Category Archives: Life

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Posted in Life by

Psalm 139

1 You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand —
    when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Thankful for so much

Posted in Family, Food, Friendship, Life by

Wow, I am really behind… my crazy busy life has taken over and once again my blog has been neglected… but I am back… perhaps just to come up for some air before I disappear again, but hopefully not.

So because I promised to do this weekly, three weeks ago and I have done nothing, I thought I would do a catch me up with a ‘forever grateful Friday’… all part of fixing my attitude and keeping my eyes focused on the blessings I have, rather than the hurdles I have to jump.  Oh and just FYI they probably won’t all be this detailed:

1. Friends and Focus
On Easter Saturday Dave and I got to spend some time with the youth leadership team from church, planning, brainstorming and goal setting for our church’s youth and young adult ministry.  It was really nice to be able to share our past trials and victories together, but even more importantly to imagine what could be, and to start the ball rolling towards these.  Oh and even though my brain hurt by the end it was a fantastic day with an even more fantastic group of people.

2. Surprise Family Encounters
On Easter Sunday, Dave and I headed to Leongatha salvos for morning church and we got there we bumped into my grandparents, my aunt and uncle and their kids, which while in hindsight it perhaps isn’t surprising as I knew they were down at Inverloch, it was still a pleasant surprise, and there is just something really special about celebrating days like Easter Sunday with family.  We also got to have an impromptu chinese lunch which was delicious.

3. Birthday goodness.
What’s not to love about your birthday (apart from the getting older bit)… nothing… that what.  In true Emma style I did a million things for my birthday, a movie and dinner with Dave, breakfast with mum and Jake, dinner with Dad and Jake and a dinner with friends.  An awesome Zumba gift, an impromptu cake and a delicious cake from carousel with the biscuit bits… best husband ever.  Oh and a kindle that is coming… I am thankful already.

4. For more than a house
On my birthday I said goodbye to my old family holiday house, the one that holds many memories and have helped Inverloch become so special to me and most who know me.  I was sad to say goodbye as I tend to get attached to things a little too often.  I will miss the love hearts Pa used to mow into the backyard for gran, I will miss the awkward stairwell, I will miss the uncomfortable, yet practical fold out bed.  I will miss the stories that each room tells, like the spare room with the patched up door for a duplow box assault and eski made bedside table in my parents room.  It will be strange not to look down the street and see who else is in Inverloch when we walk past, but I am thankful for the house and for the experiences I have shared with it.  I am also thankful that there is still Dad’s place down there so that I can still enjoy the beach and free accommodation… oh and the beach.

 

So April has been pretty choccas… but I am super thankful.

Make me uncomfortable

Sunday night at church we were asked the question what does Easter mean to you… for someone that calls themselves a Christian you would think that this was an easy enough question, but it’s actually been playing on my mind all week… what does Easter really mean to me? And I think unfortunately Easter for me has become a tradition rather than a revelation.

Easter is the best part of my whole life story, the part that means I am not eternally stuffed, but instead I have eternal life because of Jesus’ sacrifice, yet more often then not I forget about the true meaning of Easter and get more excited about the chocolate and depending when Easter falls, my birthday. I take the story and the event completely for granted.

It makes me quite sad that this is the case, but I think that I am not alone, and I think that the reality is because I live in a good country, where I want for very little and life is pretty good, I have become comfortable, comfortable with what I have, what I can do, and where my life is heading, my faith in God is a choice yes, but one that I find I can separate from my life if I want to, which is terrible.

The reality of the Easter story is uncomfortable, it says that I caused this, my sin killed him, but he did it because he still loves me. The Easter story also highlights my laziness in telling others about God, because if I let the Easter story in all it’s fullness invade my life, the reality of life and death, heaven and hell is more real then ever before and it hurts, so its easier just to take the chocolate and run.

The other question that has been going around and around is why isn’t Easter as big as Christmas? And in all honesty I think all of the above is part of the reason, the Christmas story is lovely, wholesome and heart-warming (on the outside at least, if you don’t think too closely about the reality of giving birth in a stable, or travelling pregnant on a donkey). But it is all wrapped up nicely with a beautiful baby, some kings, presents and a super duper star and then this is linked to a jolly fat man who brings us lots and lots of gifts. Easter doesn’t have that, sure there is a fluffy bunny, some baby birds and a ton of chocolate but it is tied together with a man, an innocent man dying brutally on a cross because we stuffed it… it’s not really your feel good story of the year, on the surface anyway.

The reality is though, it’s the most beautiful love story ever told, a man lays down his life so that I can live, so that you can live… so that we don’t have to pay the price for what we have done. But it’s a story that forces us out of the comfortable spot that we live in… it challenges us, but instead it should give us hope…

Anyway, I guess what I really wanted to get at is this Easter I am praying that God will make me uncomfortably with my apathy towards the story, with my reluctance to share and that I will be moved once again by the amazing sacrifice and gift that I have been given and that I will share it.

I want to look past the traditions, the hot cross buns and the eggs, but into my daily walk with and what the eternal consequences of it actually are… I hope you want this for your Easter too.

What happened to March?

Posted in Exercise, Family, Food, Friendship, Life, The List by

So seeing as another month has flown by I thought I would give a little list update to tell you about the things that I have done from my 2012 list this month, and a few in Feb, which I haven’t had a chance to share yet… so here they are in list order…

31. Go to the museum – completed 11.2.12 with Davo… and education and enjoyable day!

42. Finish unpacking my stuff in the study – completed 3.3.12 also with Davo.  This ‘little’ task turned out to be a little more complicated then I had originally thought as while I tidied the study and unpacked boxes, Davo swapped our mattress over which took a lot of manuvering, but I was very appreciative. Now that I have crossed this off I can now say I have unpacked from Castlemaine… it’s only take 18months… but it is done.

72. Have a hot Jam Donut
73. Go to a football game both of these occurred together on 10.3.12, as they should, in the company of my brothers and Davo… it may have only been a nab cup game, but the hawks still dominated, buddy kicked some freak goals and the dees got done… it doesn’t get much better than that.

76. Go for a term without Maccas… completed term 1 2012… 1.2.12-30.3.12… the unexpected struggle is documented here and this is the satisfying burger once the term was done… Oh and with my return to Maccas I was pleasantly surprised by the return of the 30c cone… good job maccas!

And last but not least

84. Do 3 exercise classes… I have now down more than that, mostly in the form of Zumba, but I can safely cross it off the list – completed 6.3.12.

So there you go… those are the things that didn’t quite make a blog of their own… but you got to share them with me now…

Oh and its now 26 things down and 74 to go…

Three 11year old girls and Taylor

Posted in Family, Life, The List by

I feel like time is flying… seriously flying I should have blogged about this two weeks ago but I never got a chance so here it is now… better late than never I guess.

I love country music, something that I was originally ashamed of, but something which I now embrace completely.  And one thing I have learnt is that more often than not country artists, maybe all artists are better in real life than on the cd, there is just something about hearing them live.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I was given the opportunity to go and see Taylor Swift’s concert but it came with a catch, a catch which I think in the end made it even more special than it ever could have been without it.  I got a ticket to see Taylor Swift on the condition that I accompanied my younger cousin and her two best friends to see her too, so that their mothers and fathers didn’t have to.  This was an offer that was too good to refuse… I love Taylor Swift so getting to go to her concert was very exciting and taking the girls certainly didn’t bother me, it was a win win situation.

This was their first live music concert and it was very very very exciting.  As we arrived the girls were desperate for the merchandise they had been investigating on the internet, so we joined the queue of what felt like hundreds of people all franticly trying to get that t-shirt with Taylor’s face on it.  Once we finally had the desired purchases, a little something to eat and a quick trip to the toilet we found our seats.  As Taylor came out onto the stage I watched as the girls faces lit up.  At one point there was even tears of joy, they were so excited, they sang, they cheered, they oo’d and aahh’d and it was the best.   I felt really privileged to share this moment with them as they experienced the joy of live music for the first time.

The concert would have been great if Taylor just stood there and sang, but what made it even better for me, and for the girls were the sets, costumes, dances just the whole creative production that was the concert.  There were balconies, staircases, aerobics, you name it, and it was in the show this meant that my memorable evening helped me to cross two things of my list… 28. Go and hear live music and 19. See some fire works… that’s right I even got to see fireworks during the concert… it was very very cool.

And to answer the question would I take three screaming 11year old girls to a concert again… absolutely!

Fixing my attitdue

Posted in Faith, Family, God, Life by

So I have something exciting to share with you… it turns out my husband is a lot wiser than I thought. Seriously no sarcasm intended… he is really wise. He has been writing this blog called ‘just a thought’ for a while now and each time he posts something I learn something… I think he is on to a winner… so if you are looking for some interesting thoughts… check his blog out… seriously do it… you won’t regret it.

Another wise man has been sharing some rather wise words in the form of a podcast I have been listening to this week. I have been listening to Steven Furtick speak at Life Church about the favour of God and what it means to walk in the favour of God. I have found it quite challenging, which was quite unexpected, because normally when I think of the Favour of God I think of it raining down blessings of all kinds. In fact, to be honest, I normally get a little sceptical when people start talking about the favour of God, because it makes me think of prosperity gospels and doing things so God gives you stuff, but usually it’s a feel good message so I gave it a crack. But that’s not what it is about at all… seriously the favour of God could not be further from that. Sure while you are walking in the favour of God you might get some good stuff, your blessings may increase but that’s not the point… the favour of God doesn’t mean favors from God… in fact Steven defined favour as:

The guarantee of His presence and the provision of His power to accomplish His special purpose, in and through my life.

Pretty cool ey? I really like it… The other thing that hit me was the attitude it should come with, Steven talked about the fact that lots of people walk around doing life and when bad stuff happens they say things like ‘that would only happen to me” or “that’s the story of my life” but if that’s the way we are thinking then we need to get a new writer/director… because our current is terrible! Instead we should be waking up in the morning saying “I wonder what blessings God is going to give me today” or “I wonder how I will see God working today”, we should have a grateful attitude as gratitude is the gateway to favour.

This really made me think, I have been guilty of having a ‘woe is me and my life’ frame of mind for probably a couple of years now, granted I have encountered some pretty life altering events and some of them haven’t been that awesome… in fact some of them have been less than average. But through this I have come to expect that I will always get the rough deal, that me, and my family are destined to have second best, to always be facing something bad and that when things are looking good for once, not to get too excited because it probably means that the next disaster is about to strike. This is a terrible way to live… and it doesn’t really scream hope, faith, love, grace and favour… in fact it pretty much says doubt. I know I have blogged about changing my attitude before and it probably seems like I just round in circles, which is probably true in many ways, but I think each time I go round I get a bit better at taking steps in the right direction. I need to start living like God likes me, like really does have something special for me to do, which he does, like he loves me and wants the best for me, which he does, like all things will work for good, for those who love the lord and are called according to his purpose, which I am and he will. I need to get thankful, like really thankful, not just for the big things, but for the little things too, in fact for everything (because he is worthy). I need to expect wonderful, powerful, amazing stuff all the time, I need to trust that even if I can’t see, I’m in his favour so I am safe, secure and heading in the right direction, and I need to do this consistently… I need to life the bar of expectation for my life… and when/if… no, when the bad stuff comes, be thankful for the people, the prayer, the power that I have been given to lift me out…

So one of the things I am going to do to help me be more consistent is get more thankful, like really thankful because I am and I should be! So one day each week I am going to stop and take a moment to post about the things I thankful for, it might just be a wordless Wednesday, or it might be a day of its own, perhaps marvelous Monday… Or something along those lines, either way, when ever it is it will be full of thanks, not just for big things but for all the small things too… I am going to share the favour that have received… And slowly but surely my attitude will change… I hope… but just to get me started, I super thankful for God’s beautiful earth… how’s this for favour…

massivebeautifulfavour.jpg