The very beautiful Elyse

Last night I went to Elyse’s 21st, which was accommodated in a lovely venue in Bibra Lake. All her family looked absolutely stunning and I was overwhelmed by the warmth of the atmosphere.

Elyse’s parents both gave prized speeches, Christie wrote and sang a hilarious song for her little sister, her best friend talked about what a great friend she is, a work colleague talked about exceptional work strategies she has, and then Elyse gave a touching speech in which she thanked each family member and told them all how much she loved them. It was just so sweet. They also have a wonderful extended family. What a blessed family.

Elyse's 21st

Dave and Jenny's wedding

These are some photos from the gorgeous July 2007 wedding of my cousin. Thanks for sharing them Dave. They are really special and Jenny’s dress is so pretty.

Pancakes

Today some work colleagues and i went out for lunch to the Pancake place in Carillion. It was really nice eating out with a nice group of fun-loving people. These people are the youngest in the office.

Home group on the night b4 C's 29th b'day

Here we have the lovely Christie, Elyse, Ewey, Clayton and Danau!

Sorry

This morning I got a phone call from the Chairman of the interview panel offering me the job I don’t want. He totally caught me off guard, because I hadn’t yet prepared a response to say to him. I was waiting for the letter in writing before I thought of a polite way to decline it. He told me that the panel was very impressed with me and then started to talk about arrangements when I interrupted and said “I am so sorry Geoff, but I’m going to have to decline the position”. He was like “why?” and then I kind of muttered out a very awkward response. I started by saying that the job seemed really different after the interview and that I didn’t feel like it was the right job for me. What the heck was I meant to say?

I didn’t have the heart to tell him I thought the photos decorating the foyer were really distasteful, or that I didn’t appreciate the moaning outside my door while I was reviewing the questions, or their lifeless handshakes or that I thought the panel were really uninspiring and not the sort of people I want to work with or be like. I was caught off-guard so I sort of just mumbled that I was not emotionally up to it and that I had applied for a few jobs and my heart was set on a different job …uuurggghhh.

The worst thing is, I had gone to so much effort to excel in the interview and prove I was the ideal candidate. He sounded so disappointed and even tried to negotiate with me. He suggested they could restructure the position for me. How could I explain to him that it just wasn’t God’s will for me. I couldn’t tell him the warning dream I had, he wouldn’t understand. So instead I said I just wasn’t ready for the challenge and that maybe in the future I would reconsider working there. He told me that another position is likely to be free within the next six months – I was wondering why!!! There was just something about the place that made my skin crawl and I felt very uncomfortable talking to him.

I’m glad that’s over. Did I achieve anything in doing that application? I guess it’s encouraging to know that I can convince a bunch of strangers that I am worthy of a promotion, but at the cost of messing them around and disappointing them, I’m not sure it was worth it. I feel so low about the whole thing ;-(

Catching the train

The turbulence in my job situation has finally drawn to a close, thank God!

Scenario 1
The week before last, I found out that I was short-listed for a permanent job. The job is a promotional opportunity, which would raise my salary a huge amount and give me long-term financial security and stability. It’s a job I know I can do and felt somewhat passionate about applying for because the work involves improving the lives of people with disabilities and allocating funding grants to lots of little not-for-profit organisations that do a great job.

However, in the week leading up to the interview, I got horribly sick with the stress of preparing for an interview and with the worry and anxiety that comes from knowing that if I missed out on this permanent job, I had no other options that could present me with a job by September, which is when I have a meeting with my former employer to discuss my work situation. My former employer has put me through hell with unfair treatment, after I scored a permanent job with them years ago, which they abolished and then refused to abide by policies and find me a good alternative. They have made my life very difficult over the last six months, in particular, being on my back about finding a permanent base elsewhere. Not the easiest thing to do when you’re in a very high pressure job, working with high-profile executives every day!

Anyway, so I fought sickness all last week, had two days off in which I just lay in bed and felt really sorry for myself. I lost my voice, but fought back to regain it, just in time for my interview on Friday! When I got there, I sat in the foyer for a while. There I was confronted with massive colour photographs adorning the walls – but unfortunately, they were not pleasant. Rather, they were off people in wheelchairs, blind people, deformed people, etc… I had just been reading a book on prayer and fasting in which people with similar conditions had been miraculously healed, but seeing these people caught in a photograph in time, made me feel really ill. Photographing people with obvious problems, blowing them up to 7 foot images and putting them on the walls, doesn’t arouse hope in me... in fact, it does quite the opposite.

Then a lady came to collect me – she seemed somewhat cheerless and didn’t make conversation with me. She took me to a little room to read the questions for half an hour in advance. While I was in there, I could hear someone moaning outside the door. It was someone who obviously had a mental illness or some condition that compromised their heath. It wasn’t a nice sound.

Then came the interview. Strangely, none of the panel members offered to shake my hand, so I walked around and volunteered my hand. In response, I got completely limp handshakes with no energy. It didn’t make me feel any better. While the interview questions were really easy and I had thorough answers for all of them, the panel members hardly smiled or showed emotion. I almost felt like they were like zombies or robots in autopilot mode, just giving me the occasional nod. How odd. The chairman hinted that I had the job and said he’d confirm the decision in writing in three weeks time. I got back to the office and later found out that both my referees had been contacted with the impression that I would be offered the job. There is no way I will accept it, despite the huge increase in pay, the permanency and financial security. I don’t want to be like those people. They appeared to have no hope. I have never been to such a miserable interview!

Scenario 2
When I got back to the office, I was feeling really disappointed, wondering what on earth I would do. Later in the afternoon, our deputy commissioner dropped in and asked if we could “talk”. Strangely, she closed the door. I was thinking “whatever”. Things really couldn’t get much worse. She hadn’t realised I had been in an interview that morning. Anyway, she raised the issue of the communications job that I blogged about earlier. She told me that the second round of advertising had not attracted the person she wanted and so she had ceased the recruitment process and prepared a letter seeking a review of the position in order for it to be reclassified. She told me she really believed in me, saw my potential and just felt inside that the job would be perfect for me. She asked me if I could re-consider taking it. This time, instead of a recruitment process, she would organise for my permanency from my previous job, to just be transferred directly into it with no fuss.

Dreams
Interestingly, a couple of weeks ago, I had two dreams, which I felt were from God. In the first, I was in a train that slowed to a halt and then dissolved. I was sitting on the tracks wondering what to do, when all of a sudden, a huge train came from the opposite direction, really fast up to where I was. It was on a different track about a metre from me, so I was in no danger. I was just feeling amazed at the speed at which it was coming and how quickly it came into my presence. It was a beautiful old fashioned train with smoke blowing out the front.

The second dream was less pleasant. I was on a boat filled with people and standing up the front with some guy. The boat was moving extremely fast. As we both looked over the front, we could see loads of crocodiles in the water. Within a few seconds, we had reached a caged wall, made of what looked like cyclone fencing. I started to climb the fence. As I looked over my shoulder, I could see some guy in the water and there were crocodiles all around him. As I looked back, I realized I was not clothed – I felt exposed and uneasy.

Interpretation
I have been reading some Christian books on interpreting dreams. The books say that trains and boats are symbolic of corporate ministries and crocodiles are symbolic of religious spirits. I see my work as being like a corporate ministry and so I believe these dreams were symbolic of two corporate ministries. The first was an exciting, colourful ministry. The second was dark and dangerous. I feel like they symbolize these two potential jobs that I could choose from. I guess a lot of these little not-for-profit organisations have been set up with Godly principles, but they are not always administered by people with the right hearts. That's where i see potential for "religious" spirits i guess.... people who just do things routinely, not with the love or truth of God intwined in them.

So, when the time comes, I will be boarding the train, not the boat, thanks to my Director, our Mighty God.

Current

This is my sister's current bf....

Flung!

My sis gave this guy the flick recently. I think they lasted about two weeks, but not to worry, she's back with the creepy Norwegian guy. Where does she find all these men!!!

Sis and dog

This is my sis with her dog, Lucius.

Cousins

This is my cousin Dave and his wife Jenny. What a gorgeous couple!

Cousins

These piccies are of four of my S'porean cousins - David, John, Ben, Nina - with my sister and I. The photos were taken MANY years ago ... but it's the last time i saw them. I think it would have been at least ten years ago?

A new job? - no thanks!

Had an interesting job offer in the week gone by. I was busy working in my office, when one of the bosses knocked on my door. She told me she had a problem and wanted to talk to me about it. As soon as she said that I just knew exactly what the problem was w/o her even mentioning it.

So, as expected, she told me that there is a job in the organisation in the communications section that she thinks I would be suited to. They advertised it a couple of weeks ago, but didn't receive the applicants they were after. They have re-advertised it and applications close Monday. She suggested i apply (with a high chance of getting it). The job would involve working with the media, getting the work Intranet up and running, receiving training in desktop publishing in order to manage the production of a range of publications and promotional material, etc… It’s a creative job… but here are all the problems…

Unknown to her, I have been helping a fellow work colleague to prepare her application for this job. This lady is in her late 50s and previously did not stand a chance of getting the job, due to her lack of understanding in recruitment processes and ideal responses to interview questions.

For example, in response to a question like “tell me a bit about yourself” – she previously would have rattled off a story about how she is married, loves to travel, enjoys eating such and such, etc… They don’t want to hear answers like that. For a job in the communications section, you need to say something like you believe that communication is very important and that you love meeting new people and developing positive and constructive working relationships with them, and you believe you could use your connections with the media to ensure that our work gets effective coverage on the news, etc…

In response to a question like “why do you want the job”, she would previously have said “for more money, so I can travel more”. Who wants to employ a mercenary person who will take time off on leave as soon as they get a chance!?!

In response to a question about knowledge on legislation and processes that are relevant to the job – her previous response was “of course I know that stuff – I’ve been working here for 18 years!”. That doesn’t tell the panel anything!

Anyway, I would feel really rotten applying for a job when I have just been coaching someone else to excel in the job interview process. Almost like I was stabbing her in the back.

Second problem. The boss said she would organise a secret arrangement for me to be paid about $10 K more than the job is offered to other people at. That raises issues with probity. If other people are not given the same treatment, then it is unfair and although she said no one else would know – these little secret deals have a way of getting leaked out. The HR people would know, the accounts person would know and it turns out that the lady I have been coaching, some times acts in the accounts job. Imagine if she saw those details. In addition, I have worked in places where obvious favoritism has occurred and they’re not nice places to be – especially if you are the one in the hot seat that everyone feels resentment towards.

Third problem. I want to buy a house soon and accepting the offer would compromise my financial security. Bit complicated and too hard to explain.

Fourth problem. This job is basically a collection of duties that are not typical of the job role. Although some of the duties (e.g. those described above) sound great, people in the office refer to this job as a bit of a dump job because an unlimited number of duties that people don’t like to do, have been thrown into this position – things like managing library material, doing IT work and handling freedom-of-information requests. This is why they have had problems attracting interested staff.

Finally, if I accepted this job, they would be expecting a commitment for at least the next couple of years. It is not a job I want to be locked into for that long.

I am kind of flattered that the boss has shown some desire to retain me. She told me she desperately wants me to stay in this work place and doesn’t want to see me leave at the end of the year. She said she sees my potential and believes I could do a great job for her in this capacity.

However, with all my reasons now in writing, I have just convinced myself not to take the job. Next offer?

Apartment 2

This is another cute apartment i like that is selling in the same complex, but at a lower price because it doesn't come with any furniture. I actually like this one better - i think the wood is just beautiful. Same problem though - it's only one bedroom ;-( Both apartments have the same layout and little laundry areas that are hidden behind what looks like cupboard doors. Pretty neat idea.

Apartment 1

This is a cute little apartment i found on the weekend. It's within my price range and comes with all the furniture in the piccies below. Unfortunately, it's only one bedroom. I need two! Pretty cute though and pretty close to the city.

Some work colleagues

Here’s a piccy of some of the funny people I work with. The chick crouching low is a crazy Italian girl, Pina, who works as our receptionist. She has a roaring sense of humor and at different times during the year, she offers staff the opportunity to have some free lessons in how to speak Italian. She is always great for a good laugh.

Behind her, left to right, we have Maxine, Susan, Tracey and Warwick. They all took up Pina’s kind offer for free lessons... i have no idea why Warwick is wearing an apron, maybe she threw in some Italian food!

Yesterday mum received a letter from my cousin, Davina. We have not had contact with her since I was very young, so I was so stoked to get her details. We exchanged emails today. She also gave me the email address of another long lost cousin, David. I am just so thrilled to make contact with some relatives, seeing I only have my immediate family here in Perth. Praise God.

Film Festival

On Tuesday night i went to the free Indigenous film festival with Shaz, Mez and Jill. The people who made the films were really talented and they achieved their aim - to educate people about Indigenous culture and heritage issues. In the interval, we were fed Indigenous food - i wasn't too keen to even try the Kangaroo tail soup - eeewwww. It was a really interesting and enlightening evening.

However, the thing that amazed me the most, was not the films or the food, but this Indigenous elder who carried out what's referred to a traditional 'welcome to the festival' speech. He was 72, had eight children and could speak five different languages, but could neither read nor write any of them. He gave us a bit of an overview about his cultural background before announcing to the whole theatre that he was a devout Christian.

He told us that what he was about to say was very important and he wanted us to listen carefully. Then he launched into this big speech about how Jesus was his Lord and Saviour and that one day we would all have to stand before Him and give an account of our lives and that we had better get our lives right with Jesus! I was shocked. His boldness and courage were just incredible. Shaz, Mez and I were just so inspired by him. Maybe it's easier to be so bold when you are 72!

Hearing this guy really challenged me and deeply encouraged me. I never thought Indigenous people believed in Jesus because their traditional culture is based on the creation of the world by spirits, and they place a high importance on protecting various sites and objects because of the spiritual significance of them. I guess Jesus speaks to all people. Praise God.

The Power of God

Last Sunday, we had the privilege of listening to Steve, a guest speaker at our church. He is an awesome prayer warrior who moves in the gift of prophecy. He and his wife Rochelle left Australia last Friday to go to the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, where they believe God has called them to serve for the next five years.

Anyway, he had some valuable words of wisdom for us. He said that if we wanted to hear God’s voice and develop an intimate relationship with Him, then we needed to be selective in what we allowed our eyes to see and our ears to hear. He said that every secular song we allow our ears to hear, every ungodly magazine article, TV show, movie, media source, etc… that we allow our eyes to gaze on and our minds to meditate on, will contribute to hindering our ability to hear God. We need to aim for purity and holiness if we want to live lives that are pleasing to God and we want to hear His voice.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”
[Matthew 7:13-14]

He invited us up for prayer and many of us jumped at the chance. When my turn came, he started prophesying over me. He said God was calling me to be a night watchman. I was baffled by what he meant by that.

A couple of weeks ago, Christie and Ewen lent me a great book on prayer and fasting. It’s written by a guy they met in America, who has an amazing calling on his life. This guy spends incredible hours fasting, prior to praying for people at massive crusades and then witnessing miracles of healing happen right in front of him. He’s seen blind people healed, people in wheelchairs walk free, he’s been in hospital wards and witnessed mentally ill people restored to perfect health. He said that fasting is the key to seeing miracles happen. Sometimes he fasts for 40 days straight! I never really understood the whole concept of fasting until I read his book. Since I gained this revelation, I have fasted a bit - just a meal at a time or half a day off food.

There’s something very powerful about sacrificing time you would normally spend being fed by the media (through TV, advertising, newspapers, radio, etc…) and embracing things in the world (e.g. shopping), to spend it with God. The speaker from last Sunday and the author of this book are right – being selective in what you allow into your system and spending a bit of time fasting and praying, does wonders for your relationship with God.

It helped me to gain revelation on the meaning of being a night watchman and it seems to have released something inside me, a heightened sensitivity to spiritual things. Last week I had a dream in which a saw part of a skeleton flying around my house. I was sitting on my back porch with two girls from church and they told me it was the spirit of hell and death. As soon as I woke up, I started singing in tongues for about an hour. About two days later, someone poisoned our youngest dog and she was so ill – vomiting everywhere and unable to hold down any food. We were able to witness a miracle healing in her -she’s now restored to perfect health again. It was only less than two years ago that we lost a beautiful dog to a similar act of cruelty, he died within 24 hours, so we know the potential outcomes.

Last night, I was shown another dream. It was of my sister in a nasty car accident. I woke up in the small hours of the morning and it’s like my mouth just started to sing in tongues, for about half an hour. I know God is using me to intercede in prayer for potentially horrific circumstances. That’s what being a night watchmen means. You are woken up and prompted to pray for things.

It’s funny, but I have found myself praying for people I would never have even contemplated praying for earlier, and people come near me and sometimes I can sense stuff about them without them opening their mouths. It’s the Holy Spirit stirring me to pray for them.

In the last month, everyone in this little church has experienced a desire to repent of things they’ve been involved in and spend time fasting and praying. I love the fact that it is a praying church. Many people think you need to have a special call on your life to pray, but you can actually cultivate it in yourself and the rewards are amazing. I really believe God is calling every believer to fast and pray. How many accidents could be prevented? How many friends and relatives could be healed? How many lives could be touched if we would just give up the pleasures of this temporary life? Even a moment of our time is so precious.

Eye surgery

Have had the last couple of days off work on Carer's Leave, cos my sister had an operation on her eyes yesterday and i needed to look after her. It's been nice being able to spend a bit of time with her.

At 8.30am yesterday morning, mum and I took her to the Wembley clinic to see Dr English. Upon arrival, she was given valium and panadeine forte tablets. It's weird watching the effects of the drugs kick in while you're talking to someone. We watched Jules relax as she lost control of her face muscles and gradually sunk into the chair. After about half an hour, they whisked her around the corner, where they dressed her up in a lab coat, plastic hair cap and plastic shoe covers and put betadine drops in her eyes, before sending her out again to sit with us in the waiting room. They offered to take a pre-surgery photo - pretty crazy, seeing she looked her absolute worst! She declined (were they surprised!?!?!).

Then after a few minutes, they took her back around the corner where they clamped her eyes open and proceeded to use a laser to burn her optic nerves. She came out at 10.30am with blood in her eyes and looking even worse. Thank God we have Jesus, that's all i can say.

At our house, we gave her voltaren, ocuflox, mitidex and something else every five hours. They were all eye drops with different purposes. Apparently, one was an antibiotic, one was an anti-inflamatory, one was a steroid and the other was something to take away the stinging effects of the previous three. Each time we went to put the drops in her eyes, we had to take her bandages off, put them in, then tape eye caps back on. Pretty funny stuff.

At home group on Wednesday night, Christie gave us all a copy of a really inspiring and annointed CD by some Canadian guy with a power ministry, so i set it up in the room Jules was in and played it while she slept. There's something very special about it and i prayerfully committed that time to God - so Jules would just soak the wisdom of the Scriptures, praise and worship into her spirit. I really believe that His words never return void but accomplish what He intends them to. Her marinating time was enhanced with lots of prayer in the background - probably all unknown to her.

At lunch time today, we took her back to Dr English, where she got the all clear to return home to Mindarie. So mum and i packed up her stuff and we drove her all the way there. Her house was a complete mess, so we dug out all her cleaning gear and just cleaned and cleaned and cleaned for a few hours straight. I can't wait until the day she gets her life back in order.

I am really grateful we could spend these last couple of days ministering to her. They were two precious days in time.

Church

The church I now go to has recently moved premises into this cute little building, complete with polished wooden floors and pews to sit on. How awesome! If we stay here long enough, I’d like to get married in it. It’d be just perfect.

I like the fact that the church is so small that everyone goes to the same home group. The piccies after the church shot were taken last night. Who would ever guess that the two chicks standing with Ewen are sisters!!! then there's a shot of Danau sitting under the roof that caved in a few months ago. I've gotta say, Ewen and Chritie did a marvelous job covering the view to their tiles, with black plastic!