Remembering Nan

Today is a sad day, as we have said our final good bye to Nan... such a wonderful lady and friend. However, we also celebrate her life and the legacy that she leaves behind. When the family gather together and you look around it is amazing to think that so many children and grandchildren have all come from this one beautiful woman! The lives that she has touched extend far beyond those of her family.

Her love for the Lord was so evident and she was always so encouraging.

I have so many fond memories of Nan, but one that I will cherish the most was in July 2008 when I sat with Nan and she told me stories of her childhood and the hard times that she had to live through as an aboriginal. There is nothing like learning the history of a people from someone that has lived it.

I look forward to the day that I will see her once again- in heaven with our Lord! I love you Nan!

The Cross of Jesus Christ

'Why does God allow suffering?' How many times have you heard someone ask that , or even asked it yourself? I know I have... I was recently watching a DVD message from Louie Giglio and he brought a whole new light to this question.

John 16:33 says- 'I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.' Jesus tells us WE WILL have troubles in this world.... as Christians we are fighting a battle against the enemy. In that battle, there will be hard times.... Louie then went on to say some of the most profound words that I have heard in a long time....

He says that when the bottom of life falls out on us, we look at the situation and question it. We may be crushed, heartbroken, or absolutely devastated and feel that the nothing in life matters anymore. But it is in those times that we should look at the cross of Jesus Christ.

Imagine that you were there on that Good Friday- watching Jesus be beaten and crucified... the One that you had put so much trust, faith and hope in. You truly believed that He was the Saviour of the world, yet you are watching him die. Those people that were there must have been thinking that that was the absolute worst thing that could ever have happened. It was the worst thing- the Son of the Living God was being crucified. I have no idea what I would have done if I was there that day. But I wasn't... I am here some 2000 years later, looking at the cross of Christ with a much different perspective. When I look at what happen that day, I see that it was in fact the GREATEST thing that has ever happen in this world.

So you see, when hard times come, and they will... we may think that it is the worst thing ever, but we must have that peace in God, knowing that He can take that terrible, horrible situation and turn it into something beautiful.

I hope that I will be able to praise my Lord in the hard times, knowing that He is with me!

Family

So I am just realising that it has been a LONG time since my last post.... how time gets away. In that time, I have been blessed to have my family here..... family- comes in many forms.
For starters, I had a visit from my Aunt Aggie and Uncle Craig, along with my cousins Chandra and Beth. They were all here for the first two weeks of June. During that time, we not only got to see the sites of Brisbane, and have them at my church, we also went on a road trip to the Outback and then came back along the coast and spent a day on the Great Barrier Reef. What fun that was, but most of all, it was the time spent with people that I love. My aunt and uncle returned to America after 2 weeks but my cousins stayed on for an additional 4 weeks. How lucky am I? We had the best time together.. many times of laughter and just getting to know each other better. Chandra and Beth, you are both such a blessing to me- glad that you are MY family.

The last two weeks that they were here, we were joined by the GO! Team from Knott Ave. Christian Church.. this was the 7th year that a team has come over (I was on the first team). Again, there are people that were a part of that team that are family- maybe not 'blood relatives' but they are family. I got to have my little sis, KC stay here at my house. What fun was that... and Sarah, you know you are my sis now! Robert (and Liz) are family... and I love you all so much. And as I got to know other members of the team, they too have become family to me....

But the exciting part about my 'family' coming here, is that they were able to meet and get to know the family that God has blessed me with here. Tim & Kyle, Des & Lena, Jon & DJ, Carlos, Harry, Wayne & Regina, Annette & Prince, and so many more-you are my family.

What is it that bring us all together? It is the common bond of Christ- that we are ALL God's children.... therefore we ARE family. It does not matter where you live, near or far, we are all family. I am blessed!!!

What Are You Wearing....

Ephesians 6:13-18 says

Therefore, put on the full armour of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then with the BELT OF TRUTH buckled around your waist, with the BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the GOSPEL OF PEACE. In addition to all this, take up the SHIELD OF FAITH with which you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the HELMET OF SALVATION and the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, which is the Word of God. And PRAY in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

This is a passage of scripture that most of know well, but have you ever taken the time to really consider what that means... put on the FULL armour of God. This means that we need to be prepared for the Spiritual Battles that will come.. notice is says WHEN the day of evil comes, not IF. As Christians we are fighting a spiritual battle, whether we know it or not. This is something that I have become more aware of lately, and I want to make sure that I am as prepared as I can be so that Satan will have no hold on me. So how do I prepare? Just what do I need to 'wear' each day?

Belt of Truth- God's Word, the Bible, is the truth. In today's society people will say that there is no absolute truth. That all roads lead to God... this is a lie that Satan wants us to believe. The Word of God is the only absolute truth. Don't be deceived...

Breastplate of Righteousness: this means to be 'right' with God.. and we can be through the blood of Christ. Do you have that assurance?

Gospel of Peace- this means that we need to be prepared to walk a steady pace in times of difficulty.. those times WILL come, and we need to be ready to defend the enemy.

Shield of Faith- faith is what we need most in times of battle... and think of a shield, it is something that you can move to defend from any direction.

Helmet of Salvation- this is what protects the mind... Satan will try to get in our mind and our throughts, and cause us to doubt or questions things. It is the hope of our salvation.

Sword of the Spirit- The Word of God. The more we read and study God's Word, the more we will know... this goes hand in hand with the Belt of Truth. We must KNOW the truth if we are to be able to use it to defend against evil.

and the last one- the one that I believe is the most important one...

Prayer- prayer is the 'glue' that holds the rest all together. If we are not praying everyday, then how can we expect to be protected.

Notice that there is no 'armour' that protect the back... that is because we should never turn our back to the enemy.. we must always be ready for the battle.

When you face battles, difficult times, the best way to have victory is to be protected. So I ask, 'what are you wearing'?

Answer to Prayer

In my last post I mentioned that I am praying everyday for a friend of a friend (though Jen and I are getting to know each other now thanks to FB)..
Jen's body has been full of tumors... well, I got news a couple of days ago that the brain tumor is COMPLETELY gone!!! Praise God for that. Also, the tumors in her toes are gone too. This is certainly an act of God and we give Him all of the glory.
I will continue to pray for Jen as she still has many more tumors (well, the doctors have not checked if they are still there, they are just assuming that they are for now)... if you feel led to pray for her, I encourage you to join the hundreds of people around the world that are praying daily for her... here are the other areas that she needs prayer for:

Tumours in neck, spine (upper and lower), both hips, right kidney, liver and blood clot on the lungs.

As you can see, there is a long way to go, but we trust that the Lord will heal her. Praise Him for the answers she has already received.

Prayer

Two Pastors wives were chatting while sewing their husband’s pants.

One wife said: My husband is just beside himself, he does not know what to do anymore and he is so tired and depressed, he said he is ready to just give up and resign.

The other wife said: I am sorry to hear that because my husband has never been happier. Our membership is growing, and we are out of our financial burden. We have such a large and loving congregation. Life could not be any better than it is right now.

The first woman was mending the seat of her husband’s pants; the other was mending the knees.

What part of your pants needs mending? The subject of prayer is one that has come up several times in the past couple of months for me. Prayer is a gift that we are blessed to have. I mean, think about it, we have direct access to God... through Christ. How many people/religions don't realise that? Too many. So, the question that I have been challenged with is not am I praying, because I do everyday, but 'How am I praying?' I was reading a friends blog about a story that Mike Carman shared at the Knott Ave. missions week... when 300 people showed up to pray for the drought to break, only one came with an umbrella. Think about that. Am I praying truly believing that God will answer? Well I tell you what, if I wasn't before, I am now. I have been asked to be a part of a Prayer Marathon for a young women in England who's body is riddled with cancer. I do not know her, she is a friend of a friend, but that is ok, God knows her. He created her. So everyday, from 2-2:30pm I have committed to praying for Jen. Not only has it been good for me to stop for 30 minutes everyday to pray for a specific person, but I have had to ask myself, 'Do I really believe that God can heal her?" Yes, I do. so rather than showing up with my umbrella, I am taking my bin with me... because Jen will no longer need all those meds. I figure she can dump them in the bin. Through all of this, and much more I am learning it is not just our time that God wants, but it is our heart, our trust and faith in Him.

So I ask you... do the knees of your pants need mending?

Then Jesus went about a stones throw away from them. He kneeled down and prayed.

Luke 22:41

Casting Crowns

Last night I had the privilege of going to the Casting Crowns concert. I have enjoyed their music for a while now- the lyrics to their songs are just so powerful.... but there is nothing like hearing a band live and hearing the stories that have inspired the songs. Not only does is bring new meaning to the song, it does something to really make you think.

One of the highlights for me was finding out that they are STILL not only a worship band at their home church, but they are youth leaders as well. In fact Mark Hall, the lead singer, was talking about his students and how that ministry is much more important to him than 'this band thing'. It was a wonderful night of worshipping the Lord, and not just simply listening to a band. They took the focus right off of themselves and put it right where it belongs- on Christ. It was an amazing night of ministry. If you ever get the chance to see them, I recommend it, but until then, if you have not heard their songs, I encourage you to get a hold of them. I guarantee they will speak to you.

Dajarra & Normanton: Outback Queensland

So, once again here I am trying to catch up...

In Dec. 2008 I helped lead a team of High school students to Dajarra and Normanton, both in Outback Queensland. We were gone for 16 days and traveled over 5,000 kms. Needless to say, there were some very long days of travel, but well worth it.

Here is what we did:

Day 1- travel to Chinchilla- slept and were on the road again early in the morning

Day 2- travel to Longreach- side note: that is were Qantas began

Day 3- travel to Dajarra- yeah!!! we finally made it.

Day 4: In Dajarra- we spent time at the school- there are 24 students and starts in prep and goes through grade 7. It was fun to be back in Mr. Gilmour's class- I spent time in that class last year when I was there. That afternoon we went on a bush walk with the kids. (for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, let me remind you that it is summer here- and HOT, especially in the outback). We had a nice time, but it was so hot that the sole of my shoes- and I am talking Nike, not just some cheap Target brand- melted and now sit to the side of the shoe. It was HOT.

Day 5: In the morning we had a morning tea for all of the ladies of the community. (There are aprox. 250 people living in Dajarra). We had about 10 ladies come. It was great to be able to sing Christmas songs with them, and tell a bit of the Christmas story. We also had gifts for each one.

That afternoon, we were back at the school for the after school program with the kids. We had them paint bags that we would later fill with gifts for them to hand out to some other kids.

Day6: we shifted the school library- there were ALOT of books, and it was HOT... but the older kids helped us and we made it fun. At least the room that we set up the library had air con... I had a book dropped on my toe and saw some blood, sliced right through at the base of my toenail. Oh well, memories right? I am still alive. After school care with the kids- this day we did some colouring in and beading- thanks to the left overs of the last MIB team from Knott Ave.

Day 7: this is the day that we had 9 kids from he school in Urindangi (an even smaller community than Dajarra) come to visit. They had heaps of fun together... the Dajarra kids passed out the gifts to these kids- and took home with them gifts for the rest of the kids. We had a soccer game- they all got new uniforms thanks to a donation that we received. The Urindangi kids won!! Then came some good fun- the huge slip n slide came out. I can not even begin to tell you how refreshing it was to just be wet. That evening we had a sausage sizzle for the Dajarra community and Christmas Carol's by the bonfire. I am still trying to work out the bonfire when it is 90ish (30) degrees outside. It was fun though.

Day 8: this was the last day of school for the year and Mr. Gilmour was leaving for good. It was a sad day filled with many tears from the students. During the day the kids performed a Christmas program for their families. It was fun to see them dance and sing. Of course, because we were there, they asked us to do something. Thankfully one of our girls, Lucy, is an amazingly gifted singer so she sang Little Drummer Boy- wow, I could listen to that many times.

That night we had a request for another bonfire- so of course we had one. This time some of the elders that we had never met come and sat with us. They sang for us and with us. I got to talking with them and discovered that one of the men was the nephew of a lady that had been in Brisbane a couple of months earlier and had stayed at my house. Talk about a small world.

Day9: travel to Normanton, with a stop in Mt.Isa and another at the Flinder's river to look for crocs. However, they don't exist, so naturally we did not see any.. well salt water crocs that is. We did see one fresh water, but the salties are the big one's. I want to see a big croc- and not at the Australia Zoo.

Day 10: It was Sunday, so we had church with the folks in Normanton. I love just listening to them sing. One of their favourites is ... and He tastes like honey on the rock... but they change it to ... and He taste like turtle on the coals... maybe some day I will get to taste turtle, and then I'll let you know if they are right. :P

That evening we had a sausage sizzle for the Normanton Community (there are aprox. 1500 people living there) and a Christmas Carol's service. We had about 100 kids and 30 adults for that.

Day 11: we spent the morning at the Nursing Home. We had morning tea with some of the folks, and gathered around the Christmas tree and sang Christmas Carol's. We had gifts for each one of them, as well as the employees.

That evening, we traveled to Kurumba for dinner and to watch the sun set. It is one of only 3 places in Queensland that you can watch the sun set over the ocean. This was at the Gulf of Carpentaria. What beauty. On the way home, we stopped and all went to lay on the road- there was no one around and we were in the middle of no where so it was a great view of the MANY stars in the night sky, though the road was very hot to touch, even at 8:30pm

Day 12: this was a bit of a day off for us as a team, however, the kids knew that we were there so came by the Christian Centre to play. Fortunately the room with the pool table has air con, so we all hung out in there. Later in the day we went to the Bynoe River to have another look for crocs. Nope- did not see any. But it was beautiful and we saw an amazing sun set.

Day 13: Once again we were on the road again. This time traveling back to Longreach. It was during this trip that I did some of the driving- ok only 200kms, but hey, I was in a 12 seater bus with teenagers, and towing a trailer. That was the first time that I had driven towing a trailer. Some of the kids that I had not known before this trip were a bit nervous because they weren't too sure I knew what side of the road to drive on... well, I have been here for 5 years. I hope I know by now. It was during this leg of the journey that we stopped in McKinlay- home of the Walk About Creek Hotel- made famous by Crocodile Dundee.

Day14: travel to Agnes Water/1770- that is two towns near each other, yes, there is a town that is called 1770- study your Australian history and you'll know why. However, we spent two nights at Agnes Water- enjoying the BEACH! Yes, we made it to the coast again, and had some real R&R and a time a debrief.

Day 15: fun at the beach- it was so relaxing. The water was perfect. I did not want to get out...but we had a nice dinner that last night and enjoyed our time...

Day 16: traveled home- to Redcliffe- it was only about 5 hours, pretty short drive after the 10/11 hour travel days.

I know that this is long, but at least now you'll get a sense of what we did...this was my second trip and Lord willing I will go again. I love the people of these communities- and what a blessing to minister with indigenous people.

Thanksgiving in Australia- as you can see I am way behind

So, I have been without the internet on my laptop since I moved out of my other house in Sept. so it has been very difficult to post anything. I finally am back in the game so I will work my way through updating things.

This one is about Thanksgiving. Yes, I know that was a while ago, but I still thought it would be nice to talk about the American Thanksgiving that I had here in Australia with some of my friends....

As November rolls around each year, I am often asked about Thanksgiving- why we celebrate it and what is all this talk about the food. I have been in Australia for nearly 5 years now and have not been in the USA for Thanksgiving since. So, for selfish reasons and so that I could properly show some Aussie's what it is all about... we had Thanksgiving.. turkey and all the trimmings (though not all easy to come by). The turkey itself was just a turkey breast, because that is all they have. I guess Aussie's don't eat much of it... in fact one friend had it for the first time. And I won't even go into how I was able to get a tin of pumpkin for pumpkin pie, but all I can say is that God provided that one.

All this to say, it was a great time with friends, but through it all, it got me thinking, why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? I mean, I know how it started... the pilgrims were thankful to the 'Indians' for welcoming them and showing them how to live off of the land. Maybe I am wrong, but I sure think that that is how/why it started. But if in deed that is the reason, it just made me very sad to think that we still carry on with all the traditions, down to what food is served for a Thanksgiving dinner. And yes, I hope that we all take time to be thankful for the many blessings that we have because we are indeed blessed.... but let's think about how it all started, and where we as a country (USA) are with the Native Americans now. They were so welcoming to us, but look at how we treat them now... is this really the way we want to say thank you? Please note that I say we as a country, because I know that many reading this actually do love them and have a heart for the Native Americans.... however, it did make me think, and admitedly a bit shamed to explain how Thanksgiving started.... knowing how things are now.... just my thoughts. We did have a great time with great friends.