I have always been a resolution kind of person. Even though I've always thought the whole NYE party thing was a bit silly, the idea of setting goals and working hard has always appealed to me. I am not a naturally organised person, so having a few little goals to spur me on works really well.
2011 has been a tough year, and I am very, very happy to see the back of it. My resolution for last year: Survive. And I did it. Just.
I really, really want 2012 to be a better year. But, as God would ordain it- I am looking at a year full of uncertainty. Church planting. Sorting out a job. New-but-old city. Everything is familiar but different. And so many people around me are going through changes that mean that relationships are changing as well.
My temptation is just to set the same low bar on next year, to just get through it.
But I don't want to! I don't want to survive, I want to thrive! I want to make the most out of this year, I want to make the most out of me that I can, no matter how much uncertainty rests ahead. I want God to change me and grow me into the likeness of his son.
So, in honour of that wish- here are my NY resolutions- under the three themes of my blog
LIFE: I will learn how to cook pastry and I will overcome my fear of cooking sugar and learn to make things with toffee! I will get to the end of each day with a tidy lounge room and kitchen.
WRITING: I will finish my novel, I will get some short stories published, I will get some manuscript advice, I will begin the process of getting my novel published.
FAITH: I will devote this year to Loving God will all my heart and soul and I will memorise the book of Mark.
I feel like the last two need a way of explanation. Loving God will all my heart and soul is a commandment from God, and something that of course is on my to do list every year. But one of my reflections as I end this year is that I don't enjoy God as I should. God is so great and good, and I just don't appreciate him. There is so much joy to be found in that relationship that I don't bother to access. One of my favourite Psalms- number 73 says "Whom have I in heaven but you. And the earth has nothing I desire besides you". That is my dream for this year. That my love and appreciation for God will grow to the extent that my joy in that relationship will rise above the tough things that will no doubt come next year.
Memorising Mark? I wasn't sure if I should write that here, because it sounds a bit proud and show-offy. But let me explain.
The last three years i have worked for a church and under my 'portfolio' so to speak has been encouraging Scripture memorising for Adults and kids. Lots of people have commented to me through this process that they "find memorising verses from the Bible hard". And I, with my natural talent for memorisation, didn't understand. I could do it, why couldn't they. Overtime I realised this wasn't fair.
About three months ago I decided to memorise part of Jonah as preparation for a Bible study. I was absolutely amazed about how helpful it was for getting to know the passage really well. It was by far the most helpful Bible study prep I had ever done. But, to my amazement, it was also easy. I probably spent 1 hour learning one chapter over the space of three days. It was alot more work than learning a verse, but it was manageable.
And I couldn't help thinking God has made me good at memorising his word. And here I am showing off about the one verse I learn once a month. I felt rebuked but also inspired. How great would it be for my Christian walk if I knew a Gospel off my heart. How helpful would it be for my ministry!
I'm really nervous! It is a big ask.
But if my aim is to love God more- I think having such a big chunk of his Word in my head is a great place to start.
You might have noticed there are no specific mentions of Tim. Of course I will aim to be a better wife and friend to him! But it's my experience that loving God more will be the best thing for my marriage. And the clean house won't do any harm either ;)
love BG
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Other worldly goods
Today is officially 5 working days since our stuff was picked up by some strangers from a moving company and taken to some warehouse somewhere to be moved to Melbourne 5 working days latter.
So far...nothing. After it didn't arrive on Thursday like they had originally suggested, they said it would be here by Tuesday at the latest. That is tomorrow- 6 business days after our stuff was taken.
I am fairly confident it will arrive, but I am still very much freaking out.
Several people (mainly Tim) have commented to me that I shouldn't be so worried about "worldly goods".
But it's not worldly goods that I am worried about. It's "other-world"ly goods. My Novel.
The most updated version of my novel is currently trapped on a computer in a box held by strangers and I'm FREAKING OUT!!!!!
I know, I know. I should have backed it up. But I did. We have a special backing up machine that backs up everything on my computer. The problem is the special backing up machine is in the same box as the computer!
I was planning to back up to drop box on the Wednesday before our move, but as I arrived home- my efficient husband had already packed the computer before I could.
I have never been particularly attached to material goods. I have things that I love, but as much as I hoard, they are not the things that I treasure. I treasure words. The letter Tim read to me when he proposed. The stories I wrote when I was younger. My diaries from my teenage years. And my stories. No matter how much I might cringe at things I have written in the past, words are important to me and I keep them.
Now, in the worst case scenario that on the 6th business day since taking our stuff, a terrible fire burns it all- I do have versions of my story from July. I have the notebook in which I made the notes that became many of the things that I wrote since then. This half of the year I have not had the time to work on my story like I did in the first half. It wouldn't be the end of the world. But it would be pretty devastating- to see 6 months worth of work go down the drain. And strangely it is losing the words which I worked so hard to write, which is far more painful than the idea that I would have to do my best to write them again.
When I read my Novel I have two reactions. Sometimes I think it is a load of rubbish and am convinced I ever no one would ever like to publish or even read it. Other times I read it and think it is actually getting good. That maybe there is a future for me in this authoring business after all.
But no matter what I think about it, it is always mine and it is always precious. It is a record of time spend in a wonderful world of thinking and imagining and discovering. And I re-enter that world every time I re-read it.
Oh Story, please be alright!
love BG
So far...nothing. After it didn't arrive on Thursday like they had originally suggested, they said it would be here by Tuesday at the latest. That is tomorrow- 6 business days after our stuff was taken.
I am fairly confident it will arrive, but I am still very much freaking out.
Several people (mainly Tim) have commented to me that I shouldn't be so worried about "worldly goods".
But it's not worldly goods that I am worried about. It's "other-world"ly goods. My Novel.
The most updated version of my novel is currently trapped on a computer in a box held by strangers and I'm FREAKING OUT!!!!!
I know, I know. I should have backed it up. But I did. We have a special backing up machine that backs up everything on my computer. The problem is the special backing up machine is in the same box as the computer!
I was planning to back up to drop box on the Wednesday before our move, but as I arrived home- my efficient husband had already packed the computer before I could.
I have never been particularly attached to material goods. I have things that I love, but as much as I hoard, they are not the things that I treasure. I treasure words. The letter Tim read to me when he proposed. The stories I wrote when I was younger. My diaries from my teenage years. And my stories. No matter how much I might cringe at things I have written in the past, words are important to me and I keep them.
Now, in the worst case scenario that on the 6th business day since taking our stuff, a terrible fire burns it all- I do have versions of my story from July. I have the notebook in which I made the notes that became many of the things that I wrote since then. This half of the year I have not had the time to work on my story like I did in the first half. It wouldn't be the end of the world. But it would be pretty devastating- to see 6 months worth of work go down the drain. And strangely it is losing the words which I worked so hard to write, which is far more painful than the idea that I would have to do my best to write them again.
When I read my Novel I have two reactions. Sometimes I think it is a load of rubbish and am convinced I ever no one would ever like to publish or even read it. Other times I read it and think it is actually getting good. That maybe there is a future for me in this authoring business after all.
But no matter what I think about it, it is always mine and it is always precious. It is a record of time spend in a wonderful world of thinking and imagining and discovering. And I re-enter that world every time I re-read it.
Oh Story, please be alright!
love BG
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Not a photo person, but definately a Gingerbread person!
I read a fair few cooking blogs and I really enjoy them. I am always really impressed with the step by step guides that go with recipes, and I love all the photos of each of these steps. I often think to myself that I would like to try such a post. But the problem is, though blogging and facebook and a little camera that fits in my bag have helped me slightly, I am still not a photo person.
For example, I decided to use up my Aunt excess Silverbeat by trying for the first time to make Gozleme (does anyone know how to pronounce that by the way, I hear such different versions?). I thought it would be fun to photo document the whole process. But of course, I remembered to get my camera just before the last one was cooked, and my camera was flat anyway! So the only reason I have any record of this meal was because we couldn't finish them all!
Angie rolling out the Gingerbread. Our first drama of the night was that though the recipe said it should cook for 10 minutes in the oven, it was nowhere near enough time. We don't know if it was a problem with the recipe or the oven- but it meant that the night was beginning to drag on more than we had originally anticipated by the time all the pieces came out of the oven.
Once the Gingerbread was made we moved onto the fun bit- decorating. It was all looking really good for a perfect Gingerbread house- finished we hoped by 10:30.
We hit a snag when the recipe suggested we should use melted white chocolate to hold our house together. After 10 minutes of Angie trying to hold it together, we realised this too was just not working for us. Not only was the chocolate not setting, it was slippery, so the house kept sliding between Angie's figures. I went on the Internet to find a solution and we found a royal icing recipe. Problem solved. Even soft, the royal icing was so sticky that the house stayed together nearly instantly. And it didn't take long to harden up either
So finally- after about 5 hours work...
For example, I decided to use up my Aunt excess Silverbeat by trying for the first time to make Gozleme (does anyone know how to pronounce that by the way, I hear such different versions?). I thought it would be fun to photo document the whole process. But of course, I remembered to get my camera just before the last one was cooked, and my camera was flat anyway! So the only reason I have any record of this meal was because we couldn't finish them all!
(the left overs- they were delicious)
Anyway, I did managed to photograph the main feat of the night, which was making two Gingerbread houses completely from scratch. There was a fundraiser at my Sister-in-law Angie's church and people bid to have us make them a Gingerbread house for Christmas. And so make one we did!
We used the recipe from the latest issue of Good Taste magazine. But when looking at the dimensions it was more of a Gingerbread mansion. So we grabbed a slightly smaller template and got to work.
We hit a snag when the recipe suggested we should use melted white chocolate to hold our house together. After 10 minutes of Angie trying to hold it together, we realised this too was just not working for us. Not only was the chocolate not setting, it was slippery, so the house kept sliding between Angie's figures. I went on the Internet to find a solution and we found a royal icing recipe. Problem solved. Even soft, the royal icing was so sticky that the house stayed together nearly instantly. And it didn't take long to harden up either
So finally- after about 5 hours work...
We were so happy with them! There is something satisfying about cooking from scratch. And now that I have done it once, I feel like its worth doing again. It is hard work but the results are really impressive- and delicious.
So, I may not be a photo person, but I am definitely a Gingerbread one.
But the best part of the night? Hanging with Angie and Lois (my Mother-in-law) and knowing that this kind of thing is not a once off occurrence on holidays, but part of my new life in Melbourne.
A lovely welcome home.
Love BG
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Welcome to my new blog!
Four years ago I was chatting with a friend about living away from home. I had moved from Melbourne to Sydney to study at Bible College with Tim, and she had moved from Brisbane to study at that same college. She had started a blog as a way of keeping people updated on her happens, particularly to help them to know what best to pray about. I thought this was a great idea, particularly so that I could share what I was learning over that time. So I began my original blog bgsydneyside
Now, four years on, the Sydney adventure is over. And while I haven't found myself to be the most consistent of bloggers in this time, I've found it a really helpful to have a public forum on which I can reflect and express my experiences. And so I decided that moving back to Melbourne was the perfect opportunity to start a new blog.
I realised that there were things I wanted to do on this blog. I wanted to be able to talk about the everyday things of life. I wanted to be able to share my experience of attempting to write and publish my first novel. And I wanted to be able to talk about God, and my experience of serving him- particularly in our new life as church planters. Particularly on that last point, I have been thinking lots about how eternity effects how we live in the here and now. This lead me to the idea of a blog devoted to my three worlds: Melbourne, my novel fantasy world, and heaven.
I know better than to promise that I will write every day, or to promise that I will talk equally about each of these categories. But I figure this will be a good opportunity for people, be they in Sydney or Melbourne or anywhere else, to have a richer picture of my life than a few flimsy facebook stati might provide. It is also a chance for me to record something of this stage of life that God has put me in.
So thank you for coming for a visit! Don't feel any obligation to keep reading- but if you would like to feel free to press the button on the right to follow. Or just come and check every so often if you would like.
I look forward to sharing my three worlds with you.
love BG
Now, four years on, the Sydney adventure is over. And while I haven't found myself to be the most consistent of bloggers in this time, I've found it a really helpful to have a public forum on which I can reflect and express my experiences. And so I decided that moving back to Melbourne was the perfect opportunity to start a new blog.
I realised that there were things I wanted to do on this blog. I wanted to be able to talk about the everyday things of life. I wanted to be able to share my experience of attempting to write and publish my first novel. And I wanted to be able to talk about God, and my experience of serving him- particularly in our new life as church planters. Particularly on that last point, I have been thinking lots about how eternity effects how we live in the here and now. This lead me to the idea of a blog devoted to my three worlds: Melbourne, my novel fantasy world, and heaven.
I know better than to promise that I will write every day, or to promise that I will talk equally about each of these categories. But I figure this will be a good opportunity for people, be they in Sydney or Melbourne or anywhere else, to have a richer picture of my life than a few flimsy facebook stati might provide. It is also a chance for me to record something of this stage of life that God has put me in.
So thank you for coming for a visit! Don't feel any obligation to keep reading- but if you would like to feel free to press the button on the right to follow. Or just come and check every so often if you would like.
I look forward to sharing my three worlds with you.
love BG
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