Quote of the Day

By perseverance, the snail reached the ark.
- Charles Spurgeon

Refiner's Fire by Brian Doerksen

While the purification process is painful, the results are definitely worth it.

Purify my heart.
Let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart.
Let me be as gold, pure gold.

Refiner's fire,
My heart's one desire,
Is to be holy,
Set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be holy.
Set apart for You, my Master,
Ready to do Your will.

Purify my heart.
Cleanse me from within,
And make me holy.
Purify my heart.
Cleanse me from my sin,
Deep within.

Malachi 3:3

Malachi 3:3 says:

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.  One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. 

That week the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work.  She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up.  He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.  The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says, He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.  She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.  The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire.  If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. 

The woman was silent for a moment.  Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"  He smiled at her and answered, "Oh that's easy - when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.  Whatever you're going through, you'll be a better person in the end.

Welcome To My Wardrobe

Earlier this year I had a wardrobe cleanout.  Duncan still thinks it was an excuse to buy more clothes.  I have two words to say to that....OP SHOPS! :)

When it comes to clothes, I've always had a certain attraction for the weird and wonderful.  Yep, this post is something a bit different.  You're about to take a whirlwind tour of my wardrobe. :)

I do have a thing for weird skirts!

Bohemian skirt

Hippy skirt

Funky Asian skirts

Random purple skirt

My dad thinks this skirt looks like a towel.

'Whoa you're spinning me out' skirt.

Bright colours for summer

Crazy shirts

You can never have too many faces.

A friend thought this was Michael Jackson (definitely NOT)

 

Tiger....RAH!

Monsters...RAH!

I love t-shirts with witty sayings.  This one says 'I Go Batty At Night'.

I'm Awake...What More Do You Want?

Chocolates...Here Today...Gone Today.  A friend found this shirt for me and reckoned it was highly appropriate.  I think she's right! :)

Oh and have I mentioned how much I love HATS? :)

Despite my semi-unusual taste in clothes, I am very fussy when it comes to others buying me garments.  I have one friend who I trust to buy me clothes and that's it.  Another friend once bought me a top two sizes too big (ummm...hello?)

What's So Amazing About Cooking Shows?

 






Why is everyone currently OBSESSED with Masterchef, My Kitchen Rules and all that jazz?

I have one word to say about such shows:

BORING!

What is so interesting about watching people cook?  Why are so many Australians hooked on reality TV? We know by now that it's not 'reality', but highly crafted.

Maybe it's because I couldn't eat half of the stuff they cook on these shows anyway.  But even in my pre-arthritis and pre-low starch diet days, I never understood why some people are so tantalised by gloop, garnished with gloop, with more gloop on the side.

I'm proud to say I've never watched an episode of any cooking show.  The most I've ever seen is a few seconds while I change channels, but when I've been asked if I've been watching Masterchef and reply 'no', the horrified looks I get are quite hilarious.  It seems it is THE show to watch for Christians and I must be committing blasphemy by not tuning in.

If you want a reality cooking show, then come to my kitchen.  'Cooking with Sarah on the Farm' doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but you'd get to see me in all my cooking glory with no editing.  Here's what you could expect:

• An improvised recipe due to me forgetting some of the ingredients, and now the shops are shut and just too far away anyway.
• Shooing Ebony out of the kitchen.
• Cooking by candlelight because the power's gone out (thank God for gas stoves and ovens).
• The smoke alarm going off (fortunately this is a rare occurrence and usually only happens when I get distracted).
• Me deciding to scrap the planned meal and do something easier instead.

Yes, my friends, THAT is reality.

I suspect the answer to this post may well be, "Each to their own."  Other people probably don't understand why I like what I do either.

I don't get it.  Please explain....

Small Groups: Why Have Them At All?

I guess this is the logical question to ask in this series.

What can small groups achieve that larger groups may struggle to?

I've been in some shocking small groups (which I'll go into in a later post), but overall my experiences have been positive.  I think small groups benefit introverted or shy people especially.

Here are some reasons why I think small groups are beneficial and worth putting effort into:

• It is generally easier to get to know people on a deeper level.  This does depend on the personalities in the group, but a small group makes it harder for people to remain silent and not have anyone notice.  Generally people notice if you're sitting quietly and not speaking to anyone which doesn't always happen in a crowd.  Some people have mentioned they have found it easier to invite friends to a Bible study group rather than a big church service.  Again, this depends on the personality of the person you're wanting to invite (some people like being lost in the crowd where they can just take everything in rather than having people set upon them, asking them who they are etc).
• Moving on from this point...I've found some great friends in small groups whereas many people I've only known at church remain at an acquaintance level.  I became friends with a good friend of mine through Bible study.  We'd been in the same church for years, but never got to know each other.  She had to leave early each week because of work so I would email the prayer points to her.  Our friendship grew from there.
• There are more opportunities to become involved and serve others.  There often tends to be more 'passengers' in larger gatherings.  Because you're getting to know people better, their needs become more obvious.  Small groups give people to confidence to try new things in front of a familiar, supportive audience.
• Small groups enable you to focus on and care for a particular group of people. There are so many opportunities to love others, it can become a bit daunting.  That doesn't mean we ignore other needy people, but the group gives us a place to start.
• The people you're meeting with are likeminded.  That doesn't mean there aren't personality clashes and disagreements, but generally the reason for meeting is pretty clear e.g. we read books, we study the Bible and pray, we're all mums, we play tennis etc.  Sometimes in larger groups the group's purpose can become lost.

I don't know where I would be in my faith if it wasn't for small groups.  I would have ended up with only shallow relationships and become daunted and lost in the crowd (this can happen in churches only of 50 people).  I don't know where I would be in a small farming community without sporting groups.  That doesn't mean everyone I've met has become my best friend (some experiences have been far from positive), but overall the benefits are huge.

The sad thing is when small groups die.  You're in a group which has been a fantastic experience, but slowly people's busyness is choking the group.  Less and less people turn up at each meeting.  You're still keen, but others have lost their drive.  The hardest thing is learning to let go.  Some groups were always destined to have an expiry date, but having wisdom in when to give up trying to resurrect a dying group is painful.

What small groups have you been part of, and did you find them beneficial?

Towers Galore

One thing Duncan really wanted to do while we were in Sydney was go up the Sydney Tower (formerly Centrepoint Tower).

The views were spectacular, but the admittance price was a bit of a rip off.  It costs $25 per person to go up the tower and look through the binoculars.  Oh well, they need to pay their staff, I guess.

They take a photo of you before you go up the elevator and on your way back down they try to flog you a photo set which costs $35.  No way were we paying $35 for some bad pictures of ourselves.  I suppose there will always be international tourists with lots of money though.

We had a bit of a look around Pitts Street Mall and the Westfield complex there.  It's a far cry from the Westfield Shopping Centres in Perth - I couldn't afford even a button from those designer boutiques.

That night was our last in Sydney so we went out for dessert with Jane and Tim in Leichhardt to celebrate Duncan's 30th.  I enjoyed some gelato while the others shared a dessert pizza.

We bought Jane and Tim a game as a thank you present for having us stay with them.  They love board games, but can't buy big ones because of the limited space in their tiny apartment.  In the end we bought them Uno Stacko which is like a combination of Uno and Jenga.  It is so much fun and a nice size.  Here are Jane and Tim with the most impressive tower we made all night before it came crashing down.

My thoughts on Sydney:

• I don't think I could live there.  It's all bit too big and bustling for me.  The traffic and lack of parking...oh my!  You can't just run down the street to the shops like you can in Perth.  But I like to think I'm adaptable and that I could live there if I felt God was leading me there.  One thing I always feel about cities is that I'm overwhelmed by how many people there are in the world, and how many don't know Jesus.
• I was surprised how old and rundown the city looks in parts - it's more like Melbourne than I expected with the old grungy, graffitied look in many areas.  We were in the inner west so I didn't get to see the outer suburbs much.
• One of the reasons for going (apart from seeing Jane and Tim) was so Duncan could have a chance to experience a little bit of what it's like to study at Bible college.  We went to the chapel service which all students attend and Duncan went to a lecture on preaching.  He's not sure if he can live in the city again (and I'm not sure I'd want to live in student housing), but he is keen to do some form of theological study one day.

Overall, I loved our trip and I'm finding myself pining for Sydney.  It was a memorable time.