mannum_ferryYesterday 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