It’s been a while, but I’m back! I don’t know about you, but I always find the start of the new school year consumes an awful amount of time and energy and contains a lot of apprehension about the unknown. It’s about now (almost four weeks in), that I feel I can exhale and then draw a deep breath in, setting my shoulders towards what I now know this school year will look like.
Starting school again after the long holidays is like changing the course of a huge sailing ship which has caught the winds of freedom and now has to be turned back around with great effort and set on a more structured path steaming towards the goals of the new year.
One thing that really stood out to me over the holiday break was the failings of our life here on earth (perfection is just not attainable here) and the need to set my eyes on heavenly things. The water above looks perfect, but lurking just below the surface was a whole army of stingers, menacing with their long stringy black tentacles. As beautiful as it looks, swimming here was like running knowingly through a swarm of bees and just as painful!
My earlier reminder of the need to store up treasures in heaven, rather than here on earth came from our Christmas tree. Here it is above, looking PERFECT. In fact, it was the most perfect looking Christmas tree we have ever had! (we hauled it all the way back from a farm in Wanneroo after a weekend escape to see U2 in concert). Fast forward a week or two and a bout of particularly hot weather (some of it while we were away), saw us return to a tree that was drooping at the top and starting to go crispy. Zoom in on the photos below and you will see!
Now that we’re back to real life and reality, I’ve some exciting things to share with you in the next few weeks – all the details of our annual Valentine’s Day breakfast and all the fun of Harriet’s French birthday party. Stay tuned!
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
It’s the summer holidays and many of us will be hitting the road and heading away for a well earned break. When I was growing up we spent most of our holidays camping. This was a great way to get away without breaking the budget, although Dad always said that he couldn’t see why he should spend his holidays as well as his working life in the heat, dust and flies! As a child I also craved life on the other side of the fence – a week or two in a swanky hotel would have done quite nicely. I was, however aware that there were two sides to the divide – some friends escaped their parents hotel to spend some nights camping with us. To them it was an exciting adventure and an experience they had never had the chance to enjoy before.
