Finding joy in the everyday

Some families are well off, other families struggle financially, some have periods of poverty, others have burst of wealth. We are all different when it comes to how much money we bring in each week, how much money is in the bank or how big or small our debts are.  We are all different, which shouldn’t surprise anyone.  However I have noticed a growing trend among some Christian families to share with everyone how poor they are, how much they are struggling, how old the washing machine is or all the things they do without. In fact some bloggers activity encourage women to give up their jobs and return home and live in poverty as this is seen as the ultimate Christian sacrifice (interestingly I have seen this done by women who are so much more financially better off which even worse).  Some families do exceptionally well on a very low income and others do very badly on a high income. However, what concerns me is the boastfulness of those who have chosen to l...

On the  17th of October 2016, police broke into a home  in a  middle  class   suburb  of Sydney,  Australia's  largest  city to find the bodies of a family—mother, father and their two young children. They also found the body of the family dog. The police have stated that they are not looking for any suspects and believe the father killed the family (it is unknown at this stage if the mother was aware of his plans). In the newspaper articles following the discovery, those who knew the family said they were "loved", a "much valued family in the community" and the mother was bright, cheery, a "rock",  happy, heavily involved in the school her two children attended. They appeared to be the perfect family.  Even with two severely disabled children, the mother was considered strong and determine and doing a great job.  (From:  Are you allowing the demon of comparison to destroy your family ) ...

According to a recent report from the UK Office for National Statistics, the number of couples in Britain who describe themselves as “extremely unhappy” has doubled in the past five years, while those who describe their relationship as “perfect” has gone down from 9.2% to 5.9%.  More than a million people in the UK are trapped in miserable relationships with their spouse or long-term partner (out of around 15 million couples) One UK poll found that about six in 10 are unhappily coupled, four out of 10 say they have considered leaving their partner and one in 10 don’t even trust their partner anymore. The poll goes on to detail the most-mentioned problems, the top five being lack of spontaneity, lack of romance, terrible sex life, no time to give each other attention and lack of time to talk. From the 1960s, divorce became much easier with changes to the marriage act and from that point onwards the numbers skyrocketed. Marriages prior to this weren't any hap...

" Despite more process, privilege and possessions than ever before, we are worried all the time.  The more we have the more we worry. Why, because we have more to lose. We use up much of our lives trying to insulate ourselves against insecurities, We worker harder, buy more, accumulate, set aside, save, hoard, buy locks and security systems and maximise insurance — and much of this activity is driven by worry, anxiety and a relentless discontent " from Contentment: The Secret of a Lasting Calm by Richard Swenson And money makes us more anxiety than almost anything else.  A new study shows two million Australians are experiencing high financial stress which prevents them from coping in difficult situations, for example, in paying unexpected expenses such as a big mobile phone bill or the fridge breaking down.  One in two adults have limited to no savings. Household finances lead to more arguments in marriage than almost anything else and it leads to divorce....

And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. (Ruth 2:11) For those who have daughters, one day they will marry (God willing) and become daughter-in-laws.  How do you want them to treat their future mother-in-law? One day you will become a mother-in-law, how will you behave? On Mothers Day this year my daughter-in-law (DIL) came for lunch and we spent the afternoon together. Her husband (my son) was away on work business (for 4 weeks) but that didn't stop her from visiting. She brought me a beautiful bunch of flowers and a lovely gift which will be treasured. We had a wonderful time chatting, enjoying a meal together, chocolate cupcakes for dessert and we even fitted in a movie (on DVD) that we both wanted to watch. My DIL i...

We all lead a very busy lives . . . I am no different  —  I seem to be always on the run, things need to be done,  grocery to buy, parcels to collect, food to cook, washing to do, things not getting done when they ought to . . you know the story . . . and for women with small children, it is even more hectic.  To add to our daily lives, we often have extra curriculum activities such as sport, crafts, reading, photography, coffee with friends etc... that chew up our time. Sadly for many women, our worldly activities can take control and we forget to prioritizing as we should. We don't do it intentionally but with all that dashing about in every directions plus our families requiring our attention we loose track of what is most important — and life quickly gets out of balance.  We need to stop and think about what is important, sadly many find this is difficult as they find themselves on auto pilot and not quite sure where the off switch is!  Fo...

According to an article titled " Where are the dads? Parental leave for men remains low" (March 4th 2016):  J ust one in fifty Australian men takes parental leave, according to a new research paper from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that looks at the issue across member countries. Australia's result compares with 40 per cent or more of men taking parental leave in some Nordic countries, and also Portugal. It's important to distinguish between father or partner leave - leave a father or same-sex partner takes when a newborn arrives - with parental leave; a longer period of job-protected leave. Fathers, or partners, who care for their kids are more likely to stay engaged in that relationship as their children grow, the OECD research shows.  And children with dads who participate more in family life also have better emotional outcomes and mental health. Dads benefit too: they have greater satisfaction with their lives, and b...