Amanda’s Musings

Well, so far so good. Yes, we’re all tired but I’m having a ball being a mother. Our little one is so placid but then again, most newborns are I think (?). She’s soooo little, I don’t think she’s reached 7lb just yet. I really am enjoying every moment and to top it all off, my brother, sister-in-law and nephew turned up as a surprise yesterday!! I’m on 4 weeks maternity leave and am having to remember that God is still God whether I’m focussing on my SIM camp or not (which is in three weeks). If you’re reading this and have 30 seconds, please pray that we will get in lots of registrations very soon, we have just three so far!

Just thought I’d put a post on here to announce the birth of our gorgeous little daughter. She was born by C Sect on Sept 20th. We called her Keziah Rose Ainsley Hunt. We love the name Keziah, Rose is a family name, Ainsley is the last name of Michael’s foster parents and then Hunt is ours. She was 7.4lb and has lovely light brown hair and navy blue eyes. She has her father’s expressions and her grandmother’s eyes! Not sure what she has of mine yet, maybe she’ll be arty! Not sure how often I’ll get to post in the next few weeks.

Do you recognise this sentance? It’s not a modern quote, it’s not a quote from a current crisis or situation. Yep, it’s a quote from the Bible. It’s from 1 Samuel 14:6 and it was recently used by the SIM Australia director in one of the meetings I heard him share in. It’s a strange quote, when I read it my immediate thought is that this guy didn’t have much faith but I’m wrong on that. The rest of the quote is ‘Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving whether by many or by few.’. Wow, that part is pretty mind blowing.
The situation this quote was made in was pretty scary, it was just Jonathan and his armour-bearer being outnumbered 50 to 1. They had 2 swords and the Philistines had much more! What’s my point, well, I have a camp coming up in a few weeks time. I feel that I’ve ‘done’ everything I possibly can to be prepared for it, I’ve advertised and networked and promoted etc etc etc in every way I can think of. I still feel outnumbered and my faith seems pretty small at the best of times. I often feel that I can apply the quote ‘Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf’ to myself. Perhaps the Lord will bring the camp together well, perhaps the Lord will bring in enough campers, perhaps it will be a ’sucess’ etc….Then I have to remember, it’s God’s camp, not mine and ‘nothing can hinder the Lord from saving whether by many or by few’. It’s when we are feeling like we have no control that we have NO CHOICE but to acknowledge the fact that the Lord is in control beyond our faith as small as a mustard seed! (Matt 17:20).

Yep, not long now. I’m almost all prepared and ready to go to the hospital, just gotta do that last minute washing!

Yep, just 6 days to go now. This time next week we’ll be holding our bubs. My bags are packed and ready (mostly). I was told by the OB last week that he/she has a lot of hair. This of course pleased my hubby as he doesn’t have a lot on top! He wants to cut a number 2 haircut before the birth too and I am refusing to let him. There’s just no way that the baby can have more hair than him when he/she is born!!! (that shot was taken a while ago and if you look you can see the little one is giving the peace sign!).

until our lives are changed forever! At least I won’t have swollen feet!

It’s official, Niger is now the poorest country in the world. It was sitting pretty as the second poorest (Sierra Leonne took the bottom placing for many years) but this report by the UN puts it at the bottom. I’m not sure that there’s much difference between being the second poorest and the poorest country in the world but it’s a reminder to me to keep on going with promoting the needs of such a country. Once again, if you would like to order any Niger Cards from me to help out the work of SIM in this country then feel free to contact me.

Yes, that’s the date that I’m booked in for a C section! Saw the specialist today and our little one has decided that he/she is quite happy where he/she is, up the wrong (or right!) way and it’s very unlikely to turn considering his/her position. Anyway, it’s exciting and nerve wracking to know the date. Two weeks from today we’ll have our little boy or girl! Better hurry up and buy that digital camera!!!

As I look at the devestation in New Orleans and the pictures on the news of the aftermath I can’t help but compare the situation to that of Niger. Please don’t get me wrong, I feel awful for the thousands affected by the hurricane, especially those who couldn’t get out in time but (you knew the ‘but’ was coming didn’t you) there’s an element of this that I’m disturbed by. I suppose it’s just that this situation highlights the imbalance in the world to me. For example, when giving ‘aid’ to the people of New Orleans, will it be in the form of rice/millet/porridge/formula? Does the red cross really expect me to give money to help the ‘refugees’ of New Orleans when they live in the world’s richest country? President Bush just declared a 13 Billion dollar bill to aid New Orleans, why is it that the amount needed to get Niger out of their current crisis is in the millions and yet they are only half way in raising the funds??
Why is the world so blinded to what’s going on EVERY DAY in Africa (not just Niger but Zimbabwe, Sudan etc..) and other parts of the world and when it happens in the USA we’re glued to the TV? I know that people have died and I know that people are suffering terribly in New Orleans but isn’t it interesting that in a matter of hours, one of the more wealthy parts of the world can be levelled to that of the same as one of the poorest? I would hope that both situations could be assisted and quickly.

So far I’ve sold 64 cards which isn’t too bad considering they’ve only been out for around two and a half weeks. I’ve sold to my first ‘international’ customer today too which is nice. I’ve been madly painting up the cards just in case we end up going early with our bubs. So far I’m around 2/3 of the way through the pile!