bit by bit

I spent the evening doing my least favourite task of the packing process... consolidating and sorting the bits and pieces - the draws of "stuff", some of which I'd never give away, some which are special products that I've been saving just because they're too special to use frequently, and some items that in reflection are simply... junk! Thrown in a drawer or on a desk because I didn't know quite what to do with them at the time, or with hindsight I see them for the trinkets they are.

The task was made much easier though by the presence of one of Australia's premier singer song writers, Helen Mottee. It was such a pleasure to have Helen sit and keep me company though arduous process and I'm so very thankful! It was almost as good as having my mom here helping me through the task.

I'm left though with the question of what to do with sentimental items I simply can't take home. an empty bottle of wine and a bouquet of (now dried) flowers for a birthday gift. my bonsai. two years of life, and notes and survival - I'm getting rather ruthless but I'm still and always will be a keepsake and mathom holder.

Celebrating the Victories

Today I set myself the task of packing my two bags for the plane which would consist of sorting through, folding and packing my clothes. Yes, two bags just for clothes - but for those who know me getting it down to just two has been quite a feat!

Summer and Winter wardrobes combined, along with two dressing gowns, coats, stuffed animals and a pillow - I looked at the pile beside which covered my whole bed and wondered HOW would it be done!!!

Bit by bit I fit the bulk into the first bag - alas not the big bag I brought stuff over in, but a smaller one which Mom left with me when she took the daddy one home.

A small victory was achieved with the inclusion of many articles, but when I looked at the remainder I had no idea how they would fit into my small back pack (it looks deceptively large but I can pack it full just for a weekend trip).

My animals suffered first with the assistance of a vacuum bag - thanks Flatty Marnie :) - which also helped downsize my dressing gowns, biggest coat and the sweater Mom knitted for Dad when they first got married (sweet I know - only he doesn't wear it and I've pinched it).

SUCCESS was achieved much to my delight and exhaustion, with the addition of my sleeping bag attached to my Macpac.

So here's celebrating victories large and small.

P.s. If you should wonder how I'm getting non-clothing items home... answer is: carry on baggage, and 2 boxes being posted (one already packed!!!)

P.S.S. Yes, I'll be looking very daggy for the next two weeks! I've packed all my clothes and will be wearing items I'm not packing!!! But I've still got my shoes :)

Skype is Down!

SkypeOut, SkypeIn, Skype Voicemail, Skype SMS
All working normally.

Security alerts. All working normally.

Central contact list. All working normally.

Sign in and registration. Problems with Skype login.

Peer-to-peer network core. Problems with Skype login.

Skypecasts. All working normally.

Your Account and payments. All working normally.

Web and download servers. All working normally.

It's amazing how attached I've become to the technology of Skype, and how disconnected from the world I felt when I couldn't log on today.

a broken heart is never fun


----------------
Now playing: Coldplay - What If
via FoxyTunes

The Assumption of Mary

Today was the Assumption of Mary celebrating the passage of Mary, the mother of Jesus, from earth to heaven. I'd never heard of this before, but was encouraged by the reflection based upon 1 Corinthians 15 stating that "If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.", but that it's NOT so, we do have hope beyond this life, and that hope, which is the same as so many others who have passed before us, is not futile.

The reflection asked us to think of speaking to Mary, what would we ask her? What would we ask other people that have died, who would we want to speak to? What were our thoughts on death?

It was interesting pondering as I've always had a bit of an abhorrence of death - I like living. As much as I can grumble I don't want to die, and I certainly don't want my friend or family to... but again, it comes down to trust. Faith. Hope. We are not to be pitied, and my hope in Christ and life beyond this living is not futile - I don't understand it, I don't know what it will be like, but I do believe in it.

In other news I've just spent the past 4 hours renewing my CV and writing my first real (i.e. addressing selection criteria) job application in 5 years! Aiyahh... Back to the real world soon!!!

I love Widgets!

I was on a website today and saw the following widget:

http://babystrology.com/tickers/

A Baby Ticker!! Just so all your friends and family can know just how developed your bub is and when it's due... how cool is that!

I did find a link to further widgets so stay tuned for an updated blog page! Great for moments of procrastination where I'm sick of packing!

I'm Published!!!

For the first time ever one of my photos was requested for publication today!

While it's only on the slide-show on a small story in NowPublic, it was still quite cool to be asked for permission to use it.

In other news, I'm leaving Hong Kong in 3 weeks, I've yet to book my ticket, my mom might be coming over to help me (YEAH), and I have much more than 3 weeks worth of work to do.

Googling

I hoped to get a bit more sleep last night after working the day, alas, it was not so! 3am dawned and by 4 despite my mind's protestations I was wide awake.

The result after some productive newsletter folding was this:

"Elizabeth Grace Shaw was born on 16 May 1904 in Floyd County, Virginia. She died on 4 Nov 1971 in Madison County, Alabama."

3am thoughts

Since arriving back in Hong Kong on Friday I've been wide awake from about 3am each morning. As my mind is in overdrive I've found myself listening to sermons or surfing the web to pass the time (although this morning I've almost finished my final newsletter which was quite productive).

In my late night web browsing I've found myself once more disheartened by disillusionment as I've read articles and news sites on all manner of topics, but primarily current events and Hillsong. I was reminded by Uncle Phil's blog though as he quoted Bonhoeffer that we are all sinners, and so to judge anyone is not only wrong (after all God should be the only judge) but often hypocritical.

So... with that in mind, and the thought that I stand on the knife edge of hypocrisy, I share with the www that I don't like main stream happy clappy Christianity. I identify with the words of Geoff Bullock where he says:

I’d like the word worship to go out of our vernacular and that (instead) we would enjoy our musical arts as an expression of faith, an expression of celebration, a creative expression of grace but when we thought of (God’s) outworking in our lives, we thought of rolling our sleeves up and getting committed to physically meeting needs and to loving people and accepting people and allowing God to reveal Himself to them...I’d love to see an inclusiveness where this whole culture was broken down. I’d love to hear people sing but not striving to have a spiritual experience in it

I love to sing and praise God in that, but I'm not a fan of worship per say any more in the P&W sense. I don't like being judged on my performance in Christianity, I don't think we should be, although it's all to easy to fall into this trap. How loud we sing, if we pray out loud, outward indications of an inward relationship to which only God can really see.

In reading through many articles, I've paralleled the time with listening to some sermons by Malcolm Smith on Christ's grace and acceptance (the specific series I'm listening to is entitled "spiritual burnout - the road to recovery"). In this series he states that we must take a serious look at our belief system, and that the promises of the Gospel are incapable of burnout. Looking through the Epistles of Paul, he speaks of a key phrase that runs throughout and that if you were to take those phrases out, there would be very little left in Paul's exposition of the Gospel, with the one that puts it most succinctly being Ephesians 2: 4-7 (I've included a bit more):

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

He speaks on how our relationship with Christ should be founded on these words. Never in what we do, but always coming back to how we are in Christ Jesus, and the blood covenant he made for us. He goes on to expound on these words and how there is nothing that we have as a believer, except in Christ, and from that outworks our Christianity.

I guess listening to him I feel fairly overwhelmed, reasonably confronted, and in some ways simply angry. I know I'm in the process and have been for some months of experiencing the wonder of Grace, but it's a scary thing to know that there is NOTHING that I can do myself. That we must Trust and Obey, and there really is no other way.

I find myself confronted as I know I haven't been living in Christ's mercy and grace nor outworking that in a true sense (although thankfully Christ has still worked through me regardless of my motives or inner fears). I find myself overwhelmed by the attitude shift and change I want to go through, but scared because it becomes much more about trust then works, and fear has become a friend that I need to say goodbye to. I find myself angry because of teaching which is and has been so prevalent that many of us who have been in the faith for so long might not even have the basics right.

A couple of months ago I came across this verse in John 6 and have been really encouraged by it
on many occasions, I find it once again applicable to my thoughts:

28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

I think that verse just about sums up my pondering this morning.

Tea Tea Marvellous Tea

I'll be leaving HK in early September and as such have started to pack up 2 years of ... well, life!

I began the process this morning by sorting through my tea tins and making bags for girls on the team I work with (thinking of having a tea party of some sort time allowing). I counted my teas during this endeavour and they added up to 38!

How Delicious!

Simpsonize Liz!

Have you ever wondered what I would look like as a character on The Simpsons? Never? Not even once?
D'oh! Well, anyway, I would look like this:

Friendly Faces

I went out this morning to stock my fridge and bumped in to some very friendly faces. After a night with intermittent sleep following a transit period of over 27 hours which left way too much time for my overly analytical mind to obsess on issues it was a surprisingly pleasant thing.

And a "shout out" to the Lady Ads bearing thanks for interest in this blog and the thoughts of somewhere smiling :)

Back in my flat

Two weeks away it feels like the whole world should've changed
But I'm home now
And things still look the same
I think I'll leave it till tomorrow to unpack
Try to forget for one more night
That I'm back in my flat on the road
Where the cars never stop going through the night
To a life where I can't watch sunset
(Dido: Sand in My Shoes)