Keeping up with the blogs

I have long intended to post on how to manage your blog addiction through blog tracking technology, but never got around to it. Last week Susan did it for me. Go and check out Susan, the technology expert.

I recently deleted two blogs from my bloglines tracking system, because I wasn't keeping up with them all. Now I only have 14 blogs I'm trying to read regularly, plus visiting others more intermittently. It is tiring, I tell you! I am almost relieved when I visit a blog and I don't particularly like it. I think "Phew, I'm not going to be tempted to visit this one all the time, and I won't have to add it to all the others". I have so many blogs that I do like (probably 30 or so), I could be reading all day! Blog tracking does save time, because you don't have to check blogs all the time when they have not been updated anyway. Some people hardly ever update, so it is especially useful for those sort of blogs.

Some noteworthy things around the blogosphere:

John has also saved me some blogging effort, through posting one of my favourite hymns. I love Abide with me and often sing it to myself. I think I need a dose of it right now, but I'd better not start singing in the Online Access Centre.

Deb has a lovely post on The Sweet Aroma of Blogging. I enjoy finding out why others enjoy blogging, and how they started with it. It was fun to read of Deb's initial confusion about what the point was!

Kimi has some lovely thoughts on how to respond to others' faults. Now, if only I would put the advice into action!

God keeps reminding me of my responsiblity for the words I choose to post here! I know I have readers who never comment online. Often friends will mention my blog to me when I see them in "real life", and I'm reminded that more people are reading than I realise! This is a big reminder to pray over what I write.

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How to pronounce Sherrin

Early this month Susan and I had a conversation in the comments section of my journals post about how to pronounce my name. I thought other readers might be wondering too, so here are a few pointers!

1. It is not said the same as Sharon
2. The e in Sherrin is like the e in elephant and pet.
3. The accent is on the first syllable of the word.

I feel like you'll proably still be saying it wrong, since it is so hard to explain how to say something when you can't hear me, but this should put you on the right track!

This is one of the many marks of internet relationships. It is like: "I know the names of all of your family, what pets you have, what your opinions are on everything from hats to hell . . . but how do I say your name??"

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Goodbye, dear friend

Today my friend Hunnah leaves for Sydney, where here husband is taking up a new job. Hunnah has been a good friend for many years. She was kind to me in my first year of school, when I was not yet a Christian, and has been a faithful friend ever since. Our circumstances have greatly changed over those years, and we have shared many events. We now share fellowship in the Lord, and that is more important than anything. Thank you Hunnah for many years of kind words, discussions about the Bible and the Christian life, support, and love. I trust that we will have many more years of fellowship ahead, even if it is less frequent and from a much greater distance! May God bless your new life in Sydney.

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Lunch with friends

Here are a few pictures of the friends I had over to lunch two weeks ago. I am grateful to everyone for coming and helping to make it a happy afternoon. My parents enjoyed visiting with my friends as well.

After eating the savoury part of our meal, we went outside for a walk around my parents' property. Everyone was curious about the orange fruit on some of our trees, especially since was mid-winter. Some thought that the fruit resembled small pumpkins hanging from a tree! They are actually persimmons. I asked Dad to explain what they are. Then most people tried one. I'm sorry to say that no one expressed a great liking for them! All the more for Dad to eat, I guess!


Sam Downes made great friends with Puss, which amazed us! We began to think she should be adopted to a more loving home. The Downes family love animals. We like Puss, but that is not the same as love. We scarcely ever hold her. Sam held her all afternoon. What is more, she liked it! When I try to hold her she always jumps away. Perhaps she knows the touch of true love when she feels it, and Sam has that touch!


Here I am with all my guests except one, who was so exhausted from a Christian camp that she had to lie down for a sleep in the guest bed!

L to R: Josh, Sam, Dave, Sherrin, Amanda, Felicity, Shiloh.

This gathering was more work than those I wrote of here. It was more work because I wanted to make succotash. This is one of the few new dishes I've learnt since starting work in Launceston (perhaps the only one). It is a thick soup with corn, beans, pumpkin and capsicum in it. Since I wanted to have this I ended up having three courses: soup and rolls, then mains and salad, then dessert (after a long walk around the garden). At my other gatherings I only had two courses, which is obviously less work. I enjoyed preparing all the food though. It was fun to have the time to cook, because I was on holiday.

As I often say or think, most things that are worthwhile involve hard work! I found the afternoon very worthwhile, and I'd love to have people over again soon! As usual when I extend hospitality, I was blessed with a fun time. Isn't it great that the Bible's words that it is "more blessed to give than to receive" are true in practice, and that we find ourselves blessed when we serve others and obey God?

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Why blog?

The question "Why blog?" is one that I often consider. It is a pertinent question, since I often spend upwards of three hours every week writing or reading on blogs. I'd like to think I have good reasons to spend time doing this.

Sometimes when I consider my heart attitude with regard to blogging, I am ashamed at what I see. At times I am envious of others' site designs, numerous comments, many visitors, or engaging posts. I see a desire to advance myself, to get others to pay attention to me, to have others appreciate my writing. At the heart of all these ungodly, competetive ideas is the sin of selfish ambition. I've learnt to recognise and repent of these attitudes.

In spite of struggling with sin in regard to blogging at times, I keep on doing it! This is because the benefits outweigh the struggles. Here are some of the ways blogs can be used as a blessing.

Praise God. There are many things to praise God for, and blogs are one way to do it! I enjoy reading about others' answered prayers, or God's providential work in their lives.

Encourage Christians. I often find blogs an encouragement. I go away with fresh inspiration to live out God's ways that day. I hope my blog encourages others in turn.

Provide examples of Christianity lived out in every day life. I find it helpful to read about others' experiences of living for Christ. I realise I don't really "know" most of the people I read about on blogs, but I still feel like it is helpful to see how they are relating God's truth to their lives.

Develop friendships. Blogs can be a way to communicate with old friends and develop new ones. Since beginning my blog, I have enjoyed meeting some people who seem like "internet friends"!

Challenge and equip Christians. I enjoy reading different perspectives on how we should live or what we should believe as Christians. It is helpful to be challenged through reading and discussing perspectives that are not common amongst the people I meet in "real" life. Partly adopting some of these perspectives has made me weirder than ever, but not to worry!

Learn about other countries. The geography and customs of other countries often become more fascinating when you have contact with people who live in those places.

Have fun! As Proverbs says, a merry heart does good like a medicine! I find blogs fun, and that is a very important reason why I keep on blogging!

I'm sure there are more reasons why blogs can be good. Perhaps you have some you can share! Please write your perspectives in the comments section.

Blogs are only helpful if they are kept in their proper place in life. Some people become too involved, at the expense of more important pursuits. I have to watch this all the time in my life. This is one reason why I try to post only two to four times a week.

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My first home

During my two weeks on holiday, my old friend Genevieve and I went to Glen Huon and visited my old home. I lived at Glen Huon until I was six, and my first home has always had a special place in my memory. Genevieve and I were rather aimlessly wandering the Huon Valley in my parent's car when I thought of my old home! Genevieve was kind enough not to mind our detour! (See this map to see where Glen Huon is in Tasmania).

Here is Genevieve with some of the beautiful views from Lanes Rd, the road my first home is on.

I was so excited when I saw my old home from the road. I knocked on the door, and the present owners gave me a tour! Many of the rooms in the house and the big stair case seemed familiar, even though it is so many years since I have been there.

The owners also let me wander outside. It was fun to see the fruit trees my parents once planted, now covered with moss . . .

Here is the house my Grandad built . . .

Here is the wonderful pond with bull rushes, a marvelous place to a child! It was a pleasure to see it looking so similar. I have delightful memories of playing in the ferns below our home.

One of my friends grimaced when he saw this photo - apparently I am wearing far too much pink and that hat is so American (not a compliment)! I like it though, and that's all that matters!

I had a wonderful childhood enjoying the outdoors. As I was homeschooled, we often only did book work for part of the day. After that we were free to run and play outside. From when I was six until now my parents have lived on another property with plenty of land, which is near the sea. I hankered after my first home for many years after moving there, but I have multitudes of good memories of the outdoors there too.

I often ran around outside bare foot all year round! I would cut my feet on bracken fern buts, or on the shells and rocks at the shore, but that did not worry me at all. I felt really strange at the start of this year in my new job, when I had to make a rule that the children were to keep their shoes on at all times unless they asked and they had a very good reason to take them off. I had to do this, because they were taking their shoes off all over the place (they can't do their laces up either!). I kept thinking of my own childhood, free of the constraints of shoes, and standing in lines, and all day in a classroom. I learnt to read basic readers when I was three, in my old home, and never suffered academically. I can remember annoying my older brother and sister by reading the same book over and over again.

I was reminded of all this when I visted a little over three weeks ago. I was reminded to be grateful for ferns, ponds, reading, bare feet on grass, tadpoles and other simple and small joys that made my childhood a sweet one.

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Holiday report

I have been back at work for a week now. I had a wonderful holiday, and I have several highlights to share!

Friends

I was very happy to see lots of friends during the holidays. I had been thinking that most of the people I invite for dinner don't ever invite me to their houses. I was not thinking this because I was upset about it. I was thinking that I'd miss out on a lot of fun if I only invited people who reciprocated! During the holidays, I was invited to two friends' houses where I had never been before. I'd had these people over to my house before. I really enjoyed visiting their homes and chatting with them. I was also invited to other friends houses where I have been before.

Mum and I were also able to excercise some hospitality. I invited a neighbour over for afternoon tea, and it was a blessing to pray with her for the first time. I have prayed for her for years, and I found out this year that she has been attending church. The next week Mum invited another neighbour over for lunch. She had met this lady on walks, but she could not remember her name! Mum was living the true meaning of hospitality - stranger love! We also had three other lunches with guests during the same week! On Saturday I had seven people over. I invited nine, but two couldn't come. It was a fun afternoon, and I hope to post pictures next time I am home.

I also enjoyed attending my church, Crossroads Presbyterian. Since attending church in Launceston on weekends when I am here I have received a renewed understanding of what a blessing it is to go to church and know the people! It is very hard to go to a church where no one is familiar. Even when I know their names, I do not know them. We have no shared history. This has inspired me to try harder to welcome new people when I am at home in Hobart. I think Crossroads is a very welcoming church anyway, but I need to do my part. I am often so busy catching up with my lovely friends that I don't pay much attention to those who are unfamiliar!

Fasting

In the comments section of Focusing on prayer I wrote: I think I'll have to make fasting for at least one meal one of my holiday goals. Otherwise I'm just going to talk about it for another few years.

Well, I did it! I only fasted from 10am to 5pm, but at least I finally did something rather than just talking about it! I was still on my holiday excitement high, so I can't say I felt like stereotypical notions of how you are supposed to feel whilst fasting. I felt as happy and excited as ever! I did not feel bad from not eating, except for when I was helping in the kitchen. I did pray a lot more than I usually do in a day. It would be worth fasting again next holidays just for this reason.

Scrapbooking and photos

I have been struggling to organise my photos, which have multipled since I was given a digital camera a year ago! I have scrapbooked for years, but it is different now that I have more photos. I have to decide which to print, and this takes extra time. Even when I have deleted a lot of pictures on my computer, decided which to keep but not print, and which to print, I still end up with more printed pictures than I had before. I realised I was getting very behind with scrapbooking. So I have decided I have to simplify! I am following the KISS principle: Keep it simple stupid. Using different colours for each page, depending on the colours in the photos, is banned. Matting photos is banned. Each season has a colour scheme and theme that must be adhered to. I can use printed pages and stickers that follow the colour and theme. I am enjoying scrapbooking again, and it is no longer seems as much like just another job. I plan to post a couple of pictures of my attempts at super-simple scrapbooking soon. During the holidays I completed January - April. Yay!

Family

My parents were very happy to have me in the house again, as I am a constant source of amusement for them :). I was happy to laugh with them!

It was also good to spend time with Janelle (sister), Lyndon (brother-in-law), and Esther (niece). Esther has her own names for her twin siblings due in early December: Rosie and Lucky! We have no idea where these names came from! Her parents are trying to get her used to the idea that they might be called other names.

I am sure there is more I could share about my holidays, but I'll leave it here for now! I am already missing home again, and I'm counting the sleeps until I return. Seven to go! I am planning to come down every second weekend this term. This will include the weekends of Saturday July 29th, and August 12th and 26th. On the other weekends, I think my friends should come and visit me :).

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