Back from the dead.

Hello everyone, it's been a long time!

First allow me to dispel any concerns: despite my post title and a long respite from blogging, I have not, as it may appear, been through a near death experience, nor had any motor vehicle accidents, mysterious diagnoses or family tragedies (thank you Lord!). I simply mean that after 13 non-blogging months, I am bringing this blog back from the dead, to once again diary my thoughts and musings!

Before we move on, let me summarise the past 13 months for you.
Teenagers, School, Marriage Ministry, Cooking, Kitchenaid Mixer :), Graduate Studies In Health Promotion, Hubby Turns 40, I Win A Weight Loss Challenge At My Gym, New Smartphones, Job Promotion, Being Faithful In The Little Things, Coffees, New Friendships, Footy, Stepping Up, Going Deeper, Refining The Dream, Enjoying Life.

And I ask you, isn't that enough??
An inbuilt facet of my personality always drives me to strive for more. I have to say no to myself more times than I care to count, and if I wanted to be a dill, I would try out 20 different careers and serve on 6 different teams at church, just for a season in each! I love to try things out, obviously.

But more than anything, this season has been about learning to dwell within limits- I can't be everything, but I can be something. So although I have fancies about opening a boutique patisserie or designing gorgeous weddings, I understand that I am here for a purpose bigger than my own desires, and I press on slowly towards the dream God has placed in my heart.

And what, I hear you ask, is that dream? Well it's not yet clearly defined, but it's something to do with improving health in under-resourced communities. In January I started a graduate diploma in health promotion, and for my first major assignment I looked at tuberculosis prevention in East Timor (Timor L'este). East Timor is a little country next to Indonesia which became an independent nation in 2002 after many decades of neglect and unrest. The East Timorese now face a huge challenge in establishing a solid economy, health system and more, and the rebuilding work will likely go on for many decades. I don't know where I'm going to end up, but this is the kind of work I want to do: helping establish systems to improve health in needy communities.

For now though, I have a long road of studying ahead, with many opportunities to choose to press on, rather than taking the easy road. I'm doing one subject at a time, so at this rate I'll complete my course in 3 more years- when my youngest daughter Betty is starting her final year of high school. And so every day I must choose to keep on the path- studying and following God, enjoying other hobbies such as cooking and occasional event planning, but staying true to the course that God has put me on.

This will be my last post on Not the Same. Due to the datedness (is that a word?) of my url (notthesamein2009.blogspot.com), I've decided to make the move to a fresh blog, so from now on, you'll find me at A Million Small Steps. Thanks for following me here for the past few years. I hope you'll come and visit my new blog site soon! God bless, Juliet.

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...