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Christianity momentous events Review

Best night EVER!

Friday night. The not-too-distant past. Sons of Korah, Australian Christian band, playing at Lifepointe Baptist church at Buderim.

SOOOOO worth the almost-20-year (yeh, you read that correctly) wait to see them live.

They were BRILLIANT! Their technical expertise was beyond compare. Such timing, such accuracy – they were so ‘tight’, it was – truly – incredible. As in, the “real” meaning of that word. Beyond belief.

It’s been years since I’ve been so ‘swept up’ in the moment. But that concert did it for me. I was alive πŸ™‚

[I wonder if that’s how God feels, looking down on us with such delight?! A beautiful thought!]

Anyway, I just wanted to share this memory with you today. And if you’re interested in their music, try here. I’d recommend their initial album, ‘Light of Life’ as a great starting point!

And here’s praying that you have a inspired week, dear Reader πŸ™‚

– KRidwyn

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Christianity Life momentous events More about me

In which I contemplate how amazed I shouldn’t be

I keep telling people how amazed I am at my quick recovery from the evil back injury I suffered recently.

Monday 25th June, 10am. The last Monday of term. The doctor who was treating me said he thought I’d be immobile for two weeks, and he’d be able to get me back to ‘normal’ (mostly pain-free) mobility by the end of 5-6 weeks.

Shock doesn’t even remotely describe how I felt. But then again, I was also in childbirth-like agony at the time, and my brain cells weren’t firing anywhere near their usual capacity.

I left the doctor’s office and called my boss, relayed the news, emailed my colleagues. Put the diagnosis out on Facebook. Then I received message after message after message, from friends and family near and far, who offered their support – and their prayers.

I was touched. (And in agony. And tears – many, many tears.) But determined to do everything I could to aid the healing process. The doctor had said ‘ice’? I’d be the ice queen! He’d said ‘horizontal’? I wouldn’t move a muscle!

(Admittedly, the phrase ‘off work for the rest of the week’ did *not* mean that – ask my Mum, who watched me plough through marking paper after paper, responding to email after email, proofing and writing report after report, all in a horizontal position either facedown or face up, ten minute interval changes, non-stop, from 5am until 9pm-ish!)

And wouldn’t you know it, but by Friday 2pm I was back at school. On crutches, but vertical. Yes, you’re probably thinking, ‘stupid!’ but I’d missed the kids terribly and wanted to see them before they left on two-and-a-half-weeks holiday, pray with them and for them, and testify to them just how amazingly their prayers for me had worked. That I was vertical, and walking on crutches, and was amazed at my recovery – but SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN!

Because I’d been holding fast to James 5:16. Especially the second part:

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

Because I knew what the doctor didn’t – that the God who had made me, and who had let me go through this experience for His own good reasons, was able to heal me as well, for His own good reasons.

And He was doing exactly that! I should not have been able to be mobile – and yet, I was. And now, two weeks later, I should be starting to achieve pain-free mobility – and yet, I have it! Sure, sometimes it’s uncomfortable, but I’m just happy to be upright and without crutches πŸ™‚

And in conversations with many, many, many others since then, I’ve been telling them how amazing my recovery has been – and then realising, over and over and over again, how amazed I should NOT be by this.

Wow, our God is an incredible God, isn’t He?

I hope you too, dear Reader, are having an AMAZING day today πŸ™‚

And see you next week!

– KRidwyn

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#blogjune Blogging challenges Christianity

#blogJune 2018 wrap-up

Wow – what a month it’s been! I knew, starting the #blogJune challenge this year would be difficult… I just didn’t realise exactly how challenging it was going to be!

So the month started by introducing the whole #blogJune challenge, and my theme (blessings) for the rest of the posts. Then I followed this with:

#1 Getting an incredible (impossible!) car park

#2 Finding the hiding engagement ring

#3 Knowing a fellow driver would be safe

#4 Dancing smoke

#5 Lightning flash when I needed it

#6 my Hubby’s surprise

#7 purchasing (and collecting) a mobile phone storage box in an impossibly short time frame

#8 free family entertainment – and awesome entertainment too!!!

#9 My new gym πŸ™‚

#10 Hubby being awake before me…

#11 Family, friends, and youz guyz sending me birthday wishes πŸ™‚

#12 Gilmore Girls

#13 My #WritingRace friends – youz guyz ROCK!!!

#14 Colleagues who go the second mile πŸ™‚

#15 My Mum – the reason Hubby and I could get a night away together!

#16 New sunglasses

#17 Miss10’s laundry skills

#18 Being able to see πŸ™‚

#19 Heat – natural and electrical – both are great!

#20 The incomparable Mr Stephen Dittman – thank you, my friend πŸ™‚

#21 A different perspective on vomit…

#22 Raindrop, splatting on my head

#23 Strawberries!

#24 Nurofen Zavance…

#25 Dr. Matthew Smith

#26 My Knight (well, Lady) in shining armour πŸ™‚

#27 Additions to the #TBR pile

#28 My schoolkids and the absolute delights that they are!

And that was it for the month! Twenty-eight blessings which I thank my God for, not even a scratch on the surface of the myriad of blessings he pours out on me day-after-day-after-day-after-day and you get the idea.

He is just SO incredibly awesome. And I’d encourage you, dear Reader, if you’ve never sought Him before, to do so. To trust Him, because He is truly the one and only One worth trusting!

And even should you choose to not, then maybe just try the whole ‘count what the good things are in your life’ because the change in attitude which develops is also pretty cool πŸ™‚

Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox now. Have a Blessed rest-of-the-week, dear Reader! And I’ll catch you all on Monday πŸ™‚

— KRidwyn

 

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#blogjune Blogging challenges

Sipping from the saucer #21

I work at a Christian school. The pastor of the church which established our school has a saying: β€œThe LORD has blessed me so much, my cup is overflowing (taken from Psalm 23) and I’m sipping from the saucer.”

I like the visual, so I’m using it here, in this month-long blogging challenge focusing on the blessings God has poured out on me.

And now? For blessing #21.

And this post *should* have been published yesterday – but with the craziness of this week, I’m going to chalk that one up to ‘lack of timely organisation’ and smile cheesily at you. Sorry about that.

This blessing comes courtesy of Miss10, who I’m guessing was inspired to look for blessings while reading this blog the other day. You see, yesterday afternoon, Mr9 vomited.

He’s not normally a vomit-y child; it’s been while since he’s done so. But yesterday afternoon was one such occasion.

It wouldn’t have been too bad if we hadn’t been driving home at the time. Or if he’d warned me. Or if I hadn’t been in the fast lane, on a traffic-laden main road.

Oh well. This stuff happens.

So how is this a blessing exactly, you may be asking? You know, I was thinking exactly that when Miss10 suggested it too.

The blessing comes when you realise that yesterday, I was driving our Toyota Aurion. The six year old car, which I wasn’t actually meant to be driving. The car I *was* meant to be driving was the 3 week old Toyota HiLux.

Aha! The blessing!

I have a feeling that Hubby would have hit the roof had our son decided to redecorate the inside of the new car. The old one? It was, well, not quite ‘okay’ but certainly a lot more palatable. (Ha! Wrong word right there, yes? Although I’m chortling as I type, so maybe it was the right word for me… now I’m cleaned up the entire mess, and slept, so it’s yesterday’s story and not today’s reality LOL)

Anyway, I’m choosing to agree with Miss10. Thank you, LORD, that I had driven the Aurion yesterday. Because cleaning that one, was far preferable!

Here’s hoping you could find blessings in your day too, dear Reader πŸ™‚

– KRidwyn

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#blogjune Blogging challenges Christianity Random thoughts

Sipping from the saucer #18

I work at a Christian school. The pastor of the church which established our school has a saying: β€œThe LORD has blessed me so much, my cup is overflowing (taken from Psalm 23) and I’m sipping from the saucer.”

I like the visual, so I’m using it here, in this month-long blogging challenge focusing on the blessings God has poured out on me.

Today, blessing #18.

It’s a busy time of term (of semester, actually) at work – I’ve noticed I’m pulling more hours just to get things done, and the amount of time I’m spending staring at my laptop screen is just sad.

I’ve also noticed I’m wearing my glasses more and more. I can complete work faster if I’m wearing them, so they’re on my eyes while I’m at my desk, more often than not.

And I’m starting to realise just how much I’m relying on them. Not that that’s a bad thing; it’s probably just an ‘inevitable’ thing, instead. But no, it’s just that today I was thinking: I’m glad I have them. I’m glad I have the opportunity to put something on my eyes to assist me in doing the things I need (or want!) to do. So many? Don’t. I wouldn’t want to hazard a guess at exactly how many people there are in this world, who need assistance just to be able to see, but who can’t get that assistance for a variety of reasons.

So that’s what I want to thank my God for today. For the sense of sight. And even though it may not be what it once was, for the blessing I have of owning a pair of glasses which assist me to still read, and write, and… well, everything.

They’re pretty cool πŸ™‚

Here’s wishing you a blessing-full day as well, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn

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#blogjune Blogging challenges Christianity

Sipping from the saucer #16

I work at a Christian school. The pastor of the church which established our school has a saying: β€œThe LORD has blessed me so much, my cup is overflowing (taken from Psalm 23) and I’m sipping from the saucer.”

I like the visual, so I’m using it here, in this month-long blogging challenge focusing on the blessings God has poured out on me.

Today, blessing #16. And today’s post is late because I’ve been away for the weekend with Hubby – Mum offered to be with the kidlets so we could get away – and so we did!

And today’s blessing happened today: I’d been looking for a while for a new pair of sunglasses. My current ones, several years old now, had developed removable lenses, which was annoying but I could deal. But of late, they’d been more removable than ever.

So on our way back home, we stopped off at Harbourtown. I wanted sunnies – but the dozen shops I went into which had sunnies for sale, they were FAR out of the price range I was willing to pay. I’d given up, and we were heading out towards the car park, when I saw a sunglass-specialist shop I hadn’t been into before. Sighing, I entered – and found the perfect pair, at the perfect price!

Thank you, LORD!

Here’s wishing you a blessed day too, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn

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#blogjune Blogging challenges family anecdotes

Sipping from the saucer #12

I work at a Christian school. The pastor of the church which established our school has a saying: β€œThe LORD has blessed me so much, my cup is overflowing (taken from Psalm 23) and I’m sipping from the saucer.”

I like the visual, so I’m using it here, in this month-long blogging challenge focusing on the blessings God has poured out on me.

Today, blessing #12.

Miss13 and I have an… interesting relationship. I love her, and she loves me (I think) but we butt heads more often than not, and have ever since she turned, well, 7.

She turned 13 in January – which meant a later bed-time, significantly later than her siblings. Which also meant plenty of ‘Mummy-and-me’ time was there for the taking, should we want it.

And the thought hit me… Gilmore Girls!

A way to introduce ‘teenage’ concepts to my daughter in a way that she could (hopefully) relate to…

And it’s working! We’re now, mid-June, at the beginning of Season Five; and after a bit of a rocky start – the first few discs in Season One were a bit of a slog – she now asks to watch them each night, and we snuggle and watch and chat about the ideas and situations it presents, as ideas and situations which she may encounter at some point, now she’s a teenager and going-on-25 πŸ™‚

So today I want to acknowledge the decades-old American TV show, for the blessing it is to my relationship with my eldest.

And I hope you day today is a blessed one too, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn

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#blogjune Blogging challenges

Sipping from the saucer #9

I work at a Christian school. The pastor of the church which established our school has a saying: β€œThe LORD has blessed me so much, my cup is overflowing (taken from Psalm 23) and I’m sipping from the saucer.”

I like the visual, so I’m using it here, in this month-long blogging challenge focusing on the blessings God has poured out on me.

Today: blessing #9.

And seeing as yesterday’s post, blessing #8 (published earlier today; sorry about that!) was an image, I thought I’d do likewise today. Because today I want to talk about my new gym.

I joined on the 31st of May, and had my first session on June 1st. And I’ve been going regularly (4 to 6 days per week, depending on other commitments) since then.

And I’m loving it! This was what it looked like this morning…

no other people. And because no-one was there to listen to – or even program – the centre-wide sound system, there was no other noise, either… exactly how I like my workouts πŸ™‚

I unlocked the place. I turned on lights and equipment. I turned off equipment, and lights, and then locked up when I left.

It was just about the workout. And that’s perfect for me.

What a blessing, hey?

Here’s wishing you (again!) a blessed day today, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn

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#blogjune Blogging challenges Christianity

Sipping from the saucer #7

I work at a Christian school. The pastor of the church which established our school has a saying: β€œThe LORD has blessed me so much, my cup is overflowing (taken from Psalm 23) and I’m sipping from the saucer.”

I like the visual, so I’m using it here, in this month-long blogging challenge focusing on the blessings God has poured out on me.

Today: blessing #7… and it’s another work-related one.

As Head of Middle School, I decided this year to institute a new policy for my students: mobile phone collection during the school day. So I collect the mobile phones from the kids in my care – students in Years 7, 8 and 9 (11 to 14 year olds) – at the beginning of the school day, and then they collect them again at 3pm, prior to leaving the campus. It’s been working REALLY well, and the instances of cyberbullying between the hours of 8 and 3 have dropped to zero. (Surprise, surprise!)

But that’s not the point of my story. Instead, the story starts when I was on a deadline, to purchase the hardcover mobile phone storage case, so that I could use it to keep the kids’ phones safe. (There’s a HUGE amount of $$ that the school will be liable for, should any harm come to a kid’s phone while it’s in my care!) So I’d done the research, and decided to purchase a sturdy, the-best-that-money-can-buy storage case, from the Jaycar outlet that was closest to the school.

The trouble was, to make the case ready for phone usage, I needed to purchase it on the Friday, so I could have it over the weekend and cut out all the little holes so students could insert their phones securely, first thing Monday morning. But other commitments after school on Friday afternoon meant that I needed to duck out during the day to buy it.

Which wouldn’t have been a problem… but I have a fairly heavy teaching load on a Friday, with very little time between classes in which to shop.

So I found a spare 45 minutes. Not a huge amount of time, but enough – perhaps – if the traffic was light, and if I could find an easy park (I’d never been there before, and I’ve already mentioned how awful I am with parking at locations where I’ve never been before,) and if the service at the store was great, and if they had in stock the exact case which I needed to purchase. And if, after all that, the traffic was light on the way back to school, so I could get back in time to teach my next class.

Yeah. That was a lot of ‘if’s. And yet…

Who said God isn’t good? It all happened! And with 3 minutes to spare!!!

A blessing indeed. In fact, so much blessing that I was left sipping from the saucer πŸ™‚

Have a great day, dear Reader!
– KRidwyn

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#blogjune Blogging challenges

Sipping from the saucer #5

I work at a Christian school. The pastor of the church which established our school has a saying: β€œThe LORD has blessed me so much, my cup is overflowing (taken from Psalm 23) and I’m sipping from the saucer.”

I like the visual, so I’m using it here, in this month-long blogging challenge focusing on the blessings God has poured out on me.

Today, blessing #5.

Decades ago, I remember Hubby and I listening to a tape (yes, tape – I *did* just say ‘decades ago!’) by Christian speaker Chuck Missler, on the Old Testament passage where the Israelites were in a battle against their enemies, and God was fighting alongside them with hailstones. And more were killed by hailstones than by the Israelites. Chuck Missler made the point that God must have a pretty amazing aim! To be able to set into motion the hail – in exactly the right places so that only Israel’s enemies were killed, and not the Israelites themselves! (Whoever heard of hail discriminating before?)

Anyway, knowing about that story makes mine own tale of blessing seem like child’s play. And yet to me, it was miraculous. You see, it was just about to start POURING down as I was leaving a late-night church meeting, and the car park was pitch black and not covered. So I ran towards the driver’s door, thinking ‘how on earth am I going to be able to see the lock to open the door, and get inside before the rain starts?’

I arrived at my door, key at the ready, about to start fumbling when ‘flash’Β  the sky lit up, the instant I had my key near where I thought the lock would be. Lightning had streaked across the sky, making the car door as distinct as if it had been broad daylight. The key went straight in, and I was able to slide into the driver’s seat, close the door and even turn the engine on before the thunder rumbled.

How cool was THAT?!!!

God is truly an awesome God, don’t you think?

Anyway, that’s my ‘blessing’ for today. Have a great one, dear Reader – and I’ll see you tomorrow for blessing #6!

KRidwyn