Whizbang Weekends

Wow! - I've had a pretty packed weekend just gone by.

Shaun was over and our time started with dinner on Friday night with friends straight after picking Shaun up from the ferry. We spent the night at a cute little Italian restaurant right in the middle of town - it was a such a good time of catching up. Livi & Bronwyn are great friends for us here in Wellington!

Saturday started with a photo-shoot of sorts they are for a surprise wedding present we know nothing about other than it requires some pretty specific shots from us... made for an interesting photo shoot at times - tempting to share those photos... but I won't!! Then we rushed to a Tupperware party where I ooo'd and aaaah'd with some friends over the latest kitchenware and decked out our pantry with a few plastic containers (only those that truly know me will know how soothing that afternoon was!).

From there, we raced back into town and went to the rugby (Tasman Makos vs Wellington) and caught the second half. Then... (yes there's more!)... we had a light dinner at Roxy's cafe in town again and went to see the Bourne Ultimatum and I LOVED it! I did get a bit of motion sickness with all the fast action shots, but it's awesome! If you liked the first two - this will just complete it all!

Sunday went by at a rate of knots as well! We had the service at Kilbirnie in the morning, then went for a drive around the peninsula and stopped at The Chocolate Fish Cafe briefly for ice-cream, wound our way back to Elements for another stop (it was Hot Chocolate time by then because it was so windy and cold!) and then, after dinner... here's the big thing... we went to the Ten Tenors and it was FANTASTIC!!

I just love tenor voices - Andrea Bocelli being my favourite - and this was like listening to 10 of him! They had a whole stage show which took you through the ages of music from some of the great classical songs to Cheek to Cheek to Rock'n'Roll and Swing numbers - even Hotel California and some modern day songs. And, of course, their encore finished with Nessun Dorma - just brilliant! It was a surprise for me from Shaun - this is where you all sigh! - not bad huh?! I'm thinking I'll keep him!

By Monday, all I had ringing in my ears was Nessun Dorma...ALL DAY!

Signs, Sponges and the Word

Ok... so I'm getting jibes about not writing for ages - again! I thought you might enjoy this then - just a little something I had to write for the Division:

Hanging Up Signs, Wringing Out Sponges and the Word

I’ve been bombarded by analogies and illustrations of late and to say that they have left me challenged would probably be an understatement of sorts so let me share!

I wish I could sit here and describe a typical ‘day-in-the-life’ of a Corps Officer or a Social Officer but, alas, that is not yet my privilege! I can however, describe an all-too-familiar day from my desk at DHQ. The emails roll in, the days just seem to disappear, the ‘interruptions’ are a plenty and the to-do list grows – candidates need ‘processing’ (horrible word that!) and as one event fades into the distance, the next grows, looming ominously around the corner…and the tendency to hang up the ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign is tempting to say the least!

It wasn’t until someone said, “You’re just way too busy to stop for me,” that the penny really dropped. I realised that it is all too easy to hang up the ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign, whether we mean to or not, and I NEVER wanted to become the type of officer that did that!…Challenge Number One!

Then there’s my kitchen tap at home. It drips. Constantly. Relentlessly. And believe it or not, there’s just no solution! As I’m the type who can’t drive peacefully if my keys are rattling in the ignition, you can understand how a dripping kitchen tap in the quiet of the night nearly sends me over the edge!!

How did I get challenged from a dripping tap you ask? Well, my life-saving answer to the dripping tap is the kitchen sponge - it acts as my silencer and absorbs all the drips but then something else happens. It gets so full that it can’t absorb another drop and then it just seeps into the sink.

When we receive spiritual food week after week, month after month, year after year, we can become like the sponge. We can absorb so much that we can’t take anything else in… unless we start giving something out. And that got me thinking – when was the last time I wrung out my sponge – even just a little? Am I giving out or just constantly wanting to receive and be fed?…Challenge Number Two!

And then there’s the Word. How many miracles happened when Jesus was ‘interrupted’? How often are we encouraged to do things for others? Here’s what has been playing over and over in my mind since Livefire...

Matthew 25:34-36, 40 (NIV)
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' …'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

…Challenge Number Three!

If there’s a sign up in your life what would it read? If your life was a sponge how full would it be? Is it time to soak up some more or is it time to be wrung out? Wherever you are in your week – flat-out busy, humming along nicely, burdened or energised by your people, may God’s Word refresh you as it has me and continue to encourage and equip you for the journey ahead.