Monday, March 18, 2013
A Day At The Races
On Saturday, I thought I'd go check out the Porsche racing at Morgan Park. I really like Porsches and if I had lots of money to spend on things like cars, I'd buy a GT3. They are a beautiful car! Too bad they cost as much as a house! Here are some photos of the cars.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Just Life in General
I haven't posted on here for a little while. Nothing very exciting has been happening - just life in general. I haven't been able to go on any weekend adventures due to the rainy weather. It has caused landslides in some of the walks I had been planning to do which has closed the tracks. Until the damage is repaired and the weather is a bit sunnier, I will be spending my weekends in Warwick.
Last weekend, I took the opportunity to head to Toowoomba to do some shopping. I had a fantastic day. I spent too much money (particularly at Koorong! Its good for me to not have a Koorong in the town where I live!) and caught up with some old friends. It was a really lovely day despite the fact that it was pouring rain, really cold and very foggy! This was the view from The Chocolate Cottage in Highfields where I had lunch.
On the way back to Warwick the weather started to clear and I saw the most beautiful rainbow!
Last week I was invited to a few houses for dinner and lunch and I really enjoyed the chance to get to know some people from church a bit better. There is a young adults group starting up tomorrow night and I'm really excited for that! I have met some of the most loveliest people recently :)
On Wednesday when I woke up there was a beautiful sunrise! Lucky I took a photo of it because we haven't had any nice sunrises since then. Hopefully we'll have some more beautiful sunny days again soon!
School has been going really well. I really feel like I am settling into my position here a lot better now. I'm feeling more confident in my teaching and in doing all the things I need to do! I'm loving teaching here and living here!
This week in the newsletter, our principal wrote a note on our memory verse for this week. It really got me thinking and I hope it speaks to you as well.
You’ve heard it said, “All’s well that ends well”. On the contrary, I would like to suggest that things also need the right beginning. The Bible commences with the phrase, “In the beginning, God …”. Jesus is described as “The first and the last, the beginning and the end”. You see, your starting point is critical.
This week’s memory verse was taken from Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”. Knowledge and wisdom are good, but if you want true knowledge that has value for not only your mind but also your life, it needs to start with a health respect and reverence for God.
I read a newspaper article this week which described the surprise scientists had when they discovered that Saturn hadn’t changed its orbit significantly since it came into being. The scientists commenced with a beginning assumption that the planets had in fact increased their orbits since some type of explosion a long time ago. To their complete shock, they discovered that Saturn is sitting exactly where it started.
Rather than starting with a wrong assumption, if their beginning point had been God, they would have known that Genesis tells the story of how the world came into being. So we can see that a starting point which puts God and His Word at the start of the story make sense of the rest of the world, not to mention the fact that it would save many research dollars of people who go about seeking knowledge in other ways.
So what about today or tomorrow? Do I wake up in the mornings with a view of the world which starts with something or someone other than God? If money is our reason for starting the day, or if making people happy is our beginning point for solving problems then we will always be disappointed. Life will never quite make sense. I would like to commend to you the practice of starting everything with God. Whether solving a problem, planning a trip, choosing a career, disciplining children or planning retirement, start with God and you will see the dramatic difference it makes to the way things work.
I'd just like to leave this post with a song I have fallen in love with this week. Its called "My Hope Is Jesus" by Hillsong. Its such a beautiful song about how we cannot hope in anything else except Jesus because He has made us whole and set us free!
Last weekend, I took the opportunity to head to Toowoomba to do some shopping. I had a fantastic day. I spent too much money (particularly at Koorong! Its good for me to not have a Koorong in the town where I live!) and caught up with some old friends. It was a really lovely day despite the fact that it was pouring rain, really cold and very foggy! This was the view from The Chocolate Cottage in Highfields where I had lunch.
On the way back to Warwick the weather started to clear and I saw the most beautiful rainbow!
Last week I was invited to a few houses for dinner and lunch and I really enjoyed the chance to get to know some people from church a bit better. There is a young adults group starting up tomorrow night and I'm really excited for that! I have met some of the most loveliest people recently :)
On Wednesday when I woke up there was a beautiful sunrise! Lucky I took a photo of it because we haven't had any nice sunrises since then. Hopefully we'll have some more beautiful sunny days again soon!
School has been going really well. I really feel like I am settling into my position here a lot better now. I'm feeling more confident in my teaching and in doing all the things I need to do! I'm loving teaching here and living here!
This week in the newsletter, our principal wrote a note on our memory verse for this week. It really got me thinking and I hope it speaks to you as well.
You’ve heard it said, “All’s well that ends well”. On the contrary, I would like to suggest that things also need the right beginning. The Bible commences with the phrase, “In the beginning, God …”. Jesus is described as “The first and the last, the beginning and the end”. You see, your starting point is critical.
This week’s memory verse was taken from Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”. Knowledge and wisdom are good, but if you want true knowledge that has value for not only your mind but also your life, it needs to start with a health respect and reverence for God.
I read a newspaper article this week which described the surprise scientists had when they discovered that Saturn hadn’t changed its orbit significantly since it came into being. The scientists commenced with a beginning assumption that the planets had in fact increased their orbits since some type of explosion a long time ago. To their complete shock, they discovered that Saturn is sitting exactly where it started.
Rather than starting with a wrong assumption, if their beginning point had been God, they would have known that Genesis tells the story of how the world came into being. So we can see that a starting point which puts God and His Word at the start of the story make sense of the rest of the world, not to mention the fact that it would save many research dollars of people who go about seeking knowledge in other ways.
So what about today or tomorrow? Do I wake up in the mornings with a view of the world which starts with something or someone other than God? If money is our reason for starting the day, or if making people happy is our beginning point for solving problems then we will always be disappointed. Life will never quite make sense. I would like to commend to you the practice of starting everything with God. Whether solving a problem, planning a trip, choosing a career, disciplining children or planning retirement, start with God and you will see the dramatic difference it makes to the way things work.
I'd just like to leave this post with a song I have fallen in love with this week. Its called "My Hope Is Jesus" by Hillsong. Its such a beautiful song about how we cannot hope in anything else except Jesus because He has made us whole and set us free!
Saturday, February 23, 2013
A Touch Of Home
I haven't got a lot to share this week as I've been sick and nearly lost my voice so I haven't been doing much other than school and then going home to rest! Hopefully its on the mend now as it has been very frustrating to not be able to use it in the classroom! The kids have been pretty good though and most have respected the need for the class to be quiet for the last couple of days. It has reinforced my experiences that using a quiet voice creates a quiet classroom and not the other way around. It can be hard to remember that sometimes though!
Since I stayed home this weekend instead of doing something fun, I finally got around to putting up some photos and posters in my room and I really feel like it has brightened up the room so much! Its like I've brought a touch of home with me and transported it into my bedroom :) Here's a photo of my display so far - I am going to put some more photos up later.
I did go out on Thursday night with some of the ladies to celebrate my teaching partners birthday. There are some really wonderful ladies here! I'm a bit worried though... a few of them seem a little TOO keen for me to meet their sons.... They seem to have all decided that they need to find me a husband! I'm still not sure if they're joking or not.....
But all that aside, they really are wonderful Godly ladies and it was a very enjoyable night out!
I really am feeling like this is my home now and I feel sure that this is EXACTLY where God wants me at the moment. He has looked after me so much!
Since I stayed home this weekend instead of doing something fun, I finally got around to putting up some photos and posters in my room and I really feel like it has brightened up the room so much! Its like I've brought a touch of home with me and transported it into my bedroom :) Here's a photo of my display so far - I am going to put some more photos up later.
I did go out on Thursday night with some of the ladies to celebrate my teaching partners birthday. There are some really wonderful ladies here! I'm a bit worried though... a few of them seem a little TOO keen for me to meet their sons.... They seem to have all decided that they need to find me a husband! I'm still not sure if they're joking or not.....
But all that aside, they really are wonderful Godly ladies and it was a very enjoyable night out!
I really am feeling like this is my home now and I feel sure that this is EXACTLY where God wants me at the moment. He has looked after me so much!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Kayaking at Leslie Dam
One of the most exciting parts about moving to a new town is seeing the sights and I have discovered the Warwick is surrounded by beautiful scenery and places to explore. Over the weekends, I am planning on exploring these beautiful places! Last Saturday, I went kayaking on Leslie Dam with a friend. It was beautiful! We were there long enough to see the sun set over the water and it was so magical!
When we got back to the bank, there was a huge group of kangaroos down by the water.
It was such a beautiful afternoon. I'm definitely going to come back here again!
When we got back to the bank, there was a huge group of kangaroos down by the water.
It was such a beautiful afternoon. I'm definitely going to come back here again!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Do We Need That Stuff???
This morning at church, the message was on consumerism. Not a message you'd expect to hear, but definitely a relevant one and one that really spoke to me. As I have just moved towns, I don't have a lot of stuff. I have the basics, enough to live on. My house is definitely not FULL though. As I have slowly been removing boxes and putting things away, I have some empty spaces in my house. I was beginning to think of things I could put in those spaces to fill my house up a bit. But this message at church made me realise how silly that was.
Consumerism is all about getting more stuff to make us happy. The truth of the matter is that stuff doesn't actually make us happy! It doesn't fill our lives and make us feel satisfied and whole. I've never met a person who has said "I'm so glad my house is full of stuff. It really makes me happy." We fill our houses and lives with things we thought we needed but then have barely used and all they have done is clutter things up. Do we actually need this stuff? Do we need a bigger TV? Do we need another console? Do we need the latest version of Mario Kart or the latest smartphone? I have to ask myself what my motivation is for buying things. Am I buying it simply to fill an empty space in my house, or is it something that will really fulfil my life?
The Bible teaches us that the essence of God is relationship. We are created in His image and that means that we are created for relationship. We were designed to relate to God. STUFF doesn't allow us to relate to God. It just gets in the way. So before you buy a new ipad or the latest ipod touch, ask yourself if you really need it or if it is just going to get in the way of your relationship with God. I know that's what I'm going to start doing!
Consumerism is all about getting more stuff to make us happy. The truth of the matter is that stuff doesn't actually make us happy! It doesn't fill our lives and make us feel satisfied and whole. I've never met a person who has said "I'm so glad my house is full of stuff. It really makes me happy." We fill our houses and lives with things we thought we needed but then have barely used and all they have done is clutter things up. Do we actually need this stuff? Do we need a bigger TV? Do we need another console? Do we need the latest version of Mario Kart or the latest smartphone? I have to ask myself what my motivation is for buying things. Am I buying it simply to fill an empty space in my house, or is it something that will really fulfil my life?
The Bible teaches us that the essence of God is relationship. We are created in His image and that means that we are created for relationship. We were designed to relate to God. STUFF doesn't allow us to relate to God. It just gets in the way. So before you buy a new ipad or the latest ipod touch, ask yourself if you really need it or if it is just going to get in the way of your relationship with God. I know that's what I'm going to start doing!
The Adventure Begins!
I started a new life adventure just over 4 weeks ago when I moved to Warwick to begin my teaching career in a beautiful little private school. I wanted to write about it as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family back home as well as a way to keep track of this adventure I find myself on! So please read and share and write me comments! I'd love to hear from you :)
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