Weekend XIV :: oh, the sun is shining!

One of the reasons this weekend was delightful is that five of us were all together for the whole weekend. These days, everyone seems to be travelling or working or heading somewhere, so it was lovely to simply hang out together and enjoy the last days of Spring.

And what days they were! Saturday was humid with a vengeance that was terrifying to behold. There was no such thing as a sleep-in, for my father and brother work with the sun's rays and they are not quiet when they get up. But it meant we could all head out early (-ish, for a Saturday) for some shopping. For my sister and I (and small brother who made full and zealous use of the playground), it was all about the books at Koorong. Yay! Meanwhile, Dad -- with assistance from Mum -- was buying a very groovy motorbike jacket. Don't ask me to describe it for I know nothing about these things. But it will go very nicely with his shiny red Ducati.

Afterwards we headed en masse to Ikea, ostensibly to purchase curtains, but perhaps more accurately simply to observe the pre-Christmas madness. We've often joked that you could live in that place. It's crazy. We had lunch there, which fulfilled our craving for the highschool cafeteria experience but which was totally gross in a gastronomic kind of way. Then we were off home again, sans curtains but with an adorable little single-seater lounge in miniature for a certain small brother.

Saturday evening, Lauren and I headed out for dinner with girlfriends [the picture above is taken from my friend's balcony; city at twilight] followed by Idea of North at the Powerhouse. It was my first time inside the Powerhouse and -- I think I'm in love. It's an amazing venue with lots of character and atmosphere. So very good.

It was also the first time I'd seen Idea of North live (oops. I lie. I saw them at the city carols last year), and they did not disappoint. I already knew about their amazing rich harmonies, their smooth jazz tones, and the incredible blending of four very unique voices -- but to hear it all in the flesh, and with lights and smoke and a lovely setting, was so inspiring. What's more, the group are good entertainers, with snappy dialogue that somehow made everyone feel included. Fun times.

There was lots of Gershwin and friends, Christmas carols in swinging arrangements, and a few surprises, too. There was even a haunting Gregorian chant in harmonies to make chills run down my spine -- and it was about spam. Very, very awesome and certainly recommended.

Sunday -- last day of Spring! -- was glorious, and perfect for enjoying the action at the Mt Cotton Hill Climb, where vehicles from mini Coopers to MGs to whopping great four-wheel-drives zoomed around a tight and tiny track at ridiculous speeds. The bad news is that my neck got incredibly sunburnt (and is sore even now). The good news is that the Ford Escorts (Best Cars In The World) were ripping it up and were among the fastest there. So take that, ye who mock my car tastes.

Our Sunday afternoon may have included icecreams. Also beaches and parks and sand. Also pizza for dinner. Then there was a scurry back home and some quick pretty-and-tidy making before church. The sermon focussed a lot on Paul's reminder to Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self discipline. It's one of those verses that I know by heart but which never fails to give me fresh courage. Yay!

Back home, A Beautiful Mind was on television so we sat down to watch and discuss. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it -- it's not that kind of a movie -- but it was compelling and fascinating and even quite beautiful in that it was the story of a real person with real challenges, and not some Hollywood-ised romantic tale. I was deeply impressed by the fact that all of us, as Christians, must ignore certain voices in our lives that distract us from the best God has for us. Those challenges might stay with us forever, but we must choose not to enter into dialogue with them. Really thought-provoking.

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conversations:

Rachael -- thanks for the tag! I'll be doing it soon ;).

Caitlin -- won't be long before that niece of yours is chattering away and asking to hang out with her aunties!

Sarah -- I *love* looking at others' photos of their everyday lives; it's like getting to watch one of their home movies or something. So much fun :). Oh, and IMDB is a lifesaver when those familiar faces pop up agonisingly!

Abigail -- yay for working laptops! Now *that's* something to give thanks for!

God is great... in innumerable ways

I'd dreamed of writing a post on God's greatness every day of this past week. Apparently, that was one dream destined not to come true.

It's been a week so full of good things that I haven't remembered to eat at the proper times, let alone visit the happy land of Internet -- which, in itself, is one of God's greatnesses to me. Not the forgetting to eat, I mean, but the good things. God has revealed His greatness to me this year in surrounding me with beautiful people who love Him and love others and point me heavenward. He's shown me His greatness in the smiles and chubby hand-holds of my tiny niece and nephew. He's shown me His greatness in keeping my family safe in spite of travels criss-crossing the country all year long. He's shown me His greatness in providing all I need for physical health and security. He's shown me His greatness in the constant reminders of His character as revealed in the Psalms. He's shown me His greatness in making me wait when I want some things now. He's shown me His greatness in His mystery.

God is great -- in 2008, and always.

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conversations:

Beth -- new contacts or specs coming up? I think I may be needing some next year, too.

Staish -- I really *should* read that most famous of ridiculous books.

ASourceofJoy -- I just made a few posts on the theme -- as you can see -- but it was an awesome exercise in looking for evidences of God's goodness this year. Is your lappy up and running again?

Karli -- tags, yay!! I'll be doing your tag meme soon :).

Bethany -- an award? Ooh!

Weekend XIII :: in pictures

If a picture tells a thousand words, there's something like 97,000 to document my Saturday: over at flickr.

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conversations:

Beth -- now there's a question! Last year, we were all organised and made up Christmas wishlists, but this year we haven't given it half as much thought. I, for one, love surprises so I tend not to anticipate "what might be". How about you? *goes off singing All I want for Christmas is youuuu*

God is great... in the small things

God is an intensely personal God. And this year especially, He's reminded me of His love by unexpected little everyday miracles.

It's kind of embarrassing to confess that my primary love language, according to all the little tests, is gifts. (It makes me sound like the greedy kid at school whose birthday party you went to and were horrified at the present-opening rampage you witnessed as a result.) But it's true: somehow, small tokens of affection make me feel all loved and warm and fuzzy.

It makes sense that God, who somehow saw fit to place that little quirk somewhere in my personality, would reveal His love in similar ways. It's happened over and over this year: a long-overdue cheque arrives just when I'm down to my last penny. A fat letter from a friend comes in the mail on a grey day. I find a bargain just when I am in need of something new to wear. A secular fiction book offers me a lesson on life and faith that is right for me in that very moment.

It happens too often to be coincidental. No, these small miracles are everyday reminders of the God who sends "every good and perfect gift".

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conversations:

Caitlin -- it's crazy that these most important things are the ones that are easiest to forget. Argh! Love you! xox

Beth -- I'm so glad God's lesson for me blessed you in the retelling.

Staish -- oh, clarity! It's awesome when it appears.

God is great... in the silence

Someone somewhere has called it the 'dark night of the soul'. For me, in spots, it's been more a dark year of the soul -- though I think it really began last year when we moved here to Queensland from Western Australia. I've written before of how that very experience stripped from me the securities that I'd been unwittingly clinging to in place of faith. It caused me to turn more to God and to ask myself why my trust and confidence weren't finding their foundation in Him.

It only begins to make sense now, looking back, but essentially I attempted to replace one false sense of security with another. Instead of turning from the paltry, uneternal safeties (of community and financial ease and friendship) to the one enduring security of God Himself, I turned from those things to my experience of God. Not in so many words, of course. Are we always truly aware when we walk head-first into a mistake?

I didn't see it clearly at the time.

Sometimes I still don't, when I'm flurrying around in the quagmire of doubt. Instead, I see others' experiences of God, and how their experiences differ from mine. I see how I used to be, in relating to God, and how He 'once was' to me. I have wondered where the fresh revelations are, where the small everyday miracles have gone, why God sometimes seems silent, why I haven't felt His nearness. I have asked myself, "Am I no longer His?"

It's taken a long time to even begin to understand what God has been doing in all of this. I once was blind, but now I start to see: God is not what I experience of Him. God is, and whether I hear Him speak, see Him work, or feel Him near (did He ever say that we would feel Him near? I am not so sure), He still is. His character is unchanging, and His promises never grow old. This is a beautiful truth.

Because I have been guilty of this -- this viewing God through my experience and how I imagine it should be -- He has sent me back to the baby Scriptures, the ones we chant thoughtlessly in Sunday school or memorise quickly so we can get another sticker on our rewards chart, verses that remind me of who God is and what He has done. Verses like, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life. And, If you confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

And with the re-statement of such old truths, has come a fresh understanding of their deeper meaning.

I grew up thinking that confessing Jesus as Lord meant simply saying, "Jesus is Lord", and believing it. Believing what? Just that He exists, and that He is God's son?

This year, in the seeming silence and in the reminders of such well-known but perhaps not understood truths, God has shown me how many times I deny Jesus as Lord. When I am worrying about the future, I am denying Jesus as Lord of the years to come. If I fret about money, I am denying Jesus as Lord over my needs. If I complain about some aspect of my appearance or personality, I am denying that Jesus was Lord over my creation. If he is truly Lord, he is not only the Lord of salvation: he is also Lord of the past, of the present, of the future, over my finances, over my love life, over who I am and what I will become. Jesus is Lord.

I am so glad that God, in His seeming silence, has instead been sending me that message, loud and clear.

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conversations:

Bethany -- even just a sentence here and there about God's goodness to you this year would still delight the rest of us, your eager readers! :)

Meaghan -- best comment ever!! That made my afternoon. I love you, too! xox

God is great 2008

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia. It wouldn't make much sense, seeing as we didn't exactly have any pilgrim fathers arrive on our land and have to survive on candy corn given to us by kindhearted native americans. But the simple act of giving thanks is never out of season, and so I'm really excited about joining in the week-long carnival of Thanksgiving, hosted by my precious friend Abigail.

Here's what she has to say:

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We live in uncertain times. 2008 has held much that I never would have anticipated, and I'm sure you all can say the same. We're not where we were a year ago, nor where we thought we'd be by now. For some of us, the unendurable has occured; dearest dreams have been birthed and died, precious blessings have been given and taken. Some of us have empty seats at the table and great hollows of loneliness in our hearts.

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Yet, through it all, God has been abundantly faithful.

As I was praying about the theme for this year's thankfulness challenge, I kept coming back to this central truth: God is great. Our unspeakably generous Father gives us countless blessings each day, and we do well to receive them gratefully. But these are not gifts to be clutched in sweaty palms, buried under ground, or fearfully weighed as a measurement of how much God loves us at the moment. We must not begin to value the gift more than the Giver, the creation more than the Creator, or the love-token more than the Lover.

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Instead, we joyfully receive the gifts with open hands, lifting our eyes in thanksgiving to the One from whom all blessings flow. He is great, good, merciful, loving, and all-wise - therefore He gives, therefore He withholds, therefore He takes away. Our gratitude, joy, peace, and security rest not in the gifts, but in our confidence in the Giver - a confidence founded securely on the unshakable reality of the cross. When we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us! He who loved us that much will continue to be faithful.

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Will you join me through the week leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, as I praise God's greatness? Starting on Thursday, November 20, I'll be writing daily blog posts, each touching on one of God's attributes that has been especially meaningful to me this year. If you aren't able to write that much, consider participating through your Facebook status, by initiating family discussion around the dinner table - or whatever methods work best for you. The point is to purposefully focus on God's greatness...and to publicly praise Him together. He IS worthy!

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He is totally worthy.

(If you want to join the celebration, go here for more details.)

And stay tuned.

My favourite colour... just now, anyway

Blaze Danielle asked, "What's your favourite favorite colour?" You know me -- my favourites are never forever -- but just now I'm loving soft, creamy white. Loving it.

1. Creamy Small White, 2. Creamy white violet (Viola striata), 3. Creamy White Snowdrops and Yellow Celandines, 4. SOFTEST CREAMY White Vintage LUCIE ANN of Beverly Hills Nightgown, Floor Length and SWEEPING!, 5. peaches and cream ;0), 6. the humble cbc studio.

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conversations:

Caitlin -- I know! Somehow the carols bring with them all of that excitement and anticipation and joy!

Bek -- I tried to hold off playing any Christmas CDs until the first of December... but I already caved :). And yay Krispy Kremes!

Beth -- Nativity scene rearranging is a little-respected form of high art. Continue in your pursuit of this elite work, in spite of opposition. I'm with you all the way.