The end of summer....

Summer ends in two days for the kids.  I can't believe that summer break is almost over!  What a difference it seems to make celebrating Christmas and New Year's in the midst of summer vacation.  Or so it seems to me.  It's a shock that school is starting again in just a couple days. 

But it's been a lovely summer.  We've spent time with family friends, had some lazy days, and gone camping.  The kids have been to friends' and had friends over.  They've gone to movies and cooled off at the beach.  They've even started to learn to surf, thanks to a good Aussie friend.  (sadly, I'm the only one who hasn't had a 'go' at surfing yet... but my time will come...)

Here's a few pics from our summer fun!

A family outing to Wollongong harbour with a lovely walk.

Darian and Brenna enjoying some time together playing cards.

Visiting with friends at the Dapto Community Carols.

(yes, one's a Canadian)

Enjoying the sun and the crowd at the carols.

We've got our song books out ready to join in.

A special time of worship with the Mullins.

A quick pic before the New Year's Eve fireworks in Wollongong.

A first surfing lesson from Greg.

Getting ready to ride the wave...

Looking like he's done this before.

Enjoying a quiet afternoon relaxing and reading in the backyard.

Shawn on his first outing w/ Greg.

For the record, it's summer, the break, that's over... not summer, the season.  The season's going strong and has several weeks, or a couple months left it in.  ;-)

Flashback Friday - White Water Rafting '07

Today would be a perfect day to revisit our adventures in 2007.

(as today is hot, hot in the Illawarra... and at 9 this mornin' warm winds were blowing!)

Jane and I took the kids white water rafting in the hills of North Carolina!

It was such a great trip!  We all had so much fun.

It isn't too far back, but it's a great memory!

I'm ready for another trip!

Thankful Thursday...

Sometimes it's a challenge to be thankful for the little things...  that's what this is mostly about.  The unexpected, or even silly/odd, things to be thankful for... things that might not be thanked often... or maybe just special moments of thanks for the usual suspects.  ;-) 

When we were making a couple batches of peanut butter balls before Christmas, I brilliantly burnt my lip w/ some very hot melted chocolate.  It even blistered!  ouch! 

Which made be very thankful for ... Blistex cream!  So glad I had some from the states... and happy to find some here too.  It helped the pain and healing in my sore lip.  Thanks for the great way men's minds can create and solve problems.  And help my ow-ies. 

Brenna and Darian making peanut butter balls!  :-) 

Their friends and ours enjoyed the treat! yummm

Wordless Wednesday

Friday Flashback...

In May, before we moved from our home in Michigan, we took a family trip to Disney World.

I had dreamed of taking my kids there... as my parents took their kids.

It was a time of wonder and magic, beautiful moments together

and mystical memories.  We planned and prepared.

Then had the time of our lives.

One little adventure,

that lead to

so many

others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~

~~~

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday's Tangent...

I've just discoverd that my camera is still on Central Standard Time in the US...  kinda odd looking at my Christmas pics and seeing the wrong date...  weird.

Uncontainable Joy...

So, what about.... mercy, new birth (good to think about in a new year), times of suffering mean being refined, God's love, salvation...  those are all things to ponder in this section.  Without a doubt.  and there's so much more as well... layers and layers...  (at least to me, but truly, i'm no Biblical scholar)

Here's what struck me...  a sandwiching of praise, rejoicing, and joy.  These verses begin with "praise", you find "rejoice" in the middle, and at the ending there's "joy". 

And all I could think was, "Where's mine?" 
What happened to my desire to praise?  Why am I not rejoicing more?  And joy? I don't feel full of joy, let alone the "enexpressible and glorious joy".   Why not??

Now, those might seem odd to focus on.  We all know that life does not bring constant joy.  Heck, life's not even fair, so how could i think there should be joy?  But I have been there, I have felt that way.  So, what's happened with me?

When I looked closer, I found that I'm missing something... I haven't been making the choice... here's what i'd been forgetting... praise for God's great mercy... rejoice in an inheritance that never fades... filled with an inexperssible and glorious joy because I love him and receive the goal of my faith... 

I didn't misplace my joy... I simply lost focus. 
If I focus on God's mercy, my inheritance, and love... I know I will find joy beyond measure. 

Where's mine?  
... i guess it's always been here, I've just been looking in the wrong direction.
That's what I found in 1 Peter 1:3-9...  what about you?
~~~~
~~~

Is it cloudy in here?

Do you ever have a moment where you feel like you can see again?  but maybe you didn't even know things were cloudy?  And in that moment you think, "oh yeah, I knew that"... so it's kinda like an epiphany, but not new...

Yesterday I had one... during our team worship, we were looking at 1 Peter 1:3-9.  (Thanks, Corey) It's neat to me that although we all read/heard the same section, there were several different views.  And not oddly, what struck me was different than what others brought up.

That is, until Shawn mentioned the idea... in contrast to how i was viewing it.  (and again, that's not odd.  I like that we have different views)

So, how 'bout you...  what strikes you in those verses?  I'd love to hear.
(and I'll share in my thoughts in my next post, but I don't want to make this one too long)

Wordless Wednesday - walking along...