Marise and her bf

My cousin's wife

Hey Dave, this is Jenny, isn't it? I mean i can't imagine you putting a piccy of some other beautiful chick on your facebook profile, hey??? :-)

Overcoming stress

On Tuesday, Rob came to ask me if I wanted to accept a different job again, only this time when I said no, because I was busy, he then asked whether I would like to do the new job on the days I already work, i.e. swap jobs entirely. That was very sneaky and showed me his character. What was awkward is he did it in full view of Ps Rhonda, Gail and Margaret and they immediately discerned he was trying to poach me. They piped up that every time he sees someone with potential, he comes to steal them away. Ps Rhonda said "he can't have you!". I liked the way she said that. She wasn't joking though, she was clearly annoyed. Somehow, whatever I mumbled, prompted Rob to go to Ps Judy's office and stir up a mess. He presumptiously told Ps Judy I was very keen to swap jobs and I think he said to her that had already accepted his offer because she was obvsiouly disturbed afterwards.

When I was leaving, she said she needed to talk to me, but she was talking to two new teachers at the time and it wasn't a great time. I told her I didn't really want to change jobs and I hadn't meant to give that impression. Then I said there were heaps of students who would love the opportunity and I said how I think Rinna really wanted the job I have now, so perhaps they could put her in that position. She confirmed that Rinna did want the job I have. She said it would all have to be put to prayer and asked that I don't say anything to Rinna. Fair enough. In fact afterwards, I was thinking she probably wouldn't be the best suited to that job anyway. My friend Annette would be much better in that position (which I suggested in an email to Ps Judy later).

Then I lfet church and went to Koorong and bumped into Kristin's parents and had a coffee with them, their shout!. After I left, I felt very unsettled about the church situation like I had some unresolved business. So I rang Rob (couldn't get through) and then Ps Judy and blurted out how I wanted to clarify with her that I had not meant to give the impression I wanted to change jobs and all. It was kind of awkward and she stressed that I make that clear with Rob, so I tried again to get through to him and couldn't. I tried ringing Tammy and then sent her a text message, but to no avail. She didn'd reply, so I went back to Ps Rhonda and asked her to leave a message for Rob to call me back.

Finally, he did and then I stuttered out what I wanted to say and apologised for giving him the wrong impression. Then I text messaged Ps Judy to confirm I had spoken to him, clarified I was committed to stay in that position for the year. She sent me back a message saying thank you and that I was a blessing. Phew, that sorted, I felt a load come off my shoulders. I never realised there were politics at work!

Apparently after last Sunday, Ps Margaret got such great feedback from my testimony that she has asked that I do it again, but at the 10.30am service (the biggest one) and that mine be the only testimony given for the whole weekend! Oh man .... and the worst thing is that Ps Judy doesn't want me to repeat the content and only go with what the Spirit leads me to say .... aggggghhhhhh, talk about pressure.

Well, I wont repeat all of it, but I just feel I need to repeat the faith project steps again because it's my best example and what else am I meant to say?!?!?! I am just going to prepare to say it again, and if the Holy Spirit guides me to say something else, then I will.

Kristin's 30th & Australia day

Today Kristin handed me the most daggiest, plainest piece of paper with some words that gave the details for her 30th bday celebration. Mannnn, i couldn't believe she was giving out invites like that! I was so embarrassed for her, so when I came home, I quickly whipped these up! They are business card-sized :-) I just printed a mass of these up on the computer for her. God has created so many opportunities for me over the years that I now have all these groovy skills.

I spent Australia day on City beach with a few friends from church ...

Wielding the Word of God

Yesterday at the 8.30am service I got up in front of the congregation to do a promotional stint for VLBTC, saying what it has done for me. I started by telling the congregation that we learnt how to do a faith project, saying that the steps involved could be applied to any problem that they were facing today.

I said the first step was to identify a need in your life. At the time I was doing this assignment, I decided that I would like to change my acommodation, my need was to find a new place to rent.

The second step was to look at what the Bible says about your situation. In my case, the Scriptures say that God is El Shaddai – the God of More Than Enough (Genesis 17:1) and that He is Jehovah Jireh - My Provider (Genesis 22:14). God is able to do immeasurably more than all I could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), He has promised to instruct me, guide me and teach me in the way which I should go (Psalm 32:8) and He says that when I delight in Him, He will grant me the desires of my heart
(Psalm 37:4).

The third step was to ask God for what we wanted. We were encouraged to be very specific, and I knew that I didn’t just want any accommodation, but rather, a place of quality and beauty. Therefore, I wrote down a very detailed list of everything I wanted in a place to live, not missing out any details I felt were important. This was what I wrote: “a beautiful apartment, which has all the attributes that I desire in a rental property, i.e. located in close proximity to Victory Life Centre, excellent security with good lighting and a safe place to park my car, lots of built-in storage space, nice kitchen and bathroom with fans, one or two bedrooms with a built-in wardrobe, a separate laundry, well-ventilated open plan living area with adequate room for my furniture, floors that are easy to clean, good landlord and quality neighbors, <$200/week rent and a place that is warm and welcoming to friends needing to be refreshed”.

The fourth step was to believe that we received what we asked for in prayer. In the natural, it looked impossible to find a place that met all these attributes. However, Ps Anne taught us in a class to declare we had uncommon favor, and since she said that I have been declaring that over my life every day. Every time I came close to doubting or holding onto negative thoughts, I took thoughts captive and made them obedient to Jesus Christ. Various teachers also convinced me through their personal testimonies that absolutely nothing is impossible with God and I clung onto their words.

Then, the fifth step was to thank God as though we had already received what we had asked for. Almost every day, sometimes multiple times a day, I said: “Thank you, Lord Jesus that you have granted me the desire of my heart and prepared the right accommodation for me, which surpasses all my expectations. I believe Your Holy Spirit will lead me to it at the right time. I declare my needs met in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth”. Having confessed my faith by declaring this statement, I believed that God heard and answered my prayer and that He would fulfill His Word as He promised.

Finally, the sixth step was to wait in patient expectation.

After I had finished this assignment, I started to look at rental properties and over the next few months I looked at around 30, 40 or 50 apartments. Many of the places had 70% or 80% of the attributes I wanted. Some met every criterion except for the budget! There were times when I found places that I felt would be nice to live in – they didn’t have all the attributes I had listed, yet they seemed decent. However, every time I was almost ready to commit, I felt the Holy Spirit say “no, not this one”, “no, not this one either” ….and after looking at so many properties and feeling that every time the Holy Spirit said that to me, I decided to have a break from looking. I was feeling a bit frustrated.

Then come start of the year, a person who knows me, who is not a Christian and who didn’t know about my faith project, came to me. This person bought a duplex some time ago and over the last year has spent considerable time renovating the entire interior of this place. It could easily be rented out for at least $350/week rent. However, they offered it to me at a mere rate of $150/week rent. Before accepting the offer, I referred back to my list and was astounded that every single detail was met in this place! The most amazing thing is that this person had no intention of moving out of the property when I started this assignment in August 2008. They only made the decision in December 2008.

Bible college has taught me to pray more effectively, because we were taught how to lay hands on the sick, anoint a person with oil, use the name of Jesus and declare Scripture over a situation to dramatically turn the circumstances around. Last year, my little niece was critically ill and it was a privilege to be able to put what I had learnt into practice and apply the teaching to my situation. Yesterday, my niece was exactly 7 months old. She is completely healthy and normal – a living testimony that the things we are learning in Bible college really do work.

I have learnt that God’s Word never returns void but accomplishes the purpose for which it has been sent (Isaiah 55:11). I learnt that angels hearken to the Word of God (Psalm 103:20) and that God is ready to perform His Word (Jeremiah 1:12). I learnt that when we meditate on Scripture day and night, which is facilitated by going to Bible college because the teachers set before you a feast of Scripture, and when we put the Word of God into practice, we are guaranteed success and prosperity in every area of our lives (Joshua 1:8). I have learnt that God’s Word is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) and that Bible college teaches us about the Word of God, how to wield it like a sword against the trials, temptations and negative circumstances that the devil tries to throw across our paths to make us stumble. We learn how to be victorious and to overcome attacks of the enemy. I would highly recommend Bible college because it is such a worthwhile investment.

Lots of people came up to me afterwards and thanked me, mainly older folk with crowns of splendor. I guess they’re the predominant types who frequent the early service. Haha, bless their hearts :-) Rev Mandy McKenzie, who took the service, said something along the lines of “didn’t Michelle do an excellent job, she could have kept going, we should just get the students to take over the service”. Then she launched herself into a sermon about the Word of God, after being prompted by the Holy Spirit to put aside the notes she prepared. What she said complemented everything I said.

Later others came up and told me that what I said was very inspirational and really encouraged them. One lady came up afterwards and said she could sense a teacher annointing in me and maybe an evangelist. Another guy (John O’Neil – who is an ordained prophet) jokingly called me a teacher/preacher. My friend Andrew said he could see the prayer and intercession side of my calling and Dan’s grandma, Mrs Storey, told me I was a mighty woman of prayer. June and Gail and many others said my testimony was excellent. Aggghhhh, sheesh, all these compliments. Gotta make sure God gets the glory and I remain level-headed, not puffed up in pride. I am just a measly vessel God used to speak through.

I will never volunteer to be a film extra again

Just went and collected my mail and found a DVD full of photos from a silly film I was in as a "film extra". It was a total waste of time and I really don't know what possessed me to sacrifice my time.... well, it was prolly a bit of pride, the chance to be famous, but I was so disappointed! All they required me for was to sit for hours and hours in the hot sun (while the technical crew got their act together inside the building) before taking about a 30 second panning shot from behind me of the back of my hand waving. Absolutely pathetic! ... I spose it is kinda funny in hindsight :-) and I did learn a lesson - not to be so stupid into leaping into volunteer roles like that again!!!

Despite the people promising us a DVD copy of the movie, all that arrived was a DVD full of hundreds of photos from the days they filmed the shoot..... not really that exciting! I have extracted the ones they took of me ...oh and of another sucker ... I mean chick (haha), Amy.

Psalm 23

Yesterday, I went to healing school again and put Angelina in creche. Ps Bryan talked about Psalm 23 and how the seven redemptive names of God are incorporated within the psalm.

We learn that God is our:

(1) Shepherd (Jehovah Rohi);
(2) Provider (Jehovah Jireh) - "I shall not want";

(3) Peace (Jehovah Shalom) - "beside the still waters";

(4) Healer (Jehovah Rapha) - "restores my soul";

(5) Righteousness (Jehovah Tsidkenu) "leads me in the paths of righteousness";

(6) Banner (Jehovah Nissi) - "for His name's sake";

(7) There (Jehovah Shammah) - "You are with me".

I CAN

Still fighting off the remnants of sickness - uuurggh. Y'day, I wasn't feeling great in the morning, so I rang Julz to ask her if she could possibly drop Angelina off to mum's house, instead of me picking her up. She could quite easily have said no, but instead, she rocked up at our house at 6.55am all angry and abrupt, gave me Angelina and raced off. She was meant to leave me with some more betadine, antibiotics and money, but was in too much of a huff that she didn't.

It ended up totally wrecking my day and I think the anxiety that she caused me, made me sicker. It's amazing how one person's behaviour can have such an impact on someone else. I took Angelina to the church creche and went to healing school in the arvo, which was great. It was actually a great message spoken by Ps Barbara Oldfield-Bentley (shown in the front row in a melon-coloured jacket), which was totally relevant to me. She talked about how stress and anxiety can facilitate sickness and how we need to have an "I CAN" attitude, rather than "I can't". "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" ...we need to remember that!

I know it was through stress and anxiety that I got sick. I haven't told mum that I am moving out yet, because I want to wait until Julz' house it ready for me (prolly another couple of weeks) and then subtlely move all the essential things out before I tell mum. She hasn't reacted favorably in the past when I have suggested I would be moving out. In response, she has threatened me with all sorts of things in, what I would call, emotional manipulations. I guess it's the insecurity of being alone and having change brought into her life. Just thinking about the logistics of my move is causing me grief. I have to somehow change my stinking thinking.

Goodbye Facebook

I deactivated my Facebook account today because I waste way too much time on it and it is not constructive time and my life is getting so much busier with other, more important activities. I had 162 friends and a whole pile of photo albums and unfortunately, for everyone snapped by my camera, they will no longer be able to access the piccies I tagged of them, but I'm sure they'll get over it :-) I know I could have just left the account open and not logged on, but I have not had that much discipline in the past. If it's there, I tend to look at it. Not there, then no problem ;oP hahaha Be interesting to see if anyone even notices!

This is Kristin's profile page. I set up the account for her and despite telling her to change her password, she hasn't done so, so I still have access to her page. What a silly sausage. So I can actually still see what's been happening over time to mutual friends, but really, I need a break!, so I am not planning to login to her account.

Another day

Well, after that earlier blog, I dragged myself to church. I couldn't wear contacts cos my eyes were all gunky, so I wore glasses, but then slipped them into my handbag .... oh I just hate wearing them, too vain, that's all.... so of course I couldn't see a huge lot, but I dunno, I just wanted to be at church, not really sure why. I wore a pretty dress and did my hair nicely and apart from a few coughs and bleary eyes, I don't think I really looked sick.

My friend, Annette is so funny. She doesn't know how much I hate wearing glasses because she recently got a job working in an optical shop and thought she'd done me a favor by volunteering me to be a model of a range of prescription frames and sunglasses. I politiely turned down her offer. I can't even stand wearing normal glasses on the odd occasion, so why the heck would I want to be in a promotional brochure advertising different frames!!!

Medications

Last coupla days I have been on:

• Keflex, which is an antibiotic taken once, three times a day;
• Chlorsig, which is an eye ointment smeared into your eyes three or four times a day;
• Betadine (started today), which is a sore throat fluid that you gargle in your mouth;
• crushed garlic, lemon & honey hot drinks (yuck!);
• fresh parsley from the garden; and
• anticol throat lozenges (mum found these in her cupboard somewhere and they expired in October 2006, but apparently are still potent .... hmmmmm).

I coughed and coughed and coughed all night and then woke up this morning feeling like crap. That's when I had the brainwave to start taking the Betadine mouth gargle Julz gave me. I am also gonna wash my eyes with warm salty water, which is what Marise suggested, because they are still gunky from the conjunctivitis. Oh, I can't wait to feel better.

Yay

Yay, I am so stoked, Marise (pictured in my last blog) has made the decision to study at VLBTC with me this year. Hooooray! She is such a beautiful girl - she has green eyes from her Irish relatives and lovely tanned skin from her African rels ... I think she had something else in her genetics too, but can't remember what, maybe Scottish? Anyway, the creche at VLBTC caters for kids up to the age of 5 years and her little boy is 3.5yrs old, so that means little Renaldo will be playing in the creche with my little niece all year :-) So kewl!!!

I have been crook the last couple of days with a cold and conjunctivitis, which I am still shaking off. Urrrgggh, I hate feeling unwell.

My newest friend

I met this chick at the Well last Friday night and she came to VLC to both services on Sunday with me. Pretty kewl. She might just be coming to VLBTC this year. Praise God if she does, well I will still praise God if she doesn't ;-) but it would be so awesome if she came!

eBay

I am so stoked cos people actually want to buy my junk on eBay!!! I just sold a whole lot of tops, many of which are Julz' rejects, which I just don't fancy anymore :-) These are what I have just sold and am gonna post to the successful bidder today .... (all in one, then in groups)

Graduation photo

Well these are my class mates from last year, some of whom I will see again this year when college starts again in February :-)

My new job at the church

This is what I whipped up yesterday for my new boss to show the subjects, teachers and assessments for each unit in first year. I need to do a similar thing for second and third year, but I didn't have this information at home.

So far the job is going well because Ps Ginny has embraced my initiatives (like this one) to make our jobs easier. It is awesome that someone I haven't really even gotten to know so well is so open to change! I kind of feel as though the way things have been done is more reflective of how they would be done maybe ten years ago .... like a bit out of date! For example, they keep a hard-copy paper log of correspondence with students .... so I am going to transform it into an electronic version! So much more efficient.

New home FINALLY

Well after lots of prayer, racing around town trying to secure units and apartments that I thought would be ideal and then hearing the Holy Spirit go "no, not this one", "no, not this one either", "no, not this one", "nor this one" .... just sooooo many times, I was kinda feeling a bit frustrated. I was going "God, where do YOU want me to live????". I wrote a big list of attributes I wanted in an apartment, perhaps it may have sounded a bit optimistic for my weekly accomodation budget, but I know God is BIG and can do anything....and He says in His Word that if we ask and don't doubt, then He will give it to us, in fact not just what we ask, but more than what we ask. So, I asked Him for quite a lot (bit of an understatement - haha).

So what's happening? Well, my sister just so happens to be moving out of her home, which is 4 minutes from where I study, and into another home closer to work. So she rang me up Saturday and asked if I would like to rent her duplex in Stirling off her for a measly sum of $150/week with white goods thrown in! Wow! It is a 3-bedroom place (all I asked God for was a 1 or 2 bedroom place), has the best security in the whole world, looks gross on the outside, but is magnificantly renovated on the inside, with everything inside being brand new - thanks to Julz and her bf's skills in home improvement!

There's a new bathroom, new kitchen, new floorboards, new open-plan living area that is HUGE enough to accomodate parties ;-) haha She's not charging me any bond either and no rent inspections, not that they would be a problem because previous real estate inspectors have reported an "immaculate presentation" on my behalf.

The garden around the back is really gross, but that's ok. I'm not really fussed. Who knows, maybe I might make friends with someone who can help me out. I am so happy that I will finally be able to have dinner parties and people around for coffee.... things most people take for granted. I have been so restricted in my circumstances - finally in 2009, it is time to break free. Glory to God.

The floodgates of Heaven are wide open!

In our classes on Economics and Scripture last year, Ps Jim Stout taught us the importance of believers giving tithes, offerings and alms. Tithes are 10% of one's gross income and are mandatory. They go into God's storehouse, which is collected by the church one calls their home. Offerings are anything given above the tithes and can be given to one's church, or to special building funds, missions, ministers, teachers, charities, compassion organisations, or to people teaching the Word of God, just to name a few! Alms are also mandatory and equate to 10% of one's income over three years. Alms are assistance (e.g. financial or material) given to people who can never afford to pay you back.

Anyway, I had never realised tithes and offerings were different, and that alms even existed before Ps Jim's class. I also didn't realise that if you donate your tithe money to something other than the church you call your home (like some people use it to pay for enrolling their children in a Christian school, or put it into things like missions work or a special project for a church, etc...), than you are effectively robbing God of money that belongs to Him. After all, He is the one who gives us the ability to accumulate wealth, He gives people favor in job interviews and softens hearts to believe we have the skills and expertise to do what they require of us. He created the world and everything in it. Everything we see belongs to Him. We are merely stewards of all that God gives us and it's our job to be channels for his blessings to be redistributed to people who are in a more needy situation than we are.

It says in Malachi 3:10 that if we would try God out by giving our tithes and offerings to Him, then He will open up His windows of heaven and pour out for us such blessing that we do not have room enough to receive it.... so that's just what I have done since I received the wisdom from those classes. I had zilcho income at the time, but then faithfully tithed the little money that came in. Come end of year and I suddenly get landed with new responsibilities, including a job that waives my Bible college fees for this year (rather than paying me cash), a job that pays cash in hand and a job that allows me to pray in tongues the entire time and get paid for it! This week, I earned a whopping $1,155 cash in hand, meaning God's storehouse gets $115.50 of that. I was also given make-up, perfume samples, a new toothbrush and hair lackies - none of which I asked for, all were just random gifts for no reason.

I have numerous friends who don't believe God requires us to tithe 10% of what we earn and so they just casually give a bit here and there, some don't give anything at all. Man, if only they knew what blessings they are missing out on. God has blessed me exceedingly, abundantly beyond anything I could every imagine.

This new year, I believe I will finally meet the man He has chosen me to marry. God's timing is perfect and I have copped a lot of flack for being single for soooooooooooo long, but I wont compromise my standards or God's decision to hide me away for a set period of time for the special guy He has chosen for me. The world doesn't understand, but God does.

VeggieTales

I am so stoked and full of praise for the Most High God for giving Phil Vischer (whose company is called Big Idea) the inspiration and wisdom to create VeggieTales. VeggieTales are incredibly clever cartoons with a hidden message, which teach kids important lessons from the Bible. These include God's amazing love, telling the truth, practicing patience, forgiving others, loving your neighbour, friendship, how to handle fear, selfishness, etc...

You can see that many well-known stories are featured, such as the battle between David and Goliath, the life of Joseph - from being sold by his brothers, to ruling over them, David and Bathsheba, Esther, Ruth, Jonah and so many more. They are just so well done. Unlike in the Bible where there are themes of immorality, etc..., Phil Vischer takes all this stuff out because it isn't appropriate for kids. Instead of Jospeh being enticed to sleep with his master's wife, she hides money in his hat, so he is then accused of stealing, and thrown into jail. Instead of David seeing a naked woman bathing, the story is about King George who collects rubber duckies and through his telescope, he spies a little kid having a bath with his one and only rubber ducky and then devises a plan to steal it from him. Instead of Ninevah being a place full of sick, immoral perversion, it is a place where people lie and steal and slap others with fishes! Haha, very funny.

I bought a few for Angelina months ago and gradually have built up my collection, which i've been letting Julz entertain Angelina with. Finally, Julz has caught on and just announced yesterday that she went onto the VeggieTale website and ordered the rest of the set of DVDs (including about 36 DVDs)!!! I am so excited. Julz appears to have turned her back on church and embraced the world, however, each VeggieTale has a great story and a Scripture featured at the end and I know that the God's Word NEVER returns void, so she is still getting seeds planted in her heart. Oh glory to God. Not long now ;-) God is sooooooooooooooo good.

Happy new year!

Went to Northbridge last night to the Overflow Cafe, which is the christian cafe set up by Without Walls as an outreach tool. They held an awesome prayer and praise party to welcome the new year in. Didn't take many piccies, but those I took are awesome cos I spruked them up with a groovy photo program I have :-)