Amanda's Musings

Archive for February 13, 2006

A Blog Meme

February 13, 2006 / Molly / No comments

Got this meme from Sanctifiable so thought I’d have a go at it:

1. First blog you ever read?
The Journey by Rodney Olsen

2. What inspired you to start your own?
Um, probably the idea that I could keep in contact with a bunch of students from Sahel Academy where we taught in Niger. A heap of them have xanga blogs, eg: Protestant Nun (Christy)

3. The best and worst about blogging?
Best: Sharing ideas, encouragement and silly stories
Worst: When you spend ages putting up a post and get zero respose

4. Who was the first person to comment on your blog? Troll your archives and find out.
I used to have a xanga blog but on this particular blog the first person was Becka Borody who has a xanga blog. She was a student at Sahel Academy.

5. What has been your most popular blog entry?
That would be this post.

6. If I re-named my blog I would call it …
Just a Moment

7. If my blog had a theme song it would be …
Bittersweet Symphony – The Verve

8. If my blog was a room it would look like …
Bigweld’s house from Robots

9. Five bloggers I would like to have over for dinner.
Actually, I’d have six! Christy, Rodney, Kitty, Trevor Burns (my dad), Johnathan and Candy (my brother and sister-in-law), Karen (my best friend)

10. Two bloggers you would like to set up on a blind date.
No one really, wouldn’t do that unless I knew them well, even then…..

11. Somebody I wish had a blog?
Dead: Keith Green
Alive: Tom Hanks

12. If you were only allowed to read one blog ever again, which blog would it be?
Not including close family and friends I’d choose Peregrine Sojo – Kitty’s Kronicle

13. Discover a blog. Link to a blog that you have recently found, or a blog you have been reading for a while and haven’t blogrolled.
My Cousin Rikki

Tag five bloggers to complete this meme
Go for it if you want to.

Category: All Sorts of Things /

Curried Missionary – Part 7

February 12, 2006 / Molly / No comments

Part 7 of Curried Missionary covers some effective ways to send parcels to missionaries including some practical suggestions. I hope you find this a little helpful.

Pic: Me on top of a camel during a trek we did in Niger, West Africa

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

“Postage ~ How to Send

There will of course be a postage cost involved here but it does depend on what you buy. Obviously if you are sending a magazine it may cost more (which is why a subscription would be cheaper) whereas if you are posting a packet of gravy mix it will be lighter. When purchasing things to send always consider weight.

In some countries the missionary may have to pay a customs duty for parcels over a certain weight. ALWAYS CHECK ON CUSTOMS DUTY BEFORE SENDING ITEMS. The last thing you want to do is end up costing your missionary a lot of money at the other end!

If you canâ€™t afford postage, perhaps you could do a small fundraiser in your church (cake stall, craft stall etcâ€¦be creative!) and raise money specifically to encourage a missionary.

You can collect an information sheet from the post office, which will let you know weight costs for each country and then weigh your parcel at home to make sure you donâ€™t get stuck with an overweight parcel!

Finally, don’t forget that just as Australia has quarantine restrictions, each country will have theirs too. You can ask at your post office for a list of these items. “

Category: All Sorts of Things, Curried Missionary /

Love This Photo

February 12, 2006 / Molly / 2 comments

Had to share this. Michael took this photo this morning:

Category: All Sorts of Things /

Illustration Friday – ‘Simple’

February 11, 2006 / Molly / 6 comments

The Theme this week is ‘Simple’. Here’s my entry. This is titled ‘Three Rocks’ and was done in my final year at uni. It’s Charcoal, acyrlic white and gold paint on raw canvas. 30cm x 30cm. I was attempting to use something very simple such as rocks to illustrate feelings such as lonliness or happiness.

Category: All Sorts of Things /

The Reason I Rush Around So Much

February 10, 2006 / Molly / No comments

…….is this: Psalm 39:5

“You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Each man’s life is but a breath.”

I always have a sense of urgency about me. Must get this thing done or that thing done, must clean up, do ALL the things on my list for the day, must email everyone I planned to today, must keep up to date with friends, family, the news. … etc…etc… It’s no wonder I’m so tired. Maybe I should do this more often:

Psalm 77:12

“I will meditate on all your works and
consider all your mighty deeds.”

Only trouble is, while I’m doing that I’m likely to fall asleep (not becuase it’s boring but because that’s what happens when I stop!!!).

Category: All Sorts of Things /

Photo Friday – ‘blur’

February 10, 2006 / Molly / 2 comments

The theme this week is ‘blur’ so here’s my entry

Category: All Sorts of Things /

What’s Up With Me?

February 8, 2006 / Molly / 5 comments

Lately most of my posts have been a combination of ‘Curried Missionary‘, Illustration Friday and Photo Friday so I thought it was time I put in a general post updating what’s up with me.

Michael and I have been busy collecting furniture which has been donated for our new SIM WA office. The Lord has provided an amazing array of shelving, desks, lounge suites and other things. I think the only thing we don’t have so far is a microwave. We went op shopping this week and bought cups, glasses and cutlery (no plates yet) and I think it cost us a total sum of $11.50 which was pretty good we thought. We still need to buy curtains and are in need of an air conditioner as the room has a tin roof and fibro walls (and poor little Kezi has to sleep in there so it will limit how much time I can spend there with her at this time year). The office is starting to look more ‘officey’ now if you know what I mean. (pics below)

Current view looking towards the entry (looks better now though!)

Slightly different angle (notice the brightly coloured walls, you can tell it was a kid’s club!)

Looking backwards from the first view, this will be the bookshop/library area

And another view of that

Michael and Keziah (and as you can see, the other wall is bright yellow, I love it!)

We are also in the process of joining SIM as long-term missionaries which includes writing out what we belive in a long list of doctrinal statements. It’s actually an enjoyable experience to look at what I believe in about certain areas. We’re off to Sydney for a week soon too to do orientation with the other new State Directors. The Lord has blessed SIM with new directors in Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia all at the same time. There’s already one in NSW. Our new Australian Director (Dr Omar Djoeandy) is quite visionary and asked the mission staff to pray for new directors for each state and that’s what we have!

Anyway, that’s our current focus at the moment. We’re looking forward to our start as State Directors for SIM WA after we return from Sydney at the end of February. We also have a commissioning service and dedication of the new office on Saturday March 11th . If you are in Perth and are interested, you’re welcome, just email me for details.

That’s about it really, oh, inbetween feeding, burping, soothing, playing with, dressing, changing (and redressing and rechanging) and bathing Keziah!!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Curried Missionary /

More Arachnoids (well, one more!)

February 5, 2006 / Molly / 2 comments

I did it again. I protected the family from a dangerous, scary, creepy and now dead spi….you know. Here’s the evidence.

Category: All Sorts of Things /

Curried Missionary – Part 6

February 4, 2006 / Molly / 7 comments

I’m not sure if this booklet is being of any use to anyone so if you’ve gained a bit of inspiration from it could you let me know? This is part 6 of ‘Curried Missionary, How to spice up your missionaries’ life’.

Pic: Michael (hubby) involved in street drama in Belgium with OM (Operation Mobilisation).

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

“Postage – What to Send Part 2

Sermon Tapes/CDs/DVDs â€“ Often a missionary canâ€™t get hold of these and they are in need of Spiritual encouragement too. In some places a missionary is isolated and learning a new language so hearing an outside voice with an encouraging message is wonderful. Remember to ask if your missionary is in need of these as there are those who prefer not to use them.

Newspaper articles â€“ A missionary who receives news from home will find it easier when they return to their home country. Perhaps you could cut out a collection of local, national and world news and post it to your missionary. When we had people send this to us it was very exciting and we used to read the back and the front of the article, especially the adverts. Donâ€™t forget to send the cartoons page, not just for the kids!

Cassettes/videos/DVDs with recorded messages â€“ Often phoning your missionary is expensive and what better alternative than taping yourself saying hello!

Church bulletins/newsletters/prayer lists â€“ Find out if anyone is sending your missionary the bulletins from your church.

Magazine subscriptions â€“ What interests does your missionary or members of your missionaryâ€™s family have? You could organise a maga-zine subscription for them for a year.

A note about (movie) Videos/DVDs â€“ When sending videoâ€™s/DVDs consider what you are sending and ask yourself whether the contents are offensive in any way, useful and interesting. Many missionaries do not have television program access due to isolation but they do have a TV and video/DVD or access to one. At nighttime, when things are quiet itâ€™s wonderful to be able to watch a video/DVD. If you send a movie, expect that it will then be passed around the missionary community until most people have borrowed it! What a useful thing to send.

There are other types of videos/DVDs that are very useful. There are many schools on the mission field that have limited resources. If there is a science program on TV, record it. What about recording and sending the news? Remember, it is always good to leave in some adverts, as your missionary will watch each and every one of them. Itâ€™s amazing what you miss from home when you are so far away. You may need to check if the customs of the country you are sending to use x-ray equipment that may effect the video. You will have to label the package clearly to avoid damage.”

Next – Postage – how to send!

Category: All Sorts of Things, Curried Missionary /

Illustration Friday – ‘Chair’

February 3, 2006 / Molly / 20 comments

I’m not sure if this fits into the category of an ‘illustration’ or not but it’s the first thing that came to mind when I read this weeks category. I painted this chair quite a few years ago and I’ve never known what to do with it in our house. Now it sits perfectly in Kezi’s room! All illustrations are original, done in acrylic paint. You can see where my dog used to jump up on it. I’ve considered fixing that but I’ve decided to leave it as it gives the chair a history and character. Oh, and this chair already had history, it came from my Nanna’s house!