Finding joy in the everyday

We all love gifts. Gifts from our loved ones, little gifts that are hand-made, expensive gifts from a husband, tiny gifts found on a walk given to you by a small child, a gift to say thankyou, a gift of appreciation, a congratulations, a birthday, a gift for no reason at all.  Gifts are a way of say " I love you " without words. Gifts are special and bring us joy - however, could a gift also be a result of pain and suffering? " Cancer, she told herself, not without a note of wonder, was a gift " It wasn't until I read the most recent book by Joni Eareckson Tada ("Joni and Ken") did it dawn on me those nasty journeys  in our lives should also be considered gifts and we need to accept them graciously and with joy. Gifts are meant to be about love and kindness, how can a illness, loss of a baby though miscarriage or other troubles ever be seen as a gift? There would be few of us that would look at our health difficulties, our marriage...

When I was 18 I worked at a special school where almost all the children had cerebral palsy. Most had severe physical and intellectual disability, unable to walk, talk, feed themselves or use the toilet.  To communication, some used basic sign language (which I learnt) or a method called Bliss-symbolics based on pictures.  I was often asked  . . . "how do you cope" . . .  "don't you find it depressing". Whilst it was a very physical job with lots of lifting, emotionally I didn't find it difficult at all. In fact I loved the job and never once looked at the children and young adults as "retarded", "disabled" or "hopeless" -  I saw their smiles, their interactions and found it one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever had.  Occasionally we would take the young adults into the city, the female staff would take the girls to look at clothes and do girly things, whilst the male staff did "men's things"...

I don't think I need to remind any of you that "50 Shades of Grey" (book and movie) should be avoided . . . completely.  It is pornography and as Christian women, we must stay away from this sort of literature. But what disturbs me even more is the fact that millions of women around the world love this book (over 100 million copies have been sold in 50 languages) and they find it erotic and exciting (many say it has improved their sex life no end), when the truth is . . .  it glamorises sexual violence and tells men it is ok to dominate women in an abusive manner.   “While millions of women are fantasizing about the controlling and abusive Christian Grey of fiction, there are many other women dealing with the horrors of actually living with men like him.”  (source:  Bible Society ) Australia, like the USA and other countries around the world have a major problem with domestic violence. Some men think it is perfectly acceptable to emotionally,...

Guest reviewer: Bets Life Management for Busy Women:  Living Out God’s Plan with Passion and Purpose by  Elizabeth George  For my birthday this year, I had a long list of books on my wishlist, so here is my review of one that I enjoyed! Elizabeth George makes life simple by listing seven major areas of a woman’s life and then going into detail about God’s guidelines for managing them. These areas are: your spiritual life; your physical life; your home life; your financial life; your social life; your mental life; and your ministry life. Reading the book it was amazing to see how although Elizabeth has separated this areas of a woman’s life, it is quickly obvious how overlapping they really are. I really enjoyed the fact that the first area that she covered the spiritual life first. Without this vital area of life being managed, there is no hope that any of the others will work as well as they can!  Elizabeth writes the book as a true Titus 2 ol...

A while ago I wrote about  Christians isolating themselves from what was happening in this world, literally placing themselves inside a bubble. This concerns me as only focusing on our ('comfortable') lives can quickly make us inward looking and ignore the plight of those far less fortunate.  We need to be aware of their struggles and not put our heads in the sand (but of course that doesn't mean going overboard in the opposes direction).  With this knowledge we can  pray for others and perhaps make a small differences to just one other person. Two of my cousins (thankyou) suggested I watch the " Dispatches from the Front " series by Frontlines Missions International.  I was able to borrow six of the seven DVDs and I loved them. They are excellent and I would highly recommend them to others.  Tim Keesee takes you on a journey to different parts of the world and shares with you the stru...

Book review: Birth Cry  - A personal story of life of Hannah D. Mitchell, nurse midwife  Author: Shirley Roland Ferguson Birth Cry documents the journey of an ordinary woman (born in 1907) from a very poor, hard working Christian farming family from Missouri who works her way through school all the way to University to become a nurse midwife (long before women were encouraged to attend university).  Hannah, through her entire life, followed the Lord. Her faith was always strong and it never left her. Whilst she had ideas of what she wanted to do - such as marriage, God often changed her plans and took her to places she least expected. She never married  and suffered heartbreak over a broken engagement but she accepted what God asked of her and continued to follow Him through her entire life. She is a great example of how we need to behave - we may want to do one thing, but God has other ideas that are quite different to what we had dreamt. Don't fi...

We have lost the ideal of reverence at the hour of death, and put our faith in science and technology instead. That is what has transformed the natural and peaceful ending of life into a violent event. (from "In the midst of life" by Jenny Worth, page 335) Death is a topic that most people feel very uncomfortable talking about, it is a topic that the media rarely ever approaches and we hide our children away from death so they grow up not truly understanding it and as a result fear it as adults. We think if we don't talk about it, it won't happen.  I have just finished reading " In the midst of life " by Jennifer Worth (2010).  You may remember Jennifer Worth as the author of "Call the Midwives" which the BBC has made into an excellent series on TV.  In this book Jennifer document her experiences as a nurse treating patients at the end of their life (and she doesn't simplify or hush over the difficult parts of dying), she prov...

Robert and his parents after major surgery - photo from the book "Ugly" Ugly: A memoir By Robert Hoge Robert Hoge was born with a giant tumour on his forehead, severely distorted facial features and legs that were twisted and useless. His mother refused to look at her son, let alone bring him home. But home he went, to a life that, against the odds, was filled with joy, optimism and boyhood naughtiness. I was moved by a story I watched on ABC Australian television some months ago about the life of Robert Hoge ( Australian Story  September 2013). Robert was born with a large tumour where his nose would have been and deformed legs which was later removed.  In time, and with the love of his parents, he came to terms with his facial features and lack of legs and learnt too overcome the issues that one faces in a society that places great emphasis on beauty when one is not beautiful. This is a fascinating book by an inspirational man.  It is honest, frank a...

“It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. Millions are condemned to a stiller doom than mine, and millions are in silent revolt against their lot. Nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth.  Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, to absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex”. ...

Book: I am Malala - the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban Authors: Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday 9 October 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price. Shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, she wasn't expected to survive.  I am not sure about you, but I tend to avoid "popular/best selling" books in fear that they will be a disappointment and poorly written (many are), however I saw this one at my local library and thought I would give it a go. I am so glad I did.  It was a very enjoyable read, but more importantly, a very interesting read.  Only a small section of the book is dedicated to the shooting and her recovery in Britain, the majority of the book is about Malala and her family living in Swat Valley in Pakistan and what...

The burning of the Bentley Hotel Book: The forgotten rebels of Eureka by Clare Wright Like most Australians, I learnt about the goldfields in Victoria and the Eureka Stockade (1854) at school. I loved Australian history and this was one part of our history that I found fascinating.  However the history I learnt was all about the men on the goldfields, no mention of women. In fact I hadn't even realise women were at the gold fields at all. There were at least 1500 people crammed into the Stockade by Saturday afternoon.  Some had spent the previous night there, by most had slept in their own tents. The purpose of the Stockade, after all, was to prevent, by force if necessary, the arrest of unlicensed diggers. There had never been a licence hunt at night.  But throughout the day on Saturday, most diggers kept rolling up, many coming from other goldfields, eager to add weight to the moral majority of resistances. The numbers were swelled by women who...

Zamperini ran the 5000 metre at the Berlin Olympics and met Hitler. I was reading the local newspaper the other day and discovered that film director and actor, Angelina Jolie was making in a film in Australia called " Unbroken " based on the life of Louie Zamperini.  I thought I would check out the book and see what it was like. I read it over a few days and found it inspiring. Book: Unbroken Author: Laura Hillenbrand "On a May afternoon in 1943, Louie took off on a search mission for a lost plane. Somewhere over the Pacific, the engines on his bomber failed. The plane plummeted into the sea, leaving Louie and two other men stranded on a tiny raft. Drifting for weeks and thousands of miles, they endured starvation and desperate thirst, sharks that leapt aboard the raft, trying to drag them off, a machine-gun attack from a Japanese bomber, and a typhoon with waves some forty feet high. At last, they spotted an island. As they rowed toward it, unbeknownst t...