Balloons and Lollipops

Today, we had the opportunity to

bring the Youth Group

of Savannah Way Baptist Church

to the attention of the town of Katherine!

The YMCA was holding a

'Come and Try Sport Expo'

and invited us to hold a stall to show people what

we had to offer. What a great opportunity

to spread the good news to others!

Dave and James and Abbi and the girls

were kept very busy pumping up balloons

and writing sayings on them and handing

them out, while I talked to kids with my puppet,

Tembi, and along with the others,

invited kids along to Youth Group.

We were able to talk to many parents

and children and let them know who we were.

You must understand that this community event

is NOT Christian in any way, but the council

approached the church last year to see if we

were interested, which of course we were.

So, this is the second year we've been able to

represent the church and the ministry here

in Katherine, being the only church group to do so.

We were very popular today,

as we were the only stall with

balloons and lollipops!

I'm sure the parents just loved us 😄🎈

Please pray for fruit from this

event, that we would be

able to reach more precious souls

for Christ.

Matthew 19:14

But Jesus said,

Suffer little children,

and forbid them not,

to come unto me:

for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Pray First, Plan Afterwards

Recently, while reading a book on prayer,

I came across this simple,

but profound statement,

“Pray first, plan afterwards”.

And I found myself digging deeper.

It's true that God expects us to be orderly,

to manage our time, to be wise stewards,

to prepare well and discipline ourselves.

1 Corinthians 14:40

Let all things be done decently and in order.

1 Corinthians 14:33a

  For God is not the author of confusion,

but of peace.

  But, how often do we plan, plan, plan

our ministries and programs and meetings

in our churches, and then,

the day or week before the event we say,

“Now we need to pray about this”.

Raise your hand if you're guilty!

I don't think we consciously go about NOT praying,

but we just let it slide in the

business of the preparation,

planning down to the finest detail,

without ever asking God what it is

He wants us to do,

or how He wants it to be done.

It's almost like we say to God,

“Ok, God, we've got this all planned out,

we have all the bases covered,

we've thought of everything,

we have our contingency plan in place,

we know exactly where we're headed

and the goals we want to accomplish

through this ministry, now bless it, please”.

Ok, so maybe we don't say that aloud,

but isn't that what we're saying

in our hearts, when we fail

to get on our knees before the Lord

and pray for His will and way

before we start to plan?

How different would our programs and ministries turn out if we took the time to pray first, and plan afterwards? Would we find God leading us in a totally different direction? Would it help us see the bigger picture that God has for us? God is omnipotent and has all of heaven at our disposal, yet we work on our tiny, tiny plans, while He is waiting to open the floodgates of heaven and drown us with His blessings.

Isaiah 55:8 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

And what about in our personal

lives and in our homes?

How many plans do we make without

even consulting the Lord?

We plan out our futures without prayer,

then wonder where the blessing is.

The Bible tells us to 'pray without ceasing'.

This doesn't mean that we bow our

heads in prayer ALL day long, 

but it is more an attitude of God-consciousness

that we carry with us throughout

the day and continually remember

to call on God to know His will

and ask for His help and guidance.

Someone put it like this:

“For Christians, prayer should be like breathing.

You do not have to think to breathe

because the atmosphere exerts pressure

on your lungs and essentially forces you to breathe.

That is why it is more difficult

to hold your breath than it is to breathe.

Similarly, when we are born into the family of God,

we enter into a spiritual atmosphere

where God's presence and grace exert pressure,

or influence, on our lives.

Prayer is the normal response to that pressure.

As believers, we have all entered the

divine atmosphere to breathe the air of prayer.

Unfortunately, many believers hold

their “spiritual breath” for long periods,

thinking brief moments with God

are sufficient to allow them to survive.

But such restricting of their spiritual

intake is caused by sinful desires.

The fact is that every believer must be

continually in the presence of God,

constantly breathing in His truths,

to be fully functional”

There is so much to learn about prayer

and being more effectual in our prayers,

that I will never reach its depths,

but I'm excited to see what God has to teach me

and what blessings He will bring

when praying first

and planning afterwards

becomes second nature to me.

I've got a long way to go,

being a born organiser, and having the desire

built into me to see things done decently

and in order and all laid out and to be able to say,

“I've got this!”. But, oh the blessing that comes

when I yield my will over to God

and sincerely say, 'not my will, but thine'.

Not my plans, but yours, Lord.

So, it has now become my motto

when the new ventures loom ahead of me,

and the ministry opportunities arise

and the programs need to be run,

to say with all my heart,

“Lord, I pray for Your will to be done

and Your plans to be put in place.

I will pray first, Lord, then I'll plan afterwards”.

Tea for Two

(or 25 actually)

Today, a friend and I hosted a ladies

Tea Party! We ended up with 25 of us total

and drank lots of different teas,

and ate lots of delicious handmade delicacies.

Because my dining room and kitchen

is the size of  a matchbox,

we held it out of town at my friends'

block that over looks the escarpment leading

out to Nitmiluk Gorge.

Ahhh beautiful ♫

I was able to pull out all my lovely

tea cups, tea pots, antique dishes,

my grandmother's silverware,

retro plates and op shop special china. 

About time they got dusted off and used

for a good cause.

In a world of Lattes and Frappuccino's,

sometimes, it's just so nice to settle back

with a good cup of tea 🍵

and a bunch of friends.

That's not to say that I'm already

planning a "Coffee Party"

for the next get together!

So, kick off your shoes,

sit back and make yourself

a nice cup of tea 😊

God's Power at Work

Last night, here in Katherine, we

had a pretty epic electrical storm.

I was excited to sit out on the

front verandah and watch it for

2 hours, take a couple hundred photos,

and wait for that perfect shot!

 Psalm 77:17, 18

The clouds poured out water:

the skies sent out a sound:

thine arrows also went abroad.

The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven:

the lightnings lightened the world:

the earth trembled and shook.

 Psalm 97:4

His lightnings enlightened the world:

the earth saw, and trembled

Psalm 97:6

The heavens declare his righteousness,

and all the people see his glory.

The Long Way Home

A couple of weeks back,

when Dave and I took Cam and Lauren

back to Darwin to catch the plane,

we decided to come home a different way 😏

In the time we've lived here, we still

haven't done Litchfield or Kakadu,

so it was high time we at least drove that way home.

But, before that, we spent a little bit

of time at Nightcliff Jetty to kill some time

with Cam and Lauren.

The colours of the rocks and cliffs are

phenomenal!! (thank goodness for auto correct)

Due to recent rains, the water was all

brown and muddy, but it was beautiful

nonetheless.

Now, onto Kakadu.

Again, due to recent rains, most of the

tracks off the main road were closed,

but we were mainly passing through

with the view that we'd bring the girls back

another time and camp, when it dried out a bit.

The Wetlands were impressive!

I happily snapped away out the window as we drove

along and enjoyed the different scenery.

We had hoped to take a look at the notorious

Cahill's Crossing, but the first creek crossing

on the way there was 1.2 m over 😒

So, we left it for another day.

Impressive rock formations that

we just admired from a distance

seeing it was stinkin, steamin, hot and

we didn't feel like the walk!

Large expanses of water and flooded rivers

Creepy, croc filled billabongs

And beautiful skies overhead

Just another awesome example

of God's amazing creation!

Psalm 19:1

 The heavens declare the glory of God;

and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Psalm 148

1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord

from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

² Praise ye him, all his angels:

praise ye him, all his hosts.

³ Praise ye him, sun and moon:

praise him, all ye stars of light.

⁴ Praise him, ye heavens of heavens,

and ye waters that be above the heavens.

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord:

for he commanded, and they were created.

⁶ He hath also stablished them for ever and ever:

he hath made a decree which shall not pass.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,

ye dragons, and all deeps:

⁸ Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours;

stormy wind fulfilling his word:

⁹ Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees,

and all cedars:

¹⁰ Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things,

and flying fowl:

¹¹ Kings of the earth, and all people;

princes, and all judges of the earth:

¹² Both young men, and maidens;

old men, and children:

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord:

for his name alone is excellent;

his glory is above the earth and heaven.

¹⁴ He also exalteth the horn of his people,

the praise of all his saints;

even of the children of Israel,

a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.

RAIN RAIN RAIN

☁☂☁

Well, after a few dismal

wet seasons, we are now

having a decent one.

The Katherine River today

was up to 15 metres!

The locals, including ourselves,

have been keeping a close eye on the

river levels and going out to check every

couple of days or so.

 The photo below was taken in 2014..........

 And today!

And below is the Low Level Crossing

near where Abbi and James live.

So, they have to take the long way around now:)

You can actually see the river from their house.

And somewhere underneath this water,

is the picnic tables, a parking lot and toilet block:)

☁ As the rain brings renewal

And the tender buds begin to come alive,

So is my Word.

Giving seed to the sower,

And the bread to the hungry

'til they thrive,

So is my Word.

And the Word of my mouth,

it shall not return empty;

It will bless the earth wherever it is heard.

This is my Word. ☁

LAUREN TURNS 21!!!

From a baby............

To a Lady

Happy Birthday Lauren

Holmes/Drews Adventure

Recently, we drove up to Darwin to pick up

Cam and Lauren from the airport after there

trip to Timor. Over recent weeks, we've

had to do quite a few trips to Darwin,

which is unusual for us, so it was time for a detour.

It's not that the road is boring or anything,

but, sometimes something different is in order.

Well, we decided to do a loop road that

goes past the old Grove Hill Historic Hotel.

Problem. Wet season. Hmmm.

Well, we had just picked up Emilee's new ute

and what better way for Emilee to get her first drive

in it, than taking it on a dirt road full of washouts,

potholes, mud, flooded

causeways and creek crossings.

Emilee puts the L plates on and she's off!

Cam followed behind in our cruiser

and splashed through

all the puddles as per usual.

(seriously, is there any other way???)

Well, we were going along fine, but as the road

got worse, Dave took over the driving and we

came to a bigger, much deeper crossing.

Well, the fellas said Lauren and Chloe

and I could wade across to check

the depth and conditions.

Ok, so well, maybe we volunteered

because we love getting wet.

Well, once it got to our thighs, we began

to get the heebie jeebies about whether or not

there was any crocs in this fast flowing creek

and we could only see the tip of the guide post,

and it wasn't getting any shallower or shorter,

so, we turned around and

decided to find another way.

Dave wisely didn't feel like having to drain all

the oils etc out of both vehicles for the next week

and our old cruiser needs some TLC at the moment.

So, we turned around and tried

to figure out the best

way back without going over the same tracks again.

We took one road that was very interesting,

but petered out into little more than a goat track

and we realised that wasn't the right one.

Here's the girls trying to get a bar of reception to

look at Google maps to find a better road.

We were unsuccessful with that by the way.

All in all, we had a good time and got home

late, tired, hungry but happy that we took the

long way home and explored new ground.

Dave has now found an interesting old

site to go explore some more some time.

Sometimes life calls for the long way home!

And in other random news,

we had a nice downpour the other night

so I had to grab the camera and sit out on

the verandah to see what I could see.

Neighbourhood vista through rain

And some light painting with lasers!

And of course bats bats and more bats

The girls crack the whip to scare them out of the

trees behind our house and they go crazy,

fly away, then someone up the road scares them

all back again. It's a game we like to play. LOL.

"The world is a book,

and those who don't travel,

read only one page"