Our New Place

We have recently moved and I have FINALLY gotten the chance to upload photos. We have moved into a larger place that is more kid friendly than the previous place. It's kitchen is separate to Sophie's room and it is an open plan house so I can do things around the house while Sophie is asleep and while she is awake. I thought I'd post up a few pics for you all to see :)

Will add more soon...

A Selfish Faith?

A couple of years back I was teaching scripture in high schools. This was a great but challenging role that led me to really search for what the Bible taught rather than what I thought it taught (as I taught what I was taught rather than learning and checking things for myself). One of my students stumped me one day, and what he said has never left my mind. When asked why people would want to be a 'Christian', he responded with: 'because they are selfish'. I was confused!?!? Christians... selfish... but they give to the poor, they do mission work... I was taking time out of my own schedule to teach these kids and they call me selfish?!?!? How so?

I asked him why he thought that and he told me that Christians are selfish because they choose to believe so that they can live forever; so they can have the riches of heaven. I had never viewed it in that manner. I was stumped as to how to respond, because in some respect it is true.

Upon doing some in-depth study of the Old Testament it became evident that the OT characters did not have the same beliefs as modern day Christians. They did not preach the 'Jesus loves you', 'get into heaven', 'avoid hell' gospel.

I have thought about this long and hard and observed Christians at a distance to determine the basis of their belief. I have to put it to them, Christianity and the church is the greatest marketing group of all time. They offer unconditional love, eternal life, forgiveness from all wrong actions and thoughts. They provide Easter and Christmas - two of the days looked forward to all year round by majority of the western world. They have extreme wealth in the property owned as well as a gift in crying poor to gain money off the followers. They own much of western history in their churches and museums. The Catholic church owns a whole city. They own one day a week. They are known worldwide and have countless people giving their time and energy to them for free. With all that, if they were not the world's largest organization there would be problems. But is this the gathering of believers that the Bible exhibits... or have we created something else?

It is interesting, being outside the 'church' (but still a strong believer) just how much people evangelize to you. I like to take note of the manner in which they approach it. Most tell of the love that Jesus has for us. Some go with the gospel of guilt starting with 'you are a sinner - but there is forgiveness', others go down the path of prosperity - that is heavens riches and a life of blessings now.

How often have you yourself heard that Jesus or God loves you, that He is waiting to hear from you, that the devil is out to get you? How often do we pray for our illnesses, our jobs, our safety? Not that there is anything wrong with this at all. In fact the Bible states to cast our cares on Him. But what I wonder is that if we did not have the exhibition of love shown through the Messiah's life, death and resurrection... would we still worship God? If we were not told of life after death... would we believe?

I guess the point I am trying to make here is: do we believe and follow God because He is God or because of what He did for US? Is our worship based on who He is or what we get?

I love that in Hebrews it speaks of the heroes of faith from the Old Testament who worshiped God regardless of reward... in some cases without any promise or sign of reward, but simply because God is God. I think it is important that instead of focusing on ourselves, we learn who He is. If you believe Him to be real, then He should be followed, obeyed, loved and feared regardless of the gifts He gives. I want to challenge people to find out who the God was that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah and the others worshiped. Then we will appreciate even greater the  gifts given in the New Testament.

6 Month Update

Sophie will be 6 months tomorrow!!! My, my, my how the time flies! She is such a joy!!! We are currently in the thick of teething and a growth spurt, and yet her royal cuteness is cuter than ever!

We are learning so much lately. After going crazy at the Target toy sale (which I intend to continue later this week), Sophie has been exploring more and more. She has toys that dance and sing, and toys that teach her colours, shapes and animals. One even teaches them in English, French and Spanish! What is the world coming to? She loves to push the buttons and make everything light up. When in the bath she now wants to sit up. This would be great if she could do so independently rather than having me leaning over in an awkward fashion. She loves to splash and hit bath toys and play with the walls of the bath.

Yesterday she thought she would explore me face. she put both hands on my eyes so I shut them. As she moved her hands away I would open them up, as quick as lightening she would put her hands back as if to say "keep 'em closed!"

 

 She loves pear. Anything with pear and she will gobble it right up. We tried potato... she refused to even close her mouth for it, just whinged with her mouth wide open and food still on her tongue where I put it.

She loves the Jolly Jumper! she now has gotten the hang of it and wants to be on it all the time. When she stands on my lap she only wants to jump!

She has a fascination with paper. Yesterday the junk mail arrived, which normally gets me very excited (need to get out much...) but this time I think Sophie took the prize for excitement. We both sat on the floor and went through what we wanted to get from the next sales :P Sophie fell over a few times too.

 

We are starting to get separation anxiety. If she sees me leave her sight she is not happy, but if she is blissfully unaware that I am out of her sight she doesn't mind. She was getting scared of the dark, waking at 8:30 each night screaming and shaking. Upon putting in a night light she now only wakes her usual 3 times for habitual feeds.

 Her character is starting to come through. She is a passive little one, very quiet most of the time and then all the sudden very loud for a couple of minutes. She is easily irritated. Her mind is very curious, but her body is only adventurous if everything is risk free. She does not go out of her way for things but would rather you place everything in front of her.

 She is growing up way too fast!!! I love my lil' girl!

Moving House

So we have officially been approved to move in two weeks! How exciting!!! As much as I have loved the homeliness of this house, its size and layout have become a problem with a little one. Sophie's room is right on the kitchen here and the kitchen is not visible from the lounge room. This means that cooking and cleaning can never be done, as Sophie is either playing and needing supervision (as she wiggles her way around and there is a hot gas heater nearby) or she is asleep and needs quiet. Other than that, it has minimal space for entertaining and the backyard is tiny and covered by autumn trees.

So this blog is to wish my house goodbye as I start the process of packing.

The Lounge Room:
We have had some interesting times... whist you have become the playground of my little girl you were also the preparation ground for bringing her into the world. Midwife appointments as well as a homebirth attempt were here. Also you became a study area for 3 of my subjects and Ben's uni also. You had a crisp breeze all year round. You made us feel at home

The Kitchen:
Well.. you were rather frustrating! Although you fitted our fridge, which is more than we can say for most other houses we have lived in, your lack of space and bench space was more than frustrating. Your lack of dishwasher made things a little harder. Your super slow oven made it impossible to cook properly. In this kitchen: i have made many lactation cookies, failed at meringues, made damn good shepherds pie and tried to fit numerous different sized tables in. Our new house... has 3x the bench space, a separate dining area,  and a dishwasher in the laundry... ahhhhhh!!!

 

Sophie's Room:
Although we had all the intentions of keeping Sophie in our own room, it turned out that she slept better with a wall in-between.  The room was originally a guest room which had lots of people stay in it, including: the Leonards, Mums (Mostyn and Evans), Tess, Jake, Sean, and more... If only you were not so close to the kitchen!

Our Room:
Originally we had the bed up against the window, but were informed by others (the Vandors) that it was like putting an air conditioner on your head! So it got moved. Having the TV in the bedroom allowed for more quality time with Ben, rather than being on separate lounges. It also made the lounge room a TV free area which was nice. It has a little room off the end where Sophie was for a little while, but now the treadmill (dreadmill) and shoes are located.

Study:
I think we used you maybe 3-4 times... but thanks for storing all our crap :P

Backyard:
We used you well despite your tiny-ness. next time... no autumn trees over the clothesline. Started with no grass, only leaves... you came along way...

Goodbye House:
 You were cold yet very homely. Thanks for the wonderful times!!!!!!!!

The Jolly Jumper

Sophie's first go... she got the hang of it pretty quickly!

Thailand

There is nothing like a cultural change to make you realize how good life really is. Having traveled to Thailand for two weeks I noticed a thing or two about our own culture.

Firstly, as much as we complain about public transport, health, streets, and more, we really have it amazingly good. We don't have to hang off the back of packed vehicles to travel around, we don't have to beg on the streets if we have an unfortunate illness, we don't have sewerage seeping through our streets, we don't have to use our life savings to buy a car instead of a house, we don't live in a one bedroom unit with a huge family, we don't have to work 12 hrs a day 7 days a week to afford to rent that 1 bedroom unit.

 So many random street shops trying to make a buck (or a baht)

making rice on the street

Crazy electricity!

Secondly, happiness was everywhere in Thailand. The people are aware that their circumstances are... well... crap... but are still extremely caring, friendly and genuine. They put the needs of others before themselves. I have never met a more friendly people! Of course there is your occasional moody person, but in general they were authentically friendly.

 Even Ronald was happier

Everyone greeted us in this manner

Rules Rules Rules, our society is riddled with them! then again it keeps Ben in the job :P Sure there are rules in Thailand, but not many people follow them! No indicators, no baby car seats, no speed limits etc. You would think that this would lead to the place being crazily unsafe and having soooo many accidents. But you would be wrong! We always say that we are near Sydney when people start driving crazy. Its true! We are in such a self-centred environment that we do risk the lives of others for a 2 minute head start. Over there, they expect that people will need to cut in, people will go faster etc and so they expect it to be crazy, and they therefore drive more carefully and more aware. I would drive in a taxi in Thailand with no car seat for Sophie over a taxi in Sydney with a car seat! Its so refreshing!

Traveling on a modern Tuk Tuk

We live in such a regimented and materialistic society, and we think that the more safeguards and luxuries we have the happier our lives will be. If only we owned our own home - that is not an option EVER for most Thais. If only I had a better car - it takes a lifetime of wages to get a basic Toyota, so most people have motorbikes. I need new fashionable clothes - they battle 40+ degrees heat and 90% humidity to sell clothes to tourists on the beach so they might afford some for their own family. I need a pay rise - they earn about $6 a day, and will therefore never be able to change their circumstances.

 Making food on a boat!

Upon returning, I noticed that nobody smiles, greets or even acknowledges your existence in our country. Even if you know a person, they may turn and pretend they did not see you. We stress about everything so much that we are highly strung. We focus on our own needs before others and thus cause risk to others for our own benefit. Whilst our social structures are fantastic, we are missing the basic niceties of humanity. We can learn so much off those who have nothing to give except an attitude to life.

Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod

To write up in Sophie's room (from Denise the Menace)

Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod, one night sailed off in a wooden shoe;
Sailed off on a river of crystal light into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going and what do you wish?" the old moon asked the three.
"We've come to fish for the herring fish that live in this beautiful sea.
Nets of silver and gold have we," said Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song as they rocked in the wooden shoe.
And the wind that sped them all night long ruffled the waves of dew.
Now the little stars are the herring fish that live in that beautiful sea;
"Cast your nets wherever you wish never afraid are we!"
So cried the stars to the fishermen three - Winkin', and Blinkin', and Nod.

So all night long their nets they threw to the stars in the twinkling foam.
'Til down from the skies came the wooden shoe bringing the fisherman home.
'Twas all so pretty a sail it seemed as if it could not be.
Some folks say 'twas a dream they dreamed of sailing that misty sea.
But I shall name you the fisherman three - Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod.

Now Winkin' and Blinkin' are two little eyes and Nod is a little head.
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies is a wee one's trundle bed.
So close your eyes while mother sings of the wonderful sights that be.
And you shall see those beautiful things as you sail on the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three - Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod.