sword

This sword has been through the wars.

I made this sword with Joshua last holidays. Unfortunately it was drawn and destroyed by a young warrior. The sword once hanging in its place was discovered, seized and squelched... so this holidays it was in for repair again...

Got me thinking about swords. The Bible speaks a lot about them. The Lord commanded the use of it in the OT - to wipe out/utterly destroy peoples and nations of other Gods. In the NT. Jesus tells Peter to put it away - that those who live by the sword die by it. At the same time he also tells people that he came not to bring peace but a sword. In the NT we read about the tongue being like a sword... Lots of different contexts there all jumbled together in my thoughts...

The Word of God is like a sword...

Why do boys love swords, weapons and things of danger and destruction?? (thinking like a girl here) I pray they would want to lop off, to cut out, to rid themselves of, to destroy the temptations, sins, thoughts and evil in their life - to live whole heartedly for their Master.

The sword really does have a place, doesn't it? I guess a butter knife just wouldn't cut it now would it?

Bombard

Bombard. I have been thinking over that word the whole way home from my Bible study tonight. Why? I don't know ... guess I sometimes feel bombarded... Bombarded by the world.

bombard: address with continuously or persistently, as if with a barrage

What do you think of when you think of the word bombard? I think of billboards - the ones that put rubbish right at your face/right into your mind that I wish would just stay out... that I pray would not occupy any room in my thoughts. I think of stuff - worldly stuff hurling at me. I think of thoughts that fill my mind that just shouldn't .... everyday yicky, guey, muddy stuff, thoughts about self, anxious thoughts, wishes for earthly stuff, plans, more plans, goals more goals/desires, etc. etc.... just a continuous, persistent bombardment of ... well stuff.

In a fleshly body there are always earthly thoughts. How nice it is when rather than standing as a target for bombardment I willingly turn aside and saturate myself with Christ - to soak in His goodness, to be at peace. To be in Him.

I really prefer the word saturate (a willing soaking in the stuff of Christ!) to bombardment (unfortunate/unapreciative target of yucky stuff)

Just some thoughts..

Thanks,...got me thinking Jacki

skirt

Here's a little skirt I made for my Rosa... I've been tellin' my sister about it as they both have girls they like to sew for every now and then. The tutorial showing how to make it is online here.

Must say the skirt is still quite big on her but i must say she had fun prancing around in it ...

enjoy all you sewers (no, I mean the ones who sew... really I do!)

Cousins

We had a great little visit with my cousins who come from the cold land down south (Melbourne... bbrrr...)on Saturday. While they were up here helping at a conference and enjoying some vitamin D they decided to drop in! YAY!

Joshua asked Kylie to play a few pieces on the piano from a CD she and Jason made. Their CD, F.A.I.T.H simply trusting (CD with Kid's songs) has been a big hit in our house.

Not only did we enjoy our time together, munching some breakfast but we were able to catch up a little on what is happening in eachother's lives and were encouraged to see their love for the Lord.

Daddy is Home

Daddy was in Adelaide for a work trip most of this week. We sure missed having him around. Nice to have you back Daddy!

Recipes

Here are a couple of recipes I thought I'd share:

This first one is really easy if you buy a pre-made pastry base as there is no cooking required (nice to have ingredients ready for a quick dessert if someone is coming over on short notice):


Crushed Pineapple Sour Cream Pie

Pre-made Pie Crust
1 can of Crushed pineapple (400g tin?)
1 packet of instant vanilla pudding mix
25g white sugar
230g sour cream

Beat all ingredients together well. Pour into prepared shell. Chill



Green Chicken Curry


1 Tbsp. oil
1 onion, chopped

1-2 Tbsp. green curry paste

11/2 cups coconut milk

500g of chicken thigh fillets cut into bite sized pieces

100g. beans cut into short pieces

6 kaffir lime leaves (in fresh section of woolies - or can buy bottled leaves in Asian section...)

1 Tbsp. fish sauce

1Tbsp. lime juice

1 tsp. lime rind (finely grated)

2 tsp. soft brown sugar

1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves

Heat oil in pan. Add onion and curry paste - cook 1 min. Stir constantly. Add coconut milk and bring to boil

Add chicken pieces, beans and lime leaves, stir to combine. Reduce heat and simmer 15-20 min or until chicken is tender (if substituting chicken breast don't cook quite as long - can get tough).

Add fish sauce, lime juice, rind and sugar. Stir. Sprinkle with fresh chopped coriander leaves just before serving.


Serve with rice.

Yum... my hubby 'specially likes this recipe -



...ok, so we like coriander in this family...

Mum and Mawwage

What a weekend! My dear mother-in-law, Emilia celebrated her birthday. She is such a precious part of my life - and in the life of so many others... in fact the cake in this picture was given to her by a neighbour who also just loves her dearly and wanted her to have it with the kids ! Not only a Godly example to me of trust in the Lord through the challenges of life (and recently loosing her beloved husband) but an absolutely wonderful help to me as a Mum - always serving, always looking for ways to lighten my load, to help little ones when they have sniffles, always encouraging them to try their best .... oh I could go on...

I just love her!



This weekend David and I celebrated ten years of marriage! Thanks Lord for these ten years - all the fantastic times - the snuggles, the sharing of life and for getting us through the tough times (for helping my husband put up with my weird and wacky side, my foibles, my sins, my emotional ups and downs and my smelly feet!) and for helping us to look back and see the Lord's hand in it all. My husband always has a ready hug, an intellectual comment, some big shoulders and such a steady, faithful love for me and more importantly for the Lord. I am blessed beyond words!

Ten years!







We went away for a night and enjoyed some quiet time in a lovely apartment with views over the river! We even saw the Kookaburra Queen go by... where my very nervous David proposed ten years ago!

Secret agent Joshua on a mission

We have been hearing all about the fantastic time Joshua and Owen have had at Kid's Club this week. Josh has been coming home, learning memory verses and filling us in on some of the stories he has been hearing each day. The theme for the week was related to robots, secret agents and space (just what a boy like mine loves!)...using the Bible story of Esther, some other ones (I guess I will hear more about these this week) and something about an asteroid about to hit planet earth (hmmm... I guess the stories all hang together but this is how my son interpreted the week :) Here is my very handsome secret agent:

Forget not the goodness of our God

Soaking up some beauty, soaking up the goodness of our Lord, soaking up some time as a family..

For the beauty of the earth...

noisy neighbours

We've had some noisy neighbours lately. Every so often we hear one cocky tell another something and then a whole flock of them gather round at an agreed upon place and start chatting away and having a great family reunion. This time it was in our neighbours tree. Joshua and I went racing outside to see them up close... a very timely treat as Joshua has been studying about birds - their markings, calls, their habitat and the way they fly...

Check out our neighbours:

I think if there is anything we have learned about these cockatoos it is this:

• Cockatoos really know how to communicate to eachother


• They like eating green passionfruit (they came swooping down to our vine last year and dropped the bits they didn't like on the tin patio roof... Womp Womp Womp!


• They are very noisy and lack manners!


• They fight a lot with eachother about which branches are best


• They have favourite types of trees but will all get together to grab fruit when it is at its peak. How do they know that the passionfruit is just the way they like it - and then tell eachother?? - I am just amazed at how God has made creatures with all these little tricks... mind boggling to the non-scientific type mind like mine!