The Millennium Giveaway

This is my 1000th post!

It has taken me six years, two months, and 26 days to reach four figures.

I've been wondering why it is that people read blogs, or rather why they choose to read certain blogs and not others.  Why do you read the blogs you do?  Why do you read this blog?

I've tried to brainstorm a few reasons why people may choose to read particular blogs:

• They know the blogger in real life.
• The blogger is in the same stage of life as them.
• A shared faith/worldview.
• Shared interests.

But really I have no clue.  That's why I'm interested in your answers.  Please leave a comment letting me know why you keep reading the blogs you do?  What keeps you reading?  I won't publish any answers.  Instead, I'll compile a list of reasons, but I won't say who said what. 

To celebrate the millennium here at the Sedshed, I'll be having a giveaway.  If you leave a comment with your answers, you'll go into a random draw to win either of these two prizes (winner's choice):

A copy of The Trellis and the Vine which I reviewed here:

or this beautiful Dusty Rose Pink Pendant designed and made by Amanda from her shop Polyclarific:

Even if neither of these prizes really appeal to you, consider entering anyway and think about who you could give them to as a gift. :)

This competition is open to anyone around the world.  I will announce the winner next Friday at 4pm (Australian Western Standard Time) so you have a week. :)

If you would prefer to email me your answers, you may do so to seddyed at hotmail.

Quote of the Day

Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier.
- Kathleen Norris

From Head to Hand: Lessons Learned From Enid

Whenever I'm sick, I inevitably end up watching more daytime TV.  I never usually watch it normally, even during my days at home.  When Duncan and I were both sick and channel surfing, we came across a midday movie that was definitely worth watching.  Simply titled Enid, it was a movie based on the life of Enid Blyton - one of my all time favourite childhood authors.

What started as excitement soon turned to horror.  Although the very versatile Helena Bonham Carter puts in a fantastic performance as always, the way Enid Blyton is portrayed was absolutely shocking.  She is made out to be a malicious, adulterous witch who is trapped inside her own fantasy world.  She drives her first husband to the drink and neglects her two young daughters, instead churning out over 6000 words per day on her typewriter.

Now, you never know how accurate biographical movies are.  How much of it is true and how much is sensationalised is anyone's guess.  I know I would be outraged if a movie was made about my life and I was made out to be a monster.  I did some Googling and found interviews with Enid's two daughters, Gillian and Imogen.  The now late Gillian said her mother was a wonderful mother.  Imogen, on the other hand, saw it very differently.  She apparently came on set while the movie was filmed and gave tips on how to portray Enid.  There was no love lost between them.

Apart from the shock of seeing one of my childhood heroes shown in such a negative light, what did I learn from this movie in regards to my own writing?  It can be summed up in one sentence:

Don't give up your day job!

I don't mean 'day job' necessarily as a career.  Most writers need other income to support themselves.  While I've written before about needing to be proactive in creating the necessary time to write, it's important to know that writing isn't everything.  I need my current job for the income and to get out of the house.  But while Enid didn't have other employment while she wrote, she did have two very important roles - wife and mother.  There is one scene where she invites some of her young fans over to her country manor for a tea party.  When one of them asks why her own daughters aren't invited to join in, she replies, "Oh they see me all the time anyway."  I thought, Rubbish!  They are always stuck with the nanny.

As I approach parenthood, this was a huge wake-up call to how I balance raising a young family with my desire to write.  While I still feel the urge to write, I don't want my kids to feel that I love the characters I created in my own head more than I love them.

News Sharing Etiquette

While it has many positives, Facebook often really bugs me.  It has become a vehicle for people to just dump important news out to the hoards without any consideration for their family and close friends.  It's fine to announce to your 200 friends that you're eating a nice piece of cake, but I really don't want to find out that a close friend or family member is engaged, pregnant, has given birth, been diagnosed with cancer, or dead via Facebook!

I know I'm not alone in thinking this, but I often feel like I am.  When I casually mention to people that it's polite to notify those closest to them by means other than Facebook before throwing it out to the general public, I get puzzled looks.  But Facebook is so much easier and more convenient, they say.  That is until they are on the receiving end.  Suddenly they don't like hearing about the birth of their niece or nephew along with everyone else.  Suddenly Mother's excuse that it was easier to announce via Facebook that Granny had died rather than call the family individually just doesn't cut it.

I've felt hurt that I've found out things from people I used to consider quite good friends via their Facebook status.  Whereas in the pre-Facebook days they would have sent me an SMS, email, called me, or told me in person, now suddenly I'm just lumped in the same category as that person they went to school with and haven't seen for 10+ years.  Even a private Facebook message would have been better than a status!

So, Duncan and I have been faced with a dilemma: Do we just plod along with the way society is going and stick all our news on Facebook?  Or do we swim against the tide and continue to notify those important to us via other means BEFORE sticking it on Facebook....whether they return the courtesy or not?

We decided to go with the latter.  With the impending birth of our baby, we decided to put our convictions into action.  We either phoned, texted, or told people in person (if we happened to see them) that I was pregnant.  By the time we announced it on Facebook, most people already knew.  Sometimes it feels like people announce things on Facebook straight away so they can get lots of comments/likes.  Other methods of communication may be more expensive or inconvenient, but I know when people go out of their way to tell me things, I feel valued.  We wanted our friends and family to know we value them.

My other gripe with news sharing is when people share OTHER PEOPLE'S news for them.  Things like announcing the birth of other people's children on Facebook before they get a chance to do it themselves! "I'm so happy for my friends Bob and Sue who have just welcomed little Bobby-Sue. Love you guys!"  In the pre-Facebook days, I found out some friends were engaged because another friend rang me before the engaged couple got a chance to.  It's just not on.  It's someone else's special moment.  They should get the chance to announce it.  Excuses like, "But I was just so excited," don't cut it.  I honestly think people do this because they want to look important and 'in the know'.  They want others to know that they knew first.

When you've got some news to tell,
Share with those who you know well.
Before you spread it far and wide,
First swim against the tide.
Make an effort for those near and dear.
Think how you'd feel if you were to hear,
Something via the grapevine,
You'd expect to hear via another line.
Let people announce their news.
Remember the social cues.
It's their time in the sun,
Don't let your tongue spoil their fun.

What do you think is good news sharing etiquette?

The True and Living God

In light of the recent Olympics and current Paralympics, I thought a review of this book would be appropriate.

At times, I found myself getting disappointed in the performance of the Australian athletes during the Olympics.  Great Britain (the country I most wanted to beat in the medal count) did so well.  I read that the British government has been pumping stacks of money into sport and it was obviously paying dividends.  When it was suggested that the Australian government do the same, I was all for it.  Yep, our athletes need more funding.  We need more gold medals.

Then I realised just how screwed up my thinking was.  What does that show about my priorities?  Success?  Fame?  Sport is a fantastic gift from God that we should enjoy, but money is more desperately needed in other areas.

The True and Living God by Kim Hawtrey is one of those books where you go, Yeah, yeah, I KNOW all this.  We KNOW we have idolatrous hearts.  We KNOW we have forsaken Jesus for the man-made, false gods of this world.  The trouble is that we all need its message to seep down into our hearts.

The book examines the passages in Genesis where Adam and Eve first rejected God and how that is the root of all idolatry.  In my opinion, the best chapter in the book is Chapter 3 of Part 1 which is called Modern rivals to God.  This really fleshes out which idols permeate Australian society and Christian culture.  Idolatry is subtle and we often need each other to point out our blind spots.  This doesn't mean that we can't enjoy things in this life, or that we should have an attitude which despises God's good gifts.  It doesn't mean that if someone enjoys golf then they have made it an idol.  But too often we say, Oh we don't worship statues, so we're ok.  Things like money, family, relationships, others' perceptions of us, TV, career, and sport can also be idols.

As Duncan and I are about to step into parenthood for the first time, it was good to re-read the section starting on page 76 entitled Worship of Family: The noblest form of atheism.  Too often in churches, the 'family way' is promoted as the 'Christian way'.  After all, how can sweet as pie families be anything but Christian?  So often I hear Christian parents say, "My children come first."  This section is a rebuke to that notion.  Jesus warns us that an absolute and overriding devotion to family as our 'everything' can actually keep us out of heaven if it displaces God from first place in our lives (page 77).  A single Christian I know said she was shocked when a Christian couple she knew separated and later divorced.  She told me how this made her realise she had placed marriage on a pedestal as if being married would ensure ultimate happiness and an end to life's problems.

I've also realised that I can be tempted to idolise other people's lives, even some celebrities.  When someone I saw as 'good' does something wrong, I feel like I've been ripped off in some way.  Their halo has slipped when I should never have been seeing them as wearing a halo in the first place.  There is a difference between being thankful for someone's example and 'following' them.

The True and Living God provides a lot to chew over so it's worth reading slowly. 

This book is available from the Matthias Media Australian store here.

There is also a US store here.

Bible Verse of the Day

My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Jeremiah 2:13

Diary of an Incubator: 20 Weeks

I can't be that big surely!  The camera lies.

Haha how evil does Ebony look in the background...