My holiday moments...

Friday, January 16, 2009

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!

You make everything glorious

Friday, October 10, 2008

I love things that are beautiful. Flowers, trees, nature, artwork, animals, interesting people, etc. I see evidence of God everywhere I look. Anyway, I spent the afternoon a while back helping a bunch of people paint mum and dad's new house. As my dad would say, it's such a good feeling taking a plain boring wall and making it into a masterpiece. Or at least making it look better than what it was!

I drove all the way out to Mum & Dad's only to discover I couldn't find my painting overalls anywhere and hadn't brought old clothes with me so had to put up with wearing these... Yikes!

Fashion awards here I come...

You take this...

And turn it into this!

OSH safe scaffolding...

Texting on the job...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Some people quote the Sound of Music as being their ultimate movie, others are into Pollyanna, and still others frequent the channels of Discovery & read Geographic Magazines as their favourite past-times... So I thought, that it was time I let the geek in me come out and share my love of Jane Austen films with the world of Renewal Youth. A few of us girls have started this movie club of sorts where we pick out a different movie each week to watch while the men go off and do their thing; although secretly we know they are dying to watch it with us.


So far on our list we've seen:
- Pride and Prejudice (Old school BBC version)
- P & P (Modern version with Keira Knightly)
- Bride and Prejudice (Bollywood version)
- Emma (Modern version with Gwyneth Paltrow)

Still to come we've got planned:
- Emma (old version)
- Clueless (based on modern day Emma)
- Sense and Sensibility (BBC version)
- S & S (Modern version with Hugh Grant)

Jane lived a really bizarre life...

She was born in Steventon, Hampshire, where her father was a reverend at the local parish and was the second daughter and seventh child in a family of eight. The Austens did not lose a single one of their children, which was very unusual in those days. Cassandra Leigh, Jane's mother, sent them all to a wet nurse in a nearby village a few months after birth to be looked after for another year or longer.

Her mother was a hypochondriac (or had a 'health phobia'): basically a person who tends to exaggerate their symptoms no matter how insignificant or excessively worries that they have a serious illness . Many people suffering from this disorder focus on a particular symptom as the catalyst of their worrying, such as gastro-intestinal problems, palpitations, or muscle fatigue, rapid heart beat, sweating, muscle tension, stomach discomfort, and numbness or tingling in certain parts of the body (hands, forehead, etc.). This explains why in Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennett is always complaining about her 'poor nerves' and her 'palpitations & flutterings'. Jane obviously based this particular character on her own mother.

She published her works anonymously and only really became famous after she was dead.

She first started to write for family amusement as a child and was very shy about her writing; she wrote on small pieces of paper that she slipped under the desk plotter if anyone came into the room.

The theme that prevails in most of her works is that the young heroines must marry in order to secure social standing and economic security; yet Austen herself never married and was considered by society to be an old maid at the young age of 25!

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." (from Pride and Prejudice, 1813)

As she grew into adulthood, she still lived with her parents (I told you she live a bizarre life) carrying out those activities normal for women of her age and social standing: she practiced the pianoforte, assisted her sister and mother with supervising servants, and attended female relatives during childbirth and older relatives on their deathbeds. Austen was particularly proud of her accomplishments as a seamstress. She also attended church regularly, socialized frequently with friends and neighbours, and read novels - often of her own composition - aloud with her family in the evenings. Socializing with the neighbours often meant dancing, either impromptu in someone's home after supper or at the balls held regularly at the assembly rooms in the town hall. Her brother Henry later said that "Jane was fond of dancing, and excelled in it".

Virginia Woolf called Austen "the most perfect artist among women."and still others considered her to be right up there with Shakespeare, among "the fine painters of life".

Now although I am not too keen on the idea that you have to get married in order to be accepted properly into society and to have a stable income, (that's just how it was back then I guess) I just love how most of her stories have such good morals. If just one person in the whole family was to go out and sleep with someone outside of marriage, then it would bring shame to the whole entire family! They would be disgraced unless a marriage was quickly arranged. They led such simple lives and everything was uncomplicated. Yes, we have definitely moved on from then, I mean, what female wants to wear a dress every single day of their lives? But morally oh how far this world has fallen! Makes you think...

The Jon Dylan Guide to Life & Living

Thursday, August 28, 2008

I wrote this post two days ago and I thought it was pretty cool. Until I went to publish it and the internet (which had been playing up all day) decided it would go offline and it was only then that I realised the auto-save function hadn't been working. So I lost most of it and had to pretty much start from scratch and write it again. Then I got home and found it had saved most of it, just hadn't showed up yet! All that, after I'd already re-written it. I've always said God is into irony (no, not ironing) and now I know it for sure! The post was all about trying to find humour in a bad situation. So if anyone can see the funny side of that then I'd love to hear it! Anyway so this is my attempt at re-writing the post. Here goes...

I found this meaning of the word humour: An alternative (or surprising) shift in perception or answer is given that still shows relevance and can explain a situation; When a sudden relief occurs from a tense situation.
They say that humour is a great way to live longer, be healthier, and helps to get you through life's struggles and trials. They, whoever they are, would be right I believe. I have found throughout the years that whenever I'm going through a rough time, if I try and see the humour in a situation rather than point out all the negatives, the valley becomes less intense. It is still hard, but somehow easier to bear.


The trick is, as well as seeing the funny side of things, is remembering to look back. To look at the past that God has brought you out of; to look at the dry times that God has brought you through; to look at the good times that God has provided for you. If you look back and see where you've trekked already, it becomes easier to look forward because you don't have to worry about the future. You know God's going to come through because He's already proved it. It becomes so much easier to trust Him that He will work the situation out for good. The hard part is letting go of what YOU think is best. When things don't go quite the way you planned them to, it's so easy just to curl up in a ball and think woe is me. But God wants you to stand firm. Stand on His word that never lies, and on His truths that never fail.

The world could fall to pieces and still there God is, unchanging.

Wow.

Powerful stuff if only we could remember it in the midst of our struggles!


So back to the part with the humour in it...
Sometimes it helps to laugh at yourself. About a week ago, I had a really bad day: Woke up at least 3 times in the night, had heaps of stressful customers at work, machines jamming all day long, jobs not coming out right the first time, people asking me stuff I didn't know how to answer, and I was still pretty sick so not feeling the greatest. I got home, lay on the couch and wanted to cry and scream at God in anger and frustration. But knowing full well that wouldn't get me anywhere, I turned on my stereo, cranked up my favourite song & began to jump up and down. After a little while (seeing there was no one around) I started to sing at the top of my lungs. And seeing there was no one around - the one good thing about not having any flatmates - the jumping turned into spinning and crazy dancing (Kate, you know what I mean) and I started to smile. Just a small one, but it was enough to be infectious and then the laughing started. Suddenly, things didn't look so bad. In fact, they were starting to look pretty darn good. It reminded me of the times when I was a kid and my dad used to tell me a dumb joke whenever I got grumpy. I would roll my eyes at him, but eventually a smile would appear and all would be right in the world again. Trust dads to know the right things to do.

Yup that's all I've got.
Till next time...

The one with the random sense of humour...

Monday, August 18, 2008

STEPHEN TURNS 20!

Time passes, life rushes by, but special people remain in the heart always...

Being a poor family growing up, and living out in the whops as it were, my brothers and I made our own fun, choosing to spend most of our time outdoors. I have so many good memories of making huts in the bush, building tree houses, bike-riding up and across slippery hillsides made of clay to see who could get the furtherest without falling off, skids in the gravel, bunny-hops over potholes, soccer matches with the dog, reading Asterix and Tintin comics, seeing who could build the best things out of lego, playing marbles, racing cars down sheets of iron laid out on a hill, rough and tumbles, jumping off the roof or out of trees onto the trampoline, playing computer games such as One Must Fall, Street Fighter, Bomber Man, Worms, Micro Machines, Relentless, etc. Ya know, just your typical, standard, run of the mill stuff.

Good times!

So, my "little" brother, who at 6 feet has become the tallest one in the family, is about to leave the teenage years behind him forever! From the moment he was born, it's been my mission in life to stand up for him, attempt to protect him from bullies, look after him and try not to get annoyed when he always got me into trouble when we were younger. Blood is definitely thicker than water as the saying goes! But I realised today, that instead of me looking after him, it's mostly the other way round now. He seems to be able to coax stuff out of me that nobody else knows, frequently checks up on me, saves me from bullies (tehe we won't say who) and stands up for me when people insult me.

Brothers.

I thank God for them. They have taught me to appreciate life in all sorts of different, exciting and often dangerous ways. No wonder I love adventure so much! They have showed me how a real man ought to treat females. Sure they're annoying, get under your skin and no matter how hard you try, you cannot understand the way they think, but if it wasn't for my brothers, I'm sure my childhood would have been a whole lot different!

So welcome to the 20up world Stevo. And thanks for being you. I wouldn't change one thing. Well maybe just one or two... Just kidding! Happy Birthday

Another perspective...

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

After reading Arna's amazing post on recent events, I got to thinking about some things (which doesn't happen often - as it has been scientifically proven that not only can guys think about nothing, so too can girls - check it out at http://www.you/)...

Attitude: A position of the body or manner of carrying; The way in which one is placed or arranged; A state of mind, opinion, a feeling or disposition or a person’s mental set, A frame of mind affecting one's thoughts or behavior; A general cast of mind with regard to something

I'm alive. Yup. That's right, alive.


- I might not feel completely whole.

- I might have next to no energy, in fact, so shattered that I wonder if I will ever get enough sleep to recover even after two and a half days off work pretty much in bed the whole time.

- I might still struggle with my throat giving me hassles.

- My head might feel like it's going to explode somewhere if this constant headache keeps up.

- My bladder might not be working properly (things you really didn't wanna know).

- I might be incredibly nauseous all the time that I feel I could pass out at any moment.


But you know what? I'm alive. And a lot better off then some!

WOW!

I woke up this morning.
I don't have terminal cancer.
My heavenly Father loves me no matter what.
And my salvation is in Him. Such good news.

Yet, we (or is it just me who does this) seem to only dwell on the negatives, on the here and now, on our feelings that will quickly pass or change, on the things wrong with us rather then the things right. Maybe if we stopped looking at ourselves and started to look at the bigger picture; changed our perspective even for a moment then we would start to be so much more thankful for our lives and the things God has done for us.

So thanks Arna, for reminding me of the bigger picture; of the way things really are and not just the way I see them through my fallen sin eyes.

Another perspective...

The one with the guitars...

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The mid-winter praise celebration is drawing near and as we were practising last night, I happened to notice that there were four guitars on stage (5 if you include the bass) and I thought to myself that must be some sort of record. And as much as I love guitars and was in my "happy place" listening to them all, I thought about Perplexual's latest post (check it out at http://perplexual.blogspot.com/2008/07/complexity-kills.html) and wondered what the church would do if for the next Praise Celebration we had an acoustic set with one guitar, one singer, congos and nothing else. I think everyone would be shocked at first, but would soon appreciate the change. And it would give the musos a break! As much as I love to listen to great bands play and love every Friday where it's loud and pumping, I think sometimes we can put too much emphasis on the sound rather then the soul.

Oh for the simplicity

To get back to the heart of worship. To realise that worship is not about the best band playing the phattest licks with amazing harmonies, but it's about touching the very heart of God. I think that some of my favourite worship times have come during Essence (7am Thursday mornings-be there!) where the worship isn't flash, but wow it is annointed! God turns up because of his faithful ones reaching out to Him, and for no other reason. Let's get ready for God to turn up during our "quiet" times, for Him to pour out His presence on us as we reach out to Him and for God to change us from the inside out!