Two jobs that no one understands

I currently hold two jobs that no one understands, both of which at present do not pay me anything.

It is a strange place to be.

Particularly now as I am meeting lots of new people, doctors, hairdressers, members of the choir Tim and I are joining if I don't botch my audition.  They all ask me.  What do you do?

I don't really know how to explain it.

Tim suggested I say this: "I am volunteering at my church and writing a novel".

I feel like such a fraud!   I had a very in-depth convo with a man at Centrelink who looked at my healthcare card form and asked "You don't have a job.  What do you do?"

And so I answered, "I am volunteering at my church and writing a novel".

He was so very interested.  How much had a written?  What kind of novel is it?  Are you getting to the exciting bit?  When do I think it will be done?  How am I going about getting it published?  I answered all his question, but I was apologetic and reserved.  He was treating me like an author.  Me, an author?  Surely not?  I felt like a fraud, and it felt particularly naughty to be a fraud to a government official!

I guess this is how everyone feels when their hobby in some way becomes their job, particularly when they aren't being paid for it.  This novel, this dream of being an author, has always been something that has just been between, me, God, my computer and my writing notebook.  A private thing.  Tim, I suppose, has been cheering from the side-lines.  And it always makes for a really interesting conversation starter when people ask what do you do in your free time.

But as a job?  It suggest that I am good at this, that this process is worthwhile not just as something to make me happy in my free time, but something that is worth devoting time to for it's own sake.  Scary.

Yet I'm doing it.  I'm taking 6 months off to write a novel.

And as of today, I'm 70,000 words in.

That's not just a hobby anymore.
love BG

A New Job!

As of July this year, I will be working two days a week for the RMIT CU!  So lovely to have it first of all sorted, and also something that I can talk about publicly :)

It was a real blessing from God how it all came about.

Tim and I had decided, late in 2011, that I would be working part-time (as a volunteer) for the church plant, but that it would be good for me to work 2 days doing something else that pays.  We weren't sure what that would be.  I had various different thoughts, and chopped and changed, whether it would be better for me to work in a ministry job, or in a non-ministry job.  I had decided with all the stress of starting a church plant, that perhaps a non-ministry job would be best.

I had also received an email from my old Colleague and friend from RMIT, Heather Reid.  She had asked whether I might be interested in coming back to RMIT.  This did seem like a wonderful option, I loved Uni ministry and in many ways that was always my very long term plan, but Tim and I dismissed it as a short term option.  Staff workers needed to raise their own salary, and at the time we were in the mist of raising money to start our church.  It just didn't seem possible that we would be able to raise one and a half salaries.

Cut to Boxing day, and a five hour car trip with Tim between relatives Christmas parties!  I was sharing just how apathetic I was about the year ahead and I needed a decision on what I should do.  Tim prayed, and then suggested a pros and cons list.  In the process of that, I found that the top choices for me were AFES and Writing.  Tim suggested at that point that perhaps I could have the first six months of the year off, to settle in, help with church planting and to write.

Then, after more discussions on our trip to Tassie, we decided to get back to Heather and pursue the RMIT option.  It was something that I was passionate about, that was so obviously important, and it seemed a good use of the time that God had given me.  And God had been so faithful in our church fundraising, we actually felt as if it could be possible to raise the two days a week I would be working.

I organised a catch up with Heather, and she was keen.  The three of us got together with Steve (the boss at RMIT) and he was keen as well.  Last week I had my interview, and on Wednesday I got the official call from AFES saying I had the job.  Praise God!

I'll be two days a week, at the RMIT city campus.  My main job will be disciplining female students, and probably leading a Bible study.  The rest of the particulars will be sorted out as the start date approaches.

Praying friends, please pray for me, as I prepare for this exciting role.  Please also pray that God can raise the money for us so that I can work the full two days at RMIT.

:)
Love BG

Seven Years

Everyone keeps saying, when I tell them it's been our seven year anniversary on Sunday, "That's a good number".  It makes me laugh, because in the grand scheme of things, seven is not any special milestone.  Maybe its just a Christian thing :)

But every anniversary feels like a special milestone, in my book.  It is by God's grace we made our promises, and it is by God's grace that we keep them.  Anniversaries are a great time to talk about the fun times, and to make each other feel special.  But they are also a good time to give God all the glory for the blessings of our lives.

Tim and I celebrated by having a special dinner at Crown.  I sat looking out at the Yarra River and the Rialto thinking- we really are in Melbourne again.  And that also seems like a special turning point in our marriage, and another thing to be greatful to God for.

Thanks Tim, for Seven years of being everything you promised to be and more.  You have proven yourself, through good times and bad, to be a faithful friend and husband, and such fun.  I am so grateful to God for you.
Love BG
PS If you are curious (which I was) the traditional gifts of 7 years are Cooper and Wool- a definately improvement on paper and tin!  Maybe we are finally approaching something good enough to buy for each other :)

The gift of six months

I have not been blogging, but I have the greatest water-tight excuse!  We have no Internet.  I am currently sitting at my in-law, enjoying some precious webby time.  I have my blackberry, and I love it, but I would not love writing a blog post on those tiny keys.  But come tomorrow someone will do something that will mean that our phone will magically come on and our wireless machine will kick into gear and we will have Internet.

Our house is set up for living, but is far from unpacked.  But one thing that is ready is my writing desk.  We've set up the study so that Tim has his big desk, and I have my little corner desk.  It looks out the window, which is good, because I write better with a view, even if its just of the neighbours apple trees.  And it's mine.  It's the first time in our marriage we've had two desks and I am so excited.

As many people who know me will know, I left a job working at a church in Sydney to come down with Tim and plant a church.  And our plan was for me to spend some of my time church planting, and two days a week working for money.  I have been busy concentrating on the church plant.  And things are in the pipeline for work later in the year.  But for now, Tim has given me the gift of 6 months.

I realise that it is a gift.  A real gift.  I don't know many husbands who would insist that their wives take six months off to adjust to a new city, to recover from life, to enjoy reconnecting with friends.  And to write.  Can't forget that, Tim is always reminding me that this is time to write.

So I have my little writing desk.  A desk where I can finish my novel.  A desk where I can dream.  Where I can blog.  Where I can sit and start to jot down the many, many ideas I have for Christian articles, and books and posts.

It's been a big 4 years, and last year was a very tough year for me.

I am so excited by this gift.  This slow start. 
Love BG

New Years Resolutions and the Fear factor

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

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

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