Equip book club

This month Equip book club is looking at My Seventh Monsoon, a book I read a while ago and really enjoyed. It's the story of an Australian family as they minister in Nepal and the struggles and triumphs they encounter there.

Each month Equip book club looks at a different book which is challenging and encouraging to Christian women. However this month they exploring My Seventh Monsoon in a slightly different way; Rachael Connor (whose family are serving in Vanuatu) and Naomi Reed (the author of My Seventh Monsoon) are exchanging letters while reading the book. It looks like it will be really interesting, I urge you to check it out.

Leap

I spend a lot of time standing still (figuratively, that is). I'm often so scared of failure that I don't move beyond what is safe and familiar. Lately I've taken a few leaps - it's scary, but satisfying. You can't be guaranteed that things will work out, sometimes I can't always be sure if I'm doing the right thing. But sometimes falling flat on your face is the best way to learn.

So my first big leap - I signed up for my first market! Purple Frangipani clothes will be available for sale at Glebe Markets on Saturday 1st August. If you're around I'd love to see you there. This is huge for me, actually going to public to hope that someone outside my circle of friends would want to part with money for something I've made. But I'm also jumping out of my skin with excitement.

The other leap was meant to be in the works on Friday, but other things got in the way. I'm still not sure which way to go. It could mean huge opportunities for me next year, but also means a huge step out in faith which I'm a little unsure of.

When it comes to leaps I often have to grit my teeth and just go for it, other times I get over myself and dive right in. Standing still for too long can get boring.

(photo credit)

Proof I am an early childhood teacher

While rummaging through my hand bag the other day I found;

• A couple of balloons (before they had been blown up)
• A small bag of stickers
• A small bottle of bubble mixture

All essential things :)

My Garden

After my reasonable success with summer veggies, I decided to try my hand at winter veggies. So I now have snow peas, broccoli and spinach.

The pots that look like they are empty? They have tulip bulbs in them, hopefully they will be flowers in a few months.

Adoption

(This is part of an ongoing series chronicling memories of my life growing up as a missionary kid in Vanuatu. For a quick overview and links to previous posts you can go here)





In Vanuatu families share many things amongst each other. There is not so much a feeling of 'this is mine' but rather 'this is ours'. There is also the idea that if someone asks you for something you can not say no, no matter how much you value the item asked for.

This included children. Often if a couple is unable to have children family members will give them one of their children to raise as their own. From what we had seen it was quite accepted - a student had explained it to us as "I have been blessed with so many children, of course I would want to share one with my brother." Our Principal and his wife had three children this way, who knew their aunt was their biological mother and their mother was their biological aunt, but just accepted it as fact.

We had rejoiced and touted this example of sharing to people back in Australia when the Principal and his wife were given a family.


But what if you didn't make the decision about your child? What if the child was requested rather than given?

Mum and I went to visit the new baby born to the family across from us. Her name is Chrissy and she is plump and sweet but the family are down cast. They do not smile, their faces are drawn. They accept our gift and show off Chrissy but something is not quite right.

A few days later we find out that Chrissy's uncle lives in a village not far from Talua. He had come to visit them after Chrissy's birth, obviously waiting to see if the baby had been their 6th girl or their 2nd boy. When it was a girl he said; “You have many girls. My wife and I have no children. When Chrissy is weaned she will come and live with us and be our child.” And they could not say no.

I forgot this news, we watch Chrissy grow up. She is still plump and is all smiles and giggles. I watch her older sisters smother her with love and affection. She is almost walking when we hear wailing coming form their house one night. The next day Chrissy is no where to be seen. Her ‘Mother’ had come to take her ‘home’.

We had seen the wonderful side of adoption in Vanuatu, with families who don't have children are able to have a family when children are given to them. But now we saw for the first time the other side, the family where a much loved child had had to been given up. And we don’t quite know what to think.

Body Issues

Can someone please tell me how to wear clothes properly?
No matter what I wear it just looks wrong. I've been seeing all the outfits girls have put together for the Amanda Beth fashion week and wishing I could put outfits together like that.

I think the problem is that I don't have the right body shape. I'm working on that - but it's a long uphill battle of constantly watching what I eat and exercising like crazy and my body still doesn't seem to be getting better. So I need to work on dressing for what I have now. If only something would work besides t-shirts and peasant skirts.

Anyhow . . .

At Bible study we were studying Psalm 88, one of the few Psalms which doesn't end on a high note. And it's such a relief to see that sometimes it's okay if you can't quite praise God in the depths of despair.
But I still feel like somethings missing.

So I'll end off this post with the verse of a song I'm teaching my Sunday school kids

I praise you

Because you

made me

in an amazing and wonderful way.

Psalm 139:14

So God, I might not always appreciate the body you've given me. But thanks that you made me and you love me. And especially thanks that one day I'll have a new body.

Road Block

There is some road works going on near our house. Thankfully it's mostly at night so it's not too much of an inconvenience.

I don't mind the road works becasue I quite like driving on the new, fresh road. It's so smooth without any bumps, dips or loose gravel flying around.

Tonight, while I was waiting at a stop sign at the road works I was day dreaming and suddenly thought - This is like what God does, he covers up the old road to make us into new roads, without bumps and dips.

Then I thought, No, he doesn't.

God doesn't just cover up my sin; my selfishness, my impatience, my hatred and everything else. He has completely got rid of it, and created a totally new road. In his eyes the old road does not exist.

And the new road is now heading in a completely new direction.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17.

(picture credit)