So in this fairly small house that barely fits six of us, there were 8 people! Chaotic, unruly, disorganised…doesn’t even begin to describe it. Now, however it is clean and tidy. But missing many people. My dad and Damian went home. John has gone to Victoria for a 6 week course and Miss R is not at home.

Our tidy, clean lounge room

It’s quiet, too quiet. It’s clean; too clean. I’m reminded of that saying: When something seems too good to be true, it usually is. There are only four of us in the house. No wonder it’s clean!

I have nothing to write! Well, that’s not exactly true. I have a mind that is overwhelmed with thoughts, ideas and questions but nothing fit for public web consumption. I’m not feeling terribly encouraged in anything at the moment…so it’s probably best for me to be quiet during such times. I become cynical when I read many of the popular parenting blogs or articles. I just don’t have the joy, joy, joy deep in my heart at the moment like so many others do. I don’t have a husband who does everything for me- housework, yardwork, finances, cooking, etc while I sit at the table and instruct the children in the ways of the Lord. I just don’t have perfect children who hardly ever need guidance and correction.

Now I love my husband and my children very much…and in reality I’m not complaining about them or my lot in life. I am speaking about how I feel when I read too many books or blogs where everyone else life seems so perfect and hunky dory…where a post isn’t written without one quoting Scripture that apparently ties in with the theme. Pffftt! Don’t give me a throw away line from the Bible. Tell me what it really means to you. Tell me what you learned from it or how it impacted your life. Don’t just shove it in at the end of a post and think that you’ve written an encouraging blog post! Sometimes I wonder if some Christians aren’t so overly spiritual that they’re of no earthly use!

Yes I do have joy- deep seated joy at knowing I have been given eternal life with the Father God…but that isn’t the same as being happy, happy, happy in everyday circumstances. Is it?

Hmm, I’m frustrated. With life. My life. I want to meet more people. I want to serve people. I want to have relationships, more relationships. I think I’m hungry…hungry for true fellowship – giving and receiving.

What am I doing with my life? With my time? What will stay and be remembered or what will have impacted people long after I’m gone? My blog? AussieHomeschool? A book? A clean house?

Another angle

Argh, I’m longing for some adult conversation…I usually talk with John. He is my best friend, my lover, confidante and my play-mate. If you’ve ever seen us work on our computers together you’ll know what I mean by play-mate.  But you can see why I need adult conversation- to mull over the thoughts in my head.  John isn’t here so I’ll blog it, which isn’t as good but it will have to do. Maybe short, rambly, incoherent posts that show the maniacal thoughts of a Christian homeschool mum will still be able to give glory to God, in a small way…even if there is not a scripture quote splattered at the end or lovely pictures of well behaved and immaculately dressed children accompanying every post. 😉

:laugh:

Q: How many charismatics does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One, since his hands are in the air anyway.
A: Three, one to cast it out and two to catch it when it falls!
A: Twenty one, one to change it, and twenty to share the experience!

Q: How many Calvinists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. God has predestined when the lights will be on.

Q: How many hyper-Calvinists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. If God wants the light bulb changed He will do it Himself!

Q: How many liberals does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 10, as they need to hold a debate into whether or not the light bulb exists. Even if they can agree upon the existence of the light bulb they may not go ahead and change it for fear of alienating those who use fluorescent tubes.

Q: How many Anglo-Catholics does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They always use candles instead.

Q: How many evangelicals does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Evangelicals do not change light bulbs. They simply read out the instructions and hope the light bulb will decide to change itself.

Q: How many Atheists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One. But they are still in darkness.

Q: How many Brethren does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Change?????

Q: How many Pentecostals does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Ten. One to change it and nine others to pray against the spirit of darkness.
A: Twenty Five. One to screw in the new lamp. Two dozen to bind the powers of darkness.

Q: How many TV evangelists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One. But for the message of hope to continue to go forth, send in your donation today.

Q: How many campfire worship leaders does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One. But soon all those around can warm up to its glowing.

Q: How many independent baptist’s does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, anymore than that would be considered ecumenical.

Q: How many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 10. One to actually change the bulb and 9 to say how much they like the old one.

Q: How many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Well, it should require about five committees to review the idea first. If each is staffed with half a dozen members, that’s what … Thirty?

Q: How many members of the church of Christ does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Five. One to change the bulb, four to serve refreshments.

Q: How many conservative Anglicans does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Three. One to change it and two to storm out in protest if the person changing it is a woman.

Q: How many missionaries does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Ten. Five to determine how many can be changed by the year 2000, four to raise the necessary funds, one to go find a national to do the job!

I went shopping today and wanted to buy some chicken stock. yeah I know, it’s pretty slack of me to not have made my own (I shall have to hand in my home-grown-homeschooler card) but I needed tea on the table…tonight! I wanted a stock (powder or liquid) that does not contain MSG. Now everyone knows what MSG is, right? Monosodium glutamate, is a sodium salt of the non-essential amino acid glutamic acid. It is used as a food additive and is commonly marketed as a flavour enhancer. When a food is stale, intolerable or the product is inferior, many producers will add MSG. MSG tricks your tongue and taste buds into making you think a certain food is yummy, high in protein and thus nutritious. But it is not. Strangely enough, previous generations lived their lives without adding MSG to their foods (it is naturally found in some foods). Many people believe they have an intolerance to MSG which often produces a variety of adverse reactions. We try to avoid MSG as much as possible as some members of the family do have reactions to it – some slight and others more noticeable.

So, it is a new additive that supposedly enhances that which is stale or inferior…but often ends up causing illness and adverse reactions such as physical symptoms, headaches, nausea, drowsiness and weakness!

I was doing some study at the online Bible gateway tonight and as I was cross referencing a scripture with different Bible versions, I had a wry giggle as I saw the abbreviation:

MSG

Here, take a look. Scroll right to the bottom and see for yourself. (Or click the image below…I couldn’t resist and had to take a screen shot) Hmmm, nothing further to add, methinks. 😕

Oh. I’m lost for words. A dear man, the best teacher I have ever known has gone to be with the Lord.

Geoffrey Bingham.

Mr. Bingham AM, MM, has truly led a full, rich life…he was a preacher, teacher, a doctor of theology, a former POW in WW2, a writer/author and founder of New Creation Teaching Ministries. The lessons that I have learned most through Mr. Bingham are the grace of God and the Centrality of the Cross and forgiveness.

It is my prayer that the Lord will be with the Bingham’s and friends and all those who will miss his input into their lives.

If you don’t yet know much about NCTM or Geoffrey Bingham’s book, now is a good time to do some reading. SydneyAnglicans has written a tribute to Mr Bingham, and if you want to know more about this man, it is a good place to start.

Geoffrey Bingham: Wikipedia entry
New Creation Teaching Ministries
Roman’s study series on YouTube
Geoffrey Bingham on AudioSermon
New Creation TM sermons on SermonAudio

Thank you Father God, that Mr Geoffrey Bingham was such a faithful servant…thank you that You worked through his life to touch many people, both past, present and in the future.

I’m an only child! And I loved it. I just never knew any different.

• Being an only, I learned to entertain myself and be creative with my imagination.
• Being an only gave me lots of uninterrupted time…to think and ponder.
• Being an only child allowed me to have other friends sleep over and become part of our family. My best friend was one of 10 children so she became my mum & dad’s adopted daughter and my sister.
• Being an only child afforded me to have a special and close relationship with my Mum and Dad.

As I never knew any different I didn’t really wish for anything different. Oh, I do recall asking Mum and Dad for siblings but most children want what they don’t have- it was a fad. I got over it.

We didn’t have much money…we were always fairly poor. But I knew my parents loved me and would bend over backwards to do anything for me that they could. They had a positive attitude and I knew I was loved. I wasn’t showered with material possessions so selfishness never became an issue. My parents just taught me other ways how to share and how to be giving and kind.

Naturally I went everywhere with my parents, so this gave me lots of opportunity for learning how to get on with many others but especially elderly people. I dearly love the elderly and have a great respect for them.

My parents always told me that they would have loved more children, that they tried but they just couldn’t have any more. Knowing that they wanted more children allowed me to see them as more human…it also allowed me to see that the whole world didn’t revolve around me.

I now have four biological children and am blessed to care for my husband’s son (blended family). Sometimes my girls fight and I do not understand it at all. I don’t know how girls can be catty one second and then talk like ‘besties’ the next minute. They tell me it’s a sister thing…I guess I’ll take their word for it because I simply don’t know. Siblings seem to be quite forgiving of each other.

Another hurdle that I had to get over was when I had my own babies. It was all totally foreign to me! I had no idea of what babies entailed…but there are many ways to get round this. We just didn’t know anyone with little children when I was growing up. My mum was quite a bit older when she had me.

The only other hurdle that I had to deal with was that my mum spoiled me. Not in a good way though, more in the true sense of the word, spoiled. She doted on me hand and foot, meaning I simply didn’t learn how to do most things for myself until I got married and was left to sink or swim! Mum regretted not allowing me to do more for myself. She said it was a big mistake of hers and she hoped I would make my children do chores and do things for themselves. Overall, I loved my childhood and wouldn’t have wished for much different.

Yes, that me!

How about you? Are you an only child? Why don’t you post about your childhood or birthorder and pop back here and let me know so I can visit your blog?

I received a phone call from my son on Friday night. His mother had been killed in a motorbike accident. She was only 48.  ‘S’ has been a part of my life (for better and for worse) since I was 18. She is the birth mother of my son (step-son). She was, for 10years, a very good friend of mine and through her (by positive and negative experiences experiences) I learned a lot. We drifted apart once we started moving around the nation. It happens. Life takes people in different directions. I did manage to catch up with S a few months ago though.

We spent several hours with D…and many more to come, no doubt. This boy (who is now 26, but will always be ‘one of my boys‘ hasn’t had the easiest of lives and I’d like to ask you to pray for him – that not only will God give him peace but that He will draw D to Himself like never before… that He will indeed turn something for good out of this tragedy.

Some of my readers will know of S and my relationship with her. Some may be confused by this post and for that, I apologise. Many readers will not be aware that I became an instant mum when I was married at age 18. My husband had a son. He was 5 when we met and he turned 6 just before we got married. I totally dislike the term step-son and step-mother but that’s what we were. Ever since I determined to be John’s wife I accepted that D  would be my son. He calls me Mum and I call him my son. However, I need to distinguish this sometimes as it can become confusing for others.  You have no idea how many looks we have had over the years- especially when people do the math and realise that I was 14 when D was born.

If I’m not around much over the next week -10 days, you’ll know where I am. I’m grieving for my friend and supporting my loved ones in their time of loss and sorrow.

Happy Birthday to My Boy.

14 today!

I know you’ll hate this picture but oh well, it’s my blog so I can put it up. It’s called being a parent. 😉

When you were first born and wouldn’t wake up long enough to feed, and subsequently lost too much weight and were taken to the RAH for heart tests, I went in and stayed at the hospital praying for you all the time, while dad stayed home to look after the girls. We were so scared. On day 14 you woke up, demanded to be fed and haven’t stopped eating since! Where you put all that food has me in constant amazement.

We’ve loved getting to know you and your particular strengths and weaknesses and quirks. We love watching you grow and develop and slowly becoming a young, independent man within the home. It’s such a pleasure to watch you grow in maturity, determination and many other fine character traits. We are very proud of you and look forward to spending more time with you over the coming few years.

HaPpY 14th BiRtHdAy

Happy 18th Birthday to my sweet daughter.

We all love you very much.

Whoohoo!

We have a posting! John just called to say that we are indeed staying here in S.A.

The last week has been tumultuous as one day things have looked as though we’re staying and the next day it looked as if we were definitely headed for Darwin. Now there’s nothing wrong with Darwin and we would love to be posted there. One day…but our family is such that at the moment we really needed the stability of staying here for awhile.

We don’t know how long this posting is – could be till the end of 2009 or it could be extended till the end of 2010. That we don’t know…yet. But at least we can commit to things now like softball, coaching, cadets, etc. Due to softball commitments, Miss A put of her Fitness Training course until the off-season. Off season is May through to beginning of October. This is the only time she has to do the bulk of her course work. She had to postpone it last year because of our move and I feared she’d have to do the same (and sit on her hands) for another year. Well, she can start her course now! Master J is happy as he gets to stay in his Cadet unit and continue partaking in all the activities. Miss R gets to finish Yr 11 here, which is a bonus because it will mean that for the first time since she’s been attending school, she will have attended the same school for one whole year! Wow!

Thank you Lord…that part of the waiting is over.

I’m probably boring everyone to tears with my moving-not-moving saga but I did say I would post In Real Time.

Today, John put in the paper for the ‘powers-that-be‘ to look over. From this, they decide where we will be. Every aspect of our life (from location, housing, career options, promotions, children, education,etc. ) are decided by them. We can put in preferences but in reality this doesn’t mean a lot. It all depends on who is managing the case file. It shouldn’t be like that but often it is.

So we have put in our preferences. Now, we wait. We wait to be told where we will spend the next few years of our life…where we will call home. We wait to see when we will have to say goodbye to family and friends here in Adelaide. We wait for them to tell us when to start packing. We wait to to hear where we’ll be moving so we can decide what to take with us and what to leave in storage or give away.

Now, we wait…and try not to get too excited over the possibilities in case we don’t get that particular location. Again, we wait to see where Miss A will fit in with her health and fitness studies. Will she do correspondence or attend on campus? I find it hard to trust when we’re not the ones making decision for our life, for our future. I stress a bit that others (who may not know us, or like us or even give a hoot) get to make major decisions that will impact my family…my children’s lives.

Now, the hard part. Waiting.

If you would continue to pray for us I’d be so thankful. Please pray that our Father moves the hearts of those who are making decisions for our lives. Please pray for our children. Please pray that we will be still and know that God is our Father and ultimately will work things for our eternal good? Please pray that I will indeed trust Him- whether or not I see Him working or not?

Okay, my attitude is changing. Thanks for praying for us. I can’t explain exactly how it is happening…but I can tell you where my mindset is now.

If we fight to stay here, we’ll still only be here for another 12 months…then we’re off to another posting. Because of the nature of the posting DH will be unable to do promotional courses so it is really just 12 months of marking time. It will be at least 5 years before we could look at coming back here.

Where did my adventurous spirit go? Where or when did I lose it? I don’t know…I think it started to wane 2 houses ago. But you know what? I liked that adventurous spirit. It was exciting. It was fresh and made everything seem new. If we were to go away again now, there might be a possibility that we could return again in a few years.God, I want that attitude back again – for me, for my husband and for my children.

I can move again. I have another move left in me. I can bloom somewhere else…the glass is half full. Life is full of opportunities if only I’m willing to see them that way. Homeschooling and the military is our chosen way of life. Both help to provide full, rich learning experiences for our children. The fact that one of those choices is what puts bread on the table also can’t be overlooked.

Here I was stressing over some of the children (and they have had it hard but since when has my job been to make their life easy?)  yet this is life. If my Master J wants to join the Defence Force as an adult (and he says he does) well, this is it! Military life in real time! If he decides it’s not for him, at least he will know before he signs up and commits as an adult! That is a positive.

We might get to see a part of Australia that we have never seen yet, and are unlikely to see without moving there. We’re off on another adventure! (Still don’t know any details but this is my mental attitude). John just called me to to confirm that I haven’t been drinking lol. (Just kidding people- it’s his way of asking if I was just trying to ‘put on a brave face’ for him or if I could truly live with the decision.)

Challenges. Opportunities. Half-full. Bloom. Choose to be thankful. Choose an attitude. Choose to be positive. Choose joy.

This is where I’m at right now…stay tuned. 😉

We were fairly settled in brisbane…but some family members were quite ill back home (in SA) so the army wanted to be supportive and sent us back home for a CoPas posting which is 12 months. That is up soon, at the end of March. However, John hasn’t seen any paperwork yet, which isn’t right. His bosses are more than happy for him to stay here in SA but it isn’t up to them. The decision lies with the Soldier’s Career management unit. They can be good but then can be pigheaded and pigeonhole people. My husband looks a fair bit younger than he is. He is often mistaken for being between 33-38 years old. He turns 50 this year!!!! He is pretty fit for his age but come on, with all the mismanagement of injuries he’s had over the years he just can’t do what the 30-40 yo’s can do. He does do more than he needs to for his age though. For some reason this career management unit just seems to treat him like he’s 20 and climbing the corporate ladder…when this is the opposite of what he wants! We don’t move around all this much for John to get another promotion. That’s not where he is at.

Some of my blog readers know the drama we’ve had with one of our children. This particular child also goes to school. But let me tell you, homeschooling and defence life are suited to each other like a glove is to a hand. Perfect! Schooling and defence life are pretty hard for a child and a teen. This child has difficulty getting into the subjects or classes that they need because they get enrolled in a new school too late (like half way through the year), etc. It is very tough…amidst the emotional, hormonal youthful years. So yes, moving with my ‘challenging child’ is at the very forefront of my mind. I wonder what difficulty will be put before them this time…just when it seems like the child is really starting to try to get their life together.

Master 13’s main concern is for a decent cadet unit. Master 11 doesn’t really have any concerns. So long as his mum and dad are there, he’s happy. 🙂

I’ve always tried to foster an adventurous attitude toward moving…for this is how I’ve viewed it. I’ve had opportunities to see and experience parts of Australia that I would not have been able to do, if not for military life. I always try to believe and live that I will “bloom where I am planted” and the ‘glass is half full’ and all that kind of positive talk. Despite this, there have been negatives. However, short of applying for a discharge posting it looks like we will indeed be off again. And taking a discharge posting is really not viable at the point in our lives. 12 months…12 lousy months I have been home and we’re off again. Do I know where to this time? Nope! But it will be far from here…far from my dad…far from my extended family.

Possibilities that I have to get my head around are Brisbane, Darwin, Sydney, Townsville or Ross Island. There are pro’s and con’s to both Brisbane and Darwin…but in the end, the decision isn’t ours. I guess that’s what I find hard. I’m more than willing to weigh things up- make a decision and then live with the consequences…I find it hard to live with the consequences of something that isn’t really my choice. Someone else looks over a few paper’s in our file and then they decide where we will spend the next few years of our life-regardless of how it may affect my children. Sure I get to have a choice- I get to put in a preference for town A or town B…doesn’t matter if I don’t want either of them. Goodness, I have moved so much over the last 8 years. If my hubby has to be there, I’ll be there. I’ve gone anywhere, done anything, put up with anything…but sometimes in one’s life there comes a time when one just can’t keep up with that. I’ll definitely be relying on the strength of the Lord…Oh Lord, please be very real to me right now.

As Beyond Bluestockings tried to encourage me in her comment, I am trying to see God’s sovereignty in it all. I see His hand in dealing with the Israelites and with others but in this situation? Hmm…this is where I’m having difficulty. I know He can move mountains but I’m seeing military bureaucracy as being immovable and insurmountable at the moment. They seem to hold the key to my family’s future in their hands. Dramatic? Maybe but it actually contains an element of truth to it.

So we’re weighing up the pro’s and the con’s so we can put in our preferences, after staying here of course. lol. Please pray for us and for those that hold the power of the decision.

Ever written a post and wished you could delete it? Well, that’s kinda how I felt about my last post. Not because I threw a hissy fit…I have done that previously with life and God, rather because it wasn’t encouraging or informative. I did think twice about posting it (and even left it in my draft folder for 24hours, aren’t I a good blogger? lol) because it didn’t point to Christ…didn’t encourage anyone to seek God’s word or aim for anything (health, family life, etc). I was simply having a whinge. I wondered if I should delete the post. But then I realised that this is my site…if you came to my house and had coffee with me, you would hear it from my lips. If you are my ‘IRL’ (In Real Life) friend you would be walking this journey with me IRT (In Real Time) so why not on my blog?

I guess I’ll apologise in advance for the fact that my posts related to the possibility of moving may not be encouraging, uplifting, informative or the like…but they will be real- an autobiography of my thoughts during this period of my life. Don’t like it? Tell me about it. I have to be a little careful as I’m talking about a government agency…so I will try to refrain from truly speaking my mind but you’ll get the gist of where my head and my heart is. You’ll get to share in my ups and downs, the nitty and the gritty. Don’t expect it all to look like sweetness and light. Yup, God is my Father and He is mighty…doesn’t mean I walk in that 24/7, unfortunately. I’d like to say that I don’t compartmetalise God and most of my theology doesn’t…but the ‘rubber meets the road’ not as much in doctrine but in real life eh.

So if you don’t care for these posts, don’t read. If you do need to know 😉 they will be tagged with ‘moving house‘.

As a total aside to this post…God is good! I got my baby back yesterday. :rotfl: Yes! Yes! Yes! (She exclaims wildly with fists pumping in the air!) He knows my wants, er needs. lol

Okay I’m scared. I’ll admit that I’m worried. I’m confused. And I’m stubborn.

We’ve only been here for 12 months. I’m not ready to leave. The children aren’t ready to leave. We have lives here- commitments, relationships. I like being back home. Yeah I know I didn’t really want to come back here a year ago but as soon as we arrived back in SA I was happy to be here.

Did I love Canberra? Yes! Didn’t want to leave.

Did I like Albury /Wodonga? Nope, not really- more than happy to leave.

Did I love Brisbane? Oh boy, did I ever!

But it’s not the point. I’m here now.

I’m not ready for the eighth house in 8 years. I’m not ready for the fourth city in 8 years. I’ll move house but I just want to stay here in this state. Ask me again in another year or two and I might feel differently but for now, I want to stay put!  I’m tired of moving and uprooting the family. I’m battle weary from knowing what it does too my children when they have to leave friendships and try to start again. I mean, some people grow up in a town and live there for nearly their whole adult lives- maybe moving once! People fortunate enough to be in that situation will never experience what it is like to say goodbye and start again… and again… and again. We go to new places, trying to break into the friendship cliques that exist everywhere. We know that (generally) people are living their full, rich lives; complete without us. We know that WE need other people – yet their lives are already full- they don’t need us.  It hurts and I’m so tired from it.

I don’t believe that people try to be rude…and most people aren’t at all. It’s just hard when trying to break into a group and make new friends, feeling that they share something that you don’t – history. They have a history together. Whilst we can try to get in and forge our own history with them, it’s not always easy, especially if they are aware that we’ll only be around for 12 months or 2 years. Can’t say I blame them, in one sense.

Tired of finding new doctor’s, new podiatrists, new school, new hairdresser, new optometrist, new chiropractor, etc. Even daily/weekly activities become a major event as I have to find the place and navigate there. I’m sick of it. I don’t wanna go anywhere!

This is my official ‘online’ temper tantrum. Believe me, you do not want to see my ‘real life’ tantrum.

What is it with me and perspective so far this year? Anyone might think I’m turning 40 this year!  :silly:

Just a funny…although it’s probably only funny in our home, to us.

John doesn’t understand how I can build e-commerce websites and community websites that serve over 900 people yet I’m still technologically challenged with everyday household goods, like the TV, and x-box. (But, we have 4 remote controls with 2 recording devices and it all runs through his computer! C’mon, could you be bothered with that?)

I don’t understand how he can fix any gadget that has ever broken in our home…he can do all the back-end work of my websites (servers, php, etc) and can program his computer to record a TV show yet he can’t figure out an easy-peasy blogging platform like WordPress. Ha! I love it! :inlove: And he calls me technologically challenged. Uhuh. Sure honey…whatever you say.

:kissing:

Perspective eh?

Yesterday we dropped Miss A at the airport so that she could go to Sydney for 7 days for the Senior Women’s National Softball Tournament. This is the final series so after being away four times  over the last 4 months, I think she’ll be a little relieved to see the end of this series. It isn’t the softball she loathes, just the traveling and being away from home. However not only am I without my oldest daughter, who is also my personal barista but I’m still without my coffee machine!

We dropped into the brickwork Markets for an impromptu visit. Wow, it was empty, nearly lifeless. I pondered how my perspective has changed over the years. I grew up in a small, country, mining town where we had Big W, Woolworths and a small Coles. That was pretty much it in the way of department and larger stores. So you can imagine my delight and awe upon getting married and moving to Adelaide where shops abound. The furniture stores, the cheap $2 stores, etc. Man, I could get anything and everything in that place! [Adelaide] As I was newly married and decorating the home I started to decorate on a budget…which wasn’t that hard to do with all those cheap stores around. 😉 However over the years my taste started to refine. I came to see and appreciate fine quality and thought it was better to go without something for a long time than buy a cheap imitation only to have it break or look tacky.

Most of my regular readers will know that my husband’s job then took us to a few different cities: ACT, Brisbane, etc. where I saw many different styles and preferences and options for dressing and decorating, which I’ve since grown to appreciate although I might not wish to take on as my own style.

Anyway, I’m rambling, back to the story. I seemed to recall (from 20 years ago) that the Brickwork Markets had many stalls, many of local produce and home made, small business type of product. I loved this as the goods were all unique. Well, did I get a shock yesterday or what! Aside from most stalls being empty or closed, most of the stalls contained clothes that can be purchased anywhere- stock standard stuff that I could buy at Supre, if I shopped there…which I don’t. 😉 I was so disappointed. I guess I was expecting something like it used to be or similar to the markets at the Gold Coast or Caloundra. Had the Brickworks really gone downhill or was it simply my perspective?

Perspective

We then started talking with the boys and made an impromptu decision to drive out to Mannum and show the boys ‘our block’ with ‘our house’. When we were newly married, we bought 10 acres and built our home there. Actually to be truthful we lived in a shed and bus for 18months while the transportable was being built. So Miss A had her beginnings in a a shed! John built an extension on the house, along with front and back verandah’s and well, he built the entire house and land with his two bare hands! And then we sold. And then we moved.

We had to quickly drive home to change cars and pick up Miss R and her friend, Mr.D and get the camera. The drive there was uneventful although fun. I had a few wistful moments as I saw how expensive land there is now…but I don’t regret moving, just can’t fathom our luck. (Not that I believe in luck- it’s just a figure of speech) Anyway, as we ate hot chips on the riverbank and took the ferry across the river we listened to Miss R who was astounded at how small everything looked. It was all so much bigger when she was 3 and four! There were some things that had changed. Obviously some houses aren’t maintained so they deteriorate and new homes are built. But some things just don’t change- like the size of the buildings or our 10 acres. But her perspective changed- as she grew bigger. Her experiences changed the way she saw Mannum.

Perspective

I was struck with the thought that when I was young and my experience of fashions were limited I was easily pleased. As I’ve gotten older and had a few more life experiences I am a little more selective with my decorating, food, clothing style. That isn’t to say that my previous likes were wrong or even that there were immature but they were based upon my experience.

I likened that to my growing desire for God’s word. I’m starting to see things more from His perspective…the more I read, the more I spend time with Him, some Bible passages take on new meaning. Not because I’m seeing new things rather that I’m seeing them with the eyes of the Holy Spirit, not just the eyes of my own understanding.

Am I trying to say anything in this post? Nope! Just sharing  our day and my thought process.

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings to search out a thing.”
Prov. 25:2

I feel sick. Nauseous. A churning in my tummy that just won’t go away.

Two weeks ago, on was supposed to be our first day back at lessons, my brother-in-law passed away, after a long, difficult illness. Last Sunday, a service was held in the gardens to celebrate and remember his life. My husband (his brother) was asked to lead and facilitate the service. While this was an honour, I felt for my husband who was also grieving at the time. It wouldn’t have been easy to try and be ‘all things to all men’ while also going through your own pains of grief and sorrow.

The day after the service, Monday, we awoke to hear of the horrific fire storms that are ravaging Victoria. Stories of loss, homelessness and terror are hard enough but the deaths have been awful. I am many miles away and seemingly unaffected by the effects of this horror yet I can’t help but want to shed many tears. People being incinerated in their cars while trying to escape…in their homes…children, elderly…I just can’t think straight my heart is hurting for them. Three bodies were found crowded in a bath.  They must have hoped the water would save them but instead it would have boiled in the intense heat. How?

I turn on the television to watch for a little while and catch updates but I have to turn it off. The torment, the fear, the devastation, the loss of life makes me ill. 173 people dead…but this is expected to rise within the coming weeks- and the fires aren’t even over yet.

We were living in Canberra during the awful 2003 fires. Although we were not directly affected our house was under threat from burning embers that had travelled miles and were falling on our roof. The devastation that fire caused was terrible but this one…this fire storm is huge. For those that don’t understand the enormity of this disaster it has been reported that the burn victims are much much worse than those victims of the Bali bombings. The fires moved incredibly fast at approximately 100 mph. The fires have been likened to a slow moving atomic explosion. Cars have melted, entire towns wiped out, over 800,000 acres burnt and over 750 homes destroyed. The loss of life is just to painful. And I’m not even there. I’m hundreds of miles away in South Australia.

For those readers who live in other countries and may not have a grasp on the tragedy that is happening, I’ll share a few links:

• An interactive map of the fire storms. Here is another map which shows the fires.

• Donate blood or money to the Red Cross.

• A chilling tale of how one man survived: How we cheated flames of death.

• There’s already an entry at Wikipedia on the Victorian Fires of 2009.

• Victorian fires amongst the most deadly in the world.

Pray. Please pray. And give.

In ironic contrast, the northern end of Australia has been dealing with floods for over 3 weeks. You can read a little about it here at the ABC reports and here

In between comings and going, sicknesses and computers that don’t want to play nicely I never did get around to writing about our holidays. It’s a ll a bit of a blur now but I still want to talk a little about it.

There's a bear in there...

A few days before we set off to Broken Hill, Miss R’s friend “D” heard back from the doctor that he did indeed have whooping cough. 🙁  This wasn’t good. Not only had he been sick for a few weeks but now Master J was coughing and spluttering as was Miss R. I dosed Master C and Miss A up on some herbal/natural supplements. Seeing as how the two sickies had started their course of antibiotics, (thus reducing the transmission rate not the symptoms of the virus) we got started on our way. We’d planned to leave at about 7am but typically, we left at 10am. We were all squashed in the Tarago like a can of sardines. But that’s half the fun eh! Aside from washing our hands with antibacterial wash every hour and the coughing and spluttering, it was a fairly uneventful trip. Oh! About an hour out of Broken Hill, approximately 10 metres off the side of the highway is what looks like a pile of junk. We delighted in showing The Teddy Bear to the children. Tehee they had no idea what it was- thinking it to be a junk yard. But it’s not, it’s quite funny. The story goes that once, someone left a large teddy bear in the middle of a bare patch of ground, about half way between Yunta and BH. It became known as The Teddy Bear…there’s a bear in there, etc. Well, some bright person added a chair for teddy to sit on (there’s a chair as well).  Then others slowly added to the collection until Teddy has just about everything he needs! (see the photo)

Shrubs at Umberumberka

I took a few photo’s from inside the car, while travelling. They don’t make for the best pictures but it’s all fun. We arrived, popped in on my dad and then settled into the cabin at the caravan park.

We spent the next few days wandering around Broken Hill, the ‘Silver City‘, reminiscing. I hadn’t been back to The Hill since my mum’s funeral (Dec ’97). It’s changed a fair bit since then…but that’s the nature of a tourist town, that’s population can be quite transient. We went to Silverton and went through the historic gaol. John has always teased me about the sights of Broken Hill. I think because it is a totally different type of scenery and historic place then most other places in Australia…but in his heart he really loves it. It’s an affectionate teasing. At least I think it is. While on the topic of Silverton did you know that one of Charles Dickens sons ran a stock and station agency in Silverton in the late 1800s? Who woulda thunk it? A Dicken’s…all the way out in little old Silverton!!??

We then went to the Silverton Hotel where some people wanted to have their picture taken with the Mad Max car. Okay so it’s a replica but do you think they care?

From there we drove 5 kms west and reached the Mund Mundi Plains. It is stunning! You have to see it to really appreciate it. It’s wide, flat, dry, red and goes on far as the eye can see. You would have seen it before, even if you’ve never been there. It is the backdrop scenery in quite a few films, including Mad Max II. (Not that I suppose many readers of this blog would have seen that movie or the others that have been filmed at Silverton – but one learns these as a local). I took a few pictures of the native shrubbery, and we had a quick lesson revision on methods of seed dispersal. 😉

We continued on for another 4 kms to the Umberumberka Dam, which has always been a favourite spot of mine. I simply love Broken Hill- the scenery is just stunning. Okay, so I know it isn’t  tropical Queensland but I love the dry, hot, red earth, the saltbush, the rolling plains and the odd hill. There’s not much to see at Umberumberka but I took quite a few photo’s anyway. 😎

On the way home, we stopped at Penrose Park to have a BBQ lunch. Left there and went to go home for a rest. Oh, on the way home, I couldn’t go past the White Rocks memorial. A distant relative was killed in the Picnic Train Attack so I had to stop by and show the children. On New Year’s Day 1915, two Afghanistan men flying a Turkish flag attacked a picnic train, carrying 1200 people, on the outskirts of Broken Hill. A gun battle later took place and both attackers were shot dead. Four other people were killed and seven wounded. One of the men was a butcher, the other an ice cream vendor.. They are also the only hostilities on Australian soil during WW1. The rocky outcrop of Quartz is where the gun battle took place. It’s known as White Rocks. Alma Cowie, aged 17, ws killed on the Picnic Train that was attacked. I’m distantly related to her on my mother’s side. You can see the pictures of the Ice cream truck that the men used in the photo album. There is a very interesting page at the SmithsonianMag about the Battle at Broken Hill.

The coffee isn’t too great in Broken Hill. It’s kind of surprising really, being a tourist town and all…and not that far from Adelaide, which is pretty well known for its good coffee. We had one decent cup of coffee while we were there and that was at the Broken Earth Cafe and Restaurant, which has been built as a memorial – to the many men who have lost their lives in mining tragedies in the BH mines.
I used to LOVE the huge, dormant, black mountain of ore body that stood proudly off the main street of BH.I used to think it was THE biggest hill ever in BH.But now there’s an ever bigger deposit of ore…but they’ve done something with it this time! The restaurant stands atop the Line of Lode.

I loved seeing my dad again but it was bittersweet because our time there was too short. If you’re looking for an educational, different, cultural holiday, do consider Broken Hill. There’s so much to see and do and experience…maybe you’ll see why I love it so much. We didn’t get to see all the things I wanted to: we just ran out of time. Still, there’s always another time eh? We left BH and arrived home safely. Miss A had softball training every day from the next day until the day she flew out to Melbourne.

It was about this time that I started to get The Cough. Ugh, not what I wanted at all! Anyway, we saw Miss A off at the airport, took Miss R over to her friend’s house where she was staying while the rest of us were in Melbourne. The boys, John and I set off the net morning, bright and early at 6am, in the trusty Tarago. NOT!  We got an hour away, into the Adelaide Hills, and the brakes were causing some terribly grinding noises from the wheels. It wouldn’t make it to Melbourne…we were lucky to turn around and get home again! Thankfully, Praise God, we did make it home. John tried to get the brake parts but they needed to be ordered so we transferred all the luggage into John’s work car, the Pintara, and headed out once again. Actually, it all worked out well taking the Pinnie, as it was more economical in fuel and it had a working air conditioner! We eventually got to Melbourne and had a week of softball, – what more can one ask for? Well, I would have loved to NOT been sick, but…oh well. The coughing spasms are horrid, causing me to lose my breathe, vomit and then get real dizzy, ending in me feeling quite drained. But I got through it. Another year, another Nationals tournament!

Links:

http://www.silverton.org.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Broken_Hill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Hill,_New_South_Wales
http://www.brokenhill.nsw.gov.au/
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/10/the-battle-of-broken-hill/

That’s about it! All over, for another year. Feel free to have a look around my photo album. I hope to add to it more as the year goes on.

Popular posts from 2008

Throughout 2008, I posted a few posts which were really questions. Questions I asked you, the readers to share. You can see the various posts here, in Your Turn.

Jan 2008
What! NO New Years Resolutions?

Feb 2008
I learned and important and ongoing lesson about how God sets us in place

March 2008
Must have been either real busy or real boring. :yawn:

April
I shared about Growth Spurts

May
I shared a day in the life of our unschooled teen
Mother’s Day Part One
Mother’s Day Part Two

June
Another busy or boring month :yawn:

July
Child Run Homes
Free five Bible study lessons for your family
Free Devotional Journal for your family
Doing it all or are we neglecting to teach necessary life skills

August
How do you learn?
Teaching reading: the HomeGrownKids way

September
Prioritising: big rocks, little rocks & sand

October
Worthwhile pastimes: should I encourage that?

November
Downfall of homeschool blogging?
Convinced or Convicted
Walking by grace
A re-post about how we ‘do’ Christmas

December
Delighting in our children – God delights in us
Self harm? No, we’re Christian homeschoolers
I wrote a 3 part series on being Conformed or Transformed:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

I’ve been blogging for 3 and a half years now and had some verbose times and some quiet times. I’ve enjoyed blogging this past year, especially when I’ve kept it in perspective. I’d like to say THANK YOU to all the people who read my blog…and especially to those who comment:
Jacqui, Lisa, Leonie, Amanda, Sombra, Robin, Joi, Judith and Yoan, Michelle and Jocelyn, to mention a few- thank you! I hope and pray you have a fulfilling year.

It sure is Silly Season here at our place. We’re heading off tomorrow to visit with my Dad and I have several loads of laundry to do, the car needs to be cleaned, as does the house and in all that some people still want to be fed! Ha, they’ve got buckley’s!

We get home for a week and then we’re off to Melbourne for a week’s worth of National Softball. Acckkk I can hardly wait, it’s so exciting.

Oh, did I forget to mention that we have ‘suspected’ whooping cough in our home? Yup! Miss R’s *friend* had a terrible cough for several weeks and was quite ill. Eventually he was diagnosed as having whooping cough. within the week, Master J started coughing and felt quite ill as did Miss R. So they have been quarantined at home. The rest of us have tried to stay at home as much as possible so as not to spread the nasty bug. The two sickies started on a course of antibiotics which doesn’t reduce their infection levels rather it reduces the amount of days that they are contagious.

In the meanwhile I have been dosing Master C and Miss A up on a whole range of healthies like:

• General teen multi vitamin
• Zinc supplements
• AstraForte mixed with Grape juice. AstraForte is a special preparation of traditional oriental herbs to support the immune system and to help restore good health.
• Yakult, which is a fermented milk drink that contains a very high concentration of a unique, beneficial bacterium called Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain.
• Vit B12 supplements and
• Loads of water, daily sunshine and fresh air with a good combination of rest and exercise.

The mother of Miss R’s ‘friend’ is a pharmacist. I think she might believe I’m either a counter culture hippie or a witch! LOL Obviously, being a pharmacist, she advocates many medicines and vaccines. Well, we don’t do vaccinations! Tehee, I wonder what she makes of that! Don’t do school, don’t vaccinate, what next??? I just found it ironic that so far, only 2 of our unvaccinated children have caught the ‘cough’ from a fully immunised child!!!! And whilst they have a cough, they aren’t overly ill with it at all…but it’s still a good practice to quarantine them to prevent the spread. Ah well…I think she believes me (although doesn’t agree) when I tell her that our decision to not vaccinate is not based on laziness rather, what we feel is, an informed, conscious decision. Same with homeschooling.

In term 4, the local public school teachers had gone on strike for some half days. This meant that school was between 12noon and 3.15pm. Of course, this mucked many working parents around so they simply made alternative arrnagments for their children and they didn’t attend school on those days. The teachers knew this would happen and thus prepared no lesson activities other than yard work or busy table work. I simply didn’t see the point in Miss R attending on those days. not everyone agrees with me and it has even been said that

“maybe you need to take education more seriously”.

LOLOLOLOL…oh dear, I had a hard time keeping silent on that one! but I did manage to simply smile and gently reply,

“Oh, we do take education very seriously in our home.”

and left it at that. Do people really believe that we just yanked our children out of school to let them run wild? Maybe because we were too lazy to be good parents? Wow! I don’t know of many homeschool parents like that…not any actually but I’m sure there may be some people like that. I just haven’t met any. Anyway, enough rant…it’s a long way down from that soapbox!

So another year of blogging has come and gone…I’ll be back next year sometimes, probably, possibly. I hope that my friends (both online and IRL) and blog readers have a blessed and safe time over the holiday period.

In His Grace,

This post is from my heart. It’s not meant to encourage, inspire or inform. It’s just my way of expressing a deep feeling. It is personal yet need not be private. It is just me wanting to write, to honour, to respect a woman who was the most dearest woman to me. Her graduating to be with the Lord was obviously a necessary thing (for God ordains our time here on earth) and I’m glad she went to be with Him, to be without any more pain, tears or suffering but… it doesn’t change the fact that I miss her.

I’m a grown woman, nearly 40, yet two days ago I bawled my eyes out like a young child.

I want my mum.

I want her to see me, to talk with me, to share her wisdom with me. I want her to see my children and to know them. I want my children to be able to know her. I know that my wants are fairly selfish and that it is all about me…but I miss her. I hate that my children don’t know their grandmother, who loved them so intensely, so passionately, so deeply. I don’t know why she had to die when she did. She wanted to read good stories to my children, to teach them, to help me guide them, to offer wisdom and love to them. She wanted to watch them grow up. She loved my children with a fierce passion…but she is not here.

Will I ever stop missing my mum?

No, I don’t think I will. Was my mum a saint? No way! But she was my mum who had a deep love for her Lord (even if her theology wasn’t always spot on), and had a true servant’s heart. My mum taught me a lot about being a Christian woman, even though she only spent the last fifteen years or so of her life as a believer.

Today marks the day, 11years ago, that my mother left this earth to be with her Lord. I’ll forever treasure the last night I spent with her- talking to her, reading from the Psalms and just holding her hand. I’ll never forget the strength she had- the assurance of eternal life she knew she had because of Christs’ work on the cross. And I know that one day I will see her again.

I love my mother. I’m thankful that I am her daughter and that she shared her whole life with me. She impacted me in such a way that I cannot describe. I love her and I miss her.

My children were always playing outside in the dirt, climbing trees, or out in the backyard. It was good for them in so many ways- but one of the reasons was that John and I felt that exposure to a little dirt (bacteria) would be good for strengthening and building their immune system.

I’ve been rather amused yet also alarmed at all the anti bacterial washes, wipes and related products that are for home use! I mean, all those silly ads- always with mothers and their babies who go near a clean looking bin and the mother freaks out…but it’s okay, she’s got her handy dandy anti bacterial wipes. Doh!

My concern is that children don’t have the opportunity to build up their natural immune system by coming into contact with these regular bugs. I think the more we use these anti bacterial products, the more we assist those nasty super bugs to grow and evolve.

But it’s all okay- now it is *news*.

So it’s safe to let your children outside to play outside again… Whew, thank goodness for modern day research.

ADDENDUM

Ack, what started as a good day turned sour. We left home and walked to the bus stop at 3pm. Just missed the bus! Waited for the next one but meanwhile ‘Miss R’ called me, panicking as to the whereabouts of her work uniform. I was dropping it at the mall for her to pick up after school, but I was late. She knew the bus wasn’t going to get us there on time so a friend started driving her down the roads to try and meet us. But the bus did come and we were on our way.

We reached the agreed meeting place and ‘Miss R’ was NOT there!!!! She was looking for me and getting herself into a right panic. Man, she should have trusted me more. I was going to call a taxi. My next call was to tuck the uniform under ‘Miss A’ ‘s arm and send her sprinting the 4km’s to work! Hey, I figure she’s an athlete who trains 2 hours a day so she should be up for it eh?

Anyway, ‘Miss R’ got to work okay. ‘Master J’ had a haircut. We did some shopping but realised that I had better not buy laundry detergent and toilet paper unless I wanted to carry it all home on the bus!

We went to ‘Miss R’ ‘s work to wait for her to finish. I didn’t know if she was coming home or if she had made plans to go to a friend’s place, so we waited. (I didn’t want her catching a bus home at 6pm- too late and dark), As it turns out, she did have plans but in all the kafuffle we hadn’t communicated. We all walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus. Bus trip. Departed bus and walked home where ‘Miss R’ ‘s friend was madly ringing the phone, calling to see if she was okay.  ‘Miss R’ goes out to friend’s house. Oh, DH is at work tonight and won’t be home until morning. These overnighter’s are a downer- especially with a teenage family.

Thankfully, ‘Miss A’ is a bit of a health and fitness nut so she had prepared dough for healthy pizza and she fed us! Ah, thank you Lord! She spent the next hour madly practising her latte art for the Barista competition tomorrow. She’s pretty nervous. John and I are overdosed on coffee. My kitchen was overtaken by coffee beans, machines, grinders, cups, milk and everything else. One day I’ll blog about it as it has been a good experience, but I’ll be glad when this competition is over. if she is going to compete regularly we have planned to section an area off in the shed and she can practice out there. Sounds means? Wait till I post post photo’s of my kitchen!

That’s about it- day in the life of us…us with no car.

Argh, how frustrating it is to be without a car! I have ‘Miss A’ who is now taking public transport everywhere…and getting lost, ending up on the wrong side of town. ‘Miss R’ is okay as she usually takes the bus to school, friends, work and home again.

But it’s hurting me! I haven’t got a car to go and get groceries or get a haircut or pop to the library. Arghhh!

We are down to one car. DH’s work car blew a coil a few weeks ago but it wasn’t a problem then as he was away in Victoria with work so I had the van. But now he’s back (Yay) but takes the car to work everyday.

I’m used to going to the sore in the late morning or early afternoon so that I can get back home and have tea prepared by the time everyone comes home from work…but this hasn’t been happening. I’m all outta whack!

We went looking at private car sales yesterday but with no luck. ‘Miss A’ wants to buy a car with her savings. We’re looking at approximately $2000. but we want something that will be fairly reliable and safe. So in the meantime, it’s back to being car-less for yet another week.

Have I ever mentioned that I love progress and technology?

Whilst tempted to write with my usual verbosity, I’m also overcome with a sense of sad shock at the absurdity of this situation. However, sadly, I guess I now have another reason to add to my list of responses when asked,

Why do you homeschool?

So my children can turn cartwheels and handstands whenever they wish!

So absurd it doesn’t even warrant a fully fledged post.

Sad, horrid, gross invasion of privacy and so much more…go and read the full article at the Brisbane Courier Mail

A PHOTO of every state school student will be posted online by the Government, sparking fears pedophiles could use the database.

The intranet database, dubbed OneSchool, will profile each of the state’s 480,000 public school students enrolled from Prep to Year 12.

Photographs, personal details, career aspirations, off-campus activities and student performance records are being collected from all 1251 state schools.

Education Queensland said details of 180,000 students from 637 schools already were online and the database would be completed by December.

About 80,000 students are expected to be added to the internal education department database each year.

Family. Oh I praise the Lord for family.

My father has been with us for two weeks. After not seeing him for nearly 2 years, I am enjoying his company immensely. I’ve learned so much about myself, my family and my dad over the last few weeks.

What else has kept me from blogging? I presented a workshop on Discipleship based / Identity Directed Education at the South Australian Exploring Approaches to education Seminar which celebrated National Home Education week. I’ve been meaning to upload the workshop notes to the blog and I will…just haven’t gotten much time here of late.

‘Miss A’ has a new job, at a Cafe. She has an intense passion for coffee- real, true coffee. Yes, most of us just drink it but she lives it, breathes it, reads it and writes it! Not only does she make good coffee but she now wants to do her own roasting of green beans. What next?

‘Master C’ has been getting into photography again. I’ve found that all of our children have enjoyed playing with a camera, but some of ‘Master C’ ‘s photo’s are simply outstanding. He’s going to team with ‘Miss A’ soon and take photo’s of her latte art.

I have only just this weekend gotten around to arranging most of the books into their proper book cases. There are still a few boxes to go but I’m getting there.

That’s about it for now…I’ll upload the notes later.

Wow, so much has happened that I can’t even begin to write about it all. Instead, I’ll just give the bare bones version.

We left Brisbane and drove to Surfer’s Paradise where we stayed for a few days. That was nice and relaxing after the hectic packing and uplift of our furniture. Then we drove on to Sydney. We spent the day with John’s brother and it was great to catch up with them. We drove out of Sydney the next day and nearly got to Canberra when we had to go back to Sydney for family reasons. We didn’t get to set off again until 6pm which was, you guessed it, during peak hour traffic. We were expected at the apartments in Adelaide on the following day. We couldn’t see how we could make it. We usually take ages to travel anywhere as John stops regularly…and really, how fast can a Tarago van, lugging a trailer go? It was my bright idea to not stop overnight and just keep going. My dad told me that Friday was going to be 38 degrees so this confirmed the decision. So we drove and drove and drove until we got here yesterday afternoon. Yes, 33 hours of straight driving!

But we arrived! We were put into apartments but as it was Easter break and considering the large size of our family (Oh puhleeze) we couldn’t get an apartment big enough so the girls were in one apartment and the boys, John and I were in another. We were only there for one week and then we had to move to another block of apartments in the city where we had the same arrangements.

House hunting has been a nightmare. Real estate agents didn’t want to know us just before the Easter break so we felt like we were just ‘marking time’ or sitting on our hands. On Tuesday, we set about looking for rentals in and around the area but they were not suitable for a variety of reasons: price, condition, size, etc. We thought we’d do a drive-by of a Defence house that we initially thought was too far away. We looked at it and decided that it would be fine- a nice two-storey place. John called DHA the next morning, but it was taken. The only other house they could offer us was in the similar area but it is smaller. However, there is a bright side to this house. Our niece and her young family live exactly across the street! Wow, how cool could that be? After being away from family for 6 years, we could be right across the street! 😎 We are waiting to find out for sure if we get this house and if so, when we can move in.

It has been a rather difficult time. Personally I wouldn’t have minded being in the temporary accomodationn if it were just the boys and us. We could easily explore the neighbourhood and do a few basic workbooks but teh girls have wanted to get a start on with their new lives. ‘Miss R’ needs to get settled into a new school and ‘Miss A’ is keen to start her part-time course in fitness as well as get a new part-time job. We have put this off until we knew what area we would be living in. The girls have found it all rather frustrating. Previously we have always tried to embrace each move as a new, exciting adventure and while the girls still do view it this way, they have a sense of frustration. But they have lived in this state of ‘limbo’ for quite some time now so I totally understand how they would feel.

So that is the skeletal version of our life over the last few weeks. Of course it has been fuller and richer than what it sounds, but that’s an overview. I’m still totally convinced, more than ever, that life is education! 😛

Glossary:

Pre-pack – the day the packers come and start packing all our furniture, books and belongings into boxes.

Up-lift – the day the boxes and furniture are packed onto the trucks

Down-lift – the day our furniture and boxes are unpacked from the truck to the house

DHA – Defence Housing Organisation

Edited to add: Just heard from John. Yes, we have the house so we know where we’ll be living! Our down-lift day is next Wednesday. Yes, we have to move apartments again tomorrow but at least we finally have a house and a moving in date! Wahoo!

Anyone remember my post earlier this year about how much I was looking forward to a settled year and how much I planned to accomplish with the boys?

I wrote:

I’m also looking forward to this year. This is shaping up to be the first year in many that we will not be moving house! Six moves in seven years- hmmm, it is very tiring. I’m looking forward to only having normal life interruptions this year, in this house! I am hoping to do some intensive one-on-one work with the boys in the areas of math, science and physical education. I also hope to write a few more lessons in my Bible study which I’ll then upload to the site.

Ha! I was wrong! So very wrong, which I why I have given up on being a planner. We found out last week that we will be moving again. It is totally unexpected and out of the blue, but it is a compassionate posting due to family needs. Part of me is sad and cranky because I’m tired of moving and I really like the weather here in QLD. But another part of me is so overjoyed to be going back to our home state of SA. I haven’t seen my father for 18 months and I have missed him so much. Once we found out the bare details last week, the children have been unable to concentrate or focus on anything other than moving and life in the new state. They’re also very excited! The older the children get and the more ingrained into a town they are, it is harder for them to leave but we are looking forward to making SA our home again.

It will be a quick move, within 12 days, which we’ve done before 🙄 so if I’m not around forums, email and blogs very much you’ll know why.

This whole move also brings with it (as a part of it and also separate) a different situation, one that has involved more pain that I have ever experienced in my life. Our Father knows of all this, of course, so any prayers you can offer on our behalf would be most appreciated.

Dear Lord,

So far today, God,
I’ve done all right.
I haven’t gossiped,
Haven’t Lost my temper,
Haven’t been greedy,
Grumpy, nasty, selfish,
Or Over-indulgent.
I’m really glad about that.
But in a few minutes, God,
I’m going to get out of bed,
And from then on,
I’m probably going to need a
Lot more help.
Amen

A cheerful heart is good medicine,but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22

While reading Leonie’s post I had to laugh at my own family. We have such a weird sense of humour. Sometimes, only we understand ourselves! But you know, I think that’s good…the way it should be.

Books and movies and experiences have shaped our sense of humour, our personalities, our reactions to things, our language and other things that make us tick. Yes, we are influenced by movies and books. That’s why it’s good to be particular and deliberate about the things we put before the children. But we can be as careful as can be yet without relationship, without giving of ourselves to each other, our family can be bland – devoid of fun, laughter and silliness. Yet often these are the ties that bind us to each other…they provide the backdrop for memories or traditions.

Sometimes I wake the children in the morning, loudly singing a silly song that I first heard many years ago on an old Christian film. One has to perform this song in an animated way or it just isn’t the same. Everytime I start the song, drawing out the first bar, the children wake up and start to groan- they know I won’t shush until I’ve gone through the whole song. 🙄 But it starts our morning off with a laugh. It sets the tone or atmosphere for the day.

I’ve loved seeing my children’s sense of humour develop as they mature. The sad part is that I have the least sense of humour. It takes me awhile to ‘get’ things, to make connections but I have a good belly laugh once it finally clicks. But I cannot for the life of me be funny! Maybe being funny is a gift. Maybe I don’t have that gift. My children do. My husband definitely does. I missed out on it. Oh well, I’m quite happy to accept that and be be content to just laugh at everyone else’s funniness.

What about you? What has shaped your family’s sense of humour? Do you consciously try to impart laughter into your day? What made you laugh today?

Excuse This House
Author: Unknown

Some houses try to hide the fact
That children shelter there,
Ours boasts it quite openly,
The signs are everywhere.

For smears are on the windows,
Little smudges are on the doors
I should apologize, I guess
For toys strew on the floor.

But I sat down with my child
And we played and laughed and read
And if the doorbell doesn’t shine,
His eyes will shine instead.

For when at times I’m forced to choose
The one job or the other,
I’d like to cook and clean and scrub,
But first I’ll be a mother.

What sort of blog poster are you?

• Maybe you’re an Invisible Poster? Do you ever post a deep & meaningful post which took awhile and you got no response?

• Waffle Poster – you rabbit on and on and forget what your point in posting was?

• Apologetic Poster – do you often find yourself apologising for possibly offending others?

• A Trivial Poster – do you post heaps of info but never anything original?

So, what type of blog poster are you? What do you post about?

But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
1 Corinthians 14:40

Ah, the house is perfectly clean and tidy-everything is organised and in its place. I was able to sit down this morning for 15 minutes with a freshly brewed cup of decaf tea and a good book. Wow, it is an amazing feeling! One that I don’t have very often at all. Firstly I hear you ask, how did my house get so clean and tidy and…this is the biggie for me, a paper hoarder, so organised? Well, it is only ‘Miss A’ and I’m home at the moment. John and the three younger children have gone to South Australia for a holiday and to catch up with family. ‘Miss A’ has a time of intense training session in the lead up to the U/19 National Softball Tournament so she couldn’t go to Adelaide. She also doesn’t have her P’s yet so can’t drive herself so the easiest and best way around it all was for the both of us to stay at home. The first two days of our ‘holiday’ were spent cleaning- and I mean really cleaning, home cleaning is a big deal for me! We wanted to get the house ship-shape and see how clean and tidy it would stay with only the two of us in it, seeing that we both like neatness. we spent yesterday in and out of the house, tending to various appointments. ‘Miss A’ went to work this morning which left me all alone. To have some much desired quiet time. Would you believe I couldn’t quite figure out what to do? 🙄 Should I have some quiet Internet time and write a post? Listen to an audio sermon? Listen to the DVD conference tape? Do the ironing? Read one of my two new books? Ring a friend? I decided to start off by reading for an hour so I brewed a nice hot cuppa and sat down. About 8 minutes into the book and the phone rang! It was a call for ‘Miss A’ so I took the message, called ‘Miss A’ at work and passed on the message. I sat down again, wiggled into my recliner and got comfy, for all of 3 minutes. The phone rang again! It was hubby and the children! Oh, he wanted me to hop on the Internet and run some errands for him online…which took about 1 whole hour. While I was on the phone with him, the landline rang and it was a business call for John, which I managed to liase with John on the other line. Whew, both calls ended but in the meantime I had a message left on the answering machine. So, I called my friend. Then, I sat back down to read. The phone rang again. It was John, my darling husband, again. ❗ Some more online errands. After that I decided to forget the book and anything else as it was now the time that I had penciled in to cook a hot lunch for ‘Miss A’ and I. I thought that by cooking our usual amount of Agnolotti, we’d be able to have it for a few meals. No sooner had I started gathering supplies from the fridge when …you guessed it, the phone rang! This time is was my dear Dad so I spent some time, while cooking lunch, talking to him. I have approximately 30min before I go to get ‘Miss A’ . What do I do with that time? Sit down to write a post. Of course.

After getting my study and home semi organised I’ve had some time to reflect on my own nature. What am I so often disorganised? Does it really make a great difference to my life? In one sense, I’m not totally convinced that being organised really makes a great difference to my life. The upside of my nature is that I can be flexible, adaptable, spontaneous, fun and relaxed. But there is a downside- I can’t find important papers when I need them…can’t remember what groceries we need, where I put things or important dates…the list goes on. 😕

When we were first married and BC (Before Children), my home was very ordered. I lined up herbs and spices in alphabetical order! I ironed tea towels and pillow slips. I vacuumed daily, even though it was quite unnecessary. I can tend to have perfectionist tendencies. But as time went by, and more children graced the halls of our home, the organisational side of me went walkabout. I think, I hope, I’m starting to find her again. Occasionally she peeps out in times like this. Times when I have five minutes to breathe and tackle the house with no children or husband in it. (Mind you, it’s a very quiet and lonely house right now too). One of the downsides ofhaving perfectionist tendencies is that I used to think if a job was worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Right? I mean, lots of good books tell us that eh? But for me it means that if I don’t have time to do it completely or 100% then I won’t do it at all, until I can do it 100%. Subsequently, many things get left undone because of this. I am learning that just a quick clean up is okay…that not everything has to be perfect. The bench can have a quick wipe until I get to scrub and disinfect it properly.

So, I will continue to strive, without beating myself up over it, for that so-far elusive state called organisation or being organised for longer than 2 days. It started to happen in my heart last year when we had to move house again. I remember writing about decorating with a minimalist style. Well, while we haven’t quite done that, we still have MANY boxes in our shed that we just haven’t, and won’t, unpack in this house. I thought I’d miss things but I’ve found that the house is so much easier to keep clean and tidy and organised when there is less stuff in it! (Doh!) We have de-cluttered and re-organised, filed and thrown out all the things we needed to. And it feels good. I still want to be flexible and spontaneous but I want to be organised. I want to reflect that orderly part of God.

• I’m aiming to keep thing simple (KISS principle)
• Use my body clock to my advantage. Do the most difficult or undesirable jobs when I’m most alert.
• Learning to multi-task more.

What about you? What helps you in your quest to be organised?

What exactly does organisation mean to you? Not what you think it means? Not what your best friend means? Not what other homeschoolers mean? But what does organisation mean to you? You see, God is a God of order. He, as the Creator, created a world that is so full of order. The earth/universe is an incredibly efficient world. There is a certain serene calm around organised people, isn’t there. Do you think it’s possible to be calm and serene in one’s heart yet still not be able to find your needed documents? Or do those things go hand-in-hand?

Well, I’m not sure…I’d like to see the other responses but I’d love to hear what you rated as. Drop me a line if you do the quiz.

What’s your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/WesleyanYou are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God’s grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71% Reformed Evangelical 71% Neo orthodox 61% Fundamentalist 57% Charismatic/Pentecostal 46% Emergent/Postmodern 39% Roman Catholic 32% Classical Liberal 32% Modern Liberal 18%

clipped from www.oldtruth.com

Perhaps the greatest danger confronting the Church and Christian people today, is that instead of realizing that the supreme need of the moment is this knowledge of the love of Christ, we spend our time and energy in organizing activities. We have made of activity an end in itself. We say we must be ‘getting busy’. And in a carnal manner we are attempting to do God’s work. But how little happens! It is not surprising. We are forgetting the true motive and the energizing power. We should not work as Christians simply because it is good and right for Christians to work. The motive is all-important. We must work because of the love of Christ. We must not work because we decide to do so or because we are told that now we are converted we must ‘get busy’.

I was reading the blog post over at OldTruth when this passage hit me. I would say this is not only true for the Church but for us, as homeschooling parents, mothers.

Perhaps the greatest danger confronting Christian homeschooling parents today is that instead of realising that the supreme need of the moment is this knowledge of the love of Christ, we spend our time in organising activities. I know I have been guilty of this at times.

We can make activity an end in itself. We purport this myth that we ‘must be busy’ and in a carnal manner we are attempting to do God’s work. But we struggle. We don’t seem to progress anywhere, which is not surprising. we can forget the true motive of why we decided to teach our children at home. We should not homeschool or spend time with our children just because it is good and right but because the love of Christ compels us.

Oh we can be so busy, rushing here and there, organising one activity after another, loading ourselves and our children up with a hectic academic schedule when sometimes we need to rekindle our first love- Jesus Christ. Take time to slow down and spend time in God’s word…letting it soak into your heart and mind. As the New Year approaches and many of us are busy planning the children’s curricula and schedules, don’t forget the most important thing – don’t do it FOR Christ…rather focus on Him and His glory, His majesty, His grace and let the rest fall into place.

I asked the boys to set up my speakers on a different computer today. with John home on holidays, has has moved my laptop into his study so that we could be together. Isn’t that sweet? 😎 However, while cleaning the home school study today, I wanted to listen to Paul Potts but needed my speakers connected to the girls computer. I am actually quite computer illiterate and haven’t a clue what to do so I asked my boys to help.

The boys are usually most willing helpers at any time but especially with computer or technical type gadgetry related issues. I think it makes them feel good to be able to do things that I can’t. However, John was ‘helping‘ ‘Master C’ to do it. In other words, he was leaning over ‘Master C’ , trying to rip the cords from his hands and completely take over the job! I gently suggested that they learn to cooperate…no response. I gently suggested that they learn to work it out – fast!

I went on with cleaning. ‘Miss A’ was cleaning the kitchen and I started talking to her about a Christian’s way of not provoking one another anger or exasperating one another, about preferring one another in love. I quickly realised that she has heard it all before. Not to say she can’t do with hearing it again but I should have been talking to the boys, not to her!

So, I asked the boys to stop what they were doing and I called them to the kitchen table to sit with me awhile. I explained my thoughts to them and then asked them for their thoughts on the matters I raised. We then got to talking about teaching each other and how that needs humility. I mentioned that I taught and gave opportunity to both ‘Miss A’ and ‘Miss R’ to teach and that next year, I shall put that on my planner. 😉 I need to teach John how to teach in love, in humility…that a teacher is not a dictatorial boss but a servant. I need to teach him those basics of communication…that once he knows what he wants to say and who he wants to say it to, he needs to think of how it will be received…for that is the mark of a teacher. (Uh oh, I feel another 5 W’s and a H lesson coming on. 😉 ) But more than just being the mark of a teacher, it is important and basic communication skills necessary for life.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:10

This morning’s life skill lesson took about 15 min, although it will now be an ongoing process of modeling (living by example), teaching and learning that I will be able to build upon. Today’s valuable lesson took all of 15min on a Saturday morning. There were no worksheets, tests, cut-outs, activity sheets nor any pop quizzes. There were no teacher planning notes or preparation needed. What was needed? A willing heart! A serving heart. A selfless heart. A willingness to stop my own activity and minister to the needs of my child, in love. A willingness to be proactive rather than reactive, for it is easier to deal with these things either before they rear their head or as it comes about naturally rather than leave it and have an ugly mess to deal with. It is simply living life with my children, according to Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

How thankful I am for these daily opportunities to minister to my children. Am I willing to stop the dishes or put down those teacher notes (or stop writing that blog post? 😯 ) and address my child’s need right at this moment? Do I remember that these lessons to be learned are far greater than knowing about Zeus or the Spartans or even the orbit of the earth? Each and every day that I am with my children is a precious gift…Lord, help me make the most of the time. Help me Lord, to treasure it, to guard it jealously.

What is most important? To teach my children about real life and the Creator of it all. If my child is not tending to his lessons and is being easily distracted, I’ll try to stop- observe him for awhile. The distractibility is simply often a sign that something needs to be addressed. Maybe he needs shorter lessons, different material or a different presentation of that material. Maybe he needs to have his attention span lengthened. Maybe he needs his emotional tank filled…there are so many things it could be. Stop, watch him, ask him how he feels, listen to him and then talk with him. And above all, pray for guidance. This is what I often do, but not always. It’s what I want to do more often.

When my girls fight or argue, the quickest and easiest thing to do is for me to speak sternly and tell them to stop it! But does it address the root of the issue? Oh, I need to remind myself not to be too quick to get back to those lesson plans or schedules for the matters of the heart do not follow a timetable. Sometimes…many times, I need to stop, watch, ask, listen and talk and above all, pray. Then after prayer, a similar process needs to occur: pray, stop, watch, listen.

Tomorrow or the next day, will I be willing to put aside my hustle and bustle to truly minister to the needs of my children?

Over the last two weeks, ‘Miss A’ and I have been dress shopping. This is a very rare occurrence for her. When she was younger, I tried to dress her in skirts or dresses all the time, much to her annoyance. As she got older, and I started allowing her more responsibility in her choices she has never been out of pants (track pants, training pants or jeans) or shorts. I wondered if my little girl would ever want to do those more feminine activities.

Guess what? She is growing up and she is desiring more of the ‘feminine things’. However, being an athlete means that she needs to be in athletic style clothes every day. (Ever tried sliding into base with a skirt on? 😉 ) I thought she looked beautiful, although of course I’m terribly biased. 😉 She doesn’t always find it easy to find clothes that are trendy and modest and practical.

Some may remember our excitement when our team (QLD) won the U/16 national Tournament earlier this year in January. ‘Miss A’ was co-captain of the team. Well, following on from that…the team was nominated in the QLD Junior Sport Team of the Year award for 2007 and as co-captain ‘Miss A’ was supposed to attend and prepare a short acceptance speech on the off chance they might win.

Ugh, let me tell you that dress shopping to fit an athlete’s body yet be modest is not the easiest task! We shopped all around out local area but ended up going an hour away (still in our city) where a good friend took us to a few places that she knew of. That was fun!

Yesterday was the big day. ‘Miss A’ only loosely prepared her speech as neither of us expected that the team would win: we thought that the more high profile sport teams would win.

We took a few photos and then dropped her at the Plaza Ballroom, for this QLD Sports Night of Nights, black tie event!

They won!!!! Oh yeah, how cool was that??!! I believe that ‘Miss A’ delivered her speech, accepting the award on behalf of her team, quite well and seemed very natural. She gets incredibly nervous whenever giving speeches, as she’s only ever had opportunity to do so a few times. (I gave my first speech when I was about 25 years old so she’s doing better than I did!!) She sometimes has a bit of a stutter, but she is fine when she’s natural. She only tends to stutter when reading aloud or trying to be too precise. However, I think that years of practicing reading aloud and memorisation work, along with the oratory skills that we practiced at home are paying off.

Well now that is over, she can devote all her time and energy to training for the U/19 Women’s National Tournament which is being held in Tasmania in Jan ’08.

To have a look at the photo’s from last night, click here:

Hmmm, I see that when my life is busy, my posts dry up. It’s that life is happening all around me and I’m not reading as much, nor thinking as much…I’m in a season of ‘doing’. I’m living life…just everyday things that I choose not to post about, nor would they be of much interest to anyone else. Thus, my blog has been quiet. I’ll play catchup and share a few recent happenings though. ‘Miss R’ started a part time job! Yes, she managed to get some work at the same place that ‘Miss A’ works, a cake and coffee cafe. I’m so grateful to the boss as he takes on youngsters and allows their hours to be fairly flexible, the pay is award wages and it is quite a relaxed atmosphere. Perfect for a first job. Naturally, we expect their work ethic (that is being developed) to be of a high standard. I think that the part time work for ‘Miss R’ has been beneficial for her.

Last weekend, ‘Miss A’ and I were at a softball tournament. It was the U19 Women’s State Championship and our team was undefeated all the way- including the Grand Final. Mind you, tournaments like that are never much fun for either tea: the party being beaten or the team who is obviously not being challenged. There have been some good avenues for discussion from that weekend. The end of the tournament also brings the announcement of the QLD State Squad. We didn’t know how ‘Miss A’ would go as she is fresh out of U16 but to our delight and surprise, she was selected! The squad trains together twice a week (as well as they individual fitness training and their individual position training) and then they have a weekend camp in November where the team is selected. It’s always a tumultuous time whether one is selected or not. While one is selected, another girl misses out. The QLD State Team will be competing in Tasmania in 2008 against all the other states. She has a lot of work to do in the hope of making the team. She also starts a second part time job this week.

‘Miss R’ is having some confusion over life at school. I partly expected this as once one starts to earn money I think that they start to view their world, their life in a different way. However, she told me that she hasn’t used a pen or pencil at school all last term! (She knows how I feel about things like that) Being a computer literate family means she is weary of all her lessons being done on the computer at school. She also feels that there is not enough structure for her to learn effectively- she is missing any sort of one on one instruction, which I consider to be weird considering that she is at a school. However, my thoughts need to be proactive and not just ones of “Well, duh!”. We will spend the next few weeks discussing her options as she wants to do well for Yr10.

The boys are just wonderful, pottering along slowly but steadily with their lessons. I had to laugh at John the other day. I asked him why he wasn’t doing his Flying Creatures Science book and he said he feels he needs a break from it as it was becoming boring and that he’ll pick it up again when he feels ready! Ha! I laughed and marveled at him, telling that he doesn’t get to pick and choose when he will study. But that’s really not true. To a large extent I do let him do that. I let him know what he has to cover before the term or the year and I allow him the room to do it (or not). If he fails, then I have the chance to talk with him about time management, character, habits and study skills which all relate full well to life skills. This way he is learning much more than science through his science book. A homeschool mum has to be continually on the lookout for teaching opportunities, ya know. 😉

I’ve been trying to watch my health and fitness. This is not a new thing…it’s a constant effort but also a constant failing. Nevertheless, I keep looking forward. I ‘m finally able to admit the real reason I want to get fit. I was kidding myself in that I don’t want to be fat and unfit to go to Adelaide but they’re my family – they’ve seen me at my biggest.

The real reason is my children and *life*. Teens are so much fun and full of energy and excitement. I can feel that teens are so energising but if I’m unfit it isn’t – it is actually draining. I want to be energised! 🙂 I want to enjoy every second of the journey of life. I want to feel excitement at everything, great or small. Being unfit sucks the very life from a person. I want to enjoy my teens, every fast-paced, energetic, life breathing moment with them! I need to be fit in order to do this. That’s the real reason. I know it doesn’t seem hard to admit but for me, it was.

Ah, spring is my favourite season of the year. I like summer but spring is so welcome after the colder months. With spring comes a renewed interest in getting fit, cleaning and organising the house, planting herbs and all those activities that signal the end of winter.

Potpourri is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant material. Once it has been dried, essential oils are then added along with a ‘fixative’ that helps to retain the scent. I love the fact that potpourri is so individual. I can’t fail with it! Every batch I make is different and unique. It is an eclectic mix of colour, texture and fragrance: much like our family. 😉

Spring is also the time when I renew the fragrant potpourri in my home. I have big jars of dried rose petals, and bowls with a few other dried flowers. I add different essential oils to it. I add vanilla or pine or something nice to the one in the toilet and lavender/patchouli/ chammomile for the ones in the bedrooms. I fill pretty little bags with it and hang them in various rooms, including the wardrobes. I love the look and the smell of them! Every room (except the boys room) has a bowl or jar of potpourri. I even have some rooms colour matched! Some bowls have more purple colours while other bowls have dried yellow and orange flowers (the earthy colours) while most of the jars have deep maroon/red coloured rose petals. I put sticks of cinnamon and some cloves, and other spices in some of them too: anything that looks nice or smells nice! I change scents to match the season. I use those little ceramic/pottery oil decanters. They look nice but more importantly, they hold fragrant essential oils. You can put any oil you like and they emit a gentle, smooth fragrance.

I also put a few drops of essential oil, such as chammomile or lavender, onto a cotton ball and tuck it into pillows in the bedroom and the lounge room. The faint odour is released whenever the pillow is used. For extra comfort and sound sleep, I use the best silk pillowcase in the market.

If the house is especially odoriferous I burn a few drops of essential oil in an oil burner. These can be found for a few dollars in the dollar stores. Mix a few drops of oil with some water and let it simmer gently. Apricot, peach, musk, orange, chocolate and vanilla are some of my favourites, although it depends. In winter I use herby type oils as it makes us feel all clean and spruced while in summer I like the fruity, light smells.

I also use essential oils in a spray bottle of water. I use this to clean everything! Benchtops, walls, table, chairs, etc. For this I use either tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, spearmint or peppermint. It’s especially nice in the colder months as it helps everyone to feel ‘clear’ in the sinuses and gives that real clean smell. The mint types are excellent for use after there has been a bout of sickness like vomiting or diarrhea. :/

After making my own chai tea recipe I realised that it was a beautiful smell…so sometimes I make up my own concoction of spices and simmer it on the stove. Actually, I did the other day with a blackberry and vanilla herbal tea bag! I broke the bag open and gently simmered it on the stove. Hmmmm, beautiful! This is especially nice in the cooler months as the spices just make me feel warmer.

It’s lovely to have a vase full of herbs on the kitchen bench. One can’t help but rub them between their fingers when walking past and the oils are released and the fragrance fills the kitchen, momentarily.

I’ve also used a few drops of essential oils as perfume. This makes a welcome change to typical perfumes that are made with alcohol and are drying to the skin. I’m partial to vanilla and musks. 😉 Don’t use the cheaper oils for this though…I would only use the 100% pure essential oil on my skin.

The reason that I use essential oils so much is that my dh is very sensitive to unnatural or man made odours and it is something that will be inhaled into the body a lot so I like to be careful. So I try to use oils rather than chemical laden perfumes. I haven’t always used the expensive oils either. I used to use the cheap $2 oils from the dollar stores. They work fine, just have to top up the oil each season. I usually top up and refresh my odour producers at the beginning of each season. I feel that we can become a little immune to the benefits of essential oil fragrance so that’s also why I change it periodically.

However, more importantly than the fragrant odour in our home is the fragrance of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. As wives and mothers, we are the aroma of Christ to our husband and our children and those that we come in contact with each day. It is my desire that I will be as a sweet scent rising to God: that my family will breathe in the exquisite fragrance of Jesus the Messiah through me, as I am blessed by them.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God?s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
2 Corinthians 2:14-16

Hello reader! Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

Oi Voi! For a person who has been going to church regularly one would think that Mr. Rudd might be able to answer the question with a straight answer. Surely the answer to a question such as “do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?” is either a yes, no or don’t know, don’t care!

I find Mr. Rudd’s response to be scary. Scary in that if he has gone to church regularly then he should have heard enough to answer the question with a yes, no or I don’t care. Or maybe it is just a matter of politics. Maybe the truth in his heart is not the image he wants to portray to the general public. Maybe he was momentarily caught off guard and wants to give the best ‘political answer’. Either way it is scary.

Question: ?Mr Rudd, do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God??
Mr. Rudd’s response: ?Well, I?m a – I?m a, a person who attends church regularly.?

If you want to hear it for yourself, head over to SBS and watch this clip. It is the very last line of the clip so keep watch or you’ll miss it.

Why am I blogging about such things? Australia is gearing up for an election and for quite some time now I have liked Mr. Rudd and thought he was a good candidate for Prime Minister. But I despise using Christianity as a political vehicle to gain votes and as time goes on, it seems like this is happening, just as it did many years ago when Mr. Howard was running for first time election. He too, voiced many Christian values and gained the support of many churches. Often, I post about things that are on my mind. This has been on my mind for days…so I thought I’d put it out there. What do you think? Am I being overly picky or is this an issue?

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 10:32-34 ESV

I haven’t been online much lately…too many things going on that needed my attention. We’ve been rushing around this past weekend, getting up before the crack of dawn to head out to the diamonds to watch ‘Miss A’ play softball. I love it. The sun beating down upon my head, filling my whole body with warmth…the fresh air pouring into my lungs and over my skin. Ah, it makes me wonder why I spend so much time inside, on the computer. 🙄

Some friends have gone for a long overdue holiday to the country. I am so happy for them and hope they have a time of rest, rejuvenation, relaxation and refreshment but, inside I’m a little green.

Whenever we move house or interstate I go without the computer, our tv viewing is limited and we are simply together more, as a family. We don’t have a phone, other than the mobile for necessities. I love it. Even the children don’t mind, although one likes to have their MP3 player glued to their ear. 🙄 Often, after time away from the computer, I am in no hurry to get back to it. I don’t really want to visit the forums or email groups again. Oh, I’ve missed people and catching up with friends but the things I’ve gained simply are simply precious. Ah, to be a self controlled person who doesn’t struggle with addictions and can use all things in moderation.

It’s times like these that I become terribly aware of the constant and almost silent hum of everything electronic. My laptop is quiet but it still hums.The TV reverberates with its drone, the music from the tv or the stereo or the MP3 player or the light of the microwave oven, the phone beeping at every text message, even the lights seem to hum with noise.

Silence is more musical than any song.

~Christina Rossetti

When we’ve been away, my senses and my heart are more tuned in to people, to family, to friends, to God. It is my prayer and hope that my friends will experience all this and more…but it is also my desire to change things in my life so that I can experience this daily, amidst the busyness and noisiness of daily life. To take the phone of the hook, turn the computers, tv, radio and lights off and head to my bedroom for true peace and quiet as I hear from God and spend time in His presence. I’d love to be able to go away for a holiday but at this time, it isn’t possible. Our next holiday will be at Christmas time when we head home to South Australia to see family and possibly to Tasmania for the National Softball tournament- it won’t be a time to pull away from everything electronic and really rest.

What about when there is a storm and a blackout? Oooh, my children get all excited and run around…for a little while. Then they start to realise how much they rely upon electricity. Me? i love it! It gives me the excuse to be quiet and rest. But why don’t I do that more often? Why do I need a holiday or a blackout to do that? Hmmm. In the meantime I do what I can but I’d love to hear your comments. So inspire me, motivate me, give me tips and ideas for how to eliminate electronic hustle and bustle while living in a family that loves electronic gadgets and technology.

❓ What about you? Does electronic noise bother you? How do you deal with it?

It’s about that time of the year when the pages of the calendar are flipping over quickly which, for the homeschool mother, often means praying, thinking, stressing, researching and considering options for the upcoming year. Many people start planning for Christmas or vacation trips or entertaining plans and somewhere in it all, a mother’s heart can start to feel overwhelmed or even dry up.

Sometimes as mothers, we can feel like we’re pulled and pushed in every direction…others feel like butter that’s been spread over too much toast. Sometimes it is just all part of life so we soldier on, but if this happens to often then it can lead into being part of a negative or destructive cycle.

If you are in the homeschooling journey for the long haul- if this is a marathon and not a sprint, you will need to find ways to feed your own heart and mind. By feeding our heart and mind I’m talking about continuing to learn, to be stimulated, to serve, to be nourished in body, mind and soul. Bible reading and resting in God is a must! Our cup can overflow with the abundant love and grace of God, but we still need to exercise our physical body occasionally. So, we need to consider ways to cultivate our souls.

“Mothers should cultivate their souls, that in turn they may cultivate the souls of their children.”

~Billy Graham

The things I’m talking about need not be expensive- expensive doesn’t mean better! The key is however, finding some things that make you feel energetic…things that put a spring in your step…put a smile on your dial…something that makes you want to get up in the morning…something that stimulates your mind or body… For some it is volunteer work, a craft hobby like scapbooking or quilting, others find that gardening or cooking invigorates them. Some ladies love to decorate and paint stencils along their walls while others might like to pop out into the shed and build something for the home. There isn’t one right thing that suits everyone. But, the difficulty that a lot of homeschoolers mother face is how and when to fit it into their already busy or harried schedule. Please share how you fit your ‘Sanity Saver’ time into your family routine.

I used to love playing and coaching softball. I couldn’t wait for trainings. I also love entertaining and having visitors. I love watching good movies. I like watching Sci Fi with my hubby (sci-Fi can be intellectually stimulating) I like taking the children to the pool- they swim; I read a good book. I like to write. I may not be very good at it but there really is something to be said for the processing that goes on when one attempts to convey their thoughts, dreams and ideas via the written word. I like to serving others and help them. I find this invigorates me. I just have to share what I did that has truly nurtured my heart. I bought myself the Paul Potts CD. I have never been a real fan of opera but honestly, this talented fellow is making me do a complete turn around in my attitude. I bought the cd, popped it into my computer and just soaked it up- I was so refreshed and moved by it. Opera and jazz are not amongst my favourites genres of music and if anyone else feels similar or is wondering how to introduce opera to the children, pop out and buy the Paul Potts CD, called One Chance. You can hear some samples here, but they don’t do the CD, or his voice, justice.

• Cindy Rushton has a lit of ideas on her site that you must check out!

• Mother Culture and You, by Karen Andreola

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28 -30

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me?watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Let’s encourage each other and share ways to cultivate our souls and nourish our hearts, bodies and minds while serving our families. I’d love to hear from you!

Whew, what a weekend! It all started on Friday when we had to go across town to take ‘Miss A’ to a softball tournament. That in itself is not hard. Crossing the Gateway Bridge is not my favourite thing to do. Not necessarily because the bridge is high (it looks worse than it is) but once you go through the toll, it is like a drag race as about 10 lanes merge into 3 or 4 lanes! The whole drive is about 50 minutes. On Friday, I did this twice.

Saturday and Sunday was also spent with me trooping out to softball, which I probably make sound like a chore but the truth is that I love it! A day in the sun, watching my daughter, play my favourite sport, cappacino, chocolate and a new book! What’s wrong with that?

‘Miss A’ was hit with a pitched ball on Sunday. So off we went to the nearest hospital for an x-ray. Four hours later, we returned to the softball grounds, said goodbye and drove home, with ‘Miss A’ hobbling along on crutches. Apparently she only has soft tissue damage with extensive bruising, but time will tell more. We’re hoping it is only that as she hopes to be back on the diamond on Sunday. ‘Miss A’ wasn’t able to go to work on Monday or Tuesday which suited me just fine! I loved having her home with me again…I’ll have her for a whole week.
Saturday night was a bit disappointing. Being avid Crows Fans (AFL), John taped the match of the final and we sat together and watched the poor Crows claw their way to a devastating loss. There was much mourning in this home, for the next few days.

‘Miss R’ secured herself a part time job, at the same place as ‘Miss A’ ! Im very thankful to the boss at this patiserrie, for giving the girls such opportunities. ‘Miss R’ did an extra shift on Monday, to help cover for ‘Miss A’ ‘s absence.

Tonight we’re off to the school Music Night where ‘Miss R’ is going to be singing, in front of a live audience for the first time ever. To say she is nervous is an understatement. She has sung in the school choir before, but this is just her and one other girl.

Life is busy and full at the moment, and I haven’t had much time for writing or reading which doesn’t necessarily make for the most interesting blog, considering the caution I use when choosing to share a little of our life. 😉

Bless you,

To the person who is visiting this site and using the information and ideas contained therein, to promote their own website or forum without giving due credit I would ask again that you stop it. You know who you are. My site stats know who you are too. You can see that I write not for my own glory but for the encouragement of others. You can see that after the most recent activity of plagiarism I wrote a new copyright page and have joined copyscape. I see that you have indeed taken these same ideas and put them on to your own forum. I have always tried to acknowledge those who have helped or inspired or ministered to me in some way. Anyone who visits this blog would know that I have been deeply inspired by the writings of Robin Sampson and Sally Clarkson- I don’t try to hide that in any way. I believe that imitation is a form of flattery so I am slightly flattered that you choose to draw inspiration from my site, but it would be nice to treat others in the same way you would like to be treated. If you have put up a copyscape icon it means that you’d like others to treat your writings and content with respect. I would like to think that you would do likewise with my content.

To those who have no idea what I am raving on about, please ignore this post and I’ll get back to regular blogging soon. 😉

SSSS Blog Meme

Here are a few blogs that I was really touched by or ministered to by this week. They’re in no particular order.

Margaret’s blog is one of those places where I will usually get a laugh (I don’t count on it, but it usually happens). However, after the chuckle has gone I am often left with a deeper insight than before I visited her blog.

Today, Margaret has written about Gomez Addams, from the Addams Family (who doesn’t like that show?) being a homeschool advocate. It’s funny but there’s also food for thought. Don’t take my word for it- pop over and visit her. Leave a comment if you liked what you read.

Phyllis wrote about Sowing and Reaping over on her blog. I was encouraged yet challenged by her post.

?If we focus on our needs, we will always be needy,? As I read this to my children this morning I was stopped in my tracks by what a profound statement it is, yet this is often where I find myself stuck.

Sally Clarkson over at Wholeheart Moms always motivates, inspired and encourages me and her post, Getting Back to Basics was no different.

I have pondered, lately, what I observe in many of the children that I meet along the way, how they reflect their mother?s philosophy of education and life. If you don?t start with the end in mine?what you want to see produced in your children?s lives, then you won?t build the right things along the way. I see so many sweet young moms going to these homeschooling fairs and piling themselves up with all sorts of colorful curriculum and work books?and even other moms who think they will accomplish their goals by using videos. Yet, the pioneering spirit of homeschooling, seems to be lost and I see the choice of these materials having an ill effect on so many children.

I purchased an inexpensive ebook to share with my daughters from Sheri Prescott. We have done a few of these type of books before but it has been awhile since our last one so I thought her new ebook looked good. It is!

How To Be a Super Model: A Guide To Inner Beauty. My goal is to encourage and challenge young women to seek Jesus with their whole hearts; modeling their lives after Him.

Well, that’s about it for me and the SSSS blog meme. Now that I have participated in one I will make sure I continue. if you have no idea what I’m talking about you can visit Robin’s blog for more information.

Sally Clarkson has written a beautiful blog post that I just knew needed to be spread far and wide. So while I will include excerpts from the post here please go and read the full entry, which you’ll find at: Sally’s blog

I have pondered, lately, what I observe in many of the children that I meet along the way, how they reflect their mother’s philosophy of education and life. If you don’t start with the end in mind, what you want to see produced in your children’s lives, then you won’t build the right things along the way. I see so many sweet young moms going to these homeschooling fairs and piling themselves up with all sorts of colorful curriculum and work books’ and even other moms who think they will accomplish their goals by using videos. Yet, the pioneering spirit of homeschooling, seems to be lost and I see the choice of these materials having an ill effect on so many children.

One of the problems of homeschooling today, is that it became big business and so all sorts of companies developed materials to tempt moms, who have so many feelings of inadequacy, to buy. The more of these curriculums a moms buys, the more stress she is putting on herself, because she will surely expand her feelings of inadequacy each month because of all the pages of assignments she will not finish. Multiplying guilt and inadequacy is never a formula for success in my book. More options does not necessarily mean more excellence.

Just because we now have hundreds of channels on television doesn’t mean the quality of shows has improved more doesn’t always mean better. This is also true of education. Plying your life with myriad activities and opportunities and lessons and classes are costly in time, money, and peace. Choosing wisely a few focussed activities, and choosing the make home the center and priority of a mom’s life is the wisest, most historically and classically soothing way to build peace in the home and godly character in a child.

There is no substitute for a mom diving into great thoughts, with her children, and passionately discussing these together. If one of our primary goals for our children is to inspire them to love learning and to give them a passion about knowing and learning and creating, then this passion is caught when taught by a living, breathing, responsive person. No child or adult can get as much inspiration, personal attention or focussed attention from a video or online school. Now I am not saying that these things cannot be employed for some of the education or for a few subjects in which a mom and child can benefit from the expertise of others (and mainly in the high school years or for math tables or language study).

But, if we replace the love and care and encouragement and passion that comes from a mother’s heart to her children with a machine, we cannot expect to have the same heart and character results. Jesus’ impact on his disciples was because of the personal heart and mind and relationship and life time He had with His disciples. Can you imagine Him putting them on a video and telling them, “At the end of this multimedia course, you will be expected to give up your life for the cause of my Father, who is in heaven.” No, indeed. They gave their lives for His cause because He loved His own and shared His whole life with them. He befriended them, cared for them, instructed them.

Your children are pre-wired to looking to you for love and approval and inspiration and care, they want you most of all. Your heart, your imagination, your joy, your love, your direction. May God so fill your heart, and give rest to your body, so that you will always have the resources from His Holy Spirit, from which your precious ones may have life to draw from.

Have you been blessed by Sally Clarkson’s books? If you haven’t had opportunity to read them yet, you need to! Buy yourself one or more as part of ‘parent training’ if you need to justify. Just get a copy of Sally’s most recent books. You’ll be glad you did.

Whew! What a few weeks it has been. A few weeks ago, we went to Sydney to watch ‘Miss A’ play in a softball tournament for the Youth Development Squad for Australia. It wasn’t too bad except two children didn’t want to be there and are totally bored by it all (their idea of fun is not to spend 10 hours a day in the cold watching training and games- how can they not enjoy that?) and it was freezing cold. we did pop into Featherdale Wildlife park which was good but two of us came down a little ill and we had to leave for the cabin early. It was a good week of softball. We arrived home (to QLD), after a 1400km drive home (leaving at 3.30am). We plonked ourselves into bed (on the Friday) and prepared mentally for a rough few days.

We awoke the next morning (Sat) to laundry and getting ready to move house. We continued laundry and packing and cleaning of the yard on Sunday and early on Monday morning the sole packer arrived to start prepacking our belongings. It was a very late night. Bright, crisp and early on Tuesday morning, the removalists arrived and started finishing the packing, all the while bemoaning the amount of books that one family can own. They then spent the rest of the day and early evening uplifting our things into the truck while John and I stayed late to do the final clean of the house. ‘Miss A’ worked on both days and I really missed her help. ‘Miss R’ and the boys pulled their weight though with the washing of walls and yard work.

We all arrived at the new house on Wednesday and the fun (chaos) really began. The removalists just drop the boxes and have little idea of where to put everything. We could require them to unpack everything but by 2pm I was sick of them and just wanted them to leave my new home and let me get to work. Our first priority is to do the children’s bedrooms so they have a quiet place to retreat to and they can sleep at night. Then we do the kitchen. Suffice to say that John and I slept on the couch that night. The next day (Thursday) John got the washing machine going and made a fence to keep the dog contained and we started unpacking some of the 450 boxes of belongings!!! We’re about half way through.

John always does his homework with regard to internet connection to a new location and this whole area is serviceable, EXCEPT for this cul-de-sac!!!!! So being unable to survive on dial-up, he went searching for new ideas. We’re now connected to wireless broadband which is good but a little slower than our previous speed. Oh well, I’m just glad we don’t have download limits or times.

My house is about 60% unpacked and ordered. We had our first home cooked meal in 3 weeks tonight! / / /

Anyway, that’s the very brief description of what our time has been like. I stumbled across a cool section from TIME and it shows a photographic snapshot of 15 different family meal tables around the globe. Check it out– it’s very interesting…

Can you imagine a show ride that would be a mixture of the huge, fast, scary roller-coaster combined with the whirliness of the ‘Tornado’ ride? Well, I have my ticket and I’m preparing to board.

I tell you, life with my husband is never boring! My mother used to call John ‘The Tornado’ and it was exciting when I was 20. Now, it’s still exciting but it’s also tiring. I guess I can’t lay the blame all at his feet though- some of it is just life…life with children.

After much house hunting, we finally have a house to go to. It ended up being a DHA home, after all that looking around and comparing we did. Oh well, at least we have a house with a smallish back yard that is large enough for the boys and I to do a little gardening.

Regular readers of this blog may recall that my 16yodd is an athlete. She was selected to represent Australia in the U/19 Youth Development Squad so we are off to Sydney next week to watch her train and play. She has been training for this since January. I’ve been proud of her as she has matured through her sport. She now spends many hours in individual training- not because I or a coach is pushing her but because she wants to. She knows what she must do in order to be physically and mentally ready and she has been slowly and steadily preparing herself, as best she can.

We head off in seven days. We’ll be gone for nine days. We get back home and unload our bags just in time to start packing the house as two days later, the packers will be here to start packing the house! One the third day after arriving home, we move to our new home! How it will pan out is beyond my understanding. How I will cope with it all is something I do not know. However, looking on the bright side, at least it is something that isn’t going to drag on and on- within a few short weeks, it will all be over and done with and we’ll be settled into our new place.

I’m looking at schools in the area for my 14yodd. The local school has an emphasis on arts, music and drama so she is looking forward to that. Naturally, she is feeling a bit of a pull at the moment as she emotionally prepares to leave her friends again. In the big picture, I’m sure it means lots of life experience and life skills for her, but it is painful at the time.

The boys are excited…our home is in a cul-de-sac again, which means that they play outside! Yay!! We have no backyard here and it is a busy road so they don’t go outside much, which isn’t too exciting if you’re a boy! We’re looking at planting a few herbs and vegetables once we get settled.

Me? I’m looking forward to being somewhere longer than 12 months. This posting is at minimum 18months with a possibility of 3 years, so I find that pretty exciting. Did I mention that I love the weather here? Yesterday, the coldest period was 9 degrees but in poor ACT 8 degrees was the warmest! Oh, while I love my friends in Canberra I don’t miss the weather.

If I don’t post often over the next month, this is why. Going away and moving house can have that effect. 🙂

We saw a brief report on the opening of the new Creation Museum in the US. Not only are we Creationists but take a slight special interest in Ken Ham as he was instrumental in John’s conversion to Christianity many years ago.

I couldn’t believe that there were protesters present at the opening of the museum. Christian’s are often called fanatics and I can see how that is, but I also don’t understand the depth of the anger that some protesters displayed. The museum is not committing acts of murder or injustice…it simply presents the biblical alternative to the history of the world. Creation / Evolution certainly hits at the crux of everyone’s core beliefs.

We’ve used a few good resources. Answers in Genesis always have great, thorough resources, especially It All Begins with Genesis but Heart of Wisdom (the store is called Homeschool-Books.com) also has a wonderful study. When is the last time you discussed Evolution theories with your children? Do you children study Creation? What resources have you used?
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I’d like to encourage you to talk with your children today or over the weekend, of the beauty, the majesty and the wonder of God’s creation. It is my hope and prayer that the first eleven chapters of Genesis will not just be a nice story that our children recite rather that they will be well versed in the science of creation and be that they will be equipped to answer objections and untruths.

I spent the first 18 years of my life in one town, one house. Very secure and stable. I married my dear husband and have moved around ever since!

In the last 6 years we have moved house 4 times…and we’re off again! Some might say that it doesn’t really count if you’re only moving 10 kms away but when you are a homeshcooling family (books and computers), it really does count!

All the moves are unsettling to the older children. There’s no easy way to say it. I’d like to not complain but it is hard on them. They want to put down some roots, which can be important in knowing one’s identity. Instead, they’ll have to change school (my 14yod attends school), make new friends yet again, find a new church and youth group, and get a new part time job. We’ve only been in this house for 12 months. My girls do a fantastic job of handling all this, each in their own way, but it would be nice to be in one place for a few years.

We have always tried to find positives in each move, even though at times this has been hard. Doing this though has been a great teacher- our children have learned to look for the positives in situations…even situations that are out of our control. We remind them that are having the opportunity to not only see parts of our beautiful country but to live in the state and city and truly experience it. This is far different to a quick holiday.

So over the next month or so, if I’m not around much it will be because I’m busy packing again.