I Have Nothing to Say

It's true--I literally have nothing to say! But here are some photos, taken at J's house a few days after his birthday. He bought the house a few months ago and it is not too far from the beach in the northern suburbs of Perth. Below: The Birthday "Boy"
Jess





Han and James





Deb is at that last-few-weeks-feeling-totally-exhausted stage.



Mae enjoying J's garden. The kids had a great time mixing the bark mulch with the quartz pieces, filling up the bird bath with the mixture, then separating it all out again. It kept them occupied for quite a long time.

Mae and Gracie



Still hard at work--

Jonathan

After these, the batteries in the camera fizzled out--so there are a few people missing. We all had a good time eating pizzas, salads, and chocolate cake! Happy Birthday, J!!

School Has Begun

Well, the First Day of the New School Year draws to a close. I am tired, in spite of the fact that I only had to teach three periods out of 7! Might have something to do with getting up at "school year" time instead of "holiday" time...and the fact that it was go, go, go all day. Even with a full-timer helping out, there are so many duties to be done in a music department.

Dear year 12 son seems very settled and happy with his new classes and teachers. That is half the battle! We had a nice lunch today, from my freezer stash--bean, cheese and salsa burritos (homemade) and chocolate chip multi-grain muffins (also homemade). We're trying to avoid McD's stopovers on the way home....tomorrow will be Quiche Day for us. It's a vegie/bacon/cheese delight!

Part of the fun today was having to sit on stage with the other heads-of-learning-areas during the Principal's Assembly, and hoping the students in the front row weren't looking up the teachers' skirts. I was very fortunate to have gotten there early enough to sit in the back row!

Another fun thing was seeing how clean, neat and shiny everyone looked for Day One. Quite a contrast to the Last Week of School, 2007.

Classes were fun, too. The senior music students all looked and acted eager to learn, and also to find out what is expected of them this term. Young minds are like clean slates, as the old saying goes. According to the middle-school teacher, the year eights were also on their best behavior. 'Course, the middle-school teacher is a DRUM MACHINE, young, bouncy and irrepressible. That might have something to do with it.

The new music rooms are fantastic. They have almost nothing in them, but that is part of the charm. All I require at this time of the year is an air conditioner, and they are well-supplied with good split systems!!

Tomorrow will be slightly busier--I will have four periods to teach and administrative duties the rest of the day. With two new ensemble rooms plus a new office and music tutor lounge area to order furniture for, some of the duties are actually kinda fun. You know.

God bless you and I hope you had a good day, too!

Ups and Downs

I have no photos (again). How embarrassing. I wanted to get a good close shot of the old granddaddy kangaroo who was camping out down by our pond--but not long after he was given a bale of hay to munch on, he moved on. Since then, I have had no inspiration for photos. Sorry.

Instead, today's blog consists of a comparative list of "Ups" and "Downs" over the past few weeks, starting with "Downs"...

DOWNS

1. Having a respiratory virus for four days last week, thus rendering all my good intentions for the week quite useless
2. Very hot weather and some extremely windy days, which resulted in a lot of sand blowing off our foundations and exposing the footings around our house
3. Lack of energy, partially due to the virus
4. Being informed that our next phone bill will be humungous, due to the efforts of teenage son keeping up with girlfriend long distance
5. Holiday time giving more time to miss overseas family
6. Petrol prices near $1.45 per liter, which makes us think twice about going anywhere in the car
7. Holiday almost over, meetings starting on Friday and preparations all next week, school starting on Feb 4th

UPS

1. Lived through the virus and hopefully gained some immunity for the beginning of the school year
2. The addition of 3 air conditioners to our house made it livable through the hot days
3. Beginning to feel like doing things again
4. Prayer times are longer and I haven't been forgetting prayer and Bible study
5. Received email from an old high school friend whom I hadn't heard from since 1967
6. Haven't really had to go out much and have enjoyed being at home
7. Have been able to do extra cooking to put in the deep freeze for school breakfasts and lunches
8. School hired a second full-time music teacher, which gives me additional help and relief
9. School has built 2 new music classrooms, a new office and teacher prep area for music, which also gives additional help and relief
10. Was able to attend a seminar which will really help in teaching the year 12 music this year
11. Our family is alive, well and thriving
12. We are more than halfway through summer
13. Things are really going well at our church both spiritually and materially

As you can see, the ups have definitely outweighed the downs over the past few weeks.

Isn't God gracious and loving!

A New Year's Resolution

It's just a little late to be posting New Year's Resolutions, but if I have one wish for 2008 it is to spend more time in the Word. 2007 was a difficult year, adjusting to a new job and trying to juggle the keeping of the home and care of its inhabitants with a demanding work schedule.

Why do spiritual things take a back seat to the everyday demands on our time? Oh, I didn't miss church meetings, and I prayed every day; but somehow it wasn't the same as spending quality time each day reading God's Word and praying and drawing closer to Him.

The work schedule this year will be more difficult than in 2007. How will I fit in the spiritual feeding which should be the most important thing in my life? Or should I be thinking this way? "Fitting in" the time somehow doesn't seem right. Shouldn't it be "my spiritual life comes FIRST, then I fit other things around it"?

Our spiritual lives have been compared to our daily bread. Most people's lives are centered on earning money to acquire their day-by-day necessities, or perhaps on supporting the person who acquires them. Their lives put JOB first, with other activities "fitting in" around that job. Others may put ENTERTAINMENT first, with jobs and other activities "fitting in" around it.

When Jesus was on the earth, He put His Father's will first. He taught his disciples to do the same, and made that clear to them when He asked them to leave everything behind and to follow Him.

When I look back over 2007, I can see that I put my job first--however reluctantly. I got up in the morning with "just enough time" to get ready for work. Most mornings, this meant getting up quite early and waking my teenage son, having breakfast and preparing for the work day, then a 45-minute drive to school. Oh, yes, I prayed. But the prayer time was usually either when I first woke and as I was getting ready, or later as I was driving to school. At my school, teachers and staff have a half-hour devotion and prayer time once each week. If I remembered to, I might also pray at bedtime. In other words, I was "multi-tasking" with prayer! Can you imagine Jesus doing that?

When I thought about it, I realized that this is not what God wants, or expects from His children.
There may be times when it is necessary to pray when other things are going on around us, or even when we are busy. But even in a busy household, good parents will try to spend quality time with each child. Married couples who love each other seek to spend time together.

My goal for 2008 is to spend real quality time daily--not shared with anything or anyone else-- with the Lord. How will I do it? This requires putting my priorities right and putting Him first, then "fitting in" everything else. Will it be easy? I don't think so.

Perhaps in later posts there will be updates on this Resolution for 2008.

God bless you!