SONG FOR SUNDAY

Song for Sunday here (Isaiah 30:41)

Photograph taken a number of years ago when Aaron made origami birds for Emma's Christmas tree.

A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE HAS OCCURRED

...When people enter a witness protection program, they are given a new identity.  Their old name, accounts, places, daily routines, and even relationships have to be put in the past.  They become someone new.

When we are born in Christ, we become someone new too.  We may look the same as we did before, but a fundamental change has occurred.  The Christian life is an exchanged life.  Jesus took our identity to the cross and then filled us with His identity.  Instead of living our own self-oriented lives, He lives His life through us.  He took all that we have upon Himself and gave us in exchange all that He has - His name, His authority, His inheritance, and more.  As Paul said, we no longer live;  He lives in us.

That  means we don't have to depend on our own wisdom, love, faith, or any other quality.  We don't even pray in our own name anymore.  We use His.  His presence within us provides all we need. We can claim His faith, His ideas, and His solutions for everything we need.  We can have His humility, patience, boldness, compassion, and any other of His attributes we need.  Instead of focusing on the how, we focus on the who and let Him be Himself within us.  Over time, we begin to love or forgive or have bold faith not because we should but because that's who we are.  The life of God within us will be expressed if we will let Him express Himself...

Excerpt from Experiencing God's Presence Devotional (Chris Tiegreen) and here in South East Queensland the Jacarandas are all in flower.

SONG FOR SUNDAY

Song for Sunday

Photograph taken near Gerda's in New South Wales

WEDNESDAY QUILTING

We have been meeting at Kerrie's for over fifteen years.  Here's what Leona's working on...and this,

and these...

Val...

  

This is going to be super gorgeous.  These 'strips' with all her 'blue' work will make up a super, duper quilt.

and Kerrie J....

English paper pieceing in Civil War materials...

Dear Robyn continues working on her latest Crazy....

Kerrie K on her applique

and...dear Lynne is making this for her new sewing room...

And let's not forget moi...

Nearly finished off an old project from long, long ago.  A wee angel in need of some eyes!

SUNDAY SEWING AND...

...thinking about this quote from Brennan Manning's book ABBA'S CHILD.

"...And there have been times...
when the felt presence of God was more real to me
than the chair I am sitting on;
    when the Word ricocheted like broken-backed
lightning in every corner of my soul;
   when a storm of desire carried me to places I had
never visited.
   And there have been other times...
   when I identified with the words of Mae West:  "I
used to be Snow White - but I drifted";
   when the Word was as stale as old ice cream and
as bland as tame sausage;
   when the fire in my belly flickered and died;
   when I mistook dried-up enthusiasm for gray-haired
wisdom;
   when I dismissed youthful idealism as mere
naivete;
   when I preferred cheap slivers of glass to the pearl
of great price.

If you relate to any of these experiences, you might want to browse through this book and pause to reclaim your core identity as Abba's Child."

MABEL,THE REDUNDANT BOTTLE OPENER, RIPENING PEARS AND A SONG FOR SUNDAY

Song for Sunday

READING

David went off to return books to the library when I suddenly remembered I had wanted to blog a bit more about Paul Kalanithi from his book WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR.  Quickly hobbled to the telephone and left David a slow message which I was assured by the recording would be relayed to him as a text.  "Bring   back    the   Doctor   book!"  And brought it back he did.

My little torn paper bookmarks were still in the book so here's the first one.  I'll do the other one another day.

His wife writing the poscript to the book.

"I expected to feel only empty and heartbroken after Paul died.  It never occurred to me that you could love someone the same way after he was gone, that I would continue to feel such love and gratitude alongside the terrible sorrow, the grief so heavy that at times I shiver and moan under the weight of it.  Paul is gone, and I miss him acutely nearly every moment, but I somehow feel I'm still taking part in the life we created together.  "Bereavement is not the truncation of married love," C.S. Lewis wrote, "but one of its regular phases - like the honeymoon.  What we want is to live our marriage well and faithfully through that phase too."  Caring for our daughter, nurturing relationships with family, publishing this book, pursuing meaningful work, visiting Paul's grave, grieving and honoring him, persisting...my love goes on - lives on - in a way I'd never expected."

And the beautiful quilt above?  It's me reading with dear old Dougal beside me.  The little girl, bottom left is my earliest memory, standing at the gate telling everyone who passed that I was going to start school soon, Scottish background top left. Summerfield barn and red bench which we scattered everywhere we lived after a visit to Switzerland, Glasgow University where I started and didn't finish an MA - but developed a strong interest in Scottish Literature and Economic History, the beautiful MacIntosh chair made by David, the roses he has given me, each of the past forty seven years, the gum tree, symbolizing my new home which I love and the bluebird representing David, always at my shoulder and always full of love.

And the quilter?  My dear friend Robyn who is, at this time travelling the same road as Paul's wife.

IT'S THE WEEKEND!

...and I hope you are relaxing too!  Took this photograph a couple of years ago.

TO BEGIN,

begin.

                                                                                          William Wordsworth

You're all encouraging me with your comments on Facebook!

BE YOURSELF BECAUSE...

...everyone else is already taken.

(Oscar Wilde)

I can't remember exactly where I took this photograph of work on a quilt, but it was in an exhibition somewhere in Scotland.

CHILDREN AND MUSIC LESSONS

Anna at Pleasant View Schoolhouse wrote this great blog on Children and Music Lessons.  Perhaps useful for mums who may be finding it difficult to get their children to do their music practice.

http://pleasantviewschoolhouse.blogspot.com.au/2006/07/children-and-music-lessons.html