My Christmas Confessions!!

Boy, it’s only three days to Christmas, and I really haven’t caught the Chrissie spirit yet.

Normally I will have some great inspiration and a theme to follow. But not this year!! Life has been so hectic with moving my sister-in-law into our place.

(For those who don’t know, this year we’ve helped her sell her house, to get her out of a financial hole.  The house sold a few weeks ago, and she and her two girls have moved in with us, which has made things a bit crammed.  But the financial pressure is off!!)

Anyhow, with all that activity, we haven’t had time to think about Christmas.

The move has been good, and we are all managing to fit in together. It’s just that Christmas is not fitting into the schedule as well.

I was feeling guilty that I didn’t feel more inspired and “spiritual”. But as I think of it, weren’t things much the same for Mary and Joseph??

How would they have been able to fit Christmas into their busy schedule that year?? There was that big journey to make, and the imminent arrival of the baby, and what would happen if the baby was born while they were away?

Things were not really very convenient, were they?

But God has a way of entering into our lives in the most unusual ways. Even when things don’t seem convenient, we find out that they were all a part of HIS purpose. He knows how to fit all things together!!!

So, why do we worry and fuss about things?

I think I’ll just kick back and enjoy Christmas when it comes, and celebrate my Saviour’s birthday!! And what does it matter if everything isn’t in place?

It had seemed that way for Mary and Joseph, but really they were. God had had it all in place from the creation of the world. It was all a fulfillment of HIS plan.

And, for us, it is the same!!! HE has is all in place!!!

So pleased don’t be worried if your Christmas plans aren’t coming together….

Check Out JJ and His Birds!

Click on the image for a PICTURE SHOW!

My three darlings!! 🙂 That’s my boy, JJ, with his NEW birds!

Would you believe I used to carrying him around on my hip and take him down in the bush to look at and listen to the birds? When he was about three, he used to know the names of all the birds that were around, and he knew their calls too.

I think he’s pretty pleased to have TWO BIRDS in one go!!

(BTW, here in Oz, GIRLS are often referred to as “birds”!)

BEE Happy!!

Don’t worry, BEE happy now!

A Night Prayer

I just received this in an email.
Thought it was so good, that I wanted to share it with you all.

Dear Lord

Every single evening
As I’m lying here in bed,
This tiny little Prayer
Keeps running through my head:

God bless all my family
Wherever they may be,
Keep them warm and safe from harm
For they’re so close to me.

And God, there is one more thing
I wish that you could do;
Hope you don’t mind me asking,
Please bless my computer too.

Now I know that it’s unusual
To Bless a motherboard,
But listen just a second
While I explain it to you, Lord.

You see, that little metal box
Holds more than odds and ends;
Inside those small compartments
Rest so many of my friends.

I know so much about them
By the kindness that they give,
And this little scrap of metal
Takes me in to where they live.

By faith is how I know them
Much the same as you
We share in what life brings us
And from that our friendships grew.

Please take an extra minute
From your duties up above,
To bless those in my address book
That’s filled with so much love.

Wherever else this prayer may reach
To each and every friend,
Bless each e-mail inbox
And each person who hits “send”.

When you update your Heavenly list
On your own Great CD-ROM,
Bless everyone who says this prayer
Sent up to GOD.com

Amen

Dirty Dishes and Devotions

Today, is my second day into getting my house in order.

Flickr and other things on the net slowed me down a bit with getting started. So it was nearly lunch time before I even looked at doing anything in the house.

The pile of dirty dishes in the sink made me feel guilty. Well, better later than never, I thought. So I got stuck into them. And to make the task seem more enjoyable, I decided to turn on the radio to the Christian station.

Some nice praise and worship music was good. And then what followed was the message I really needed today. At 12:30 Joyce Meyer came on, and her message today was “Free to Be All You Can Be”. It was really the medicine the doctor ordered.

Anyhow, I did a search on the Internet, and have found that message and the whole series online. So this arvo, while I have sorted through junk, I’ve been able to listen to the WHOLE series.

If you haven’t heard her this past week, I would highly recommend it. Just go here: Freedom Series by Joyce Meyer.

And today’s message that had an impact and was so freeing to me: Free to Be All You Can Be – Part 2.

And may you be blessed as much as I was.

Just a final thought….
…. Isn’t it wonderful how God arranges everyday circumstances so that He can bless us? If I’d done the dishes earlier as I thought I should have, I wouldn’t have heard Joyce. So who was making me feel guilty?

Oh, and just ONE more thing….

…. I made good headway today in getting the mess cleaned up in the house. 🙂

A $$$ Lesson!

Boy, I made a DOOZIE today!! A COSTLY doozie!!

But yet a MOST valuable lesson!

In recent years, since the kids have gotten older and more independent, I’ve launched out into graphic design. We’ve been in the sign industry since we were married, 23 years ago, with Phil doing the majority of the artistic work. I just did the accounts and all the secretarial stuff for the business. But now, I’m able to put my creative talents to use as well, and generate more income for the business.

Except for TODAY!!!

Over the past couple of weeks I’d been working on an A4 broucher. The customer wanted 10,000 of them and they were his main source of advertising. Well, after much diligent work, I got them to the point where they looked pretty good. I was happy with them, AND the customer was happy. So I sent them off to the printers. All was going well and to plan …. so far!!

Well, they came back from the printers today. They looked FANTASTIC! So at lunch time I decided to ring the customer to let him know they’d arrived and I’d deliver them in a couple of hours time.

So I dialed the number that I had on the broucher, and get a message, “Your call could not be connected. Please check the number and try again.”

Guess what? I had the phone number wrong!! The last digit was a “2” instead of a “1”.

But everything else was right and it looked wonderful. What was wrong with just one little “1”?

EVERYTHING!!!!!!!

So I looked at our options. Thought of getting a sticker over it, and did some pricing on that. But really that wouldn’t be good enough. It would look patchy. And the customer, who was very kind about the whole deal, is not happy to have a sticker.

So now, guess what?

Yeah, I have to get the whole 10,000 printed AGAIN!!!… with the RIGHT phone number this time! 😦

But this has been valuable life lesson, in more ways than one….

….. ’cause it got me thinking about other things in life.

How often we strive and strive. We do our very best, but somehow it never seems good enough. We always seem to miss the mark…. always fall short.

And you know what? We might also try our very best to please God. But our BEST is NEVER good enough. We may think, “Hey, that’s not fair of God. Can’t He see I’m at least trying?”

Well in the Bible, that’s what “sin” means. It is missing the mark, falling short of the goal. And with God, as with my brouchers, near enough is NOT good enough. The Bible says that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Our good works will NEVER cut it for us.

Well then, how do we ever get right with God? Will he EVER be pleased with us?

Well hey, I have GOOD NEWS!!!!!! The answer is YES!!! There IS a way! And Jesus is THAT way!

He, the Son of God, who was spotless and without sin, and who always pleased the Father, came to earth as a man. He lived a sinless life, and then He gave His life for us, by dying on the cross for us to pay the penalty for our sin (our shortcoming), so that we could have relationship with the Father. He died for our sin. He took ALL the rap for us, so that we could be FORGIVEN. Then He rose to life so that we could be FREE!!!

That is what is called GRACE! We are made right with God, not through anything we can do, BUT through what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross. All WE have to do is BELIEVE it. 🙂

As the Bible says:

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NLT)

To read more about this, go to Romans 3:9-31 and Ephesians 2:1-10.

So, the lesson for ME!? I’ve learned I am NOT good enough. No matter how hard I try, I will NEVER be good enough. My efforts will NEVER please God. All I can do is call on HIS mercy, and say, “God I need Your help! I can’t do it on my own. Thank you for Your grace. Thank you Jesus that you have paid the price for me. I stand before God in Your righteousness, and not in my own. You took my place, and You stand in my place before God, the Father. So I believe in YOU!!”

Corollas > Major League Baseball > Silver Jags

Now, this happened yesterday, and it’s SO funny!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. One thing I’ve learned though, is that it’s OKAY TO DREAM. And aren’t dreams wonderful?

It all started yesterday afternoon. JJ, my son, and his mate, Mazey (that’s what they call him), were needing a ride to another mate’s place. So we all jump in my ’83 Corolla. JJ even let me drive. Lately, HE’s been driving the Corolla, because his Commodore is off the road at present…. another story.

Boy, it was SO good to get behind the wheel again, and I told JJ so. He then says to me, “Hey Mum, you’ve got your dream car. I don’t need to buy you one.”

The he proceeded to tell me about how he and Mazey want to play Major League Baseball in America. And when he makes it to the Major League, he’ll buy each of us our dream car. But apparently, I don’t need one.

Now the fact that he’d want to play professional baseball is an amusing story in itself. So I had better tell it.

You see, here in Oz, it’s always been CRICKET of us, ESPECIALLY for JJ. As a kid, his ultimate dream was to play cricket for Australia. All summer his life revolved around cricket, with a bit of surfing here and there.

But what does a cricketer do in the winter time?

Well, last year he was asked to play for the local baseball team. Even though he’d never play the game before, and he didn’t have a clue about the rules, he agreed to play. At least it involved a bat and a ball. It was so funny to start with. He’d go in and hit the ball when they told him to, and then run when they said so. Surprisingly, he did very well. He made it to the regional rep team and played in a couple of games away. And at the end of the season, he was runner-up for Rookie of the Year.

So, can you imagine how amazed I was yesterday, when he talked about his aspiration to play baseball in the States. Apparently, he’s learned a lot about the game in the past twelve months. Now he’s really hooked on it. However, it IS winter and there’s no CRICKET. Things might change again in the summer. 🙂

Anyhow, getting back to my Corolla, my “dream car”. I really didn’t think it was fair that I should miss out on a new car. Then I figured, I could bless a mate with this one. So I wrote to a good mate in America, and asked him two questions:

• “What is your dream car? (I want to know.)”
• “What are the best Major League Baseball teams in the States? (JJ wants to know.)”

I then proceeded to tell him about JJ’s high aspirations. I said that if JJ makes it to the Major League, and if he cooks him a few burgers, I’d get JJ to buy him his dream car.

Well, my friend’s DREAM dream car, he says, would be a silver Jag! But right now, his PRACTICAL dream car – the car he would love to figure out a way to buy right now (because they like and it’s relatively cheap) – is a silver Chevrolet Cobalt.

Now, this is where the story gets REALLY interesting!

After mentioning that, my friend had to go and pick up one of the kids. On the way back and as they rounded the corner a block from home, guess what they saw parked in front of their house?

A SILVER JAG!!!!!!!!

Just like something out of a fairy tale!! You make a wish, and there it appears!! 🙂

And later, when he went walkies with the dogs, that silver Jag was still mysteriously parked in front of their house!!!! And in the very spot where they park THEIR cars!!!

His first question was:

“YOU AND YOUR FLICKR FRIENDS AREN’T THAT CONNECTED ARE YOU???!!!” (My Flickr friends would understand what that means.) 🙂

I pleaded NOT GUILTY!!!

But as I think about it, it IS a blessing from the Lord.

NO, He didn’t give my friend a silver Jag, but He sent one along. just like it was his to look at for a day. 🙂

It’s reminds of our lorikeets that come to our verandah everyday. They were never around until last August. We’d never fed them before. But it’s like a blessing from the Lord…. something He’s sent for us to enjoy.

And all it costs us is some bread and honey. Truly amazing!!! And now pics of our birds have gone all around the world and been a blessing to many. And the Lord has used them to share the gospel.

How NEAT is that?

So, as I see it, the blessings of God are just something God gives us. And not something we’ve had to work for. And they’re things we don’t deserve.

But gee, what a shame my friend’s camera was broken. 😦 I would have loved to see a photo.

And hey, I do think the Lord has a sense of humor!! I imagine Him sitting up there with a big smile on His face!!

I reckon this one is really neat!! 😀

Hey!! You know what else this tells me???

It’s OKAY TO DREAM!!!

Now practically speaking, it is highly unlikely for my friend to own a silver Jag. Also, the chance of JJ making it to the Major League in the States, is extremely slim.

But still, you never know. Stranger things have happened, and mostly for those who have had a dream.

But dreams take us beyond the ordinary, and they give us something to aspire for. Even if we don’t make it, the dream is still good. Very often, God has something else in store. And then again, very often, God puts dreams in our hearts. Just take a look at Joseph and David.

So, I do believe that the silver Jag was God’s way of letting my friend know that God does WANT to bless him. He knows that deep down, for practical reasons, my friend doesn’t really want a silver Jag. Besides it probably wouldn’t look right in his driveway at the moment… not until the renovations are done, at least. 🙂

But I’m sure he did like looking at it. So the Lord put it there for him to enjoy. God LOVES to bless His kids!! I reckon He’s pretty neat!!!

I’m sitting here smiling about the whole incident. I reckon it’s a real BLOW-OUT!!!!!!! 😀

Hey, how COOL is our God!!?? 8)

3 BAGS FULL!!

A friend of mine has just started playing a little BLESSING game.

Every evening, before you go to bed, think of three special blessings God has given you that day. I started playing too, and it’s really neat.

But then I got thinking. Often at the end of the day, we look back and see all the things we didn’t do. Admittedly we need to come to God and ask Him to reveal our sins and ways we may have fallen short. And when we confess them He forgives us, and He cleanses us from all wrong doing.

But sometimes we still hang onto them and go on a guilt trip, and beat ourselves about how we should have done better. And THAT is not good.

So I got an idea how we can counteract that. Why not think of 3 things we’ve accomplished that day? They need not be BIG things. Even little things will do. Then we go to sleep with a sense of accomplishment.

So now, we have 3 BLESSINGS + 3 ACCOMPLISHMENTS. That sounds pretty good, eh?

But then I got thinking again. “3 x 2” just didn’t seem right. “3 x 3” would be MUCH better. So as I thought some more, I thought why not 3 GOALS for tomorrow? Three things you want to or need to get done. This gives you a purpose to wake up to.

So now we have:

3 BLESSINGS,
3 ACCOMPLISHMENTS, and
3 GOALS.

See 3 BAGS FULL!!!!

So at the end of the day, we rest well in God’s blessings. We can be satisfied that we have accomplished something good. And we can know we will awake with a fresh purpose in the morning.

I pray that you are as blessed by this as much as I am.  🙂

Keep the Customer Satisfied!!

I often think of that song by Simon and Garfunkel.  Sometimes I can really relate to these lines:

And I’m one step ahead of the shoe shine
Two steps away from the county line
Just trying to keep my customers satisfied,
Satisfied.

And boy, sometimes I don’t like it!!

Yeah, today was one of those days where things don’t turn out as you’d expect.  I had what seemed a simple task to do of designing a couple of simple business cards for a customer.  Should knock it over pretty quickly, so I thought!!

But nope!!!  Didn’t happen like that!!!  I struggled all afternoon to make one of them look right.  I eventually did get it finished and the proof sent off to the customer.  Hope he likes it, and I don’t have to make any more changes on it!

So why did I struggle with this?  Why did it seem so hard?

Then at other times when I’m having fun fiddling around with my photos I get a brilliant idea for something inspirational, and then within half an hour I’ve got the thing done.  IT’S EASY!!!!!!

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE??

I’m sure there’s others of you who can relate.

Why do we sometimes struggle like that with work?

I put it down to one of two things.  Either God hasn’t meant us to do it, or the enemy is putting a blockage in the way to stop us doing the thing that God wants.

Or could it be, that might we try to do in our own strength, and in our own strength we’re pretty lousy at it?  But when God is behind it, it flows easily!?  So the work is not ours but God’s.  It is He Who equips us.

And regarding creativity, I’m reminded of Bezalel and Aholiab in the Old Testament.  Do you know those guys?

Well, God called them as artisans for the building of the tabernacle.

They were filled with “the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels of setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship….
…. I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you.”  (See Exodus 31:1-11)

It seems to me, that when I do something for God, it works, but when I try to do it for myself or for money, it doesn’t come easily.

Did the Lord allow me to struggle today to show me something?

Love to hear your thoughts!!!

Proverbs and Riches?

Tonight, I was presented with this question:

On reading through Proverbs, over and over it says things like, “The righteous will be blessed,” “Work hard and you will be wealthy.” Basically, “God will bless the wise, and they will be happy and rich.” Or, even more basically, “If you are good, your life will go well.”

So, if you’re a Christian, and you’re not happy and rich, what does that mean? It seems there are three possibilities.

• You are poor and struggling because you aren’t working hard enough.
• Or, you are poor and struggling because you aren’t good enough.
• Or, the promises in Proverbs DO have exceptions. The Godly just won’t always be rich – for other reasons. The promises in Proverbs are not ALWAYS true.