Rachel Kate

On the day...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:36:00 +0000

I just love our wedding pics! Didn't actually think both Jay & I could look nice in more than a couple of photos hehe Stephen and Jessie did such an amazing job!

Thanks to everyone who came to our wedding and gave of their precious time, money, services, gifts, etc. We love you all xox

My last week as a single woman...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:31:00 +0000

So it's my last week as a single woman...

I've had good times and bad time but am looking forward with great excitement to the journey ahead of me!

Goodbye old, hello to the new chapter in my life.

LOVE, battlefield or other?

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:15:00 +0000

I found this little article online and thought it was an interesting take on things.
Let me know what you think...

Is love a battlefield?

How hard to you have to fight for love?

If you listen to pop radio, you have to fight really, really hard for it. Right now, there’s a hit single describing love as a battlefield (not to be confused with Pat Benetar’s “Love is a Battlefield,” which was a huge hit way back when in the Eighties).

I’m always hearing songs sung by well-lit young women describing their pain in love, and these songs usually become giant hits. And it’s no wonder. They can be pretty catchy.The problem is, a lot of other women listen to them and come to the conclusion that love equals pain. If we’re not feeling sad, if we’re not feeling the drama, then we can’t be in love. Furthermore, a lot of us who are in bad relationships tell ourselves, “Hey, this is the way it’s supposed to be. Love is work.” This causes some women to put up with a lot of substandard behavior from the men they spend time with.

Love is not a battlefield. It’s supposed to be joyful, exciting, uplifting, full of mutual attraction, affection, consideration, and fun. (Does this mean you’ll never have a doubt or a disagreement? No, of course not, but if you’re crying more than you’re laughing, something is seriously wrong.)

Love is supposed to be you making a special someone’s happiness your priority. That person should be making your happiness his priority (that’s where the work comes in; sometimes somebody has to make a sacrifice, and and it shouldn’t always be the same somebody).

Accept nothing less than a man who doesn’t expect you to settle for crumbs.

I really liked this article. I thought yeah for sure in marriage there's going to be tough times, and times when you don't like the other person at all & find it impossible to "love" them. But with the right attitude, good support from great friends and a whole lot of prayer, I think it really is possible to love someone for a lifetime. Remembering you're on the same side as your spouse and not at war with them; rather warring together against the god of this age. I can't wait to begin our journey...

Spent, Sore and Swindled

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:46:00 +0000

I'm tired.

As in, completely and utterly exhausted.

I don't even have kids to use as an excuse either.

A combination of long days at work doing thankless jobs for grumpy customers, wedding planning (which I'm so over: 'let's just elope' has been my key phrase these past couple of months), too many late nights due to not being enough hours in the day to get everything I want done. And this is all the while knowing I've cut back my commitments so I hardly have any "church" stuff to do anymore.

But, on the up-side after I've enjoyed a good moan, I'm going on holiday in 2weeks.

I can't wait!

To start a new chapter in my life complete with fresh vision and dreams, to rest, to draw closer to God and my new husband, and to capture anew the meaning of why we're here on this earth.

Wonderful Wednesday...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:54:00 +0000

My dress is finished!! WAHOO! That means I don't have to get married in overalls.
Or jeans. Or chuck taylors heh

Thanks to mum and Debra Sampson for all their hard effort these past couple of months

Sorry no pics of it - it's a surprise. You'll just have to be there on the day.
(which is only 3 and a half weeks away YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY)

Did I happen to mention that I'm a
teeny bit excited?

God cares about the little things...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:09:00 +0000

I went on a road trip with my bridesmaids on Monday, the first time we've been all together since I got engaged.

It was a hugely successful trip! We had the first fitting for the bridesmaid dresses and they just look so beautiful! We also got some really cheap, but pretty jewelery.

But the really amazing thing that happened was, while we were heading to the dress place, we missed the turnoff and ended up in Onehunga. As we were going down the street, we passed the shoe shop where I bought my wedding shoes. So we stopped to have a look.

Lo and behold, we found the exact same shoe but in gold instead of silver which is the exact colour that we wanted to get and they match my shoes perfectly! And they only cost $20!

It probably doesn't seem like a huge thing, but it really spoke to me, and made me realise that God is in control. Not only is He in control, but He cares about the tiniest details in our lives. Even when it comes down to getting the right colour and style of shoe.

If He can be that interested in our lives, surely He's worth getting to know, and know well.

Things I'm loving at the mo...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:26:00 +0000

* My Francesca Battistelli cd

* Good books

* Sleeping in my own bed after House sitting for 2 and a half weeks

* Eating all the white Jellybeans before anyone else gets a look-in

* Iced coffees at Shiraz Cafe - Bright Cafe makes a pretty good one too!

* Watching super cheesy movies and laughing really really loudly

* Cheap Haircuts...
I'm sure there's cheaper out there, but it's the cheapest I've found lately.
Only $25 from Excel on Cameron. Wahoo!

* Wedding invitations - 90% done!

* Crazy, funny & downright ugly wedding pics

Running shoes anyone?

Crazy invites

Um?

Click here & here for more wedding posts/good times!

* Offers of help to tidy my room
I still have boxes I haven't unpacked from my last move (about 8months or so ago woopsy) so some very kind people, namely Jon Dylan & my spesh have offered to help!
Yikes could get dangerous...

marvelous mushrooms & the mundane

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:04:00 +0000

I have decided South Africans are very generous people. Not that I thought they weren't before, but I haven't seen any Kiwis come running back to bring me gifts and apologies for not keeping their word.I also got shouted brekky this morning too by an amazingly gifted gal! Mmmmm beautifully done mushrooms on really nice grain toast with bacon and eggs, topped off with a perfect cappuccino. YUM!
Jealous? Yes, you should be.

A few months ago, I designed some flyers for a customer. I spent quite a bit of time on them and realy went out of my way to make them look good and to give them a competitive price too. They just had one last thing to check over before they got them printed, but they never came back. Boy was I ticked. Sometimes we get a deposit before we do drafts and things, but most times people expect to pay at the end, so we rely on a customer's goodwill and honesty. Anyway, I had forgotten all about it when yesterday, this customer came back into the shop. He was armed with a goodie bag filled with chocolate truffles, a really nice card & a pretty good explanation of why he wasn't able to come back! Turns out his visa had run out and he now has to go back to South Africa for 6 months in order to get new work permits. Crazy times. So I was pretty blessed by this and it really made my day. Goes to show, you can't always judge people for not keeping their word...

Fascinating Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:03:00 +0000

My Wedding Planner - Things to do:

Choose a cake...

Invest in some quality his n hers furniture...

Find the perfect decorations...

Hire a band to play at the reception...

Roll out the red carpet for the quality guests...

the spoils of love and war

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:43:00 +0000

So for my last birthday as a 'single' woman & to mark a quarter century, I got extra spoilt this year. Flowers, chocolates, fudge, clothes, soap personally carved in the shape of a fish, funky mugs, yummy smelling shower gels and moisturisers, jewelery & handmade jewelery holders, books (sorry Flannelgraph - all non-fiction), Chris Tomlin's latest cd (yay), 2 free dinners & Dad even cooked me a self-saucing chocolate pudding! Not to mention an extra spesh 'Jon Dylan' gift yet to come...

So thanks to all my precious friends and family... I am truly loved and blessed!

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:44:00 +0000

A picture paints a thousand words...

What is it with me and cars?

I arrived at my car parked in its usual spot in Hatea Drive Car Park to find an empty glove box with stuff strewn all over the floor of my car. Must have been a male thief as all the girly things I had in my car (shoes, tissues, tampons, panadol, perfume, etc) were still there. Although, they didn't take my guitar amp which was in my boot! They were probably dumb and set the alarm off haha. So all's well and waiting on insurance to get back to me so I don't have to pay for window to get fixed. Oh the endless Joys of life...

Tips for ruining your big day...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:57:00 +0000

As you may know, I'm getting married soon YAY! I've been researching some wedding dress ideas & decided to share my top ten ideas with fellow bloggers...

Number 10: Gone with the wind

Number 9: Look Mum, puffed sleeves

Number 8: Catwalk bride

Number 7: Snow Queen

Number 6: Did someone forget to call the babysitter?

Number 5: The mummy returns

Number 4: Taking tree-hugging to new levels

Number 3: Need some extra decorations? Don't worry, just borrow some of mine!

Number 2: Where'd she go?

Number 1: Ultimate Queen Bridezilla

Things I'm loving...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:31:00 +0000

Relaxing weekends

Had a great trip to Auckland where we pretty much did nothing the whole weekend except watch music DVD's, play mini-golf & eat at the infamous Kyou sushi place beneath Brendan's new flat. You never realise just how tired you are until you begin to wind down and relax.

Presents
Handmade for me by my spesh :)

Belated engagement present from a very lovely older lady in the church. Presented with a massive hug to go with it.

Bargains
Scored some metallic paper which is usually around 50cents per sheet at the very cheapest for 20cents each! STOKING. Can't wait to make some more invites with them.

'Nifty fingered' friends

A very awesome friend of mine sewed a 50's dress for me. I had cut out the material, but didn't have time to sew it so she very lovingly did it for me (and probably did a way better job too). Add that to my $10 warehouse shoes and you have a complete outfit for under $30!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:14:00 +0000

Since I haven't blogged in about a month (or reviewed a book on Flannelgraph for that matter-sorry Symz), I decided something had to be done. So there's this cool competition that fiancé & I have entered to win $4,000 worth of Jewelery. It would be the hugest blessing if we won, but I'm not going to count my ducklings. We had to put together the story of how I got proposed to along with some photos. So we employed the'better writer' out of all of us to make it sound way cool and here's what he came up with. Enjoy...

composed by Stephen Garton

Drizzling rain signed the entrance of the weekend, and I stepped outside to face the fourth of April with the underwhelming magnitude of toast and a glass of orange juice on my mind. Don’t get me wrong, today was special; it signified six months marked off the calendar with my best friend and oh-so-much-more-than-that partner, Jason, by my side.

Bayly’s Beach lies somewhere on the cliff-ridden shores of the west coast and certainly is a familiar place for Jason and me, considering we stood sentry to the New Year of two thousand and nine on those very cliffs. Despite the gloomy weather, it was with a light heart that we set out for the short drive north to greet those same cliffs and beach as an effervescent expedition for our anniversary. My brother was with us, and we were to meet Jason’s brother and girlfriend for dinner that night. Oh how naive I was to the intricate plans of what was really going on behind those laughing, innocent eyes of his.

Sparks of familiarity greeted me like old friends when we had lunch at the quaint and only café of the romantic town of Bayly’s Beach. But I wasn’t familiar with the quad ride Jason surprised us with after lunch. And what a ride we had! It blew me away that he was thoughtful enough to consider my childhood memories of quad bike riding on my Uncle’s farm to milk the cows in his circuitous plans. Our laughter was impromptu and contagious as it carried on the same wind that was riffling through our hair; we even spied a seal of all things, washed up on the beach.

I was still just as in the dark, however, when we came back from the ride; still in the dark as we dined at a local restaurant for dinner with his brother and brother’s girlfriend; still in the dark when these two announced to us they had a surprise awaiting us at sunset. Jason’s surprise at this announcement was feigned; mine was as real as the corned beef and mashed potatoes on my plate.

From here things became somewhat of a blur: the blindfolding, the wild-goose-chase drive to mask the fact that we only needed to go thirty seconds up the road; and finally, the long walk up the road, still blindfolded, to the top of the cliffs. What happened after that, however, is still as clear as day.

As the blindfold came off, the first thing I immediately registered was the fiery twilight lighting up mile upon mile of ocean; the water bathing in the soft-coloured light of the recently set sun. I felt Jason’s gentle touch as he reached out and took my own hand in his while he still somehow managed to maintain as much surprise as me. We slowly tread, our footsteps leading us down a path flanked with bamboo lanterns burning to the sweet aroma of citronella; the soft flicker of torches casting a wildly romantic glow, illuminating our rocky path—the moment seemed as beautiful as eternity and my heart leaped with anticipation.

There, at the end of the curving path of flickering torchlight, was something that took my breath away. Suspended from the jutting out cliff face was a wire-frame twisting in two gentle curves leading to a sharp point at the bottom, making it take the unmistakable shape of a heart. The apparatus was ablaze with fire. But, even among all this wonderment, nothing could have possibly prepared me for what was to come next.

The very moment Jason dropped to one knee, I lost all control on my emotions and I was crying in an instant. I was so caught up in the wonder of the moment that I almost forgot to give an approval!

The words tumbled out in a rush before my mind could even process the thought. “You bet I will!” I burst out in my exuberant joy. And the rest, as they like to say, is simply history.

Girls Night Out

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:31:00 +0000

Nina organised a night out for the girls last night! Generally speaking, I find bowling a particularly boring game & usually do really bad at it (I think I've managed to get over 100 just once). Needless to say, I came second (second to last, in case you were starting to cheer), but had an amazing time which was very much needed after having a couple of stressful weeks prior.

The South Africans took out the game with Neen in the lead and Stacey & Mariana following closely behind. The rest of us I suppose didn't do too badly but a good time was had by all and lots of laughs all round! We followed it up by a really yummy hot chocolate with a chocolate fish on the side at Split Cafe.

Starstruck by Sachin

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0000

So I had this customer phone me right, and the conversation went a little something like this...

"Hay, I've got this really great photo and I want to get it enlarged. I took it on my cellphone coz that's all I had at the time, but it's a really good quality photo coz my phone's really good aye. I can't believe it! It's just a one-in-a-million picture. I just happened to be in the same hotel as him and I came out of the elevator and there he was and I was like, I have to get a picture. It's a one-in-a-million I'm telling you. So can you edit this pic and make me look less star-struck? I just can't believe it aye..."

and so on and so forth for about 5 minutes

Here's the original pic that he sent me

I was trying really hard not to crack up while I was on the phone, but I managed not too. But when he emailed me through the picture, well, I just about fell off my chair. For starters, I had absolutely no clue who Sachin Tendulkar was, but also the photo was such bad quality you wouldn't be able to print it any more than a couple of inches high max! And for those of you who don't work with photo restoration, you probably won't care two hoots about this post, but it sure made my day thinking about some of the hilarious people we get coming through our doors.

And here's the finished product (haha)

And just who is Sachin Tendulkar? Well I "wikipediaed" it and found out that he's actually a really famous cricketer who plays for India (for those into cricket). He was in New Zealand when they played us on March 18th. He is ambidextrous and he is the most prolific run scorer in one-day internationals with 16,684 runs. Sachin was also elected Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997 and is ranked by the objective scoring method of the Wisden 100 as the second best test batsman and best ODI batsman of all time.
His father is A Marathi novelist (मराठी Marāṭhī is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in western India and is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi is the 4th most spoken language in India and the 15th most spoken language in the world). Tendulkar sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year and has recently joined a 'save the tiger' campaign. Riveting.

Re-inventing the date night...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:10:00 +0000

So last Sunday afternoon we made dinner together for Mum and Dad. I know, who has rhubarb flan for dinner right? But anyway, I was surprised at how well it turned out! Not because we can't cook or anything, just because it was a new recipe and the rhubarb wasn't quite up to its usual standard.

Most studies of love & marriage show that the decline of romantic love over time is inevitable. The butterflies of early romance quickly flutter away and are replaced by familiar, predictable feelings of long-term attachment. But several experiments show that regular injections of novelty and excitement - simply doing new things together as a couple - may help bring the butterflies back, recreating the chemical surges of early courtship (which, by the way, are also the brain chemicals involved in drug addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder). So on that riveting note, I thought about re-inventing the date night to come up with some different ideas. Here are some of our ideas so far...

Eeling, floundering, goat shooting, fishing, golf, random road trip, attending a rugby or soccer match, picnic dinner at the beach, progressive dinner with other couples, reading a landscaping book together (have actually done this one surprise, surprise haha), a trip to the observatory, games of tennis & badminton and my personal favourite (I found this one online) - find it & fix it. Buying a cheap piece of used furniture from a garage sale and fixing it up together: painting/sanding/decorating/etc.

All this got me thinking about God and our first love. When we first 'met' God, all the crazy emotions we felt and things we did for Him simply because we were 'in love' with Him. And maybe now, the feelings have worn off somewhat and we don't spend as much time with Him as we should. Or maybe the relationship has become stale and familiar. (Just cracked myself up when the line 'and may you' came into my head. I think I've seen too many Rob Bell dvds haha)

So what things can we do to inject some novelty back into our romance to make it come alive again? And how do we press in even when the feelings aren't there anymore?

Because that's what God longs for. To romance us and for us to do things for Him & spend time with Him simply because we love Him - no other reason.

Speak God, you're servant is listening

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:27:00 +0000

Jessie Garrick and I went for a swim at Whale Bay yesterday. Yup that's right, in the rain. Was beautiful. No people, no noise, just us and the rain and a couple of brave seagulls. It was so peaceful. And on Sunday afternoon I finally got to spend some quality time with Jase. It hadn't happened in about 3 weeks due to a number of things and seeing one of my love languages is time, I tend to get a bit tetchy and disillusioned if I don't spend proper time with people close to me on a regular basis.

So then it got me thinking, when was the last time I took some time out to be with God... With no people around, no noise, no 'to do' list to think about, no problems to talk about; just being with my best friend. One on one with no distractions.

Even though I'm super busy at the moment, I took time out of my day to be with Jess because I wanted to. Not because I felt obligated to or thought that I should, but because I knew how much we'd both enjoy it.

And that's how it should be with us and God. Not a 'quiet time' because we should, because we think our 'church rep' will suffer if don't or maybe our pastors might ask us how we're doing. No, quality time spent with our Lord because we want to. I challenge you (just like I'm challenging me right about now) to go somewhere just you and Jesus and see what He has to say to you. You just might be pleasantly surprised!

The scent of a hamburger

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:50:00 +0000

So the hospital tells me I have to go and see a dietitian. How exciting. Never mind that my diets been the same for about the last however many years and I've never had any issues before. I think it's just their way of saying, we have no idea what's wrong with you so we'll try this. But anyway, all that aside, lately I've been doing a lot of research on food and here’s a few things I came across that I didn’t know too much about

Did you know....

The scent of a Hamburger can be manufactured?

Open your refrigerator, your freezer, your kitchen cupboards, and look at the labels on your food. You'll find "natural flavor" or "artificial flavor" in just about every list of ingredients. The similarities between these two broad categories of flavor are far more significant than their differences. Both are man-made additives that give most processed food most of its taste. The initial purchase of a food item may be driven by its packaging or appearance, but subsequent purchases are determined mainly by its taste. About 90 percent of the money that Americans spend on food is used to buy processed food. But the canning, freezing, and dehydrating techniques used to process food destroy most of its flavor. Since the end of World War II, a vast industry has arisen in the United States to make processed food palatable. Without this flavor industry, today's fast food industry could not exist. The names of the leading American fast food chains and their best-selling menu items have become famous worldwide, embedded in our popular culture. Few people, however, can name the companies that manufacture fast food's taste. All of these aromas are made through the same basic process: the manipulation of volatile chemicals to create a particular smell. The basic science behind the scent of your shaving cream is the same as that governing the flavor of your TV dinner.

One can make anything smell like charbroiled hamburgers because that smell has been created by the fast food industry to make you want to eat their food. They do not have to list the chemicals that make this smell on the ingredient list. All they have to write is "artificial flavor" (or color). There could be about a hundred toxic ingredients that make up this smell, but because you have no idea what they are anyway, all the food manufacturers have to let you know (by law) is that their product contains "artificial flavor." This lack of public disclosure enables the companies to maintain the secrecy of their formulas. It also hides the fact that flavor compounds sometimes contain more ingredients than the foods being given their taste. The ubiquitous phrase "artificial strawberry flavor" gives little hint of the chemical wizardry and manufacturing skill that can make a highly processed food taste like a strawberry.

A typical artificial strawberry flavor, like the kind found in a Burger King strawberry milk shake, contains the following ingredients: amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amylketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol), aionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent. Without affecting the appearance or nutritional value, processed foods could even be made with aroma chemicals such as hexanal (the smell of freshly cut grass) or 3-methyl butanoic acid (the smell of body odor). The flavor industry is highly secretive. Its leading companies will not divulge the precise formulas of flavor compounds or the identities of clients. The secrecy is deemed essential for protecting the reputation of beloved brands. The fast food chains, understandably, would like the public to believe that the flavors of their food somehow originate in their restaurant kitchens, not in distant factories run by other firms

Click here for more crazy info about the food we eat.

Things I'm loving...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:52:00 +0000

Having a new project
- For a 50's themed 21st birthday -
So I get an excuse to go op-shopping, or to make something for this funky theme. The funny part is, a lot of the dresses I 'googled' look pretty modern to me! Amazing how fashion comes and goes.

Coffee with friends

People who come in to work to see me and we go out to coffee together, well it just makes my day. Thanks to Heather and Arna :) love you girls!

Free Dinners
Tomorrow night I get to go to a free dinner. So it's a 'sleep' seminar and they'll probably try and talk you into buying stuff, but hay, a free dinner is a free dinner! Pretty stoked about that. Here's to a great night with friends...

Simple Weddings
I went to Becky & Jeremy's wedding last Saturday and was blown away by how such a simple wedding could be so peaceful, relaxing and yet totally effective and charming. I had such a great time and loved everything about it!

The Theatre

Starting next Friday is 'Faulty Towers' being held put on at the Otamatea Theatre. I just love this show and own all the episodes so can't wait to go see it in real life!

Faith

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:18:00 +0000

I had an MRI scan last week. Having been having health problems since last June and the doctors still can't figure out what's wrong with me after countless tests, they decided to take photos of my brain instead. Sort of exciting (almost like caving except you can't move at all), but sort of scary in a way because I didn't know what to expect. I had some fun with the nurse who proceeded to put one of those IV thingys in my arm but popped the vein instead. She then moved onto the second vein which was equally as painful, attached the IV thing to a long tube and put two syringes at the end of it. Then they counted down and squirted the contrast dye at high speed into my vein causing copious amounts of blood to leak out of the IV. Gross! Lucky for me, I couldn't see any of this; could only feel my blood dripping everywhere (I hope there's no squeamish people in Renewal Youth reading this). My arm still hurts!
Which brings me to a word that I still haven't quite grasped the full meaning of.

FAITH

Did you ever wonder if you weren't healed from something or it took a long time, that meant you didn't have enough faith? Or if it was because you didn't pray enough? Or had sin in your life that hadn't been dealt with? If God has the power to heal then why doesn't He? I have been wrestling with these thoughts for awhile now and wondering how on earth people who are diagnosed with cancer and don't ever get healed, cope. How do they stay happy? How do they explain to non-believers why their loving Heavenly Father hasn't made them whole? I was talking with a good friend about this subject recently. She's been through a lot herself so I knew I'd find some wisdom in what she had to say. Sometimes I believe God cares more about our character then about our comfort and well-being. So I've come to think of it a little something like this:

Faith is implicit trust in a sovereign God who knows exactly what He is doing and is in total control. Faith doesn't just fall from the sky conveniently whenever you need it. It involves the heart, as well as the choices you make. Here's a question that really challenged me... Will you still serve God while you're sick? Will you still pursue what He has called you to do? Or will you believe the lie that there must be something wrong with you for this to have happened and therefore God must be punishing you.

A guy who definitely knows what it's like to trust God has this blogsite that I quite often visit. You can check it out here.

Things I'm loving at the mo...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:01:00 +0000

My pink 'massage' jandals
- yup they are pretty much attached to my feet! -
They've lasted probably over a year now and I bought them at a BP when I desperately needed a pair! Only got the pink ones because they didn't have green or blue in my size but they grew on me :) and the bonus is that they massage you're feet while keeping them cool for the summer...

Laser Tag

Coming third in laser tag on Saturday when there was 10 people playing and 8 of them were males! I think this proves (theoretically) that girls can play paintball and come out ok?

Romantic Russell
haha what a laugh - there's nothing in Russell
But... we did have a very relaxing time (click here to see Facebook pics) and was a good way I reckon to spend a Sunday afternoon. Crazy road trip with Jamie, Stephen and Jase, time at Long Beach topped off by a summer bbq.

Friends and Family
I'm loving catching up with old mates, making new friends, and keeping current friendships alive. I'm loving the journey of getting to know people for who they really are and not just the mask we can often put on for church, etc.
I'm loving that my family are there for me and pray for me regularly and give me advice when I ask for it.
I'm loving that my youth pastors are looking out for me.

Free Time

Having a little bit more time lately to get into some reading.
I read Skin and Adam over the weekend and have now started 'Captivating' - Unveiling the mystery of a woman's soul (who on earth would know how to do that I really don't know) - lent to me by a very good friend and is written by the same authors who put out 'Wild at heart' the guy's book by John & Stasi Eldredge.

Random Acts of Kindness...
Ok so for the cynical out there, maybe it's just something that happened because of 'the guy trying to impress the girl' syndrome, but it made my day so I'm going to share it anyway. The other day, Master J (makes him sound like a teacher lol) asked to borrow my car. Thinking nothing of it and not bothering to ask why (I tend to be a bit dense when it comes to this sort of thing - probably a good thing) I gave him my keys, and promptly went back to work. At the end of the day when it was time to finish up, I went to the carpark to get my car, and opened up the driver's door. Not only was there a really arty bunch of flowers sitting there, but he'd washed my whole car inside AND out! It was real dirty after driving to Parachute and back and I wasn't looking forward to doing it. The cool thing was, I didn't ask him to do it, didn't even hint that I'd like someone to do it but it got done. Wahoo!

On Valentine's Day...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Seeing it's coming up to Valentine's Day real soon and I haven't put up a post in awhile, I thought now was a great chance...

I was talking yesterday to a certain someone about all the reasons why I'm not a fan of it and why apart from giving one of my female friends a card every year, I have never celebrated it. Call me a cynic or whatever you like, but for me personally, the thought of having to give somebody a gift on a specific day just because everybody else is doing it, doesn't really appeal. I like spontaneity and gifts that are given just because. I was once given flowers a few years back, to apologise for something. It just put me off. I think I was more upset at them for giving me flowers to make up for it then I was over whatever they had done! Maybe I'm just weird, but hay, everybody's entitled to their opinion.

Business's love Valentine's Day because not only is it a huge marketing success, it gives them a chance to have a sale and promote their goods. In this aspect I like it, because working for a business myself, I will be exploiting it for all its worth! But for the people who fall for the advertising ploys every year, I have no sympathy at all. Prices go up (especially for things such as red roses), it's hard to get dinner reservations, and then you get some people (not all I might add) who see it as an excuse to be slack all year. This isn't a sexist comment, it's just something that I've noticed throughout my working years by colleagues.

It got me thinking though, what if we were to treat God the same way some people treat their partners on Valentine's Day? How would it make Him feel? It wouldn't be much of a relationship would it? Just paying Him attention and showering Him with gifts on one day of the year. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered, maybe it IS how some of us view God and church. We come in on a Sunday once or maybe twice a week, give Him our half hour or so of lip service, think we've somehow paid our dues and then carry on the rest of the week hardly thinking about Him. Not all of us are like this obviously, but how many times do we fall into that trap?

The ultimate advertising guru, the devil spins us this lie that as long as we keep up appearances and just give God a little bit of our time when everyone else is doing it, that we're ok. Never mind, that without constant work, a relationship will fall to pieces. Without spontaneity and showing appreciation for each other on a regular basis, the partnership will soon become dry & boring. Without consistent communication that is extensive and thorough, hurts & grudges can accumulate, leaving it wide open for satan to come in and mess things up. Maybe I'm looking too far into things, but I was in a deep-thinking mood and this is what came out of it :)

So this year I won't be celebrating Valentine's Day, but I will be trying to make more time to spend with my Saviour and all the other important people in my life. Not for the sake of a day, but because they mean a lot to me and I don't want the relationships in my life to go stale and dry

My holiday moments...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:26:00 +0000

As promised Symz, here's a new post. Wow I finally did it haha.

Beautiful Baylys

Jon is a poser from way back

Jon Dylan

Will & Wal

I've finally got around to getting the photos from our holiday at Bayly's Beach. What an awesome time. Just chillin with family and friends for 6days doing nothing but sitting at the beach, fishing, playing cards, doing crosswords, playing soccer, going for walks & having good God time. Nice and relaxing. Yay for holidays! Now can't wait till Parachute 09. Wahoo!

Francesca's Hen's Party

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Kate) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 22:23:00 +0000

Francesca before...

Francesca after...

I went to a hen's party last night. Good times! Abby did a fantastic job of dressing Fran up I thought. Hideous yes, but then embarrassing the poor girl before the wedding is what a hen's party is all about right?

Check out the great pics below for a bit of a laugh...