Monday, July 30, 2007

Boredness and Jonah... I know it's an odd combination - work with me here :)

As you can probably tell; I'm bored. And it's not for lack of trying to find constructive things to do -it's because I went into Uni this morning only to find that the lab I thought I had to go to wasn't actually on in the first place... consequently, I wasted a morning... then came back home and wasted more time but with more of a sense of satisfaction...

...and if that made any sense to anyone, could you leave a comment and explain it to me?

Seriously though, it's been a while since I posted anything here and that's mainly because I've been away etc... I've just come back from SAN Getaway with CREDO - the AFES christian group at UTS.

For the noobs to the workings of CREDO - each faculty network has their own "Getaway" (it's basically a weekend away but in the middle of the week... hence "Getaway") and Science and Nursing decided to go to Katoomba again this year. We usually just spend time hanging out, reading the bible and praying together and listening to a few talks. This year's topic was Jonah.

...I never really realised it but Jonah, even though he was one of God's prohpets, wasn't really a very nice guy. He was really an arrogant jerk in many respects. Listen to this:

So [the sailors] asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?" [Jonah] answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." Jonah 1:8-9
Hah! Can you imagine just how small the sailors would have felt at that? Jonah basically stood up and told them how amazing he was because he was one of God's chosen people when he was in some serious trouble from said "God of heaven".

It's really sad but I can definitely remember some times where I've felt superior to non-christians and have acted like I knew it. Hopefully, purely by the awesome grace of God, I've grown out of that (although perhaps by saying something like that I've just proved that I haven't... hmm). From a non-christian's point of view I can really see how that sort of behaviour would be a huge turn off.

It reminds me of a passage in Proverbs -

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is
wise." Proverbs 10:19

Perhaps when thoughts like Jonah's cross our minds, it would be better for all
concerned to just not say anything... heh - easier said than done for someone
who feels they have to fill the smallest silence...

I suffer from "foot-in-mouth" disease...

On a lighter note, Melinda and I decided one day to hijack Jess's Larry beanie baby thingo... here are some of the photos we took... enjoy :)


Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Home!

It's funny, but you never really appreciate what you have until it's gone...



And as cliche as that sounds, it's true!



I'm currently sitting at the computer in my parent's house *side note - wow this keyboard is awesome!*, waiting for tiredness to set in so I can go to sleep in order to prepare for the invasion tomorrow... and I think it would have been easier for one and all if I had stuck with "my friends are coming over"



Now don't get me wrong - this is not, in fact, a bad thing. I'm really looking forward to being able to introduce my friends to my family, it's just that there's an awful lot of them descending on my house.



And to my parents' credit they haven't batted an eyelid; Mum was actually preparing what to cook for dinner the moment I asked her if it was ok for seven people to eat at our place... only four are staying the night so I think she was cool with the compromise... hehe



This sort of thing doesn't happen often. I don't know if it's got something to do with the fact that I don't come home much because I have a crazily busy schedule or what, but they never give me the old "*sniff* you don't love us anymore..." guilt trip. Not once.



And the minute I decide to come home, I bring an army...



... or ask for money... because I am a poor uni student still dependent on her parents... *Sighs*



But they don't mind.



I think I take that for granted sometimes.



It's amazing to think that God would bless someone like me with such a wonderful family when there are so many more people out there who would deserve it much more than I do. It's funny but I never really realised how much I loved them (and I think present tense should have been used there but it didn't make sense... so pretend...) until I moved out. (Go the 11:00pm stress bucket sessions... heh)


*sniff* alright, now I'm homesick...


*sigh*

Monday, July 16, 2007

Bored Bored Bored...

As you can see... I'm bored...

I think I've completely exhausted my list of things to do as well - I've tidied my room, done three loads of washing, gone shopping, bought all sorts of useful things like shampoo and yougurt snacks (and yes, i know I'm supposed to be lactose intolerant but as we should have guessed by now I am quite possibly the worst lactose intolerant person around... *sigh*), plus I even went in and introduced myself to my new manager at work.

...and now I have nothing to do...

...well actually I can think of a few things to do but that would defeat the purpose of this blog... so I'm not going to do them for now... hehe

Isn't it funny how we complain about all the things we have to do when we have to do them *pauses and considers sentence structure... eh, it'll do* and then once we have nothing to do we wish we had... the things we had to do before... to do... again... *grins*

Perhaps taking more English-style courses at Uni should go on my "to do" list.

That and convincing James that putting his scarf inside my ugg boot is not "violating" it...

Oh and teaching myself to juggle...

...and to play harmonica...

hehe

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Study Camp '07!




Well, as promised, I thought I'd write down some thoughts and experiences from last week...

... and I also promise I'll try not to make this sound too corny although as the first sentence seems to suggest, that could be a little tricky...


Anyway...


Last week, me and a group of others from CREDO, Wollongong Uni and Moore College, went to Port Hacking for an HSC study camp... and no I was not studying... I was helping other people study (I'm not that much of a nerd... really)


The basic Premise of the Anglican Youthworks Study Camps is to... well study really. But they also run Bible-based talks and discussion groups. Paul, our speaker, decided to go through Ephesians which raised alot of really good questions and disscussions.

It was such a privelage to be able to share the gospel with "kids" (hehe - they got so offended when we called them that - we had to explain that it's more of a term of endearment than anything else... so funny) who probably didn't have much of a chance to hear it before camp and it was so encouraging to see them so open to asking questions.



Most of all, I was encouraged by the leaders on the camp - they were an amazing bunch of christian men and women! Kudos to Kat DC and Paul for handling some of the tricky situations with such God- given patience and kindness! It was so great to see!


Leaving camp, I was struck by what can only be described as "post camp blues".
I got home and sat on the edge of my bed and just felt... well sad really. I hadn't wanted to leave! I think it's a sign of a great camp more than anything - I got the same feeling after ETC.

*Sigh*


Anyway, I'm off to go and tackle that room worm into submission... if I don't make it, Amy, you can have all my CD's.






hehe


Saturday, July 14, 2007

My first post! (Batteries not included)

So I decided instead of posting the muddled up randomness I like to call a blog on myspace, I'd set up something new and different... something else I can procrastinate on.

Because we all know that's fun...

That and I now have two weeks where I'm going to have nothing to do except read, watch movies and... *sighs*... tidy my room... Seriously, I'm sure there's some yet-to-be discovered species of "room-worm" lurking somewhere in the depths of the very nearly waist high mess that's littering my floor right now...

You know it's getting slightly ridiculous when you have to take a running leap to get to your bed.

Anyway, that's all from me for now. I'll be back soon though with another essay on the amazing week I've just had :D

See you!