Musings (Page 2)

In the past couple of weeks, I have been feeling particularly inspired to create. My mind is buzzing with colours, techniques, patterns and pottery forms! In Australia, I have been to several little galleries and I find myself drawn to the paintings with bright happy colours and bold strokes. The colours and shapes don’t necessarily look exactly like they do in real life, but they convey a sense of energy and positivity.  I love the way art makes you think. It…

Musing and Eco Church Update from Lindsay  If CO2 were a Starfish In the EcoChurch team at Ilam, we are still discerning what environmental goals might be appropriate for Ilam Baptist to embrace. As part of this process, I felt I needed to try to define the “why” better, so the “how” might be more apparent.  Also noting, like many faith related things, God does not expect us to fix or solve the problem by our own strength but rather to…

Last Saturday as I took a walk through Burnside Park, I stopped briefly at a stand of gum trees and touched the rough bark of the tree trunks.  I found myself reflecting on the life of a good friend, John Bethell, who passed away suddenly last week. Throughout the week I found myself sharing snippets about John with people that I came into contact with- my workmates, my friends and family.  John was an introvert who loved nothing better than…

Take off your sandals and take up as seat  A prayer of Henri Nouwen, based on John 13:1-20.  “I am looking to you, Lord. You have said so many loving words. Your heart has spoken so clearly. Now you want to show me even more clearly how much you love me. Knowing that your Father has put everything in your hands, that you have come from God and are returning to God, you remove your outer garments and, taking a…

We just had a lovely weekend away at Glenroy for the Ilam Church Camp.Here are few of my reflections and noticings…  We missed those of you who couldn’t make it or who aren’t really in to camps and I hope there will be more chances for conversation and hanging out together throughout this coming year.Thanks heapsHelen.

Relearning Old Wisdom Adulthood is a constant rediscovery that the things your parents told you to do when you were little are actually great ideas. Things like routines, saving money, being grateful, having a bed time and so on. Boring! Or so I used to think… I was enjoying a Bible Project podcast the other day on the Lord’s Prayer. It was really interesting, and one point they made stood out to me: Jesus was building on the Jewish obligation to pray three…

Gravestones and New Stories  In a development that should come as a surprise to no one, I finally received my ADHD diagnosis last week. The path to this result has been a lengthy, convoluted process that appears specifically designed to filter out the very people it seeks to assist. I would argue that one look at the interior of my car, or any first-hand experience of school mornings in my household ought to suffice as diagnostic material.  My first response…

Wasting Time with God   A few weeks ago I packed up some panniers, jumped on my bike, and rode off for a three- day personal retreat. It was a mix of ‘active’ resting, journalling, sleeping and amateur attempts at contemplative prayer. My primary objective throughout the retreat was to ‘be present to the present.’  To keep gently drawing myself back to each moment and simply, slowly pay attention to who and what was there.  I hoped the slow down and refocus…

A few weeks back our whanau got to experience a river swim in the Waihopai River, while visiting family at the Top of the South.  We had been hopeful of a river swim earlier in the day when we’d packed our picnic lunch and togs in expectation.  Our picnic spot was idyllic, but when we went in search of the river, we found that it had dried up to a trickle!  Not only that, we saw a dead possum sitting…

Fences and Bridges  I found a large pile of railings, palings and posts, stacked on my front lawn when I got home yesterday. Fortunately, I was expecting it. My three neighbours and I have agreed to work together and build a new boundary fence. It needed to happen. The old one was rotten and falling apart. None of us professes to be particularly handy on the tools, however we’re doing the job ourselves to save money. We will soon discover whether…

This is one of my favourite quotes and I have had the immense privilege of seeing it lived out over the summer holidays. We stayed in Kaiteriteri again with a number of families from Ilam. I also had some of my wider family staying as well. They were overwhelmed by the generosity and community that they saw and experienced. From bike rides and playing games at the beach to sharing supper and chatting in the evenings. For board games, walks…

Reflections and ResolutionsI find there is something really nice about the fresh start that New Years can bring. Yes, technically it is just an arbitrary date no different from the day before or the day after. But to me with everything wrapping up for Christmas, my birthday in early January and my siblings heading back to school and leaving for tertiary study later on in February, it definitely feels like a time of change.  Over the last few years I…