so-called 'spawn of Satan' returns to church

On College Mission I met a lady who, unbelievably, as a 10 year old in Sunday School, was told "you are the spawn of Satan".

We were horrified.  But we also prayed.  We prayed for God to bring healing to her heart.  We prayed for her to give church another go.  We prayed for her to come back to God.

On that second Sunday of Mission, which we'd been building up to all week, I looked and looked, but she wasn't there.  I was disappointed.

We went home from Mission.  But the regulars at St Marks were still on mission, and God was still on mission.

The senior minister put a birthday card, some chocolates and an Easter flyer in her letterbox.

God did the rest.

Shaking, she entered the church on Easter Sunday.  What a great act of courage!

This time she wasn't berated, but was welcomed.

And she even was brave enough to ask a question!

Praise God!

the beautiful sovereign kindness of God

Hello blogworld!

I'm still here :-)  I've just been busy.

I had a fantastic time in Brisbane recently.  The school reunion was better than I thought, and I got to share with people the difference that Jesus makes in my life (this was one of my big hopes and reasons for going apart from catching up with people).

The sovereignty of God is a marvellous thing.  He looks after the entire world.  And more than that, he looks after the little details in our lives too.

I was so delighted that I was able to see my sister-in-Christ again, Gloria.  We met at Unichurch in Brisbane.  She had come from Indonesia to study here.  We read the Bible together, and it was at that time that God revealed to her that she was completely forgiven only by His grace.  It was a beautiful thing.

Since that time she has returned to Indonesia and I have moved to Sydney.  But out of his abundant kindness and power, God orchestrated for us to be able to meet together again.  I had booked to come to Brisbane for a school reunion.  A few weeks before that date Gloria told me she was coming to Brisbane.  I was excited but sad, as I thought I wouldn't be able to see her.  However, when I looked at the dates I saw that I was already going to be in Brisbane when she would be here!  Hooray!!

We shared a marvellous time together.  In the time we have been apart God has still been growing each of us.  We could see His hand guiding and leading us.  We could see our progress in the faith.  We shared how God is changing us and prayed that He would keep changing us to be more like Jesus.  Although neither of us have blood sisters, we are sisters in Christ.  Both us have been adopted by God our Father.  And in the overflow of His kindness, He brought us to see each other again.

Thanks heavenly Dad!

the ups and downs of teaching SRE in schools

I love that we can teach the Bible in public schools in Australia!

An American woman reminded me of the amazing privilege that this is - they have no such privilege in the US.

Today I was apprehensive about how the lesson was going to go.  I was really excited to see the kids again after a long break due to holidays and exams!  But I was really tired after a big week, had a croaky voice and struggled to pull together the lesson (the big struggle was trying to figure out what the passage was about!!).  Struggle town.

But eventually with prayer* and hard work it came together.  More importantly, the kids got the big idea.  Nothing can mess up God's plans.

Another really big win was connecting deeper with the kids.  They were so excited to talk about their holidays!  By giving each of them attention, I was able to show that I care for them.  Then they responded positively to me.  One gave me her sheet as a gift.  Another said "See you next week."  This was a big step forward for those two, who can often be a little bit problematic in class.  Win.

Thanks heavenly Dad!


*this is so key, yet I keep leaving it as the last resort :-/  why oh why?

the blessing of Christian community

It is a wonderful thing that when God saves an individual, He saves them into a community.

The church isn't like a club you just go along to, but it is a small, local expression of the worldwide church that God has gathered and united to His Son.

The gathering of God's people proclaims His wisdom to the rulers, power and authorities in the heavenly places (Eph 3:10).  Wow.

That is huge.  But we also experience the blessing of being part of a new family.  For those who are without family, or estranged from family, there is a new family for them to be part of.

I'm really thankful for the Christian community as I reflect upon moving here to Sydney.  Almost instantly I got plugged in and had opportunities to meet people and make friends.  If I hadn't been part of the Christian community, it would have been much more difficult to make Sydney home.  I feel sorry for those who have to work hard to meet new friends because they aren't part of a great network like the Christian community.

the wonder of the internet

Last week I wanted to create a worksheet for the kids in my Scripture class.

Knowing that they enjoy wordsearches, I thought it would be good to include one on there.

But how to make one quickly?

Enter Google.

Search for "create word search"

And hey presto, here are many websites to help you make a word search, with plenty of control over what words to put in, word direction and puzzle size.

Thanks God for the internet :-)

so much to be thankful for!

I had such a great day today!

• Beautiful sunshine-lit clouds in the crisp autumn air
• Lovely red and yellow leaves
• Not feeling "pummelled" by language classes
• Grabbing bargain clothes and shoes
• Fruitful lunch conversation
• Lovely study buddy and chai times
• Reflecting on the loveliness of today

:-)

thank you Lord for Skype

Living away from my friends and family in Brisbane, I'm especially thankful for the technology we have to still be able to communicate.

We don't have to wait for mail to be delivered (though that is still a nice treat), but can see each other and talk "face to face"ish :-)  It makes a huge difference to feeling connected still!