My story

 

What can I say about being a Christian?
I can only tell my story...just like Paul did. Check his out in Acts 26.
Unlike Paul, my story doesn't involve a miraculous encounter with Jesus or an incredible transformation from what I was to what I am becoming. But that doesn't mean it is any less real.
Here's my story in 100 words or less....
I grew up in a Christian home with all the joys and trials that brought! We were a blessed family...fun times together, comfortable standard of living, both Mum and Dad on the scene, always a playmate considering there were 4 kids in my family. We were brought up in the church and I asked Jesus to be boss of my life when I was 8. Since then, I have known great peace and direction in my life, thanks to the belief and reality that God is with me....all day, every day. I can talk to Him about anything and everything and through His word and Spirit He offers me the best advice when I am searching for it and gives me all that I need to live each day.....breath! salvation! goodness! contentment! love! security! purpose! forgiveness! daily bread! wisdom! I wouldn't consider doing life without Him...the alternative is to be without His presence and guidance, His insight and provision. That's not the life I want to live...so I continue each day to make the choice to believe and to trust God...to walk by faith not by sight and as a result, to know hope and love, peace and joy.
What's your story?

A Little Bit of Hardship...YES PLEASE!

How could I ever have thought the New Testamant book of Acts was boring?

It's full of the daring adventures....life-changing moments.....dramatic God-encounters....courtroom debates...near-death experiences and exciting Holy Spirit encounters of the first Christian missionaries and the people they spent time with.

As I have been reading Acts, I have also been ankle-deep in rain puddles as I deliver the local paper to a side of town where mozzies reign supreme, dogs are NOT 'man's best friend' and the weather can't decide if it wants to be scorching, sunshiney hot or bucketing rain!

How incredibly timely that I would be journeying with the great Paul through Acts at the same time that I am folding and delivering 550+ papers. Timely, because I am actually making those deliveries to make a bit of money to give to missions. And Paul was the father of missions!

And my thought this week was to give up and tell my boss...'No more! This is NOT for me. It's too hot...too hard...too inconvenient...too ...... !!!!!!!!!' 

But then, as I read Acts this morning at 6.20am and hit the soggy footpaths at 7, I realised that a tiny bit of hardship in my life is a must. 

I need to keep this little job. Here's why: I have become too comfortable and too soft. I like my life to be convenient, easy and cool. But the whole point of making the deliveries is to receive a paycheck that will help support people working with other people where life is NOT so convenient, comfortable and easy.

Surely, I can endure the smallest amount of challenge in order to better empathise with others less fortunate than me and have a little bit of $$ to give and hopefully both ease their burden and share the love of Jesus.

Unlike Paul, I will NOT be beaten, shipwrecked or imprisoned for the pleasure of serving Jesus and others. Unlike thousands of Christian missionaries, I will NOT have to leave family and friends, learn another language and go without electricity and McDonalds. Unlike millions of people in the world today, I will NOT risk losing my life to natural disasters, a strict government regime, famine, war, preventable diseases or the long list of other life-threatening challenges people in developing countries face every day.

So yes please! Give me a little bit of paper-delivery-hardship.

(PS. If you are a Gladstone local reading this and you'd like to join me in this 'adventure' please be in touch. I am willing to share the journey:))

Priscilla....Queen of the Dessert and the Blog

Priscilla and Aquila....super stars of Acts 18. 


I love Priscilla....she is the wife, the woman I would like to be.


Firstly, she worked with her husband....not just any woman could do that. (But then again, not just any husband could handle having their wife with them 24/7!) She obviously understood God's plan for wives...to be a helper to their husbands. I would like to be that for mine.


Secondly, she showed great hospitality. In v3 and v26 we read about Priscilla and Aquila taking Paul and then Apollos into their home. I am sure she was a gracious hostess....perhaps even making those guests her best desserts:)) I have just had a BIG week of practising hospitality myself and I know the demands it can put on you, especially if you like order and tidiness and that gets messed with. But fortunately, I had read about Priscilla before my guests arrived and I was able to leave some of the angst I would normally have felt out of the equation. I must also give credit where credit is due and thank my Mum and husband who did so much running around as co-hosts. In saying that, let me also say it was an absolute delight to have all those guests in my home. The benefits of practicing hospitality, including: conversation, company, laughter and love.....far outweigh any disadvantages of the same.


Finally, I think if she lived in present day, Priscilla would have been a blogger. She had something to say, having been taught by Paul, the great evangelist and teacher and she was willing to pass it on...that's why she and her husband took an interest in Apollos. And that's partly why I have decided to blog...because if God is teaching us something, maybe we are to pass it on....and not just keep it to ourselves. How like God....to take what He has given and then through the chipped and broken vessels of His followers, multiply it so that others can be blessed and encouraged and taught. That way, everyone benefits!