Tag Archives: christianity

Winds of change

Posted on by

I have a love/hate relationship with the wind, which I can directly attribute to my childhood.

As a chronic asthmatic, I spent more than the average amount of time indoors, while my brother and sister played outside. Growing up in Tasmania, and on a big piece of the bush, playing outside was what we loved to do. But for me, the cold Tasmania weather, particularly the icy winds that would blow, was not very friendly to my little lungs. I can still hear plain as day my mother saying “No, you can’t go outside today, you’ll get wheezy.” And the others would don coats and gumboots and eagerly venture outside while I had to find something ‘quiet’ to do inside. To be fair to my mum, it often meant I was included in the weekly baking of bread and other yummy things, so don’t feel too sorry for me :)

But I still have a wariness about the wind, and about going out in it. I have been left with the feeling that the wind is not ‘safe’. Now that my asthma is not a problem, I am certainly free to enjoy the outdoors as much as I like. So, when it’s windy, I am torn between going outside because I can, and loving the feeling of the wind, and staying inside because that feels more familiar.

As it was a particularly windy day yesterday, it got me thinking about the winds of change. I love the expression ‘winds of change’ even though I really don’t know where it came from. I love change, but I’m reluctant about wind. It reminds me that to have change, we need the wind in life.

In the natural, wind can blow rain away, it can blow away dust and clear the horizon. It can carry the scent of blossoms and spring. It can also blow roofs off, pick things up and cause damage. It can blow leaves and sticks into our freshly cleaned pool. It can blow sand in our eyes and blow our hats off. It can snatch the breath from our mouth and make us gasp. And it can make us stretch out our arms and run, invigorated.

Wind can be contrary. It is untamed and uncontrollable.

The winds of change can bring joy and sorrow, heartache and triumph.

For me personally, the winds of change are beginning to blow. And I’m feeling the first breeze on my cheek with anxious anticipation.

Will I stay inside and try to ignore it till it’s gone, or will I venture outside and embrace its freshness?

What do you do when the winds of change begin to blow?

Bravery.

Posted on by

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~ Martin Luther King Jr

Last night, Graham, my dad, Charli, a friend of hers and I went to see Trade of Innocents, a movie about the sex slave industry, particularly dealing with underage girls in Asia.

To say it was compelling and confronting would be an understatement. It is profoundly moving, shocking and powerful.

I think it took some guts to watch. I say the statistics about human trafficking and the sex slave industry frequently. I listen to and re-tell the stories. I have my own photos of girls who have been rescued from the hell they show in the movie.

And yet I sat there wanting to get up and leave. I sat there, fists clenched, stomach churning at the pure evil that these girls live through. That these girls are living through right now.

At 40, I have seen some stuff. I have sat with friends as they have described physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their husbands. I’ve felt the pain of others as loved ones pass away. I’ve held the hand of friends whose relationships are falling down around them. I’ve looked into the eyes of a girl who has been repeatedly raped by strangers, forced to perform acts that no decent person would even know existed. And I think I should face these things. I should be willing to look evil in the eye and stare it down.

And yet there was Charli and her friend. Sixteen year olds. Sitting watching a movie that makes no bones about the suffering these girls endure, that did not try to hide or sugar coat what other human beings do to them.

Sixteen year olds who could have been watching the latest hollywood blockbuster. Who could have been at home painting their nails and doing their hair, flicking through magazines and talking about boys.

And there is nothing wrong with any of those things but when given a choice, Charli and her friend chose the hard path. The path that many adults will not even acknowledge is there, let alone walk down.

Charli and her friend chose to subject themselves to knowing about the plight of others.

They chose to know.

And once you know something, you can never un-know it. You can never again plead ignorance. You cannot un-see it or un-feel it.

You can never un-know it.

There is one word for Charli and her friend.

Brave.

Are you brave enough to look at the big problems we are facing as a human race? Whether it’s human trafficking, the sex slave industry, extreme poverty, homelessness, teen suicide, alcoholism, drug addiction – it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we be brave enough to look outside ourselves and act.

Will you do it? Will you be brave enough?

 

 

 

Understanding new life

Posted on by

I have never been in any life or death situations, so I can’t fully comprehend the feeling that comes with news of a potential death sentence that is at the last minute revoked.

A friend of mine and her family have been facing this very thing. Their beautiful daughter, diagnosed with leukaemia in August last year, have now been given the news that there are no more leukaemia cells. Their daughter is well on the road to recovery.

Their joy is palpable – their daughter has been given new life! I think I can speak on behalf of all their friends when I say that we share that joy.

On Easter Sunday, we remember and are joyful that through the resurrection of Jesus, we too, have been given new life. Just as my friend’s daughter can now embrace this new lease on life she has been given, we, who call Jesus our Saviour, can too.

When in Thailand, I was struck by the rescued girls level of gratitude and sheer joy for the new life they have been given. Those who have lived through hell on earth, as my friend and her family have, as these girls have, are highly aware of exactly what they have been saved from. There is a depth to their thankfulness that those of us who have not had such experiences would do well to emulate.

It’s easy to dismiss the resurrection as just another Sunday, even easy to recognise that we have been given new life and acknowledge it, easy to accept the new life and….easy to live with not much thanks for that.

The enormity of being given new life is real to those who fully understand it.

One of the problems with the Western church is we don’t fully understand what we have been saved from. We haven’t grasped the fact that we needed saving.

We say “I got saved” instead of “Jesus saved me”.

We still think we have a part to play in our own salvation.

My friend would not say that it was her who gave her daughter new life, she would give all the credit to the donor, and the doctors – her job was to trust they would do what needed to be done. The rescued girls don’t credit themselves for the new life they now live, they credit the Destiny Rescue staff and God – all they needed to do was trust that what was offered was true.

Likewise, we need to understand the situation we are in, and then trust that the new life we are offered by the resurrection is true.

It’s nothing to do with us. It’s not our efforts that give us new life but the wonder of resurrection.

 

 

A very Good Friday

Posted on by

When I was little, I could never understand why Good Friday was called ‘good’, after all, to my six year old brain, it wasn’t good at all. It was rather awful and sad and distressing.

Somewhere along the way, I came to understand the ‘good’ side of it and with that understanding, came an even greater appreciation of it – Someone died, bearing the full brunt of all my failings and shortcomings. Yes, a very Good Friday indeed.

I’m sure you all know the message of Easter, have heard it repeatedly, so I’m not going to write a whole post telling you what you already know.

But, I would encourage you to watch this clip. It will only take seven minutes but it could change your whole life.

 

Snowpeas and strawberries

Posted on by

I am sooooo glad all that rain is finally over but one thing it has been good for is the garden. Our veggie patch is currently empty, with lots of lovely fertilizer that has been getting very soggy and breaking down nicely due to the copious amount of water.

Last year we had two of my favourite things growing – snowpeas and strawberries. Both these plants could be picked by anyone at will and eaten right there in the garden.

When I looked out my kitchen window, I could often see a lovely red strawberry, bright against the deep green leaves, just waiting to be plucked and consumed. It was so easy to see the fruit that they often didn’t last long!

Snowpeas, on the other hand, we had to search for, being the same colour as the leaves and stems of the vine. Often I found this frustrating, and sometimes, a snowpea would grow huge and fat because we had missed seeing it for quite awhile.

It’s a bit like people and situations, isn’t it? Some people are like strawberries, bright and flashy and hard to miss. Others are like snowpeas, blending in amongst their circumstances, people who have to be sought to be enjoyed.

Both strawberries and snowpeas are good to eat, just as the bright, colourful person and the shyer, more reserved person are both of equal value.

It’s easy to see the goodness of a strawberry, not so easy with the snowpea. We need to remember to actively look for the goodness in people too. It won’t always be on show, like the vibrant colour of a strawberry, sometimes it’s hidden and camoflauged and we have to really look hard to see the goodness. It’s usually there though, hidden amongst the leaves, it just requires a bit of effort on our part to find it.

We can be easily fooled by a quick glance out our kitchen window. It’s easy to not spend any time actively looking for the good in others, it’s easy to give them a quick glance and make a judgement based on the lack of ‘goodness’ we see.

If we took some time to really look for the snowpeas in life and search out their goodness, we might just find that our world is a better place.

Doing the right thing

Posted on by

I read a little quote the other day by good ole anonymous that I absolutely love. I wish I had thought of it first!

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

It reminded me of a situation our son was in just recently. He needed to leave work early to attend an information session on becoming a fire fighter. Now, obviously, the intent here is that he would ultimately leave the job he is in, to be able to join the fire service.

He was unsure as to how to get an early mark at work without putting his job in jeopardy. The risk, of course, being that once they got wind of his aspirations to join the fire service, he would be dismissed. And as the start date for the fire service, should he be selected, isn’t until June, that would mean quite some weeks with no pay.

We talked around it, under it and over it; we talked about ways to kind of tell the truth but not really, of being evasive and hoping they didn’t ask questions. And yet, we kept coming back to the same conclusion: he had to be honest with his boss and tell him his plans.

I knew that he shouldn’t lie to get the time off – and it turns out, so did he.

He wasn’t willing to compromise his integrity. He wasn’t willing to compromise on his beliefs. If he is wanting to move forward in life with God at the centre, as I know he is, then he needed to stay true to that.

He realised that there is no right way to do the wrong thing.

So often in life we think it’s okay to lie or bend the truth for the ultimate good. And it’s not. It never is.

We excuse our behaviour and our actions because we think that the ends justify the means. They don’t.

Ultimately, the wrong thing is the wrong thing, no matter how much we try to do it the right way.

And you know what? Our son was honest about what he wanted the time off for and he got it. And he still got to keep his job, too. Because more often than not, God honours our uncompromising stance on even the smallest issue, when the world would tell us it is okay to compromise. God sees our hearts, and in this case, He saw the heart of an upright young man who was willing to do the right thing, no matter the consequences.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

A little bit of clarity

Posted on by

I turned the big 4-0 mid last year. And then somewhere between May and December my arms seemed to get shorter. I couldn’t seem to hold anything far enough away to be able to read the words properly.

Yes, you guessed it, I needed reading glasses :)

Once I had them, I couldn’t believe how much clearer things were. The words on the screen and on the pages of a book were actually sharp and clear and not some crazy new font where each letter had a fuzzy outline after all!

All it took to see more clearly was one visit to somebody who knew how to fix the fuzziness.

Sometimes in life, we can’t see clearly either – we are too close to situations to see a way out of them; we are too emotionally involved to think logically; or we are too caught up trying to fix things that we can miss obvious solutions.

Sometimes, we need someone else to bring clarity, just like a simple visit to the optometrist did for me.

Sometimes, we need something, or someone, outside of ourselves to bring things into focus.

When life gets fuzzy, we all have ways we try to regain focus. From crazy exercise regimes, overeating, undereating, overworking to alcohol, drugs, psychics, star signs – we have a myriad of ways to try and ‘fix’ the lack of clarity in our lives.

To me that’s a bit like putting on someone else’s glasses. Usually, it makes things look a whole lot worse. So we are right in that we need glasses but wrong in where we are seeking the clarity.

When life gets fuzzy for me, there is only One who can bring my life back into perfect focus.

How about you? Are you putting on someone else’s glasses and expecting them to make it all clear?

Why not go to the greatest optometrist of all? The One who is actually the only one qualified to make it all clear.

Ten fantastic things about the rain.

Posted on by

Normally, I love the rain but even a diehard nature loving, optimistic, romantic has their limits.

The Great Southeast has been pummelled lately, and quite frankly, I think I can speak for everyone and say we’ve had enough.

Everything feels damp. The sky is dull. Mud keeps getting tracked through the house. Tempers are frayed with too much ‘inside’ time (and that’s just us parents!). The dogs won’t pee outside lest their little puds get wet and muddy, which means lots of *beeped out* cries from unsuspecting family members who unwittingly step in a warm puddle.

Ah, yes. I am quite ready for the sun to come out, thank you very much.

But, because I do always try to look on the bright side, here are ten FANTASTIC things about unending rain:

  1. Drying clothes via the dryer becomes a necessity rather than a luxury ie I save time by not having to hang the clothes out PLUS they don’t need ironing. Double bonus.Dryer
  2. My newly fertilized veggie patches are getting a nice soaking.Veggie boxes
  3. The grass is growing. (This might be a downside for those who have to mow it, but for me, I like seeing the lush green carpet outside.)grass
  4. Catching up on blog reading.catch up
  5. Sunday morning sleep-ins are nice and cosy.bed
  6. Copious amounts of hot tea and coffee are pretty much obligatory in this weather.coffee
  7. Children get creative and make ‘stuff’.craft
  8. Games get dusted off and played.UNO
  9. Blog posts get written :) blog
  10. Books get read. (and snacks are allowed to be eaten in the lounge room!)reading

This was surprisingly hard…I thought once I started I would get on a roll and be fine. I couldn’t get past number two for about half an hour.

What’s your favourite thing about the rain? I clearly need some help!

 

What’s on your spirit shelf?

Posted on by

While in Thailand, I wanted to know as much about Buddhism as anyone was willing to tell me. I am fascinated by other belief systems and why people believe what they do.

One of the things I quickly realised is that Buddhism in Thailand is quite different to what we think of as Buddhism here. In Christianity, there is a major component of grace – you could even say that is the fundamental tenet that Christianity is built on. There is nothing that even closely resembles grace in true Buddhism. It is very much based on ‘what you get is what you deserve’ and earning your way to a better life, whereas grace is really getting what you don’t deserve and could never earn.

Up close, Buddhism isn’t warm and fuzzy with people exercising immense tolerance of others, not harming any living thing or living in a constant state of serenity. I found it to be harsh, ruthless and unyeilding.

My wise 15 year old pointed out that the practise of the religion was like the White Temple. Beautiful from a distance, quite frightening close up.

The White Temple glittering in the sun.

The White Temple glittering in the sun.

There were a lot of these pits depicting hands reaching out from hell.

There were a lot of these pits depicting hands reaching out from hell as well as other grotesque monsters at every turn.

 

The pastor’s wife we were being hosted by put it this way – in the West, Buddhism overlays a base of love, kindness and forgiveness, attributes left over from when the West was classed as Christian. So our Buddhism looks and feel different from what is practised in true Buddhist countries. She also talked about how, conversely, when Christianity is introduced into Buddhist countries, there is a tendency for people to simply add Jesus to their ‘spirit shelf’. He is seen as just another god to pray to, as they are used to having multiple gods/spirits of whom they ask assistance.

I found that so interesting. And realised with alarm but stark clarity, we who call ourselves Christians, are  just the same in the West.

Do I have Jesus as the only One on my spirit shelf? Or is it crowded, buckling under the weight of many gods?

Self. Money. Reputation. Possessions. Looks. Religion. Righteousness. Financial security. Popularity.

Gods, every one of them. And all things we use and turn to in times of need.

I will even go so far as to say that we turn to these things first and that God is waaaaaay down the end of the shelf. Forget being our Plan A, God is often not even our B, C, D, or E.

How does your spirit shelf look? Is there just one God on there, or many?

2013, here I come!

Posted on by

Well, happy new year everyone :)

2012, while not as challenging as 2011, certainly was no picnic, so I am crossing fingers, toes and anything else that will bend that way, for a bigger and better 2013.

If you read my monthly column, or even this blog last year, you might know that I detest new years resolutions (you can read last year’s rant here). I do, however, like goal setting. What the difference is, I’m not quite sure, but we go with what works, don’t we? :)

In just under two weeks, Chalky and I will be up, up and away and in Thailand (you can read about why and how, here), so the year definitely holds an adventure or two for us, that’s for sure.

But what about when we come back? What do I want the rest of the year to look like?

I think there is a strong chance I will come back freshly motivated and enthusiastic to make money. How can I go to a country and be with children who have been sold into the sex slave industry, where most people live in sub-standard (by Western society) conditions and come back wanting to make money?

Easy. I think I will want to increase our income so we can increase theirs. I hope that once I have seen the level of need and talked to staff at Destiny Rescue about what is in high demand, I will come home with a better idea of how to help. My guess is that money is going to be a big factor. In order to give more, I’m going to need more, so I think a renewed passion for our business and how we can increase our own revenue in order to increase our giving, will be likely.

On an individual level, my two goals are to finish the first draft of my novel (my beta readers will be pleased!) and get my final qualifications for Bowen therapy.

There is also one specific change I want to make. I am going to aim at spending 15 minutes a day doing nothing but being. No games on my iphone, no facebook, no book, no music. Just me and….me. I have realised coming into the new year how little I do that. And I have a sneaking suspicion it just might do me good to simply be, even if only for 15 minutes a day.

What are your goals, intentions and plans for this brand spanking new year?