Coffee Break Lane

"I will sing of the Lord's great love for ever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm for ever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
You said, 'I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 'I will establish your line for ever and make your throne firm through all generations.'"
The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.... O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you. ...
The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it. ...
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you."

These are some verses which we read from Psalm 89 in Bible study on tuesday night. My goodness - what reasons for praise our Lord!!

I am studying a PTC Intro to the Bible course at the moment and as I read over more and more of the OT I cant help but be struck by God's faithfulness amongst our unfaithfulness to Him! It is amazing, and absolutely beautiful in the most purest of ways! This is love. This is grace. Like none other we will ever know!

As this Psalm reminds us that God is not only faithful to His people but He is also in control, I would like to ask for your partnership in keeping the upcoming camps that Christ Church is running over the holidays in your prayers.
There are 3 camps coming up - House Party (10-11), Getaway (yr 12), and Treestump (7-9).
If you are willing and able, could you please pray for the following:
- the kids coming, to keep them safe and healthy, to be encouraged and challenged, and most importantly to be brought into a closer relationship with Jesus (or in some cases, coming to knowHim for the first time)
- for there to be a good vibe on each camp, one of unity in Christ, an attitude of service and embracing what we are there for and what we get to do
- for leaders as we lead these kids
- for me and the other 3 ladies cooking on HP! (my first time - should be fun!)
- for the speakers (Craig, Scott, and Foxie)

Thank you, your prayers are greatly appreciated!

I am off on the first camp on saturday arvo! Looking forward to it!
What an amazing privilege it is to have camps like these and be apart of God's work in this world!

posted by Chelsea Taylor @ 9:24 PM 0 comments

Exit the King - Enter Geoffrey Rush!

What do Shine, Pirates of the Caribbean, Candy, Lantana, Finding Nemo, Shakespeare in Love, Ned Kelly, Munich, Intollerable Cruelty, and the play we saw on wednesday night, all have in common?

One man: Geoffrey Rush.

We headed to the funky little theatre that is Belvoir St to see the play 'Exit the King' starring the famous actor and directed by the one and only Neil Armfield. I was incredibly excited...and was not at all let down by Rush's performance. In fact, the show exceeded all possible expectations...

There were a million great quotes that I am now wishing I could remember as it got some thoughts flowing about the world's views on life and death, living for yourself/revolving life around yourself, redemption, hope, and highlighted, in my opinion, the need for our saviour Jesus! As Rush's character refuses to give into the fact that he is dying, he believes he is in control of when he can die, that it should be and is completely up to him, that the world, when he does die, should remember him and that without him it may as well no longer exist either... but he also eventually begins to question the purpose of being born if one only dies.... so many interesting ideas - being as absurdist play i guess we'd kinda expect that - but it was interesting to see how the idea of life - and death - are hopeless without the hope of life offered in Jesus...

The set was funky. There were some funny lines. We had great seats. Geoffrey Rush stood right next to me! And some rather entertaining work by Rush - ive decided that man is a brilliant actor and is very good at working with his hands and has an amazing stage presence.

...There is so much more that should be said about this production - it was brilliant for so many reasons - but i feel like my words would not bring it justice at this point...perhaps i will post more about it later...

posted by Chelsea Taylor @ 3:10 PM 0 comments

Favourite Things...

I thought Id just share an image of one of my highlights of the last couple of weeks....Ive always enjoyed the reading in a small/arty/cosy cafe thing, but have been doing a lot more of it recently, and I gotta say, im lovin it! Chillin in a coffee shop, rain outside, Bible and so many good books to read i dont know where to start stacked in front of me, all along with the best company one could ask for...mm these are good times...

posted by Chelsea Taylor @ 4:42 PM 1 comments

Scripture Picture

I havent taken as many photos as I would have liked recently.
I miss it.
So here are a couple i just took of the clear crisp winter day we have today, one of those days that looks absolutely beautiful.....but when you go out in it you realise is also absolutely freezing!!
Anyway, enjoy...
And if you like taking photos, let me know and ill go take some with you!
Meanwhile, I took my first ever scripture class today.
I was so nervous - for 3 reasons:
- I got the material last night so hadnt read anything til this morning!
- I have never taught this age group -yr 4 kids - im used to high school or k-2, so i wasnt really sure what to expect.
- My first week ever of scripture classes was last week when i was just helping, taking a class is a little different!

BUT
It was great!!
I was once again humbled and reminded that i dont actually need to worry so much about these things, God is in control.
What a great way to spend a morning - teaching kids about the love of God, and God who wants to know them and has made Himself known to us.
I enjoyed it and it was a good experience. And i think the kids learnt something too! yay!
I feel like I can handle anything this day throws at me now that Ive tackled a bunch of yr 4 kids!

posted by Chelsea Taylor @ 12:38 PM 0 comments

Joy

So after a couple of epic posts which are probably just too long for people to bother reading, I thought I would simply let you know what things brought me joy over this last week...

1. JT.
Ok, so really thats all I need to say. But I will add that he rocks muchly and that God is very good for blessing me with him!2. NJ - the other man in my life...
This is the one yr old I nanny on tuesdays. After a break of 3 weeks while he was away with his family, we're back and better than ever... He seemed to remember me (ie was happy to see me!) and is loving his new favourite skill of crawling! Oh how this child brings me joy. His little smile and giggle are just so contagious!3. Helping with Scripture at St Ives Primary
This was the first week I had done it, and though some of the kids were a bit of a handful, its just such a joy to see some of them engaging with the story and remembering what they learn about Jesus! It was extremely humbling being reminded that God is at work in kids as young as 4 and 5 yrs old. Yes, we far too often put limits on God, when in fact He is utterly limitless and able to do things completely beyond our imagination!
"Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit." Psalm 147:8

4. Being tucked up inside hearing the rain and wind outside!
I love that feeling, especially when you are in a nice warm bed! But what was coolest last night as the rain tumbled down was remembering that while this weather was absolutely crazy, God was completely in control of it! Just awesome!

Praise God for the many and wonderful ways He blesses us every day!

posted by Chelsea Taylor @ 11:45 AM 0 comments

Bombshells

So the show I was working on at Hunters Hill Theatre, Bombshells, finished on saturday. I was one of the lighting operators for the show - something I havent really done before, but it was such a great experience! Being backstage and sitting in the biobox above the audience each show; getting to know the cast (and the way each of them work - yes dealing with actors can be a challenge!); successfully getting through each show without a hitch; being apart of a created work of art- contributing the to atmosphere and experience undertaken by each audience member; seeing the different reactions of each different audience (this helps make the night more interesting once you've seen the play about 20 times!); and generally seeing the whole thing come together from start to finish!

The show did make me think about a lot of things though.
One night I found myself sitting up in the box looking down on the audience and the stage before me, wondering why I enjoy this, why each of us cast and crew members choose to be apart of this, and why people enjoy going to the theatre.
Is it because all of us enjoy escapism now and then?
This was the only reason i could come up with really, which was a little depressing considering i'm meant to love this field and be looking for employment in it.
Is it bad to have something entirely based around escapism? I dont think that motivates me to work on a production...

Of course, escapism isnt really the only reason theatre exists. It is an art form, a form of expression, an outlet of creativity.
I am apart of it because it involves creating, creating a new world, and through that, challenging people to think about different areas of life and art in a way they perhaps hadnt previously...

but if thats why i am involved in theatre production, why do i actually enjoy going to the theatre?
Of course, there is a place for just enjoying it and not thinkg about why, but this is one of the things i thought about when passing the two hours of playing with the lighting board.

Further thoughts were inspired by the play itself. Bombshells is about 6 women - a mother &house wife in her 40s obsessed with pleasing everybody yet feeling depressed and struggling with the everyday challenges of being a wife and mother; an elderly woman who in explaining her love for cacti expresses the realities of love, how people change, how they need nurturing, etc, and the way her husband left her for another woman, yet she remains pained yearning for his return; a teenage school girl entering a school talent quest, obsessed with being the best; a bride about to wed realising she actually doesnt love the groom, all she ever wanted was to wear the dress; a widow who has resigned herself to her everyday life, comparitively boring to the rest of the world, uninteresting because she is alone, lost because she is now one not too, but then made to feel alive again by a encounter with a younger man; and a cabaret singer, who has delt with loss of possessions, her husband leaving her, substance abuse, criticism by the media, and finds comfort in fame and shopping.
These are the women of Bombshells.

This play, obviosuly more suitable for a female audience, got a lot of laughs. And yes, i found some of it funny, there are some good lines in there and some of those actresses have some great facial expressions or definitely know how to deliver a line.
But when you stop and think about what you are laughing at, you realise that most people in the audience are laughing cos they recognise a truth in the sadness presented on stage, a truth cos they can identify with it in their own lives, and thus is makes them kinda nervous, but laugh cos its i guess just a part of life for everyone...

One of the things the play made me think about, therefore, was what I let myself be defined by.

One character says she cannot live without her husband - "Barry dies, Im dying too!" And we get a similar vibe from 2 other characters. Now I know people often say they cannot imagine life without their partner. Thats ok, i can relate to that, its fair enough! What is worrying here is that these women arent just saying that, they are saying they are their life, without them they have no reason to live, without them there is no life.
What a feeling of hopelessness! Yet, i guess, the way a number of people in this world think.

On a related note, the bride character, Teresa, admits that her desire to marry is to wear the dress, be saved from the "endless ocean of singlehood" and possess the title of 'wife' - "I'm going to be somebody's wife! Somebody! Anybody! A wife!" As soon as she says 'I do' she regrets it.
What is scary about this is how many girls out there actually do get caught up in these things, the dress, the wedding day, the fact that they are going to be married, rather than who they are marrying and why.

Of course, I am interpreting this play from a Christain perspective, knowing the beauty of marriage as a gift from God, the way he has created us for, but also a covenant not to be entered into lightly.

Now dont get me wrong, anyone who knows me well will know im a romantic. But that doesnt mean i am completely unaware of the danger of getting caught up in the romance. And the danger of defining yourself by the fact that you are no longer single, etc.
As i said, it made me think about what i define myself by. I am a Christain. That is who i am. Whether I am married or single, a mother, working in theatre, HR or film, that is who i am first and foremost. I hope and pray I can maintain that perspective.
While i dream of one day marrying and becoming a mother, and know that to a certain extent you can definitely describe yourself by those things cos they are beautiful God given blessings, I do not want that to overtake who I am in Christ.

I apologise for the length of this post... but i do hope it makes sense too... if there are any thoughts or questions please feel free to comment! Interested to hear your thoughts on theatre and these other issues...

posted by Chelsea Taylor @ 11:46 AM 0 comments