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"

GRATEFULNESS

and

CONTENTMENT

On any given morning, you will probably find me

sitting at the desk in my room, next to the window

overlooking the neighbourhood and a myriad

of backyards and rooftops.

As I read and study and pray,

I am reminded of God's goodness.

I see a corrugated iron fence, covered in graffiti.

I see a backyard, so overgrown,

the rusting car sitting in it is almost invisible.

I see fences overgrown with vines.

Power lines blocking the view of the sky.

I hear bats screeching, an air conditioner

rattling on the side of the house.

But then I start to look past all that and

tune my eyes and ears to the sights

and sounds around me. Parrots are having

a grand conversation. Birds are chirping.

The wind is rustling the leaves of the trees.

The sunlight is filtering down through

the branches and lighting up the

passionfruit vine hanging on the fence.

The grass is green because of recent rains.

The sky is a beautiful blue with puffs

of white clouds floating by.

And I thank God, for letting me live here.

Despite my longing for a house in the country

surrounded by bushland, with no neighbours in sight.

No noisy all night parties and views of

10 backyards from my upper story lookout.

God has been so good.

My reverie is suddenly broken by a youth group kid

walking by, and singing out, “Mrs Holmes!”.

I am then reminded again of the reason

God put us here.

Right smack bang in the middle

of this crazy neighbourhood,

in an 'upstairs' house, as it is known here.

He put us here to be a light in a dark world.

A candle on a candle stick. Not under a bushel.

I continually remind myself, that if we hadn't

moved to this particular house in this particular

suburb, we would not have met all the kids in our

neighbourhood that we now have the privilege

to work with in Youth Group and Sunday School.

We are surrounded by families that need the Lord.

And no amount of advertising,

would have made up for all the contact

we have with parents and children that live

within a very short distance of us.

God put us here and said,

“Here is your missionfield. Be good stewards.”

Wow! What an awesome responsibility.

Too often, we as Christians, bemoan our

circumstances and we forget to look beyond

them and see what God has for us

in the bigger picture.

We know the phrase,

'bloom where you're planted',

but it has become so overused,

that it means nothing to us anymore.

So how about we just 'get grateful!'

Start looking at the positives in our situation.

Don't dwell on what we don’t' have,

and focus on what we do have!

We often say,

“Well, under the circumstances, I'm doing okay”.

BAH! Who says we should live UNDER our circumstances?

We should rise above them!

The Lord has a special plan and purpose

for all of us as Christians. And we know, deep down

in our hearts, that many people are a lot

worse off than us, but we don't want to

face that reality.

We'd rather wallow in our misery.

It gives us something to talk about

on Sundays after the service. Ha!

No, seriously, gratefulness and gratitude

don't just come naturally. We have to work on it.

Just ask my family. For a long time, I might as

well have had a sign on my forehead that read,

“Little Miss Pessimist'.

But the more I study God's Word,

the more I learn about the importance of being content.

Philippians 4:11 is a verse that I am

working towards being able to wholeheartedly say.

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 'In whatsoever state I am' is a pretty big ask. But if we look at verse 13, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. therein lies our help. In Hebrews 13:5 we have a command to not be covetous, but be content. And again a promise, 'I will never leave thee'. Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Another verse that has been an encouragement and a goal worth achieving is Philippians 4:8.    Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things Whenever I find myself dwelling on my negative circumstances, I reach into my mind and heart and pull up this verse from my memory bank and remember what things I SHOULD think about. True. Honest. Just. Pure. Lovely. Good. Praise. Virtue.           Think on THESE things. Being content has to do with being satisfied and gratefulness has to do with being appreciative and thankful. So, if we're content (satisfied) with where God has put us, and the circumstances he has allowed us to be in , then, we're going to be grateful (thankful) and it's gonna show! Too often we fill our lives with 'stuff' and as a result, we become ungrateful and discontent. In 1 Timothy 6:6-8 it says to be content with 'food and raiment'. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. Well, I can tell you, that I haven't seen many Christians in Australia, walking around skinny and naked! So, we must have 'food and raiment'. We just need to quit our bellyaching. Trust God. Be content and praise God! Gratefulness is not going to come by getting things we don't have, but rather, by appreciating the things we do have.

Em's New Ute

In other news, Emilee has bought herself a ute!

I will be posting soon our latest adventure,

but until then, here's a sneak peek.

Just have to fix her up with spotties and a light bar

and other little things, and she's Territory ready!!

(the ute, I mean)

Happy Birthday Emilee

Yes, today Emilee turns 17!

Our run of family birthdays is almost over

for another year.

He Staggered Not............

Romans 4:20

“He staggered not at the promise of God

through unbelief;

but was strong in faith,

giving glory to God.

I recently read this verse in my Bible reading,

and since then, I can't get it out of

my mind and memory.

I had never noticed this verse before

and this is the only time in the Bible that the word

“staggered” is mentioned.

Here, it is talking about the promise of God

to give Abraham and Sarah a son in their old age,

and to make of him the 'father of many nations'.

It comes from the Greek word 'diakrino',

which in this context, has the meaning to hesitate,

to doubt, to waver. We often use this word as

'to work or move unsteadily'

or to 'arrange events so they don't happen at the same time'. Another way we use it is

'astonish or deep shock'.

Now, I know that when Abraham was told

that his wife would have a son,

he would have been 'staggered'!

But that is not the meaning here.

The word here has the meaning of not moved,

not doubting, not hesitating.

Abraham was not discouraged and

was fully assured that what God said He would do,

He would do!

Take a look at verse 21

“And being fully persuaded that,

what he had promised,

he was able also to perform”.

That sounds to me like Abraham had no doubts

that God could and would perform His promise.

It didn't matter that it was impossible

and to the human mind and comprehension,

absolutely crazy and unfathomable.

God is a worker of miracles and if we only

had 'faith as a grain of mustard seed',

we could move mountains!

So, what does all this have to do with us,

and why does the Bible

have so many verses on faith?

To quote something Dad said recently,

“Doubt minimises the scope

of the promises of God,

but faith maximises them;

faith sees the promises to be larger than the crisis,

brighter far than the dark clouds of circumstance.”

Well put! God put this verse in the Bible for us.

He put it in there so we could see

the fruit of not 'staggering' at the promises of God.

And notice the end of the verse,

“giving glory to God”.

It's not enough just to have faith

and reap the benefits,

but we are to give all glory to God!

So many times, we as Christians,

stagger at the promises of God through unbelief.

We pray prayers that we don't really believe God will answer, they're more like wishing for a pony.

We don't have faith that God can do

what we are asking. God sees our hearts

and He knows what is behind the words we pray,

and only He knows the faith behind the prayer.

In James 1:6 it says,

“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.

For he that wavereth is like a wave

of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”

Not staggering! Not doubting!

Abraham laid hold to the promise of God,

he grabbed onto it with both hands.

He “staggered not”.

I think, to me, this word 'stagger' will

always remind me of the time when

Abraham held fast to a promise of God,

and it will encourage me to

not doubt, not hesitate, not waver.

“And Jesus answering saith unto them,

Have faith in God.”

Wet Season in Full Swing

Well, our wet season is upon us and with it brings

amazing cloud formations and cooler weather.

If you didn't already know,

I love to take photos of clouds.

They are constantly changing and

the sunsets are beautiful when coupled

with phenomenal puffy white or grey clouds!

On a recent trip to Darwin,

it was amazing to see how quickly the

sky changed, from fluffy white puffs

of clouds, to dark, ominous skies,

pelting rain, then back to sunny again,

within just a matter of minutes.

Every time I look up at the sky,

I am amazed at God's creation.

We are so small and insignificant,

but God chose to bless us through the

wonders of his creation.

Psalm 8:3, 9

When I consider thy heavens,

the work of thy fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which thou hast ordained;

O LORD our Lord, how excellent

is thy name in all the earth!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBI!!

Yes, Abbi is 19 today!

And who knew she was going to marry a farmer!

Sorry, Dave, she's gonna be needin' that hat!

We love you Abbi,

and we can't wait to see what a little McKenna

in a BIG hat is going to look like!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHLOE!

Chloe turns 14 today!

And she's still just as cute!

And yes, she still pulls this face:)

And in other news:

Dave and I just had our

birthdays too:)

But remember......

And if getting older wasn't enough,

we're going to be grandparents!!

Yeah, you read that right!

James and Abbi are going

to have a baby, so now

we reserve the right to feel

as old as we like,

and act as young as we like!!

So, on that note.........

watch out!!

And my dad can relate to this one..........

The latest here at the Holmestead

Last week, I was able to fly over to Malanda

to visit my family, and more importantly,

to be all together with my siblings, all at the one time!

It was a whirlwind 2 days, but well worth

the trip. We haven't been all together for 8 years,

so it was a must do!

As you can see, we haven't changed much

over the years. Cough Cough.

We had a lot of good laughs,

some singing, some sight seeing,

some fast driving in Jer's little Red Bullet,

some duet playing, and a whole lot of love!

(ok, so I just put that in to be soppy)

And if you want to know where we get our

craziness from, just take a look at the old guy

in the centre of the picture! Hmmm??

A snapshot of November 2008,

and December 2016!

Yeah, I know, more grey hair and some

added weight, but we're still gorgeous!

(matter of opinion, but I don't know whose?)

The weather was beautiful, and very

un- Malanda like. We hardly saw any

rain. On a side note, it rained the whole time

I was away, here in Katherine! Go figure?

I finally got to meet my adorable little

nephew, Josiah, for the first time!

And here's my little brother:)

I also finally visited the Spy Camera Museum

in Herberton, I mean I only lived there for

20 years and hadn't done it, but hey!

Wow! I could have stayed there for hours!

It was so interesting and I wanted to take all

the cameras home to add to my measly collection!

I did the falls circuit with Jer and kids

and Lauren and Linet. The water was freezing

but the kids didn't seem to mind.

And of course, you can't go past Millaa Millaa

lookout on a clear day without stopping!

And a lovely ladies tea party at

Nerada Tea Plantation,

despite the fact that most of us ladies felt like

a coffee at that time of the morning, and of course,

um, we were at a TEA plantation,

and, well, no coffee, sorry!

But we all enjoyed drowning ourselves in

pots of various teas and cakes and scones.

We even got to see 3 tree kangaroos!

Bonus! Except that I didn't bring my long lens

along because of added weight so I had to make

do with some movie footage instead.

Still, exciting stuff!

And of course, Mum's beautiful flame tree

out the back had to be photographed!

What an amazing God we serve, who is so

interested in detail in His creation

and the delight it brings us to sit and

gaze upon all He's made and the lessons

His creation can teach us.

But alas, all good things must come to an end

and the trip was over much too soon.

More memories made and hearts warmed.

As I flew into Darwin, I praised God that He

gave me the opportunity and means to make the

trip. Time is short and no one knows when they

might breathe their last breath, and step onto

Heaven's shores. What an amazing sight that will

be! None of the sights we see here on earth

will even compare to seeing our Saviour face to face.

James 4:14

Whereas ye know not

what shall be on the morrow.

For what is your life?

It is even a vapour,

that appeareth for a little time,

and then vanisheth away.