The Hands We Hold

 

 

 

Something I was reading the other day started me thinking about the hands we hold.

When your child puts their hand in yours, it may be filthy from making mud pies, or smelly from patting the dog or sticky from eating an ice cream, but it is a hand belonging to a child who you have the responsibility of training. A life to mold. A hand that is trusting you to show the way.

Proverbs 22:15 “Train up a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

This doesn't just mean raising an obedient child, but raising a responsible adult. We, as parents have the amazing and fearful task of instilling Godly values into our children and

teaching them life skills that will help

 them as they grow older.

Teaching them the importance of hard work. Teaching them what the Bible says on all subjects and guiding them through life, protecting them but not sheltering

them from lessons they may learn along the way.

The hands we hold are hands of the future. These are hands that will hold a Bible or an ungodly magazine. Hands that will raise in praise or raise in anger. Hands that will serve God or serve the Devil. Hands that will be gentle or harsh. Hands that will work hard or be lazy.

Hands that will help, or hands that will harm.

What an awesome responsibility we have! So many Christian parents are choosing to walk away from the Bible as the best child training manual ever written, and are turning to worldly wisdom.

1 Corinthians 1:20b

“........hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?”

1 Corinthians 3:19a “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God”

God sees the world's wisdom as foolishness.

God's way is always best.

What are we doing with the hands God has given into our trust? Are we choosing to ignore them when they reach out to us? Are we teaching them laziness by our example? Are we teaching them to be greedy? Do we train them to be hard workers, not giving up when things get hard? Are we teaching them what it means to serve others with no thought of reward? Do we teach them

to use their talents for the Lord?

Hands can be used for many things, good or bad.

We only hold our childrens' hands for a little while, so the time for training is very short.

As parents, God has given these precious lives

into our charge and we have the blessing of training the future generation.

Don't take lightly the lives that belong

 to the hands you hold.

 

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 

 

 

 

We love you, mum!

HOLIDAY BIBLE CLUB

 

Well, last week we ran our first

Holiday Bible Club!

 

Thanks to all our helpers from near

and far, the week went well

and we were all very weary but happy

at the end of it all:) 

 

Here are just a few photos

of the action.

 

 



The girls show the kids how the pros do the 3 legged race!



The kids line up for the action!

The kids enjoyed the singing and the lesson time

Max, with his survival wrist band made in craft time

Hannah and Chantella

Chloe and Micheal take on the 'lasers'

Mustached little men

And, just plain sweet!



Thanks so much for praying for us.
Please keep praying for the Lord to work
in the hearts of all the children that came along
and also the parents we were able to meet:)
 

 

In other news..

 

 

 

The other night we were able

to go along on a homeschool excursion

to Tindal Caves, just out of Katherine.

 

 

This was a private cave not open to

the public unless you are with a local ranger.

 

 

There were some really interesting formations.

We didn't get to see any snakes because

there were too many of us and too

much noise for them to come out of hiding.

 

 

It was another display of God's amazing

creation and beauty in nature.

 

 

 

In one place in the cave you could look up

and see the sky and trees through

a small hole in the rocks.

 

 

Well, that's another Territory place

to cross off our list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Timber Creek

 

I know I've posted heaps of photos

of the drive out to Timber Creek,

but every time I go out there,

the landscape looks so different depending

on the season. It's a beautiful drive.

 

 

 

Dave and I went out last week to pick

up a trailer load of cans for the recycle place,

so we were able to camp out overnight for

something different.

 

 

This was actually the first time

we have camped out by ourselves,

not in the truck or with the girls.

 

So, we had our own little fire

(except that it wasn't really cold enough

for one, but hey, you HAVE to have a fire

to boil the billy and relax).

 

Then we slept under an amazing sky

of billions of stars, wild donkeys hee hawing

as they clip clopped past us in the night,

crickets chirping, birds calling and

well, you get my drift:)

Ah, livin the dream, livin the dream!

 

 

 

Anyway, it was nice. Dave did some metal

detecting at an old racecourse and I explored

and picked up odds and ends and took photos.

 

 

 

A dingo was uninterested in us passing by

and so were some other wild donkeys along the way.

 

And of course, I had to take a rearview mirror shot:)

 



 

Well, if you're ever over our way,

we'll take you for a scenic drive:)

 



 

 

 

:(

 

 

Katherine Gorge

 

 

 

After over 2 years of living here,

we were finally able to take a

cruise up the Katherine River to take

in the beauty of the Katherine Gorge.

 

 

We took a dinner cruise that started at

4.30pm and finished around 8.30pm.

 

It was absolutely beautiful to see the sunset

on the river and the gorge cliffs.

 

We cruised along as we enjoyed our

meal and watched the colours

of the sunset reflecting off the

rock faces and in the water.

 

And the company was good too.

Dave and I were able to take

our Pastor and his wife while

the girls watched their boys at home:)

 

I have uploaded a short video

so you can take in the beauty

for yourselves. But if you're

ever over our way, it's a must see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I'm sorry for the blurriness of the video
in full size. It drives me crazy, but I
don't know how to fix it as once I resize
it, it loses it's pristine quality)

 

 

 

 



HAPPY BIRTHDAY

MADDIE

 

 

 

 

It was Maddie's 14th Birthday yesterday.

So, Happy Birthday Maddie!

 

 

 

Answered Prayer

 

 

 

As most of you know, we started a youth

group here in Katherine about 9 months ago.

 

Well, the numbers have been growing steadily

since we lowered the age to 5 years old.

 

 

Every week has seen the blessing

 of increased numbers and we have

 been excited to see the growth.

 

 

But as you know, in our Christian walk,

blessings and burdens go hand in hand.

Fruit and foes, grapes and giants,

opened doors and closed doors.

 

I Corinthians 16:9

" For a  great door and effectual

is opened unto me,

and there are many adversaries"

 

So, a few weeks back we were told by the council

that we would not be able to use our current

premises anymore and would have to find

another place to meet within 2 weeks.

This came at a time when we were growing

 as a Youth Group and things seemed 

to be moving along so well.

 

But the Lord always sees the bigger picture and

we trusted Him to lead and guide us.

After looking around we found a place that

was much more suited to our needs and really

began to pray in earnest.

 

 

 

Long story short, the Lord answered miraculously

and we were able to secure a new meeting place

right in the centre of town with everything

we needed and much better facilities.

 

 

Last Friday, we held our first Youth Group there

and we had record numbers.

Most of our children are under 12 with our

girls being the only teenagers, so far.

 

 

Our old bus is making itself really useful

and even the cruiser is now busy picking up

kids as well. The kids love riding in the bus

even tho it stalls at times and bounces along

at the most inopportune moments.

 

We look forward to each week and the challenges

we will face and the souls that can be reached

here in Katherine.

 

 

John 4:35

".....Behold, I say unto you, 

Lift up your eyes, and look

on the fields; for they are

white already to harvest."

 

Please pray with us that God would

use this ministry for the furtherance of

the gospel here in Katherine.

 

And remember...........

 

 

 

 



 

Picnic Day, NT

 

 

 

What is Picnic Day you ask? Yeah, well

so did I. So, according to the internet:

 

Picnic Day is a public holiday in the

Northern Territory of Australia

which takes place every year on the

first Monday of August.

It was originally declared a public holiday

to commemorate the freeing of the

 Chinese Coolie indentured labourers

who built the Darwin to Larrimah

 North Australia Railway

 

So, there you have it!

 

Our thought process went more like this:

Picnic Day. Public Holiday. No work.

Must be to celebrate picnics?

Gotta go on one then!

And, so we did.

 

Only, the catch is, that us Holmeses tend to

like to do extreme things, so, our picnic

was to take us on a 900 km round trip

from Katherine to Timber Creek to Top Springs

and back to Katherine again.

 

Which looks something like this:)

A big loop.

 

 

The Stanleys and James came with us

so we had some other crazy people

excited about doing a long trip on a day off.

We left at 7am and arrived home at 10pm.

 

Dave had just recently done a run out there

in the truck and seen some pretty scenery,

so he decided to show us all.

 

There was also some tracks that he hadn't been on

(seeing he couldn't take a road train down them)

but wanted to explore.

 

 

All in all, it was a great day,

but if we ever ask you if you'd like to go on

a picnic with us.....BEWARE!

 

I've put together a short slide show for

you all to enjoy.