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#blogjune Blogging challenges Christianity family anecdotes Life More about me

Sipping from the saucer #6

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

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

Today, blessing #6.

It’s my birthday today. I love that I’ve managed to make it to 44 without too much damage, physically or emotionally, to myself… and hopefully also, to those I’ve interacted with over the past 40-something years!

Anyway, yesterday after work, I arrived home with my cherubs remembering what state I’d left the house in, that morning. Knowing that Hubby would be leaving during the day for a three day conference, I’d done only the ‘most-urgent’ of the housework that morning (plates into the sink, not even rinsed) because I’d be able to complete the rest of it in the afternoon, at a more leisurely pace, without feeling as though I was a ‘bad housewife’ – because of the lack of a Hubby to witness just how lazy I could be! (And how slowly I could get it done…)

So I unlocked the house and walked in – and found the kitchen and dining room clean, a HUGE bunch of flowers on the table, and a box of chocolates and note with them!

“Happy birthday my love!!! Sorry I’m away. See you soon. Love Ian.”

I must admit, I found it difficult to read through the tears in my eyes. What a sweetheart!

And if Hubby isn’t a blessing from the One who created me, I don’t know what is.

I hope you have an awesome day today too, dear Reader!

– KRidwyn

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#AtoZchallenge Blogging challenges Christianity Random thoughts teaching Work

C is for ‘clever’

As a mum to three cherubs under 12, and also as a Head of School with over 100 ‘cherubs’ aged 11 to 14, I find myself ‘praising’ kids a lot. It helps, you know? Builds rapport, which in turn assists in ‘training the child they way (s)he should go’ (nod to Proverbs 22;6, if you were wondering).

But I find myself often using the same words. This wearies them – the words, the kids, and also me – and thus forms the topic of today’s post. Synonyms for ‘clever’. If only to keep myself from going stir-crazy!

So. ‘Clever’, according to my handy MacbookPro thesaurus, has four different meanings.

Clever – as in intelligent – could also be: bright, smart, brilliant; talented, gifted, precocious; capable, able, competent, apt, proficient; educated, learned, erudite, academic, bookish, knowledge, wise, sagacious. Also brainy or genius, if we’re being informal.

Clever – as in shrewd – I could use: astute, sharp, acute, quick, sharp-witted, quick-witted; ingenious, resourceful, canny, cunning, crafty, artful, wily, slick, neat. And informally: foxy, or savvy.

Clever – as in skilful – dexterous, adroit (I love this word!), deft, nimble, nimble-fingered, handy, adept; skilled, talented.

Clever – as in witty – quick-witted, amusing, droll, humourous, funny, sparkling, entertaining, scintillating (love this one, too!)

Which one did you like the most? And – here’s the kicker, if you choose to see it as such- will you use it in a compliment to someone today?

[In case you were wondering, this set of 26 ‘A is for’ posts is a part of the global A to Z challenge, where consequential letters of the alphabet are used on an a daily blog posts in April (with Sundays off for good measure). My topic for 2017 is ‘word of the day’. Feel free to tune in tomorrow for ‘D’ ๐Ÿ™‚ ]

And until then, here’s me wishing you a scintillating day!

Yours,

KRidwyn

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Reading Review

My take on the latest, greatest picture book…

I was given a stack of Picture Books recently, asked to read them, and give my opinion. Smiling, I agreed. Who doesn’t like picture books?

And although there were a couple that I recommended the library in question *not* purchase, one of the books in particular hit me as not only extremely well-written (and illustrated, of course) but with a clear message, subtle yet necessary, and BRILLIANTLY executed.

I don’t review books often – not because I don’t read (my 2016 Goodreads challenge is sitting steady on 77 books completed, of the 104 I set myself) – but because I don’t want to embarrass myself again with a recommendation for a book I’ve fallen in love with… which I later find out to be pretty much a blatant rip-off of an earlier novel which I’d never read. [This situation occurred earlier this year, and boy! was I mad when I discovered the original…]

But back to the picture book: my latest, greatest, most favourite of all picture books that I discovered this week is: THE FABULOUS FRIEND MACHINE by Nick Bland.

screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-9-06-21-pm

Yes, that’s a chicken, looking at an iPad. No, I won’t give away any more than that.

If you’ve read this book already, you’re smiling right now; I know. Me too.

If you *haven’t* read it – go find yourself a copy and READ IT NOW. You won’t regret it, I promise. In fact, if you’re like me, you’ll probably say to yourself after, ‘I know people who need to read this book’. And you’ll tell them. The way I’m telling you.

Please, please, please, if you know of any parents, or teachers, or librarians, please let them know about this book. I can’t stress enough how much they’ll love it. Try it, and see. Bet you I’m right!

And, as always, have a lovely week ๐Ÿ™‚

— KRidwyn

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family anecdotes Random thoughts

Love is a full fuel tank…

Hubby drives a VW Tiguan. Unlike my car, his is salary sacrificed or something – I don’t care to understand because he’s the accountant; I just earn $ and pay bills – but because of this, all servicing and fuel is paid for using a special card from a special account.

Which is all just fine and dandy… except now, I have shiny new gym membership. We’re settling into a new family routine where I’m up and gone early, and Hubby does the cherubs ‘up and breakfast’ bit. And because it’s just to the gym and back, and because of the specialness of Hubby’s car milage being paid for with pre-tax funds instead of post-tax income, I’ve reluctantly agreed to use the VW on my gym mornings.

Have I mentioned I’m not great at driving other people’s cars – Hubby’s included? [I’m also terrible at driving places I’ve never been before – but that’s a whole ‘nother story…]

One of the greatest sources of my anxiety is that I can’t fill Hubby’s car with fuel. I don’t have the card, I don’t know which fuel it needs to use – heck, I don’t even know which side the tank is on, or where the lever release is!

16760087246_64f9756d9e_mBut I’ve never had to worry about it. As soon as the gauge starts nudging its way toward the 1/4 tank mark, Hubby fills up again. Without my even mentioning it!

That’s love. A full fuel tank.

What an awesome Hubby I have. I’m truly blessed – and grateful!

How about you, dear reader? What is ‘love’ for you?

And have a magnificent week, wherever you are!
— KRidwyn

CC image courtesy OER Training on Flickr

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Christianity Life random scribblings Scribblings Writing

Short story: CRIME

Herewith, a story soon to be published in my local Writers’ Group biannual magazine. 800 words. Here’s hoping you enjoy it! ๐Ÿ˜€

*****

CRIME

Nathanael stood still, watching.

The man in the bed next to him didn’t have long to live. He was 87, after all, and had been ill for months now. Nathanael watched him sadly, wheezing in his sleep. It was such a waste, it truly was.

Nathanael had guarded hundreds – if not thousands – of humans before. He’d been assigned to them when they’d finished their terms as innocents, and stayed with them until their last breath. Then he’d been assigned a new human to guard. Every assignment presented its own challenges, its own highlights. No two were identical, just as each of the Master’s creations was unique. But this last assignment left him saddened. It had been easy, but that in itself had been part of the problem. It had been too easy. The man wasting away in the bed next to him had not lived. Not in any meaningful way. Yes, he had been alive, but he had never lived; he had only existed. And they were very, very different things.

This man, his current assignment, was the second child of three. Overshadowed by both his brothers in intelligence, the man had made up his mind at an early age that he would never amount to much. He had lived with the ridicule of his siblings and the disappointment of his parents, and so had found it difficult to make friends at school. His peers didn’t like him; he’d never gone out of his way to be friendly. By graduation, he’d been friendless. Average school marks had meant that further education wasn’t an option, so he’d gone into the workforce, helping out in his father’s business. And he’d stayed there. Sixty years later, when society had forced him to retire, he’d stopped going to work and stayed at home. The home which he’d inherited from his parents after their death, after his brothers had moved on to bigger and better things. Successful careers. Marriages. Families. Houses. Overseas holidays at ski resorts.

This man, though, had had none of those things. He had told himself that he didn’t want to be seen to be ‘ambitious’ – but really, Nathanael thought that it was because he was scared. Scared of what might happen if he had tried. Scared to succeed; scared to fail. Coasting, making as few decisions as he possibly could, carried less risk. So that’s what he’d done.

He’d never married. Never had anyone that he could call friend. Never even owned a pet! The man had deliberately chosen to be responsible for no-one and nothing. He had told himself that he had preferred it that way. Nathanael wondered if that was true.

It wouldn’t be long now, Nathanael knew. The man’s breathing was becoming more and more erratic. With his angelic sight, Nathanael could see the man’s bodily systems labouring with more and more difficulty, then starting to shut down. The man had just minutes to live.

But what is a life? thought Nathanael. Is it just the number of breaths measured out to a man? Is it the seconds that he has between conception and death? Or is it the decisions that he makes in the time allotted to him? The emotions he allows himself to feel? The experiences he chooses to have?

The Master had created humans to be social creatures. He had created them to be part of community. To care for each other. Life was about living. Not just existing, oblivious to those around you. A life without choosing to interact with others was no life at all. Nathanael knew this. He had had enough experience watching lives to be utterly convinced.

This man, who had lived without thought for others, had done little harm to them. But neither had he done any kindness. And that was such a waste. He could have done so much good! He had had the opportunity for wealth – and with it, the opportunity to be generous with that wealth. He had had the opportunity for friendship – and with it, the possibility of choosing to make others happier. To make their lives easier.

But he had chosen to live his life as risk-free as possible. He had chosen a life without social interaction. A life of solitude. A life alone.

A life wasted. It was almost criminal. To have so many opportunities, and to neglect to nurture them. It was so sad.

Nathanael watched as the man took his last breath. He watched as his heart beat its last time. Nathanael watched as his soul departed, to the place where all souls went, ready for the final judgement.

Nathanael sighed. A final reflection on this man’s life. Then he too departed, thinking with hope of the next life that he would guard. He wondered who his next assignment would be.

The man’s body lay almost as still in death as his spirit had been in life. Unremarkable.

*****

So – did you like it? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Please feel free to leave any and all comments below.

And have a lovely week, dear reader ๐Ÿ˜€

— KRidwyn

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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 Writing

26 lessons from God’s metaphors: #25

Welcome to the second last post of this series on God’s metaphors. Twenty-six different names God uses to describe Himself- all in one handy A to Z cross-stitch that my Mum made for me a few years back. Each letter has a name and a Bible verse… all except this one, Y.

Y is for Yahweh. In Hebrew, YHVH.

The name of God.

The first time this name is used is the book of Exodus, verses 14 and 15. The version of the Bible verse in the quote below, uses Hebraic language, rather than the Anglicised words. [In the overwhelming majority of English Bibles, the different names of God are translated as the word ‘LORD’ – the capital letters indicated that it is one of God’s names.]

Y“And Elohim said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM; and He said, you shall say this to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. And Elohim said to Moses again, You shall say this to the sons of Israel, Yahweh the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever , and this is My memorial from generation to generation.”

I mentioned just above the Bible verse that God has different names. This can be a little confusing for us Westerners, in modern times, to understand!

But basically, the different names for God refer to different aspects of his character. Thus “Elohim” emphasises His might, His creative power, and His attributes of justice and rulership – whereas in our English Bibles it’s translated to the word “God”. Likewise, the Hebrew scrolls have names such as “El Shaddai” (LORD God Almighty) and “El Elyon” (The Most High God) and “Adonai” (Lord, or Master). Names can also be lengthened, so “YHVH Tzva’ot” means ‘Lord of Hosts’, where ‘hosts’ refers to military groupings.

But this post is about “Yahweh”. And this is the name that God gives of Himself.

In this passage above, we see Moses speaking to God, who has appeared to him in a burning bush, and has told him to go back to Egypt and tell Pharoah to let the Hebrew slaves go. Moses, understandably sceptical, and probably not wanting to go and be laughed at by people when he tells them that he saw a bush on fire that didn’t burn up, and heard the voice of God coming from the bush, he decides to ask God directly, “Who should I say sent me?”

And God replies, “Tell them that ย I AM sent you.”

This is the name that He gives himself. Yahweh. In Hebrew, YHVH. They know it as the Tetragrammaton. And for any readers who are also writers, you may be interested to know that this name is *indeed* related to the verb ‘to be’ (to exist). Cool, hey! This name was incorrectly translated into English as ‘Jehovah’, by a German scribe back in the sixteenth century, and the name has since found common usage. Personally, I prefer the original.

And did you know that observant Jews consider this name to be SO holy, that they don’t even write it out in full? This is why, rather than writing ‘God’, they write ‘G-d’. Some believe that this is to lessen the risk of ‘taking God’s name in vain’ (one of the ten commandments) however it could also be because Judaism prohibits erasing or defacing a name of God. So if the name of God is written out in full, then at some point in the future, this writing could become erased or defaced. And to prevent this situation occurring, they avoid writing it.

So. Quite a bit more information in this post than in the usual, but then again, it *is* Day 25. And it’s such an interesting topic, in my opinion!

So what, then, is the take-away lesson for today? For me, it’s to reflect on the name/s of God, especially the One Name that He gives of Himself. YHVH. “I am”. It reminds me a little of what I was thinking when I wrote about ‘the Alpha and the Omega’.

Writing this post, and thinking on the different names of God, also had me singing the Amy Grant song ‘El Shaddai’, so here it is for your enjoyment too ๐Ÿ™‚

So. That’s it for today – and almost for the entire month too! Tune in tomorrow for the final post: “Z is for King of Zion.”

See you then, and have a lovely day, dear reader!

— KRidwyn

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#AtoZchallenge Blogging challenges Christianity Random thoughts

26 lessons from God’s metaphors: #24

Just three more posts to go in this #AtoZchallenge for April. And today’s letter, ‘X’ has (in Mum’s cross-stitch, picture below) the phrase ‘eXalted one’ and the verse Acts 5:30-31.

It was fairly difficult writing this post. I think that’s because I’m a born and bred Aussie. And although I’m definitely VERY proud of this fact, we truth remains that we don’t do too well with ‘exalting’ things down here. In fact, it’s the opposite which is the cultural norm.

Down here, we’re well known for our ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’.

And I don’t think that’s a good thing. In fact, if you read yesterday’s post, it reflected on how words have power, and we can use them to either heal or harm, build up or destroy. We have the choice of our own words.

Likewise, we have the choice of our own attitudes. Here in Australia, we’re better at tearing the successful down rather than giving them the credit they deserve. That’s not healthy, in my opinion.

And God Himself set the example, too. Those verses in Acts read:

X

“The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the deadโ€”whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Saviour that he might being Israel to repentance and forgive their sins.”

In this passage, one of Jesus’ followers, a guy called Peter, was standing with his friends in what was their version of court. Judging him were all the religious leaders of the biggest city in Israel. These were the people EVERYONE looked up too – and here Peter is, accusing them! ‘Whom you killed by hanging him on a cross’! What courage, hey?

God exalted Jesus, so that the religious leaders – and, in fact, all Israelites, and through them, the whole world – could repent (as in, say sorry for sins committed) and they could be forgiven.

Praise God that He did, huh?

And my takeaway lesson from that? If God exalted Jesus, then I should too. And perhaps build up my fellow man, encouraging them and giving them the credit where credit is due ๐Ÿ™‚

Your thoughts?

Have a great day, dear reader!

— KRidwyn

 

x

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#AtoZchallenge Blogging challenges Christianity Life More about me teaching

26 lessons from God’s metaphors: #23

Today’s post is ‘W’ for ‘Word of Life’.

I love, love, LOVE being a writer. Playing with words, exploring infinite possibilities with them. With just a piece of paper, a pencil, and time, worlds can be created, rich in detail, full of interesting characters, and scenes full of laughter or nail-gripping tension. What power there is in a string of words!

The spoken word, too, is often more powerful than we realise. I’ve blogged before about my autistic Mr7. He’s the most soft-hearted person I’ve ever met. (And believe me, teachers meet a LOT of people!) So even just a mention of his ‘making the wrong choice’ is enough to bring on the tears and have him self-recriminating-in-spades. And he’s not being melodramatic. It’s all genuine. And it stops me in my tracks each time: seeing so visually how huge an effect spoken words can have.

Words have the power to heal and to harm, to inspire and to destroy. I’ll admit now, I’ve cried twice in the researching and writing of this blogpost, in realising yet again how powerful the wrong words can be. I’d been looking for a quote I’d half remembered, and discovered this image instead:

Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 9.52.22 am
[Click on the image to find the original source]
And the second was one of those co-incidental-maybe-perhaps-not-finds, an article from scientificparent.org, which I immediately shared to all my friends via Twitter and Facebook:

(In fact, if you have two minutes, could you also please click through and read this article? I’d really appreciate it!)

So back to ‘W is for Word’ – our words are important. They can give life or take it away: it all depends on how we use them.

And they have this power because of the author of life, God Himself. He calls Himself ‘the Word’ – and rightly so. John 1:1 says:

W“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

God, the creator of life, spoke – and it was so. His words gave life.

That’s something I should try to emulate. Use my words to encourage, to build up, maybe even to inspire.

How about you?

Have a great day, dear reader ๐Ÿ™‚

— KRidwyn

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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.ย 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 ๐Ÿ™‚

— KRidwyn