jessification

2008-03-22T23:31:00.004+10:30

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God's path to follow our own.

Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word.

Isaiah 53:6-7a

What a friend...

2008-03-05T22:10:00.004+10:30

A couple of weeks ago I went on ES (EU no longer!) Commencement Camp to kick off the year.
A camp of many highlights, one of the biggest for me was being involved with the music. Singing together with passion and conviction to our God - it's hard to top!
One of the great things about ES music is that, because we have people from all sorts of backgrounds, we have great mix of songs from different backgrounds.
It often surprised me that the words of the hymns we sang always particularly stayed with me. Boring old hymns? Goobery sickly sweet tunes? Not at all- the ones we sang anyway were packed with insightful and profound words and concepts.

This verse from good ol 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus' has kept on lingering since camp.

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

One thing I've learnt about myself, and which I suspect I might not be alone in, is that I over-complicate things. I'll overthink something, letting my thoughts jump way ahead and so reach unrealistic conclusions. Something that's simple I'll try too hard to solve myself and just complicate unecessarily. So the words 'what peace we often forfeit, o what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer' really got to me.

God is there, arms open and waiting for us to come to him with all of our junk, our burdens, our worries, our pain - but we hang on to them ourselves, trying to solve them through our own power and maybe indulging in a nice dose of self pity. And to be able to bring those things to God in prayer isn't a right - it's a privilege. Something we don't deserve, but that God holds out to us.

Even though I'm pretty thick sometimes and need to learn the lesson about bringing everything to God over and over and over again, in my experience there's no other peace - that strange and wonderful release and relief - that I can try and produce, to even try to compare to the peace that God brings. It's just so ... right.
Now the challenge is to actually bring 'everything to God in prayer' for him to bear!

and I see spots and stripes and copper pipes

2008-02-06T22:38:00.000+10:30

So apparently my blog's been a bit quiet lately.

This is true.

Go Facebook.

But a heck of a lot has happened since I last posted. We've found out that Dad got a job in NZ for one as dean of Bishopdale Theological College for one, which is hugely exciting as he will be brilliant it all just seems very 'right'. But it will also mean lots of big changes - Mum, Dad and Jon will head over there on May 20, and I'll be moving in with Dan and Phili (200m up the road, still won't have to drive to church. Although there probably still will be times...)

Then there's the pilgrimage. It's now happening in mid-Jan to mid-Feb next year, which will hopefully open it up to more uni students (as opposed to Sept-Oct hols). Although I still feel like I'm feeling may way through the dark a bit and don't know how I ended up being a leader on the thing, it's a good lesson in trusting and relying on God.

And that's not even the last few weeks...that's a whole other story kids. Wonderful Sydney holiday, new jobs, hospitals...

But anyway, today I was thinking about my lack of postage, and looking for inspiration. Two funny things happened, both out of the ordinary, but at the same time very ordinary as they always happen and you just don't happen to be there to see them.

Firstly, the bus driver took a wrong turn this morning. When that happen, there's already this instant solidarity among the passengers. People look at each other - does he realise? Is he new? Is he a serial murderer taking us on a detour towards a cliff standing over burning sulpher?? Suddenly you're exchanging 'what should we do?' glances with people who only a few seconds earlier were firmly in the 'them' realm, far away from 'we' territory. Inevitably one brave soul piped up to inform the driver that he was completely wrong. Then another asked him where the next stop was, to which he replied 'The next stop? The next stop??' I think he was feeling a little wounded.

The second fun incident was a police chase. As I was waiting to cross at an intersection, a zippy little silver car did what it does best and zipped around the corner right in front of a turning bus. Unfortunately for the driver, there was a police car on the other side of the bus which cranked the sirens and started chasing. So uh... that was the highlight of my day!

Highlight of tomorrow... going to Redcliff's!! WOO!! = SeeingMimandJordRelaxingBeingchallengedAttemptingtowaterskiBunnybashingUteridingMinibussingGooooooodtimes!

These guys are my new heroes!

2007-12-08T23:30:00.001+10:30

Watch all the way to the end...

apparently uni students are sophisticated?

2007-11-19T12:40:00.000+10:30

Yep, pretty sophisticated - me, Hannah, Tam-ster, Tom and Jeremy (ooh, boys in a girls school! What chick-magnets!)

So last Friday was pretty awesome.

Tamie did a talk in the chapel service at Saints Girls a few months back, and Catie (the chaplain - she was on the pilgrimage last year too!) asked her to come back to talk with the year 11's for an hour about what EU does. An hour! About what EU does! What does EU do? Tells people about the gospel on campus! So what could we do? Tell them about the gospel!

So Tamie got a few of us along with her to help her out, in what was a pretty jam-packed hour. We got into smaller groups and brainstormed what came to mind when they thought of uni -unibar was pretty high up there, and surprisingly in my group things like 'sophistication' and 'maturity' were considered seriously, teehee. It was also pretty funny, each group had to report back on the top couple of things, and one girl, instead of saying 'co-ed' accidentally said 'uni-sex', which was followed by much uproarous giggling.

But anyway, as well as talking about the things we do (like Tom (el presidente) talked about what EU is, & I talked about Commencement Camp), Tamie worked it so that we could use talking about those things as a neat segue into talking about the gospel.

Hannah, in talking about FAT (Fellowship and Training) did the Two Ways to Live outline (what an opportunity!!), and then each small group got the 6 pics and raced against each other to put them in the right order and explain it.

From there Jeremy talked about Jesus Week - and the whole theme of 'Has God Failed' - and in typical Jeremy style was pretty up front with asking them 'do you think God's failed?'.

This is where the best bit came - we then, in our small groups, opened that topic up for discussion. We were prepared for what to do if our girls didn't talk, but it was the opposite! From talking about which 'has God failed' issue resonated most with them (poverty, injustice, natural disasters, too many faiths, and one dead Messiah) a whole host of issues and questions came up, and they were so open to talking. In about ten minutes I think my group talked about poverty, God's responsibility, predestination, the authority of the Bible, God sending Jesus to die as 'cosmic child abuse' - so many things, and so little time! Having the 2WTL pictures there really helped as having something to keep referring back to. It was fantastic to see that hunger as opposed to apathy. Please pray that they'd keep looking for answers!!

It was a fantastic opportunity that I really enjoyed - but more so I'm glad that God works even through our bumbling words!

Go team!

here in this place

2007-11-14T19:37:00.000+10:30

WOOHOO, uni stuff done, finito for the year - exams are done (quality questionable, but they're done), and last essay handed in on Monday. Yesss. All the best to everyone who's not quite finished yet -almost done! Hang out for walking out of your last exam/handing up your last assignment.

Although I keep having this strange fear that there'll be some big essay or exam that I haven't realised I had and not do/hand it in ... A little paranoid, Woody Allen-esq? I think it's stemming from when I slept through my alarm for work a couple of weeks ago and woke up a half hour after I was supposed to be there, eep!

BUT I'm enjoying the freedom to read and nap and think and process and have space and get put-off things done.

Also, I found this quote the other day which I thought was pretty awesome:

"No man who bothers about originality will ever be original ... if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two pence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it"
- C.S. Lewis

Go C.S.

it's an unjust world

2007-11-07T18:47:00.000+10:30

hello!

At the moment my excercise book is lying open in front of me, taunting me with as yet unrevised fun things to learn. What better thing to do, then, than update my poor neglected blog! This time with something of a bit more substance than name-alike people ... I've been meaning to for a while actually, to let you know about a book I've been reading for my history subject, one of the more confronting one's I've read in a while:

Granted, I haven't actually finished it (yet!), but I first started reading it on the bus home from uni one day, and was so drawn into it that I missed my stop - never have I done that before! That, I thought, is the sign of a good book (a non-fiction one at that!)

It's basically about modern day slavery - even though slavery is illegal in the world, there are 27 million people trapped in a new kind of slavery (e.g. it's not racial anymore). That there is still such a huge amount of slavery in the world today was a revelation to me - I thought that apart from a few abnormal situations, it was pretty much non-existant. But not so. It's a hugely lucrative business - big profits are made out of cheap lives. It's pretty hard reading - the second chapter's on Thai sex slaves, where young girls are lured away (or sold) from their villages and homes with a false contract. Anyway, if you're interested http://www.freetheslaves.net/ has got more info.

sunsets viewed in the rear view mirror

2007-10-11T23:59:00.000+09:30

I just discovered I have an alter ego on a British soap.

The second line in the description, I have to say, it clearly immensely accurate. ;)

The things you learn on Wiki!

song of da song

2007-10-08T10:53:00.001+09:30

Heydiho!

This term at EU we're doing Song of Songs (basically a giant, and at times a little explicit, love poem written by king Solomon in the Old Testament), and so at CV Geoff gave the girls the task of turning one section into a modern day equivalent... While Reuben did a fine job transforming his 'boys' section into engo's language ('your hair is like a cluster of network cables, and your neck is like a stoby pole'), here's what the girls turned out... (from 5:10-16 - read it, it may make more sense!)

Song of Da Song
CVMinistries feat. Missure Ong

Yo my boy he so rad,
He make all the homies look bad
His pimpin' face so covered in bling
Black hair swaying while he doing his ting
With eyes like a toucan, I can, You can

I be a spice girl, he my sugar dandy
Check his cheeks yo, sweet as candy
Lips they glow, yeah see his grills
Glowing so bright, give this fly girl chills.
With his sweet, phat, wicked golden guns

Matchin' with those killer ripped ones
His bod so fine, he drippin’ in ice.Glowin' like da gemstones…nice
He got trunks they fully sick,
Tis tru dey flowin' like an oil slick
He look so fly, I dig his styles

Best in da hood, none like dis fo' miles
A kiss like honey my baby, it's true
You got me twisted, you da boo
Check his sweet puckers dey mesmerizin'Drawin me in, aight hypnotizin'
He be my boy, so hip, so fly
My coolio gangster he is my guy

Watch me bust a love boat on your posse……werd.

Yo.

food + friends = :)

2007-10-06T11:36:00.000+09:30

On Thurs night Annie and I were treated to a homecooked meal with the beautiful Lauren!
Photo face!

'Alright guys, let's do a photo where we look really cool'
the RatFace(tm). Check out Lauren!
There was bolognaise (spag boG)
Golden lighting ....
Restaurant quality dessert

A completely candid shot of Annie, demonstrating we could not only admire, but also EAT the dessert - woah!

Also ... CV [camp/conference where you think about your future directions in ministry] was last weekend, which I was initially a little apprehensive about (wary in case there was a 'Gospel ministry is the only real ministry' push), as well as having to come up with a 5 year plan in our couching sessions (!) but my fears were soon allieved and I soon felt relaxed, and I had a great time. Joel's blog pretty much sums up all the highlights!

A particular highlight for me was an elective on state of the Anglican Church - which I found was encouraging and helpful for redirecting my attitude... Also Chris Joliff's talks on the Reformation through the Psalms, and Peter Adam's talks on Ezekiel (he must be gifted if he can make Ezekiel make sense and hit the soul!) ... And of course the chance to just hang out with awesome people and have many good talks about *real* things [such as on our late night walks to and from Granite Island, with the Teen Rager playground featuring... many times]! Haven't quite got my five year plan finished stitched up, but at least I was pushed to actually think more than 12 months into the future, and have some ideas floating around my head.

Also, Peter Adam is a new hero of mine after delivering a line along the lines of 'when I see a woman who knows the gospel, loves the scriptures and has a passion for sharing it, I beg them to be ordained, [because there's such a need for women who can teach in ministry]' - it can sometimes feel like it's like we need to find positions that women can fill, so it was affirming to hear that there's actually a need for women. Women in ministry is a pet passion of mine ;)

Also... yay, Dad's home today from his 2 week trip to Greece! :D

people watching

2007-09-26T17:59:00.000+09:30

There was a busker outside work this morning, playing an accordian.

He's been around before, but never right outside.

It made my day (well, the working part of it at least!). There's something about accordians, they're just cool. Selling croissants at the same time, I felt a little bit French (pseudo-French anyway).

There was this one Dad who was with his heavily pregnant wife and kid in a pram who insisted on sitting on the bench opposite the accordian man for about 15 minutes, talking to him, and watching him in awe. It was pretty funny because I could only see the family and not the accordian man - the Dad entranced, sitting down, and his pregnant wife standing patiently (read 'come on, let's move on now!') by.

[note: not actually him. He may have looked similar though]

breathing space

2007-09-24T17:34:00.000+09:30

The time where uni is lacking, the days become consistently sunny, and life seems a bit more enjoyable... My holiday's thus far have been filled with many-a good (and sometimes dramatic) thing.

Mon-Wed was EU leadership conference down on the beautiful Murray at one of my favourite camp sites, Ankara. We talked about the important things in life (a mere smattering = the Holy Spirit, poverty & the needy, response to and understanding of our culture), we ate, we laughed, we canoed, we got capsised, we got fat lips and ouchie leg rashes, we prayed, we late-night-hiked, we mix-taped, we watched 40+ pelicans mysteriously linger on the 50m of river in front of the campsite, we had light night convo's about breaking and biting people's noses off and other things that were innocent but if I write them on here they may sound strange and innappropriate.
I also evidently didn't learn how to write short sentances.

Wed I again had the pleasure of Mim and Jordan's hospitality at a short but fun-filled dinner with ever-growing numbers, with Mim and Jordan (duh), Alex (our vip over from Melbourne), Anne, Erin, Edwin, James & Karen, & Liv ... Liv and I then made our way to small group (my first in about 5 or 6 weeks - all my open shifts at work have meant I haven't been able to go!)

Thurs Dad left on his epic 2 week+ journey to Greece
I had an averted incident at work where I very nearly was able to apply the term 'unfair dismissal' to myself (I've told the story too many times already, ask me if you're intrigued! Plus I'm lazy and like being mysterious).
Annie and I also were treated to yummy (highly recommended) tea, tim-tims (in combination), and wonderful girly chatting with Karen at the Harricks'. There's nothing like a 3 1/2 yr old pelting towards the door to open it for you for your arrival, then being enveloped in a leg-bear hug to make your day :D

Fri Brought a meeting about the pilgrimage next year - refocussing, re-gearing, list-making, and firming up of plans (Sudan's most likely out, Kenya, Egypt and Ethiopia are in).

Youth on Fri night led to Emma's sleeping over and...
Sat where we spent the day in creative chaos as we made a going away book for Dave who leaves on Thurs for a 9 month DTS is Quebec. Lisa joined us in the arvo - fun times with millions of photos, sequins, feathers (now affectionately known as 'flever's, lol. Sorry, maybe you had to be there?), glue, and in the end a pretty darn good book. I love time with friends :)

Flew from that to pick Anne up from the girls bball g-final (sadly a loss, but I hear there was unfair tech-fouling and shirt fronting involved - drama!) to whiz to Ez's Gang-Show where we proudly witnessed her writing, singing and dancing abilities.

From there... to Dave's farewell par-tay (the book, now + lovely notes went down well).

Em slept over again which lead to...

Sun - we watched I Heart Huckabees (not quite what we were expecting, but it was quirky), and a SAS dreaming day... ending in Subway, and fun unexpected family couch catch-ups with Dan and Phili dropping round...

Wow, well done if you got the end of that blow-by-blow account!

carickalinga cheer

2007-09-14T11:40:00.000+09:30

Even though it was a couple of weekends ago, I wanted to put up some pics of the mini-family getaway we had down at Carickalinga...
These first one's are some of Dad's amazing arty shots - the man's got talent! The latter (the blue scarf makes many a cameo appearance) are Dan and Phili's...

Moody clouds make for great contrasty lighting

My favourite shot - isn't it amazing?! Dad and God make a good team (lol that sounded a lot less corny in my head!)
Mum and Jon

Loving gaze...
Not a very exciting shot - the car, the house (a friend's place we stayed at)
A nice natural windswept laughter shot
Dad goes for the little stone, Jon goes for the massive log!

The sunset - we could actually see the sun slowly disappearing over the horizon, it only took a couple of minutes!
I love that you can even see the bees legs

Dad was very excited that he actually got a natural non-posing shot of me - don't know why ;) Lovebirds...
Sparkling rivulets
Contemplative walks...

Jon doesn't like to thrown any old little pebble in the water, oh no. He seeks out the BIG rocks!
Here I am! Embrace me nature!

The original lovebirds...

Phili, Dan and I decided to take a walk up a nice steep (possibly illegal? We never worked that one out) hill to enjoy the view.
We then discovered that the wind + my blue scarf + mobile phone tower made a very cool combination - that's all wind-stick!
Ahh, the wind is so strong, we've been thrown incapacitated against the fence!

Oh no! The wind changed direction! We're going to blow away! It's true.

Oooh, what happens if we get UNDER the scarf??

OR if we put it over our faces?! Clearly this was turning into a major photo shoot. Lol, you can even tell Phili's pout. Pose, baby, pose. Stunning (yet stern!)
Hey, it's like a ... sail... thing! You can even nudge it with your foot! (who'd have thought?!)

Taut as. The scarf, that is.

Pretend you're a flag pole! Like this?
I am Jess, hear me roar! (there are sadly many more photos where this came from ...)
Come on, if you could have a scarf suctioned on to you, wouldn't you do the same?

Oh, is that a camera?

Oh, how candid!
Phili decided to get into some interpretive dancing
I tried to do a Grace Kelly... (We had to get some hair happening on the left, otherwise I looked a little too urban-Mary)
Dan's turn to pose with scarf! How much can you tell it's him?!

Naww, Dan's ear's got cold. In' he cute?

We had these two flown in from Milan.

Skipping through the meadows! How wholesome and fun :)

Then we skipped (literally) back to the others on the beach. You know, it's really tricky to get a shot of all three people looking like they're skipping at once!

Picture-perfect aren't we? Family reading on the lawn, in the sun. Quite amusing to see what we were each reading, so typical!

Even our feet were relaxed and happy, as you can see.

Intensive reading... I'm trying so hard to look like I don't realise there's a camera there!

Ahh, twas only 24 hours, but lovely times!

chillin

2007-09-07T17:17:00.000+09:30

We got a new fridge today!

Our trusty old one had a bit of an split personality disorder, as you can see. One side had high ambitions and thought it was Antarctica... RIP fridge 1994 - 2007.

And then... the replacement came (we move on quickly)!

It's big and shiny and white and tall.

Unfortunately it was so shocked on it's arrival into such a wonderful house it's light broke 10 seconds into it's first opening :( But that's ok.

Me and Westinghouse.

Also, trying to look candid in my new fav tee!

jolie bruine

2007-09-06T21:45:00.000+09:30

It's been a while, and I felt that blogger was feeling lonely due to my recent affair with Facebook...

Now I'm sitting here and I'm not quite sure what to write - a summary of my life since Aug 20? That could be a little mundane.

Solution? Photos! Everyone loves photos. I know I do!

During the week I have been...

Getting up nice and early...

to smile about, slice, and arrange bread.

There's also a dash of study in there... somewhere

A couple of weeks ago was Cam's 21st: time to dust off and polish up our party boots. Army style: and excellent theme!

L to R: random redhead, birthday boy Cam, and beautiful Annie

Group shot! Edwin's alternative take on the theme.

Marty and Anne: If Zoolander went military.

Jelly slice!No, it's MY name! Two Jess', taking aim.

We made sure there were some awkward turtle moments!

Last week in pictures

2007-08-20T20:05:00.000+09:30

A select few piccies from Jesus Week, mostly of Barr Smith lawns adventures...

We had some banner-age issues when the bottom pole threatened to spear a random and innocent by-walker. Wouldn't have been the greatest start...

The lovely Kate during our Wed paint. Kate, Chonty, Chelsea and me did paintings during the week on the lawns, a painting for each days sub-theme. The overall theme was 'Has God Failed' - pretty provocative as it turned out, people were confused about whether we were for God, or against God, which meant lots of questions, and great ways into convo's...The first day: Natural disastersTuesday: PovertyWednesday: Too many faiths

Thurs: Injustice
Friday: Death
They all fit together in the end, and we put a cross over the 'has God failed', as in the cross = the answer to all the questions, to the suffering, pain, death in the world. The girls... (we discovered we also had posing in common...)

The amazing J-week team! A few seconds later... it descends into wrestling
Annie and I found another random awkward turtler in Jess! Yeh, you kinda had to be there...

Two things learnt/reinforced: the absolute necessity of prayer.

and spurring each other on. I was so much more kicked into action through seeing how passionate other people were about sharing the gospel, and just went for it.

And now time to go do some uni reading, which suffered a little with so much going on last week ... oops!

Baaa

2007-08-16T22:49:00.001+09:30

http://blacksheepthemovie.com/

Ahh ha ha! We watched the trailer in small group, we were cacking ourselves! Looks kind of gross in some bits though... :P

Just wanted to say...

2007-08-14T21:32:00.000+09:30

Jesus week is awesome.
God is amazing.

Will fill in more later, or in the mean time ask me in person :)

And if you're at Adelaide Uni, come to the lawns from 10:30 each day to hang out, see our painting, get a free pancake, and have a chat!

Has God failed?

Must be love, looove, love da dah

2007-07-07T22:49:00.000+09:30

Today is the day I have been hanging out for all year...

The day that is the novelty of novelties...

The 7th of the 7th 2007.

Awesome.

Anyway, on another note, I went to a wedding today. It was a lovely wedding, Hannah and Pete who I know from EU. I always love going to weddings, and regardless of how well I know the couple always end up getting emotional to some degree. I mean as well as the fun of checking out the over the choices of dress and flowers etc, the committment of two people to spend their lives together and, what's more, love each other for the rest of their lives is a beautiful thing, and pretty huge!

But one thing that particularly stayed in my mind was something from the sermon - it went something like "love is recognising a real need in someone, and taking action to fulfil that need. Love is insight, followed by proaction - not just thinking loving thoughts, or feeling loving feelings". I don't know why it particularly jumped out at me, but it did. I guess it's always interesting to hear people's definitions of what love is - it can say a lot about that person, and it's one of those huge concepts that a dictionary definition won't quite satisfy.

For example, I haven't actually seen the movie 'Love Story', but there's that quote from it "love means never having to say you're sorry", which personally I think is just ridiculous. There has to be forgiveness in love, but never having to say you're sorry means there would be no remorse for hurting the other person; the whole process of recognising whatever there is to say sorry for, and out of love for the person committing to not do it again, forgiving and moving on is kind of lost. It would be easy for unresolved bitterness and resentment to bubble away.

What I like about the insight/proaction thing from the sermon is that it clearly takes the focus away from ourselves. I find it so easy to just look for what I need and can get from love (in whatever form by the way, whether it be family, friends, or romantic (oooh!)) - almost not wanting to let go of that to focus on the other person for fear that my own needs won't get met. But that is true, selfless love, to recognise a real need - not a perceived need - in another person, and try to fulfil it. Mmm, that was a little unexpectedly deep.

The ultimate example of this is God seeing a need (although 'seeing a need' seems kind of inadequate a phrase for God who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves) for forgiveness for hurting our relationship with him through sin, and sending Jesus to die on the cross to achieve that reconciliation with him. Seeing the need (forgiveness) and taking action to fulfil it (Jesus).

It also makes me think of 1 Corinthians 13:

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails.

If you replaced all the 'love's with 'God' it works too. But each of those things is also something that every human being needs - those deep down innate needs. Everyone needs patience, kindness etc. - in other words, to be loved. I know that could sound a little sappy, but it's true. And to truly love isn't to focus on getting those things ourselves (where would we be if we only loved if we were loved by other people?) but recognising the needs for those things in other people and being active in actually doing something about it. (I wish I were better at it!)

I don't really know where I'm going with this, but I think I'll end these musings for tonight here. Feel free to comment with your own thoughts/disagreements, whatever.

Night! xo

Wikipedian protester

2007-07-05T23:13:00.000+09:30

I know, another webcomic! I feel like a bit of a cheat putting another one up, because it really requires very little effort on my behalf (in that I didn't have any part in producing it, and it feels a bit like stealing someone's creativity. So there's credit where it's due, here's the link) It made me laugh :D

I've just returned from seeing Fiddler on the Roof - one of the boys from youth was in a school production of it at Saints boys, and dramatically played up the part very well (despite being sick with a high fever - you couldn't tell!). My superstar Aunty Leone and cousin (aka cuzbro) Michael are in town this week which is wonderful too - I just wish I had more time to spend with them out of work!

Off to sleeeep

Should left-handed gladiators be rulers of Rome?

2007-06-30T12:25:00.000+09:30

I'm finished!! I just had my last exam (Classics, which was a heck of lot better than History!!). By 'last' I should clarify that that's the last one of two, both strangely scheduled to be in the last possible week of exams - today's even the last day of the exam period! Underground plot by faculty staff to delay our holidays? All gut instincts lead me to 'yes'. (and by 'yes' I mean 'no, how ridiculous').

Not that I'm complaining - I've been filling up my pre-exam time with a kind of pseuso-pre-holidays. Been doing lots of work to fill the time, as well as doing whatever miscellanious and various 'things' need to be done to prepare for the pilgrimage next year, which I'm helping lead on... and which is scarily starting to really happen!

Random question/opinion poll - has anyone been watching Torchwood? It's a new show, I think it's spin off of Dr Who, been on the last couple of weeks. I've been watching it and think it's pretty good - it's got the whacky, random, out of this world (haha, literally!) storylines like Dr Who, but contained to this time and world.... Entertaining, buuut I'm not sure I'll be clutching at the remote to turn it on each week.

Something else I've been filling my time with is reading (yay! note the neat seguay?) - this week I'm reading 'A Love Worth Giving' by Max Lucado. I used to read a lot of his stuff, and it was pretty influential particularly when I was a new (or newly re-committed) Christian in high-school. It's been a while since I've read the more inspirational type of Christian book, and it's pretty refreshing. I don't know how he does it, but he manages to take one small phrase and unlock all these deeper meanings and relevances that I hadn't seen before.

Take this example, in the chapter about that sometimes underrated verse/phrase 'love is kind', talking about God's kindness:

'I wonder, how many burdens is Jesus carrying for us that we know nothing about? We're aware of some. He carries our sin. He carries our shame. He carries our eternal debt. But are there others? Has he lifted fears before we felt them? Has he carried our confusion so we wouldn't have to? Those times when we have been surprised by our own sense of peace? Could it be that Jesus has lifted our anxiety onto his shoulders and placed a yoke of kindness on ours?'

Dad's in England for a couple of weeks at the moment, and this week has been in London. Yesterday police found (and disabled) a couple of cars filled with explosives that were in the area where Dad was going to go to the theatre tonight - one only a hundred metres away from the theatre where he would have been! Eep! An example of what could have happened, in a way like it talks about in that ^. So with God's kindness in mind, I'm thanking Him for that!!

Just to add some colour, here's a pic from the youth bonfire we had up in Norton Summit last week. The more I look at it - the movement, the lines, the swirls, the straights - the more I love it! I was going to put up more, but I think this post is long enough for now! :)

well this is a little awkward...

2007-06-22T17:13:00.000+09:30

HAHA!!

snuggery

2007-06-21T00:22:00.000+09:30

Is it unusual that I tried to warm up my pyjama top for so long on the oil heater that when I put it on two of the buttons had semi-melted and plewped off?

But damn it warm pj's feel so good to put on! The buttons were a justified sacrifice that had to be paid...

of all times...

2007-06-17T00:05:00.000+09:30

to blog after a rather lengthy hiatus, it has to be 12:07 am on a Sat night/Sun morning, however you define it! Maybe it's because I've got no major distractions/excuses right now apart from going to bed, which is always strangely tempting to put off, regardless of how much I regret my lack of sleep in the morning...

In defence of my lack of postiness, I did attempt too last week (procrastinating, of course there had to be some sort of blog involvement in there, to be fair). That would be post would've contained something like this:

Anthropology: Conflict and Crisis: Major Essay

Is conflict a performance?
If so, what social, cultural and political purpose does such performance serve?

Yes conflict is a performance.
But for the sake of this essay, I’ll say, no, conflict isn’t a performance.
Oh and look at that, because it isn’t a performance, is doesn’t serve any social, cultural or political purpose, so I may as well not go on because there is nothing else to say.
To conclude, this is an awesome and flawless argument, well deserving of at LEAST 100%.

Seemed fair at the time.

Needless to say, I did end up actually writing it after my attack of severe first-line-is-always-the-hardest-to-write-ness!

It was actually a very interesting subject (and essay, hopefully!).

How's about a brief recap of the past week of my uber exciting life...
In this past week I:

Finished and handed up afore mentioned essay.

Went to (and even entered!) the Foosball competition with Lib and Lisa, with money going to a great cause. It was lots of fun!

Saw 'End of the Spear' with Lisa and some of her Teen Mission crew

Joined Facebook (still holding out on Myspace...)

Discovered I could throw sheep at various people via Facebook. I did so to Ez...

Worked (about 25 hours...)(Bakers Delight at Norwood, feel free to visit me anytime...:)

Discovered Mt Lofty gardens for the first time, with my family

Developed a penchant for sitting on oil heaters, and my new beautifully warm slippers

And other stuff... (my attention span is short at this time in the morning!)

At this very moment I'm sitting in front of our fire, watching the tri-nations on mute - yay the Wallabies have just made an awesome comeback (from South Africa: 10, Aust: 3, to South Africa: 10, Aust: 16!!)!

Also... preparing stuff for the first meeting about the 2008 pilgrimage which is happening tomorrow afternoon... eep! I'm feeling excited, and maybe even a bit passionate about it, though - I'm doing the what/why go on a pilgrimage section, which has been a clarifying process for me to go through as well (to know why a pilgrimage isn't just a 'glorified holiday'!)

Here's a couple of good quotes I found:

"A pilgrim is someone who goes on a journey in the hope of encountering God, or meeting Him in a new way" - Tom Wright (/N.T.Wright)

and

…" we may and often will meet Jesus in the most unlikely and unexpected places: not only in cathedrals and obvious holy places, not only in liturgy and music, but in the street, the school and slum, in the poor and the suffering" - (also) Tom Wright

And just to make it a nice rounded post with a piccie- I want this tee:!!

This brings us to the end of a slightly random and disjointed post!

Sleep well

Charlie the Unicorn - German Fandub

2007-04-27T22:54:00.001+09:30

You've all heard of Charrrrlliieee (and if you haven't a) you have not yet lived, and b) go to http://dan-jon.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html)... and now he's gone GERMAN!! This one goes out to Sez (and Tamie!).

... sobering

2007-04-21T23:45:00.000+09:30

I thought I'd take a brief break from writing an essay (why is it that I can write more in three night-time hours, than the whole of the day spent sitting in front of the computer?!) to share a bit of what it's about because ... well, it's pretty sobering stuff.

And this also should help keep me focussed on actually getting the darn thing done (ironically, I hear you say, as I'm actually actively NOT getting it done by writing this? Never mind such logical logic, at this time of the night it simply doesn't apply... Ah, sweet denial).

The question for anthropology which I've ended up doing is this:

'Analyse and discuss the impact that amputations and mutilations had on Sierra Leonean society during the war of the 1990s. To what extent was the power of the rebels literall and physically inscribed on the bodies of their victims?'

I've spent the last couple of days immersed in reading about all this stuff - in graphic, detailed descriptions about how people had arms or hands hacked off in 'short' (above the elbow) or 'long' sleeve fashion, were indiscriminately killed or abused, had to watch silently as family members were tortured or murdered, women and girls raped and sexually abused, children made to become soldiers and carry out the above with abandon, losing their childhood along the way...

Reading about all of that makes me uncomfortable. When I was little I used to think the majority of the world was like the peaceful little world that I lived in, with a couple of dusty countries in Africa having trouble finding food (but not to worry, America would soon enough fly in some supplies, or Oprah would save the day) ... But so it should make me uncomfortable - I don't want to look at the world through desensitised or purely academic eyes. In a strange way it's good to be filled with a sadness and compassion for people outside my own circumstances. It really does fill me with sadness and anger for the things these people have gone through, and the utter evil possessing the people carrying such atrocities out. It's like think of your worst nightmare, and that happened to these people. It's both mind-blowing and sobering.

But anyway, the specific and intetional way that the rebel groups used amputations and mutilations on people to send a message is clever in a very disturbing way - rather than killing a person it leaves them with a ceaseless reminder of the power relationship between themselves and the aggressor (sorry if this sounds like an essay :P). Basically they're leaving their mark on the person for life, as well as sending a political message to the government (which was what they were wanting to do) that they aren't protecting their citizens, and aren't good enough. Add to that the corruption in the government and things are pretty dire!

At the moment though things look like they're on the up and up so that's pretty hopeful :)

Makes me think of what we were looking at in the last small group on camp though, of what we can look forward to in heaven, we won't be in a stuffed up world forever:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." Rev 21:3-5

If you got here to the end of this impassioned post, well done, when I next see you I might you a pat on the back (I was going to say I might give you chocolate, but that would be cruelly raising your hopes only to be painfully crushed... so I didn't) ;)

Night...

on the air

2007-04-16T22:59:00.000+09:30

big news: i have a mobile again, after a month in the communication wilderness! Same number.
Yay :D

henna, moisturiser and hot cross buns...mmm!

2007-04-03T22:48:00.000+09:30

Well well well, it has been an eventful while. I've decided this is going to be a multi-faceted post.

Facet #1 : a picture.

Here is my foot. My foot does not normally look like this (*gasp* I hear you... uh... gasp) because I got it TATOOED!! Henna tatooed that is, so it'll only last for a few days (to save Dad a freak out :P) ... but what a beautiful few days they shall be, where my foot brings a bit of life, culture, and novelty into my life, and through my wearing of thongs (no matter how cold it gets), into the lives of others as well!

Facet #2

A story.

A very bizarre story.

Last night as I lay dreaming in bed ... No scrap that beginning of the story, I got writer's block. Here's what happened - I've got NO idea WHAT the heck I was dreaming about, but some strange storyline must have been taking place under my eyelids, because a mysterious force took hold of me. You know that Body Shop body butter that comes in the big tubs and smells so good you want to taste it? Well, you can take it from me, it doesn't taste good.

I happened to have one on my bedside table last night. That's right, I half-woke up during the night, took the lid off, took a scoop out with my finger, and ATE it. I ATE my strawberry body butter IN MY SLEEP. How WIERD is that?! I vaguely remember taking the lid off, and then half waking up throughout the night thinking that moisturiser sure does have a wierd aftertaste, not registering that that's because it's abnormal to actually EAT it, regardless of how good it smells!!

When I properly woke up in the morning I could still taste it in my mouth so I knew it wasn't just a dream. It tub didn't have any large labels saying 'POISON: IMMEDIATE DEATH ON CONSUMPTION' so I'm not too worried. She'll be right! It was just SO bizarre.

Facet # 3

Some good news.

I HAVE A JOB!!!! (wow, so many capitals in this post!)

I am now officially a part-time sales assistant at the Norwood Baker's Delight. I get to wear those hot and flattering collotte/shorts, lol. Nah, it's actually good. It was such an answer to prayer to get it - it's local, the manager's got good priorities and is flexible but focussed, and the other people I've met so far are nice. The main challenge is trying to memorise the thousands (at LEAST) of buttons on the till, and learning all the money ... things. But free bread, woo!

Facet #4

A reflection ... possible whinge.

I heard someone say the other day that if you're too busy to catch up with friends, you're too busy. At the moment that qualifies me as too busy! It's crazy - all my time just seem to get slotted up, there's always something to do. We've got such a busy culture - where a lot of the time we seem more task focussed than relationship focussed, that getting all those 'things' done is the priority, and friendships lose out in the mean time. I'm finding it really frustrating that I've got good friends who I haven't seen in what seems like ages and am really missing being able to catch up with, but the weeks just keep flying by in a haze of getting stuff done, and racing from one thing to the next. Even with holidays coming up there's not going to be much down time. That's a bit of a depressing way to end, hey!

That's all for now.

Night! xo

new thing to add to the sterling things list

2007-03-22T09:49:00.001+10:30

elderly couples holding hands

Maybe it's something to do with love that's weathered all the storms of life, and is still going strong.

2007-03-20T11:25:00.000+10:30

By the way, I am currently mobile-less at the moment, it hasn't been found since last Sunday (the last time it was seen). So if anyone wanted to or has contacted me (or not) then ... don't. Haha, well do, just not on my mobile for another week and a bit or so! Sorry if there have been any unanswered messages (I'm sure there must be AT LEAST a hundred. If not more;), that's why.

identity crisis

2007-03-19T11:12:00.000+10:30

We just took our cats to the vet for their annual check up (pretty funny in itself - Remy in the cat carrier doing these ultra sad meows, and me (unwisely wearing black and thus ending up completely covered in fur) carrying a quivering Charlie. They got their claws clipped (woohoo for us!).

When we got home I think Remy started having a minor identity crisis - I found him in the hallway trying to sharpen his claws on the carpet, as you do... but, there were hardly any claws left, let alone enough to be sharpened. Instead he kind of manically was clawing at the carpet looking anxious. Poor lil fellow.

To try to cheer him up I tried to dangle some string in his face, but I think this just depressed him more as he couldn't claw onto it. Oops.

Weeee! String!!!...
...that I can hardly hold onto. I am so depressed right now.
Grrrrr! *sob* (I love this one, who knew cats could frown?!

In other news, Chicks go Sticks was a fabulous success, with many hilarious moments, girly bonding, and great convo's. Go God.

Ooooh, wow, I see the sea!

Fleuro sunset, whilst chasing roo's.

Closely followed by this great adventure of a trip, was Sez's awesome emo par-tay - if you haven't already go to Sez's blog or Em's piczo for hot pics!

tomorrow night...

2007-03-08T23:11:00.000+10:30

I will be sleeping under the stars...

After 3 yrs of failed attempts, the chicks are finally going sticks when the blokes are going bush! That's right, the youth are off to camp. Not the shelter over your head, sqeaky bunk bed, luxury of having a bathroom kind of camp. We're talking the real deal, hard yakka camping camp. 10 girls. 22 guys. (Seperate camp sites ;) 5 cars. 1 trailer. Numerous tents, bbq's, billies, gas lamps, sleeping bags, pillows, chocolate. 2 nights. 1 hike. 1 God. Much bonding. Good times are to be had!

WOOOP!!! :D

Don't wish us luck, because who knows if that exists. (Good question, thoughts anyone?)

Prayer on the other hand ... God exists ... we'll be needing him! (we always do anyway, but you know what I mean... )

let the record play ... beauty in the sunlight

2007-03-06T22:54:00.000+10:30

Sooo... I just got back from my third official small group. I'm liking them - I was thinking as I was driving home, I'm glad that I went and did that rather than having another night at home watching tv or something (not that that's bad ;) Otherwise there would be these conversations that I'd have or hear with people that just wouldn't happen, whether I know them well or not. It's just cool to have that time set aside with a group of people to talk together, read the Bible and pray together, even if I'm feeling a bit brain dead or tired!

Second week at uni this week, and MAN has it been hectic (please note my sarcasm). I've only got 8 contact hours (plus lots of reading - it IS arts!) which is pretty nice. I'm actually really looking forward to all my subjects I think - especially anthropology ('conflict and crisis'- looking at conflict all around the world like Sierra Leone, Sudan, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, endless list really). My lecturers for classics and history are such characters, so stereotypical, which I love. The classics guy puts up random far side cartoons in lectures, and otherwise likes to illustrate his points with stick figure drawings (his own, of course). It annoyed me at first, but now I'm warming to it. The history guy we just met today, and... well, my description wouldn't be adequate. He's at the more mature end of the age spectrum (a nice way of saying he's a bit old), walks with a stoop, had this great comb over, a dry sense of humour, and is passionate about what he teaches (he likes to look at the medieval era (the topic of the course) for fun, as opposed to his specialist area!). Oh yeah, and he described his take on medieval history as more Monty Python than Dan Brown. How can that not appeal?

Here are some pics I took of my beauty of a cat Charlie yesterday arvo.

Conveniant spot in the sun, or alien abduction?

How embarrassing for her, I caught that on camera. Check out her fangs!

Isn't she gorgeous? And despite the slight blurriness, the lighting's pretty good in this shot.

Also, on a random note - I went jogging on Dan and Phili's treadmill this afternoon. Yay random efforts at improved fitness, AND being able to watch Battlestar Gallactica at the SAME TIME!!

That is all :P

poem of a possum

2007-03-05T21:17:00.000+10:30

Here is a poem.

This is my post 200th
Which has been a long time in a cometh
My mind is now blank on what to write
Except for the possum on Saturday night
It fell into our fireplace
And logged into Myspace
(that bit's not really true,
just a bit of hullaballoo)
There it was stuck for 24 hours
While we didn't notice, watching Fawlty Towers
When we finally noticed it's existance
Notified only by Remy's insistance.
We tried to shake the chimney pipe,
Then down we poured water to make it alight
This only resulted in petrification,
And it resorted to staying-stock-still-ation
We lured it out, with lur-ishious fruit
Half a banana and an apple to boot.
Cardboard box at the ready
And a torch held steady
We waited it out till 3 (am!)
When the little guy decided to flee (amen!)
With strategic manouvering
And a distinct lack of Hoovering
We scooped him/her up
and scooted him/her out
and then we went back to sleep.

The end.

Acknowledgments: This inspiration and encouragement for this poem goes largely to Phili. Your words 'Write a poem. I'm now expecting a poem!' were invaluable :P. Thanks also to Dad, possum-catching-buddy.

no one ever really knows what lies beneath the surface...

2007-01-22T18:17:00.000+10:30

That should really be rephrased 'only God really knows...'

Seeing as I've been lacking in blogging inspiration lately, and now sit in front of the screen unsure of what to write now I'm here, how about a brief photo summary of the past month or so? Actually, some of the photos have mysteriously disappeared, so just a couple will have to do - including which I'll show off for terribly talented members of the family.

From a wonderful day at Pt Elliot with the family (including the specially flown in VIP's Aunty Leone and Michael! Sadly Phili couldn't join us on the day though)

by Dad

by Michael
By Dad
and by Michael (G'pa, me, Dan and Jon frolicking in the waves)

AND of course this was closely followed by a couple of days down at Alex's McCracken great golf house down at Victor also (sorry about that lame joke there...) As a quote from Emma (the bk, not the person) put it eloquently in my Jane Austen diary (yay useful Christmas pressies) 'It was a delightful visit:- perfect, in being much too short' Although it was a short time that went fast (same with certain visiting relatives), that makes you appreciate the time you do have all the more I guess.

Now, time for a sterling (as in things that are good) list:

Movies, seen in good company
Everwood (10am, ch 9, quality)
peanut butter and honey sandwiches
real friends who know your good and bad parts, and care enough to butt in
family fun times
being able to start AND finish a book
good tears
sleeping in
moments of clarity, and getting priorities in order (january always seems to be a good times for that, the whole new year thing)
weddings (less than two weeks to go!!!)
and that: We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory. That glory is much greater that the troubles. So we set our eyes on not what we can see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time. But what we cannot see will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4: 17, 18

Thank God for that.

And un-sterling:

itchy sunburn (at least it's not first degree burns a la Anna)

Hmm, how to end... I'll do a Sez - have FUN! haha, till next time...

apPARently I'm ...

2006-12-08T23:45:00.000+10:30

Just to follow the crowd and do the brutally honest personality test... ouch! I guess it's hard being...
Almost Perfect- INFP
33% Extraversion, 53% Intuition, 33% Thinking, 33% Judging
So, you want to make the world a better place? Too bad it's never gonna happen.
Of all the types, you have to be one of the hardest to find fault in. You have a selfless and caring nature. You're a good listener and someone who wants to avoid conflict. You genuinely desire to do good.
Of course, these all add up to an incredibly overpowered conscience which makes you feel guilty and responsible when anything goes wrong. Of course, it MUST be your fault EVERYTIME.
Though you're constantly on a mission to find the truth, you have no use for hard facts and logic, which is a source of great confusion for those of us with brains. Despite this, in a losing argument, you're not above spouting off inaccurate fact after fact in an effort to protect your precious values.
You're most probably a perfectionist, which in this case, is a bad thing. Any group work is destined to fail because of your incredibly high standards.
Disregard what I said before. You're just easy to find fault in as everyone else!
Luckily, you're generally very hard on yourself, meaning I don't need to waste my precious time insulting you. Instead, just find all your own faults and insult yourself.
*****************
If you want to learn more about your personality type in a slightly less negative way, check'>http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=INFP">check out this.
*****************

2006-11-29T16:33:00.000+10:30

Your 1950s Name is:

Betty Charlene

What's" your 1950s Name?

2006-11-29T16:24:00.000+10:30

Your Quirk Factor: 47%

You're a pretty quirky person, but you're just normal enough to hide it.Congratulations - you've fooled other people into thinking you're just like them!

How Quirky Are You?

2006-11-29T16:06:00.000+10:30

Your Personality Cluster is Introverted Thinking

You are:
Objective, honest, and credibleIntellectually curious, with many diverse interestsMore inclined toward ideas than peopleFiercely independent and unapologetically unconventional

What's" Your Personality Cluster?

bored much?

2006-11-29T16:03:00.000+10:30

You Are Jan Brady

Brainy and a little introverted, you tend to think life is a lot worse than it actually is.And while you may think you're a little goofy looking, most people consider you to be a major babe.

What Brady Are You?

after much anticipation

2006-11-20T12:47:00.000+10:30

The moment has arrived, I got my speccie blood donor card in the mail today (double yay-factor whammie - I got mail, AND I found out my blood type on my new shiny card). After WEEKS of anticipation (never minding the fact I could probably have easily found out by looking on my birth certificate, I preferred to ignore that fact and savour the anticipation of waiting for my card) my blood type is...

A NEG

I was slightly disappointed - NEG sounds a little more pessimistic than POS, which has a more optimistic ring to it. But I'll get the all-knowing Anne to fill me in on the benefits of A NEG this arvo.

YAY BLOOD [donating]

doo be doo bah

2006-11-18T20:18:00.000+10:30

Well because Emma, my wonderful friend, subtley hinted that I should update, I figured I'd better.

So what's new? Nothing much. Had my last uni exam on thursday (philosophy exams - *shudder*. I considered just drawing a giant question mark (a la Room with a View) and leaving it at that, but of course I could never bring myself to actually do it.) No alarms went off this time. And now I'm trying to find stuff to do, and get used to not feeling guilty that I'm not studying! Bliss!

Mum, Dad and Jon arrived back a bit over a week ago, and are settling back into life in Adelaide - no more ridiculously picturesque scenery greeting them everywhere they go (although the Adelaide hills aren't THAT bad) and daily trips to quaint and funky cafe's ;) There's an overall tally of 3000 photos to show for it as well!

And now there seem to be fire-engines apparently heading into the area around the church, so I think I'll go sus that one out... eep!
* Update 30 seconds later - they're not heading for the church, but for Eden Park. Apparently it's nothing big - lets hope so! There seems to be a theme running through my posts...

alarm bells

2006-11-04T15:28:00.000+10:30

So had my first exam today- Classics. Only had one day to study for it (been working for the rest of the week on other essays - only one more to go: 2500 words in 36 hours? Easy! not.) so wasn't feeling majorly prepared. Regardless of that, it was going OK, had almost finished with half an hour to go... and the alarms went off!! That's right, the alarms. Shrieking alarms.

I half expected/hoped that those roof sprinklers would come on, but alas, no such luck. Everyone just sat there for about 5 mins not sure whether to run for their lives in a sudden frenzy or just ignore them and try and keep writing. The former won out (kind of, except it was more at a confused yet calm pace) and everyone was evacuated - that's right, the entire Wayville pavilion full of students doing their exams, in the writing zone, suddenly shuffling out onto the oval. A lot of people were pretty annoyed (especially if we have to resit it on the 18th) but personally I found it kind of exciting.

That's my story for today :P

2006-11-01T13:36:00.000+10:30

Sleepy Cat

OK, so THIS is the final one - something cute to finish of the youtube wave...!!

2006-11-01T13:29:00.000+10:30

The Easter Bunny hates you

Me and Ez found this at about midnight last night - the bashing up stuff's a bit stupid (lol, as opposed to the rest of it?!) but watch out for his walk in Time Sq, and the ice cream!

(last youtube, i promise!)

2006-11-01T13:26:00.000+10:30

chin monkeys

they actually look like monkeys!

2006-11-01T13:22:00.000+10:30

Harry Potter & the Goblet of Chin People

2:39 - GARRAWWADDAA

2006-11-01T11:48:00.000+10:30

mighty mighty all blacks

No explanation necessary, the Haka speaks for itself. Boo yah!

OK well actually, for the sake of education, here's the translation:
(Maori)

Ka mate, ka mate! Ka ora! ka ora!
Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!
Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru
Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā
A upa ... ne! ka upa ... ne!
A upane kaupane whiti te ra!

’Tis death! ‘tis death! (or: I may die) ’Tis life! ‘tis life! (or: I may live)
’Tis death! ‘tis death! ’Tis life! ‘tis life!
This the hairy man that stands here...
…who brought the sun and caused it to shine
A step upward, another step upward!
An step upward, another... the Sun shines!

to when you roll the dice...

2006-10-30T23:23:00.000+10:30

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

OC- I love it! Unashamedly.

As well as the obvious emotional turbulance that this clip sends you into (good emotional turbulance that is), the editing's so well done. The music, the glitter, the "thrrreeeeee" as Ryan throws open the door, the slow down at *cough* appropriate moments... Those were the days when Marissa was alive!!New season starts next Tues... Ok I'm going to shut up about the OC now- am I turning into one of 'those' people whose blogs are dedicated to soaps? Ah!

(Music's Dice by Finley Quaye- great song. Montage song.)

chef a la harris'

2006-10-24T16:17:00.000+09:30

Ah, what a happy scene.... Ez, me, and our amazing napoletana-chicken-mushroom-broccolini-pasta bake! We were so proud of it we had a bit of a photo shoot...
Isn't it beautiful?
First we loved it, then we ate it.

Oops...

That last one's a funny story actually. Well I don't know about funny, probably a bit boring, but a story. We each got free knives at the supermarket the other day - you know those telemarket ads where they try and sell you life-changing utensils with multiple free extras you never knew you needed so badly before? Well it was like that... but LIVE. We had to stand there for 5 mins of so while the women showed us how this *awesome* knife could cut through hammers and solid wood etc, and then we got a free knife for our time. Woo!

2006-10-23T15:23:00.000+09:30

I would like to revisit a debate that occured approx 10 months ago.

Please focus your attention on the meal in the middle :: see, it's written in print, it's spag BOG not spag BOL!

I rest my case.

we need to get some brid! (bread)

2006-09-30T15:40:00.000+09:30

Well would you believe it, at the moment I'm writing in the picturesque town of Pahia in the Bay of Islands on the North Island of New Zealand! It's the sort of place where pine forests and lush rainforests meets the coast. After we arrived on tuesday we spent a few days in Auckland, and now we're just kicking back and relaxing before we move across the bay to Russell in a couple of days. Mum and I were adventurous this arvo and took 'the fastest' speed boat trip around the bay, through the 'Hole in a Rock' (imaginative name - it's uh... a hole... in a rock - looks pretty awesome!) and around all these different islands. Lots of fun! It was really cute, there was this little jack russell dog that was with the skipper, who kept on wandering around, and knew when we were about to slow down and would come out and look over the side, lol.

Missing you all, hope you're doing well - for all you uniers you'd better be making the most of the last few days of hols :P

Egypt pixies

2006-09-21T14:02:00.000+09:30

haha, yep...
How funky - Connie heels! I thought of Erin...
OH the novelty!

A quick jaunt on the camel (literally, it got up, walked in a little circle to have some photos, and then sat down again! Joh and Karen went on as well) - I figured, when in Cairo... :P

Me, Joh, Mike, David and Pyramid
Kat, Joh and I looking pretty with the pyramids

shmupdatey

2006-09-19T15:52:00.000+09:30

After some subtle hinting that it's well time I updated, here it is. After weeks of anticipation... an update!
SO I'm on holidays, which is always good. Today I've enjoyed a very lovely sleep in (after going to sleep at 10 - so early!) and am lapping up the warm weather... well I was until it started raining! I even washed my slippers. I love down time.

I'm in a pleasantly spaced out mood today. At 3am on monday morning I finished my philosophy essay on dualism, which I have now triumphantly crossed off on my whiteboard with great satisfaction. Now I've only got a couple of other things to do for uni before we leave for NZ next tuesday (I'm going for a couple of weeks, Mum, Dad and Jon for 6/7 for those of you not in the know - I'm even missing the first week of uni *gasp*!)

On a more exciting note - Lib got back on Sunday! Welcome home Lib! Lisa, Dave and I met her at the airport which was very cool, and then mosied on back to her place for dinner. We got to have a squizz at some her tres funky fashion buys, as well as American mags (it's funny, all the articles they advertise on the front cover only ever seemed to be one page long!) Looking fwd to Steph's Potluck din dins for her on Thurs nite to catch up on the last 6 months, and just hang out!

Yesterday Edwin, Annie, Miz and I headed up to the EU leadership conference at Belair (I think it's the same you went to for the Rotary camp u went on Andre if ur reading this - I recognised it from the photos! it's such a nice place!) where I found out I have a 'Reflector' learning style, learned a bit about Leviticus (after just typing that out I realised I've been wrongly pronouncing that as 'Levictitus' my whole life!) had a great time getting to know other ppl from EU a bit more, amongst other things!

Even though it almost feels like the moments gone to continue my gradual recap of the trip, I also decided that today would be an apt opportunity to that - esp if blogger lets me upload photos!

EGYPT:: land of the pharaohs

2006-09-19T14:45:00.000+09:30

We descended into the smog of Cairo at 12.30 am, trying to spot giant pyramid shapes in the dark! It was sad to leave our little oasis Kenya - we'd already done so much and we had so much more to go. I had a sense that Egypt was going to be completely different, and I was right! Despite tiredness (and grumpiness*cough*) we were all excited to be in Cairo!! The airport was big, white and foreign with the majority of signs in Arabic (or Aramaic?) and lots of security checks. At one of the checks everyone got through but David (who's Sudanese) - that was really frustrating, to see the racial prejudice (it happened at Hong Kong airport on the way home as well)

There were all these people crowding around outside the doors as we walked out which was a bit overwhelming (I started recounting the stories these women from church had told me, clutching my arm and telling me to wear loose unattractive clothing, don't make eye contact with anyone for fear it being mistaken for being open to a marriage proposal, and always walk in a group with men surrounding you!!), as well as "helpful" men buzzing around us trying to grab our bags to take them to the bus. That's when I was glad we were in a group - Gab started softly singing our theme song the kids at MCF sang, "it's okay, it's okay" which was funny...
Cairo's huge (19 mill pop), and insanely alive at 2am in the morning - people everywhere, kids selling fairy floss, boats lit up with coloured lights, music, partying etc. It was great! We were welcomed to the guesthouse by Murray (a friendly Kiwi with a pleasantly weathered face who runs the place with his wife) and divvied up into our apartments.

Here's a rundown of the next few days activities:

7/9 = big tourist day, shown around by our tour guides Michael and Michael (that's not a typo)

PYRAMIDS & SPHINX!!! = many many photos, pushy locals trying to sell us things (even kids - it was kind of sad that they were so shrewd, probably the best in the business with cuteness to their advantage), first successful haggling experience, and general wowness.
Checking out Coptic churches (big emphasis on the story about Mary, Joseph and Jesus fleeing to Egypt (Matt 2:13-18) to escape Herod)
Lunch on the Nile
Antiquities Museum (inc. seeing the Mummy room which had about 10 Mummies, King Tut's bling, and massive ancient statues of Akhenaten, Rameses, and even an Egyptian style Alexander the Great - seeing all this stuff I'd been learning about was amazing!)

8/9 = Jon's b'day

Found out about Refuge Egypt @ Cathedral (who do great stuff with the Sudanese refugees in Egypt)
Free time to wander streets - lunch (we boringly did the safe option of getting pizza - Italian food in Egypt!) and shopping
'Interfaith dialogue' with some Muslims and a Coptic Christian. The most vocal Muslims were about as liberal as you can get ("I'm a Muslim, Catholic, Jew - we're all the same!") and tended to go off on tangents, which was just frustrating and not very helpful. But the reasons the facilitators had for the discussion was admirable (in terms of promoting more understanding), and partic a couple of the younger ones had some really articulate and honest things to say - it was a shame they tended to get talked over! It also got some good convo's going after, as well as highlighted some of the different views within the group. Also got me thinking about the whole issue of tolerance...

9 - 10/7

Got sick!! Along with about half the group. Not nice. Also meant it was the toughest day in terms of homesickness. BUT got to ring Mum and Dad (at 2am Adelaide time!) and have a teary little convo which made me feel better - albeit the briefness! Also made me really appreciate the prayer-network at home :D
Left at midnight to fly down to Kenya (hours of hanging round at Nairobi airport) and then down to Rwanda! It was pretty funny/embarassing on the plane - you know when so tired that you literally keep your eyes open? Well I was exhausted and slept almost the whole way, but still wanted my inflight meal, so when they came around I was sort of slurring my words and doing the whole tired, heavy-lid blinking thing. I think (tho my memory's not so clear at that point) the airhostess was trying not to laugh at me... ;)

kenya pix

2006-09-19T13:11:00.000+09:30

Mueni Mulli introducing our breakfast at MCF Yatta - look on the right, BANANAS!!
African landscape at MCF, with Lindy and Rose
Awesome MCF kids singing for us
Everyone looking chirpy at Nairobi airport, 5am
Our delish food (half devoured) at MCF

assumed evangelicalism ... say wha?

2006-08-24T17:03:00.000+09:30

In the habit of few but lengthy posts, here's an article from a few years ago which I came across in my 'random stuff' file on my comp. I can't remember if Dad put it on Hikanos, or I came across it otherwise, but as I'm learning more about the church I grew up in, it now has heightened relevance and interest. It's long, I know, but I thought it was interesting!

Just for the sake of clarity, a couple of brief definitions* **:
*partial courtesy to dictionary.com - now with a new look! No joke, dictionary.com's gone all modern. Am I a nerd for actually noticing and commenting on that :P?
** these definitions may be debatable

evangelical: 'Christian churches that emphasize teachings and authority of Scriptures, esp the New Testament, in opposition to the institutional authority of the church itself, and stress as paramount the tenet that salvation is achieved by personal conversion to faith in atonement of Christ.'

In other words, an evangelical church is one that puts authority on the Scriptures or Bible (rather than holding the Bible in a 'useful read but not necessarily nessecary' light), in particular on how we can only be saved, or have a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ (not our own works, by being 'good'). It's probably more complex than that, but that's my simple definition.
'Evangelical' in itself isn't a denomination - for example St Matts is Anglican evangelical, but there's also Baptist evangelical, Lutheran evangelical, and so forth. In Adelaide there is a minority of evangelicals, and a majority of Liberals (not to be confused with the political party) who in general don't place as much (if any in some cases...) authority on the Bible, or keeping to the message that the only way to get to God is through Jesus.

The word evangelical is often confused with evangelism which is different: this is the "zealous preaching and advocacy of the gospel", or telling people about Jesus as Christ.

Now that's cleared up, onto the article:

http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/indepth/assumed_evangelicalism/

Assumed Evangelicalism

Posted on 31/12/2004 Filed in: articles
This article comes courtesy of The Briefing, one of Australia’s leading Christian magazines. For more info, samples, and subscription information visit their website.

Some reflections en route to denying the gospel By David Gibson

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Heb 2:1)

Introduction

You may have heard the story of the Mennonite Brethren movement. One particular analysis goes like this: the first generation believed and proclaimed the gospel and thought that there were certain social entailments. The next generation assumed the gospel and advocated the entailments. The third generation denied the gospel and all that were left were the entailments. (1)

Proclaiming, assuming, denying—it is a story that could be told many times over, and is repeated in the lives of many a movement. (2) In this article, I want to suggest that evangelicalism is exactly one such ‘movement’, and to examine what evangelicalism in the middle stage, the assumed stage, looks like.

Firstly, let me suggest a definition:

Assumed evangelicalism believes and signs up to the gospel. It certainly does not deny the gospel. But in terms of priorities, focus, and direction, assumed evangelicalism begins to give gradually increasing energy to concerns other than the gospel and key evangelical distinctives, to gradually elevate secondary issues to a primary level, to be increasingly worried about how it is perceived by others and to allow itself to be increasingly influenced both in content and method by the prevailing culture of the day.

It is relatively straightforward to point to individuals, churches, movements and institutions that are clearly either proclaiming the gospel or denying it; it is extremely difficult to spot assumed evangelicalism and to evaluate and critique it. It is assumed evangelicalism. It acknowledges all the right things. There is an in-between-ness about assumed evangelicalism and the crossing of boundaries is notoriously hard to see until you have arrived on the other side.

And so, wary of the risk of being judgemental, and fully aware that we are, by the nature of the case, speaking about potentialities more than actualities, let’s see what we can say about assumed evangelicalism. What does the phase actually look like? What are its characteristics? We can address the issue positively by asking two questions to determine which of the three stages best describes ourselves and our ministries.

1. To what extent does the gospel dictate our priorities in life, and the visions and strategies of our churches, movements and institutions?

Evangelical Church—and an assumed gospel

Imagine Soundville Evangelical Church around the corner. A typical evangelical church with a Sunday school and youth work, a mid-week prayer meeting, two services on a Sunday with lively hymns, contemporary songs and half-hour sermons. How would we know if this was a church that was beginning to just assume the gospel? There could be at least two symptoms:

Legalism

It is quite possible that the gospel is preached, but the Christian congregation do not make the connection between that gospel and their own lives. The gospel is regarded as being for the outsiders, the non-Christians who ever so rarely slip in to one of the services. And, when we limit the gospel to unbelievers we begin to adopt non-gospel ways of relating to God and to others, aka, legalism.

But in any church legalism may also exist in other forms, such as everyone constantly appearing sorted and problem-free, or preaching that constantly scolds and sets unrealistic standards.
The antidote to legalism is always to recover the sheer scandal of the gospel of grace.

Expounding Romans 6:1, Martyn Lloyd-Jones had this penetrating insight:

There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this: that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret to mean that … because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace … If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding then it is not the gospel. (3)

In other words, the effect of truly grasping the gospel is to find ourselves amazed at the fact that what we do adds nothing and takes away nothing from what God has done for us in the Lord Jesus.

Licence

The other symptom of assuming the gospel is exactly what we meet in Romans 6:1: licence—thinking that because the gospel of grace is so amazing it really does not matter how we live from now on.

The most common form this takes is moral licence—I am saved by grace so my sexual immorality or my gossiping and coveting does not really bother God. In Soundville Evangelical Church there may be some Christians who are assuming the gospel like this, with very real and serious consequences.

However there is another type of licence and this is probably more likely to afflict the church as a whole: practical licence. What happens here is that the gospel is assumed as being true and important but actual church practice has little to do with it. So, for instance, a church that is just assuming the gospel in this way will begin to foster distorted spirituality, a spirituality that seeks to draw near to God other than “by the blood of Jesus” (see Heb 10:19-20). We need to realize that, if it is the blood of Jesus that draws us near to God, then singing, religious art, breathtaking scenery and church buildings do not. According to the gospel, we are no closer to God in the pew than the pub.

2. To what extent do the key features of evangelicalism dictate our priorities in life, and the visions and strategies of our churches, movements and institutions?

Evangelical study of theology—and assumed biblical authority In the book Letters Along the Way: A Novel of the Christian Life, the senior scholar Professor Paul Woodson writes to the young Timothy Journeyman who has just embarked on theological study:

I doubt very much that evangelicals are wise to pursue academic respectability. What we need is academic responsibility. There is a world of difference. Elevating academic respectability to the level of controlling desideratum is an invitation to theological and spiritual compromise. (4)

Academic respectability and academic responsibility adopt different approaches to the matter of biblical authority. Respectability will assume that the Bible is truthful and authoritative, but realizes that to draw attention to this in the academy will often bring scorn and derision. And so it keeps quiet, and keeps evangelical convictions apart from academic study.

Responsibility, on the other hand, holds onto biblical authority, even when that is not a position shared in the wider academic world. Striving to be responsible means students will work to the best of their ability, weighs all the options, thinks openly and creatively, and reads widely—but will be governed by the desire to remain faithful to the Bible and not the academy.

Evangelical Movements—and the assumed cross

I recently read through the magazine of an influential evangelical charitable organization. The word that I met most frequently was ‘justice’ and its many applications to various socio-political and economic crises and the very right need for action and intervention. What is being obscured is the fact that God’s justice would consume the oppressed refugee in a shanty town as much as it would consume the privileged westerner. The storyline of the whole Bible presents us with the cross as the place where God uniquely demonstrates his justice with the result that, as one writer has put it, “What Golgotha secured for us was not sympathy but immunity”. (5)

I do not wish to be misunderstood here. I am not suggesting that organizations like this do not believe what I have stated about the cross. However, by just assuming this truth, rather than clearly and repeatedly articulating it, there is vast potential for the next generation to deny what they have simply never had the chance to understand.

Conclusion

In each of the areas it is vital to realize that the temptations we face are often exceedingly subtle. Some evangelical biographies and histories give the impression that difficult decisions only need to be made when we reach a watershed moment, a clear-cut choice between truth and error. In reality, such crisis points come about because of daily decisions, made on a minute scale and over a period of time, to either assume evangelical distinctives or actively articulate them.

Individually, every day, we face the choice whether to sit under the Bible alone, to run to the cross alone and look to Christ alone or to begin to shift our gaze on to other things. Once we begin simply to assume these truths, then we are already beginning to stop conducting ourselves “in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal 2:14). The potential consequences for ourselves are harmful; for the generation following us they are disastrous.

David Gibson is a postgraduate student at Aberdeen (Scotland) and editor of The Biblical Theology Briefings (http://www.beginningwithmoses.org/). This is an extract of an article which first appeared in the RTSF Newsletter From Athens to Jerusalem, Vol 3, Issue 4, Autumn 2002. To read the article in full, visit www.beginningwithmoses.org

E N D N O T E S
1. D. A. Carson, The Primacy of Expository Preaching, Tape 1. Address given at Bethlehem Conference for Pastors, 1995. 2. See Risto Lehtonen, Story of a Storm, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1998. 3. D. M. Lloyd-Jones, “The New Man: An Exposition of Chapter 6”, Banner of Truth, London, 1972, p. 8. 4. D. A. Carson and J. D. Woodbridge, Letters Along the Way: A Novel of the Christian Life, Crossway, Illinois, 1993, p. 174. 5. Donald Macleod, The Person of Christ, IVP, Downers Grove, 1998, p. 178.

next exciting installment: KENYAN ADVENTURES!!

2006-08-07T18:45:00.000+09:30

Kenya: 4 - 6 July

Right, so where were we. Touchdown in Nairobi - 4.30 am local time! We had our first taste of the infamous 'African time' we'd heard so much about when our bus that was scheduled to arrive at 6am to take us out to MCF (will explain more about that later) eventually arrived at 7.30. But I didn't really mind - we had plenty of time to chill out, play uno, look in a little newsagency that was exciting because it was in Kenya, but which sold merchandise remarkably similar to our own ($2 Cleo mag anyone?) Actually getting changed in the lovely but rather squeezy toilets proved a bit of a challenge - I worked out as I was wedged between the wall and the toilet door that it's a good idea to take off large travellers backpack before entering stall with inward opening door.

When the bus eventually came we all managed to fit in somehow - what would usually be a 12 seater in Aus, in Kenya fit all 26 of us in (with little fold down chairs in the aisles, that were fun to play corners with as they could tilt at a 45 degree angle when you sat on them (or lent on them if u were sitting behind, mwahaha) at the right angle). What would you expect to see when you first drove out of Nairobi airport? Sweeping planes? African style trees? A giraffe grazing? Well, we saw all of those within minutes of getting in the bus! I think it was just a freakishly lucky coincidence that a giraffe happened to be there becuase we didn't see any others wandering round like that for the rest of the trip, but it was a pretty cool welcome to Africa. The next thing (apart from the tall spotty wildlife) that I noticed as we drove along was people walking in the streets - seems like a natural thing to do, I know, but there were just so many people walking along the sides of the road! On bikes, carrying things, doing whatever. There were a lot of other buses and trucks around (before going thru the city centre later), but walking's the most practical way to get around. Novel idea really, walking ;)

The driving was pretty interesting - our driver really liked the horn, and timing his overtakings just so we would be gripping our seats in fear and holding our breaths. Another thing that's hard not to notice is just how Christian Kenya is (apparently 90% of the population call themselves Christian of some sort) - a lot of the buses have some sort of God slogan on them (and are really colourful - a lot of them individually decorated, with bright purple paint) and signs all over the place for different churches (even tho judging by the areas we were driving thru a lot of them may not have been more than lean-to's or sheds). The areas we drove thru were pretty poor - stalls lining the roads in places (wooden poles supporting tin shed roof) selling furniture, clothes, food, shoes.

One of the villages we passed thru, we paused for a second on the road, and as soon as we did that all these people from the stalls ran up to the windows and swarmed around the outside of the bus to try and sell us things. I was next to a window, so I closed it quickly before I had a bunch of bananas thrust in my face (and felt affirmed in this instinct when David, who was sitting next to me, said 'you did well', haha). I didn't know whether to feel bad or not - it felt so rude to do that! Going to the Mully Children's Family (MCF) was a really positive way to start the trip. It's a "street children's rescue ministry" with an amazing story behind it of how it started, and has grown into a huge ministry over 5 branches, caring for around 1000 kids who are in particular need of 'special care and protection'. Each child has their own story, and most of them are pretty horrific. But although you could see they still carried pain with them, they didn't seem hopeless - actually just how happy, hopeful and centred many of them were was pretty astounding. What I really admired about the way the home's operated was how gospel based they were - they hadn't grown into a cold corporate entity, but each staff member, mission statement, program or whatever was centred around the Gospel (from as much as we could see!)

We first dropped into MCF Yatta, which is relatively new - it "caters for 220 street girls, child mothers, former commercial sez workers, and abused girls" and teaches them vocational studies like computer skills, hairdressing, dressmaking etc. We had a tour around there, and had a second breakfast - including the much coveted BANANAS!! We then went onto MCF Ndalani, which cares for over 500 kids (little ones, to bigger ones), as well as having about 100 acres for farming (which I didn't realise was so extensive). We had a gorgeous lunch there under some trees, watched a couple of video's on MCF and had a couple of singing groups sing for us. One of the highlights of the visit would've been when we spent some time with the little kids, and when they were told to, all swarmed towards us and took one of our hands each and dragged us thru to show us their individual bunk beds, and where they kept their shoes and clothes etc - all the whole eagerly smiling at us, and being simultaneously shy and openly curious.

The next day was wonderfully full and intense - we were welcomed at our guesthouse by about a dozen Sudanese pastors (Sudan's just above Kenya, and has a complex history of civil war, with only about 10 yrs of relative peace since 1955, just for a bit of info) in what I think is the most joyous, exhuberant and welcoming welcome I've ever had. We again piled into our buses and cars and went out to a church where we had a 3 1/2 hour church service with the Sudanese congregation. It was one of those things where you wish you could've written down everything that was said in the service, because so many people spoke in such a heartfelt way, about the different issues facing them and crying out for help from us their brothers and sisters in Christ, that is was impossible to remember all the profound things that were said! When we first walked in we were greeted by the beautiful, strong, almost wailing style of singing African's seem to have, and a pounding drum beat (new ambition: learn to play drums). There were speakers on the history of the Sudan and the aspects of the warring - political, religious (largely Christian and Islam), economic (eg the south, with a majority of Christians, has the majority of oil) - which made me realise how little I knew about it before hand (when we're in our little bubble of comfort at home, it can be easier just to ignore things like that, or not let them have a personal impact on you). One female priest (woo!) called Rebecca got up and spoke at one stage, in the most emotional way (pretty charismatic in personality and spiritual gift)saying that these (the Sudanese church) were her children, and they are lost. She also asked how the West could spend so much money to go to the moon, but not the Sudan - effectively feigning ignorance. That got a big laugh from the Sudanese, but stuck in our minds. Another guy - a youth pastor - also talked about how though we were from different continents, we were one in Christ's blood, and that if you looked at the blood of a white and a black man, you couldn't tell the difference.

There was a lot more from that service, but that's enough for here I think. After that we had lunch (again bowled over by their hospitality - how much they'd cooked, and had special tables set up for us while everyone else just sat on chairs). I also had an interesting encounter with a rather full squat toilet - but hey, when nature calls ... you just have to hold your breath against the smell and yeah... It was great meeting people from the congregation after the service - learning how to communicate with them when language is a bit of a barrier, and without being patronising! Actually seeing how others in the group did that was pretty invaluable - one of the bonus' of going in a group. Seeing the strength of their (the Sudanese) faith despite (or because of?) their trials - it was really refreshing. But also seeing where they need help (eg theological training for pastors) was useful as well as sad.

We walked around Nairobi in the afternoon and did a little shopping - it didn't feel as different or as foreign as I expected actually. That night we debriefed and chatted together - I had lots of questions raised in my head about how to respond to such pleas for help. Hearing things like that - you can't just walk away, it felt like we'd had a responsibility placed on our shoulders to do something. Still working that one out!

If you've got to the end of this, congratulations! This whole chapter thing wasn't such a bad idea ;)

oh man

2006-08-03T10:34:00.000+09:30

i know i'm breaking the whole chapter thing, but ...

I was on the bus this morning - it was pretty full with a whole class from MHS going into town as well, so I was standing near the front, holding on to one of the poles behind the chairs with one hand. We'd stopped at a stop (oh, is that what you do there?), and were just starting up again - you know how it is on a bus where it's pretty jerky. I started to lose my balance so I went to grab the pole with my other hand by reflex and ... back handed the girl sitting in the seat next to/in front of me, across the cheek, by accident! Not even a light tap, my knuckle hurt afterwards! It was so bad! So I sort of exclaimed and apologised, and thought 'damn, I knew I should've brought that ice pack with me' ... And then one of the girls from MHS who was sitting opposite poor back-handed girl started giggling, and I had to stop myself from doing the same because then I would've appeared violent AND sadistic. I felt like the girl in the Princess Diaries before she gets a makeover, lol. Then my friend got on, and was telling me about last week when she accidentally fell into someones lap on the bus - you know where the fold down seats are where the seats are opposite one another? So that was pretty funny (dw, we were out of earshot of the poor back handed girl).

Just had to let you know...

yay, pics!

2006-08-01T22:54:00.000+09:30

Elenka, Rose, Catie and Gabriel looking chirpy at 5am, Melbourne airport

This was at a shop in Melb airport, I had to take a photo - sheep placenta?! lol!
It's a bit hard to read, but this was at Hong Kong airport, an ad for 'Wing Wah Wife Cake' - we never really worked out why it was called that, bit it was pretty funny. Brad's new nickname for Joh's now Wife Cake, ha! I didn't get a photo of it, but in Nairobi we saw this LG shop, which underneath the LG sign said 'Housewife's Paradise!' I was simultaniously outraged and cracking up

Kat on our first flight enjoying the novelties of flying - complimentary headphones, and little plastic spoons.

The view out of the window at Hong Kong airport - pretty stunning! Our little Adelaide hills look puny in comparison :P

L to R - Scott, Gabriel, me & Rose (a little travel weary and slightly hysterical by this stage?) - we were in the doorway of the plane during the stopover at Bangkok (btw Lib the trip seems so roundabout because there's no flight straight to Nairobi - we had to fly Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, then switch to Kenyan Airways from there to Nairobi, with a stop over for whatever reason in Bangkok - which is pretty much on the way (well Bangkok's not, it's South, but at least it's not backwards!)

when "processing" turns to procrastinating

2006-07-31T21:14:00.000+09:30

OK, so I've been putting off posting about the trip bcoz 1) I'm a lazy uni student, 2) I've either been saying not much about the trip or having sudden verbal diarrhoea about it, 3) we did SO much, it feels like I'd need to write for like 6 hours straight to get it all down, and I don't want to bore you with unecessary detail.

BUT post I must. Maybe it'll turn out short, maybe it'll turn out long, we'll see. Actually, I've just been hit by a wave of brilliance - I shall break it up. Into easily digestable chunks. Let's see how that goes ;)

First up: le journey - a trip in itself.

The Adelaide crew arrived at the airport at at civilised hour in the afternoon (compared to Law's early morning departure - it was kinda cool that we were leaving on the same day, but it sucked as well because I couldn't do all the farewell things with the others for him!). Seeing as most of us hardly knew the rest of us in the group, I think we were all kind of nervous, but excited as well at the friendships-to-be. I was glad to have my farewell party there (Mum, Dad, Dan, Dave, Anne, Miz and Jordan). At the airport I was in a bit of a daze (tho if you ask my parents, thats not that unusual ;) - after half an hour of just hanging around (a weird time of limbo, standing at the gate where there's nothing between now and saying a big goodbye except time) all of a sudden we were boarding. I don't really like goodbyes, because I always feel like I've forgetten to say something vital, and hate it if they aren't 'right'. As soon as I was walking down the walkway thing I was feeling terrible - already missing people, and also because I forgot to tell Dave that I loved him (which I knew he knew, but at a time where I was ripe for a freakout, it wasn't good!) So rather than stealing myself to save up my letters for the big flights - as in 9 hours, as opposed to the 45 mins to Melbourne - I read them before the plane even took off!

Anyway, my first lesson of the trip for trusting in God for peace of heart - Mum made me this awesome notebook for the trip which had a verse and comment for each day, and for the first one (read before we were even taxiing!) had a pretty apt quote :
Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace unless they rest in you." Augustine of Hippo. (haha, Hippo - how ironic as I was going to Africa!)

In Melb we arrived, walked with our big backpacks, feeling every bit the travellers already (well, kind of - I was a bit of a weakling complaining after 5 mins of sore shoulders!) the 20 min walk to our oh so classy overnight abode - 'Formule 1' (as opposed to Formula?? were they trying to be French we wondered?), which despite having fun campervan type bathroom (where you can toilet AND shower at the same time - score!) were comfy. Me and Rose were together which was good fun - I was impressed, she managed to come on the trip while doing year 12, had just done all her trial exams, and was still sniffly at that stage with a cold :( (well I wasn't impressed by the cold, that sounds a bit odd). We met the rest of the group from Gippsland and went out to a restaurant to bond and stuff. 'Stuff' meaning in this sense both stuffing our faces because we were STARVING (*warning, family joke that others prob won't get ahead* I could feel a CP attack coming on...), as well as playing get to know you name games, chatting, getting our shell necklaces (each line representing a diff part of our pilgrimage - I thought that a pretty cool idea of Lindy's) and ladada.

This is getting long ... oh well! The next morning we all woke up, bright and chirpy of course, at 4am (and, I was able to send a couple of emails righting the goodbyes that felt a bit wrong *sigh of relief*, and hence giving me enough closure to be able to leave the country!), hung around at the airport for a while, and finally boarded our Cathay Pacific plane (our first taste of waiting in lines at airports). I was actually feeling pretty relieved at this stage because everyone more or less was getting on really well - which is a good thing when you're about to go on an overseas trip with them! Bizarrly one of the guys - Gabriel - has a personality a fair bit like Michael (superstar cousin Michael) who arrived in Adelaide just after I left, so that was strangely comforting. I scored a window seat (and would somehow proceed to do so for all of the seven flights, but two) next to Kat, and we spent the next 8 or so hours enjoying the novelty of screens in the seat in front of you (viewing such quality movies as She's the Man, Keeping Mum (seperately seeing beginnings and ends several times in fact...), and shows like The Office - English version of course!) chatting, trying to unsuccessfully sleep, and ... I don't know, whatever you do when you fly.

Touch down in Hong Kong was pretty cool - come on, Hong Kong! A foreign country! woohoo!! Yeah, another few hours of killing time - despite wanting to try out some cultural food, we ended up getting Burger King - oh the shame! The next flight I was next to a nice girl who (I think) was from Hong Kong, going to see her bro in Nairobi - embarrassingly just as we were striking up a good convo I managed to spill my tea all down the front of my largely white shirt, before the turbulance hit so I couldn't even blame it on that - classy! But funny... :P Actually we had pretty bad turbulance - scary, but kind of fun. When we had a 45 min stopover at Bangkok I was feeling tired but strangely chirpy...
After another 9 hours we touched down in NAIROBI! at 4.30 am...

And that concluded our broadcast for today, tune in next time for... Kenyan adventures!

I would post pics but blogger's not letting me ... will try again soon.

here I go...

2006-07-02T12:27:00.000+09:30

In about an hour we leave for the airport.

This time tomorrow we'll be half way to Hong Kong.

Right now Law's half way to LA.

Let the adventuring begin.

I'll miss you all!!! love jess xo

ps I reckon this is a valid excuse for lack of blogs in the next few weeks. But when I get back there'll be THREE weeks worth of comments, woah! So i've got a challenge for you guys - 20 entertaining (or non-entertaining, your choice) comments by the time I get back. I don't reckon you can do it (notice subtle reverse psychology). That way you'll never notice I'm gone from blogland!

ironically accurate...?

2006-06-30T18:19:00.000+09:30

I hope Jamie doesn't mind that I stole this from his blog, but I thought it was funny, esp in light of the nature of that tragic and infamous last penalty that saw our Socceroo boys out of the cup...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5TswjQDLf8&search=soccer

can I say the Lord's Prayer?

2006-06-27T22:13:00.000+09:30

Here's a thing that I came across in an great old family devotional book thing Mum and Dad put together when we were kids. I like it. Gets straight to the point! These words aren't light words to say and carry life changing meaning along with them. Full on!

" I cannot say "our" if I live in a watertight spiritual compartment; if I think a special place in Heaven is reserved for my denomination.

I cannot say "Father", if I do not demonstrate the relationship in my daily life.

I cannot say "in Heaven", if I am so occupied in the earth that I am laying up not treasure there.

I cannot say "Your Kingdom come", if I am not doing all in my power to hasten its coming.

I cannot say "Your will be done", if I am questioning, resentful of, or disobedient to His will for me.

I cannot say "On earth as it is in Heaven", if I am not prepared to devote my life here to His service.

I cannot say "Give me this day our daily bread", if I am living on past experience.

I cannot say "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us", if I harbour a grudge against anyone.

I cannot say "Lead us not into temptation", if I deliberately place myself, or remain in a position where I am likely to be tempted.

I cannot say "Deliver us from evil", if I am not prepared to fight in the spiritual realm with the weapon on prayer.

I cannot say "Your is the Kingdom", if I do not accord the King the disclipined obedience of a loyal subject.

I cannot say "Yours is the power", if I fear what men may do, or what my neighbours may think.

I cannot say "The glory is Yours", if I am seeking glory for myself.

I cannot say "Forever and ever", if my horizon is bounded by the things of time.

I cannot say "Amen", if I do not also add 'cost what is may, for to say this prayer honestly will cost everything. "

a tribute

2006-06-27T22:10:00.000+09:30

Sorry if this is a bit mushy, but here's a random tribute to all my wonderful friends and family. I thank God each day for each of you! Actually I take back that apology, here's to unbridled mushiness! *in no partic order of fav's ;)

the countdown is on

2006-06-26T21:37:00.000+09:30

Only the final quarter of my exams to go tomorrow arvo - Classics (philosophy, latin and anc. greek - tick, tick, tick), and I realise I'm being very naughty by blogging instead of studying right now! I'm disturbingly understressed about exams - I do want to do well, and I actually kind of enjoy studying once I get into it, but at the moment lacking in motivation ... is it the closeness to yr 12, or... my African adventure beginning in 6 sleeps?!

I'm getting so excited - I can't believe that I'm going on this amazing and challenging trip in the first place, and that I'm leaving so soon ... this time next week I may well be in Nairobi!! It's so much fun being at this stage as well, it's the best conversation starter with strangers - today going with Mum to Norwood to get some things for the trip I ended up speaking to a very helpful and interested woman in the pharmacy who brought out a whole armful of insect bite sprays, creams and gels so I could get the best one and proceeded to ask all about the trip (as Mum said, she almost asked for the list of stuff I have to take the Mum was holding!), the woman at the counter in the pharmacy (who also has dreams of going to Africa), the woman in the organic shop (who went to south America last year, and who we pondered with on the fact that the people and the scenery are the highlights of trips), as well as three people from church we also saw there! And then there was the blood test woman last week (who around my age went to Egypt and other places which completely opened her eyes), as well as our doctor and physio, and the physio receptionist!

Yesterday at church was great as well - Brad, Joh and I were interviewed by James about the trip at each of the services, and it was such a great and 'gripping' (mind the pun) commissioning - especially having people come up and lay hands on us as we were prayed for, it was really special. At the morning service I had all these older people coming up and clutching me by the arm, wishing me well and saying they were going to pray for me/us - they were so heartfelt, I felt a bit feeble in reply just saying 'thanks, I will!'

Although I have various little fears and worries about the trip, I'm just so glad I'm going on it. I'm excited not just because it's going to be fun, because it's not going to be the whole time. We're going to be facing really confronting things that will probably shock us, and challenge us in ways we may not have been challenged before, I know that. Even just logistically travelling in a group like that, there are going to be grumpy moods and tiredness and (altho hopefully not!) sickness. But that's what I'm looking forward to - being shaken up, and woken up out of my comfort zone. I've got no idea how I'm going to cope, but as someone I was talking to last night said, when you go somewhere like that you kick into survival mode and can be pushed further than you thought - hopefully that'll happen! We're going to be having reflection/Bible study times as a group each night which I think is a good idea, and a relief to know we'll have that time to collect our thoughts and bring what we're thinking and feeling back to God. I want to get to know God more on this trip thru meeting His people, and getting seeing just how similar or different we are, and learning from them! OK, enough talk, I just want to go on the trip now!

Back to study... but the question still remains... do I remain patriotic and stay up (the night before my exam...) to watch the Socceroos take on (and trounce!) Italy? Seeing as it's 10 now I'd say there's a fairly good chance. On ya Socceroos :D!!!! Let's hope we have a vaguely decent umpire this time! :S

for the birthday boy...

2006-06-16T18:12:00.000+09:30

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!!

and now for some charming photos of the photogenic one himself ... (poser? never!)

I won't go all mushy on you, but have a great day (despite working for like 10 hrs of it!)... and I love you lots!

It's moments like these I'm proud to be an Aussie

2006-06-13T00:48:00.000+09:30

Well I see that Anna's already beaten me to an enthused recreation of the game, but GO THE SOCCEROO'S!!!! After the most frustrating game of hundreds of near misses, the Japanese continually tripping over and cradling their ankles when they'd been 'fouled' (granted, some of the falls looked painful, but still, THAT many?), a clearly dodgy call on Japan's goal (all this coming from a complete Soccer novice) ... I must admit I was starting to get sleepy and thought all was lost, but then we (I use 'we' because clearly we the viewers did so much work from watching on our couches, (or baby mattresses, whatever the case may be!) ;) scored not one, not two, but 3 brilliant goals in the last 8 minutes!! Go Cahill and Aloisi!!

Now onto Croatia and Brazil

I'm glad I stayed up...

late nite mania and chocolate ecstasy

2006-06-09T16:14:00.000+09:30

I know, I know, I've been terrible and not updated my blog with new and entertaining things for a WHOLE WEEK.... BUT I'm BACK! And you know why? Because I have no more essays to write - that's right, none, nada, zip! At the moment I'm going on, oh, roughly 3 1/2 hours sleep ...
Who ever said that a 2500 work essay couldn't be written in a day? Especially when you've only written the introduction and it's 10pm... Well, not me (well maybe the thought flashed across my mind briefly, once or twice...) I stayed up till 4am, surviving on powernaps* (* not actually helpful, surprisingly just made me more tired... funny that), but I DID IT!

And then to top it off today I enjoyed my newfound freedom (you always apprectiate the days when you don't have to do anything after handing in an essay...) with my two good friends Emma and Richo - it happened to be the Indian spread (or something...) day at the vego cafe on Rundle Street (just what we were feeling like ... just ask about the 'legendary' butter chicken, lol...) where we had a quality lunch... and we even had a brief brush with celebrity seeing the guys from All Saints (Mitch? Mick? Longish hair, reminds me of Russell Crowe) there with his wife who was the Sandra from Always Greener - they were both in The Alice I think. Hopefully that description gives u enough to go on :P We contemplated asking them for their autograph, but settled instead for 'subtle'-pinching-and-pointing-out-to-each-other of them, combined with embarrassingly-giggly-giggling-and-not-so-subtle-mentionings-of-the-quality-of-their-past-shows-as-they-hovered-nearby. We even gave up our table for them, aren't we nice? (we were on the way out anyway, haha... I mean *cough* sacrifice, yep) So that was a bit of a thrill, they looked like nice ppl... from the 2 seconds we saw of them!

AND THEN we made our way to the oh so talked about Chocolate Bean off Rundle St - oh. my. goodness. Before we even got to the chocolate, we were seated in this fantastically decorated little room upstairs - funky purple walls, dangly shelly light shades (they look better than I'm describing them!), draped fabric drifting in the breeze, coming through the sunny open French windows ... quite blissful. I could've fallen asleep there even if I hadn't got to sleep at 4 last night. After much deliberation and weighing up the pros and cons of each menu choice, we decided on chocolate soup (that's right, soup!) and the martini chocolate mousse - which, as Emma cleverly discovered (quite possibly the 'best thing she's ever done') taste delectible together. The chocolate was possibly up to the standards of Anna's mud cake last night at Tranny's! So several hours later we drifted home on full stomachs, after much laughter (perhaps a little too hysterical after handing in those essays...?) and frivolity...

I was going to put a couple of random but cool photos up, but the photo thing's decided not to work today... shame.

good ol Reverendfun ... I couldn't resist!

2006-06-02T15:04:00.000+09:30

For Libito on becoming an official adult!

2006-05-26T13:41:00.000+09:30

Let's hope that on turning 18 you stay out of jail ... (cmon, had to have ONE of your signature seducing the camera shots!)

... that you will always know you have friend who love you, and with whom you can also do such fun things as sing christmas carols and watch fireworks on the roof of the Entertainment center ...

Always ready and raring for any dress up party opportunity ... or else simply displaying your unique and funky fashion sense! In those famous words of Dead or Alive 'you spin me right round baby right round, like a record baby right round, round round...' (they seemed apt for the photo ;)

Party girl extraordinare - you're a girl who lives her life, always up for a good time - and helping others to do the same by sharing that beaming smile of yours around! (dance buddies forever!!)

Thanks Lib for being a great friend and person - I've always loved our chats over the years and look forward to lots more. I love your faith, your honesty and openess, your willingness to always give good sound advice, and your independent spirit! Just don't forget your friends in little old Adelaide at the same time, bcoz we haven't forgotten you ;) And, of course, HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY!!!

new things

2006-05-22T18:21:00.000+09:30

<-- these are the newest and most comfortable additions to my 'loungeware' (according to Sussan's) wardrobe. Slipper choice is quite important, as many hours will be spent in them, and i thought these were appropriately cute yet warm, soft and cosy! (*these, along with many other items, were an end product of the ridiculously successful shopping trip i had with Dan last Sat - they were spotted and consequently enthusiastically admired! And were bought a wk later (by my wonderful and generous mother :)

And Lib, for your benefit, here is my new haircut, now a few weeks old. Does it look like it did in your dream? (as you can see this little photo shoot was yet another symptom of my productive procrastination on the weekend!)

Anyway, hope you're all going well out there, and ... happy monday!

really, i am working!

2006-05-20T19:17:00.000+09:30

Just came across this quote by Pierre de Coubertin, the guy who brought about the modern Olympic games (as opposed to the Ancient Olympian games held in Olympia, hence the name - quick history note!)

"There are two ways of understanding internationalism. One is that of the socialists, the revolutionaries, and in general of theoreticians and utopians... The second is that of men who make observations without prejudice and take reality, rather than their favourite ideas, into account. For a long time now, these men have realized that national characteristics are an indispenable precondition for the life of a people and that, far from weakening them, contact with other people makes them sharper"

One of Coubertin's visions for the Games was that the athletes would become like 'ambassadors of peace', and like in the ancient Games where warring cities would actually stop warring for a month while they competed in the Games (which were also a religious festival), the Games would affect world politics in the same way. But come WWI the Games got cancelled, rather than themselves cancelling the war, and Coubertin did his duty and entered the army. (Just for some context of that quote because ppl called him a hypocrite for entering the war)

Anyway, reflecting on various events of the past week, I was thinking that as well as referring to internationalism, that quote could also refer to 'interpersonalism', which is now officially a word! It can be hard to work out how to live life according to theories and visions, and it's only by experience or God-given wisdom that you can judge situations in their 'reality, rather than ... favourite ideas'. I also like that 'rather than weakening them, contact with other people makes them sharper' bit at the end - going into Uni I was a bit apprehensive about what being surrounded by new and different ideas and philosophies might do to me. But it does actually make you sharper, working out your own beliefs in the midst of people who think differently. One of the reasons I want to go to Rwanda is to experience different people and places, which I guess ties into it as well!

morbid may

2006-05-20T15:23:00.000+09:30

Aim for Saturday:

Do an essay for Classics

Instead, what I have done:

Ironed 9 shirts
Bought some new slippers (! now I have toasty warm yet funkily clad feet)
Played the piano
Done all the handwashing that has been put off for the past 3 weeks
Watched TV
Eaten 6.5 "sneaked" (i.e. out of the bowl) spoonfuls of apple crumble
Am posting on blog

hmmm.....

Anyway, whenever I post it seems to be when I'm supposed to be doing work. But that's not just laziness - I can't think of stuff to post about! Ah well, I'll try and brainstorm :P

This week on Tues and Wed marked the one year anniversary of Tim's death, as well as of Cameron's Mum. As well as that it That brought to the fore different issues and emotions for everyone - for me unexpectantly I was pretty emotional on Sun and Mon, as I kept remembering the events surrounding that week last year, when it all happened. Altho we're all still grieving for Tim, I was also sad just contemplating on how it affected the ppl around me. It was good on Thurs at Transitions to talk and pray about it a bit - we haven't done that for a while.

I didn't get the job at the Papershop which was a bit disappointing, but what I was expecting - the guy found someone with more experience. I was kicking myself after the interview for not saying that I would be 'very happy to learn/get experience' etc when he asked if I had any retail experience, rather than just 'no I don't...', but I figure it's best to learn from experience rather than dwell over things you can't change! And anyway, he said he'd keep my resume, so who knows!

Just to add some colour, here's a cool pic I found last nite (just randomly looking thru photos - a good late nite activity to provoke warm fuzzies!) at my friend Richo's (aka Thea) birthday party in Dec last year - we all went camping up at a property in the hills which was the best idea, and just after we'd all finished exams - good times! I like how you can see movement in the picture, and the two progressive expressions on Richo's face on the right - wonder what Em was saying!

sweetness and might

2006-05-12T13:01:00.000+09:30

So at the moment I'm at home with a few hours to kill - I have productive ambitions (thinking 'I could do some work') but they're yet to formulate into actions (i.e. the fact that I'm blogging, not working :oP) Nothing too hugely exciting to report at the moment, other than the fact that I've got an out of the blue job interview at the Papershop (newsagency) at Erindale tomorrow (i dropped in my resume there on the off chance a few months ago) - very exciting, tho Mum had to talk me thru the initial excitment freakout at first ('what about uni? what about Rwanda? what am i going to wear?!') It's times like these I feel young and inexperienced :P But hopefully it'll go well - it's a real answer to prayer bcoz I've been stressing about a job for a few months, it's close by, and I'd really love to work there!

Also I'm getting more and more excited - or maybe I should think of a new word, anticipatory (if that doesn't exist, it does now!) - of the trip to Rwanda. This time in two months I'm going to be there, after being to Egypt and Kenya as well - yikes/woohoo! At the moment I'm filling out various visa's, and working out if I can stay on for two extra days at the Mully Children's Family (Christian home and education for street kids in Kenya, set up by the Mully family - amazing story of just giving everything up to begin this place, and trusting in God - Joh Henley (nee Flood) has stayed with them accumulatively for a year and been very involved with them) with Brad and Joh, as well as Mike and Karen Roe. I still can't quite believe that I'm going, I feel so lucky!

My cousin Susie, who's over in Adelaide at the moment, came over for dinner last night - lovely lively conversation, lots of laughs! It was great to see her, and have some family bonding time :)

ALSO, I've decided to get Confirmed in the confirmation service on Sunday (as in I didn't just decide just then, I've been pondering over it for a few months) which I'm really looking forward to. Amongst other things, one of things that I realised was that I can't wait till I have all the answers to get confirmed (as much as I'd like to know everything, unfortunately (or fortunately!) I don't, and never will!) - I know enough that I do want to publically commit myself to God. Actually I had this really wierd dream about it last night, that we were having the service in this little wooden hut at the bottom of a cliff on some wild and windy beach, and then my Godmother was there... anyway...

treasures...

2006-05-01T22:15:00.000+09:30

I'm back home now, which is weirdly familiar, but strange at the same time! It's lovely to sleep in my own bed again and be with my beloved fam, but I had a great time with the girls at Mim's as well (with only a couple of grumpy incidents!) I always wanted to share a house with some friends at some stage, so I guess I got to do it! Might be doing it again in sep/oct when Mum, Dad and Jon go to NZ ...

In other news, I got my hair lopped off the other day. A bit shorter than I anticipated, but I've had the urge to cut it since uni started (i remember hearing somewhere that dramatic haircuts can signify a change in your life - maybe that's the case?) and I really like it. It's a bit sad I know, but I get a bit of a rush from it, lol!

2006-05-01T21:54:00.000+09:30

I wish we could adequately put across to people how we see them, rather than how they see themselves - ugly, incompetant, unloved, inadequate. Sometimes if we do see beauty, competency, gifts, love someone, or just really appreciate them being their unique selves, we don't always say - we need to more!

Self-esteem, or lack thereof, is one of the biggest issues facing us today I reckon. It's something we all struggle with at times, and I find pretty frustrating sometimes!

That's why we need to keep coming back to the love God has for us I guess - sure life can suck at times, but 'God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him' (rom 8.28), and He did everything needed so we could come back into a relationship with Him (if we want it) thru Jesus. God doesn't make mistakes!

*sorry if this is a bit of a muddle of thoughts!

GROUSE

2006-04-19T16:25:00.000+09:30

I apologise for my extreme slackness of late in posting - poor show i know (esp for lib, sorry!) To be honest I don't really know if many people read it or find it interesting or anything, so sometimes I err on the side of don't bother - BUT, FOR the people who do read it, I will try to post more often, about more stuff!

In other news, we had YOUTH CAMP on the weekend!! It was an excellent camp, a whoooole lot of fun! It was different going as a leader this year, seeing it from that perspective (haha, last night early morning antics), but I really enjoyed it - maybe I'm biased but all the youthians are just great, real legends. Stef's new website (see youth site) about camp is absolutely awesome - SUCH an encouragment to see how helpful she found camp, and how stuff is clicking. It (camp) reminded me so much of when we all first started going to youth and on camps - esp all the girly 'chats' (ie screaming and squealing and 'woooo!!!'ing!) late at night about who liked who! Haha, funny stuff ... Mike Roe spoke (his wife Karen came as well - they're also both going to Rwanda, woohoo! I didn't realise that until they arrived which was a bit silly, but great to be able to get to know them a bit better on the camp before flying half way across the world with them :oP) He spoke really well (on living as 'Aliens' in this world)- I found it quite challenging, particularly the last session on application stuff. He also prepared good small group studies I thought - I was a little bit dubious about the small groups because, even though I was hoping that they'd be good, and I wanted to get to know the girls better (with our lovely group of 5 girls), you're never quite sure how helpful they are, esp as a leader (well, in my new role as leader - i'm learning as I go!) BUT we had some good discussions! I was really encouraged by the faiths (if that's a word) of the youth - it was inspiring and so exciting to see. The games turned out to be really fun - the Molecule game with Mim the crazy mad scientist, and leaders having the power to make the groups do something for them everytime the groups wanted a lolly or something to make their molecule, and Ultimate Capture the Flag - ultimate water fight, with the 'firing squad' (leaders, or 'enforcers' throwing waterbombs at the law-breakers as they stand against a wall- very impressive organisation and ultimisation of the game by Law and Joel! Camp concert was one of the best I've been new - we have some comedic genii in our midst :P I don't think I'll forget Nic doing actions to Natalie Imbruglia's 'Torn' in a while!! Nick V-R ( in almost every act!) and Fergus are the next Umbilical Bro's I think, doing some very clever hand tricks and so forth, and the boy's version of 'Thanks God You're Here' beat channel ten's hands down ;o) The girl's small group did a stereotyped but profound (lol, well i reckon!) mean girls vs nice girls skit, followed by our Superstar dance, woo! There were a few challenges, but I was really glad to be able to talk them through with Mim and Anne, and Greg and Sum - experience is the best way to learn!

Anyhoo, Miz has an assignment to write so I'd best get off the compy, catcha round :)

AUSTRALIA SAYS NO!

2006-04-18T22:05:00.000+09:30

Hey guys! Its Ezza here on Jess' blog! I have taken over it over!!!! Moooohhhhaaa! Well not really...Jess said that i could write to the world on here so...here i am! I don't really have much too say except....has anyone seen the show North Shore??? Its an awesome american soapie on ch 7 at 3pm weekdays! You should all check it out coz there is a really cute guy called Franke on there!!! So fine!! ;0) Plus everyone should see the movie Superstar before they die! Its excellent! Anyway i really am just babbling on so i might say one last thing....AUSTRALIA SAYS NO!!!

Later Skaters!

2006-04-04T12:45:00.000+09:30

well to let you know Sydney was SO much fun - the perfect combination of down time and much needed rest, and partying at Susie's gorgeous party. Great to see the clan if only briefly! Will try and get photos up here soon, it's just a bit trickier to at the moment because I don't have net access at Mim's out on my laptop which has the photos on them ... And I need to get some from Michael ('Susie's Sparkling Snapper'!) !

First night at Miz's last night (apart from poor Anne who's sick :( ) , and let's just say I'm feeling good about the rest of the month! I think it's going to seem short, rather than long which I think is an good indication (even though it's annoying when things go really fast, it means that you're most probably having fun!)

Anyway, I came onto the computer to finish an essay and have been significantly sidetracked, so I'd better go ...

I'm excited!!

2006-03-31T22:33:00.000+10:30

7.25 am tomorrow morning : Flying over to Sydney for speedy awesome weekend of Superstarness (ie seeing the majority of the Harris clan, woohoo!!) to assist in celebrating the 'sparkling' Susie's 21st :D

and then...

Monday = entering the marvellous (to keep with alliteration) Mizza's household for and entire MONTH (that's right, a whole month! No placing bets on who'll squabble first :oP) with my beautiful Sleepover Club girls...

Can't wait!! Now I'd better go pack ...

diamonds are forever ... or are they?

2006-03-22T16:24:00.000+10:30

Two posts in one week, that's gotta be a record for me!

Has anyone seen the filmclip for 'Stupid Girls' by Pink? At first I dismissed the song as being overly cynical and silly, but i actually found myself chuckling, and then *gasp* laughing when I watched it the other day. It's funny and says a lot about how much we judge things on outward appearance in our culture- especially girls in how they (we) act sometimes. That's not to say that we don't place value on 'deeper' things and look past the surface to character, but that's just it-there always seems to be a bit of friction between judging by outward appearance, and not caring about that stuff. Like thinking on the one hand 'my gosh, I can't believe that person is wearing that, they must be a bit unsavoury' or something, and at the same time 'they look interesting, I wonder what their life story is'. Or seeing a show like Australian Story, and then in the same hour watching 'Australia's Next Top Model'.
Lol that's a bit random and not well expressed, but there's my random thought for the day :P I hope I'm not turning into a cynical arts student!

2006-03-20T16:31:00.000+10:30

I don't know how it happens, one second I'm outside reading stuff for history, and the next I find myself inside reading blogs. How did I get here? It's like I'm driven by some strange force called procrastination ... I'm starting to get sick of that word! Actually the topic we're doing at the moment is really interesting - the Reformation and all that entails (much more interesting than the trade routes and empire expansion of the last couple of weeks ... well, easier to understand anyway)

Rode into Uni again today, which was good fun and surprisingly quicker to get there on the way there than the bus. I had to sneakily go cross-country on the closed off Dequetteville Tce amidst big pieces of machinery and massive seating stands for Clipsal- already there are so many roads closed off for it, it's crazy! I went thru the parklands and avoided most of the main roads - it's so freaky when a massive bus suddenly starts looming up behind you - I always think of the worst case scenario on main rds and imagine someone opening their car door, only for me to ride right on into it, or swerving into the bus or something dramatic, but there were no such dire happenings... Actually it was quite pleasant!

Philosophy's been interesting - partic the tutorials. I realised that kind of for the first time I'm in a debating situation with people who (in terms of Christianity, or belief in God) largely think a lot differently than I do. That's the reason that I decided to do the subject though, to be challenged out of my comfort zones. We were analysing an argument about intelligent design (this thing called the Paley's Watch theory - basically that if we see a watch or piece of intricate mechanism, we assume that it has a maker. In the same way all around us, in nature and the universe, are 'intricate pieces of natural mechanism's' all inter-relating and working together in complex ways, and thus we can infer that there is an ultimate Maker) the other day, and I was a bit surprised by my natural reaction to pull back a bit and be defensive (in my mind anyway) about my own beliefs. I guess it highlighted to me that I want to work these things out for myself, and can't always lean on other peoples opinions to pull me through, if that kind of makes sense.

In other news, it's almost a week since Lib left us for the States - everyone keep thinking of and praying for her!! Sounds like she's having a pretty rad time already, even if she's a bit homesick :P

back to the books...

Woohoo for CFS sufferers!!

2006-03-04T19:28:00.000+10:30

Some of you would probably know that when I was around 9 I got CFS - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I'm 95% recovered from it now (I still get the foggy brain type symptoms and tiredness effects me a fair bit, but I don't know if that's just me anyway :P) which I feel pretty lucky about because for a lot of people it can be much worse than how it was, and last a lot longer. But ANYWAY there's a good chance that you've known someone with CFS or heard about it in some form, and you may be familiar with the 'real, not real' sort of debate about it because scientists have found it hard to find physical 'proof' apart from lists of common symptoms or circumstances. BUT read this article, I was so excited when I read it. That may sound like a strange thing to say, but theres so much stigma about CFS, and a lot of sufferers find it so frustrating when they can't put a label on what they've got and think they're going crazy, or it's just all in the mind (Leigh Hatcher's book 'I'm Not Crazy, I'm Just a Little Unwell' explains his experiences of that particularly well and honestly) that reading something like this is a huge relief, and a big breakthrough.

" Brain injury linked to chronic fatigue

New research into chronic fatigue syndrome suggests that it may be caused by temporary brain injuries resulting from a bout of glandular fever.
Australian scientists have monitored the health of people infected with the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever.
Professor Andrew Lloyd, from the University of New South Wales, says they have found that those who go on to develop chronic fatigue syndrome are likely to have suffered trauma to the brain during their illness.
"It's an injury in the sense that it wasn't there - people were perfectly well - something in the acute phase of the illness went wrong and then it slowly recovers like a broken arm or a broken leg," he said.
"It's just that in this case its taking weeks to months rather than days or quicker."
Professor Lloyd says the findings show that chronic fatigue syndrome is a real condition.
"I personally have never had a doubt that it's real because there are people who have got a set of symptoms that are unexplained," he said.
"The real versus not real thing is often caught up in the mistaken notion about malingering or it's all depression but really there's no evidence to support that.
"So in a nutshell yes, it clearly supports the argument that it's real." "

Autumn leaves fall and are swept out of sight ...

2006-03-01T21:03:00.000+10:30

Welcome to Autumn! I'm appropriately listening to 'The First Day of Autumn' by Enya which is making me think the end of Summer's not so bad. Summer's my favourite time of year and I've had a fantasticly busy Summer, but Autumn is beautiful, and I'm sure will bring lots of challenging but exciting new experiences...

One of which is starting Uni this week! On the one hand I think it'll take a bit more getting used to than I anticipated, but on the other I've seen SO many people I know around campus and town that it reminds me I'm not alone in it all. I've also realised just how spoilt I've been for the past 5 years living next door to school - having to navigate my way into town by bus, bike or car is something I'll have to get used to (and isn't so bad a thing - biking will be great excercise, and I like going on bus' and people watching or contemplating). I think I'm liking all the subjects I chose - particularly Intro to Latin and Ancient Greek which'll be hard but fun. The other subjects I'm doing are Classics (no surprises there!), Philosophy and History, and also anthropology in the second semester which I'm really looking forward to. Oh and annoyingly though I managed to get through the entirity of year 12 without getting sick, I've managed to get some wierd fevery cold thing this week :S Oh well I can't complain really, a chance to get some good rest in :) It has meant though that I've found it a bit harder to be really 'with it' and make more of an effort to introduce myself to new people ...

Just to work backwards I also had a really good weekend - much of which has already been documented on Phili's blog articulately! An encouraging and thought provoking EFAC introduction to the Archbishop Jeffory Driver on Friday night - his own address was encouraging, and then the question time directed at him thought provoking. It brought my thinking about the 'women' issues such as ordination and in the home to the surface again, which is great! Saturday brought Ignition - a one stop training shop - where I did the youth ministry stream which was helpful and, dare I say it, ignited some ideas inside me. That night I accompanied Dan, Phili, Ali, Emily, Nick and Pat to 'Pluck' (a string trio - the two guys playing violin, and rather petite but agile girl playing cello) and then out to a fun Chinese dinner on Gouger street. Lots of fun and craziness! Sunday morning I did Sparklers for Mum (she was on the Women's Retreat, which went really well by the sounds of it) which was just fun - they're so gorgeous at that age (3-4 or 5ish), the comments they come out with! Then onto a Pancake Kitchen belated birthday lunch for Miz with Anne and Jordan, where we pored over a wedding magazine, and admired the rather sizeable ring we got her (eat that Jordan!). Before SAS I went to the new prayer meeting (which I'd forgotten to go to the previous fortnight) which I found quite encouraging - I find it hard to be disclipined in praying sometimes, so praying so specifically for prayer points in a group before the service helped shift my mindset to be more in line with God, and calm my scurrying mind.

Anyway, I'd better go get an early night as promised. Hopefully I'll sleep better than last night! *NB Thank goodness for Dad's (read: mine) - I felt very cared for as I was dropped off and picked up from each of my lectures, sniffling and keeping off a fever!

little red caboose chug chug chug

2006-02-15T14:15:00.000+10:30

Just got back from Redcliff's camp on the Eyre Penninsula, organised by Luke and Jordan = awesome camp - great speaker (Leigh Cunningham), great people, great atmosphere, great fun, and many memories (and photos of course... ;) AND we got a free Redcliff's tshirt!! As Emma so aptly put it, 'every second' of it was good, from beginning to very end. I'm still on a camp high!

Valentines Day was very cool - I was notified by red rose and note that I was to be whisked away by Dave to a mystery lunch (sneaky), which was at the Spice Kitchen (soo yummy!!) and then we hung out at the Kensy Rd lookout - all in all very lovely :D

And BIG NEWS OF THE MOMENT :: MIRIAM AND JORDAN ARE ENGAGED!!!!! as of 6amish on Monday morning - very romantic, sunrise stroll along the beach, the ring was in a treasure box hidden in the dunes...

All my hearty congratulations to the happy couple (it was just a matter of time ;)!!

And in the spirit of Valentine's Day - I love you all - friends and family - very much!

I think I'm going to cry!!

2006-02-01T15:37:00.000+10:30

Did ANYONE tape the OC last night? I taped the WRONG CHANNEL and got the cricket instead, ahhh!!!! This is a desperate plea ...

u reckon it suits me ...?

2006-01-31T16:37:00.000+10:30

I'm a Ferrari 360 Modena!

You've got it all. Power, passion, precision, and style. You're sensuous, exotic, and temperamental. Sure, you're expensive and high-maintenance, but you're worth it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

new beginnings and near death experiences

2006-01-31T16:07:00.000+10:30

After sitting through 5 1/2 hours worth of 'disclipine' talks at uni (!!) over the past couple of days (it doesn't sound like much, but boy did it feel it) I'm choccas full of course info, and the whole full time study at uni thing is all seeming a lot more real. I'm so glad I'm doing a Bachelor of Arts because at the moment I just want to study it all and don't want to limit it down- there's so much choice and flexibility and I figure, why not study this stuff now when I can? The main subjects I've been planning on doing are Classics (surprise, huh?), Philosophy, Psychology, and Anthropology, but now I'm toying with the idea of Ancient Greek or Latin, History, or maybe even music! Ah, the possibilities are almost endless. I've been seeing so many people I know as well - from high school, and primary which is like a wierd time warp thing but cool!

What's this about near death experiences you ask? WELL I have a bit of a freaky story of my own to tell (you may of already heard it, but read on anyway so I can get maximum mileage out of the story :P)... On Sunday we had a youth leaders training day thing up at Greg and Sum's in Blackwood. That's it. Freaky huh? Just joking (I think i've been sitting in too many info sessions...)! Incidentally I had a great time at it, I'm really looking forward to youth leading this year - it felt like there was a really good energy in the group, and I came home all hyped up and inspired, particularly talking about how character and servanthood is so important in leadership. Anyway, so I drove Anne home, down Old Belair road, think masses of windy bends, huge cliff drops on either side of the road, that sort of thing. I dropped off Anne, and went through a couple of intersections and pulled into the driveway and THE STEERING WENT - the engine started chugging really strangely (I thought it was just part of the song on JJJ at first) and it felt like if I turned the wheel anymore something would just SNAP. What had happened was that the steering belt (I apologise about my terminology to all those car buffs out there) thingy had come off some cog things, but the main thing was that if it had happened just 30 secs earlier I could've been turning on the intersection or something, freaky! I was just overwhelmed that, wow, God was watching over me :D

ps up there's a "random" picture I took of my cousin Michael when we were in Syd earlier in Jan (we had a bit of a photoshoot session along the beaches...) - talk about timing! (don't worry he didn't actually fall over, and his nice camera was safe :P)

Casting Crowns

2006-01-19T22:18:00.000+10:30

My fabulous Aunty Leone, Uncle Stephen and superstar(tm) cousin Michael gave me the latest Casting Crowns cd Lifesong for my birthday and I had the chance to listen to it and read some of the words some more today (bit hard to read them in the car with the whole car-sickness thing). It's really cool, they write a brief explanation and accompanying verses with the words of each song which puts it in context and gives it more meaning.

Love Them Like Jesus

The love of her life is drifting away
They're losing the fight for another day
The life that she's known is falling apart
A fatherless home, a child's broken heart

You're holding her hand, you're straining for words
You're trying to make sense of it all
She's desperate for hope, darkness clouding her view
She's looking to you

Just love her like Jesus, carry her to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don't need the answers to all of life's questions
Just know that He loves her and stay by her side
And love her like Jesus
Love her like Jesus

The gifts lie in wait, in a room painted blue
A little blessing from Heaven would be there soon
Hope fades in the night, blue skies turn to gray
As the little one slips away

You're holding their hand, you're straining for words
You're trying to make sense of it all
They're desperate for hope, darkness clouding their view
They're looking to you

Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don't need the answers to all of life's questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
And love them like Jesus

The Lord of all creation holds our lives in His hands
The God of all the nations holds our lives in His hands
The Rock of our salvation holds our lives in His hands
He cares for them just as He cares for you

So love them like Jesus, love them like Jesus
You don't need the answers to all of life's questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
And love them like Jesus
Love them like Jesus
Love them like Jesus

This one was 'follows the account in Matthew of the man full of demons... until he met Jesus.' I looked up the verses (Mark 5:1-13, Eph 2:1-10, Romans 8, Revelation 1:18) and what really struck me was just the difference in peoples lives before and after Jesus. I guess as I get older that makes more sense and I can see that in my own and other people's lives more.

Set Me Free

It hasn't always been this way
I remember brighter days
Before the dark ones came
Stole my mind
Wrapped my soul in chains

Now I live among the dead
Fighting voices in my head
Hoping someone hears me crying in the night
And carries me away

Set me free of the chains holding me
Is anybody out there hearing me?
Set me free

Morning breaks another day
Finds me crying in the rain
All alone with my demons I am
Who is this man that comes my way?
The dark ones shriek
They scream His name
Is this the One they say will set the captive free?
Jesus, rescue me

CHORUS

As the God man passes by
He looks straight through my eyes
And darkness cannot hide

Do you want to be free?
Lift your chains
I hold the key
All power on Heav'n and Earth belong to Me
(repeat)

You are free
You are free
You are free

time flys...

2006-01-18T18:41:00.000+10:30

when you're having fun! Well at least that's one of my excuses for it being over a month since I last posted. That and being interstate and then with lack of computer/technology for 5 days. As always after holidays there's so much that I could write about that's been happening, but if I wrote about all of it then ... it'll be mega long (or should that be meg meg long...) Let's just see where this goes then hey?

This morning I/we (being lisa, sez, stef, em, dave, law, G, phil, nic and alex) got back from our splendiferous and much anticipated camping trip at Second Valley. At the moment I'm sunburnt in many places, including my lips which is really painful and annoying (any ideas on remedies?), and just slept for 5 hours and am still tired, but it was way worth it. I love camping - time kind of happens without you realising it. It was so cool just to chill out with everyone and live together for a few days (even grumpy moods are bonding experiences ;) swimming, snorkelling (soo good down there - cuttlefish, jellyfish, star fish, big fish, small fish, creepy seaweed, squid and no sharks or blue ringed octopus!), exploring, walking over rocks trying not to knacker your feet, finding warm rock pools, watching sun sets, talking, play-grounding, making up wierd and wonderful words and stories, eatting (not only did we not die of starvation or over consumption of 2 min noodles, we ate darn well! bbq, spag bog, butter chicken, f&c mm mmm), climbing hills (and almost getting blown off), meeting fellow camp-site-iers and their dogs, sun burn and Phil's heaven sent Iced Tea relieving spray, photos (does it even need to be said? it's a given!), marrying inanimate objects ('if the sky was a man i'd marry it!' (dw dave, lol)), cliff jumping (well i wasn't there - went to Glacier Rock (must see destination *cough* lol), Granite Island and King's beach with Phil, Lisa and Lexi - but it sounded cool and I wish I could've done that as well!), singing in the car, and being out of touch with the outside world... AWESOME, love it! It was really good staying in Emma's caravan/camper thing (thanks Em!)- haha just like last year the guys had the coverless tent (which actually would've been kind of cool, even if everyone in the campsite could see in BB style) and the girls were living in the comparative lap of luxury - it did get pretty crowded/cosy last night when the "storm" was supposed to be coming thru and the guys squished in too :P

BEFORE the camping trip I went to Sydney for two weeks with the family which was a really great time as well (they just keep on rolling!). I'll go with my highlights/listing mood - we had Uncle Stephen's 50th on the 1st which began with the new years fireworks on the harbour - we ended up (after trialing many locations and being ushered to better ones :P) under the bridge on the right and it was amazing - I haven't done that since I was a kid, and it was so beautiful, especially when at the end there were those showery fireworks going of literally right above our heads on the bridge. Seeing all the Aunt's, Uncle's and cousins (more of whom than I realised read this, better watch what I write! jk ;) was probably the biggest highlight (and no I'm not just saying that because you guys read this). I feel so grateful to have a family who's I get along so well with, and who are strong Christians - it was a partic encouraging time that wise in terms of having a bit of a reevaluation of my faith actually. Wish we could spend more time hanging out with them - actually now I will, I'm going over for Susie's 21st on April 1st (I've been assured there actually is a party and it's not just an April Fools jk, haha!) , woo! Michael and I literally took hundreds of photo's so there's no shortage of visual aide to assist remembering the trip! Gotta love those photoshoots on the beach. Oh, and there were ACTUAL WAVES at the beaches which took a bit of getting used to compared to most of our South Aussie ripples. Just to salute the trip in an appropriately celebratory manner my cousin Jennifer and her husband Kirk had their second baby - welcome to the world Emily Eileen Barker (not Parker Barker as we had suggested unfortunately)! Go the middle-name-Eileen club!
On the way home we stayed with my Aunty Caroline and her partner Lynne at Blackdown estate in Bathurst that they're busy running at the moment which was gorgeous - looked like it had jumped off the pages of Country Style, and with the whole farm thing I felt like I was on McLeod's Daughters, v cool and a relaxing way to end the trip.

SO that's prob missed out a lot of stuff, but you get the gist. I'll get some photos up here soon!

me?

2005-12-14T13:46:00.000+10:30

Can you tell I'm bored with three posts in the same amount of days, after like a week and a half of no posting?? Ahh holidays, work your bottom off to get to them, and once you're there you don't know what to do with yourself. Also I feel like I've been on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster since school finished - one moment I think I'm having the best time of my life and things couldn't get much better, and the next I find myself feeling flat and about to cry or something. Anyone else feeling like that?

Anyhoo, here's a test thing I think Lib and Andre did a while ago. I'm a bit annoyed about the 70% female cliche thing, but then again I am female so ...

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion		66%
Stability		50%
Orderliness		30%
Accommodation		70%
Interdependence		30%
Intellectual		70%
Mystical		36%
Artistic		70%
Religious		90%
Hedonism		16%
Materialism		23%
Narcissism		56%
Adventurousness		63%
Work ethic		70%
Self absorbed		43%
Conflict seeking		56%
Need to dominate		63%

Romantic		63%
Avoidant		50%
Anti-authority		50%
Wealth		50%
Dependency		63%
Change averse		36%
Cautiousness		63%
Individuality		56%
Sexuality		56%
Peter pan complex		50%
Physical security		63%
Physical Fitness		57%
Histrionic		50%
Paranoia		50%
Vanity		50%
Hypersensitivity		36%
Female cliche		70%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

birthdays

2005-12-13T22:41:00.000+10:30

I remember a few years ago after one of my birthdays pondering the reason for their significance. I mean they're kind of a wierd thing - these days that come across once a year for people where they celebrate the fact that they were born. One day every year for the rest of their life. I wrote in my journal something like 'Birthdays: a worthless day that's an excuse for presents, or an opportunity to tell people how much you love them?', and I concluded that it really is your own choice, whether it be your own birthday or someone elses. This first half of December has been a bit of a birthday 'boom' as Stef so aptly put it - e.g. as many of you would know bcoz you were there, last Saturday I had a belated 'bad-taste birthday brunch' (two months to the day since my b'day! - see Sez and Lib's blogs for photos!), then I partied on to Golat's 18th Cocktail party (see Lib's blog for photos again! I thought it was time for a text entry rather than more photos, much as I love them!) (where we got to wear all our formal finery again, yes!! Though somehow a mozzie managed to crawl between the layers of my dress, and got squished as I tried to get rid of it resulting in a bizzare bug stain on my dress ... oh well, adds character!), and THEN it was Phili's 24th on sunday!!

But really, birthdays are so cool - you have a designated day to tell someone how awesome you think they are - things that may not always pop up in everyday conversation. To quote Phili on her blog "I have a love/hate relationship with birthdays because I feel awkward being the centre of attention but deep down (or perhaps not even really that deep down!) it is lovely to feel special and loved in an over the top way :)" Don't we all! That night before I went to sleep I had a read of all the cards again, and they were all so cool and special - the cards are as much of the gift as the present i reckon, and they're the sort of ones I'll keep forever (or at least a very long time!). I have such creative friends :)!

Which brings me to the topic of giving as well. I actually love christmas shopping for other people - it's when you can splurge and not feel guilty! It's just so fun to find something you know (or hope) someone will love, or putting thought into it. It's the one time of year I'm actually organised about present buying, making a list and ticking them off as a power-shop. Not so organised for birthdays unfortunately (I only just gave Lib her promised portrait for her b'day prez, and her b'day was in May!). I think my bro Dan is the master of thoughtful present buying - I went shopping with him last week for Phili's pressie, and it was so much fun - basically a collection of heaps of really cool small stuff. Like we'd see something funky that she'd like and be like 'let's get it!'. And he was so excited about giving it to her that he kept waking up at like half hour intervals in the early hours of her birthday morning! Go Dan, you're a present inspiration :P

So as we come up to Christmas lets take advantage of the opportunity to tell people that we love that we love them, however that may be in your own style. I mean Christmas came about when God decided to be generous and give us His son, lets follow suit! (Though I don't recommend giving away children, siblings or otherwise, that could come across as a little unloving if you're not doing it in God's context;)

Did God create everything that exists?

2005-12-12T23:02:00.000+10:30

This is a fwd Dad sent on, I think a lot of you guys will like it ...

" This is a really great answer to a question you may be asked or have asked.

Did God create everything that exists? Does evil exist? Did God create evil?

A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that exists?" A student bravely replied, "Yes He did". "God created everything?" the professor asked. "Yes sir, He certainly did." the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil. And since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil."The student became quiet and did not answer the professor's hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?" "Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of a question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"

The other students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body, or object, is susceptible to studywhen it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body, or matter, have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.

The young man continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?" The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The young man replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality t he absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton'sprism to break white light into many colours and study the various wavelengths of each colour. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure theamount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir Does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said, we see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime andviolence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.To this the young man replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has createdto describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name was - Albert Einstein "

2005-12-01T20:07:00.000+10:30

Last day - bittersweet. These were my fantastic flatmates (em, sarah, tash) ... Priceless memories that will last a lifetime.

2005-12-01T20:06:00.000+10:30

u talkin to me? bcoz currenty I can't actually talk back...

2005-12-01T20:05:00.000+10:30

sexy tash, sexy

2005-12-01T20:03:00.000+10:30

tash, lib (seducing the camera of course ;), han, me, bonnie and sarah (it's actually hard to make it out, so there is a point to naming all of us!)

2005-12-01T20:02:00.000+10:30

Lib, Han, Kendyl and Bonnie - tres atmospheric

2005-12-01T20:01:00.000+10:30

carefree prancing on the jetty