Jo...

Hello lovely people!
I just want to share with you someone REALLY SPECIAL in my life! My oldest daughter Joanna! She doesn't feature in my posts a lot because, quite frankly, she often pulls a funny face when I'm taking photos of her, but she is a beauty!

See...
Jo, as she likes to be called, is a really tender compassionate girl. She feels for those who are alone and hurting, and steps in to help others when she sees people in need. She is a bit of a cool girl too, with a great fashion sense- you should see what she can do with a scarf!

I love my Jo.

Here are some more pics of my gorgeous girl!
Love you Jojo. Thanks for lighting up my world!

While you're all stinkin' hot...

Hello lovelies, I thought I'd bring you a little something to cool you down while sweltering in warm July temperatures (U.S. readers, at least!)

This was the sight that greeted me as I hopped in to start up my car last Thursday:


And on my side window, lovely little ice crystals looking very ethereal.

Here in Melbourne, we have been having some very chilly mornings, but thankfully these result in nice mild days, with even an odd spot of sun appearing here and there! I enjoy the differing seasons, which is a great thing, considering Melbourne is renowned for having "four seasons in one day!"

On a different note, after my last post on shopping, I wanted to share with you a few specimens of cute jewellery I found on etsy.com by a Christian jewellery artist. The shop is called ForTheCrossJewelery (all one word). She's off camping for the week, so her store is closed until July 17th, but you can still see some of her gorgeous work by clicking on the Sales link down the side. Her profile is also on there, and is definitely worth a read!

But here are some of my favourites from ForTheCross:

Gold Finger - Grannys Jewelry Box Ring.

Countess ChiChi, if you're listening, this one's for you!
Tres chic!


Aqua and Copper Vintage Flower Earrings!

Oh so sweet!











Ivory Rose- another head-turner!



























Gettin' Squirrelly- Acorn Earrings.

Oh, I could go on, but it's best if you see for yourselves! Here's the link: ForTheCrossJewelery
Enjoy your sunshine!

P.S. Please have a look at my new Aussie food blog, too: Downunder Kitchen!

Adore 09 and Swine Flu scares... all in all, an interesting week!

This week has been full of challenges, both spiritual, mental and physical. Last Wednesday the first case of Swine Flu was confirmed on our shores. At this writing, a whole ONE WEEK later, we have 32 cases in the state of Victoria alone. For me, nursing in a medical centre in one of the hardest hit areas, this has come a bit close for comfort.

Here in Australia, we are only at the beginning of our winter 'flu season', so it concerns me to think how quickly it is spreading already. It's been a challenge to get information to the doctors, reception staff and patients quickly enough to ensure everyone is well informed, knows how to prevent transmission, and how to advise concerned patients and suspected cases! I'm not naturally a germophobe, so it's also been a reminder to me to stay vigilant with hand washing and cleaning.
On the home front, and in between all this, I attended our annual women's conference, ADORE, which was held at my church over the weekend. Over the past three years, our conference themes have embraced larger and more purposeful living. This year, our theme was "She Extends Her Hands", an encouragement to "Live Bigger", and care for the needs of others in our world. The speakers were Pastor Bobbie Houston from Hillsong , anointed evangelist Janine Kubala, and our leading lady Georgie Baxter. We also had Compassion bring an interactive walk-through display which showed us all some of the horrible conditions some of the children of our world have to live in, and watched the testimony of Rafonzel, who was sponsored by Compassion throughout her childhood and through a university degree.
What a beautiful testimony it is! Through all of this, God has been prompting me to unearth the heart for missions that is in me. I had allowed it to be buried by other things because it seemed too hard to do something about the massive problems in the world- things like poverty, mass disease, lack of access to health care, education and basic sanitation. But Compassion's message is a simple one: "Change is about Me", meaning that if I do something to change one person's world, I will be changing the world for that one person. The video really brought that message home. I can make a difference in the world!
To be continued...

God is good, and that's ALL THE TIME!

This week I have been having a bit of pain which we think is due to inflammation of the cartilage which joins my ribs together- pain around the sternum, radiating to my back either side of my upper spine. Before you get in a tizz though, let me assure you that we've checked out my heart, and all is well. This has all been a bit of a "pain", and has halted my gymming efforts. But on the finance front, we are forging ahead, and God is splashing out His blessing on the whole thing!

On Monday I asked my boss for an extra day's work so we can save for a house, and he was very agreeable about it, and said I could pick up the extra day as soon as I wanted to!
But at the end of the week, he also asked about my starting hours (I start at 9.30a.m. because I live about 45 minutes drive away, and have to get the kids to school). I said I'd thought of starting earlier, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to consistently make it there at 9a.m. My boss' response:
"Try to come in earlier if you can, we'll continue to book your appointments from 9.30, and whenever you get in earlier, you can claim the extra half hour."
That is amazing! I was just gob-smacked at God- how GOOD He has been to me!! So instead of earning 20 hours' pay a week, I will be now earning between 25 - 27.5 hours! GOD IS GOOD!! It really shows me that He is behind me making this step to change our financial management- He is FOR ME!
It has caused me to be thinking of one of my most favourite scriptures: Jeremiah 29:11-
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
Listen to this verse and it's fellows, as they are expressed in The Message Bible. Don't you feel so secure and loved as you read this?
Our God is kind and loving towards us. He's not harsh and judgmental!

Jer 29:11-14 in The Message:

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen.
When you come looking for me, you'll find me.
Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed.
I'll turn things around for you. I'll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you. I'll bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it."

I hope YOU enjoy the goodness of our God this week!

In Him,

Cake Pops!

Today I thought I'd try my hand at something new! Inspired by the entertaining recipe blogging of Pioneer Woman, and the baking genius of the lovely Bakerella, I went to the shops and armed myself with cake mix, frosting, lollies, chocolate melts and lollipop sticks.

In March, Pioneer Woman hosted a Bakerella cake pop fest, where a few lucky people got to go to her Lodge way out in the sticks of Oklahoma (read, gorgeous ranch accommodation with a to-die-for kitchen) and learn how to make these cuties from the master herself! Naturally, she blogged about the whole process, but if you, too would like to give these cake pops a go, you can find the step-by-step instructions here.

Well, lacking an army of readers to flock to my door to join me in my quest, I conscripted my three girls, who were gladly prepared to experiment with me! That is, until I stipulated that kitchen cleaning assistance would be required by all who wished to participate in cake pop decorating. This decree weeded out one daughter, who was disinclined to continue her involvement in the program.

Part 1: The coloured sugar.
Being novices to cake decorating in general, I decided we should start with something easy, so we opted for plain white chocolate coating, rolled in coloured sugar, with a candy star to finish it off.
The girls had 20 good minutes of fun massaging and shaking food dye through small zip-lock bags of sugar. Our zeal resulted in eight colour varieties, and used up all of my white sugar, but was great fun to do!

Inky hands!

Part 2: The cake pops.
With cake pops, you can pick whatever flavour of cake you like, and cake mix is fine to use, so I picked a Green's Lemon Cake, and added a splash of orange essence, and a few drops of rose pink and yellow food dyes to make a nice apricot colour. The finished cake, complete with finger imprint in the middle. This was the first cake I'd made that I didn't have to be careful with- I was about to turn it into a pile of crumbs before forming it into balls. So, sure as eggs are eggs, I gave it a good bash to get it out of the tin, which resulted in a goodly sized chunk ending up on the floor. I'll be more careful next time... I think!

We mixed the cake crumbs with a good wad of frosting until it was a moldable consistency, rolled it all up into small balls, and pushed lollipop sticks into them. We dipped the sticks into melted chocolate first, so they would hold inside the cake a little better. Then we put the balls into the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up, which they did nicely.

Now the funnest part- decorating!

Melting white chocolate in a bowl in another bowl of hot water. It's a bit more tedious, but a bit safer than doing it in the microwave. Believe me- I've had melting-chocolate-in-the-microwave disasters before!

Some of the coloured sugars on pretty plates... aren't they sweet!


Cake pop battle!

Oops, I popped!

An interesting perspective...


Cuties!

Finished specimens... I thought I'd try the Bakerella trick and put a coloured backdrop behind them. I couldn't quite get the right angle though- you don't see any polystyrene blocks in her pics, although I bet they are there! I think it's the camera- I was just using my iPhone camera, and couldn't take great closeup shots of multiple pops. That'll teach me for not recharging the camera batteries!
Gift of love. My darling hubby got the honour of having the first one. I picked a real cutie for him- cos he's a real cutie!
My pick. Mmm, it was yummy! But very sweet. I'll definitely make these again, but only for parties or gatherings of some kind. I don't think my pancreas will stand it if I make them just for our family too often!
1st date...

1st kiss... don't they make a great couple!

Yummmm!


In Him,

Ooh, ooh, ooh, I just got an award!!!

I have absolutely no idea how to do this, so it's a learning process, folks! Please forgive me if I botch it all up! Today I was having a little surf on my bloggy friends' sites, and to my awe and shock(???) I found that Miss*Suzanne over at I Was Thinking had given me a pretty award! Thanks so much, Miss Suzanne!
Here is the award:

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to a few bloggers who must choose a few more bloggers and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Now apparently it is my esteemed task to nominate some of my bloggy friends for this award too, so here goes:
I nominate my lovely sister Amanda, who has just started blogging at In His Image, the gorgeous MamaBear, at Bears In Exile/Return Home, the courageous Terri, at Once in a Lifetime, the famously entertaining Ree at The Pioneer Woman, and the like-minded Tammi at Valley Girl.
Lovely ladies, please pass this award on to some of the bloggers you follow and appreciate, and include with the picture the text which is written beneath it.
Happy blogging, lovely friends!

In Him,

Post script: I just heard from my lovely friend Denise at Shortybear's Place, who I omitted from my awards because I couldn't access her blog last night. Glad to know she's still blogging! Denise, here's your nomination too!

God infuses inner strength into me!

I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me.
(Philippians 4:13- The Amplified Bible)
I love that thought!

In Him,

One at a time's good fishing!

First, let me start by saying that this post has nothing whatsoever to do with fishing. Don't get me wrong- I like fish, especially thick salmon fillets, seared and cooked to perfection in a hot cast iron pan and drizzled with olive oil and lime juice! Excuse me, I'll just go and have some dinner and then return to finish my post...

Ahhh, that's better! Now, the fishing... The title above is a saying that my darling husband's grandad used to say. It's drizzled down through the decades, much like the olive oil, and is now used frequently in our own household.
'One at a time's good fishing' basically means that if you focus on one thing at a time, and don't get impatient and try to rush things to get a speedier result, you'll be more successful, effective, satisfied, etc.
Recently, I've decided to do this with my weight loss efforts. Although I'm continuing to be mindful of what I'm eating (most of the time!), I felt led to choose one thing and be consistent and committed in that one thing day in, and day out. I've committed to a minimum of 30 minutes of activity/exercise EVERY day of the week except Sundays- our day of rest, but also one of our fullest days at the moment, with church till 2pm, and back there for the marriage course at 5 till 9pm!
So far, I've exercised at the gym 4 times and gone for walks 3 times in the past 8 days... I'm on track! And my good friend the tape measure is showing pleasing signs too, with a total loss of another 6cm (about 2in) in the past week, from waist, bust & hips.
This leading came through hearing three different people, over two days. Firstly, a lady on Focus on the Family radio broadcast, who did this very same thing- one step at a time. Then over coffee with some godly girlfriends, someone mentioned a message preached several years ago which was on conquering your mountains one step at a time! Lastly, I have a life coach named Joyce- perhaps you've heard of her- Joyce Meyer? I was listening to her podcasts for four hours the next day, while painting LOTS of walls! And she counselled me in exactly the same message: "Choose one thing in your life that God is speaking to you about, and really commit yourself to change in that area". Can you hear her voice? I can!
So that's what I'm doing. I've committed to myself and God as my helper and accountability partner. Maybe sooner, rather than later, I'll be posting some before and after pictures!
In Him,

St Paddy's Day Fun!

365 Days of Grateful

An hour ago, I ducked out to the shops for some dinner and some low fat icecream treats. Although I'd already opened my blogger account, and was very ready to start pondering about all the things I'm thankful for, I felt sorry for my darling husband who was fainting for lack of dinner. OK, I made that bit up, but anyway, I sorta thought I'd better get my butt into gear and find some dinner for the poor fella. Near the icecream freezers, I heard a plaintive cry- the magazine section sat calling to me. Only half wanting to resist that temptation, I wandered over and had a look-see at the home magazines. Notebook was sealed up so I couldn't look inside, but I got it on a whim, tucked it under my wing (after paying for it, of course), and took it home to savour later.

I knew it was a God-thing when I opened it up just now, and came across an article entitled "365 Reasons to be Grateful". Hailey Bartholomew, a photographer and mother of two had been feeling generally low, and was encouraged by her mentor to reflect on each day, and write down what she was grateful for. Being a photographer, her writing soon transferred into polaroid photographs of the things in life that were a blessing to her. After a year, she had an album full of treasures- from poignant moments to simple joys. But more than that, she felt her whole outlook on life had lifted: "I'm so happy lately... I have so much and all I need, and so much love in my life."

So what about us? As Christians, we don't just get to be grateful, but we have Someone to focus our gratitude on- we can be thankful towards our loving, detailed God, who has given His life for us, and put so many delightful things into our world! What things are you thankful today? Take some time to think about these, and give thanks to God.

I've posted some of my blessings in my side bar. I could share so many. Please let me know some of the things you are thankful for too. I would love to hear from you! By the way, you can visit Hailey's Grateful Project at www.youcantbeserious.com.au and click on Flickr. Please check it out- she has a lovely talent for capturing beauty in the ordinary.


In Him,


P.S. I had fun playing PhotoStory Friday over at Mama Geek's blog: Works For Us
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

What really matters?

Well hello my friends! After a long break from blogging, I'm back with some words to say.
My quest to be extraordinary continues, (referring to the title Not The Same), so with a new year comes a new look, but the title still stands- I want to live a meaningful and victorious life in Jesus my LORD.

Although not so many victories on the weight loss front, I have grown so much in other areas of my life in the past year or so. God has brought me on such a journey of self-discovery in the almost three years since we came to Enjoy Church, and I'm so thankful to HIM for the work He's been doing in me. I turned 33 last week, and confess (not boast, because it's definitely God's amazing power at work), that in the past year I've become more confident, more able to minister to others, even more lovely than I ever thought I could be. But there's so much more than this to be had in God.

Today we farewelled our dear friend Rosa, who passed away last Wednesday -on my birthday- from breast cancer. She was 52 years old. Her funeral was full- our 800 seat church had hardly a seat left vacant. What a woman. She didn't have any great achievements listed against her name, had not started any business empires or benevolent charities. But 800 people turned out today because her short life had touched theirs.

I have known Rosa for only two years, but in that time she was a great blessing to my life. The words spoken today highlighted what was important to her - Loving God, and Loving Others, and have made me want to re-assess my work-life balance. What really matters in life? And how can I make space in my life to ensure I do those things well?

The past few weeks have been extremely busy. With several ministry roles on the go, as well as a full schedule at work, I've found myself with little time or energy to devote to my family. Lord, I know it's time to take stock of what's important in my life. Can it be that it's time to cull things again? I can't even think what I could cut out of my life, but I know somehow I want to make time to be more available- not just for people God sends to me (which I'm pretty good at!), but specifically for those He's already placed in my life. How long since I had a cup of tea with my own Mum? She lives only an hour away. And I want to sow love and real caring into my children. In a few short years they'll be women. Lord, help me to show them the way- what it really means to follow you and love others. Lead me in the way everlasting.

In Him,