Chapter 2: Simple Things.

So.
Since we spoke last a lot has happened in my life.
...or have I already told you about my new job? I can't actually remember.
I just checked. Yes, I have. So I won't repeat that to you, and bore you to tears waste precious exclamation marks.

Thus, I shall tell you other things!!!

I discovered Paw-paw Ointment!! It is fantastic! I use it for pretty much everything now, from cuts and blisters to lip balm. It's pretty inexpensive too. You use hardly any of it at one time. It's basically fermented fruit turned into a kind of paste-ointment thingy. Everyone should have a tube, it's incredibly useful. I wonder if Lucas' Pawpaw Remedies will pay me for spruking their product for them... >.> But yes, I seriously love the stuff <3

Also I had a small epiphany. Sometimes answers to important questions are so simple that we overlook them. Or, we notice the answer and then carry on, thinking that the soloution couldn't possibly be that simple. For instance, one of my friends recently started their own blog, and wanted to change their layout. They were frustrated when they couldn't figure out how to move things around, and head-desked when they found out that all you have to do is drag the boxes around. Just goes to show how we tend to over-complicate things for ourselves, the older we get.

Anyway, that's it really for now.

xoxo

Awesome Title Goes Here.

Life never ceases to amaze me. God surprises me constantly. It's awesome. HE's awesome.

I look at my circumstances now, and remember where I was 3 months ago...6 months ago...a year ago...so much for me has changed.

I have changed...the people around me have changed.

I've grown up  quite a bit. An interesting thing I've learned about growing up that I thought I might share is this. Growing up changes you and changes the way you think, and yet it doesn't. You still feel, in essence, the same as you did when you were four. Except...well, I like to argue that you're as intelligent as you were the day you began to exist, but your ability to understand and grasp what you previously couldn't is what actually develops.

Which brings me to another new thought, and a question: are we born with a limited capacity, or is our only limitation our thinking? Or...Do we have the capacity to be so immesurably awesome that we cannot fathom it ourselves...and therefore limit ourselves to what we are told by other people that we can do?

If you think "I'll never get a job" you probably won't...unless you change your thinking and do something about it.

If you think "My room will always look like a cyclone hit it" then it will likely stay that way.

Until you bchange your attitude and your thinking.

WHAT AM I SAYING???!! Now I should probably go clean my room. "I'm too busy" has been holding me back for too long :/

But yeah. Your behaviour and your understanding changes, but I don't think what makes you who you are changes. You are always uniquely you, no matter what you do.

Anyway, my messy room beckons me.

Love always

xoxo

Refreshing, much?

Hello.

I hope you like the new colour scheme, first of all. I felt it was time for a change, and this new look feels so...Leesy-ish. It's like when you slide on a pair of new fluffy slippers and fresh pyjama pants after getting out of a hot bath and drying off. Minus the snoozy bit though because it feels alive. And fresh.

But anyway.

Hello! :)

Sorry I haven't blogged in ages.

I have a new job!!! Well, have had for about four weeks now. But yes. It's fantastic!! Unfortunately though it means my writing has slowed almost to a halt. Having said that...YAY FOR FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT!!

God is so good. Even when stress and not cool things hit me, that peace and assurance that it will all turn out okay in the end at the back of my mind helps me stay level headed and able to be who I'm meant to be.

The moon is beautiful and so are the stars. I love clear winter night skies.

I'm feeling very poetic and deep right now. I might go write a poem or philosophise.

In that case I will now sign off.

Sorry again. And for the disjointedness. But hey...blogs are meant to be just your thoughts on a page. This post is mine kind of rough and un-edited into flowing lyrical genius or paper-grade writing.

I miss writing essays.

Groove Hoob is awesome and green at the same time. Which is like awesome squared.

For real now, I am going.

Love always x

Puny Human Brains Just Don't Get It, Ever.

I have a feeling that something is going to happen today. I think it's a good something. The more I think about the feeling itself, the more I think about what we talked about in the laystaff meeting this morning.

The main point that I got out of it (there was a LOT more than this though) was that by God's grace comes wisdom, knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6). When we don't understand something ourselves, the best and most important thing to do is to not lean on something that we lack (Proverbs 3:5)! Often we'll even think that we have total understanding of our situation...but we don't. What we perceive to be true and what is actually the truth is often wrong.

We also like to think that what we want is obviously God's plan for our lives, and that bad things just aren't meant to happen to us.

Just, no, guys. Gold can't be refined and made pure without fire.

I'll use an example from my life that will hopefully explain why.

I had back and neck trouble on and off for over 15 years. Yes, since I was four. It hasn't restricted me much, but I'd never been able to do push-ups because my back wouldn't support me. And pain is annoying. My pastor prayed for me one Sunday and I was healed. But then all of a sudden, I was in more pain than before! I didn't understand why I was in pain. I was angry. I cried. It took me two days to be able to ask someone why, and when I did, I had a massive facepalm moment. Turns out that when your muscles have been compensating for so long, when everything is put back right, you hurt even more!!!

I apologised to God for yelling at him, and I think he may have had a small chuckle. I know I did, in a sheepish kind of way.

My understanding failed me, I should have been listening to his voice. But at least I have now got a fantastic illustration for this point! See, there was God at work in multiple levels. Man, God is awesome.

We don't have the road map for our future, but God does (Jeremiah 29:11...the verse that stalks me). He's like our navigator, and we can choose to listen to his wisdom or choose not to. If he tells you something, you can believe him. My mum always says that you should check things you get with the Bible to make sure that it lines up...that's a whole other blog post though. But yeah. God gives wisdom and when he gives it, it's usually something that can be found in his word.

God has a plan for us, to ultimately make us prosperous (Jeremiah 29:11). We need to grow first to be able to reach our full and awesome potential. A horse cannot win any sort of prestigious trophy without first being gentled or broken, and put through rigorous training.

Likewise, we don't necessarily understand why bad things are happening to us. The horse doesn't understand why that infernal man has strapped a saddle to its back and is pushing it to run its hardest...in a circle of all things. You may not feel like you're going anywhere, but the more you grow and rely on God, like the horse that trusts its trainer and is obedient, the more awesome you'll become.

Trust Him with all your heart and don't rely on your own understanding! God is so much bigger and knows infinitely more than us. Listen to him. ;)

If My Heart Was a House You'd be Home.

Thanks, OwlCity, for putting it so succinctly. (Adam Young is too awesome a writer for words.)

First of all, being the mushy sopface that I am, I am in love with that song. Not only is the music fantastic, the lyrics are beautiful!!! It's totally how I feel about no one in particular.

Which brings me to my topic for this post.

Today I am going to talk about being single and not loving it.

Also, what I have realised over the past year about it.

Firstly, Everyone I know (pretty much) has told me (in one way or another, some more and some less diplomatically) that I need to get over it because there's no way I'm going to stay single for long.

Still, my brain says, "Pfsh. Yeah, right."
Then I'll say, "But-"
And then my brain will cut me off with "You will be lonely for ever and without someone to love! BAHAHAaarr..."
...Yeah, maybe not quite like that. But, anyway. Continuing on.

And my heart goes sadface on me.

But... no more!

I realised this: I can love the someone even though I don't know them! Like that sappy Human Nature song...but not.

So yeah, I have decided to love whoever-he-is wholeheartedly, even though I don't know him yet.

Circle me and the needle moves gracefully
Back and forth; if my heart was a compass, you'd be north;
Risk it all, I'll catch you when you fall
Wherever you go, If my heart was a house you'd be home! 

*sigh*

Yep, fantastic song. And I don't feel lonely any more.

Self-Righteous is a Bit of an Oxymoron.

 I was going to post this as a comment on my previous blog post, but then realised it would probably be better as another post (it being long and all).
So, in response to Thomas...

I see where you're coming from, but I'm not quite sure if you can see where I'm coming from.

Never beat people over the head with your faith. I agree with that. Although, there is a difference between making a stand for what you believe in and bashing people about with it. Jesus said to be open about what you believe in.

About the passage you quoted:

Matthew 6:1-7 (NLT)
Teaching about Giving to the Needy
   ¹ “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. ³ But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.


Teaching about Prayer and Fasting
 ⁵ “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. ⁶ But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. ⁷ “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.

This is talking about not being arrogant about what you do for others and thinking that it makes you holier than other people.

Here are a couple more points to consider along the lines of self-righteousness:

Romans 3:22-24 (NLT)
²² We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
 ²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ²⁴ Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

We have ALL fallen short of the glory of God and it is by GRACE ALONE that we have been saved! Bit of a kick in the guts for self-righteousness there, hehe. It's quite a humbling thing to think about.

Luke 16:15 (NLT)
¹⁵ Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.


We should do good things not for personal glorification but because we love God and others. Remember the woman who gave her last two coins? She did something in public but not for showy self-righteousness.

Finally,
2 Timothy 4:5 (NLT)
⁵ But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

We're all supposed to be open about what we believe. But it is most definitely common sense to not push someone around with God's word if they don't want to hear it. It just pushes them away more.

This comes back to what I was saying in my previous blog post: Living the right way is how you shine God's light! By living right, others can see that there's something different about you. So there is a private and public element of your faith, but both are important! You don't have to carry a heavy bible under your arm and shout to the heavens for all to hear about hellfire and brimstone, but definitely don't keep it a secret.

Thanks heaps Thomas, your comments were very thought-provoking. I always appreciate them! :)

Walk the walk, love others, be real.

Stepping Up to the Plate. Or Something Like That.

I've got that warm fuzzy feeling inside and it's not from my lunch.

I have something to say and I think it's really important. Whether you're a Christian or not, I'm pretty sure you'll agree with at least some of it.

I'll give you some background story first, though.

As you most likely know (people who read my blog have usually known me since I was about 14) I used to write A LOT about things God and I had been discussing. I haven't so much lately written about it and I was wondering why. I was talking to God the other night and he said, “Well you kind of need to rededicate yourself to me.”
I responded with “But...I am totally full on for you and passionate about your plan and everything!” But God does know better, being sovereign and indescribably amazing and all powerful. With this in mind, I said “Okay, I'll do it.” So I prayed and rededicated myself to Him, and felt awesome. THEN. Yes, then. He said to me, “Okay, now make it public.”


WHAT??!
What will my youth pastors think? What will the other people in the church think?

Yeah, anyway after that mini freak out, God said gently, “It's not about what other people think, it's about you and me. Besides you're in a safe place when you're with the Church, no one will judge you.”

I always love how he's so gentle with me like that. He gets how I'm wired because, hey, he was the one who wired up my brain.

This morning in the House we had a visiting speaker, an evangelist by the name of Andrew Kubala. He is very awesome and also hilarious. I wish I'd had my note taking implements (my phone which I left at home accidentally) with me cause he said a lot of awesome stuff...I think I'll be getting a hold of the CD because it's worth listening to over.

Anyway, lo and behold at the end of his message he had an alter call for people becoming Christians or rededicating their lives to Jesus. I was freaking out. I knew what God had said to me but I didn't want to look bad or weak or like I'd been evil or sinning like a maniac or something. I was praying inside, “GOD! PLEASE ASK HIM TO SAY SOMETHING TO MAKE ME FEEL LESS FREAKOUTISH!” among other things. God answered my prayer quick-smart when Ps Andrew said something about even leaders, and one more person. I knew it was me that needed to put my hand up, because God had been telling me I had to for the ENTIRE WEEKEND. Hehe.

So I put my hand up. And when he called us out the front, I went. Along with some of my friends too, so I figured that maybe this is something God's been challenging a few people with this week(end).

I've been asking God for a new breakthrough and I got it by being obedient in one simple thing. I was feeling embarrassed, but God said to me then that I didn't need to, because, as I looked around me when heading back to my spot, all around me were other leaders and pastors, and people I KNOW love him totally.

Taking physical steps forward like that and being bold in public is important. It shows people where you are at in your heart and what you are focused on. (Baptism is another fantastic example of this.) Walking the walk (literally in my case) proves that you believe in and act on your own talk. I'd better not say anything more or I'll give it all away too soon!

I won't write out what else God's given to me just yet, not to publish here. I'll save it in a word document for another day....because this has been a lot already. If you're interested to hear about it, just message me or leave a comment or check out Colossians 3.

Lavender is not Alice

Lately, between working and job hunting, I have been working on a story. I'm pretty excited about it. The working title is Lavender March and the Hole in the Bridge.

Somewhere near the beginning, my writing buddy (who is also writing something awesome right now...but more epic and more grown-up than my story) pointed out to me that it sounded very Alice in Wonderland-ish. I proceeded to share the plot outline with him and after some discussion, we fixed that. I might share some of the story here later.

I'm so excited!

I love writing, and having a world come alive inside me...it's initially quite hard to articulate just what it's like, but as my own understanding of this place and the people in it increases, so does my ability to describe it.

It's like this imaginary world has been given to me and I'm discovering it... It doesn't feel like something of my own invention. It's too beautiful and amazing.

(Mind you, I usually feel that way about the things that come out of my pen, paint brush and keyboard...)

I want to publish this story. It's going to take a while to actually write it, I think. I've spent over a month so far on the plot outline. Not solidly, of course. I've been doing a lot of living too!

The main character is called Lavender March. She's a few years older than our friend Horatio, and a bit more gutsy. Mind you, she hasn't got a giant blue hairy thing following her around, nor algebra homework.

She does have a bit of an attitude problem though.

I'm having a lot of fun discovering the characters... It's sort of like meeting someone new and getting to know them. One of my favourite authors, Mary Grant Bruce, thought likewise. In fact, in her very last book in the Billabong series, she said that she thought her characters wanted one more story. That makes total sense to me. To an author, the characters and places in their stories are real...sort of.

It's hard to explain.

Oh well.

I might go and write some more now.

Discoveries

So, quite by accident this morning while flicking through the pages of the internets, I came across a battle of epic proportions: the WAR ON BLAGTUBES. What are the blagtubes, you may be thinking. Well, so was I. After much thought on the situation (and also googling the term), I deduced that it's a fancy word for a big bunch of blog posts. That sounds cooler than "a big bunch of blog posts," might I add. I know that the battle is epic, and you can find a post on it in this rather awesome sentence. Be aware, that particular blog is run by a Texan College Student Hippie and I cannot, therefore, guarantee the content to be totally wholesome and unrelated to programming. (We love you, Alex!)

(Okay, I'll admit it. I wanted to be one of the few websites that came up when blagtubes were mentioned.)

Maybe if I say blagtubes enough I'll get bumped in the search results.

Blagtubes blagtubes blagtubes.Take me to the blagtubes!

...blagtubes. *cough*

Ooh, maybe I'll even get comments! I've not had a comment on this blog yet, at all.

Second discovery! Click here and here. Pomplamoose. 'Nuff said.

3 Days with a Billionaire

The only thing that limits you is your thinking.

Stop and just think about it. What are your goals, if you could have three material things, as Dr Peter Daniels said, "That you could put in a bucket," what would they be? Anything in the world.

What do you come up with?

I sat there, a bit stumped for a moment.

Then, all of a sudden, everything he had been saying clicked!

The only thing limiting me is my thinking!

Tonight was life changing. The past three nights have been life changing. I have had the privilege to listen to and spend time with Dr Peter Daniels, an amazing man who really knows his beans when it comes to life and being something big in it.

The only thing limiting me is my thinking. Nothing else! My current financial situation, my age, my gender and my race have absolutely nothing to do with it.

There is so, so much more to what I have learned...but I wanted you to know, everyone.

Look out world, I might just have the most successful Australian publishing company ever one day. Or something. Whatever - I'm going to change the world.

You just watch.

God is Good?

My friend Grace and I have been trying to bring back this saying:

Person 1: "GOD IS GOOD!"
Everyone else: "ALL THE TIME!"
...

Person 1: "ALL THE TIME!"
Everyone else: "GOD IS GOOD!"

It's simple, yet profoundly true and awesome. And fun.

Recently, though, a friend said to me (in paraphrase), "No, He isn't. look at all of this..." and proceeded to point out different places in the Bible where he said that God had "ordered the murder of innocent people," as my friend put it.

So, in my curiosity (and intense desire to learn more...I really love having a new reason to study the Word!! I'm pretty pumped about this), I have decided to do a personal study on both these events and also why God is so good.

When I come across interesting things I'll let you know.

Encounter TwentyTen

First of all I would like to say, twenty is a funny word, both to say and to write in full (twenty as opposed to 20). Be careful, though, who you say it around (if you are saying it multiple times to hear for yourself its oddness). I was just saying it out loud sitting here in the lounge room. My little sister looked at me and said, "You're weird." She then proceeded to go and inform our mum of this, whose response was, "Yes, isn't it wonderful?" I felt sufficiently justified.

Anyhow, that is not the point of this post. (Yes, I was sidetracked by writing the title.)

I want to tell you about a camp. A very awesome camp, which I recently went on along with 44 other young people.

Unfortunately I cannot tell you from experience what happened prior to Saturday afternoon (I had to work Saturday morning), though I heard from a lot of people that it was awesome.

Everyone left on Friday evening, I assume at around 7ish. Dad and I dropped off my little sister at around 6ish and by 6:30ish not everyone was there yet. It took roughly an hour and a half (or so) to get up to Macclesfield. When they arrived there was (I am informed) a small kerfuffle over who was to be in what dorm. This was quickly resolved. The first session was amazing, Dave Hall spoke. I am unaware of what happened at the second session and during the morning.

At around 2pm, I arrived. A very active and competitive 4:12 Wipeout was happening...sock wrestling was in full swing! Other stages included team slip'n'slide climbing (with soft, bouncy projectiles send down towards them), sumo wrestling and a canoe race, in which teams carried the canoe over their heads for roughly 100m and then paddled back down the stream, twice. Wearing thongs (or flip-flops for all you Americans out there). Josh's team won, with an insane 6 minutes on the course. It was a lot of fun! Then, we ate.

The food at this camp was the best camp food I've ever had. Thanks, Mr and Mrs Coleman!

In the evening, after freetime and dinner, we had our third session, with a talent fest. My little sister sang Amazing Grace and brought the house down, and a bunch of my friends did the Fresh Breath skit, managing to make our speaker and the director of Youth Alive SA both feel sick. It was gross but very impressive. Then the band got up and did a fantastic job of getting us ready to hear from Dave Hall again. It was awesome...the Holy Spirit and the power of God was in that meeting and everyone could feel it. God did some amazing things in a lot of people that night. YAY!!!

The next morning, God did more amazing and awesome things. Candace preached and the anointing of God was heaps evident on what she was saying.

In the afternoon, we canoed and it was a BLAST. Definitely my favourite thing that we did in our free time. Also there was a rope swing hanging from a big old pine tree.

The last night was Ninja Night! Everyone dressed up as ninjas (or, in some cases, Harijuku girls, Japanese tourists or in traditional kimonos) and we ate Asian food. We had the best spring rolls EVER! That night, Layla from Miracle City Church came and talked about healing, after which everyone in the youth group prayed for those who needed healing. The results were BEYOND AMAZING!!! It was mindblowingly fantastic!!! I'm not very good at medical explanations but I'll give it a go... One person had torn tendons and the growth plate in their ankle and could barely walk on it. The damage had been there for months and they hadn't gotten any better. We prayed for her and suddenly...she could jump around, all pain gone and movement restored! She's going to the doctor soon to get this confirmed. Another person had ruptured a disc in their spine, which was pressing on a nerve that ran down his leg. He'd been in so much pain that he couldn't work or anything, and found it hard to stand up for long periods of time. We prayed for him, then when he was asked how he felt, he tested it out...he was expecting to find that it still hurt. But the more he tested it, the more he realised that the pain was completely gone, and that he could move properly again!!! I have footage of him doing hand stands the next morning. A lot of other people were healed from all sorts of things, but there's not enough space to write about all of them. This must be how the disciples felt...imagine following healing power like that for two years and having to choose stories to record!

We all had insane amounts of fun.

I'm so excited about the things that God has done and is continuing to do in me and everyone I know. The fact that we all wanted to get closer to God and become more like him meant that we were able to in a really awesome way, because we were all there because we wanted to be. This camp was amazing but it's only the BEGINNING, the very tip of the iceberg of what God's got planned!!!

In the words of Pastor Mark Baker,


IT'S A NEW DAY!

Oh, my.

I haven't blogged in eons.
Since my last post, I have completed a Diploma of Visual Merchandising, climbed out of my shell some more and realised that I need to be creative for the fun of it again.

Also, I want to publish a book.

Yes, you heard right. You see, I wrote a story back in 2007 which I feel, with enough editing (some of the words I used make no sense, I used a nonsense poem as inspiration), I could probably sell a lot of copies.

I know that isn't necessarily being creative for the fun of it...but it sure beats obsessing over whether or not the wording of my resume is optimum, and whether the people at my last job interview really did like my shoes (and, for that matter, thought I was quality hiring material).

It feels so good to write. I'd forgotten how much I love doing this!

I promise I will write again.

Within a month. (Or maybe next week. We'll see.)

Love always,

LeesyKate.