Our Toukley Holiday

David, Elizabeth and I arrived back yesterday from a holiday at Toukley. Toukley is a little beachside town on the central coast of NSW. We stayed in a house which belonged to a friend's grandmother and is now used by family and family friends for holidays. The house itself is old but is situated on a cliff which overlooks the water. It was lovely to wash up while looking out the window at the ocean (although David washed up most of the time - maybe that's why he did :) ). It was great to have more space, a yard, no phonecalls to make or commitments to meet and to just spend time together as a family. Below is a picture of the view from the front yard........

We spent most mornings either at the beach or at a place called The Entrance which is a ten minute drive south of Toukley. The Entrance is another beachside community that has a row of nice cafes and shops along the front as well as a couple of great playgrounds and Elizabeth's favourite, a water play park (as shown below).

Elizabeth showed no fear of the water whatsoever! She loved the fountains, not caring if her face got splashed. On the beach, she ran towards the ocean and did not like us restraining her from falling into it! She applied her usual determination in exploring everything around her and had a great time.

Actually, she looked tired alot over the week (from all the activity!) and fell asleep easily in the car. She also whinged for Wiggles alot, wanting to veg out in front of the TV after one of her sleeps......

At night, David and I did what we love doing most in the holidays: having a glass of wine, some chocolate and watching episodes of Midsomer Murders. Ah, the simple things in life!

The next few days we will be getting ready for our trip to Queensland to visit our families. More yards and visits to the beach - great!

I got to take her home

Yesterday I took Elizabeth to our church playgroup for the first time. She had a great time! She loved the water play outside and inside enjoyed playing with the plastic food and kitchen items. She thought it was great sitting on a little chair (and then pushing it around everywhere!). She also took a liking to a little baby doll (surprise, surprise!) which she cuddled for quite a while. As I watched her and her funny little mannerisms as she was caught up in her own little play-world, I thought something along the lines of 'She is so funny and cute and special........and I get to take her home!'. I remembered that pre-Elizabeth I had spent years wishing I could take someone elses child home, to be their Mum and look after them and teach them things and now I have my very own little child to take care of. What a privelege! I pray that none of us Mums ever take our children for granted but that we always know what a privelege it is to be the ones to take them home.

Wiggle Watching

Elizabeth has always shown an interest in the TV and has always loved the Wiggles but now she actually requests to watch TV. Not something I really want to encourage. Anyway, she woke up this afternoon upset and we brought her into the loungeroom still in her sleeping bag and with dum dum in mouth. The first thing she did was point to the TV and whinge unrelentlessly until we put the Wiggles on. She was very content to sit on my lap and then the lounge watching her favourite characters 'wiggle' across the screen. She even took control of the remote. Oh well, I guess we all need a bit of TV watching time to relax, don't we?

Kitchen play

Elizabeth woke up this morning to a new addition to our kitchen - a little kitchen of her own. We bought it second-hand off E-bay. It's a bit faded and I think it's spent a bit of time in the sun but it is intact and will be great for the patio at our new place next year.

It was lovely watching Elizabeth discover her new toy. It didn't take her long to spot it and she rushed over to it making lots of happy sounds! She has played alot with it today and I'm hoping that it will be something that she can enjoy playing with while I'm washing up or cooking (or while hanging the washing up next year).

Happy Birthday David!!

Today was David's 28th Birthday. Unfortunately he had to study for exams today but I was able to surprise him with a get-together with some friends at college. We had a white chocolate mudcake which I made (my no-fail recipe!) and some choc-chip muffins. I was very proud of myself that I actually pulled the surprise off!
Happy Birthday, David. You are a wonderful husband and Daddy and I love you very much.

More woman

Last night we had our annual Moore Women dinner to farewell those leaving college at the end of the year. It was a great opportunity to dress up, enjoy a nice meal and time with friends. Some of the women sang what is perhaps the 'theme song' for women at Moore College. It is to be sung to the tune 'I am Woman' by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton. I can really relate to this! The words are below:

I'm a woman here at Moore
I've got no kids, two, three, four.
I am single. I am married. I'm engaged.
I am often really tired and at times I've quite admired
Those who study, go to work or stay at home.

Chorus
I long to be wise
to trust God and obey.
Jesus paid the price
It's God's grace all the way.
So it's okay, not to do everything
I am tired (tired)
Sometimes I need some space (need some space)
I'm Moore Woman.

I was born at RPA
I've come from far away.
Church is new, at times it's stresssful, feels like home.
I find Sydney's quite a chore
I have friends who live next door.
Family too close, family too far, who to phone?

Chorus
I long to be wise
To know how to fill my day.
Jesus paid the price
His Spirit guides my way.
But there's no way, I can do everything
I am shy (shy)
I am in need of friends (in need of friends)
I'm Moore Woman.

I'm a pilgrim on the way
Facing distractions everyday
There's the TV, checking e-mail and the kids
But I really want to grow
And I'll need some help I know
To be joyful, patient, loving, humble, kind.

Chorus
I long to be wise
To delight in my Lord's way.
Jesus paid the price
He changes me each day
He says there's one thing, on above everything
Open your ears (ears)
Hear God's Word today (God's Word today)
Be more woman!

- words by Janice Whittingham

New shoes and answered prayer

Today, Elizabeth and I embarked on a shopping adventure. We needed new shoes for Elizabeth, new single sheets for guests who will be staying and a birthday present for Daddy. When we arrived at the shopping centre we prayed for God to help us find shoes and sheets that weren't too expensive.

God was gracious and answered our prayers. We got a good pair of shoes for Elizabeth that were 30% off and were the last pair in her size and we also got a set of sheets (the last set) for $15 (all the other sheets cost $20+ just for 1 sheet!). Unfortunately we didn't get Dave anything but I think we can be very thankful for what we were able to get today.

Trusting God

This was the topic of the talk at Moore Women on Thursday night. Although I was extremely tired and didn't feel like going out, I didn't think I could miss a topic like this! Trusting God has always been something I struggle with. In my head I know that God is completely trustworthy but when hard times come it can be difficult to put this head knowledge into practice. How do I trust God when He brings along a hard time? He is in control of all things, so can't He make things turn out just as I would like?

Emma, the lady who spoke on Thursday night, reminded me again of the reasons why we can trust God.

Firstly, God is sovereign, which means He's always in control and has a plan. Emma spoke about God's providence, which is His constant care for and absolute rule over all His creation for His own glroy and for the good of His people. We were reminded of the story of Jospeh, who was sold as a slave by his own brothers and was taken to Egypt. Because of his wisdom and ability to interpret dreams, he was put in charge of Pharoah's palace. As a result of his interpretation of Pharoah's dreams, he saved Egypt from famine and Egypt was able to provide food to those who came to them, among whom were Jospeph's own Israelite family. Instead of rejecting his family and not giving them food when they asked for it, Joseph forgave his family and provided for them. He did this because he knew that God had a purpose for him in being sold as a slave, and that was to save many from famine, including his own family.

Secondly, God's perfect love means that he always wills what is best for us. Emma reminded us of the time Jesus spoke to his disciples, saying "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows". We were also reminded of the verses in Romans 8:35-39 that tell us that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ. Emma made the helpful point that if nothing can separate Christ and God (Christ is God) and if we are 'in Christ' (as all of us are if we put our faith in Him), then we can't be separated from God! Anyway, Christ died for us so He must love us, right?!

A problem.......

If God is totally in control of all things but bad things happen to me, He mustn't love me then, right?

Or, if God loves me but bad things happen to me, then He must have stuffed up and lost control of things for a little while, right?

This is a regular dilemna for me, but it is wrong thinking. God is in control of all things and He loves me more than I could know. We just need to accept it and trust Him, knowing that the things that do happen are in His control and happen in the context of His love for us. He knows what is best for us!

Which brings us to the third point......

God's infinite wisdom means that He always knows what is best for us. Emma's point here was that God has got a plan for us and it is always the best one for us. Most importantly, His plan for Christians is to make us like Christ and he will usually use trials to do this.

Most of what Emma spoke about is from the book Trusting God Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges which I have read and found to be very helpful, especially when Dave and I were going through IVF.

At the end of her talk, Emma encouraged us to look back over the good times and hard times and be grateful. She suggested we all write down 10 things each day that we are thankful to God for and to make the first four things about God. She also encouraged us to make God our first port of call when something goes wrong, rather than relying on others. I think these are all great suggestions, considering we live in a culture where we are relatively ungrateful and tend to whinge about things rather than being thankful.

Emergency Friday

For the past two Fridays in a row I have called 000. Last Friday it was for the police, after witnessing an older man being verbally abused and punched in the face as I was walking home in the middle of the day. The man had blood pouring out of his nose and the attacker was not letting up so I called the police and waited around the corner (out of the attacker's sight) for the police to come. It was very scary at the time because I had Elizabeth with me and was afraid that if I was seen by the attacker, they might come after me. The police came fairly quickly so that was good and the man was okay.

Then yesterday, I was cooking dinner when I heard a smoke alarm going off. I was a bit annoyed because I had just got Elizabeth down for her afternoon sleep (at 4pm!) and didn't want her to wake up. I didn't think much of it because there is always an alarm going off around here. Either a car alarm or fire alarm from one of the half-way houses down the street. The alarm had been going off for about three minutes when I decided to open our balcony door to let some of the cooking smells out of our unit. As I did, I smelled smoke. I went into our stairwell and hear that the alarm was coming from one of the units in our stairwell. I smelled smoke in the stairwell and discovered it was coming from the unit downstairs. I banged on their door but no one was home. I ran back upstairs, grabbed my phone and dialled 000. I panicked thinking that the whole building may collapse so I grabbed Elizabeth from her cot and went downstairs and outside. Another neighbor came out and we watched the smoke from the window increasing in volume until the fire brigade arrived. I must say it was quite exciting to watch the event unfold. The firemen had to break the door to get in. Other firemen carried a large industrial fan into the stairwell to get rid of the smoke. They said the stove had been left on. Meanwhile my stove upstairs was on with food cooking on it! Didn't think to turn it off in my hurried exit.....

Thankfully, there wasn't a fire in the end and everyone was safe. But I am worried about next Friday - will I have to call the ambulance this time?

The runaway beach babe

One of the positive things about living in Sydney is that we are reasonably close to many beautiful beaches. The fact that it's almost always too cold too swim (well, for me anyway) is beside the point! Now that we are coming into summer we are looking forward to more trips to the beach and watching Elizabeth enjoy exploring and discovering new things there. On Saturday we went to Bronte Beach to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday and I went again on Monday with some girls from college.

If I thought going to the beach was exhausting before it is even more exhausting now with a runaway toddler! The Saturday trip was spent chasing Elizabeth as she strode quite determinedly (notice the swinging arms in the photos) towards the water taps, picking her up, bringing her back to the party and then chasing her again!

The Monday was more relaxing as Elizabeth didn't like the feel of sand so she just stuck on the picnic blanket for the first half! However, after a bit of convincing she realised that she did like sand after all and tried to run through it, not quite understanding why all of a sudden the sand was up to her knees and she could no longer move!

We are looking forward to our Queensland beach trips over summer........

Privileged?

Every Thursday night I try to make it along to Moore Women - a night put on for women who are students or wives of students at Moore College. Each week there is a guest speaker who speaks about a different topic. Last night the topic was "Blue skies, coconut trees and Jesus". It was about the Christian work that is happening in Tonga.

Now, I don't usually feel that enthusiastic about going to talks about mission work overseas and I must admit that last night was no different. I'm not exactly sure why. As a Christian I should be interested and keen to find out what God is doing overseas but to my shame, I generally don't feel like that. Maybe it's because I don't know much about other countries so find it hard to relate to what they are talking about (unless they have maps I don't know where most countries are!) or maybe it's because I have not desire for Dave and I to be missionaries overseas or maybe it's because I'm afraid that as I listen to missionaries speak, God will challenge my heart or even put a desire in my heart to do gospel work overseas.

Anyway, I always try to go because it is important to support missionaries and whenever I do hear missionaries speak they are often the most encouraging evenings. And last night was no different. A lady from Tonga whose husband is doing a PhD at Moore College spoke about Tonga and the challenges of doing ministry there. She said that the main Bible college in Tonga (Sia'atoutai Theological College) teaches that the Bible is just a book of made up stories and that Jesus is just a mythical figure. Her husband studied a degree there when he was just 17 and left an atheist. He then came to Australia to study science, because Christianity had given him no answers about life so he thought he would find answers in science. While studying at Sydney uni, he met a guy who invited him to a Unichurch where he heard the Bible taught truthfully for the first time. He then became a Christian and has since then has studied at Moore college and lectured back at the Bible college in Tonga. So amazing!

Another lady also spoke. She and her husband were missionaries in Tonga and are involved in the work of the Langham Partnership ( http://www.langhampartnership.org/) which helps to equip pastors and teachers in the majority world by providing literature, training in preaching and scholarships for attending Bible colleges abroad. It was so encouraging to hear about their work and how people are being are able to access resources such as commentaries in order to learn more about the Bible and be able to teach it to others. We were shown a DVD and a man from Africa who is on a scholarship program spoke about that fact that he would need to work 50 years in Africa to afford one year tuition at the Bible college in Cambridge yet through the scholarship he can be trained for free.

Well, hearing about the lack of resources (including Bibles) that Christians in other countries have, makes me feel ashamed and grateful at the same time. We are privileged in Australia. Most of us have Bibles in our homes (whether read or unread). Most Christians would have a collection of Christian books and music apart from their Bibles (of which they often have more than one), if not a whole library! We are able to access good teaching week to week as there are many faithful Bible-teaching churches here. We are able to attend Bible studies where we have resources to use to study the Bible. We really do take it all for granted. It made me think once again - are we really privileged? I think we often pay the price for being privileged. We often do not appreciate the resources we have or the people that teach us. Instead of going to church joyfully to hear God's word we go thinking "I hope the sermon will be interesting today". We don't treasure our Bibles. It makes me wonder whether I would read my Bible more and treasure God's words more if it was only on loan to me for a short time or if I hadn't always had it. I pray that we the privileged in Australia would live as the unprivileged - grateful to have God's Word in our hands and joyful in reading it.

My first mulberries

A lady from mother's group brought around a huge container of mulberries from her mulberry tree to mother's group today. Elizabeth loved them! Despite two bibs, one small and one large, her top and pants managed to get stains on them. Why did I choose to put white pants on Elizabeth today? :) Lets hope Napisan does the trick!

Don't make me count to three!

This is the title of a book by Ginger Plowman (yes, it's American!) that I'm reading at the moment. It talks about heart-oriented discipline as opposed to merely changing wrong behaviours.

Ginger writes, '........Biblical discipline involves love, the heart, and God's Word. Because God is concerned with the issues of the heart, biblical discipline involves much more than outward behaviour. Biblical discipline gets to the heart of the porblem. After all, if you can reach the heart, the behaviour will take care of itself. In order for us to reach the hearts of our children we must realize that there is far more to parenting than getting our children to act right. We have to get them to think right and to be motivated out of a love of virutue rather than a fear of punishment. We do this by training them in righteousness. Righteous training can only come from the Word of God.' She refers to Ephesians 6:4 which says, 'Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord'.

The book so far has really challenged me to start thinking ahead about how Dave and I can discipline Elizabeth in a way that changes her heart, not just her behaviour. It has also challenged me to model virtue to her, such as not complaining, being patient etc. Just as well we have God to help us and change us!

Outing to HJs

With the quiet beckoning of a book of Hungry Jacks vouchers and the longing of a husband's heart, we ventured to HJs for lunch today. We both got lunch for $10 while Elizabeth embarked on her baked beans, bread and cheese. Just as well she doesn't know what she is missing out on yet :). There was a children's birthday party on while we were there and fortunately they had just received their meals as we finished ours which meant one thing: Elizabeth had the playground to herself! This meant we didn't have to worry about her getting bowled over by bigger kids. There was a little cubby house with a door, windows and rows of balls which Elizabeth loved. We are really enjoying this stage of Elizabeth's life where we can go on outings we all enjoy and Elizabeth isn't confined to her pram.

Becoming a Christian

The first time I heard about God was during religious education at primary school. I can't remember much about what I was taught but I remember believing that there was a God and that He listened to our prayers. In year two we had a lovely religious education teacher, an older lady with white hair (I think!). Once after the class I waited behind and asked her to pray for two things: my great grandmother who was getting very old and was sick and a bird that our family cat had caught and was not in good shape! Well, my great grandmother lived for a number of years after that day and the little bird survived! It is amazing how God works to show Himself to little children.



When I was in year 6 I started going to a Christian group at school called Interschool Christian Fellowship (ISCF). One of the young female teachers at the school ran the group. She was a very gentle, kind lady. It was there that I remember hearing stories about Jesus and learning that He died on a cross to save me from God's punishment which I deserved for my sin. I remember racking my brains, wondering why Jesus would die on a cross, why such a severe thing would have to be done. I thought it was strange, but believed it was true. I just didn't know how it was meant to impact my life.



I remember going to the ISCF camp in year 7 and singing the song: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all you mind and love all of mankind as you would love yourself.............wow - how did you do that?!



Once at an ISCF get-together, the lovely teacher smiled so brightly and said, 'I'm looking forward to heaven'. Heaven? Wow, it sounded so great - a perfect place where we would be with God forever! I had all these ideas racing around in my head - Jesus dying for me, heaven, loving God with all your heart.........how did it all fit together?



In year 8, my first year in high school, I was given one of those small red Gideons Bibles. At the front it said something like 'If you believe Jesus died for your sins and would like to follow him as your Lord and Saviour, sign below'. Although I still didn't really understand what it meant that Jesus died for my sins, I did want to follow Him. I believed that He did die and rise again and that He deserved my following. For the next few months I started trying to be a 'good Christian'. It was stressful! I felt like everything I did was wrong. I stopped going to ISCF and forgot about my promise to follow Jesus.



By God's grace, in year 11, a friend invited me to his church youth group. Before I knew it, he had signed me up to study a Christianity Explained course with the female youth group leader! I was very synical, but throughout the course of the studies (6 weeks) I learned that Jesus had authority over everything and that we could either think of Him as liar, lunatic or Lord. I believed that He was Lord but didn't know why He had died for my sins when I wasn't really a bad person. Did I really need Jesus to die for me when I hadn't done anthing really bad to deserve God's punishment? Surely God would let me into heaven because I was a nice person.

Over the next year or so, I learned that each and every one of us has turned away from God and is trying to live lives to please ourselves. I learned that we are all sinners worthy of God's punishment which is death. However, because of God's great love for us, even though we turn our backs on Him, God sent His son Jesus to earth to die in our place. Jesus was punished instead of us. Three days after Jesus died, He rose again, to prove that death has been defeated and to prove that the dead will indeed be raised. So, by trusting in what Jesus has done, we are forgiven of all our wrong-doings and will no longer be punished by God. Instead, when we die we will go to heaven to be with Jesus.


Well, my Christian life is not all rosy and I don't have it altogether. Sometimes I doubt God's love and He feels distant to me. I am constantly failing to live a life free from sin. But I know God's word is true - God is near, He does love me, He forgives my sin and one day I will be with Him in heaven because Jesus has died in my place. Instead of striving to be 'a good Christian' out of duty I strive to obey God because He is worthy of obedience and I am thankful for what He has done for me.

The public diary

I must admit it feels odd writing what seems like a diary entry without a pen in hand, but I'm sure I will get used to it!

Welcome to Snipitts - snipits of information about what Dave and I are up to in life as well as snipits of my personal thoughts. I guess it will be a public diary in many ways! Look forward to sharing with you.......