God is Good

just dropping in to explain my recent and probably ongoing absence. i am still stopping by other blogs when i get the chance but we have a lot on ministry-wise at the moment and i have an intern to train up and a girl who has just begun her walk with god who needs intensive council and dicipleship as well as a whole group of new christians to teach and leaders to impart into... all in the time im not at work or tending to my own kids... i will stop in from time to time because i do like to write but as is i am very much enjoying this time in the moment rather than taking time to write about it.

We are still here!

so its be a little crazy around here lately! Our big girl turned 4 this weekend just gone and it was lots of fun letting her be a princess for the day.




It was so hot we gave up on all other party activities and set up a slide and a paddling pool at the beach park where we had the party and let the kids go...


Cheeky thingwas already asking what she could do for her next birthday on the way home. In fact nearly everything that comes out of her mouth reminds me that she really isnt my baby anymore.


She is growing to be beutifully mannered, though temperamental at times, clever and good hearted (most of the time). She is definately got the maternal touch and babies her sister like she is her second mama.

looking forward to seeing what this year teaches us about who she is and what she will do.

Not me monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I am not constructing my second post for the day just because I have some great material for NMM this week... nope not me.
Oh and i have not taken nearly a week to actually finish and post the previous post either. I am not that busy and over extended that I couldn't complete one blog post even though I really wanted to... nope, not me.

I did not spot a mysterious object in amongst our 'clean' washing as i was opening the machine only to realise my daughter who happens to put everything the undresses from in the washing basket, apparently had added soiled nappies to that list. If i had though, I most certainly would not have just re washed the load a few times until there was no trace of said 'object' and then rewashed 3 times with napisan and hot water... nope i would not show such blatant disregard for the sanctity of my washing machine! or the environmental cost of so many rewashes. No, not me!

I did not ignore the obvious fact my children were playing instead of sleeping after I put them to bed in hopes they may sleep in a little later that 545am... I was not highly impressed that it worked and considering doing it again even thought my nearly four year old couldn't keep her eyes open and 5 in the afternoon the next day... Nope, not me! i would most certainly put my children's well being ahead of my own never ending desire for more sleep...

I also did not leave my daughters 4th birthday party planning, including invitations until the week of her birthday... NOPE! not me, I am always organised and plan elaborate celebrations with hand crafted invites and matching name cards at the table set with each child's personalised party gift along with matching decor and .... oh, alright, we are having a BBQ at the park... i mean Nope, not ME!

I almost forgot... I did not in below mentioned emergency situation dial '911' when he emergency number in austrlia is 000, even though i have dialed 000 5 or more times before, and had the number drilled in since kindergarten... nope, not me. (luckily, you know, if i had done that, the call would play a friendly little message like "you have dialled emergency assistance, the number is 000, putting you through now" thus making said dialer realise their error.
This would not prove that i spend to much time reading american cops and cops wives' blogs :) and watching american TV... NOpe, certainly not me!

Faith restored

So was going to blog about an experience i had Monday with some local police officers after we assisted a female involved in a D.V. situation while i was at work... i wont go into now but lets just say i was less that impressed with the interpersonal skills displayed by the officers (or lack there-of). Not to mention the lack of assistance in retrieving her young baby who was still in her house, as she had literally fled onto the street to get help and therefore technically left him in custody of the child. Apparently a child cannot be removed from custody of a parent without court order unless there are welfare concerns... i have welfare concerns for a child in house with a violent man who is very angry at the mother of the child... would YOU?

Previous to that day, police could do no wrong my eyes. I know quite a few cops and they are all good people too. I could give you a list of the things these particular officers did do wrong that day but i will just settle for praying my husband is never so busy being a cop he forgets to be a human being, as i am now well aware is possible.


So here the story was to end... except for the fact that I had an unusually dramatic week as by Tuesday I had phone emergency for the second time in as many days. This time a distressed client had attempted suicide just as i was starting my shift... The police arrived FAST (might help that we are 30 seconds from McD's ;) . After the initial drama settled down and the client was physically ok, the Senior officer started taking my statement and the other officer started talking to the young person, showing empathy, listening skills, reassuring body language (moving to eye level, open gestures etc) which I witnessed while I was in and out to check on the client. All in all the client was kept calm and distracted (necessary, for reasons i will spare on the details) for over 45 minutes it took for the ambulance to attend. Comparatively the previous days officers had made no attempt to 'help' or comfort the victim, hardly even assisting with her requests and definitely showing non of the interpersonal skills demonstrated by the following days officers.

We were so impressed by the officers genuine concern for and generosity of time with the young client we wrote a commendation letter to the commissioner.

Long story short... faith restored, maybe not to believing that all cops are saintly superheros, but at least that there are some that are.

God is Big

So a little bit of background. We have this family in our church, all involved in our music team and very talented, non more so that the middle child (not quite a child now, hes like 16 or something). We will call him B, so B is very talented guitarist and used to play in our youth band and the church band. long story short, a few things lead to B disconnecting from church life about a year or so ago, although he still calls in occasionally he is lost in some pretty dodgy stuff at this point. So we have a new(ish) leader in our team who after B called into church one day really felt called to pray and interceed for B regularly so he did.(even though he had only breifly met him)
A couple of weeks go by and that particular leader is driving and stops to pick up a guy who was hitchhiking, and the guy turns out to be B. Odds of that in a city of 1.4 million, not like they both live near each other or anything because they dont. Totally Gods divine appointment. God is amazing.

Not me monday

I am not doing my second post of the day in spite of a full laundry basket and dishes on my countertop... nope not me.

I did not eat 2 tubs of chocolate moose and chips for dinner, nope, not me. I am watching what i eat.

I was not late for dropping my little girls off at school on only her 3rd day, nope not me, i am far more organised than that.

I did not let my girls play in the bath for close to 45 minutes because they were nether arguing nor messing up the house...
Nope not me, my children get along fine all the time and tidy after themselves so i would never worry about those things.



Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

A Blog award

Thank you Mrs Fuzz over at "a police wife" for the blog award. Here are the rules for accepting:

• Copy the award image into a post
• List 10 things that make you happy
• Tag 10 bloggers who brighten your day
• Put a link to their blogs
• Notify the award receivers
• Recipients should link back to the sender's blog

my 10 happy things:

1. family time...you know whan all the members of our family are in the same place at the same time
   
2. a clean and organized home (i second that Mrs Fuzz!)
   
3. chocolate
   
4. Singing (on stage, in the car, anywhere really)
   
5. My youth group
   
6. getting out wit my husband
   
7. the beach
   
8. bargains and sale shopping- oh and ebay
   
9. painting
10. all things baby related- i was shopping for baby furninture years before i was even married
    

Here's some(it supposed to be 10 but most of the people i interact with in blog land have got this one already i think) people I'm giving it out to. No pressure if it's not your thing.

Carly- wat she does over at to write thier names in the sand brings a little happiness to each of the women/families in what might be their darkest hours

Cop Mama

Momma Val

and a couple of blogs i have recently found...

Pennie at Mom Thoughts

A new mom

and to round it out, Amanda at confessions of a wannabe supermom, just coz her crazy life reminds me a little of mine and it makes me happy to know that other people survive life at this pace