2 Worlds

We have just arrived back from our trip in Tassie & it has dawned on us that it feels like we live in two worlds.

One world is full of old friends & family, the other with all new friendships.
One world is quiet & peaceful, the other is very busy & noisy.
One world has 4 seasons in one day, the other is always hot & muggy.
One world has easy fishing, the other not so easy or successful fishing.

Despite all this both feel familiar, & like home.

It feels strange to feel like you are living in two places at once. But maybe for a Christian, this shouldn’t be new!?! We have a life here on earth, yet we live in light of our future home in heaven.

Tassie!

We have finally got through all the essays, exams, & the end of year madness!! We thought it would never come but it has & we are back in the lovely State for a Christmas break!

We can now...
breath fresh air
see trees
wear shoes without getting sweaty feet
wear more of my wardrobe
have windows
sleep without hearing pigeons, trains, planes
pick & eat our food from the garden
see the sky out of the windows
drive without having to use the horn
Stand in a pantry with too many options
star gaze...

It is lovely to be home :)

oops

...I seem to have forgotten that I write a blog
...those exam didn't go to well
...probably should have studied a little bit more
...didn't watch a movie yesterday, which is not keeping with my 2 a day for the holidays :)

Forgiveness

Where did the idea of forgive and forget come from? I always assumed it was a biblical idea. But I have become more and more convinced that it really isn’t at all. In fact, the biblical teaching on forgiveness is very different to what I originally thought.

In a lecture on the Psalms a lecturer discussed biblical forgiveness…

Forgiveness is not something that should just happen within yourself. It’s not the loving thing to do, to feel hurt by someone and then just forgive them in your heart without discusses it with them. For, what happens if you have it wrong? You are actually judging them. This means that the act of forgiveness becomes just about you and yourself.

So, there is actually no need for forgiveness unless the person realizes that they have wronged you. This does not mean its ok to harbor grudges etc, but maybe forgiveness is not always the appropriate thing to do. Forgiveness is not a personal activity, but something that happens between people.

I think maybe our view of forgiveness has become self-centered. Forgiveness is not about making yourself feel better and enabling you to move on. It is about love and restoring community. Because God forgave us, we should forgive others.

Auditory and Kinesthetic

We have not only been learning about the Bible this year, but lots of other things as well! One of these is how people learn. From this we realised that Marty and I have a rather significant difference. I learn best from listening, and reading, which is an auditory learner. Marty is a kinesthetic learner, which means that he learns best by doing things. By being able to talk things out and by doing activities.

Thus, Marty and I are basically the opposite. So studying in our house, looks a bit like this:

I am glued to book, making notes in absolute silence. While Marty is walking around, using lots of hand gestures and talking about what he has just read. I think he is talking to me, so I switch gears, so I can listen. When I realise he isn’t inviting me into a conversation, I politely ask him to please be quiet so I can get back to my book. It is a vicious cycle!! :)

In Sickness & in health...

Life for us has continued on the same despite sickness, & then coming back to good health again. We have had lectures, assignments, and apparently there were some holidays within there sometime!! So we are not all that well rested - but can't stop now because we are on the home stretch towards the end of our first year!!

Just 4 more weeks & then exams! So it's a very busy time. Yet, also a really exciting time as we realise all the things we have learnt, & how it all fits into place. And if good health prevails then all should go rather smoothly :)

Lament

In studying the Psalms we have come to the laments. And our lecturer raised an interesting point – If they Psalms are an example of corporate worship, and they have laments in them, shouldn’t we also have laments in our corporate gatherings?

The Psalms show us the emotions of followers of God in all different times and situations in life. Lament is often the way we feel about life and the Psalms show that this is an appropriate emotion to have...

So, do you know any songs of lament sung in churches?
Is it appropriate to sing laments corporately?