Footy Fun!

Today was the last home game for the Geelong Cats for the 2010 season. We haven't been to any games together this year for some reason! (Dave has gotten a couple of free tickets so he's been with other people) We got given one ticket for todays game so we only had to buy one!!

Thanks Lyd!

This is us prior to the game, getting excited for a win!!

A bit of the footy action: the team running out

During the game:

I don't know why we don't go more, we had a really fun time. I think next year we'll get memberships, that way we can go to all the home games!!

End of Winter

Now, I know that at the start of Winter I posted about the things I like about winter, so that I could go back when I’m over the cold and rain and remind myself of the little things that are nice about winter.

So I went this morning and read over that post.

It didn’t work...I’m still sick of the cold! Today to work I wore 5 layers of clothing and I put socks on over the top of my stockings just to keep my toes from going numb!

We are now into our last official week of winter and hot chocolate with marshmallows just aren’t doing it for me anymore. (OK, that might have been a bit of a lie...i could have hot chocolate with marshmallows anytime!!) That reminds me I need to add marshmallows to my shopping list....

Anyhoo. The crisp clean air is now just icy and windy, my skin is getting dry from sitting in front of heaters too much, there is no lovely foliage left on the trees. Even fat days are no longer fun because I just feel frumpy!!

I have officially hit the winter doldrums.

But spring is nearly here!!

I was sitting in my lounge room the other day, doing nothing in particular, when I looked out the window.

This is what I saw...




Nothing says Spring like the cherry blossoms. I love them, their scent, the emotions they evoke for me. When they first make their appearance they instantly make me feel better about winter - and the fact it is almost over!!

Now I'm off to get some marshmallows!! Mmmhmm!

I have been feeling quite unwell recently, nauseous, tired, a bit more emotional than normal. I mentioned this to some of the ladies at work, and of course they all said “pregnant!” You know, because that’s the only thing that could be wrong with a young married girl! Anyway, the more they talked about it, the more I thought I might be, even though I already had a pretty good idea of why I’ve been feeling so off. Not that I don’t want kids one day, but I really wasn’t too keen on the idea of it happening now, especially as we hadn’t planned for it, don’t own our own house and have travel plans for next year. But just to make sure, I picked up a home pregnancy test on the way home from work last week.

When Dave got home from work I told him about the test, sitting on top of the dresser in our room. I then got down to business.

It turned out to be negative, and I was actually a little disappointed. As it turned out, Dave wouldn’t have minded either if it had been positive.

It has been interesting this past week though for me emotionally, realising that both of us are ready and wouldn’t mind starting a family yet we still have a few things we would like to do before children come along. Dave asked me the other night if I want to change our plans and start trying now. Part of me does.

One of my favourite blogs to read is Ashley Lancaster at The Happily Ever Afters of the Lancasters, long name – good blog! I was reading back over her past posts and realised that she was in a similar position, and it also brought up memories for me that I had forgotten about. Reading about someone my age who all they wanted to do was have their own family, reminded me that when I was younger that had been my dream.

I remember as a teen thinking that I wanted to get married young and then have kids. When most teens were thinking about what they wanted to do for careers, I didn’t really know what kind of job I wanted, but I always knew I wanted to be a mum.

This last week has had me thinking a lot about this pull between starting a family and fulfilling the plans Dave and I have made for next year.

I always like to go headfirst into things, I’m not patient either. I’m also not as good as I would like to be at letting things go and letting God be in control. I like to plan and I love to make lists, lots and lots of lists. Lists for grocery shopping, lists for things we need around the house, lists of books I want to buy and lists of our income and expenses so I can keep a very close eye on our finances.

Probably a little too close an eye. I’m planning for our financial future – can we afford a house, an overseas trip, a baby? I’m a little obsessive.

When I want things, I want them now – I’m a product of my generation – and I am usually tempted to do whatever it takes to make things happen. I’m terrible at relinquishing my hold on my dreams.

And I have a bad habit of forgetting that God’s plans for me are always better than my own. Always.

God knows my desires to have a child. He knows my desires to explore the world. He knows all my desires – even the ones I don’t. He also knows the outcomes of these desires. My problem is that I don’t! I want to know, I don’t like surprises or secrets. I like to know things.

Ahh Lord, give me patience!!

25!

I turned 25 on Saturday!! Wow 25. I didn't think I would feel any different, because I haven't felt any older the last few birthdays, but I kind of do. I feel a little older....like closer to 30 than 20 older - where is my life going!?

Anyhoo...

My incredible husband let me not only have a birthday this year, but a whole birthweekend!? (my new made up word just doesn't sound right! hehe!)

He drove me all around Victoria on Saturday. We started the morning by heading off to Daylesford. It was a really pretty drive and we went in Dave's baby...the Corvette! Very comfy cruising! Once we got to Daylesford we had a wander around some of the shops. It was freezing!

We found the most adorable shop tucked just off the main street. Lark. This cute little shop sells all sorts of gorgeous handmade items and other fun goodies!

You can also find them on their website larkmade.com.au

We had a massive lunch at the pub. I went for the classic parmi and didn't even eat half of it!

After lunch we drove a little out of Daylesford to the well known spot Hepburn Springs. Hepburn Springs is at the centre of Australia's largest concentration of mineral springs and is a popular holiday destination. It is incredibly beautiful here and I have tons of memories from my childhood here. My great grandparents built a house just above the Hepburn Springs Regional Park and my family spent many weekends here with my cousins when we were growing up. We went and had a look at the house. the last time I had seen it was about 15 years ago when my grandparents sold the house. We took a couple of photos but the front hedge was really over grown and the poor house hasn't really been looked after - look at the colour! I did get a shot of down the side of the house though.


We went down to the park and I made Dave taste some of the different mineral waters there...he didn't really enjoy the taste - I think it's an acquired one! Actually I was surprised that i still liked the taste! Real mineral water has a very unusual taste.

The park was pretty much how I remembered it from my childhood! It's soo beautiful.

After Hepburn Dave drove us over to Kyneton, just so I could get a vanilla slice, they are my favourite from the bakery there! How sweet is my hubby, he drove 30 minutes out of our way just so I could eat a tasty desert...aahh swoon!

Then on Sunday, my actual birthday, he arranged for a whole lot of our friends to have a BBQ lunch over at my parent's house. He manned the BBQ for the afternoon and had organised all the food. I am too blessed!

He also spoiled me with a whole lot of gifts, including a few books that I can't wait to get stuck into!

In fact I might go do that now!

Praise!

Why is it that we either go one of two ways in hardships – we cling to God even more and come out with a stronger relationship at the end, or we play the blame game and shut Him out? I’ve had times of doing both, alternately. One minute I can be holding on to Him for dear life and the next pushing Him away. I once heard Darlene Zschech speaking at a small worship conference and she was talking about walking through the trials, and how recently in her church there had been a young woman who had gone into labour weeks to early with her first child. Her little son fought to hold onto life for a few days, but eventually he went home to be with Jesus. Darlene talked about how this young woman and her husband had become stronger and were a huge source of encouragement to Darlene, and how, while we don’t really want to have to walk through these valley times, we want what the fruit that trials can produce when we choose to hold onto God.

About six months after hearing Darlene tell this girls story, I was at the Hillsong conference. In between sessions they were playing some of the bonus features from the latest DVD – This is Our God –and up on the screen came a young woman who started to talk about a journey God had taken her on only a week or two before they recorded the Album. She stared talking about how she had been pregnant with her first child, a little boy named Max. She had gone into labour way too early, and even though they had been praying night and day for him to live, he went home to be with God. This was in the middle of rehearsals for the album. She is one of the worship leaders at Hillsong and throughout the ordeal believed that she was called to continue to worship God, despite the journey that He was leading them down. She went to the rehearsals one day to check the roster for songs on the night – who was leading and singing what songs. One of the songs she led is the title track – “This is Our God.” The other song was “Desert Song.” Here are the lyrics:

This is my prayer in the desert
When all else within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is a God who provides.

This is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flame.

I will bring praise, I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice, I will declare
God is my victory and he is here.

This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on it’s way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I’ll stand

I will bring praise, I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice, I will declare
God is my victory and he is here.
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

I will bring praise, I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice, I will declare
God is my victory and he is here.

This is my prayer in the harvest
When favour and providence flow
I know I’m filled to be emptied again
The seed I’ve received I will sew.

Those are the words she had to get up on stage and lead a congregation in singing, only days after saying goodbye to her firstborn child.

I wish I was more like this woman. I wish that my first response when in a trial is to praise God, but all too often it isn’t. If I’m honest, usually my first response is to rant and rave and get angry and frustrated and tell God how unfair it all is.

Imagine living my life and walk in a place where praise and worship is my first response, my initial reaction, my natural instinct. I know that life is a journey, but I’m the kind of person who likes to be where I want to be, and skip all the stuff in the middle. I want to get to the destination as quickly as possible, but I know that it’s the journey that brings about the strength to praise God despite the circumstances.

I will bring praise!