My little niece will be 1 soon ... so Julz and I are planning a party :-) This is my rough design for the invites
27 May 2009
24 May 2009
Good morning
Was just hear this morning at Jacobs Ladder. I brought Whitney, a Kenyan chick from college, with me :-)
16 May 2009
helllooooo
Recently, I’ve been contemplating giving up my job at the church because I have felt so much pressure lately and as though I am neglecting my relationship with mum. When I go around with my niece, I always seem to be quite tired and so I feel frustrated quite a lot around mum. Her parenting skills are different o mine. She likes to feed Angelina all sorts of rubbish – like cheesles, chips, jelly lollies, ice-cream, etc… and she particularly likes giving her foods that are extremely messy, which I find really annoying because I’m the one who has to clean her up. I prefer to feed her fresh fruit and salad, cheese, rice crackers and pre-made baby food. Uuuuurgggh …
I was also feeling overwhelmed about the situation concerning my family, their addictive behavior, the strongholds in their lives, the obvious consequences from dealing with a past like the one we had, and not turning to God as a source of healing. Ps Judy shared in class last week about how when her daughter feels like she needs a word of encouragement, how she calls it in, in line with Scripture, which says “to call those things which do not exist as though they do”, so I decided to call in words of encouragement into my life.
On Wednesday, Julz rocked up with some gifts from Koorong. The fact that she went to a Christian bookstore was a miracle in itself, but her choice of gifts to me (for no apparent reason other than to bless me) was really special. The first was a mug with the words that what is impossible to man is not impossible to God. The second was another mug with the words that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The third was a poster with words to the effect that we don’t direct our own steps, but rather God does and to heed His call. Who would have expected someone who is not walking with God to give me such powerful words of encouragement, especially one of the people who has caused me the most discouragement because the choices she makes, the situations she’s in and the friends she chooses cause me so much grief?
On Thursday, I was feeling a bit shaken because Julz had not paid me for babysitting for three days work and I don’t know why, but it just feels awkward asking her and yet it’s the money to pay my rent and bills and I am living so tight as it is. So I recalled a prayer about rebuking the devourer and calling finances back into my life. I also sent a text message asking if Julz had paid Kylie cos she hadn’t paid me.
Well talk about an answer to prayer, Julz came over Friday with payment for the week (I didn’t mentioned the two other sessions she didn’t pay me for, cos it was enough) and she also brought me heaps of food! Then this morning (Sat) she rocked up at my house again with an even greater lot of food – so much that I can’t possibly eat it all!!! I ended up driving to my friend, Annette’s work and giving her the huge olive & mushroom foccacia so she could have it for lunch. Afterall, I had a whole cooked chicken to get through, which Julz also gave me! The rest of the stuff included yoghurt, crème caramels, sliced fruit in syrup, bread, a jam donut, greek salad, fresh fruit and veges, cabano sausages, two types of cheeses, crackers, chips, milk, chocolates, coffee … basically a huge feast.
Prayer in line with Scripture, and which involves confessing Scripture, really works.
I was also feeling overwhelmed about the situation concerning my family, their addictive behavior, the strongholds in their lives, the obvious consequences from dealing with a past like the one we had, and not turning to God as a source of healing. Ps Judy shared in class last week about how when her daughter feels like she needs a word of encouragement, how she calls it in, in line with Scripture, which says “to call those things which do not exist as though they do”, so I decided to call in words of encouragement into my life.
On Wednesday, Julz rocked up with some gifts from Koorong. The fact that she went to a Christian bookstore was a miracle in itself, but her choice of gifts to me (for no apparent reason other than to bless me) was really special. The first was a mug with the words that what is impossible to man is not impossible to God. The second was another mug with the words that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The third was a poster with words to the effect that we don’t direct our own steps, but rather God does and to heed His call. Who would have expected someone who is not walking with God to give me such powerful words of encouragement, especially one of the people who has caused me the most discouragement because the choices she makes, the situations she’s in and the friends she chooses cause me so much grief?
On Thursday, I was feeling a bit shaken because Julz had not paid me for babysitting for three days work and I don’t know why, but it just feels awkward asking her and yet it’s the money to pay my rent and bills and I am living so tight as it is. So I recalled a prayer about rebuking the devourer and calling finances back into my life. I also sent a text message asking if Julz had paid Kylie cos she hadn’t paid me.
Well talk about an answer to prayer, Julz came over Friday with payment for the week (I didn’t mentioned the two other sessions she didn’t pay me for, cos it was enough) and she also brought me heaps of food! Then this morning (Sat) she rocked up at my house again with an even greater lot of food – so much that I can’t possibly eat it all!!! I ended up driving to my friend, Annette’s work and giving her the huge olive & mushroom foccacia so she could have it for lunch. Afterall, I had a whole cooked chicken to get through, which Julz also gave me! The rest of the stuff included yoghurt, crème caramels, sliced fruit in syrup, bread, a jam donut, greek salad, fresh fruit and veges, cabano sausages, two types of cheeses, crackers, chips, milk, chocolates, coffee … basically a huge feast.
Prayer in line with Scripture, and which involves confessing Scripture, really works.
Party at Michelles house (:
Here are my housewarming piccies. I like the final one best....actually i love the first one too ...very funny :-) 
25 April 2009
Daily Rules from God for 2009
1. Wake Up!! Decide to have a good day. 'Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.' Psalms 118:24
2. Dress Up!! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. 'The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart.' I Samuel 16:7
3. Shut Up!! Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. 'He who guards his lips guards his soul.' Proverbs 13:3
4. Stand Up!!... For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.. 'Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good...' Galatians 6:9-10
5. Look Up!!... To the Lord. 'I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.' Phillippians 4:13
6. Reach Up!!... For something higher. 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path.'
Proverbs 3:5-6
7. Lift Up!!... Your Prayers. 'Do not worry about anything; instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING.' Philippians 4:6
1. Wake Up!! Decide to have a good day. 'Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.' Psalms 118:24
2. Dress Up!! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. 'The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart.' I Samuel 16:7
3. Shut Up!! Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. 'He who guards his lips guards his soul.' Proverbs 13:3
4. Stand Up!!... For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.. 'Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good...' Galatians 6:9-10
5. Look Up!!... To the Lord. 'I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.' Phillippians 4:13
6. Reach Up!!... For something higher. 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path.'
Proverbs 3:5-6
7. Lift Up!!... Your Prayers. 'Do not worry about anything; instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING.' Philippians 4:6
16 April 2009
Michelle's housewarming party
Am having a housewarming party soon. I only really want about 15 people to come, just a small intimate party.
13 April 2009
Fundraiser at college
Last Thursday I went to college as a blonde! Check it out. I received so many compliments, I'm thinking I should be blonde more often! :-) This is my good friend Annete as a redhead and I :-) 
05 April 2009
Great role model
Recently, I have totally fallen in love with this guy's ministry in Singapore. Oh i wish i could go to his church, which apparently has 18,000 people! His name is Joseph Prince, married to a beautiful lady called Wendy, and his church is called New Creation Ministries. I just love his sense of humor. Not a wonder he has such a successful church. We have seen quite a bit of his teaching at college.
03 April 2009
African hair style!
Things are going good. I have moved into a season of blessings. Every week now, people come over to my house on Friday arvos just after 5pm and have coffee, before heading to the Well. Today Kristin, Cheri, Ben, Netty and Marise are coming ... and maybe Alice, Peter, Wolfy, Dee and others....
Tomorrow, I am getting my hair braided in African style with extensions put in, so my hair will be two colours. I am so excited, but a bit nervous. It costs $200 and will take between 4 and 6 hours to complete... hopefully four hours will do it. It seems like a VERY long time!!! It better be good. I have chosen to let Marise's friend, Rose, do it because although she is expensive, apparently she does it really well and uses high quality products. I had a look at the job a girl in college did for another student and it was done with cheap synthetic material that pretty much looked like red wool. Really gross and definitely not worth the time or money invested in doing it. In fact within one week, she removed it and had her hair done differently by someone else, cos it was so bad. Apparently, mine will last a couple of months.
Tomorrow, I am getting my hair braided in African style with extensions put in, so my hair will be two colours. I am so excited, but a bit nervous. It costs $200 and will take between 4 and 6 hours to complete... hopefully four hours will do it. It seems like a VERY long time!!! It better be good. I have chosen to let Marise's friend, Rose, do it because although she is expensive, apparently she does it really well and uses high quality products. I had a look at the job a girl in college did for another student and it was done with cheap synthetic material that pretty much looked like red wool. Really gross and definitely not worth the time or money invested in doing it. In fact within one week, she removed it and had her hair done differently by someone else, cos it was so bad. Apparently, mine will last a couple of months.
28 March 2009
26 March 2009
22 March 2009
Netty's bday
So sad, Annette booked a table for 20 friends at Zamia Cafe to celebrate her 37th birthday yesterday and 16 people didn't show up! How rude. So it was just Net, Kristin, Marise, Ronaldo and I. Ronaldo was a freeby :-) I added Angelina to my collage of the party, to make Annette feel better. How miserable and the saddest part is most of them didn't even apologise or say they wouldn't come! Oh well, it's quality, not quantity :-)
07 March 2009
Gday
Wow, been a while since I did a post on my blog. I have moved into my beautiful new house, but no longer have free access to the Internet, cos I made the mistake of purchasing one of those flash sounding mobile Internet deals, which didn't quite measure up to my expectations!
I signed up for a one year contract, in which you get given a portable USB stick that has all the software you need for the Internet on it, so you merely plug it into your laptop computer and hey presto, the Internet works ... well, that's what was meant to happen! For $25/month for 1G, it sounded perfect (half the price of my Telstra deal). Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, it doesn't work in my laptop! Agggghhh, but only on mum's computer at home :-( I tried taking it to the computer shop and getting the professionals to solve the problem, as well as the Vodafone sales staff and all, but to no avail - booohoooo ...and because I signed up for a one year contract, I don't particularly want to get into a new Internet deal until this one expires. So that means I have to drop into mum's house if I want to use the Internet. Uuuurggghhh ... bit frustrating.
I guess it is only 20 minutes away (one direction), but it would be so much easier if it was in my own home!
Anyway, that aside, things are going really well. My initial week in the house was a bit of a nightmare because both mum and Julz got really nasty in different ways, but I realise it was just a bit of persecution before a tremendous blessing of accomodation. The place is so lovely and I have already had a little dinner party with Kristin, her folks, two friends from college and my friend's little four year old boy. I also had a beautiful lady from college come over with her eight-year old twin daughters and we took Communion and prayed together. I also let Annette do a couple of loads of washing and had Marise and Kristin over on separate occasions. Everyone agrees that the place is absolutely stunning. I am so happy. There is such a peace about the house.
Julz left the place pretty dirty though, so I have spent copious hours cleaning. As an indication of how grotty the place was - I have already filled four big sulo bins worth of rubbish that they left lying around the house - things like soiled nappies!!!, food wrappers, bits of wood, tiles, plastic, cords, pipes, piles of weeds, fruit peels, dirty cloths, etc... I don't know how they could have lived in this place in the state it was in. I have much higher standards of hygiene! The windows did not look as though they had been cleaned in years, so I have spent ages getting newspaper and windex and cleaning those. I have also done a lot of mopping.
Because of the renovations they did (and their lack of cleaning), there appeared to be white dust over everything from the floors to the walls to cupboard doors, to inside the cupboards and on top of the cupboards, well everywhere really! I discovered how dusty the floors were when I accidentally dropped a black skirt on the floor and picked it up, only to find it was covered in white powder! Grunde gave me his dining suite and lounge suite, which was really nice, however, on close inspection, I discovered the dining chair seats were thick with white cat hair, which has taken me ages to pick off and the lounge material is covered in cat claw scratches. I found some lovely doona covers though, which I have covered these scratches with. I was very touched to have an old guy at church rock up one night with a small coffee table under his arm and present it to me. It is just perfect and has a cute built-in magazine rack.
I am still in the process of collecting little things for the house, but the aroma of Jesus is in the house and His sweet annointing permeates every part of the house. I just love it so much. I know I can't take it for granted. Julz has been unpredictable in the past, so every day I consider it a blessing to be in such a magnificant home and paying such cheap rent - $150/wk. I pray I can stay in it all year.
Things are gradually getting better with mum. I think it will take time for her to get used to the idea of me having moved out, but coming back frequently to visit her with Angelina and also to use the Internet, has made the transition easier. I split my babysitting money with her on Fridays, so she gets a bit of dough.
I signed up for a one year contract, in which you get given a portable USB stick that has all the software you need for the Internet on it, so you merely plug it into your laptop computer and hey presto, the Internet works ... well, that's what was meant to happen! For $25/month for 1G, it sounded perfect (half the price of my Telstra deal). Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, it doesn't work in my laptop! Agggghhh, but only on mum's computer at home :-( I tried taking it to the computer shop and getting the professionals to solve the problem, as well as the Vodafone sales staff and all, but to no avail - booohoooo ...and because I signed up for a one year contract, I don't particularly want to get into a new Internet deal until this one expires. So that means I have to drop into mum's house if I want to use the Internet. Uuuurggghhh ... bit frustrating.
I guess it is only 20 minutes away (one direction), but it would be so much easier if it was in my own home!
Anyway, that aside, things are going really well. My initial week in the house was a bit of a nightmare because both mum and Julz got really nasty in different ways, but I realise it was just a bit of persecution before a tremendous blessing of accomodation. The place is so lovely and I have already had a little dinner party with Kristin, her folks, two friends from college and my friend's little four year old boy. I also had a beautiful lady from college come over with her eight-year old twin daughters and we took Communion and prayed together. I also let Annette do a couple of loads of washing and had Marise and Kristin over on separate occasions. Everyone agrees that the place is absolutely stunning. I am so happy. There is such a peace about the house.
Julz left the place pretty dirty though, so I have spent copious hours cleaning. As an indication of how grotty the place was - I have already filled four big sulo bins worth of rubbish that they left lying around the house - things like soiled nappies!!!, food wrappers, bits of wood, tiles, plastic, cords, pipes, piles of weeds, fruit peels, dirty cloths, etc... I don't know how they could have lived in this place in the state it was in. I have much higher standards of hygiene! The windows did not look as though they had been cleaned in years, so I have spent ages getting newspaper and windex and cleaning those. I have also done a lot of mopping.
Because of the renovations they did (and their lack of cleaning), there appeared to be white dust over everything from the floors to the walls to cupboard doors, to inside the cupboards and on top of the cupboards, well everywhere really! I discovered how dusty the floors were when I accidentally dropped a black skirt on the floor and picked it up, only to find it was covered in white powder! Grunde gave me his dining suite and lounge suite, which was really nice, however, on close inspection, I discovered the dining chair seats were thick with white cat hair, which has taken me ages to pick off and the lounge material is covered in cat claw scratches. I found some lovely doona covers though, which I have covered these scratches with. I was very touched to have an old guy at church rock up one night with a small coffee table under his arm and present it to me. It is just perfect and has a cute built-in magazine rack.
I am still in the process of collecting little things for the house, but the aroma of Jesus is in the house and His sweet annointing permeates every part of the house. I just love it so much. I know I can't take it for granted. Julz has been unpredictable in the past, so every day I consider it a blessing to be in such a magnificant home and paying such cheap rent - $150/wk. I pray I can stay in it all year.
Things are gradually getting better with mum. I think it will take time for her to get used to the idea of me having moved out, but coming back frequently to visit her with Angelina and also to use the Internet, has made the transition easier. I split my babysitting money with her on Fridays, so she gets a bit of dough.
21 February 2009
I am an overcomer
Well on Thursday evening Phil and Jeanette came and prayed over the house and annointed it with oil and repented of anything not honouring to God that had been done in the house. They also prayed for peace between me and the neighbours that Julz and her bf have deliberately stirred up and now have a restraining order against. Jeanette said the place was beautiful and I could tell she really meant it. I think she was a bit overwhelmed with just how lovely a student's accomodation could be.
She prayed for me and stressed the importance of retaining it as a safe hazen, being mindful of the fact that many single females wanting to escape their own problems, would want to use it as a refuge too, but that I needed to be strong and set boundaries and not let them stay over to offload their burdens on me, because I need this time to recover and grow strong again. I have had enough challenges myself - i don't need everyone elses as well to deal with. Afterall, i prayed this new beautiful place into my life. They need to pray their own miracles into their lives. I have already had a few girls hinting at sleeping over.
Mum is still going ok, surprisingly, and even assisted me in getting things together for my new place.... but has thrown in the occasional manipulative emotional comment, like "well i'm just going to sell everything and move to America" and "these are our last days together for a long time" and "well i'm going to downsize too and move on" and more... Its an emotional insecurity thing, but Jeanette said I need to come separate from all the family stuff. I have to move out and get on with my life and cast all my anxieties and worries to God. I have felt the need to separate from friends who don't use words of faith or make me feel any better about trials I have shared with them in the past. They all seem to be ringing, but I need to withdraw from their company for a season. Fair enough.
On Friday when I took Angelina to college, she was all clingy to me and whenever anyone tried to hold her, she broke down in tears and was clearly troubled. They say babies between 6 and 8 mths old do that. So anyways, it made my day very stressful, because i couldn't eat any morning tea and i was hot and bothered and ready to scream. Then i smelt that familiar putrid smell and realised Angelina had soiled her nappies .... man, big time poo!
To make matters worse, Julz had dressed her in a very trendy, but extremely unpractical outfit, which had to all be taken off at once, rather than just unbuttoning the bottom part to deal with her nappy..... so the sweet little thing was lying there starkers briefly and crying her little heart out....and what do you know, it just so happened that I had run out of wipes and the creche also had run out, so I was trying to wipe off the poo with hard scratchy hand wipes, which then ran out too!!! In the end, i just had to put a new nappy on over the remnants of poo. I got some new clothes, cos the other outfit was just too difficult to get back on and I was already feeling frustrated.
Anways, after college, I had the brainwave of sorting out a new arrangement. From now on, Julz will drop Angelina off at Kylie's house all three mornings, pay Kylie $30 extra and then Kylie will bring Angelina in with her pram on the train, and also take her for morning tea time. Praise God, both Kylie and Julz agreed and I am free!!! I will just look after her with mum (hopefully) three afternoons a week to cover rent and expenses. What a legendary idea :-)
She prayed for me and stressed the importance of retaining it as a safe hazen, being mindful of the fact that many single females wanting to escape their own problems, would want to use it as a refuge too, but that I needed to be strong and set boundaries and not let them stay over to offload their burdens on me, because I need this time to recover and grow strong again. I have had enough challenges myself - i don't need everyone elses as well to deal with. Afterall, i prayed this new beautiful place into my life. They need to pray their own miracles into their lives. I have already had a few girls hinting at sleeping over.
Mum is still going ok, surprisingly, and even assisted me in getting things together for my new place.... but has thrown in the occasional manipulative emotional comment, like "well i'm just going to sell everything and move to America" and "these are our last days together for a long time" and "well i'm going to downsize too and move on" and more... Its an emotional insecurity thing, but Jeanette said I need to come separate from all the family stuff. I have to move out and get on with my life and cast all my anxieties and worries to God. I have felt the need to separate from friends who don't use words of faith or make me feel any better about trials I have shared with them in the past. They all seem to be ringing, but I need to withdraw from their company for a season. Fair enough.
On Friday when I took Angelina to college, she was all clingy to me and whenever anyone tried to hold her, she broke down in tears and was clearly troubled. They say babies between 6 and 8 mths old do that. So anyways, it made my day very stressful, because i couldn't eat any morning tea and i was hot and bothered and ready to scream. Then i smelt that familiar putrid smell and realised Angelina had soiled her nappies .... man, big time poo!
To make matters worse, Julz had dressed her in a very trendy, but extremely unpractical outfit, which had to all be taken off at once, rather than just unbuttoning the bottom part to deal with her nappy..... so the sweet little thing was lying there starkers briefly and crying her little heart out....and what do you know, it just so happened that I had run out of wipes and the creche also had run out, so I was trying to wipe off the poo with hard scratchy hand wipes, which then ran out too!!! In the end, i just had to put a new nappy on over the remnants of poo. I got some new clothes, cos the other outfit was just too difficult to get back on and I was already feeling frustrated.
Anways, after college, I had the brainwave of sorting out a new arrangement. From now on, Julz will drop Angelina off at Kylie's house all three mornings, pay Kylie $30 extra and then Kylie will bring Angelina in with her pram on the train, and also take her for morning tea time. Praise God, both Kylie and Julz agreed and I am free!!! I will just look after her with mum (hopefully) three afternoons a week to cover rent and expenses. What a legendary idea :-)
20 February 2009
New bro
This is my newest bro and friend. Apparently he plays in a famous band called Men In Christ, . You should hear him sing and play piano, absolutely exquisite and therapeutic. Pretty kewl having such a talented friend. I think he's really kewl.
18 February 2009
Spilled the beans
I have felt physically ill just thinking about telling mum about my plan to move out.... but I know I am doing the right thing. I had a long chat to Jeanette the other night and she said sometimes children take on too much responsibility and parents demand more from them than they should and she said I need to come separate. It is time for me to stand on my own feet and live like an adult. I just spoke Phil Howell on the phone and he asked me when I was moving out and I said "as soon as I get the courage to tell mum". I told him ideally I would like to move out ASAP.Anyway, I got home and was determined to tell her, so I just went to her room and spilled the beans. Surprisingly, she did not get really angry or worked up. She just said "ok, can you give me a time frame?", so I said some time within the next two weeks. Is there more of a reaction coming? .... all this angst for nothing? I pray that's the case and all remains calm and sweet.....
12 February 2009
Getting to the promised land
Man, this all seems so silly, every time mum goes shopping or has a shower or is asleep, I am frantically packing things into my car. Then I get up super early and drive to my new place and unpack the things out of my car and into their new places in my new house before going to college. Mum doesn't yet know I am moving out and I don't intend to tell her until I have moved everything out. Fortunately, she has not been upstairs to my bedroom for ages, so she has not seen how empty it is looking.
To be honest, I am a little bit wary of telling her, because I am the last one to move out and she has relied on me for so many things. The thing is, I know without a doubt that now is the right time. I have been praying for so long for God to help me find a place and so I write down everything I want in a rental property and hey, God just miraculously answers EVERY SINGLE ATTRIBUTE, despite how impossible it seemed to everyone else who knows anything about the rental market, which is rapidly becoming more pricey due to high interest rates. I never expected the place God intended for me to move into would actually belong to my sister and that God would prompt her to move out!!! Wow, all those renovations were being done for my benefit. Still can't believe it. God is soooooo good. Glory to God.
To be honest, I am a little bit wary of telling her, because I am the last one to move out and she has relied on me for so many things. The thing is, I know without a doubt that now is the right time. I have been praying for so long for God to help me find a place and so I write down everything I want in a rental property and hey, God just miraculously answers EVERY SINGLE ATTRIBUTE, despite how impossible it seemed to everyone else who knows anything about the rental market, which is rapidly becoming more pricey due to high interest rates. I never expected the place God intended for me to move into would actually belong to my sister and that God would prompt her to move out!!! Wow, all those renovations were being done for my benefit. Still can't believe it. God is soooooo good. Glory to God.
07 February 2009
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