Gary Smalley

If you want good relationships, rethink trying to change your spouse or friend or colleague.
Change yourself

The things that control you are your beliefs.

The more I memorise and meditate on God's word, I hide it in my heart. The more I do that, the more His word becomes my beliefs and then He controls me!

Bill Dallas

Rethinking failure

We make mistakes
God allows consequences
God redeems - our soul and our failures

Ps 138:7 and 8

Lou Holtz

If you want some great advice, listen to your spouse.

If you didn't go home, who would miss you?
If you didn't go to work, who would miss you?
It's all about meaningful relationships.

3 simple rules
1. Do right
2. Do everything to the best of your ability
3. Show people you care

Jon Gordon

Rethinking purpose

People are most energised when they are using their strengths for a bigger purpose.
Purpose is the ultimate fuel for an energised life.
Negativity brings inefficiency.
We have a choice between 2 roads - positive or negative.

Filled with divine (enthusiastic) and filled with purpose.

Bring purpose to what you do everyday

Dr Les Parrott

Rethinking healthy relationships

Your relationship university was the family you grew up in.

This generation has a hunger and thirst for information on healthy relationships.

If you try to build intimacy with another person, before you do the hard work of getting whole yourself, all your relationships become an attempt to complete yourself and will fall flat.

Your relationships can only be as healthy as the least healthy person in them.

How do you be healthy?
Lock in the following.....
1. Profound significance - understand your profound significance to God and His deep love for you
2. Unswerving authenticity - your relationship with you (not pleasing others)
3. Self-giving love - recognising other's needs. Walking the extra mile.

Your internal dialogue is the most significant conversation yo have. 73% of your self-talk is negative.

Tim Clinton

2 Cor 11:1-3
Trading our freedom - losing our heart with God and life

How do good people lose heart?
They are assaulted by pain. This makes them feel angry or anxious. If they can't solve their pain then they feel alienated or arrogant. This leads to adulteries of the heart to calm or soothe their heart. This leads to addiction where I am dependant on this.

1 John 5:21
Idols - when we give ourselves to something else to calm or soothe ourselves
Gal 5:1

Mark Kvamme rethink tank

Simplicity of message.

A good website listens carefully to people.
Iterate always - significant change every 2 weeks.

We addresses should have around 6 letters or 2 syllables and be spelt like they sound eg yahoo, google, amazon

We are moving from the information age to the attention age. How do we get people's attention?

What does this technology overload mean for preachers - the power of communication in person, real life connection and telling stories.

Michael Guillen

How do I label the person I have become? 'Christian' used to hold a cherished place in America. 84% of Americans identify as Christian. Who keeps the abortion clinics busy? Who are the ads celebrating consumerism aimed at?

The spiritual me generation is saying all roads lead to a god of my own making.

Christian? Religious? Spiritual?.... Lovestruck.

NB this is strongly contextual to USA

Chris Seay part 2

Prophetic acts happen when we live into the story. The Bible is our story.

The Advent Conspiracy
What does it mean to be a global christian?

Chris Seay

Prophetic communication is painting the world as it is, and as it should be

Dan Kimball

Are we so busy with religious activity that we are in a bubble of sub-culture?

Answer that by asking - Who are you praying for right now?

Mark Kvamme

Silicon Valley Executive - Sequioa Capital and start up investor in youtube, yahoo etc

60 seconds

The average website has 10 seconds to get your attention.
The next 10 seconds answering 'what is this'?
The next 10 seconds answering 'can I navigate this?'

If people spend 3 minutes on your website, it's great!

In 60 seconds you can
: read 250-300 words
: type 33 words
: write 22 words

Everything is going digital and getting shorter.
Once it goes digital, it never disappears.

Communication is now becoming asynchronous. Technology was created to bring those who were far away closer. Now it is starting to move those who are closer further away.
"We will soon reminisce about evenings as a family gathered around the TV" Michael Moritz

Where to look in the future? The iphone. If it's not in my phone,does it exist?

Rethink how do I reach people who are bombarded by media?

HB London Jnr

We need to rethink how we live and what our motivations are.

Be an example

Give God the first-fruits of your time
Have healthy relationships
Get adequate rest (or you make poor decisions).
Be in a supportive relationship (accountability)
Like what you do
Be happy
Be vigilant

Bishop Charles Blake

Currently sponsoring 100,000 African orphans.

What go you here, will not get you there.

We live on a planet with great problems. We need great dreams and great faith.

Great dreams mandate great resources. Unless your dream requires a miracle, He will reduce your resources until He gets the glory of a miracle.

Charles Colson - my favourite so far!!

What is Christianity?
A view of total ultimate reality.
All of life is under the sovereign creator God.
Get away from 'God and me'

Christians need to
: understand the basic truths of Christianity
: defend the truths
: live out the truths
: explain these truths lovingly to others

It must affect the way you live.

First impressions

Faith built this place. This campus is incredible and the ladies bathroom is sensational! (They were made possible by an anonymous cash donation from someone who wanted the women of the church to know they were valued.)

Everywhere there are small written testimonies of people who have helped build this facility. One showed a lady who first got saved when she was 6, and came to one of the early services Dr Schuller ran at a drive-in movie theatre. Many years later,she gave the first $1,000,000 gift to build the welcome and hospitality centre.

It is inspiring. Faith and possibility thinking.

Christian Cultural Centre

A great church in Brooklyn - mainly an African American congregation of around 28000.
We attended the 10:30am service (although it started around 11).

Couple of observations:
1. Ushers are SO important! Having no idea what the culture is here, or where to go, and feeling a little overwhelmed having lined up and joining thousands of people coming in, it was so great having competent and helpful ushers. Those who took the initiative to notice we looked a bit lost, and help us out, were a real blessing.

2. Baby Dedications. I loved the way they did this. All the families, relatives and godparents (who had been prayerfully chosen) came up on stage. Elders and pastors all came and prayed for each family, even though the Senior Pastor lead this section. What I really loved was the way the parents all repeated (like wedding vows) a really meaningful vow of dedication of their children. Then, the families and whole congregation repeated a vow as well, relating to how they would pray for the child and care for the family.

3. Change is lead well. This was the last time baby dedications would be done in a Sunday service and this was announced while we were there. Dr Bernard had been doing a series on change, as well as obviously teaching the importance of change over years I would say. The pastor who made this announcement did in such a positive way, and reminded everyone of what Dr Bernard has always taught them. The dedications will now happen on a Saturday afternoon once a month and in a smaller venue and would be done in such a way as to make it special for the families - gifts, video of the service, worship etc. You could tell in the way this was announced, and in the way people responded that this is a church that is lead well.

4. Dr Bernard's 5 levels of renewal:
Personal renewal
Relational renewal
Renewal of purpose
Structural renewal
Cultural renewal

Rethinking....

I will be keeping a record here of some thoughts while attending Rethink...

My addiction

I have a confession to make.

My addiction has resurfaced. With the uni semester over, and the opportunity to read something other than text books or assignment related articles, I have started indulging.

I am addicted to fiction.
Good fiction.
Page turning, stay awake and read until your eyes will not stay open any longer fiction.

Sigh.... I am addicted and I love it!

The boy in the suitcase

There is a sad poetry about the boy in the suitcase. As details of his death, and short life, started to emerge this week, the boy in the suitcase was given a name, and we were shown a photo, and you could sense a palpable community grief for the loss of little Dean Shillingworth.

It was a situation that had stayed in our collective consciousness as we struggled to understand how a little boy could be missing, dead, and no-one be looking for him. And perhaps it was the sad enigma of this story that meant we identified with it so strongly when we discovered who this little boy was.

Dean's death is a tragedy. That his brothers and sisters have to grieve their loss is a tragedy. That his mother has to live with what can only be the greatest regret and pain is a tragedy.

Reading the reports of his sad death, I was reminded that hurting people hurt themselves and others.

We live in a hurting world.

Our response? To weep, and to do what we can, in the lives of those around us, to bring healing and comfort. Government departments can't solve this problem alone. Caring communities, friends, and family however, can provide a powerful part of the solution. And rhe truth of God’s love has the power to heal the broken-hearted.

Evan Almighty

Great article here about the guy who directed Bruce Almighty and the soon to be released - Evan Almighty.

Worth reading!

Great food for thought

"The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose." - C.S. Lewis

Fasting

I am sitting here working on an assignment, and snacking on - wait for it - mung beans and alfafa sprouts! What has the world come to!
And I'm excited about my dinner tomorrow night of brown rice, silverbeet and natural yoghurt. You have to laugh....
Our bodies will be so healthy by the end of this fast.

Why the UN's relevance is teetering

This is a ridiculous joke..

Zimbabwe was voted as the head of the UN Commission on Sustainable Economic Development (CSD) last week. Considering their economy has inflation of about 1200% and their people have no electricity or running water and not a lot of food because their government policies have destroyed their agriculture and much of their country... please! Why does lunacy continue to parade as respectability?

Someone needs to point out that the Emperor has no clothes...

Beautiful teas

I went to a great place last night with some girls. Called Batavia, it is a tea and coffee place that is modelled on the style of the East Indies.

Being a lover of coffee, I surprised myself at how taken I was with a type of tea they had - I even bought the take home bag and am drinking my way through it today as I do my assignment! It is called something like - a watergarden tea, and is white tea, wrapped tightly around a flower in a ball. When you pour hot water over it, it slowly blooms - quite amazing!

Anyway, I have been deciding whether to continue this blog as my postings have slowed down considerably. I'm still deciding....

Daily discipline

A great article - excerpt below

Laws of Lifetime Personal Growth By Dr. John C. Maxwell

....... Rarely will you find a person committed to a comprehensive personal growth plan into their 30’s, 40’s, or beyond.

As children we grew year after year, sometimes in spurts, sometimes imperceptibly, but our bodies were always growing. The growth of a leader can be similar. At times, it may feel like the wheels are spinning and no headway is being made. In other seasons, new breakthroughs and victories are clear indicators of a growth spurt. To grow consistently, the key is to manage your daily agenda. I wish I could pass along an easier solution or secret formula for leadership growth, but daily discipline makes all the difference between growth and stagnation.

The greatest of these....

This last week has seen some interesting correspondence develop between myself and someone I met through my writing. This other person largely disagrees with pretty much everything I believe in. As I read some of the correspondence, which basically likened me to Hitler, and reflected on it, I found myself growing in compassion for the person who wrote it, which almost surprised me.

I feel like I am growing in grace - not as quickly as I would like sometimes but it's a start! I am aware of the logical inconsistencies in their correspondence, and the fact that they have misrepresented me, yet I have been able to let go of the emotions that generates more quickly than I thought. I feel for them, and wish they knew the unconditional love of Christ. And I am aware that they will only see it reflected in people like myself. There is a time for everything under the sun.... this is a time to love.

Faith, hope and love... the greatest of these is love.

Interesting times ahead perhaps...

Christian Magistrate Andrew McClintock has lost his case to have his freedom of conscience recognised when practising as a Justice of the Peace. The decision by the Sheffield Employment Tribunal means that Mr McClintock, will not be able to serve on the Family Panel, even though the Tribunal recognised his "unblemished record and the high regard in which he is held by the Department of Constitutional Affairs".

Difficulties first arose for Mr McClintock when he considered the implications of same-sex adoption on which he was forced to rule. He became concerned that a tension existed between his Christian beliefs in the Biblical model of the family and his work as a Magistrate. In March 2004, Mr McClintock raised his difficulties with the Chairman of the Family Panel at Sheffield. Mr McClintock was not asking for a change in the law, rather he was requesting that his religious conscience should be accommodated, and that he should be "screened" from cases which might require him to adopt children in to same-sex households. He also expressed his concern that children could be put at risk by the untried social experiment of same-sex adoption, in which vulnerable children were being used as "guinea pigs". The Employment Tribunal rejected Mr McClintock's claim that he had been discriminated against because of his religious beliefs.

Commenting on the judgment, Andrea Williams of the Lawyers Christian Fellowship said: "This is yet another example of the repression of Christian conscience and signals the erosion of Christian values at the expense of our children's welfare. Andrew McClintock believes that the best interests of the child are served by placing them in a situation where they would have both a mother and a father and therefore he could not agree to participate in gay adoption. This case demonstrates what will happen as greater numbers of men and women of integrity are forced to choose between applying a law which runs contrary to their fundamental Christian belief or obeying their conscience. The imposition of secular values in every aspect of our lives will force those who hold Christian beliefs out of jobs."

Andrew McClintock commented: "This ruling is going to make it harder for many conscientious people. Anyone who holds seriously to traditional morals and family values will think twice before taking on such a job. There will be more children now whom the courts remove from one kind of harm, but only to face another hazard. So, more needy children will be fuelling this experiment in social science, and suffering what the experts call mother-hunger or father-hunger."

Doctors fight to save wrongly aborted baby's life

ITALIAN doctors are struggling to save the life of a 500g baby boy wrongly aborted after hospital tests misdiagnosed a deformity.

The child's mother aborted 22 weeks into the pregnancy after doctors from the Florentine teaching hospital, Careggi, told her two ultrasound scans showed a high risk of a defective oesophagus. But when the fetus was aborted, heart still beating, doctors realised the child had been perfectly healthy, and rushed to resuscitate him.

Weighing just half a kilogram, the baby suffered a brain haemorrhage during the abortion and doctors doubt he will survive.

Read the whole article here

Sad news

Australian youths are drinking themselves to death at an alarming rate and Australia's drinking problem has become a national crisis. That's according to Bill Stronach, chief executive of the Australian Drug Foundation.

Figures released by the Victorian government revealed that half of all 16- to 24-year olds binge drink at least once a month. The report found 194 young deaths were attributed to alcohol in the last four years. A further 2,135 young people were seriously injured in road accidents and 11,455 drank themselves into hospital, and that is in Victoria alone. Alcohol also fuelled more than 8,800 assaults and almost 5,000 family incidents.

The figures are contained in the Victorian Alcohol Statistics Handbook. Author Dr Anne-Marie Laslett said it was staggering that more than 300,000 young Victorians drank to excess each month. Health Minister Bronwyn Pike launched the handbook, saying it was a serious wake-up call. "Alcohol is second only to tobacco as a drug that causes high levels of disease and death," Ms Pike said. "It's terrifying to see that more than 300,000 people risk serious injury or possible death at least once a month through drinking irresponsibly."

Mr Stronach said Australia's drinking problem was getting worse and the victims younger, labelling it a national crisis. "Australia's infatuation with intoxication costs 4,000 Australian lives each year and another 70,000 people are hospitalised," he said. "We get terribly upset when illegal drug users commit violence or die but we ignore the daily mayhem that results from determined and deliberate dangerous drinking."

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

Great quote!!!

"And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. " - 1 Cor. 7:17a (MSG)

A reminder of what we're missing

This is a great article - one of a series that asks "How can followers of Christ be counter-cultural for the common good?"

This is a really challenging article which has stayed with me - particularly the following section.


"It seems that for Daniel and his comrades, being a counterculture consisted of surprisingly small decisions—small acts of reorientation to remind them daily that in spite of their privileged status in the capital city of the world's most powerful empire, they belonged to another King and another kingdom."

and this section

Frederica and her family fast twice a week, a practice that goes back to the earliest Christian centuries and an ancient discipleship manual called the Didache. ....they observe this fast every Wednesday and Friday. It's not total abstinence from all food, but rather avoidance of foods that come from animals, whether meat, eggs, or dairy products... the "Daniel fast"—because it essentially replicates the diet Daniel and his friends adopted upon arrival in Babylon.

.... it is a twice-weekly reminder that we are in exile and that our use of animals for food is itself tainted with echoes of the Fall. The Daniel fast is not just a discipline to develop self-control and dependence on God; it is a reminder that the abundance we enjoy cannot, in this life, be entirely separated from the alienation we endure from God and from God's creatures. It is a small act of reorientation, a small act of exilic consciousness in the middle of every week.

I love that concept - small acts of reorientation.....

Biggest popcorn EVER

Have you ever ordered popcorn in Gold Class?
Ridiculously biggest bowl ever!
There is no way anyone could eat it all!

What's your story?

Ivan Illich was asked: What is the most radical way to change society? He said, "If you want to change society you have to tell an alternate story. Society runs upon a dominant story, what is plausible, credible, believable becomes that which we just accept as normal."

What story are you running upon?

A little less lost for words

Well, I'm still trying to process the situation below so don't have lots to share yet.

I have been trying to work out why I feel uncomfortable about this...

The Enlightenment decided "Man is the measure of all things" and I think this decision was made from such a perspective.

While we need to have compassion for the parents , "their poverty does not dictate the righteousness of their cause".

A course of action is not necessarily right just because it helps avoid or alleviate suffering.

hmmm, still thinking........

Currently lost for words....

Just read this article.... it'sabout a young disabled girl who has been 'frozen in time' by her parents.

What do you think?

Are you ready for a relationship?

I just found this checklist which helps you work out if you are ready for a relationship....
Very handy indeed!

A well-articulated perspective

Ok - so some will agree and some won't, but I thought this quote, from a longer article here, was a very well-articulated argument, when reviewing the former President Carter's new book.

"Carter wants to do what's just. His heart's in the right place. He just can't figure out what the right is. He is, and always has been, a man of good intentions bereft of good judgment. He invariably finds himself defending tyrants and dictators at the expense of their oppressed peoples. Not because he is a bad man, but because he is a confused man.

"Carter subscribes to what I call the Always Root for the Underdog school of morality. Rather than develop any real understanding of a conflict, immediately he sides with the weaker party, however wicked or immoral.

"Israel has tanks and F-16's. The Palestinians don't. Therefore the Palestinians are being oppressed. Never mind that the Palestinians have rejected every offer to live side by side with Israel in peace and elected a government pledged to Israel's annihilation. Their poverty dictates the righteousness of their cause even if their actions speak otherwise."

That last sentence really struck me. I think it underscores so much of the way a large segment of the West makes decisions about everything. Having lost framework for determining right and wrong, it's all about a misguided 'compassion'. This applies to euthanasia, abortion etc etc etc

As the time approaches

New Years will soon be upon us, and with it the thought of what I would like to see, and become, in 2007.

There is an article here about some of the resolutions Jonathon Edwards wrote.
One of them is a great challenge.
It reads........
Resolved, Never hence-forward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God's.

I would like to make that one of my own... but I almost hesitate - for that is not an easy resolution to keep. May God in his grace allow me to do that.

Argh the craziness...

Went to Chermside tonight.
CANNOT believe how busy it was at 20 past 11 at night!
Of course, I was there and contributing to it but still...................

*I'm glad we have this whole consumer thing in balance*

I guess I wish you some stress then!

"Too much comfort is dangerous. Literally.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley did an experiment some time ago that involved introducing an amoeba into a perfectly stress-free environment: ideal temperature, optimal concentration of moisture, constant food supply. The amoeba had an environment to which it had to make no adjustment whatsoever.

So you would guess this was one happy little amoeba. Whatever it is that gives amoebas ulcers and high blood pressure was gone.

Yet, oddly enough, it died.

Apparently there is something about all living creatures, even amoebas, that demands challenge. We require change, adaptation, and challenge the way we require food and air. Comfort alone will kill us."

(Study source: Chris Peterson, "Optimism and By-pass Surgery," in Learned Helplessness: A Theory for the Age of Personal Control [New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1993].)

Citation: John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat (Zondervan Publishing House, 2001), p. 47; submitted by Clark Cothern, Tecumseh, MI.

Bread success

Woo hoo!
After 4 spectacularly unsuccessful attempts at making bread in new Christmas present (obviously a bread maker) we have now just partaken of a crusty fresh loaf of white bread!

mmmmmm delicious

Tom Thumb, the little Aussie battler

The puppies born Wednesday are doing well, and thankfully, our littlest one, who was considerable smaller, is doing excellently.

We (wth the help of some friends) have been hand feeding him, as well as him feeding from Melody. He is getting stonger and filling out more each day.

He is just the most gorgeous puppy. He may be small but he has a big heart and seems very determined to grow big and strong. We have called him Tom Thumb - the little Aussie Battler. and he's a winner!

Puppies

Melody had her puppies yesterday, and we have six healthy puppies, although one is small and needs supplementary bottle feeding to help it grow big and strong!
There were seven puppies born but one was very sick and went to puppy heaven - yes there IS such a place! (Although I cannot vouch for proper theology there)

Life is very full at the moment so blogging has been a little neglected, as has tidying the house, sleeping, washing.... you get the idea!

hmmmmmm even more!

herchurch

Please explain...

I just don't get it...

Upside down Christmas trees?

And today I saw a PURPLE upside down Christmas tree!!! What's the go?

Schoolies

Having returned from a short weekend stint as a volunteer at Schoolies, there are a few stand-out moments for me from the last 48 hours (I did a day and a night shift one after the other).

* Helping with checkins at one of the hotels and being absolutely confronted with seeing parents dropping off their 16 and 17 year old children, and carrying in cartons and cartons of alcohol for them. That was very hard to watch. Do parents not realise what message they are sending their children, and the possibly unintentional pressure they place on them to live 'down to' the schoolies image.

* The incredible favour we have with schoolies, with most hotel managers and with the police - they value what we do

* Visiting one room of schoolies of 5 girls, who had all had a few drinks and hearing one girl say to her friend that she felt all this pressure to be listening to loud music and dancing.... and me realising that these girls didn't really want to get wasted and "party hard" - all they really wanted to do was celebrate the end of school with their friends and have fun.

* Being reminded that they are really nice, often very polite young people, who are just very lost.

* Realising again that the heart of Christ is to rescue, that there is a answer and that we have to do all in our power to communicate that with our words, deeds and example.

I didn't feel very emotional while I was down there, but as I drove home tonight, as I lead woship, as I listened to a great message about what Christ's sacrifice means for us, my heart was breaking for the young people who are looking for something but can't articulate what it is.

May the love they long for be revealed to them and may they recognise it. His name is Jesus Christ.

saddened....

My sister emailed me Friday night with a news report that a prominent preacher had been alleged to have been praying a male escort for s3x and that drug use had been involved.

Saturday I read that he had stepped aside from leadership of his church, pending an investigative process and resigned as head of the NAE.

Today I read that he has been removed permenantly from his church leadership and also see and read that he has admitted to some of the allegations re drug use and receiving a massage from his accuser.

More here....

Whatever the case may be, I am immensely saddened and sobered by this. A man of great influence and prominence - yet none of us are ever beyond temptation.

May God grant comfort and peace to Ted, his wife and family, church members, his accuser and all who have been touched by this tragedy.
May there be repentance where there needs to be, and reconciliation with God and others.
May all of us be reminded that we are equally susceptible to the deception of sin and may we continue to build authentic, trustworthy and accountable friendships.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.........

I'll let your beard grow out

In journalling yesterday, I read this cool passage where King David had sent some his men to tell a new neighbouring king know they could be friends - just like King David had been with the new king's dad.

However, the new young king decided it was a ploy and so sent David's men back with their beards plucked out and their robes cut off up to their buttocks, and mobilised his armies, and neighbouring armies, to fight Israel.

So, suddenly David was faced with a bit of an international incident and had to get Israel's army happening and ready to defend their nation.

However, in the midst of all this, we read "When David heard what had happened to the men, he sent messengers to tell them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come back.” For they felt deep shame because of their appearance."

And I really loved the fact that David was not just not a warrior king, but a shepherd to his people. He cared about the areas they were vulnerable in, and gave them the time and space to heal and grow.

That's the type of leader I want to be.

Moment of crisis

I have an exam in 7 days.
I have just found out season 3 of Lost has started and 4 episodes are now available.

Need I say more?
Crisis, crisis, crisis

My guilty pleasure

I have a confession to make...
I love Fear Factor.
I know it's corny.
I know it deliberately
I know it shameless picks good looking women and makes them do swimsuit necessary challenges.
I know.
But i love it!
I even planned my dinner break from writing my essay to coincide with Fear Factor last night.

My name is Ruth and I'm a 'fear factor'oholic.

Great connect group

What a great connect group I am a part of!
I love those who seek truth, and question in order to understand.
What a good night tonight was - you are all legends!

Continuing the "does God want you to be rich" conversation

Well first of all - great comments on the previous post which referenced the Time article.

Laura made a really good point in the comments which I have been dwelling on for a while, and I have also just returned from a conference at which one of the speakers made a comment which was rather provocative - particularly with regard to what we had been talking about.

I totally agree that we need to start giving out of the little we have. In fact, most charities like the Red Shield Appeal find that the richer suburbs are often the least generous.

One of the speakers at conference said that there is nothing we can do to help others if we don't have money/resources. I disagreed at first, but then he went on to explain... we cannot send a letter of encouragement as we need to pay for the paper and postage stamp. We cannot call them as we need to pay for the phone call. We cannot go and visit them as we need to pay for the petrol.

And I started to think he was right. While money is not the only thing necessary to help others, without it, we can't really do anything. We can't even survive ourselves in order to help others.

Even Mother Theresa would have needed financial support for her own needs - the place she lived, the sheets for her bed, the food she ate etc and also which allowed her to live and care for people, to feed them, to give them medicine and shelter....

I'm still thinking and dwelling on this and value your thoughts.

Worst Slurpee ever

Tryed to get a slurpee after Fusion last night - cause when you feel like a slurpee, there's not much else that satisfies.

Maccas at Brookside couldn't sell me on - they're not allowed to at the moment cause they don't taste very good. Go figure!

So we went to the service station on Samford Rd. Big mistake.

So the moral of the story is - don't buy a slurpee from the service station on Samford Road. It's not just worth it.

A great approach to spiritual warefare

This is a great article on spiritual warefare...
It's by Rick Warren and is worth a read. It's not too long :-)


http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=279&artid=9862&expand=1
I'll blog some of my thoughts soon...
have to go out now.

Dangerous Blessings - LeadershipJournal.net

What great timing..
There is a really good article I just read today about how we deal with money and blessing!

Dangerous Blessings - LeadershipJournal.net

To those who love Roland

I need to find a temporary home for Rolly in couple of weeks so he leaves Melody alone for the 2-3 weeks he would otherwise find her VERY attractive.

If you have a doggy proof backyard, and would be interested in doggy-sitting, let me know!

And it's back

Here's a debate that doesn't go away for long....
Let's kill people who are sick, disabled, less than perfect... they are an economic, emotional and resources drain...

Whoops sorry - it's about compassion and dignity.

While in some ways I am sure that some people who jump on the euthanasia bandwagon do so out of a basic premise of what they would term compassion, they seem to lack the ability to either extrapolate what they are advocating, or to learn from past history - or even current events.

What starts as 'let's only allow euthanasia to those who are in their last few weeks, and are in terrible pain', becomes - let's allow anyone who is suffering to get doctors to help them end their life. And then, just as happened in Holland, an otherwise healthy, 26 year old woman, suffering from depression, could ask her doctor to kill her - and he did.

Those who support euthanasia - also erroneously termed 'death with dignity' are in fact being incredibly insulting to those in our society who suffer from disabilities.

Their premise is that life is unbearable and not worth living once your body fails you to a point and you have the extreme indignity of others having to look after your bodily functions.

What message does this send to those who suffer disabilities and need personal care? Is their life inherently undignified and worth ending...? Are we suggesting it is perhaps immoral for those people NOT to choose to end their life because of the pressure they place on family and friends, and the time, money and energy needed to care for them?

This could be any of us, at any time. We are only one accident away from living this way. And it is inherently wrong for someone to suggest we would be better dead, than having someone clean us.

TIME.com: Does God Want You To Be Rich? -- Sep. 18, 2006 -- Page 1

This is a very interesting article...
I, of course, realise that the media usually has a stunning ability to misquote, quote out of context, and general do a not so great job when reporting about contemporary churches.

Worth reading though. Don't crucify Joel Osteen though - wait until you get to the small section with his interview and you may hear what he was probably really saying.... Also, the last page starts to really get to the point I think....

However, all in all, makes you think...

TIME.com: Does God Want You To Be Rich? -- Sep. 18, 2006 -- Page 1

From "The Divine Conspiracy"

By Dallas Willard

God has yet to bless anyone except where they actually are, and if we faithlessly discard situation after situation, moment after moment, as not being 'right', we will simply have no place to receive His kingdom into our life. For those situations and moments are our life.

Just so you know....

...that email circulating saying that Steve I publically become a Christian a few weeks ago is NOT true...

I guess people just wanted to hear that and so believed it...

For those of you who were at supper with Tim Hein

I just realised something....
Jesus didn't stay on the other side of the lake!

Please ignore this post if you have no idea what I'm talking about!

The community in which we live

From today's Courier Mail.... pg 33/34

"Dark Side of Drinking"

Some 10 percent of Australians are drinking at levels that are risky, says Professor David Kavanagh, a clinicl psychologist at the University of Queensland's School of Medicine. But is the the 18-24 year old age group that is at the greatest risk of developing an alcohol related problem, he says.

"Drinking is most common in the late teens and early 20s age group. Because it is a period of heavy drinking, these people are most at risk of going off the rails. Young people often start to drink when they feel depressed and anxious and alcohol makes them feel better. They may also start because of peer pressure."

Kavanagh does not believe that giving young people small amounts of alcohol in family settings teaches them to drink responsibly. Having easy access to alcohol increases the risk of developing problems, he says. Statistics show that of 87.5 per cent of people in the 18-24 age group who have drunk alcohol in the past 12 months, more than two-thirds of men and more than half of women drank amounts that placed them at short-term risk of injury.

Ritual vs revelation

I have been thinking a bit about something.
Working with songwriters, we often have conversations about not wanting to be cliched in the lyrics we write.
Leading worship for about 15 years, and leading the worship team for 6 years has also given me much occasion to think about keeping it fresh week in and week out.
What's the secret to keeping it fresh?
Are things really as cliched as we sometimes say they are?

It's about revelation. You can say God is Love and it can sound like a cliche beacuse you have heard it before. But if you have a revelation that God is love - it becomes the most meaningful, multi-layered statement in the universe....

Last week I was in a worship service and was singing and realised something was lacking. You could say I was just repeating some empty phrases.

So, because I despise empty religion and always want to worship with integrity, I knew I had to do something. So, I reached into the well of revelation my spirit had received in the last few days and let my mind respond to that. (This all took place in a matter of seconds of course)!

A freshness and meaning suddenly came alive in my worship!

It's always about revelation...
In a sense, we are responsible for the vibrancy of our worship.
We could sing the name of Jesus for hours and it still be fresh if we sing out of revelation.

Just loved this quote!

LeadershipJournal.net - One-Raspberry Holocaust:

"Don't believe everything you think."

A great thought (via James)

Worship

We have too long been conditioned to think that the church is to entertain us. That is not the case. Soren Kierkegaard said, " People have the idea that the preacher is the actor on stage and they are the critics, blaming or praising him. What they don't know is that they are the actors on stage; he is merely the prompter standing in the wings, reminding them of their lost lines" And God is the Audience.

It is not unusual to hear someone say; " I don't get anything out of church." MY response is " What did you give God? How was your heart prepared to give?"

If you go to church selfishly to seek a blessing, you have missed the point of worship. We go to give glory not to be blessed. An understanding of that will effect how you critique the church experience. The issue isn't, did I get anything out of it? But, did I from my heart give glory to God? Since blessing comes from God in response to worship, if you aren't blessed, it isn't usually because of poor music or preaching (though this may occasionally prove to be insurmountable obstacles) but because of a selfish heart that does not give God glory.

(The Ultimate Priority On Worship, John Macarthur, JR 1983 The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago)

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dead | NEWS.com.au

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dead | NEWS.com.au

Very sad news.
My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and children.

Churches must not play God with Caesar | Features | The Australian

This is an interesting article...
I find it a little incorrect though, from my perspectives, that he has said that churches want to play a role in politics. I think it is less that churches want to play a role, and more that Christians want to play a role in plotics/national debate. They have been automatically excluded simply on the basis of their Christian faith for a long time - while other faiths - materialism, secularism, darwinism, athiesm etc are free to engage or set public debate



Churches must not play God with Caesar | Features | The Australian

The week that was

Well Fiji was lovely! Relaxing and fun and adventureous!

Some highlights...

Sailing on a tall ship to a lovely island where we snorkelled and ate a fabulous lunch and both Stephen and I had beach side massages!

Going on a long boat for an hour and a half trip up river to see a village of about 200 people AND discovering there was an AOG church in the village (and that the pastors of that church were in Suva at that moment attending the conference Ps Lewis was preaching at!)

Lying on a day bed in the Mercure resort overlooking the pool and reading a great novel

Going to the Sofitel, meeting Josh's uncle, using the facilities and having a DELICIOUS dinner

Discovering all sorts of eating places

Realising every day how very blessed we are in Australia..... thinking much on this...

I may post some pictures soon. I have had a small hiccup today at work with some changes to my computer and half my photos being currently unretrievable.... I am assured they will be fixed tomorrow...

And the craziness continues...

Sen Natasha Stott Despoja is concerned about some of the pregnancy counselling services provided in Australia, suggesting they are deceptive and not providing truthful information. In fact, she is so concerned that she wants access to government funding cut for counselling services that give women wrong information.

Do you know what some of these deceptive counselling services say, that Natasha hates so much? That terminating a pregnancy is akin to killing the baby!

**Ruth just shakes her head at the insanity of it**

Holidays!

Today has been officially (in my head anyway) the first day of my holidays!
While my annual leave started Tuesday, I was busy working on uni assignments Monday - Wednesday so wasn't really in relax mode. However, I finished off the ones due while I am away next week so am now relaxing!

I took our last little puppy out to the airport this morning and said goodbye to her (which made me feel a bit sad) and then to console myself I went to DFO where I picked up a few bargains.... gotta love a bargain. I then proceeded to make good use of our new Foxtel connection for several hours this afternoon... ahhhhh.

LOVED NYU camp last weekend. It was such a great weekend in so many ways. There was a real feeling of unity between the two parts of NYU - encounter and fusion - and it was wonderful to see God move in the lives of people there in very significant and profound ways. Honestly - it's life changing stuff. There is something about getting away for a weekend and spending it building relationships - with each other and with God. Moments of focus are vital in life.

It was also great doing fun stuff with fusioners too - like roller blading and enjoying the spa! (Although I wasn't at the 2am spa trip - which sounded like heaps of fun!) I have only just recovered from roller blading - my legs hurt for days!

I also particularly liked my new experience of being an 18-25's leader, which meant staying at a nice resort instead of dorms! After 10 years on high school youth leadership it was a very different experience - and one I relished.

All in all, a fabulous time and I am already looking forward to next year!

From today's uni readings!

We have no inner spiritual lfe if we don’t have the outer experience of a beautiful world. The more we destroy the world the less the sense of God is possible.
Thomas Berry, ecologist and theologian.

Journaling here

My journal is in my car and I've had a shower and in my pjs so thought I'd journal here instead....

Scripture: Ps 16:5 LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine.

The Big Idea: He is my cup of blessing - blessing is sure when we know God.

Application: Even when we are in times of tension or waiting, we can remind ourselves that He is our cup of blessing. It's so easy to focus on what we don't have or what we are waiting for God to provide, and to stop remembering all the wonderful blessings that we do have. I always have a cup of blessing - something I can drink from, something that I can carry, something to refresh me. The cup is often a metaphor for a person's life - what do I contain, what do I carry within me. We have a cup of blessing!

It's just such a lovely thought - and such a constant one. He never changes. He never leaves us. He never forsakes us. He is closer than our closest friend. He is always gracious and His unfailing love is always with us. He is faithful and is faithful in blessing. We don't have to twist his arm or convince him, or trick him, or even be good enough. His blessing is certain. We often have to learn to recognise it. We can be so busy looking at what we want/think we need/others have that we want or something like that and we fail to recognise and give thanks for all the wonderful blessings of God He has poured out upon us.

Prayer: Holy Spirit - help me to recognise the blessings that are poured out upon me each day, and to give thanks always...

wanna trade?

There has been an outbreak of trading occuring at church ever since last night!
Shoes for paperclips..
Caramello koalas for bookmarks for paperclips..
something for a day on Jess's blog..
Who know where this could end!?

Rumour has it, Shannon even ended up with a spoon signed by Casey Rogers - that will be worth a fortune some day.

More on gym stuff...

First up, kudos to the Professor - if that poster idea is not under copyright - you should so release it! You'd make a fortune! (I would buy one!)

On the 'which church service is more aerobically fruitful discussion' from previous comments, I was reading in the Readers Digest the other day about the 50 habits of thin people - things you can add into your life that help burn calories. They said that if you go to belt out some songs at Church on a Sunday you burn over 250 calories! (And I bet that wasn't even a contemporary church service either...!) I lead the last two Sunday nights in a row so that dress is looking more manageable all the time...

btw, I was sore the next day.. and the day after that..

And went back tonight so may be again tomorrow!

Ask me tomorrow

Well today I went back to the gym, motivated by a very nice dress I am wearing to a wedding in two weeks!

I was sure I had only been away for 4 - 6 weeks but got to the gym, looked at my card and realised it had been 9 weeks since being there. I realised how good we are at self-delusion sometimes.

I heard a great quote once - which is still a huge challenge for me...
We judge ourselves by our intentions. Others judge us by our actions.

btw, I'm expecting to be sore when I wake up - but ask me tomorrow...

How do you turn a paperclip into a house?

You just gotta love this!

Scotsman.com Living - How do you turn a paperclip into a house?: "How do you turn a paperclip into a house?
EMMA COWING

EXACTLY one year ago today, at 12:48am, a 25-year-old Canadian called Kyle MacDonald sat down at his computer in Montreal and uploaded a picture of a red paperclip on to his web page. 'This might not surprise you,' he wrote above it, 'but below is a picture of a paperclip. It is red.' MacDonald went on to explain that he wanted to trade the paperclip for something bigger. 'Maybe a pen, a spoon, or perhaps a boot.' He was, he said, 'going to make a continuous chain of 'up trades' until I get a house. Or an island.'

Today, MacDonald will make the ultimate trade up from that original red paperclip when he takes possession of a three-bedroomed, 1,100-square-foot, white clapperboard farmhouse at 503 Main Street, Kipling, Saskatchewan. Over the past 12 months he has bartered away random items, such as a snowglobe and a part in a movie, travelled across North America in search of the perfect trade, and been interviewed worldwide by a fascinated media that included several Japanese TV channels and Good Morning America. It is a story that has reawakened the notion of bartering, proved the brilliance of one simple idea, and once again demonstrated the ferocious power of the internet."

Hillsong

Well Hillsong was great. There were so many things I could write about.

Here are just a few recollections!
Leaders must learn to discern the small things from the great things and not focus on the small things.

The significance of a service on Sunday - people get an impression of God and Christianity from our services.

Take the tape measure off! Don't try to measure God.

What's in your hand? Use that.

The importance of the stewardship of affluence and influence. Influence allows us to speak for those who have no voice.

Let the 'because factor' be written across you!

The power of the squeeze - it increases our capacity.

Just walk across the room - learn to obey those small promptings of the Holy Spirit to step out of our comfort zone and just go and talk to someone. You never know what God can do with that!

Now ....... just to put that into practise!

What a week or so

What a week! An article I wrote recently generated a bit of interest, with the paper that I write for publishing an opposing article last week and then starting a blog about it! At last look, the post had 216 comments. It certainly had some emotive comments, which were rather innocently or deliberately misleading in content as well. (I checked with my legal sources today).

I have been pondering about how Jesus would respond to all of this and to one person in particular who has taken exception to me in their comments posted and could be contacted if I chose to.

Truth with grace.

I will not back down from truth and applied truth, and yet at the same time, I want to demonstrate grace and love.

You see, the whole 'tolerance' thing is a load of rot. How insulting that you would tolerate someone. As a christian, I am called to live from a higher place. I am called not to tolerate, but to love - unconditionally.

So I am still pondering......

Look what i found...

Great for a chuckle.....!

Beauty Tips for Ministers

Yes - I confess

Yes Matt (see comments on post below) I must confess - I didn't pray for the match last night. Sincere apologies - will do better for the Croatia match.

I continue to amaze myself with my ability to be really quite distractable (is that a word - should be anyway) from the task at hand which is studying for my two exams. I have put it down to the fact that it has now been a year since I started uni and I haven't had a break (not even a week). Summer Semester is a great idea and is the only way I could get the amount of subjects done in the time left however I can sense the sails are loosing their wind a little....! I am thoroughly looking forward to 4 whole weeks with no uni!

Dear me, I do sound like I am whinging. I'm not - I'm so thankful for the strength and sustaining power of God. One of my much loved verses and concepts is - His grace is sufficient for me. Everything I do is empowered, surrounded and covered by Him. He is my energy and my wisdom. He is all I need. I am so thankful for all He has done.

Two small prayers

Thank you God for the world cup win.

Please help Queensland tomorrow night.

Amen

A quick run down....

As I was looking at blogs, and silently chastising the authors for not updating, I too realised I was guilty. So here's a little entry for reading pleasure (or displeasure) or however you find it.

Puppies: v v cute. Their eyes are open. Trying to walk now - very clumsily.

Uni: exams bearing down upon me. seem to be later than most peoples. good thing too.

Hillsong: just weeks away! yay!

Tea: bought artic fire loose leaf tea saturday. v v nice.

Coffee: enjoying espresso from phillips senseo. highly recommended.

Journalling: have enjoyed Romans. spending much time thinking about love for others.

Last home cooked meal: scrambled eggs at lunch today. It's only the third time in my life I have cooked scrambled eggs.

Oh, by the way...

... I decided on Froot Loops.

My horrible wisdom tooth story

Ok - first up, a shout out to Matt and Steff, who I saw earlier tonight at Vibe Night. I promised I would blog this so here I am ...

I went back to my oral surgeon the other day who removed my wisdom teeth a few weeks ago. They have been healing up ok, but on Sunday my mouth was hurting - particularly singing at three services.

I mentioned this when I saw her and she said it shouldn't still be sore so she'd have a look at it. So look at it she did.

Oh yes - I can see you have a sore spot there. Hmm, it looks like you have a piece of bone sticking out the gum....

To which I casually replied - That would be why it feels like it's catching.

I am so brave.

She removed the piece of bone.

It's feeling much better.

I am so brave.

See Matt and Steff - I told you it was horrible.

A great quote from Reversed Thunder by Eugene Peterson

"'We live in a noisy world. We are yelled at, promoted, called. Everyone has an urgent message for us. We are surrounded with noise: telephone, radio, television, stereo. Messages are amplified deafeningly. The world is a mob in which everyone is talking at once and no one is willing or able to listen. But God listens. He not only speaks to us, he listens to us. His listening to us is an even greater marvel than his speaking to us. It is rare to find anyone who listens carefully and thoroughly. It is rare to find our stammering understood, our clumsy speech deciphered, our garbled syntax unraveled, sorted out and heard—every syllable attended to, every nuance comprehended. Our minds are taken seriously. Our feelings are taking seriously. When it happens we know that what we say and feel are immensely important. We acquire dignity. We never know how well we think or speak until we find someone who listens to us.'"

A modern dilemma

Coco-pops or Froot Loops?

(Yes - they are both in my cupboard)

It is finished!

Well, another assignment just finished. I really love this electronic submission thing they have happening now.

I submitted it 4 minutes late though - at 12:03am instead of 11:50pm - so I don't know if I will be considered as having submitted it a day late? Truth be told, it was having to insert their assignment cover sheet into my document, and then all that formatting going haywire that set me back a good 15 minutes so fingers are crossed that I won't lose marks....

'Gay-friendly' child care slammed - Top stories - Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au

The article below is insightful in the flawed thinking so many people have.

The idea that young children, from six weeks old, are intentionally being influenced so as to accept unquestioningly the premise that same sex relationships are 'good' is abhorrent.

For all the fuss about not being discriminatory, do people fail to recognise that what is happening here IS discrimination - against people who teach their children than same sex relationships are not good.

(And I notice the resources used to do this are government funded. Can you imagine if a non-profit group with a Christian wordview used government funds to produce books which promoted the Christian view on family?)

What this centre is doing is the classic passive aggresive tactic used. I won't explicitly say that the Christian worldview is wrong, I will just promote another philosophy that cannot co-exist with a Christian worldview. If I say same-sex sexual relationships are good, then the Christian view that says they are not obviously wrong.

So please, Mr Marrickville Mayor - don't even try to play the "Christians are discriminating" card - cause you just show you are either deceived, deceptive, or ignorant.

'Gay-friendly' child care slammed - Top stories - Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au

Bliss and Terror

Bliss: Melody- lying in her box, with six little puppies nestled up against her.

Terror: Roland- whenever he tries to get near Melody and said puppies and Melody goes for him!

Alcohol: Abstinence from Alcohol (Official A/G Position Paper)

Alcohol: Abstinence from Alcohol (Official A/G Position Paper)

I found this yesterday. It's from the American AOG website and was put out this year, according to the copyright on it.

It's counter-cultural, courageous and could be controversial. Well worth a read!

Congratulations to Roland and Melody

Six beautiful little puppies!

There is a chance...

.. that Melody is about to have her puppies...

..updates as it becomes more clear..

A deep, deep question

Well still home and daytime tv is pretty pitiful...

Just saw a Psychic Fair being advertised, which makes me wonder - how authentic can it be if they have to advertise it to the psychics? Shouldn't they just know!

Incredible news!

Follow the link below and read what is nothing short of amazing. Rod Welford has announced he is dropping changes to RE which were proposed in the Education Bill. Just amazing. We may just have witnessed a miracle!

96five - Brisbane, Australia. Family's Number One!: "State Education Minister Rod Welford has anounced proposed changes to Religious Education classes in QLD state schools have now been dropped.

Below is the statement from the Minister:

Minister for Education and the Arts
The Honourable Rod Welford
22/05/2006

NO CHANGE TO RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROVISIONS

Education Minister, Rod Welford, announced today that the Government would not be proceeding with proposed amendments to religious education provisions in the Education Bill currently before State Parliament. "

Chubby Bunny

It's now been 48 hours since I went into the operating room to get my wisdom teeth out. It was certainly an experience. The bed you lie on has warm air blowing up underneath the bottom sheet to keep you warm cause the surgery is freezing!

The doctors were all lovely, particularly the guy who did the anaesthetic. It was the first general I've ever had so wasn't too sure what to expect - but he made you feel so relaxed (no pun intended).

When I started to wake up after the surgery, I felt like I had only been asleep for 5 minutes and thought I was still in the operating room and they hadn't given me enough. I was little concerned for a moment until a nurse next to me told me I was in recovery - a big relief!

Felt a bit sick so prayed and it settled down. The most frustrating thing was one of my eyes couldn't focus and i kept seeing double until Saturday morning...

And now - I still look like I have my mouth stuffed with marshmellows!

Have been living on ice-cream, custard, yoghurt however this morning I remembered what my good friend Matty J told me about how he lived on milkshakes - and that was much better. Anything you can drink through a straw rather than trying to put a spoon in your mouth is great!

I was hoping to be less swollen than I am. And I live from painkiller to painkiller and icepack to icepack. But overall things have proceeded very well. And I am looking forward to feeling relatively normal again.

2 hours and 55 minutes to go

I am at home, after rushing out of church so I can get my assignment finished to lodge electronically before 11:59pm tonight, and I just can't get this out of my head so I am blogging it hoping that will do it!

GOD LOVES YOU MORE THAN WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR HIM

Ok - in case you got a different idea tonight- just wanted you to know that!

Today

Today I realised again and again that Melody is getting SO pregnant and very fat - only 3 weeks to go until she has puppies!

Today I ate a lot of Steve's Easter Bunny. There's not much left of it.

Today I went back to the gym after last week's full diaryness (good thing after all that chocolate Easter Bunny too)

Today I realised I have an assignment due Sunday - not in two weeks time as I thought. Hence the research occuring tonight, but exceedingly thankful that this can be electronically lodged which meant I didn't have to post it Friday. Praise God.

Today I rang to confirm my admission to hospital next Friday to have my wisdom teeth removed.

Today I kept thinking about the beautiful food I ate last night - Pizza Capers does pizza VERY well!

Today I am thankful - because God is so good and His mercy endures forever

When pressing the print button just doesn't do it for you!

I am currently sitting at my desk, with cold toes - hang on -

ok - now wearing my lime green ballet slippers which I bought with Steff and Laura on Saturday (ask them about their big day out) so toes are now warm and toasty -

so - I am sitting at my desk and have been researching for an assignment due at the end of this week so now have 35 different journal articles to print out and read.

It's very boring printing 35 articles. Ahh - the research process...

Why am I printing them all out? I find it easier to print out articles and read them through so I can underline, scribble etc rather than just read them on a screen. Maybe that doesn't make me a true new tchnology girl - I'm not sure?

Anyway - will blog about other random things in another post I think...

a big week

Well it's been a big week.
It's been a good week though.
One of those weeks which makes you realise afresh how wonderful all the people are that are in your life.
Watching people serve so selflessly, and so well, helps me remember how blessed I am to be doing life with all of you.