The good news is...

Bad news. We’ve all read that letter, seen that horror unfold, taken that phone call. We’re so used to getting bad news that all our good news is overshadowed by the possibility of another bad happening or reality.

How do you live life without the fear that another piece of bad news is waiting to jump you as you round the next corner?

Johnny Lee Clary wrote a song that says something like:

The good news is,
the bad news was wrong.

What if there was one piece of good news that made all the bad stuff fade into insignificance? What if you had one hope, that made you hang on until the darkness fades into a wonderful light – until the evil world would die and you would find yourself at last in the glory of what the world should always have been?

I have that Hope. I still get bad news, but I have it in perspective. Do you? If you don’t, click here.

If the bad news is that the world is going to forever head down the tube, or that there is no hope, Clary was right: The bad news is wrong.

Time for this

I have discovered that the only way I will get spare time is to interject my busy time with twenty-second snippets of leisurely activity.

I have also discovered that I can work on essays for endless hours, if I just stop every minute or so and hit “next blog” button, reading little bits of random blogs throughout the day. I read blogs of all kinds from all over the world, although usually only a quick scan of the most recent post. Those that interest me are saved in my favourites for another day.

In other pockets of spare time, I might say hello to a friend on MSN, or get up and sample a little something from the fridge. If I’m really desperate, I’ll tidy up the room around me a little and then sit back down to resume typing my essay.

How sad it is that I must go to these lengths to get a bit of time for myself – tiny morsels of time that, disguised as they are under the appearance of productiveness, can hardly be of much quality at all. I long for a lifestyle – don’t we all – where there is time for people, time for laughter, time for that feeling of having nothing pressing you – tugging at your conscience, demanding to be addressed.

One day perhaps I will have that sort of time. But for now, it’s back to the essays for me.

Up in the air, I fly

Last Saturday I checked out the Avalon Air Show. It was terribly cold the whole day - but well worth the effort. Flying still takes my breath away.



It was amazing to see what you can do with a plane - I really thought that they were going to crash during many of their death-defying stunts. One of the planes looked like a flying brick - doing barrel rolls and loops over and over - before landing virtually on a 5 cent piece.

I think I learned something about planes - for example, that there are some planes through which you can 'cut' to make an emergency exit, that some have a special toilet just in case the plane crashes, and (assuming it is intact) you need to 'go' while you're waiting to be rescued. There are planes that are still in service, having been used since the stone ages (almost); and then there are planes that are specially designed killing machines - costing $2000 per second for a round of bullets.



There was one thing struck me, amid the constant whirring and screaming of various aircraft flying overhead. It was the thought that for us Australians these sounds mean security in an unpredictable world (at least we think we're secure). But what if those sounds were not welcome, if hearing those meant you had to run for cover because the Americans were coming? What if that sound was the same sound you heard before you once lost a loved one? The helicopters looked a lot more menacing as I stood and thought these thoughts...

Overall, it was a good day, especially since I got to hang out with my friends and relax.

Look at the birds

Where have I been all this time? Put simply, I've been off running a kids holiday program. But that's a whole other post...

What else has been happening? Heaps. But one thing I've been re-learning (or reinforcing?) this week is to do with just trusting God to provide my needs. I was a bit worried because I wasn't getting a lot of work, and the money was running low... but I believe that if God calls me to do something, then he'll provide the finances I need to do it. Anyway, I was encouraged today because work rang me at 6am. This was an answer to my prayers of the night before. And believe me, for once it was not a struggle to get out of bed for work.

One thing I'll add: don't sit there and think "Well, it's all right for her, she's got a job... she doesn't know what I go through". Well, maybe I don't. But I do know what it's like to do it tough. Our family's relied on social security for just about ten years, we're a single parent family, and I've been a student for what feels like forever. So I know what it's like to shop in the 'reduced to clear' section of the supermarket, and to enjoy a night out as a 5-times a year luxury. Not that I'm complaining, of course: In fact, I'm thankful that I've gone through those times, because it's made me much more thankful for what I have, and has probably improved my money-management skills.

A group of birds feed on someone's leftover Maccas meal.

Birds don't stress about where their next meal's coming from: They know that somehow, somewhere, someone will leave something behind for them. Perhaps we could learn a thing or two from these creatures...

So now that we've cleared that up, I encourage you the reader to reflect on how you respond when you get hit hard in the back pocket, so to speak. Have you discovered the incredible secret of trusting God to provide your needs when the going gets tough? Or do you instantly break out in sweat and acne? I think it's amazing that God says we don't need to worry for those things, just to trust him to provide. And believe me, or at least believe God's promises: He really does prove himself faithful.

P.S. To all you out there who are struggling, to those of you who battle doubt and fear about the future, my heart goes out to you. I know the place you're in - and sometimes I end up there myself. Just be assured that God understands your situation, and he cares. He just calls you to trust him, that's all; He'll deal with the rest.

Happy New Year

I welcomed the arrival of 2007 quietly this year. The night before I'd gotten pretty much no sleep, so I just relaxed, cleaned my bedroom and watched the fireworks on TV, as well as the Sound of Music, into the early hours of the morning. When I finally went to bed, I couldn't sleep (?) so I finally drifted off some time around 3am to the sound of classical piano and soft rain.

The fireworks in Sydney were pretty good this year - compared to other years I remember. Flashes of flame and colour burst from not only the Syndey Harbour bridge, but also from high-rise buildings. These were accompanied by glittering camera flashes coming from the crowd, which could be seen from the air. Ahhh... Maybe I'll have to actually go there one year.

What did you do for new year's eve? Do you do the same thing every year, or do you mix it up from year to year?

One thing a lot of us do is make new year's resolutions. This is mine: (it comes from a song by one of my favourite bands... DCTalk)

To see Him more clearly

To love Him more dearly

To follow Him more nearly...

Day by day.

And I do intend to keep this one. I'm thankful for the year that was past - I thank God it was a victorious one in many ways, a year of breaking through, a year of taking new ground. But this is a new year: The past is past - both good parts and bad parts are all in the past. This is a fresh start - a new chance to make a difference. What are you going to do this year, to change the world?

The Best (& Worst) of 2006

Best moment: There were many… but I’d say one of the best moments this year was landing at the airport in the Philippines. It was such a good feeling – like, ‘We’re back again. This is going to be the most awesome time, I’m going to see my awesome friends again and meet some cool new people, amazing things are going to happen… I can’t wait!’. I am so looking forward to having that feeling again.

Worst moment: The day my Grandpa died. I won’t forget that day, and what it was like to sit with him as he moved on from this world and onto the next.

Best purchase: Hmm…. I’ve had a few this year. I would say the best buy this year was when I purchased a set of luggage tags for free from Safeway. At Safeway, if something you buy scans at the wrong price (well, at a greater price than it should be anyway), you get the first item for free and the rest at the proper price. These luggage tags were on special for around $5, marked down from around $15 or so. They scanned through at $15, so I got them for free. Score!

Worst purchase: The day I paid 35c per page for photocopying, at a newsagent in a small town. I got my paperwork photocopied, and the lady says “OK, that will be four dollars (and something) please”. “How much were they per page?” I ask… “35c”, she says matter-of-factly. What on earth? Since when does anyone charge 35c per page, when the average going rate is between 7 and 20c? I guess this is what comes with being the only newsagent in town... There you go Sammy, I blogged about it! And Chris – this is what the photocopies were about!

Best sale: My best Ebay sale this year in terms of profit was a Commodore 64 (old gaming system for those of you who don’t know), with some games. I bought the lot for $7, and sold them for around $63. Score!

Worst sale: How do I answer that? (Is this a little ironic to you that I’m having trouble answering a question I voluntarily asked? And that I had the power to erase this question before ever publishing it, but instead I’m rambling on about nothing while attempting to understand it, the necessary prerequisite to answering it?) … I would say my worst sales were the items I didn’t sell. But that means they’re not sales… Next question.

Best laugh: I think the longest and best quality laugh for 2006 was had by me and my Uncle at a hotel in the Philippines. We were checking in after a long day, and were needless to say, very tired. Anyway so the lady behind the counter is explaining where our rooms were. Except the rooms didn’t have numbers, they had names. “Sir, you’re in Torquoise, Ma’am, you’re in Ivory, and the other two rooms are Jade and Ruby… blah blah blah… By this time, we’d tuned out. When we tune back in, she’s saying “OK, you can go to your rooms now.” … Huh? “Sorry, where do we go?” I asked. The look on her face was priceless (you mean you weren’t listening?). Tom and I erupted in laughter. Why? It’s hard to say - we were just tired, and we’d realised that we hadn’t been listening to this poor girl for like 10 minutes, not to mention the fact that it was quite strange that hotel rooms here had names and not numbers. So we had a good, tension-releasing, relaxing laugh. We went on and on. Tears flowed and bellies ached, and the people behind the desk wondered what on earth was wrong with Australians, while everyone else was deeply concerned for our mental well-being. Finally, we somehow calmed ourselves down enough to ask one more time what the names of our rooms were, before sheepishly climbing the stairs and hiding from the wide-open eyes of the people below.

Worst laugh: Probably the laughs of others as they laugh at me for doing yet another embarrassing thing… But I have a good laugh at myself too. Haha.

Best meal: Hmm… again, there were many. But a really funny meal was one we had in Chinatown in Singapore (pictured above). We went to this little Chinese restaurant, coaxed in by a nice lady calling us from the door. When we had ordered, we discovered we had no sugar for our coffees. I don’t have sugar with my coffees, but my uncle does. So we asked for some sugar. The funny thing was, although the people in the restaurant spoke pretty good English, they couldn’t figure out what ‘sugar’ meant. Or maybe it was the way we Aussies pronounce it. Anyway, it took us about 10 minutes and several attempts at explanation like “You know, the white stuff people use to make their coffee sweeter”, before one of the girls finally emerged carrying a little white bowl with the white stuff in it. As for what we ate, I recall my uncle ordering fish, and me having some sort of wanton soup.

Worst meal: The day I tried my kitty’s cat food. Don’t worry, it was only her dried food, and it was only one piece. And to satisfy your curious minds, it is, in fact, totally bland and totally distasteful.

Best post: My best post for 2006? That’s really hard to decide, because there are several (or maybe it’s just that I write a heap of nonsense!). I think my ‘Futurama on Divine Intervention’ post was interesting.

Worst post: This post is quickly qualifying for this category… Actually, I would say the worsts posts are those where I just post a link to yet another ‘generator’ site. Is anyone else apart from me getting sick of those? Come on Rach! No more lazy blogging, OK?

Anyway, that's enough for now. Maybe I’ll continue in another edition of The Best (& Worst) of 2006. Or maybe I won’t. We’ll see. But until then, have the Best (& Worst) day of your year! (sorry!) No, maybe I’ll say something cheesy instead, like this:

“Now, I exhort you, make today the best day of your year by doing something to leave an un-erasable mark on the world… and on eternity!”

I mean that last bit. Really!