Coffee Break Lane: January 2006

Sunday, January 29, 2006

A healthy dose of humility

It's not about you; its about God.

Telling 12-15yr olds from well off families this simple fact can be a challenge - but was one that was embraced this morning as TC started up again for the year. Looking at 'What to fix in 2006' included taking a healthy dose of humility - which I too swallowed hard.

Church tonight fitted quite nicely into the topic of recognising God as the majestic king over everything. From Psalm 103 we looked at the why and how of living a life of praise that our perfect King deserves.

The perfect King. Consistent and faithful. The source of all our blessings. A loving character. The perfect father. These are grounds for enduring grace. They are also grounds for a heart for the reconciliation of this relationship.
But you know what all this means? It means we need to respond!
We are talking about a king, who is real, who is sovereign, and who is definately worthy of all glory, honour, and power.
And this is a king worthy of lives of praise. We are called to reflect on earth the activity of Heaven.
But above all, our King is worthy of our fear and obedience. He is all powerful, dont forget. And we are to live on His terms. And if we do that, we are ultimately bringing praise to God.

So today I was given a great reminder and took a healthy dose of humility. In many ways its simple. Many of you would have heard it before, just as I had. But its how you respond thats important.

So what then does need to be done to fix 2006?
Its all about focus and priority.
I know where my focus needs to be.

Where is yours??

Read Psalm 103 and let me know your thoughts!

In Him, Chelsea

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed." 103:11-14

Friday, January 27, 2006

Australia Day

The first half of my Australia day was somewhat different to what I would have liked. While others enjoyed the summer weather, BBQs and the beach, I was working. Not ideal, yet not a complete tragedy either, as I did earn double what i normally would and got to close up at 2:30! Plus, a customer told me i had a lovely smile - always a nice thing to hear!

What made the day, however, was the tops evening that followed. With a few friends, dinner was enjoyed at Dee Why beach, which is always good times.
When the wind decided to pick up, we ventured off to Manly, where dessert was had, followed by a pleasant stroll along the waters edge. The only negative of the evening proving to be the reinforcement of my need for a tripod, as I attempted to capture the beauty that results from a combination of the beach and the reflection of lights on the ocean. A tops evening filled with good food, beautiful views, and great friends.

"The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant
shores rejoice." Psalm 97:1

In other news, I may be doing work experience with Opera Australia soon! No promises yet, but ill keep you posted! Lets just say, its all who you know!

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

More Photos!

Here are a few happy snaps from Summer Camp that I was on last week!
Enjoy!

These are the lovely people I had the pleasure of leading with on camp! They are a great bunch of godly people who I look forward to leading with, learning from, and been encouraged by this year! Go team!

And these are the crazy bunch of year 9 ladies that I have the pleasure of leading! I am keen to get stuck into the Word with these girls and look forward to seeing them grow further in the love and knowledge of our Lord! Bring it on!
Has there ever been a summer camp without a photo taken on these stairs?!

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Jack

A while back I posted a pic of my cousin's new baby, Jack. Well, I recently received a few more pics of the little guy, so thought i'd share one with you. Gotta love that baby's smile!

Monday, January 23, 2006

Highlights Package

Last night I returned from leading on another camp, this time at Port Hacking with the youth group at which I lead. That meant 5 days with yr 7-9 kids and a great bunch of people that make up our leadership team. Let me fill you in with a few highlights....

Two Extremes:
While the first few days were filled with rain, causing our day trip to the beach to become a movie outing, it soon cleared up, and the last few days were actually incredibly hot - perfect timing for our day of boats, tubing, swimming and watersliding. Yes, God always provides.

Heaven:
As we sat under the stars singing songs of praise and worship to our Lord, we also heard some thoughts on Heaven from a few leaders. People always say camp is a glimpse of Heaven, as you spend time in constant company of other Christians. This is one of the best things about camp. As we spoke more of this glorious gift I realised how much more my focus needs to be on this goal.

Keeping It Real:
Jesus is real. Sin is real. Forgiveness is real. How will you respond in your everyday life?! I was encouraged and challenged myself as the kids learned these things. Their hearts were made heavy and changes were desired. This is what its all about my friends, and I am very glad I am able to share in that experience.

All round good times:
After a nice dip in the pool on satruday afternoon, I then joined a friend on a rock in the sun by the glistening water, admiring God's beautiful creation, and with her guitar in hand, enjoyed some great music. Good times indeed. And just like our leaders meetings filled with caffeine, it was a nice break!

Growth:
When given the option to swim rather than have discussion groups, to my suprise many of the kids I lead opted for discussion. They thus spent about a half hour of their free time discussing things that had challenged them and encouraging each other with verses from all over the Bible. This brought me great joy. This is my third year of leading these girls, and it is just so encouraging to see how they have grown and changed in that time!

Beyond the Gates of Splendor:
On our last day we watched a dvd by Steven Curtis Chapman about 5 missionaries who, in 1956, set off to live with a tribe in the Amazon. These men were killed by the tribe, dying for the sake of the Gospel, leaving behind wives and children. The sister of one of the murdered responded to this tragedy by chosing to continue the work done by her brother, returning to the tribe in hope of bringing them to faith in Jesus. The son of one of the 5 killed has also since chosen to live with this tribe, now calling the people who killed his father his family.There is much more to this story than I will fit in now, but i encourage you to find out more about this amazing act of faith, forgiveness and sacrificial love. I was certainly challenged!
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose". Jim Elliot

Much more can be said about these past few days. But i'm sure you and I both need a break from this screen. Let me just say, God works wonders!
In Him,
Chelsea

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Dilemma

Yesterday I watched The Phantom of the Opera for the second time.
This is actually quite a spectacular film! The sets, the costumes, the music.

Due to a personal bias, it is the sets that interest me the most. And they are absolutely amazing in this film. Yes, that opera house was in fact built from scratch for the film. I look at movies like that and remember 'this is why I am studying film and theatre'. You could say its a dream to work on a production like this one.

The dilemma enters the equation, however, when I hear that the film cost around 95 million dollars to make. The set alone cost the amount spent on making one Mission Impossible film.

My mind boggles at how much money that really is. Millions of dollars all for about 3 hrs worth of entertainment for people who could easily afford or find some other way to entertain themselves.

While I could argue that films are much more than simply entertaining and that they could even be considered a necessity, even I know this just isnt true.

Did you know that in some nations its common practice to write "poverty" as cause of death on someone's death certificate?

Although my dream to work on a production like Phantom may never eventuate, cos lets face it, its Hollywood, and who am I?, how could I even justify working in an industry that throws around that money so easily while others die cos they cant afford a simple vaccination, a warm place to sleep, or a clean cup of water?

This is my dilemma.
And it is something I cannot take lightly.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

A Week in Review...and more photos

A week of Katoomba, kids, and coffee.
Last week was spent in Katoomba leading on CMS Summer School, looking after the K-2 kiddies. They were just so adorable! We had them for just over 3 hrs in the mornings, leaving us with an afternoon free, which was more often than not filled with a trip to Katoomba or Leura for coffee, and a wander through a few shops filled with candles and incense!

A week of challenge, as we heard from God's word, heard thoughts on Islam, and heard from various missionaries. I was challenged in more ways than one. But right now, one of the biggest challenges is to remember all we heard. One missionary, a Doctor in Kenya, spoke of a slum that had been named "Forgotten". I hope and pray I will not forget these people.

A week of getting to know other Christians. I lead on a team of 25, 8 of whom i knew before the week started. So it was a great week getting to know those other 17 who had come from various churches all over sydney.

A week of fellowship. Living with Christians for a week, including teaching the Bible togehter and learning from it together, is just great times. Its a community like no other.

A week of being encouraged and amazed. I said before I left that it is amazing how God works. What is impossible with us is possible with Him. And I definately saw that this week as i saw kids as young as 4 or 5 acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

An awesome week. Challenging, encouraging, and just genuine fun times. Praise God for the work He did this week, and continues to do, in these kids....and in us.

In other news, last night Tim and I headed into the city for some evening photography. Fun times indeed. Heres a few of the pics that resulted.

Tim insisted i tried his beer -
and to my suprise, I acutally liked it! Its a first!

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Aotearoa and other stories

“…the stream of consciousness it always seems to be a flowing but I don’t know which way my brain is going….
are you prepared to take a dive into the deep end of my head?
are you listening to a single word I’ve said?”

Jason Mraz
I think this quote sums up blogs quite well, dont you?

In other news, Saturday I am heading off again, but this time to spend a week with little terrors about 5-7 yrs of age! Luckily their parents will be there too, so I just get the joy of entertaining them - and more importantly, teaching them about Jesus - for the mornings while still giving them back to mummy and daddy in the afternoon. Sounds good to me! Its amazing how God works. And I'm excited about seeing Him work in these children!

In the meantime, here are a few more shots from the land of the long white cloud (thats Aotearoa, or NZ, for those who didnt pick it up).

If you want to get an idea of just how large this glacier actually is, take a look at the people down the bottom of this photo!
And see those little stairs cut into the ice? Thats was our only way up!
A Kea!
These are NZ natives.
They may look kinda cute, but they are cheeky little buggers!
This guy hung around the cafe we stopped at in Arthur's Pass, and after hoping around all the tables, and making his way along the fence, he grabbed a cookie out of the hands of a unsuspecting tourist and flew off with it, only to drop it on the road, leaving him with just the packet.
Dont worry, he came back for more!
And he had the attention of every single person in that cafe!

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

The Circle is Complete

I'm back!
7:40 this morning my plane touched down in Sydney. Which meant a 3am wake up call in Wellington, where we had spent one night after what i think may have been the most bumby flight and landing i have ever experienced, which was followed by a crazy amount of wind and rain hurricane style....or just wellington style?
After that start, it may be mid day, but my body seems to think its sometime in the evening...interesting...

But any sleeplessness that resulted was all worth it. The trip was amazing. Awesome. Brilliant.
I am incredibly thankful not only for the chance to see some more of the beautiful landscape that is New Zealand, but also for the time spent with my cousins, who live in NZ and thus I very rarely actually get to see! And not to mention probably the last family holiday i will have in a while. All good things to be very thankful for! A good way to end 2005 and say hello to 2006!
(By the way, Happy New Year!)

Since I last wrote, from Fox Glacier, we travelled further up the West Coast, through Hokitika, to Greymouth, the pancake rocks at Punakaiki, and then through Arthur's Pass back to Christchurch.
A full circle.

Am I happy to be home? Well lets put it this way, I could have stayed longer! But I am looking forward to getting my back into my own bed again....even if it is only for a few nights...

3 Weeks of travelling round the South Island of New Zealand. Alot was seen and alot was done. I wont bore you any further with the details though. I'll just leave you with a small selection of photos from the 300 or so I took on the trip....enjoy!

Coffee Break Lane