What fun! You might have already seen this, but it made me laugh so I had to share it with you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4 (click to watch) - the free hugs campaign.
Smile!
Chrissy

Proud of Elijah's creativity

Hi all, I just had to share some work Elijah has been doing in his spare time... making incredibot creations which do some fun stuff! http://incredibots2.com/?robotID=worms24b039663a60d37.28815916 Try it and see...
Blessings,
Chrissy

Quick catchup

Hi all,

Here is a post I wrote ages ago but forgot to publish:

Have been quietly going about the work of being a fulltime mum, keeping the boys and myself on track with developing good habits, keeping house as best I can, keeping up with the extracurricular afternoon activities (we have even added in swimming lessons now, so only have one day a week whan we don't have to be going out to something). But, I find I have been neglecting to keep up with friends and family - so consequently am feeling rather alone at times. If you are recieveing this blogpost as a friend or family member, would you mind making a reply or comment on it?

Last night I made a short speech at Toast Masters, an inspiration for the evening, with the focus on a very wide topic, WORDS. This was not one of the speeches which is evaluated, so I did not have any official feedback from it as to what I could do better, what I did well etc. But the anticipation and preparation, the buildup to it was almost enough to make my brain turn to mush! Am hoping my next speech goes a lot better, with a lot more preparation and fine tuning and in-depth understanding of the topic, so I can speak well with good interaction with the audience rather than stopping and starting while I check my notes.

Books I have been enjoying recently: The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin. This is the second time I have read this one - and my oldest son is quite excited to grasp the basic concepts in it - that there really truly is encoded facts, names, dates, and happenings related to our modern world hidden in the original hebrew in the Old Testament, which really can be found now using simple enough computer searches to find the equidistant letter spacing for each word or date searched for. The writer of the book is an atheist, who set out to find if the code truly exists - he and many others (who were also skeptics) have come to the conclusion that it is really there, undeniably not a product of chance (to the mathematical probability of one-to-trillions range). So, there is now a dawning realization by some that the books in the Bible were given to the human race by a benevolent intelligence far above any comprehendable intelligence which we can imagine. Yet, those who still continue to deny that God could exist wish to believe that this intelligence which knows the future, all possible future happenings, who has encoded it all for us to find if we look for it, might be an alien intelligence of some kind!?! I think maybe they have been lured into thinking that evolutionary theories hold water, or have been so saturated with all the "millions of years" ideas in every so-called scientific book that they cannot use their own reasoning to work out whether those ideas are based on actual facts or simply assumtions about the form of the world as we see it today.

Well, now that I read it, maybe it didn't get posted because I was worried about some of the possible comments which might be directed my way from diehard atheists... we shall find out what happens.

Until next time,

Happy Christmas!

Link to a speech about creativity in education

Hi everyone,

   Here is a link to a vid about how education ignores creativity as valuable.... very entertaining!

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Until next time...

C.

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NZHomeMum has shared a video with you on YouTube: Hi everyone, Here is a song. Check out the names of the people who helped put it together... recognize any? Until next time... Chrissy P.S. Please don't be shy to make a comment... please? Passchendaele Anzac Tribute Passchendaele Anzac Tribute
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Big Weeds

Hi all,

    We have a massive weed in our garden, just hidden from sight behind a pretty countoured bush so we can't see it from the house. It is nasty - huge thorny prickles on each broad leaf, taller than my five-year-old, almost as tall as an adult. We have tried ignoring it, it just keeps getting bigger. We sprayed and removed a smaller one a few feet closer to the house. There are several more near the fence, but none so tall and nasty as that one. It has to be dealt with!

    There are several lesson here: if we try to ignore the things that make us prickly towards others, they just get worse. They need to be pulled out by the roots. Also, it can be painful to get anywhere near the issue.

    Our own self-talk will determine how we talk to and about others - remember "love your neighbour as you love yourself"? It happens! If we call ourselves names, this will spill over into calling others those same names. If we believe we are worthless unless we get things perfect, we will project that belief onto everyone we have to work alongside. There is such truth in the verse which says "As you judge, so you will be judged". So, the issue is: how do we get to the root? How do we deal with the underlying issues? Especially with all that pricklyness (read hypersensitivity) around.

    Well, I have seen that the systemic spray can take out such a weed. It needs to be applied thoroughly, left to do it's work for a little while (two weeks for Roundup), and then once the leaves look brown and dead, it will be much easier to remove. What will work with the weeds in our own lives? Our nasty self-talk just gets worse if we don't recognise and pull it out before it gets big. This brings to mind another verse - "Do not let a root of bitterness grow up among you". Do not let it! What if that root has snuck into a corner where you couldn't see it and has flourished before you dealt with it? If it has already grown up? And is spreading?

    We could try triple-gloving, putting on a flak jacket and somehow get close enough for a grip around the base (without poking out an eye or gouging an arm), but then what? Our own strength is nothing compared to the hugeness of that root. It would snap and stay in the ground rather than be yanked out by us. No, our own strength is useless. We need that systemic spray. The one which works on the whole plant as one, getting into the circulation and spreading to every part so the whole thing is dealt with. This problem is bigger than we can deal with on our own. We need help. We need God. We need advice from others who have dealt with this problem before.

    Maybe that weed is there for this very reason - to give me a physical picture of the spiritual reality so I can think through how to face the prospect of dealing with some prickly issues in my life.

    I am definitely not a fan of spraying toxins into our ground, and know that Roundup can cause some nasty reactions in some people. But hey, it is better to apply it wisely and get rid of the nasty weed (which won't be removed any other way), than to have that weed take over our little patch of paradice.

 

Comments, please?

 

Chrissy

 

Under our old fridge

Hi there,

    Last weekend we installed our new refridgerator/freezer. (Our old one was a second-hand gift for our wedding 14 years ago!) Well, after over a decade of not being moved, can you guess what we found underneath?

There was almost an alphabet of magnetic letters, some numbers, a collection of marbles, much muck and fluff, as well as catfood, other little plastic toys, cars etc... It took a while and almost a whole roll of handy towels to get the floor clean again!

    So, here is a friendly reminder to check under your fridge at least once a decade or so!

Much love,

Chrissy

 

 

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