My little monkey.

I got this pattern from the Etsy website. Isn't he adorable. I've made it for a baby shower, but I may not be able to go now, due to unforseen circumstances... (I'm performing with my little band, New Zild at a camp in Ngarawahia, they changed our time).. anywho... so I'm posting it early. I think I'll be making more of these. They're so cute! I made the mistake of letting Catherine hold him, and she swung him by the tail and stretched it! Oh well.

labels

Hey check it out. I think I need to set my priorities straight, coz I think I just spent 30 mins sorting out my labels, so I could have a neat little list of topics at the side of my blog like I see other people do! (Stupid me didnt know what they were for, and had a different label for every single post!!) But now I'm sorted.

What is my calling?

Hey. I actually typed into Google: What is my calling? and got an answer!:

"So how does one determine what one's calling is? First we have to discuss that there are general callings and specific callings. General callings are for all Christians such as to worship God, be a good witness, and transform culture. But God has given everyone specific callings - callings personalized just for you.
God has given you three main things to figure out what your calling is.
#1. Gifts#2. Talents#3. Resources
It can be put this way: Gifts + Talents + Resources = One of Your Callings."

"God is telling you what your calling is by these three things. You can't wait for God to tell you what your calling is, because he's already telling you what it is through your gifts, talents and resources. That would be like waiting for God to tell you the answer when it's already right in front of you. You ask, its there, you wait, its still there, you question why you haven't received any direction from God - it's been there the whole time. To 'hear' God, you must determine your God given gifts, talents and resources."

You can find the full article here:

http://www.decapolis.com/faith_/pages/WhatisMyCalling.shtml

Superstars of Irish Dancing

This was a good night. It was called Superstars of Irish Dancing, a fund raiser for the Connolly School of Irish Dancing. They got ex-irish dancers, and paired them up with people who have never danced, and taught them a routine and did a little dance together. I wish my camera had done a better job :( you may guess its a guy in the dress, and I think someone told me that's Ansliegh Dunford dressed as the fulla. As you can also guess, the evening was a blast and I saw alot of people I havn't seen in a while.

Theology Thursday! week two

Poo! I wanted to be all deep and start something cool - but now I've gone blank. Oh well, I'll just write about myself. Why not? It's my blog!
The Book of Jerimiah, my fav book of the bible. God doesn't mince words here (why do we??) and tells Israel exactly how He feels, and why He is disciplining them. (I know I emphasise this, but its the main thing I've learnt to date).
Ok. The verse I was thinking of is actually in Isaiah, (but same deal) "They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations aso I also will chose harsh treatment for them and will bring upon them what they dread". Isaiah 66:3
When I was a teen, I'd make "deals" with God. "OK Lord. You can cut off both my legs. You can let me go blind. There's only one thing youre not allowed to do. I don't want to loose my sanity". I don't think it was a coincidence that when I was disciplined it was with seven year of mental illness.
"But what terrible sin did you commit?" I hear you ask.
Stubborn Pride.
I remember somone saying that if we mess up sexually we are "only human", and I remember thinking "that's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. God wants us to be righteous doesn't He?"
I've discovered He wants us to be righteous, yes, but not SELF-righteous. That's pride. God hates that. God gives us a righteousness from Jesus. We can never earn it. Catch 22 though, once we are gifted with the righteousness of Christ, our lives slowly get sorted anyway.. (stumbling and tripping along the way).
Yay for God :)
I'll end there. Good night.

WOO HOO!

I did this! I made the sign and I installed it all by myself. It's not perfect , but I'm pretty happy about it! It's the first time I've ever set posts in concrete, and it was a big learning curve. (Wow... that's something I wouldn't tell my clients!)

It took 2 days for me just to p ut the posts in.

And alot of days sweatin with worry about whether or not they would blow down in the bad weather. To be honest... the posts did end up crooked. But then... it's not really the posts that people are going to be looking at is it? and I feel like I could improve next time, now that I've worked out the steps.

Quite chuffed about this to be honest :)

$5 a Day - the Trade Off!

THE WORK/LIFE BALANCE

To me that means a money/life balance - meaning you trade away life, to work and get money.
(Some people love thier jobs- so they get life AND money. I'm not one of those people)
I'm on the benefit - so in some respects you could say I get life AND money. But getting money from the government makes me feel bad about myself - so I get money - and the trade off is a bit off "life". (When I say "life" I guess I mean "happiness...) so I spose it's really a MONEY vrs HAPPINESS trade off.
Now, I'm also living rent free, so my basic costs are quite low. I onlyneed $150 a week to survive. And my little allowance would be $35 or less a week to be DELIRIOUSLY HAPPY, (with my new theory). Now $175 is around 12 hours work, say 2 days, then I'd have, say, 5 days fo "happiness". Now thats only if I stick to my $5 a day budget. If I spend more - I would have to work more and would decrease my "happiness" by x ammount. Then I would have to decide "Does the ammount of extra money I spent make me happy enough, to make up for that extra time I spent working?"
I'm sure there's a formula. I may have to sit down and work this out!
(I love the way I put happiness in parenthesis, as if I subconciously don't believe it exists... I think I'll leave that one for my phsycologist...)

Theology Thursday!

Thursday is a good day to theologise, coz I've got nothing on all day ("yipee!"), and I've just had Bible study the night before.
So then: Topic one "PREDESTINATION"
As in: God has already determined our eternal destiny before we were born.
Now I strongly believe in this, although lately, I have been learning ab0ut the flip side, our choices. But that is always preached, and because I never hear predestination preached, whenever I read in the bible something that points towards it I pounce on it "Ah-ha!". And the bible is littered with little verses pointing towards it.
My basic belief is this... that yes although "we-are-not-robots-and-we-have-a-free-will", that God can orchestrate those choices into His ultimate plan.
Here are a few verses I found just now, flipping through my bible.
"But you are a chosen people..." 1 Peter 2:9
- Many are invited, but few are chosen
" Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and inherit the Kingdom..." James 2:5
"Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.."
"Their destiny is destruction.."

And the example my bible study teacher, Dr John, mentioned last night was when Jesus said we have to be born again. And do we choose when we are born? Nope. Not up to us. Spiritual truths cannot be understood without the Holy Spirit explaining them to us, and God imparts Himself to us when He choses.

WHY??

Pretty cool sign, huh? Two of them all made up on a shiney board, grafitti guarded and everything. And guess how much profit I made from the two of them?

NEGATIVE $14. WHY??? Why do I keep doing this to myself? And when I got the email back from the quote he goes.. "is this your best, quality not compromised price?" as if to say it was dear. I charged $450 for 2 signs, 1800 x 650. I should have doubled that. I suck. No wonder I keep on wanting to quit. When am I going to learn?

$5 a Day

I've half come up with this theory that me and Catherine (Catherine and I) can have an amazing time on less than $5 a day. It was all so obvious when I was a kid, but I feel like I'm having to relearn things I knew when I was ten. Like I've really been spending money to compensate for being miserable and grumpy... but my parents didn't splash out on me all the time, and I had an amazing childhood. And I'm sure Catherine would have a better time if I spent less money and just practiced being happy.. (In fact, sometimes she'll actually say to me "Be happy Mum!")
So I've started a list and hope to add to it as I get inspired.
Here's what I've got so far:

Having a blast on less than $5 a day:

-Bake a cake, biscuits, fudge, pancakes etc...
-Weed the garden, collect seeds, plant seeds
- Buy $1 bag of bread and feed the ducks at the pond
- Go for a walk in gumboots and raincoat
- Show Catherine how to make a sign, out of materials I already have
- Read her a story
- $2 shop toys
- Draw with chalk on the pavement (I used to LOVE that!!)
- Blow bubbles
- Make a hut in the lounge
- Playdough
- Painting
- Wash the car (great game hee hee)

and here's a list for me coz I'm selfish and want a list too:

-Sewing (not always cheap unless I use what I already have)
-Knitting and crochet (not always cheap)
- Gardening
- Go to the bach (excluding petrol)
- Read. Study. Quiet time
- Excercise
- Practice the mandolin or bodrhan
- Learn a song by heart
- Clean the house
- Do beauty stuff (legs, eyebrows, nice hot bath etc...)
- Enjoy the moments

So $5 a day. That's $35 a week or less on top of my basic needs. I want to develope this idea and see how it goes.