Religion

Last night, a family member and I went through all the 'Kids Storage' at church. We cleaned, tidied and sorted. We used of all of the dozens of storage containers that we bought to make things easy to find and easy to pack away.

All in all, from sorting out creche toys, to books, to craft supplies, it took us around three hours before we were ready to pack up and go home. We moved quickly and with diligent hands I achieved what would normally take days in just hours. I am so thankful that I had willing assistance.

As we finished, so did an event in the Church's auditorium. As we packed the last bits away a Church Elder walked in. He is one of those people who notices everybody and everything and is a strong encourager. After observing our scurry to get finished before someone decided to lock-up the building he said, 'People should know what you do here, eh?"

I responded in the negative telling him that, "It just needed to be done and that if I want for the Children's Ministry leaders to be able to do their jobs effectively."

Of course, afterwards, I was asking myself why I didn't just come out and say that I liked to do things behind the scenes that no-one would normally notice. You see, what this Elder missed is that, at the end of the day, it does not matter who here knows what I do or don't do. It matters to the one person who sees everything - God.

I love to do things that make a difference to others. However, fanfare and hullabaloo about what people have done on any given day are not. For it is so easy to see what some (like Worship Teams) do and miss all the others who set up, pack up, prepare communion, vacuum the floors and clean the toilets. We don't pay anyone to do these things and someone does need to do them. The good news is that God sees those people who willingly volunteers and is made glad by their act of service to Him.

My Christmas wish for you is that in these festive times you can see past pain, hurts and troubles to reach out your hand. I pray that your hand will give hope to another as you reach out to help.

My Christmas wish for you is that all that you do, albeit the same as any other day, that it will be done with appreciation for all that you have that others may not. I pray that you are enveloped in joy as you serve others.

My Christmas wish for you is that you take the time to love someone else that you find hard to love. I pray that in doing so that you feel loved for just being yourself too.

My Christmas wish for you is that you can consider others with a higher regard than yourself. Then, when you arrive home safely after your celebrations, I pray that you can bring thanks to God that no one lost their life at your hands that same night.

My Christmas wish for you is that you can share the spirit of Christmas in special ways with those who see you in a faceted way. I pray that your life is a testimony of love to work colleagues and clients, to playgroup mums and to the barrista at your local coffee bar.

My Christmas wish for you is that as you contemplate the year ahead that your already laid plans clearly seen as wise or unwise. I pray that all fear, angst and stress be replaced with empowerment, encouragement and, above all, peace.

With love at Christmas

It seems of late that I have been in receipt of a load of compliments for the bits and pieces that I have been up to. In reflection, I do not understand why these compliments are coming in now because I do not believe that I have done anything more, of late, than any other time. Maybe it is just that people are actually noticing for the first time or maybe it is me actually hearing their compliments and taking them for what they are for the first time? I am not sure, either way.

Most of the things that I do are small and fall into insignificance. They are certainly not the feats that are used as testimonies of God's power at the pulpit. They are the small things like writing a roster, wiping down a table, giving a hug to someone who needs it and sharing conversation over a hot drink.

With this spate of compliments I have had to give thought as to how to respond beyond an appreciative,"Thank You". So, tonight I have drawn myself into the Word to look for how I can better articulate what I would like to say to others in response. The passage that brings words to my lips is in Isaiah.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

- Isaiah 40:28-31 (ESV)

So, if you see me 'just getting on with the job' and are pleased, appreciative or even 'shocked' at how I fit it into my busy life I have something for you to do before paying me a compliment. That thing is to thank the Lord because it is through him that my strength comes and that I may be able to reach out and give with the abundance of life-giving, fresh flowing waters that fill my cup to overflowing. When I bring good to others, know that it is not me but He who lives in me that prompts me to live out His promises.

I know that I, too, give thanks to people regularly for things that they do and I always strive to thank the Lord for them. This week I am committing myself to thanking the Lord for people who make a difference in my days. I invite you to join along with me.

If you do not know how to start then use the words contained in the Word (NIV) to get you started:

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because.. (as in Romans)

I always thank God for you because.. (as in 1 Corinthians)

Sometimes, though, we are not sure what to be thankful for because it is hard to pinpoint or encapsulate what someone has done for you or what they have done to benefit others. In this case, like me, you may find your self praying in the spirit of the words that are found in 1 Thessalonians:

We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 (NIV)

In addition to this, it will be my fervent prayer this coming week that the promises in God's Word will be fulfilled in their life as it is in Phillipians also:

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
- Phillipians 1:9-11 (ESV)

Please post a comment if you are committed to join with me in thanking the Lord for others this week so that they may be encouraged in their faith wanderings also.

With love
Proverbs Wife

Oh, what a joyful week that past last week. Along with spending so much time around water in the form of lakes, rivers, rock pools, waterfalls and the beach we have been wash with The Word too. Yes, we have spent the week at Capernwray Bible School for their Refresh 2010 conference with the theme: 'How is your soul? - Reflections from the Psalms'.

David and Dianne Sharman as well as the whole Capernwray team put in a massive effort to make sure everyone was comfortable and they bent over backwards to take care of us after PJ Bear broke his arm. It was a week of being supported and encouraged across each and every day.

Our accommodation was fantastic for the week. It is great as a family to get a private space to retreat to when you need it and the quiet to allow young people like Boof to still have restful daytime sleep. The view from 'The Hedges' where we were accommodated was also gorgeous.

So, when you can't take the whole family to Estes Park, Colorado, you bring a piece of that location to you. In this case, it was our speaker Frank Cirone of Ravencrest Chalet and his daughter Anikka. Frank shared of himself as openly as he shared of God's Word and I can only wish we had the chance to meet his whole family.

The week was inspiring and certainly has me equipped to face the week ahead. If you are interested in recordings from the Conference then please contact them as they have all the sessions available for purchase on CD, DVD and MP3. Or, maybe consider coming to Refresh 2011? I had been asking Michael for us to go for years and it was not until I suggested that I could do with a break from cooking and cleaning before this baby came that he agreed. For all those years did I fail to mention that it was fully catered? Yes, fully catered with a children's program for 3-12 year olds also and not to be missed!

For an extra fix, which I am not sure I'll be able to attend, there will be a Refresh for Women weekend in September from the 24^th until the 26^th with Jill Briscoe speaking straight to the heart of Christian Women. For more information check out the Refresh 2010 link on the Torchbearers web site.

Thank you to all of the Capernwray team, and its volunteers for the week, for making the week so great for all of our family. We wish you every blessing with the school year ahead - may you make an eternal and everlasting impact on each and every student.

What's next?

There is a more involved story behind this too! Sometime last year, when Sir Sonic was around 18 months we decided he needed a stand-alone PC to play some games he was given for Christmas (they only ran on M$ Windows). So DH grabbed one of our oldies installed Windows 98 and the games. Two days later Sir Sonic was caught changing the BIOS settings and by day 5 he had deleted COMMAND.COM. Hence to say that Windows 98 no longer worked. We did not rebuild as we determined that all efforts were futile.

So, the past 6 months Sir Sonic has been doing the Ubuntu thing on DH's PC. He quickly worked out how to log in using a username and password (that was scary enough), he then set up a quick launch button for Tux Paint (pretty nifty), he then changed the icon for Tux Paint in the menu bar to an 'accessibility symbol'?!? (Oh, and I forgot the scrolling share prices too!)

So, we got back from our holiday in New Zealand and Sir Sonic must have had an over-inflated sense of skill. He stopped (by that, I mean outright refused) playing Tux Paint and decided he would toy around with Blender. After a week or so he pestered DH & I for assistance, of which we could not be, since neither of us have a clue with that app. So, Sir Sonic eventually got over this spiked interest and returned to Tux Paint.

This was the point where I thought we were safe but *NO* we couldn't be more wrong. Sir Sonic knew how to shut down & reboot (causing chaos to our MythTV recordings) but we have never had him reboot in single-user mode. Hmmmmm...

Hence to say DH found him playing with the config and got a little upset. So, Ubuntu people - this is what happens when you give too much control via a GUI. As for Sir Sonic - what's next?

FYI Sir Sonic is almost 2.5yo