I meet God in the Morning

I absolutely love Helen Steiner Rice's poems. :) Yes, I know I have said that before, but I love her poems!!!

Two other posts I have done with her poems in are here and here. As I said before, I love her poems. (Did I mention that I love her poems?!?)

Here is one of her creations entitled "I meet God in the Morning" It's also relevant for Spring time too, I guess!

Enjoy!

I meet God in the Morning

Helen Steiner Rice

"The earth is the Lord's 

and the fulness thereof"-

It speaks of his greatness

it sings of His love,

And each day at dawning

I lift my heart high

And raise up my eyes

to the infinite sky...

I watch the night vanish

as a new day is born,

And I hear the birds sing

on the wings of the morn,

I see the dew glisten

in crystal-like splendour

While God, with a touch

that is gentle and tender,

Wraps up the night

and softly tucks it away

And hangs out the sun

to herald a new day...

And so I give thanks

and my heart kneels to pray - 

"God, keep me and guide me

and go with me today."

Craziness Incorporated

 Today I thought I would share with you three zany photos that Abbie took of me a few weeks ago. Disclaimer: I am not normally this weird. I have brown hair, not a blonde wig, and I don't normally wear fancy gold high heels. I was dressing up. (Danella dressed up too, but I don't know if she would let me put the photos on of her!!)

So.. enjoy. They are a little zany. :P

Like my hat???

The Results of a Photographic Friday Afternoon

I thought you might like to see the results of a mini photoshoot us girls (Danella, Sophie, Lydia and I) had yesterday afternoon. :-) It was so much fun. We took photos of each other by our blossom tree... it's so pretty! You'll see what I mean when you see the photos.

First of all, these three gorgeous girls. In case you don't know us very well, I'll just run through each of our names once so you get a general picture of who we are. :) From left: Sophie, Danella and Lydia in front.

Danella

Sophie

Lydia

Me

Just as it was getting dark, (you can see it getting progressively darker in the photos!) Jacob came outside and wanted some photos. So here is Sophie posing with Jacob.

And I'll close with this. How can anyone resist so much concentrated cuteness???

Parachute + Father's Love

Today I'm feeling happy because I managed to clean up my Google Drive account. :) I know, I've been using it for months and I've only just figured out how to put stuff into separate folders! Oh well. I did figure it out eventually.

This is Johnny playing with his parachute the other day. He made it snow. :)

And this is Stuart Townend singing How Deep the Father's Love for Us. This song is so anointed. :-) Enjoy.

R is for Random

Well, here I am again, staring at a blank box wishing I had something really interesting, exciting or better still, fun to post about.

Maybe I'll just be real ordinary and random.

Random? Random:

A.) Last night was the boy's ICONZ group's breakup night for Term 3. (Families are invited for breakups.) They had a quiz (which we had made - Dad, who is a leader, said his daughters would no doubt love to do the quiz ). We (Dad, Sophie, Danella and I) all helped brainstorm quiz questions and then I typed them all into a slideshow and added photos and stuff. It was so much fun making the quiz and then Danella and I were the judges. That was really fun. :)

B.) I collect business cards, and have been for years. Last time I counted, (I forget the actual number) I think it was some hundred. Maybe 2-5 hundred or something like that? Lots, anyway. They are all arranged neatly in alphabetical order in little boxes. It is a most amusing past-time, collecting business cards.

C.) One of my all-time favourite websites is The Phrontistery. This website has a collection of alphabetically-indexed pages with a collective title of The International House of Logorrhea. I love these pages! It lists thousands of unusual, obsolete, weird and awesome words. If you want to know, say, all the unusual, obsolete or weird words beginning with a particular letter of the alphabet, say, R, go onto that page and you will be flummoxed, astonished, surprised and even enthralled at the vast selection awaiting your attention. And then there's the Compendium of Lost Words, which lists 400 of the rarest words in the English language that aren't used anymore, or are 'lost'. This site is fascinating!

D.) It is my delight to use gargantuan idioms to fabricate intelligence.

E.) I would put something random down here for E, because having an A, B, C, D and E seems nice and complete. However, I am now officially stuck for something to put here. So I'll leave it at that.

Now: some random photographs and pictures courtesy of my friend Google Images.

This seems to be a house in the sky!

I love beautiful (what I call 'passionfruit') sunsets. I love them so much I've got three of them here for you.

Isn't that just irrestistible? The colour of that sky!!!

Cute goat kids are adorable. 'Nuff said.

And this, my friends, is the original apple pie.

Cute comic I found. :)

Another house in the sky, this one pretending it won't fall over!

Here's the third stunning sunset. Isn't that beach idyllic????

And these flowers are so pretty. :)

200th post, puzzles, piano exams and books

Wow- this is my 181st post! I'm nearing the auspicious 200 posts!

I decided that since I did 100 random facts about me for my 100th post, I should do 200 random facts about me for my 200th post. That was a good idea... until I started writing them (always good to be prepared) and found that I couldn't really think of any. I used them all up on that 100th post! So I abandoned that idea and now I'm looking for something awesome to do for my 200th post.

Any ideas????

I thought I could just forget about the whole thing and just do a normal post, but I love celebrations! I love marking memorable occasions. :-) So it just isn't in me to do that! (Sorry)

Last Tuesday (a week ago today) Danella and I sat our piano exams. And yesterday we found out our results! I got merit, which I am pretty pleased about. I shall leave Danella to tell you in her blog what she got.

And... in other news..... (I feel like a TV announcer) we've just finished another puzzle!! Yay!! It's a very pretty one, an old fashioned cobblestoned street with a fair/circus thing. It's one of the nicest we own, I think. Excuse the quality of the photo.

 (Photo credit to Danella)

We got lots of books at a book sale after woodwork on Friday. Lots of books? Like, 4 boxes. :-) I found a whole lot of Agatha Christie mysteries (my latest favourite author - I love mysteries!!!) and also lots of Biggles books. Ben absolutely loves Biggles books. I enjoy reading them too, I suppose!

We also found another Redwall book, one called Rakkety Tam. We now have 7 or 8 Redwall books in total.

And of course, we got lots of other books! Enid Blyton titles. (Yes, I still read her books.) And three puzzles. All 1000 piece. Actually, the one I was telling you about above that we finished was one of the ones we bought at the book sale!

I had better go now and fold the washing. There is always something to do in a big family!
Have a wonderful week.

Blessings,
Bonnie

Results of the Competition

Okay, I don't think I'll get any more competition entries so I'll just stop it now and announce the winner.

The entrants were given this puzzle:

The entrants were then asked what word or phrase each of the numbered boxes represented. This puzzle is called the 'spedoodle' also commonly known as the 'rebus', the 'wordle' or the 'dingbat'.

As an example, I told them that number 23 was Jack in the Box. You can see the word JACK surrounded by a square. Of course, this taken literally could mean Jack in the Box. All the other ones are taken literally in this way.

The results were rather impressive. While I only had six brave folk attempt this, EACH entrant scored higher than 13!!! That means that every single person got AT LEAST 13 right!

That, my friends, is a feat to be proud of!

Now, onto the results. I shall not embarrass the lower place-getters by telling  you their scores but let me just say that I am pleasantly astonished as to how well everyone did. Well done to everyone. This is not easy!


Okay, here we go.

1st place goes to.......



David Sampson!!!




Congratulations!!!!! David had an absolutely astonishing mark of 29!!!!! That means he got 29 of the spedoodles completely correct!

David wins complete bragging rights (to the fact that he won this competition) for the rest of his life.

Second place goes to...


Jennifer!!!



Congratulations!!! Jennifer scored the amazing mark of 27!!! This is phenomenal stuff people!



The other four entrants did very well also, with almost all of them scoring in the 20's!


Special mention to Matthew, who, although he scored an extremely high mark and would have been in the top two, told me later that he had googled three of his answers and therefore I decided he had to have those three marks deducted from his score.

This, of course, deflated his mark considerably and kept him out of the top two. (Crime doesn't pay.) However, Matthew, thank you for telling me. I appreciate your honesty, that is why I am giving you a special mention.


So... I am sure you are all longing to hear the official answers. For those whose wording was only slightly different I gave it to them anyway. Here they go, in order of 1 - 30.

1. Seven seas. (Or the seven seas)
2. Split level.
3. Forgive and forget.
4. Missing you.
5. Downtown.
6. Lucky break.
7. He's beside himself.
8. See-through blouse.
9. First Aid.
10. West Indies.
11. Six feet under ground.
12. Backwards glance.
13. Tricycle.
14. Reading between the lines.
15. Crossroads.
16. Three degrees below zero.
17. Neon lights.
18. Just between you and me.
19. One in a million.
20. Broken promise.
21. You are out of touch.
22. Life begins at forty.
23. Jack in the box.
24. Growing Economy.
25. Up before eight.
26. Just around the corner. (or Just in the corner)
27. Apple pie.
28. Making up for lost time.
29. Standing ovation.
30. I understand you undertake to undermine my undertaking.



Well done to all the entrants... and hopefully for those who didn't enter, you'll enter next time!

Have a great week!

Talented

 Matthew 25:13-30:

“Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour.

For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them.  To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. 

Then he went on his journey.  The one who had received five talents went off right away and put his money to work and gained five more. In the same way, the one who had two gained two more.  

But the one who had received one talent went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money in it. 

After a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled his accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, saying, ‘Sir, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’  His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 

The one with the two talents also came and said, ‘Sir, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more.’  His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’  

Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’  

But his master answered, ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received my money back with interest!  

Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten.  For the one who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Let's say, for the purpose of illustration, that Agatha can play the piano like a concert pianist. Does that mean that I can therefore mope around all day because I am not anywhere close to her positively profound piano playing level? Does that mean that I am a complete failure?

Well, if I mope around all day complaining, then I will be!!!

Jesus is trying to tell us in this passage that we are not the same as every Tom, Dick and Harriet around us. We have different talents and abilities. Sure, my gardening skills (anyone can yank a few weeds out, right?) may not be comparable to Martha's positively profound piano playing level. But if we get our act together, and actually use what God has given us, then we may be surprised at the results!

There is no excuse for not using what God has given us. I am unique. We are unique. YOU are unique! (Just like everyone else, lol!) You may not be some D.L. Moody or Billy Graham someday. Obviously a crippled person in a wheelchair can't be expected to go to Africa and evangelise the nations. It's just not feasible!!!

But you can use what God gave you. :-) You can do your best.


"I will only pass through this world once, therefore whatever kind thing I can do, let me do it, for I will not pass this way again."

"Lord, whether I get anything else done today, help me to spend this day loving you and loving others."

Have a great week!

Because you think my blog is boring, right???

Something fun for today... A competition!!!

The topic for today's competition is the Spedoodle, also commonly known as the dingbat or the wordle.

The person who gets the most right will win full, complete bragging rights to the fact that they won my competition. :-) Sound like a good prize? It is. :-)

Deadline: This weekend (probably Sunday night or something like that) 

If more than one person gets them all right, the first person who submitted their answers will win.

So! Here we go.

Example in case you don't know what I'm talking about:

Number 23 is the name Jack inside a square. The answer is.... Jack in the box! They often are quite literal meanings of what is written there.

If you are confused about anything, just comment. :) I'll attempt to help you out.

Oh, and congratulations if you get number 1!!! That's probably the hardest one. :-)

Below is the entry form. Deadline Sunday night 22nd of September.

Interview Response + Canoeing in the Lake

*Puts on Southern American Accent* Howdy, Ya'll!

*Takes off Southern American Accent and bows deeply amidst smattering applause*

*winks*

So, how have (dare I say it??) ya'll been doing this fine day? Danella and I sat our piano exams this morning. I sat grade 4 and Danella grade 6. Danella's been playing the piano for many years more than me and she is literally an expert pianist! It was my first time sitting a proper piano exam (Danella's an old hand at them!).... and boy, was I nervous before! It went okay though and now we're waiting for the results. In some ways I can't wait for them but in other ways I'm too scared of what they say..... Oh dear. I'm awful!

But you want to know all about why the title talks about canoeing in the lake, right? Quite.

There is a conservation reserve not far from our house and at the moment a big quarry area at the far end of the reserve is filled with water from the underground Selwyn River, I believe. We recently acquired a canoe (oh, and the boys named the canoe the Adventurer) and, wanting to test it out, decided to take it there and paddle it round the lake! It was a long walk through the streets carrying this heavy canoe that doesn't have handles! (Note to self: Remind brothers to fix handles on canoe some time)  But we got there in the end and had lots of fun paddling round the lake formed in this quarry area.

The reserve is quite beautiful, it has lots of native plants and a big pine tree that you can climb really high in and there's a swing off one of the branches. There are birds here and there and I saw ducklings in the lake just last week! (They were sooo cute.) :-)

But that's enough of that. Here's the last interview response I have for you. Meet Jennifer, who is under 15, doesn't blog and has been following my blog since August 2013 or later. Jennifer is the oldest in her family. :)


Here are some of her answers to the interview questions:

Question: What do you do in your spare time?

"Read, cycle (road and mountain bike), play keyboard, play on the computer, do puzzles, spend time with family."


Question: Which holiday spot sounds best to you? (Choose out of five choices)

"Tramping trip / could be in mountainous terrain or a forest"

Question: What would you like written on your epitaph?

"Loved God, loved people"


Question: Any quote / favourite Bible verse / inspirational story etc to share?

“Matthew 10:29-31
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."


Question: What is one thing you wish people around you would do more of / less of?

"Swearing."   (I couldn't agree more, Jennifer!!)


Question: If you could meet any person, fiction or non-fiction, past or present, who would it be?

"Ruth (from the Bible)"

Question: Which animal group appeals to you most as a possible pet?

"Medium animal e.g. goat, sheep pig"

Question: What is the nicest compliment someone could ever give you?

"You have a very kind heart"

Question: And lastly... what would your idea of a perfect meal be? Can be anything!

"Anything Mexican or Indian"



Thanks for doing the interview, Jennifer! I loved getting to know all you lovely interview-ees. Thank you once again if you did it! (And if you didn't do it, the form's still up on my blog!)

What is a Saint?

Out of the Mouths of Babes

"What is a saint?" the teacher said
With watchful eye and weary tread
She lead her charges round the church
In archaeological research --
To most of her class a saint was dead!

"A saint is a person the light shines through,"
Said the smallest child, as she stood to view
A stained-glass window, wide and high,
Drawing shafts of sun from a cloudless sky,
A Joseph-coat brightness of rainbow hue.

The teacher smiled with happy surprise
For no moral she might devise
Could describe more exactly the attribute "good"
Or be more perfectly understood
Than this truth of the ageless wise.

She smiled again, for her words at last
Had reaped their reward for all the past
Lessons she thought fell on stony ground;
For, with joy, and thankfulness, now she found
A new awareness of knowledge held fast.

The child smiled too, with pleasure of praise,
And remembered the incident all her days,
For when she was older, and growing grey,
She said to her own grandchild one day,
"You will know the saints, and they will know you
If they see the light of God's love shining through."

-Stella M. Entwistle

(From the book I Can Trace A Rainbow by Sheila Miller)


AND... in other news... Overnight my blog reached 10,000 views!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!

(In case you were wondering, no I haven't finished posting all the interview responses but I thought you might get sick of so many dumped on you at once (!) so I'm mixing them up a bit with other posts. :) )

Forgive Me

I had my schedule all planned out

For a well-filled busy day

Until I heard a still, small Voice

Come question me and say;

"I had today all planned out, too;

Does it belong to Me or you?"

And then in shame I bowed my head

"Forgive me Lord, I pray,

Hereafter I will consecrate

Each moment of the day;

And willingly I'll try to do

The things that You have asked me to."

- from I Can Trace a Rainbow by Sheila Miller

Meet Esther and Sophia

Today I'd like you all to meet another two of my blog readers who participated in my interview, Esther and Sophia.

Firstly, meet Esther, who is 15, blogs at Jewels of Jesus and is the oldest in her family. Esther has been following my blog since it began in January 2013.

Here are some of her answers to the interview questions:

Question: What do you do in your spare time?

"Spare time? What's that? If I have time to do anything, you'd usually find me on the computer either reading blogs, writing, or doing designing. :) I love designing!"


Question: Which holiday spot sounds best to you? (Choose out of five choices)

"Staying by a lake (provided that the lake is pretty big and the water isn't too cold). The lake shouldn't have sandflies or mosquitoes or anything nasty like that. :)"

Question: What would you like written on your epitaph?

"I would like the salvation message written there. Something like a combination of John 3:16, Acts 16:31, 1 Cor. 15:50, 57, 1 John 1:9, and John 6:37."


Question: Any quote / favourite Bible verse / inspirational story etc to share?

“If I saw you hitchhiking, I’d smile and return your thumb’s up, just for you doing such a great job of being a positive roadside influence.”
― Jarod Kintz (I know nothing about who this Jarod Kintz is, but the quote from him is really funny!)

That's probably not what you were asking for, though. :)

I really like the story God Sees the Truth, But Waits, by Leo Tolstoy. (read it here) I love how Tolstoy tells the story!"


Question: What is one thing you wish people around you would do more of / less of?

"Hmm...I don't know. I do wish people would learn how to practice their faith more--how to be a real genuine Christian instead of just lukewarm professing Christians that like keeping their faith confined to Sundays."


Question: If you could meet any person, fiction or non-fiction, past or present, who would it be?

"Oh, Jesus, to be sure! :) I think it would be amazing to meet Him. I'm so glad I'll be able to be with Him forever when I die! :)"


Question: Which animal group appeals to you most as a possible pet?

"Medium animal e.g. goat, sheep pig"


Question: And lastly... what would your idea of a perfect meal be? Can be anything!

"Hmm...I think a perfect meal would be anything that Jesus prepares and attends. Like when He fed the 5 thousand, or after His resurrection when He fed the disciples bread and fish. I think that would be the perfect meal. :)"

Now, I'd like you all to meet Sophia, who is the second oldest in her family and doesn't blog. Sophia has been following my blog since it began in January 2013.

Question: What do you do in your spare time?

"Write, read and sing"


Question: Which holiday spot sounds best to you? (Choose out of five choices)

"Tramping trip / could be in mountainous terrain or a forest"


Question: What would you like written on your epitaph?

"What?!"


Question: Any quote / favourite Bible verse / inspirational story etc to share?

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? "


Question: If you could meet any person, fiction or non-fiction, past or present, who would it be?

"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?"


Question: Which animal group appeals to you most as a possible pet?

"Medium animal e.g. goat, sheep pig"


Question: And lastly... what would your idea of a perfect meal be? Can be anything!

"Lasagna squares, rice, and ginger beer"

Esther and Sophia - thank you so much for participating in the interview. I love reading all the responses!

To Buy for a Birthday or Not To Buy for a Birthday

Birthdays. Who doesn't have them? I have reason to believe most people experience a birthday at least once a year! And in a big family, they come rather regularly.

Our family gives gifts on birthdays. We celebrate with the birthday child and they get a day off chores. One of us makes a cake and we all watch the person unwrap their gifts. Yes, gifts. Presents! I don't know about you, but I find it really hard to know what to give the birthday child every year on their birthday!!

Us children don't normally buy presents for each other. Sure, we may a buy a chocolate bar or something, but we don't normally spend a massive amount of money on presents. We usually make our presents by hand.

The reason I'm putting this post up is to encourage you that you don't have to buy fancy elaborate presents. A lot of the time things you made with love and put a little time into will do just as well!

I thought for this post I might tell you some of the things we've made for each other in the past.... and then in the comments you can share what you normally do for your family's birthdays. I'd love more gift ideas because Christmas is coming up as well and I'd love lots more ideas!

(source)

So. Here is a list of the sort of things we have made in the past (and still continue to make!) for each other.

- Baking (particularly russian fudge or caramel or something like that)

- Vouchers for an hour's work in the backyard or tidying up the house, ten free hot chocolates for redeeming, maybe a voucher for doing that person's chores for a day or so

- I sometimes write a poem for the birthday person telling them how special they are, etc.

- Handmade items are always valued. Danella made me a jewellery box for my birthday once, and I still use it! It's only made out of cardboard, but it does the trick.

- Paper mache items are good too. Lydia and Danella made Mum a vase thing out of paper mache once which was really cool.

- Making playdough for the younger children is a great idea. I always find the youngest ones the hardest to get presents for, and bubble mixture is good too.

- The younger children are hard to get presents for - apart from Lydia! If we make her a necklace or give her a few stickers she's happy!

- If you have a few scraps of wood lying around and a little sister, doll furniture is a great idea. Seriously, a chair or table or bed is not rocket science to make out of wood! Often you just need a few dots of glue and maybe a nail or two to hold it together. It doesn't need to be elaborate, and you can sew cushions or bedding to go with it, but you'd be surprised by how thrilled they get when they see it!

- And while we're on that note, sewing things. Knit items, sew a soft toy, maybe crochet something?

Gifts aren't actually that hard to make often - you just need to get creative and think outside the square. What do you normally do for birthdays / christmas gifts in your household?

Interview response + wild weather

Whew, what wild weather we weathered last night! While we had no trees down, we did have power out for about 17 hours last night, this morning and early this afternoon. I feel for the people who still have no power! It's not a pleasant experience at all, particularly if you are part of a large family.

(source)

Another of my interview responders is Hannah. Hannah is somewhere between 16 and 25 and blogs. She is the oldest in her family and has been following my blog since August 2013 or later.

Here are some of her answers to the interview questions.

Question: What do you do in your spare time?

"Reading, writing, listening to music/worshipping or hanging out with friends. Also church :)"

Question: What would you like written on your epitaph?

"I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter."

Question: Any quote / favourite Bible verse / inspirational story etc to share?

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies - 2 Corinthians 4:8"

Question: What is one thing you wish people around you would do more of / less of?

"I wish more people would stop bullying others! Ahhhh "

Question: Which animal group appeals to you most as a possible pet?

"Medium animal e.g. goat, sheep pig"

Question: And lastly... what would your idea of a perfect meal be? Can be anything!

"A cheesecake! Who cares that it's dessert, I shall eat it for a meal. A full meal. Not sure what flavour though, maybe mars bar."

Thank you for taking part in the interview, Hannah! It was a pleasure to meet you. :)

(Another) Two More Interview Responses

Today I'd like you to meet another two of my blog readers who have done my interview.

Firstly... meet Sam, who is under 15, blogs (but doesn't want to reveal exactly where he blogs), and is third oldest in his family.

Sam has been following my blog since it began in January 2013. Here are some of his answers to the interview questions.

Question: What do you do in your spare time?

"Write, blog, read, play with younger siblings, photography."


Question: What holiday spot sounds best to you? (Choose out of five options)

"Tramping trip / could be in mountainous terrain or a forest"


Question: What would you like written on your epitaph?

"My name at least."


Question: Any quote / inspirational story / favourite Bible verse / etc to share?

"Proverbs 3:4-5"


Now, I'd like you all to meet Sayna, who prefers not to tell us her age. Sayna blogs at Shining Arrows and is the third oldest in her family. Sayna is another 'old faithful' and has been following my blog since it began in January 2013.

Here are some of Sayna's answers to the interview questions.


Question: What do you do in your spare time?

"Sew, take photos, write, read, bake, eat, talk, sing and blog."


Question: What holiday spot sounds best to you? (Choose out of five options)

"Staying by a beach"


Question: What would you like written on your epitaph?

"Absolutely no idea"


Question: Any quote / inspirational story / favourite Bible verse / etc to share?

"Once a visiting Reverend told us this story for the Childrens' talk at Church.
Once upon a time there was a boy called Johnny who was five years old. He had just started to go to school and he always wondered why a mother and her girl always followed him to school...
One day he noticed them again, and asked his friend who they were. His friend said: "Oh, thats Goodness and Mercy. Because in Psalm 23 it says Goodness and mercy shall follow thee all the days of thy life." "


Sayna and Sam, thank you so much for doing the interview. I'm enjoying meeting the readers of my blog!

Note: when the form didn't work and was down for a few days, I took the time to add a few questions to the interview. So the 5 people who have already been featured answered the interview before I added the new questions... and the people who answered it after I added the questions will be coming soon. Looking forward to meet them too!

Finally got the form to work!

Okey dokey people! I've been having some problems with my interview form... and I've finally managed to make it work. So here it is if you want to do it but haven't yet. :)

2 More Interview Responses

My second interview response came from Michael, who doesn't blog and is the second oldest in his family.
Michael is somewhere between 16 and 25, and has been following my blog since August 2013 or later.

Here are some of his interview responses.

Question: What do you do in your spare time?

"Buy and sell LEGO or build things with it!"

Question: What holiday spot sounds best to you? (Choose out of five options)

"Staying by a lake"

Question: What would you like written on your epitaph?

"He helped others"

Question: Any quote / inspirational story / favourite Bible verse etc to share?

"Something I read earlier today here"

My third interview-ee was Danella, who also happens to be my sister. Danella is 14 years old, the third oldest in our family and blogs at Footprints in the Sand. Danella has been following my blog since February or March 2013. 

Here are some of her interview question responses.

Question: What do you do in your spare time?

"I blog, read, play board games, play card games, knit, sew, crochet, embroider, bake, cook, play and umpire netball, play the piano, play the harp, etc. I also love playing with my younger sisters and brothers."

Question: What holiday spot sounds best to you? (Choose out of five choices)

"Staying by a lake"

Question: What would you like written on your epitaph?

"John 14:1-4 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”

Question: Any quote / inspirational story / favourite Bible verse etc to share?

"This Bible verse was the verse for the week recently on my blog - "I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live." -Psalm 116:1-2 NIV"

Thank you Michael and Danella for taking part in my interview!!

Response to Interview - Aarathyn

Hi everyone... here's our first response to my interview form!!

Meet Aarathyn, a fellow blogger, and the second oldest in her family.

Aarathyn is somewhere between 16 and 25 and has been following my blog since April or May 2013.

Here are some of her interview results:

Question: What do you do in your spare time?

"I love reading, listening to music, watching good movies... lots of stuff. I also used to spend a good deal of time on the swingset, but unfortunately, it's broken right now. :( "

Question: Any quote / inspirational story / favourite Bible verse / etc to share?

"Life is fragile, Handle with prayer."

Question: What holiday spot sounds best to you? (Aarathyn chose out of 5 different choices)

"Staying by a beach"

Question: What would you like written on your epitaph?

"You're asking me?"


Aarathyn, thank you so much for doing this interview. :-) You're wonderful.

(If you did this interview, your results will be posted sometime soon. I'm in the process of typing them up, just be patient!)

Have a  great day!

How You Can Help Me

I've decided that my blog needs something exciting to liven it up.

So:

I have decided to host an interview. If you would like to take part, please feel free to do so. I would love to have as many interview-ites as possible!!!

Rules

1.) If you want to do it, go for it.
2.) If you have a question, ask it.
3.) If you complete it, it will be posted on my blog sometime.
4.) If you do it, thank you very much. It is much appreciated.


YAY! I've managed to get the form to work!! Fill it in above or click here to do it in a new window.

Have a great day / week / month / year!!!   (Or better still, all four.) :-)

Need a guide to the galaxy?

I've been reading the three sequels to the book Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. 

In case you've never heard of it, the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction book. "The various versions follow the same basic plot but they are in many places mutually contradictory, as Adams rewrote the story substantially for each new adaptation. Throughout all versions, the series follows the adventures of Arthur Dent, a hapless Englishman, although the story also follows the adventure of other major characters: Ford Prefect, who named himself after the Ford Prefect car to blend in with what was assumed to be the dominant life form, automobiles, is an alien from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and a researcher for the eponymous guidebook; Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford's semi-cousin and the Galactic President; the depressed robot Marvin the Paranoid Android; and Trillian, formerly known as Tricia McMillan, a woman Arthur once met at a party in Islington and the only other human survivor of Earth's destruction."
-Wikipedia

The three sequels are (in order):

-The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

-Life, the Universe, and Everything

-So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

We went to the library on Tuesday and I wanted to get all four books but the library only had the three sequels. So I got them out.

I read the first book, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy when I was about eleven or twelve, when a house we stayed in once had it. But I've never read the three sequels! I'm actually really enjoying them.

So far I've finished the first sequel (Restaurant at the End of the Universe) and am at page 32 of the second sequel.

I love Douglas Adam's writing. He has such a relaxed and often humourous style! I want to quote here an excerpt from the second sequel. I think it's such excellent use of the English language!

(Excerpt from page 16, Life, the Universe, and Everything)

"Has it?" said Arthur, his eyes not wavering for a moment.

"It has," said Ford with a similar degree of occular immobility.

Similar degree of occular immobility??? This guy knows soo many good words! I am learning a lot from this author.

The science fiction aspect of the series is really funny. The Wikipedia page about the technology used (here) is most interesting! 

There are a whole pile of random characters, like Slartibartfast and Marvin the Paranoid Android.

Check out the series! It really is most unusual. Of course, it's completely fiction, (like in the book the Earth is destroyed to make room for a new hyperspace bypass and Earth is in the way) but it's quite interesting reading. You find out all sorts of things you didn't know before (for example: did you know that the meaning of life is forty-two?). 

You will probably enjoy the books if you like reading science fiction. Then again, you might enjoy reading it no matter what other books you read!

I'm feeling happy!

Spring is here, I've finally learnt how to do something I've always wanted to be able to do, I've mostly finished my schoolwork for the day... yep, I'm feeling happy!

I've finally learnt how to do something I've always wanted to be able to do? Yes! You read that correctly.

Now, my dear reader, you may be curiously pondering on what that something could be. Shall I endeavour to enlighten you on that esteemed subject?

Hehehe. I shall.

I've figured out how to plait my hair!!!

Upon reading that statement, you may well be fairly astonished, for it may seem that to plait one's hair is a relatively simple task.

Well, I could never plait my hair (or any hair for that matter!) until late last year when I managed to plait my hair in either one plait down the side, or two pigtail-style plaits.

I continued in that fashion for the majority of this year, only having my hair in a single plait straight down my back when someone else did it for me.

Not to readers: To plait one's own hair straight down the back (see picture) is far more difficult that it seems.

Yes, this picture is off Google Images, but it shows the plait straight down the back. I tried and tried and tried but I still couldn't do it on myself! I could do pigtails and plaits on the side on myself, but not the above plait on myself. I could do it on other people, too, but not on myself! Until two days ago.

Yup- I managed to do it once on myself! I was pretty stoked! Granted, it was rather messy and had a rather large twisty bit in it, but it was still a plait. And I had done it myself. :-)

This morning I practiced a bit more and I managed to perfect one without the twisty bit in it! I am looking forward to the many options available to me now that I can properly plait my own hair!!! :-)

Yes, I'm sure you, my dear reader, are an expert in the plaiting of hair. I am not. (!) But, I'm willing to learn, and would like to someday perfect the fishtail plait (below) or french plait (which I can't even do on other people yet!) or some other fancy plaiting ideas.

Any hints or tips for someone who doesn't know much but is willing to learn??

Driven by Eternity...!

I would like to begin by recommending an excellent book you should all read.

Driven by Eternity written by John Bevere.

It's an amazing book!!

And with that cryptic comment, (or not-so-cryptic comment) I shall make my departure.

*bows*

Farewell!

Through sun, hail, snow and rain....

Guess what?????


It's Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to any Dad's out there. :-)

Happy Father's Day to my Dad in particular!

For those of you who didn't know, as part of the Father's Day service at our Church my Dad did a 15 minute talk. He was so wonderful! He talked about the dream and goals of fatherhood and what it means to him. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful father.

Fatherhood isn't an easy job
It's tough, and at times hard.
But today I thought I'd write you a poem
As well as the normal card.

Dad, I want to say I love you
You mean so much to me.
Thank you for everything you do
I know it's hard, you see!

You handle the challenges really well
And love God with all your heart.
I'm sure that's what makes the difference
And makes you stand apart.

You stand apart from all the rest
Of course, there's no bias in what I say...(!)
But whatever you take from this poem, Dad
Just know I want you to have a happy Father's day.

For a Father should be wonderful
And I can say for sure
That you are the best (above all the rest)
Shall I tell you more?

I will. I love you, Dad!
I just wanted to tell you that.
Whatever you do and whatever you say
On your back you deserve a pat!!!

So as this poem draws to a close
These words shall forever remain
Daddy, I love you and want you to know
I'll love you in sun, hail, snow or rain.

Happy father's Day!!!!