Tag: Pragmatism

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Life Random thoughts teaching

When you’ve gotta go…

I lost my wallet yesterday.

The cherubs and I were at the ALDI checkout, a couple of dozen grocery items jolting along the conveyor belt toward the cashier when I looked at my hands and realised both were sans wallet. As were all my pockets – both jacket and pants.

Assuming I’d left my wallet in the car, I sent Cherubs 1 and 2 with the keys, to retrieve it. While they were gone, I made it to the front of the queue and Cherub3 helped me bag the items as each was scanned.

The lovely check-out guy rang up the total… then Cherub 1 arrived back with the bad news. They couldn’t find the wallet; Cherub 2 had remained in the car and was still searching, and where did I think they should look next?

Apologising profusely to both the lovely check-out guy and the man waiting in line behind me, I left Cherubs 1 and 3 in the store with our groceries; the check-out guy suspended the sale, and I raced out to join Cherub 2 in what was to be a thorough but fruitless rampage through the car.

No wallet.

If you know me, you’d know just how much panic would normally be ensuing at this point in time.

And yet – it wasn’t.

Reason being? It was 4pm after my most-full-on day at work. The day where I start at 7am and literally don’t get a minute to myself until 2.50pm- and yesterday, even that minute didn’t happen. I therefore found myself in the middle of a missing-wallet-dilemma, and all I could think about was how soon I’d be able to extricate myself and find a ladies room.

Man, oh man, was I ever regretting the whole ‘drink plenty of water, it’ll cleanse out your system’ regimen I’d decided to try!

So there I was, turning my car as inside-out as is physically possible, and although the back of my mind was trying to tell me that ‘Losing my wallet was a Very Serious Situation that I’d need to deal with, pronto’, my bodily urges were saying, ‘Nuh-uh! My problem trumps yours, bucko!’ And the bodily urges were winning.

Long story short, I was back at the checkout with Cherub1 – Cherubs 2 and 3 safely ensconced in the back seat of the car, groceries paid for with the generous assistance of an old friend who God had just-so-happened to have take out the right amount of money and shop there at that particular time – when the lovely check-out guy (who’d taken my name and number when I’d scoured every aisle, looking) called me over and told me a wallet had been handed in.

Yes, it was mine. So I could pay back my friend, pack the groceries and Cherub1 into the car, and make it to a ladies room in time.

Relief all ’round!

Moral of the story? Not entirely sure. It’s good to know that God’s in control, maybe? And does every story even need to have a moral? Who knows. Perhaps what every reader gets out of a story is different, anyway…?

Anyway, just thought I’d share that with you this morning.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful week, dear reader!

— KRidwyn

 

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Christianity family anecdotes Life More about me Random thoughts Writing

When stuff goes pear-shaped

I remember one of my godfathers once asked me to choose a present for myself. I was about 8, and we were in the local newsagent.

I looked for a long time, finally bringing him the thickest compendium of Garfield comics I could find, which he bought without hesitation. Afterward, he questioned my choice. “I was only able to choose one gift,” I explained, “so I wanted to make sure that the gift I chose would last me a long time.”

That’s me. I’m a thinker; a planner. I’m the person who always has to know what is going to happen, WAY ahead of schedule, so I can plan for it. That photo next to ‘control freak’ in the dictionary? That’s me.

Well, it used to be, anyway. I’m learning to relax a lot more. God working in me and all that, maybe?

Case in point: this blog.

Last week. No blog post.

Whoops! Monday morning came; Monday morning went; all 24 hours worth of Monday disappeared… and no new words appeared here.

And it was completely human error. Mine.

Thees last couple of weeks have been busy ones, you know? As in, three-cherubs-underfoot-EVERY-SINGLE-DAY-and-no-time-to-stop-and-think-and-realise-exactly-what-day-it-is-today kind of busy.

Hence Tuesday evening, when I went to watch the Monday TV show I’d taped the night before, I realised that I’d been a day behind. No TV show taped. And also, no blog post published. It wasn’t even written! It hadn’t even been thought about!!!

Cue panicked screaming, running around the house, arms flailing, et cetera – for a whole 20 seconds.

And then I thought, ‘You know what? These things happen. It’ll be okay.’

Decibel levels reduced to within nationally appropriate safety standards, my arms stopped flailing, my heartbeat slowed again, my mind ceased racing, and the cherubs whose presence had caused the upset to routine in the first place, chalked the episode up to yet-another-example-of-Mummy-being-crazy, sighed, and returned to watching old episodes of Pokemon I’d recorded for them. (Yes. Record their programs, not mine. Go figure.)

Stuff had gone pear-shaped, and little ol’ control-freak me was going to… be okay with that.

I’d realised that no amount of panicked screaming and arm-flailing was going to change the situation. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change” seems appropriate to quote here, but actually, it was a tweet that same day that hit the nail on the head for me, instead.

Screen Shot 2016-08-14 at 4.06.24 PM

So often I allow stuff over which I have no control, to trip me up. Do you do the same? But although the idea of ‘stumbling over something that lies behind us’, is ludicrous… how often do we do it?

If we can’t change the past, then let it lie. Don’t dwell on it; forget about it inasmuch as it is able to be forgotten (obviously, consequences will out and all that).

But, in the grand scheme of things, I don’t want to be the person on her deathbed at the end of her life, saying ‘I regret spending all that time worrying’. Especially when it’s worry over things I can’t do anything at all about.

[Aside: It may be trite, but I believe that worry is simply an unsaid prayer.]

So my advice, when stuff goes pear-shaped? Do something about it, if you can. And if not, then don’t sweat it. In the long run, it’ll probably be small stuff anyway.

Well, that’s my take on it. Your thoughts?

And have a great week, dear reader!

-KRidwyn

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More about me Random thoughts

It seems Hubby was right…

Lucky for me, my Hubby never reads my blog. So I can freely mention here that he was right and I was wrong, and the chances of his reading it and gloating, are virtually nil.

Because this last week, I have discovered just how correct he was.

[Spoiler alert: references to early morning starts and gym equipment are imminent…]

So a couple of years back, I joined Hubby at his Krav Maga training. Fast forward to 2016, and I’d passed a couple of gradings and was happy with how things are going… but then the instructor decides to change from Saturday morning classes to Friday night ones. Problem. Cherubs aren’t quite so biddable on Friday nights.

So I “stepped away”.

And although yes, that meant more time for writing (YES!!!) it also meant that without something keeping me motivated to exercise, I… well… didn’t.

So a couple of weeks back, I finally let Hubby convince me to join his gym.

Screen Shot 2016-07-31 at 8.24.30 PMMe. 42 years old. Never joined a gym before in my life.

Scared doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt. I figured that there was going to be pain. Lots of pain. And I’m kinda averse to that idea.

And I was right. There was, indeed, pain – but it was manageable. And you know what? I enjoyed it. I went back, giving myself more pain. Barely manageable this time, but I survived. And now? Well, let’s not say the phrase ‘gym junkie’ – but I understand the attraction. I’m up at 4.30 and at the gym by 5 past 5; leaving by ten to 6 to be home at 6.10am, getting the kids and myself ready for school and work. It’s do-able. And I’m LOVING it! Hubby said I would.

And you know what?

He was right. Just don’t tell him! And have a great week, dear reader 🙂

— KRidwyn

 

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Christianity Life Random thoughts

Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’

I’m not one for political talk. A decade or so ago, sure. But since becoming a Mum, I’ve discovered that pre-polling (because voting is compulsory here in Australia) is awesome. Forgo the sausage sizzles and cake stalls, sure – but it’s worth it for the shorter queue. Less time trying to distract young children.

And so, having voted usually a week or so before the actual election day, everything after my slips of paper hit the bottoms of their respective voting barrels, becomes meaningless to me. I’ve done my bit, and my ability to influence the outcome becomes negligible. As does my interest in the matter, as well.

These last few months have been overly political too, in my opinion. What with the dramas on American soil, and then #Brexit, the fates of the Labor, Coalition and Greens parties here in Australia over the past ten days or so have been the straw that broke my political patience. [Give me voting for Ellen Reed in #TheVoiceAU any day!!!]

1747917718_7d941b5441_mBut I think what irates me the most (yes, I know I just made up a verb *cheesy grin*) is that the people in charge think that they can get away with hypocrisy. Saying one thing then doing the opposite is what we all teach our kids to NOT do, yeah? So why then is it seen as acceptable behaviour for our political leaders? Because when it all boils down to it, that’s where the majority of the problems come from, wouldn’t you agree?

The Bible records Jesus as saying, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:37, during what is now known as the ‘Sermon on the Mount’) and his brother James also wrote about this, in his letter to the Jews: “let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation” (5:12).

I’m guilty of ‘gushing’ myself. I want to demonstrate how appreciative I am, so I exaggerate. Or convince others of my happiness, so I use multitudinous exclamation marks. Whether I like it or not, such effusiveness is not a true representation of the way I feel – so therefore, it is false. White lies, yes?

How hard it must be, for those in the business of trying to convince others, to not ‘gush’. To simply let their ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and their ‘no’, ‘no’.

I get it.

But that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow when its from the mouths of our political leaders.

They, most of all, need to scrutinise their words before they say them. Because after, is too late. And votes have been cast due to poor word choice. And millions of lives are affected.

Just my two cents worth.

Dear reader, my wish for you is that you enjoy a lovely day today – wherever you are and whatever you may be doing.

— KRidwyn

CC image courtesy Anne-Lise Heinrichs on flickr

 

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#AtoZchallenge Blogging challenges my novel-in-progress Random thoughts Reading Review Writing

And now back to our regularly scheduled program…

Wow! What a month it’s been, huh?

FullSizeRenderTwenty-six posts, for the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. Originally, I’d planned a 26-instalment story. But the draft version ended up far too violent to publish here, so at the last minute, I changed to ’26 metaphors for God’, inspired by a cross-stitch Mum made for me. Praise God for Mums, and for friends who make suggestions like “why don’t you use your Mum’s cross-stitch?”

But that being said, it was a huge month. And although I participated, I’m glad it’s over. It took a lot of time away from my ‘normal’ writing, so I’m quite a bit further behind than I wanted to be. And as for my Goodreads challenge, that’s looking like a TKO at this point. Because although I *have* been reading, it’s been on blogs, not books!

My favourite blogs this past month have been:

https://kdjames.com/ (A fascinating story over the month of April)

https://johndavisfrain.com/blog/ (26 stories, each 6 sentences long. Chilling stories.)

http://julieweathers.com/blog/ (American history? READ THIS!)

http://www.colindsmith.com/blog/ (100 word stories inspired by the songs of Paul McCartney. So clever!)

http://denapawling.blogspot.com.au/ (Military definitions from A to Z; enlightening to say the least)

https://alleysiande.com/ (stories, and beer. And dragons…)

https://wordwacker.me/ (clues in haiku for the word of the day)

http://katelarkindale.blogspot.com.au/ (New Zealand movies from A to Z with gorgeously written reviews)

and

http://romancespinners.blogspot.com.au/ (on writing, and writer’s life)

I thoroughly recommend, if you have the time, drop by and have a read.

And for any A to Z challenge participants stopping by, THANK YOU for your encouragement and support, and YAY!!! We did it!!!

(Heading off for a well-earned nap now…)

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#AtoZchallenge Blogging challenges Christianity family anecdotes More about me Reading Review

26 lessons from God’s metaphors: #22

 

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 6.49.19 amOne of my son’s favourite books is BASIL THE BRANCH from THE LOST SHEEP series – about a branch who wants to bear fruit.

No matter how hard he tries, he can’t.

It’s only when he gives up in despair that he hears the voice from over his shoulder. It’s the vine. And it’s smiling at him, telling him to relax.

You see, Basil is only a branch. It is *impossible* for him to grow grapes all by himself. That’s not his job.

His job is just to focus on the vine. And *then* the grapes will grow – because it’s the vine that does the work, not each little, individual branch.

So that’s what Basil does. And you know what? After he focuses on the vine – and *does* grow a beautiful big bunch of grapes!

One of God’s ‘metaphors’ is that of being the vine. The cross-stitch picture uses the words ‘the true vine’ (from John 15 verse 1) and shows a picture of a bunch of grapes, with leaves and tendrils. John 15:5 says,

V“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

I find that pretty challenging: I’m one of those people who’s pretty self-reliant with a lot of stuff. ‘Apart from me you can do nothing’ kinda gets my hackles up – until I realise that I really *am* just a branch. And I need One who’s greater than me, to be able to achieve anything worthwhile.

So that’s my takeaway lesson fro today. Jesus is the vine: my job is to just focus on Him!

Have a great day, dear reader 🙂

— KRidwyn

 

 

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#AtoZchallenge Blogging challenges Christianity More about me Reading

26 lessons from God’s metaphors: #20

There’s a lot to be said for thinking for yourself, in my opinion. I try daily to teach my own three cherubs how to not just blindly accept what they hear, but to test its veracity and decide for themselves.

One of my favourite Bible verses is from Acts 17 verse 11, comparing the Bereans to the Jews in Thessalonica. The Bereans didn’t just accept what they heard Paul (one of Jesus’ followers) say, but they “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” They checked it out for themselves. I like that.

TIn the book of John, chapter 14 verse 6 says:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Today’s letter for this #AtoZchallenge I’m doing is ‘T’. ‘T’ is for ‘Truth’ – and that, with a capital T.

In this verse, Jesus said that He IS the truth. Also the way, and the life. That’s a pretty radical claim. And me being the type of person I am, I’m not just going to take this on face value. I need to examine this further.

That’s one reason why I agree wholeheartedly with C.S.Lewis’ argument in MERE CHRISTIANITY: that there’s only three options when you come to thinking about Jesus. He’s either a liar, or a lunatic, or He actually is who He *said* he was: Lord.

Warning: long quote alert!

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. …

Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.” *

I’m taking the third option. I believe He’s the LORD. And I’m gratefully accepting His offer to follow Him and His way, and have life! 🙂

Have a great day, dear reader!

— KRidwyn

* Quotes taken from Book 3, the end of Chapter 3 “The Shocking Alternative” and immediately on into the beginning of Chapter 4 “The Perfect Penitent”

 

 

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26 lessons from God’s metaphors: #15

Last year, I gave in. My eyesight had been deteriorating, so I breathed a deep sigh and booked an eye appointment. And ended up with glasses. Which is fine. I *am* 41, after all.

But it only hit me, after years of watching my mother remove her glasses before removing baking from the oven, why she always did that.

I yes, I meant ‘hit’.

Because the steam which issued forth, the first time I opened the oven with glasses on, instantly fogged them, rendering me momentarily blind. I squealed, then laughed (after putting down the cake carefully). Of course! THAT’S why she always removed them first!

Mr7 (who was 6 at the time) asked me what was wrong. I explained that the steam had fogged up my glasses, and then we moved into a long discussion about what steam was and where it came from. (Prior to that, he’d always called it ‘smoke’ whenever he saw it rising from the top of pots at the dinner table.)

He was intrigued at the idea that water could become three separate states, depending on temperature. I guess it *is* a tricky concept for a young mind.

And yet, that same idea: One God, in three ‘states’, is exactly what we have in the God of the Bible. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. My Mum’s cross-stitch has an image of three inter-locking circles.

OIn John 10:30, Jesus says to the people listening: “The Father and I are one.”

Those were the crucial words for the religious Jews of the time. They had laws that said anyone claiming to be God should die. And from this exact moment on, they looked for an opportunity to have him killed by the Romans (who were the rulers in Israel at the time.)

Because Jesus was stating, clearly and unmistakably, that He was divine. And rightly so! He *is* One, in essence and nature, with God the Father, and with God the Holy Spirit (who was given to believers at Pentecost, after Jesus had ascended back into heaven).

Jesus IS God. Not just a good man, or a good teacher. He is GOD. God who came down to our world and lived among us for over thirty years, before suffering the most painful death possible – for our sake.

I don’t know about you, but pondering on that blows my mind every time! It makes me shake my head, and realise again just how grateful I am that He loves me so much!

And that’s my take-away lesson for “O”. Jesus, fully God, came here and died for me. And for that, I am grateful!

Have a great day, dear reader 🙂

— KRidwyn

 

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#AtoZchallenge Blogging challenges Christianity More about me Writing

26 lessons from God’s metaphors: #5

I’m fortunate enough to have two parents still married to each other. They’re in their seventies now; still healthy, still happy. My Mum is inspirational, and I love her to absolute bits, and I’ll post ‘why’ on here at some stage.

But this post is about my Dad.

I’ll be the first to admit, our relationship hasn’t always been smooth sailing. And some – maybe even most?! – of that, was my fault. But that’s life, and I’m older (and maybe wiser) now. And now, we’re doing well.

You see, my father’s a retired lecturer. His area of lecturing? English. Literature, and creative writing.

As in, yes. The same topic that has me up late nights, or in the early mornings, as I struggle with the whole “I want to be a published author” path I’m on.

He’s one of my guides on this journey. And through him, I’ve learned SO much; far too much to even contemplate, let alone relate here.

But I’m also aware that time is limited. As much as I’d like to ignore it… the reality is, he’s only human. He’s not eternal. So it’d be wise for me to receive as much guidance as I possibly can, now, before the inevitable happens.

Yes, this is sad. Writing about it like this may portray me as callous and mercenary. Am I? I’m too close to the situation to answer reliably. I’d like to think I show my appreciation to him, for what he does – whether or not I’ve made that clear here. But that’s not the point.

The point is, that although I fail at things constantly, and my Dad is there to help fix stuff and guide me in the right ways, I also have a Heavenly Dad who fixes stuff and guides me, too.

And the difference is, this Heavenly Dad is everlasting.

Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

[Aside: As soon as I read this verse, I immediately get Handel’s Messiah in my head. Do you?]

God is my Everlasting Father. I don’t need to worry that at some point in the future, He will cease being there for me.

I can continue to stuff up, to fail, and to need guidance, every single day until the day I die, knowing that God will continue to be there for me, every single day, leading me and guiding me, and helping me to fix the stuff-ups that I make. And I like that idea.

(I’m also thinking that my Dad would have a field day with that run-on sentence that I just wrote! Not to mention following it with a sentence fragment which started with a conjunction!)

FullSizeRender (1)So that’s my takeaway lesson for Day 5 of this A to Z blogging challenge. God is our Everlasting Father, so I don’t have to worry about there being a end-point. Which is pretty cool!

Have a great day, dear reader!
— KRidwyn

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26 lessons from God’s metaphors: #3

A couple of weekends ago, Hubby and I took our three cherubs to Rainbow Beach for a long weekend. It’s one of my favourite places in the world.

Screen Shot 2016-04-04 at 2.20.04 pm

Being there, in bright sunshine with sandy toes and wind-swept hair, I could relax. I could breathe deeply, and know that things would be okay. That everything *would* eventually work out for the best. That the God who could make such a perfect place, could also look after little ol’ me with my little ol’ problems.

And I feel that way every time I take a moment and look out at the wonderful creation that God has made for us to live in. I look at the ‘rainforest stream’ on my computer background, or at my wall-calendar featuring a photo of the Great Barrier Reef, and know that He’s an all-powerful God with an incredible imagination. [One of my favourite Facebook videos recently was the chameleon walking past coloured sunglasses. Absolutely spectacular!]

Colossians 1:16 says, “for through him [Jesus] God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.”

Which means that I can relax. God created everything, including creating me. He has the perfect plans for me; he created them! I don’t have to worry about my little ol’ problems; they’ve already been taken care of. That’s NOT to say “I can goof off now”; not at all… but instead the little amydala inside my brain doesn’t need any more of a workout than it’s already getting. Amy Grant’s “All I ever have to be” springs to mind 🙂

FullSizeRender

And that’s my takeaway lesson for Day 3 of this A to Z blogging challenge. God is the Creator of all things. Which means I can ‘Keep Calm’ – for real; because God’s got it covered!

Have a great day, dear reader!

-KRidwyn