- As Dale Carnegie says from eternity ‘Live in Day Tight Compartments’
This is coming from the Scripture, ‘Don’t worry about tomorrow. There’s enough evil in today to deal with.’ - ‘Cast all your cares on Him because he cares for you.’ List your problems and burn them.
- ‘Be Anxious for Nothing.’ also the title of Joyce Meyer’s book
- Consider this: ‘I’m a miser, I count my blessings every night.’ A lovely old Englishman from Sherwood called Eric (94)
- ‘Resist, Reject, Replace’ negative thoughts Phil Hills, Richmond, Vic
- Look forward, not back.
- Write down some good goals and visualize them
- Consider Jesus, that is the rejection and physical suffering he endured for the prize at the end
- Think about what you can do for someone else today
- Think about those you love today
- Think about the needs of others today
- Ask someone for help
- Get someone to pray for you if you feel powerless and feel captive
- Try not to say negative things or complain
- Think: Am I getting enough exercise, sleep,vitamins etc.
- Try to ascertain what is the cause of your depression and process it logically
Thursday 24 May 2007
Some ways to Deal With Depression
It Doesn’t get Much Better than this
Broadbeach Blues Festival in its sixth year was filled with casual happy family crowds, more people than I remember 2 years ago when we saw Matt Taylor from Chain sing ‘I remember when I was young.’ He sure had rhythm and rhyme sorted.
It was a very dark overcast afternoon when we arrived last Friday to witness an amazing band and I tell you if they’re not already they will be HUGE - Marshall and the Fro. I know they’ve been associated with Byron Fest. but are also at Mermaid! Just a few young guys but great voice, music which I think is original and yes a fro or two. A local young girl got up to harmonise a few songs and that was a breath of fresh air.
Our favourite local blues guy Mason Rack with Jay Conway and Ray Goddard were having a ball, throwing out T shirts etc. and did some riveting stuff with Mason’s sincere story telling and lots of their faithful fans about. Good to see them all dressed in black with white tie like Humphrey Bogart. It was lovely to see Mason’s beautiful wife there and my son and Jade, their daughter, hit it off running around and dancing together and both future musos to be sure.
Blue sky, Sat 4.30 we saw Canned Heat! A rare treat - though not all original members, (a few have died), they stayed true to songs and played some classic boogie – ‘Going up the country’ where a girl came to play flute. ‘Do you want some Woodstock?’ the main guy queried like a Californian Beachboy. A few Vietnam Vets were round about. It was received well and they satisfied the hungry crowd. The drummer, the original was incredible and he had refined his act to perfection. We thought it was funny when one guy was introduced several times as an ‘original 1985 to 95 Australian member.’ They also played the 1970 hit which inspired Bryan Ferry’s ‘Let’s Stick Together’
As the sun disappeared and we stood on the friendly, flattened grass dancing around I thought, ‘It doesn’t get much better than this.’
It was a very dark overcast afternoon when we arrived last Friday to witness an amazing band and I tell you if they’re not already they will be HUGE - Marshall and the Fro. I know they’ve been associated with Byron Fest. but are also at Mermaid! Just a few young guys but great voice, music which I think is original and yes a fro or two. A local young girl got up to harmonise a few songs and that was a breath of fresh air.
Our favourite local blues guy Mason Rack with Jay Conway and Ray Goddard were having a ball, throwing out T shirts etc. and did some riveting stuff with Mason’s sincere story telling and lots of their faithful fans about. Good to see them all dressed in black with white tie like Humphrey Bogart. It was lovely to see Mason’s beautiful wife there and my son and Jade, their daughter, hit it off running around and dancing together and both future musos to be sure.
Blue sky, Sat 4.30 we saw Canned Heat! A rare treat - though not all original members, (a few have died), they stayed true to songs and played some classic boogie – ‘Going up the country’ where a girl came to play flute. ‘Do you want some Woodstock?’ the main guy queried like a Californian Beachboy. A few Vietnam Vets were round about. It was received well and they satisfied the hungry crowd. The drummer, the original was incredible and he had refined his act to perfection. We thought it was funny when one guy was introduced several times as an ‘original 1985 to 95 Australian member.’ They also played the 1970 hit which inspired Bryan Ferry’s ‘Let’s Stick Together’
As the sun disappeared and we stood on the friendly, flattened grass dancing around I thought, ‘It doesn’t get much better than this.’
Wednesday 16 May 2007
Tuesday 15 May 2007
Miracle at Currumbin Beach just Last night
Last night my sister rang me about 6pm. and told me a horrendous story. She and my older sister, Mary, had just been for a walk on Currumbin beach when a lady was yelling over to them, ‘Which beach are we on?’ ‘Currumbin!’ Caro yelled back.
They noticed another young girl next to her and a body lying on the sand. They promptly ran over to the scene. A young boy of about 15 with red hair was laying on the beach with leg rope and surfboard attached. He was blue in colour. The young girl, about 18, had dragged the boy from the water. A nurse had been walking by with her mother and young child and seeing the situation ordered her mother and child to 'go' as it was not a pretty sight.
A blonde boy was standing by who had assisted the girl in getting hold of the floating body. His face covered in a white froth also on the face of the victim.
Caroline had a chance to put her hands gently on the boy. She prayed quietly ‘Please God give this boy back his life.' After that she prayed unceasingly. The nurse got my sister, also a nurse, to take the 000 call and Mary relayed instruction for CPR to the nurse with encouraging words also given by the person on the end of the line. Mary is a psych. nurse.
Finally a lifesaver appeared with gadgets including pumps and applied his CPR Again to no avail. Much time had passed – about 40 mins when the ambulance came. Adrenallin was injected into the boy. Mary and Caro went behind a van agreeing he was dead and began praying rebuking the spirit of death etc. Caro looked over and the boy’s stomach began moving up and down slightly.
As the ambulance officers loaded him into the van, Caro asked him if he was alive. ‘Yes,’ the officer said. They continued to pray for the boy. Both have sons of their own.
This morning I heard the news that the boy was recovering in Tweed Heads hospital. The girl who rescued him from the water was a 20 year old hairdresser. Her mother explained that she was terrified. She didn’t know where she got the strength from. The body was so heavy she had said (in the paper) It was front page news in the GC Bulletin.
The nurse was on holiday from Coolum. The girl who normally goes to Burleigh for a walk, never Currumbin called it ‘God.’ Don’t know about the boy or lifesaver but I do know they all went into making the ingredients for the miracle! Who knows how long he was in the water after being knocked out by his board? He is now in a stable condition. Glory to God.
They noticed another young girl next to her and a body lying on the sand. They promptly ran over to the scene. A young boy of about 15 with red hair was laying on the beach with leg rope and surfboard attached. He was blue in colour. The young girl, about 18, had dragged the boy from the water. A nurse had been walking by with her mother and young child and seeing the situation ordered her mother and child to 'go' as it was not a pretty sight.
A blonde boy was standing by who had assisted the girl in getting hold of the floating body. His face covered in a white froth also on the face of the victim.
Caroline had a chance to put her hands gently on the boy. She prayed quietly ‘Please God give this boy back his life.' After that she prayed unceasingly. The nurse got my sister, also a nurse, to take the 000 call and Mary relayed instruction for CPR to the nurse with encouraging words also given by the person on the end of the line. Mary is a psych. nurse.
Finally a lifesaver appeared with gadgets including pumps and applied his CPR Again to no avail. Much time had passed – about 40 mins when the ambulance came. Adrenallin was injected into the boy. Mary and Caro went behind a van agreeing he was dead and began praying rebuking the spirit of death etc. Caro looked over and the boy’s stomach began moving up and down slightly.
As the ambulance officers loaded him into the van, Caro asked him if he was alive. ‘Yes,’ the officer said. They continued to pray for the boy. Both have sons of their own.
This morning I heard the news that the boy was recovering in Tweed Heads hospital. The girl who rescued him from the water was a 20 year old hairdresser. Her mother explained that she was terrified. She didn’t know where she got the strength from. The body was so heavy she had said (in the paper) It was front page news in the GC Bulletin.
The nurse was on holiday from Coolum. The girl who normally goes to Burleigh for a walk, never Currumbin called it ‘God.’ Don’t know about the boy or lifesaver but I do know they all went into making the ingredients for the miracle! Who knows how long he was in the water after being knocked out by his board? He is now in a stable condition. Glory to God.
Monday 14 May 2007
Twenty things you need to know if you’re making a sea change and heading North in Australia
1. Try renting for a year to get a feel for the area.
2. Make your dwelling geographically Tsunami proof.
3. Don’t leave water or buckets of water or shallow pools of water around in Summer when snakes are out and thirsty.
4. Get to know your snakes. I’ve had a carpet? snake living 2 doors down, a green snake slither across my beach towel and I’ve run over a large bush python snake elsewhere. They're all okay.
5. Get to know your insects eg. cockroaches, mossies, midges. You can get a well researched paper/PDF on midges from Gold Coast council.
6.Winter snaps bring tiny field mice who run as fast as your eye will travel. They are looking for warmth.
7.Put undercover any prams, cars, bikes and objects that will rust in salt air
8.Invest in some hats and sun cream…You will get used to the sun
9.Net fruit trees from fruit bats
10.In purchasing land look for infrastructure, you know hospitals, shopping, etc and zoning of land and future developments via council and Main Roads etc.
11.In Qld there’s no daylight saving. People are early risers and you can expect locals to call in and phone before 8am and think nothing of it. It gets dark around 6pm most days. With no daylight saving Qld can watch the same show twice on TV as the rest of Australia is on time an hour earlier between Oct and March. Near the border there can be problems with appointments and rosters with these differences overlooked between states
12. Swim between flags or perish. Stats are high with lots internationals drowning
13. Surfers should go in pairs to look out for one another as it’s dangerous out there with inexperienced surfers crashing into others and other hazards.
14. Travel booklets are available at most resorts which will have meal discounts
15. Good area maps can be found in Op shops
16. Be prepared to travel for work if need be
17. Get to know people through joining groups of like minded people
18. Don’t be disappointed or surprised when tradesmen don’t turn up in smaller populated areas.
19. If buying a house pest control is vital – termites, cockroaches etc are a common threat
20. Learn to live outdoors lifestyles ie. BBQs and picnics
Friday 11 May 2007
I See Trees of Green
My father’s favourite personal Scripture was John 10:10. It was as though the verse was designed just for him as he changed his name from Jacques to John to be accepted more in Australia in business from the 60s. He also had a green van he called ‘the old ten ten’ when we were little.
Dad gave his life to Christ in 1978. He then relished the verse as a motto for his life – so much so that Mary my sister, and I chose Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World to sing to him on his 80th Birthday.
So he quoted the Scripture on birthday cards etc. John 10:10b says, ‘Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.’
Dad gave his life to Christ in 1978. He then relished the verse as a motto for his life – so much so that Mary my sister, and I chose Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World to sing to him on his 80th Birthday.
So he quoted the Scripture on birthday cards etc. John 10:10b says, ‘Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.’
Sunday 6 May 2007
Water, water water wanted
I love a sunburnt country
A land of sweeping plains
Of rugged mountain ranges
Of droughts and flooding plains...
Dorothea McKellar wrote that a long time ago. It didn't mean much to me then but it does now as Australia faces over a decade of drought. I drove through it recently and the sky was livlier than the earth in inland Australia.
It spoke loud and clear to me being a Christian.
When I had previously looked up some relevant words in my concordance I found the Scripture
"If My people which are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).
The context is drought and is associated with a form of judgement from time to time, like when Elijah called for three and a half years no rain, God was in agreement and so it came to pass.
This has been heavy on my heart for a while and since I was awakened to the fact when a desalination plant was placed in my face, without any public consultation.
While the local Hinze dam is full and will even be heightened, near me Brisbane will have 7% water next July. So why? Well if God is 'the same yesterday, today and forever' and there is a spiritual connection with the drought then may be it has nothing to do with heathens in this nation.
This Scripture could hold the key to the dire situation we have here...
'If my people who are called by my name'
My comment: Christians are called by his name
'Shall humble themselves'
Admit their dependency on him? Address pride and get rid of it?
'And Pray'
And pray
'And Seek'
Spend time in the morning preferrably seeking God in worship, asking of him, reading his word and expecting His answers. 'Acknowledge him in all your ways and he will direct your paths.'
'And turn from their wicked ways'
Repent ask forgiveness for sin and waywardness.
One little bit of leaven raises the whole bread batch.
...Then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).
A land of sweeping plains
Of rugged mountain ranges
Of droughts and flooding plains...
Dorothea McKellar wrote that a long time ago. It didn't mean much to me then but it does now as Australia faces over a decade of drought. I drove through it recently and the sky was livlier than the earth in inland Australia.
It spoke loud and clear to me being a Christian.
When I had previously looked up some relevant words in my concordance I found the Scripture
"If My people which are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).
The context is drought and is associated with a form of judgement from time to time, like when Elijah called for three and a half years no rain, God was in agreement and so it came to pass.
This has been heavy on my heart for a while and since I was awakened to the fact when a desalination plant was placed in my face, without any public consultation.
While the local Hinze dam is full and will even be heightened, near me Brisbane will have 7% water next July. So why? Well if God is 'the same yesterday, today and forever' and there is a spiritual connection with the drought then may be it has nothing to do with heathens in this nation.
This Scripture could hold the key to the dire situation we have here...
'If my people who are called by my name'
My comment: Christians are called by his name
'Shall humble themselves'
Admit their dependency on him? Address pride and get rid of it?
'And Pray'
And pray
'And Seek'
Spend time in the morning preferrably seeking God in worship, asking of him, reading his word and expecting His answers. 'Acknowledge him in all your ways and he will direct your paths.'
'And turn from their wicked ways'
Repent ask forgiveness for sin and waywardness.
One little bit of leaven raises the whole bread batch.
...Then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).
Tuesday 1 May 2007
Stuck in the Middle
Well just came back from trip from Vic/NSW. It was so drought stricken the other side of the Great Dividing Range. From say Parkes going South, the grass was pale and the trees sickly looking, there was very little activity and not a whole lot of cattle etc.
We were on our way down to golf tournaments when it was pitch dark on Saturday night. We were travelling down the Newall Hwy after leaving Narrandera when the car began making screeching sounds round hte left wheel and became increasingly distressed.
We were in the middle of nowhere, in fact there were not even farms visible just dreary drought conditions, dry and lifeless. We were on our way to Jerilderie which was another one and a half hours from our destination.
We were feeling sick in the stomach not knowing what to do. Sleep on the side of the road, keep pushing the car. Trucks were speeding up from behind Thankfully their lights could be seen half a Km coming behind us. We could pull over and drive ever so slowly. The brakes then started failing.
We were desperate. We needed a miracle. We called on God, our Saviour. First we started solemnly praying quietly. Sam had fallen asleep in the back seat. We prayed in tongues. We prayed quoting the scriptures such as 'YOu are the author and finisher of our faith.' 'You supply all our needs according to your riches in glory.' etc. Then we both agreed we felt we should sleep at a rest area just past the Urana/Jerilderie sign.
It was cold and the moon was just visible. It was quiet, eery and dark. I slept the back seat and got Sam to lay beside me, moving his booster seat to the front and Doug decided to sleep on a concrete slab against a wall but open nevertheless in a sleeping bag. (Glad we packed it)
Trucks came and went. I heard about 2 but when I woke there were three and another arrived. It was a long cold night with towels and a thin child's blanket but at last it was light.
We drove the car up a side road looking for a farmhouse - to no avail. Then we went to a nearby house surrounded by cars but all was still and we decided not to wake them up at 7.30 Sunday morning.
The car seemed to go all right at about 40km. So we drove and drove and drove. FInally we made it!
A relative recommended a motor mechanic in Numurkah. We saw a young man, David there and he informed us the wheel bearing disintegrated as he got to it and he thought it was an utter miracle we made it. At a playground in the town was the word Miracle on each yellow tin step.
Our faith was stretched and God met us and helped us. 'He is an ever present help in time of trouble. '
We were on our way down to golf tournaments when it was pitch dark on Saturday night. We were travelling down the Newall Hwy after leaving Narrandera when the car began making screeching sounds round hte left wheel and became increasingly distressed.
We were in the middle of nowhere, in fact there were not even farms visible just dreary drought conditions, dry and lifeless. We were on our way to Jerilderie which was another one and a half hours from our destination.
We were feeling sick in the stomach not knowing what to do. Sleep on the side of the road, keep pushing the car. Trucks were speeding up from behind Thankfully their lights could be seen half a Km coming behind us. We could pull over and drive ever so slowly. The brakes then started failing.
We were desperate. We needed a miracle. We called on God, our Saviour. First we started solemnly praying quietly. Sam had fallen asleep in the back seat. We prayed in tongues. We prayed quoting the scriptures such as 'YOu are the author and finisher of our faith.' 'You supply all our needs according to your riches in glory.' etc. Then we both agreed we felt we should sleep at a rest area just past the Urana/Jerilderie sign.
It was cold and the moon was just visible. It was quiet, eery and dark. I slept the back seat and got Sam to lay beside me, moving his booster seat to the front and Doug decided to sleep on a concrete slab against a wall but open nevertheless in a sleeping bag. (Glad we packed it)
Trucks came and went. I heard about 2 but when I woke there were three and another arrived. It was a long cold night with towels and a thin child's blanket but at last it was light.
We drove the car up a side road looking for a farmhouse - to no avail. Then we went to a nearby house surrounded by cars but all was still and we decided not to wake them up at 7.30 Sunday morning.
The car seemed to go all right at about 40km. So we drove and drove and drove. FInally we made it!
A relative recommended a motor mechanic in Numurkah. We saw a young man, David there and he informed us the wheel bearing disintegrated as he got to it and he thought it was an utter miracle we made it. At a playground in the town was the word Miracle on each yellow tin step.
Our faith was stretched and God met us and helped us. 'He is an ever present help in time of trouble. '
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