promised photo

Oh, and just a quick post to show you the promised photo of my completed (ah, it feels good to type that!) quilt...

Was great to learn 'proper' tricks from my good friend, Jill. I must admit the best part about making it was spending time chatting with her.

Thanks Jill!

Sitting in the seat of Mockers!

We were given some free tickets to a childrens concert (for Special Needs kids and their families) - promising to be lots of fun for tots in the 2-6yr age bracket... so off we went on Saturday. We eagerly awaited some special time with the younger two who sometimes need a little extra of Daddy and Mummy ...

After sitting in the huge hall for about 5-10 min. we just had to leave. The early introduction by the "comedian" involved asking everyone to turn to their neighbour and call them a rather un-repeatable name - because "this is the only chance you can ever say that to your parents!" and was followed by a trail (in between "humour") of profane words.... and then in an attempt for the 'actor/comedian' to mount a unicycle with a straight jacket on - made all sorts of inappropriate comments about parts of his anatomy....

Honesty, I cannot understand anyone would call that appropriate, especially to the above mentioned age group. David and I could stomach no more and found the exit promptly...

I also found a 'joke' about "getting brain damage twice" quite off / bad taste...

so...

what were we to do to show our young ones that we really meant to simply take them out and enjoy being with them?... well, we settled on the humble playground of MacDonalds...

It all brought me back to the verse in Psalm 1 about not "sitting in the seat of mockers" but delighting in "the law of the Lord" and meditating on Him.

What pleasures for the mind and peace can be found in Him!

Benjamin

Last Tues. Benjamin Joel entered the world - a sweet cousin for our children and a beautiful gift for his proud Daddy and Mummy... and a great play mate to wrestle with (eventually) for big brother, and a grandson to some very special grandparents.

We were able to visit him later in the week which was a special treat.

Welcome lil' Benjamin! We love you lots!

holidays

Well here are a few pictures from various activities in the holidays - just ordinary things but friendships with extraordinary friends make for great times...

Friends having fun

Pappa up to mischief with the young uns'

Josh strumming away and inventing his own groovy songs.

We shortened a bed for Owen who had been on a mattress on the floor for too long. The only way we could fit another bed in the room to avoid bunks... Owen was on it straight away and looked proud as punch.

Easter Sunday with friends

Meeting up with friends to let kids play in the park

Joining friends on a weekend camp away (Yay - have missed these friends so much!)

This waterfall is a testimony to the Lord's goodness in sending much needed rain. When we last visited these falls the water flow was much smaller and the creek bed much smaller.

I also really enjoyed:

• working on a quilt with a sweet friend (so close to finished so I am oh-so-keen to find ways of getting that green thread to finish it off!) Photos promised when I finish the binding...
• some quiet moments with my beloved while Joshua spent a few days away on an Easter Camp with Grandma.
• Learning to be more still in the mornings to pray more for eachother and the kids. I tend to jump up early in the morning to tackle a dozen things on my list. David encouraged me to stay in bed longer and pray/enjoy some quiet together moments and talk before the day begins. As hard as it is (and honestly - I so hate to be still - feel like I must tie myself down when I want to be running around) I have felt the benefits of this precious time already. Oh well, washing, folding, various other jobs and hobbies - you'll just have to wait

And while the holidays (short as they were) were speckled with the joys of the above photos we have also had some extremely challenging parenting struggles... oh it all takes so much energy and wisdom and persistence and all of that over and over.... Oh, for wisdom Lord!

We also continue to pray with folks from church about a new pastor (current pastor is to be retiring next week). David and another deacon are involved in praying for and finding a new pastor. In the meantime David has selected passages from Ephesians for various speakers/pastors to preach from. Again wisdom from above needed... in full measure.

And tonight we said goodbye to our friend Aparna who has moved to other accommodation closer to Uni. Owen kept telling her to "wait" and then said something about "home" - he really didn't want her to leave... she has been such a treat for the children and we hope she will drop in again from time to time. She has been a part of our family and while away this last weekend stayed in our home until her new accommodation became available tonight.

So I guess all of that happened (along with David helping neighbours move house) and a lot more in the short space of about a week!

God Provider

Well, some good news...

our friends, two families who were in search of accommodation have both managed to find a place... (at least temporarily). We thank the Lord for He provides!

David spoke to a real estate agent, on behalf of Daniel's family - and mentioned on the phone, in passing that Daniel was from our church and he was helping with English/paperwork side of things. Later in the conversation this same man remarked to David that now he now saw the value in Christianity! David had said nothing about his faith - merely helped a friend. We thank the Lord that he uses small things - that He works by His Spirit.

The boys stayed at our house while their parents signed papers. It was paper hats that kept them entertained part of the time - the rest of the time it was running around outside like wild Indians! Amazing how much energy 5 boys can generate together - rekon you could run a power station if you could collect it!

Won't you dance with me?

It has been special to see Owen and Rosa enjoy eachother's company lately:

Maybe they are playing Daddy and Mummy?

Ah, such sweet moments to savour!

Revamp

I really enjoy taking something cheap or free and making it into something I like... This time it was a freeby (YAY). Some neighbours had this desk out near the footpath to dispose of. It is quite a solid desk and Josh spotted it on our drive home.

The desk had quite a battered top (and my wonderful husband surprised me while I was out and sanded the top back for me - ahh, I was over the moon as the sanding part isn't my favourite and David has the knack of getting it done in half the time I do!). There were some key holes in drawers (no key) the rim along the desk was a little battered/chipped...

Here are the before photos:



And a few weeks later (yes, bit by bit is the only way for projects these days ;). I used a lick of white paint, a dose of the electric sander, some iron-on laminate edging, white wood putty and some scrap booking metal oval embellishments...

The white shelf on the top was my expensive $8 shelf (I turned on its side) I spotted at Salvos... It also recieved a white paint job.

I had a lot of fun seeing it come together, and even more satisfaction knowing that it is made the way I like and cost me very little.

Disappointment

Well, it seems the Lord does have other plans... both families that were looking for accommodation have both failed to get the house they felt was just right for them... and on one occasion, the house advertised was suddenly 'not available'... Hmm...perhaps it was the fact each family has 4 or more children..., but why would you advertise a house for rent (suitable for larger family) then when someone applies suddenly it is 'unavailable?' Well, we trust that God has better plans and so we continue to pray for both families who are feeling a little disappointed. David did another viewing of a house but unfortunately the asking price is a little out of their range... beginning to wonder if it might help to put an article about it in our local paper - to make people aware that there are sincere needs of our immigrant friends right here locally.... Still thinking, still praying...

... And while I have been quite incapacitated today (intense back pain from twisting the wrong way) I have been so very blessed. My beautiful mother-in-law has come and cleaned dishes, read to the children, brought in my washing and a stack of other things while I visited a physio., .... My hubby has rubbed my very sensitive back and even collected Owen for school... Joshua hung out the clothes for me, set the table and picked up the items on the floor I just knew I couldn't reach without sharp pain...While I feel helpless and a bit impatient for this nasty spasm in my muscles to pass quickly, I thank the Lord for the beautiful hands that have helped me through my day.

A glance at our week

Here are a few bits & bobs from my week. My hubby, currently down to only a few hours work left for the month (and currently working on his CV) has been helping some good friends (two Sudanese families who have struggled to find accommodation) to find new rental homes. He has been helping them pull their paperwork together (seems like the Real Estate required a huge amount...) and been visiting houses with them.... a trip down memory lane of our own search for accommodation in a foreign country a few years ago... We have been praying these wonderful people would be able to stay nearby... and that the believers from one family would be able to minister to the other family... Nice to think about how it ought to work out from a human perspective but God doesn't work according to our plans. He may well have something entirely different in mind. We continue to pray...

Have finished off a birthday gift for a very special nephew... a drawstring library bag (recycled Dave's old jeans - don't worry Evonne, they had a good scrub first!)

We spent a day (packed up the homeschool books - guess it isn't really home school when you're not at home??) with a friend who was hungry for company, being restricted to home with her epilepsy.

Have also enjoyed some wonderful company for lunch today (and as per usual the camera gets forgotten while I engage in conversation and racing to dirty nappies...)

And of course the usual things like washing, cleaning, doing school run and homeschooling... posting off things I've sold on ebay (hoping desperately not to make any mistakes and send off the wrong parcel to wrong address:)

Oh, and I have almost finished giving an old desk (neighbours were throwing away) a new face lift. I have taken before photos but thought I ought to wait until it is all finished this time - rather than have you waiting months for the after photo!

The highlight of my week has been viewing Fireproof - a movie created by a church in US about marriage. Really speaks about the sacrifice required in marriage to really love your spouse. I must confess I have watched it twice now.

Another hightlight has been studying about Moses and how God used Moses after his loads of excuses (Moses is rather bold to blurt them all out to Almighty God Himself). Moses was not a young man when he returned to Egypt. In the text, Moses is initially described as well-spoken and well trained and then 40 plus years later, totally different living situation, he is coming out with excuses about his being slow of speech his inadequacies etc (I guess the slow paced life of being a shepherd out in the wilderness had some impact here).... and yet God uses him. It has been great to mull over the story, to think over how God interacts with Moses and even provides Aaron to do the talking on Moses' behalf....

So there you have a few little snippets from my week.

Oh, and could you pray with me about my hubbies work situation? While I am really enjoying having him around and could do with a few more months of it;) He will need an income sooner or later...

hiding wires

Wires, wires everywhere. I believe my maternal grandfather was renowned for them... and yes, my hubby likes his technology too...

But what to do with the wires? I am constantly trying to dream up ways of tucking them away, finding ways to make them less obvious/tidy and yet able to be accessed when my beloved comes looking for that cable...

Well I was delighted to pick up these baskets (yes, my trusty Lifeline store). Serving dual purposes... to store bits and pieces, though more importantly to hide those nasty wires (...oops forgot to move one wire before taking this photo)

PLEASE... if any of you know of other creative, aesthetically ok ideas for hiding wires/making them less obvious, please send them my way...