Life, Love and the Everyday

This morning I went to church for the first time in about four months. It hasn't been because I haven't wanted to, there have just been big changes shaking up my world and I was waiting for the dust to settle. But I woke up this morning with a strong, clear conviction to go to Hillsong Church just down the road from me. When I think about it now it seems appropriate because back in August 2010 the same feeling arose one Thursday morning...let me tell you about that. My Mum had been going to church there for three months and back then I was strongly opposed to all churches because of the way Mum had been treated at my childhood church.  Mum had run the children's church and facilitated the youth camps and she did amazing job but didn't get the recognition and respect from other members of the church board for the long hours she did, when she would say no they would quote Bible scriptures to make her feel guilty so she would do what they asked. That's one...

LIFE I was thinking about how I ended up on this road. It's beautiful scenery with off-beaten paths, most days it's grass and some days it's gravel. I like what I do in childcare and I strive to do it well. There are moments when I think "Now why didn't I do literature straight out of high school?" but then there are those Ahhh-haaa! moments that connect the dots. But there was something else that God reminded me about today, it came out of nowhere while I was washing out paint containers. I realised that God had been preparing this destiny for me all along even as a young girl in primary school. I was a quiet kid, tucked away in the special education unit most of the time and I found it hard to relate to my peers - so I would go to the library at lunch-time and that was my haven. My primary school had a medieval castle fort in the library and I relished walking up those stairs to go to my reading nook with its little window and bond with my fictious frien...

I come from a lineage of strong women and their testimonies of courage are the reason why I'm here. Great Grandmother Joan was the eldest child of a big family in The Great Depression and when her father died, she had to step up as a provider so her mother could stay home with her siblings.  After the Second World War was over, she moved to Australia with her husband - they came with hardly anything except hope for the future in a brave new world. The eldest of her six daughters is my Grannie, she convinced a country boy to give up the sticks and move from Kin-Kin to Brisbane in the 70's, there she raised her four children and worked as a barmaid at my local pub to help my Grandad, a factory worker, make ends meet. And then her youngest daughter, my mother, spent most of her adult life staring down the Black Dog  - and winning - while putting three girls through school, keeping house and giving advice. These three women are strong, not perfect. Nobody is. But they had ...

LIFE It is Thursday morning and I am waking up with my first mug of coffee for the day, milk with two-three sugars and I'm set to go. I have been way, way off the radar lately - so has A - but we're going good. Both of us are adjusting to new jobs while trying to keep the rest of the balls in the air - we're starting to make headway with that. But oh! The night before last I was sitting on the bus heading home and I look in the mirror of the bus and I see my reflection and I'm thinking. "Where the hell did that muffin-top come from?" Lads and lassies, this what happens when you neglect the gym and make bad food choices! Argh! (And most of those bad food choices include eating more than my fair share of chocolate.) My two favorite excuses I have for not going to the gym at the moment is: 1. I get home from work at 6:30pm after catching three buses. 2. I have no gym clothes - literally none- unless I borrow A's. (That man is happy to share towels (MY...

  LIFE Life is certainly changing - for the better. Now that I am working part-time, usually I only have enough time to get dressed and have breakfast and no time for a morning buzz of caffeine - to clear the morning fuzziness in my brain I've been waking up to some good ol' country tunes on the two buses I catch to work. A. and I share a love for Johnny Cash's "Hurt" originally performed by 9 Inch Nails. My love for country music has intensified since five years ago when I went to the Gympie Muster with my friend Michelle and both of us were counting down the hours and minutes until we saw Kasey Chambers, that was a helluva good weekend even though it was pouring down hard and we were soaked to the skin for hours. All that aside, I found a new sound in the form of Jasmine Rae and when she sang 'I Faked It', I was hooked.  When I listened to Jasmine Rae's "Why'da Tie The Knot?" I was like "Hell yes!" What I ...

Life: After being in some kind of creative funk which has zapped my powers in all things creative - I have got my stride back in the form of new ideas (which shall be revealed in due course) and thanks to the anti-biotics that the doctor gave me I am right as rain and ready for the first Monday of my new role at work! Three times the charm! Love: Most days, guaranteed, I'm happy and smiling. But like everybody else, sometimes life catches up to me and there is this overwelming sense of failure and heaviness that sits in my heart, its icky and gross like a clogged drain. Not always, not everyday - just sometimes. And when I feel like that, A. knows what I need and thats one of the things I love about him. Different people need different things, like a few hours of alone time, words of encouragement, hugs, getting out and about or couch-time. Needless to say with A.'s loving care, I'm all good now. Sometimes a big hug and a cry is what is needed. I'm not just ...

Life: Lately I have been a bit under the weather. Last Monday was the first day of my new role as a part-time float at my work, but the day before I strained a muscle in my lower back and a hurt back and childcare don't mix well. Last week I had three days off... So I was totally pumped the Monday just gone, was all dressed and ready to dive right in... And then I had an intense coughing fit and threw up half my breakfast at the bus stop... Then that was another two days off. I'm right as rain this morning though, no yucky cough and I'm wearing my ugly Christmas jumper to ward off any chill. As for the ugly Christmas jumper, I picked it up for $10 at Wardrobe Warriors. Theres a funny story to go with that... Me: I'd like to get this, please. Clerk: That will be $10. Me: Um, isn't that the $5 rack? Clerk: The first half is $5, the second half is $10. Me: Okaaay. Clerk: I bought this jumper back in England for an ugly Christmas jumper party, so it...