30in30 warm-up

After a long day at work on Friday, I sat at Murdoch Bus Station waiting for my bus to come. About 10 minutes earlier, I had seen the previous bus (along with Caleb sitting inside it, looking at me) pull away from the stop - just as I realised which bus it was. I had blisters on my feet, and I was cold, hungry and tired. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.

After a while, the next bus pulled up and I hopped in. The bus driver smiled at me as I greeted him, and a thought came into my head - give him a tract - this was closely followed by an internal dialogue that lasted for the duration of the 2 minute journey from the bus station to Murdoch Drive.

'Give him a tract - go on'
'Do I have to?'
'30in30 is starting next week - think of it as a warm-up'
'It'll look weird because I'm sitting next to the rear door and I'll have to walk all the way up to the front door! I have blisters you know, every step counts!'
'C'mon, be an example! You're a manager this time round - just do it'
*sigh*

And then as the bus pulled up at the Murdoch Drive / Leach Highway intersection, I saw an old man walking up and down Leach Highway wearing a sandwich board that said something like 'Pray for Persecuted Christians', and on the back there was a verse that I can't remember. There I was, sitting down in the warm bus having an argument with myself about giving out a measly tract, when there was a man outside in the cold walking along Leach Highway wearing a sandwich board.

So I took out the tract and held it in my hand as I waited for my stop. As I approached the stop, I walked up to the front of the bus, tagged off and gave the tract to the Bus Driver saying 'This is for you, have a good weekend!'. I did it! Thank God for the courage.

But the icing of the cake came when the Bus Driver replied 'Praise God! I'm a Born-Again-Christian!'. He then told me which church he went to and handed the tract back to me. I told him to hang on to it to give to someone else. We smiled and I hopped off the bus.

The whole experience not only lifted my heart and turned my crummy day into a not-so-bad-day-after-all, it also reminded me of the blessing that comes from obedience to God. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

watching the olympics bringeth a snare

So the Beijing Olympics started a week ago, and to be honest with you, as they came around, I wasn't all too excited about it. On the day of the Opening Ceremony, I was talking to one of my clients about her husband making her watch the ceremony later that night and I remarked something like 'don't forget your pillow'. How things change in the space of seven days.

I don't think I have ever watched more sport than I have in the past week. It all started last weekend, as I plopped in front of the couch to see what was on the box (which, thanks to my Dad, has recently become a rather large box - just in time for the Olympics). I started watching the men's cycling Road Race - and ended up doing so for the REST OF THE AFTERNOON! In my defense, I had it on while I was doing other things, but the race itself was pretty good - it went through the Badaling Great Wall (the scenery was exquisite), the commentary was quite entertaining, and the finish was CRAZY.

From the cycling I started watching all kinds of random sports that I would never usually watch (if it weren't for the fact that gold medals were up for grabs) - yet I found myself riveted to sports like gymnastics, swimming, volleyball, rowing, hockey, diving, softball, weightlifting, kayaking, and even equestrian. So sad. I don't know where the fascination came from... perhaps it was the fact that I believed myself to be an 'expert' after watching each sport and continued to watch further games to build upon my new-found expertise (e.g. watching the diving 'her pike position came too late'... 'she's up for some 6's for sure after that dive'), or maybe it was the deep-rooted pride of the Olympics being held in Beijing (the hood of my ancestors), or maybe it was the intrigue of watching Athletes far fitter than myself do things I would never dream of doing. Whatever it was, I was addicted!

The sheer dedication of each Athlete is quite inspiring. They dedicate their whole life to becoming the best at their chosen sport. Their dreams are built with blood, sweat and tears - and they will stop at nothing to reach their prize! It makes you wonder what the effect would be if the church were to be just as dedicated - and you and I as Christians were to have the same kind of dedication to bringing glory to God. I'm sure it would be just as inspiring to those around us, but the reward will be far greater than a gold medal.

awesome

A few weeks ago, we watched another episode of Quieting a Noisy Soul (QANS). I can't remember which session it was, or even the point Jim Berg was making, but he said something about the word 'awesome'. I remember he was saying something like in the world today, we often use 'awesome' to describe things like soft drinks or movies, but when we see the definition of 'awesome', we realise the inappropriateness of the use of the word.

Dictionary.com defines 'awesome' as inspiring awe. Soft drinks or movies hardly inspire awe. When we think about it, few things in the world are awe inspiring - perhaps impressive - but not awesome.

So ever since then, I have been much more aware of how I and other people tend to use (or misuse) 'awesome'. Every time I or someone else says 'wow, that's awesome' my mind has started to do a double take. Is it really awesome, or just pretty cool. Most of the time it's just pretty cool - unless you are the BJU choir and you are singing the first verse of Bow the Knee hehe

What a privilege to come into God's presence,
Just to linger with the one who set me free.
As I lift my eyes and see His awesome glory,
I remember who He is and bow the knee.

28 years of love

Today was my parent's 28th wedding anniversary. We went to Sirocco's at Burswood for breakfast which was really nice. I thank God for parents who love each other, and though they aren't perfect, I really feel blessed by the way that they have brought up my brothers and I over the years.

I like this picture hehe - It was taken when we were at Christchurch in NZ last year.