Purple Frangipani

Decisions

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:06:00 +0000

I've been trying to write a post about knowing God's will and direction in your life. But at the moment it's all just a disjointed mess of thoughts and words.

Instead I'll share my exciting news - I'm going back to study! Something I had thought I would do at some point but not this soon after finishing uni :). And about a month ago I had absolutely no plans to study, hadn't even crossed my mind; but God closed the door on the direction I was sure he was leading me and this opportunity came up suddenly and I thought, "Why not?"

I've organised to work part time and study part time; the plan is that in two years I will have a Graduate Diploma of Divinity. It's all been very sudden, each decision made within days - and now I start in one week!

Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:36:00 +0000

My run of weddings is almost over. Yesterday was the second last one of 7 within 10 months. Janice and I were so excited to be able to witness Lani marry the man of her dreams :).

I praise God constantly for bringing these two amazing girls into my life last year. So blessed by both their friendships.

For the Love of God

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:32:00 +0000

This year, the Bible reading plan I am following is the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan, devised by Robert Murray M'Cheyne in the early 19th Century. The idea is that you read through the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice through the year.

I've started using my Bible app on my phone (I have YouVersion), which has it set up so you can select the reading plan you want and it will read it out. I like to listen to it on the way to work, I like that the app automatically moves onto the next reading, rather than needing me to manually search for the next chapter in the plan.

Then at night (inspired by an article about studing Gods word, not just reading it) I study one of the readings in more detail. I use my study Bible and Don Carsons book For The Love Of God (It's also posted daily on his blog) which takes one reading from the M'Chenyne plan each day and looks at it more closely (I can't remember if I've written about this book before or not, I've had both volume 1 and 2 for a few years and enjoy using them) .

So far I've found this really good. I like starting the day with the different readings, I hate to admit that I tend to skip over parts of chapters I find repeditive, but having the audio means I'm forced to actually hear all of the words. The more detailed study of one chapter is also good, because I have the ability to unpack it and think more deeply.

While the aim is to do it each day, I admit I've gotten a little behind already. But thats ok, I just pick up where I left off (ignoing the date at the top of the page) and keep going. Something like this forces me to read parts of the Bible I don't normally read, and over the year or so I will have read the whole Bible which will be a good overview.

I can trust You

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:18:00 +0000

Lying in the grass, outside at night. Listening to praise music trying to drown out the turmoil in my mind.

I Can Trust You

Yes, I know that You have paved a path for me
Yes, I know that You see what I do and don’t need
But when it comes to the deepest things
I have a hard time relinquishing control
Letting go

God, it hurts to give You what I must lay down
But when I let go, freedom’s found
God, it hurts to give You what I’ve held so dear
Because of Your love it’s clear
I can trust You with this
I can trust You with me
I can trust You

Lord, I know that You are worthy of my trust
For You have shown me time and time again
You’re faithful and yet
I’m so scared of letting go of this
Afraid of what You might do with it
How could I forget who You are like this

Me forsaking
Heart is breaking
I let go of what I’ve held so tight
Freedom’s mine now
For the taking
I move in faith, not by sight
Let Your will be done

by Rebecca St. James and Shaun Shankel

This song says exactly what I can't.
I want to be able to sing this with conviction. To believe that I can lay it all down at His feet. I want to do Gods will.

But His will seems to be taking such a different direction to what I thought. What I long for. And I'm so confused about what I should do. Paralysed by what letting go of the last hope I had will mean for the rest of my life.

But I don't know how much more of this emotional roller coaster I can take. And if giving this to God means I can get off long enough to stop the churning in my stomach then I'm all for it.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6,7

Words

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:24:00 +0000

It's just words, isn't it?
Words you say
words you write
words you agonise over
delete and rewrite.

The simplest of phrases
the longest of sentences
all saying something
of you
and them
and the moment.

Have you captured it?
Can you do it justice?
How can you use marks on a page to express what you think and feel and wonder?

Words have power.

and yet are also powerless.

All they do is capture what is powerful.

Words that are the hardest to come by

are just trying to express

what is the most dear to you.

(Image credit)

New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:51:00 +0000

I took myself away, for a retreat of sorts. Just me, my Bible, note book and laptop for a few hours of prayer, reflection and planning.
I found a little beach on a map and set the GPS. It was peaceful, I laid out a blanket under a tree, away from other people.

I read God's word and prayed.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:10-11

I reflected on the year that's been. From this position, looking back I can say it's been a good year; I've stuck to several resolutions, watched special people get married, merged churches, made good friends, got new flatmates. I made mistakes and learnt from them. I've had my downs but been able to recover from them. I've laughed and cried and lived.

I planned for the year ahead. There's that quote about a wasted life is an unplanned one, but I can't really remember it. It's too easy to be swept along with life and not plan out what we're doing. Then suddenly you realise you are not where you wanted and haven't done what you thought you would. Life happens whether you do it intentionally or not. I'd rather plan for an intentional life. I chose a Bible reading plan, rejigged my weekly schedule, worked out when I would plan times for everything I want to do and everything I have to do.

I wrote down goals, and prayed prayers about the dreams I'm too scared to put to paper just yet.

What a lovely view :)

It was a lovely time, and I came home refreshed and rejuvenated (and unfortunately, a little sun burnt). I didn't get all the planning done I wanted too as the sun was too bright to use the computer effectively so I wasn't able to work on some blog posts and menu plans, but that's ok. I got the idea from a guest post at Keeper of the Home and it's something I hope to continue as a tradition. It's a great way to get ready for the year ahead and commit it to God.

Hope you all had a lovely New Years!

Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:22:00 +0000

This is the dress I made for Joshua's wedding. I was so happy with it and got heaps of compliments on it, even from people who didn't know that I made it (which is always nice!)

The inspiration really hit when I discovered the material in Spotlight, a gorgeous turquoise cotton with a white vine print. To create the pattern I mixed a few favourites. The skirt and middle is from Simplicity 4581 and the bodice is modified from Simplicity 3867. It fits so nicely and feels lovely to wear.

The shoes were a bit of a surprise. I had navy wedges already that I was going to wear, but I was walking through Target a few weeks before the wedding looking for something else and these shoes just jumped out at me! These wedges are so cute and exactly the same colour as the dress, so I had to get them to complete the look.

Thinking

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:03:00 +0000

A four hour drive by myself to my parents place for Christmas gives me a lot of time to think.

I stare out over the hills and trees and let my mind wander.

(image credit)

I debate the meaning of several conversations I’ve had lately. I think about the year that just passed. I remember all the things I’ve accomplished. I think about the year ahead; get excited and make lists of things to do, places to go. I compose emails in my mind and hope I can remember them when I get around to writing. I have conversations with God, asking him for guidance in the future, pleading with him for answers.

I wish that someone would invent a quicker way to travel, but I’m also grateful that unlike Easter there is no traffic when the same trip took 7 hours instead of 4.

Happy Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 06:02:00 +0000

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means, “God with us.”

Matthew 1:23

A day to celebrate that God has not left us without a way to know him, but wrote himself into the story of the world.

My Little Brothers Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 11:32:00 +0000

I won't bore you with the details of the last week and why I haven't got around to updating the wedding photos until now; just that on top of my usual activities this week included 1 farewell (sad), 2 migraines (blah) and my new room mates moving in (yay!). I'm really hoping the next week will be quieter before Christmas, but that may be wistful thinking :).

Anyway, I'll stop babbling and get to it.

Joshua and Megan, 9th December 2011.

Their wedding had a beautifully unique feel to it. It was one of those vintage/artsy/retro/designy/indie weddings (- you know what I mean!) that I've seen photos of but never thought I'd ever go to.

Dad did the ceremony which was really special. Watching Dad and Josh interacting before the ceremony almost made me cry :).

The bridesmaids wore different dresses and carried balloons up the corridor of trees.

After having trouble finding a church for the ceremony in the town they wanted they found a gorgeous little park with hundreds of gorgeous trees. They set up streamers to give the 'altar' a defined feel.

They asked me to say a prayer for them during the ceremony - Because everyone bowed their heads to pray no one took any photos! Hopefully the official photographer got one :)

Here I am with Joshua and my new sister-in-law! I made this dress to wear at the wedding, absolutely loved it! Details to come.

While they were having photographs taken, Joshua and Megan hired an ice cream van to come and everyone got to have an ice cream - yum! It was a cool idea (haha, pun unintended), as the van drove up people were unsure what it was doing there, but then a friend came around and said "Help yourself" so everyone did :). Great talking point.

The reception was held in an old performing arts hall that they had spend the day before decorating.

There was a yummy lolly table and everyone was asked to bring something for dessert. I made my gingerbread. So yummy, and cute too.

And so, they are now married. Hard to believe that's my little brother! (I have to keep saying that because so many people from Megan's side kept asking me how much younger than Joshua I am, and were surprised to hear I'm 2 years older! Mum says it's a good thing for people to think you are younger than you are but at this point in my life I like to claim my full 25 years).

A sneak peek

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:21:00 +0000

The wedding was beautiful and was surrounded by several days with my extended family. All in all a lovely few days. The bride was gorgeous, it didn't rain, and I came away feeling so refreshed and loved, which I was a little afraid I wouldn't.

As soon as I was home I hit the ground running (Christmas is 2 weeks away? When did that happen?!), so haven't had time to write a proper post to do the wedding justice. Here's just a quick look until I get time to sort through the photos and put them up.

Dad married them which made it extra special.

Ready? Let's go

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:07:00 +0000

The usual end Of year craziness is keeping me busy- much like everyone else I imagine. Add into the mix the stylish couples wedding and I've been flat out.
Heading off for the wedding (a wedding I have to travel to is a nice excuse for a 5 day weeekend with all the family!), will post pictures when I get back, including the dress I made to wear!

Give and take

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:32:00 +0000

I don't think I'm very good at being a friend. I can do the superficial easily, getting to know people, helping them out, having fun together. But the deep friendship, the being vulnerable in front of someone, the living life together is hard.
I'm good at giving, but very bad at accepting help. And I'm slowly learning that being willing to accept help is as important in building a friendship that is real, as giving help is. I think I realised that the problem is that this means you are not the only one with power in the relationship.

About two years ago I was burnt badly, by someone I thought was a good friend. Someone I trusted and made myself vulnerable in front of, only to have that person make me feel incredibly worthless. I didn't want a friend to have that sort of power to hurt me again. So I stopped going deep in friendships because I was scared.

Scared of allowing someone to hurt me.Scared of being let down. Scared of someone thinking I am a burden. Scared of someone saying I'm not worth their time. Scared of having my feelings of worthlessness confirmed.

A week or so ago I asked a friend for help. They will never know how hard it was for me to ask them. How absolutely terrified I was picking up the phone. But they were so gracious and willing.

It made me realise that I had been putting a barrier in front of being able to accept one of the beautiful things of life. Friendship is a risk, but the rewards are amazing.

(Image credit)

Catch Up

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 08:58:00 +0000

Things are getting busy here. It's only 5 weeks until Christmas, and as of yesterday it's exactly 3 weeks until Joshua and Megan tie the knot!
Joshua has moved out and I'm getting ready for friends of mine to move in.
It's end of year report time. We are starting to plan next year.

So yeah, crazy busy.

Here is a few photos of gingerbread cookies I made for a church fete we had a few weeks ago. I am planning to make a big batch for the reception, they are so yummy.

Defining Marriage

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 09:23:00 +0000

Confession. I actually know who Kim Kardashian is.
I like to pretend that I don't but I do. I know a basic amount about the Kardashians. It's not something I'm particulary interested in, but friends watch their show and talk about it.
In the last week or so I've been glad I can join in those conversations. (For those who don't know, Kim Kardashian is a reality TV star who is basically famous for being famous. She married a few weeks ago and then got a divorce after 72 days of marriage). I have had so many good and interesting conversations about marriage, what I believe about marriage, how people should approach marriage.

This is an interesting video that interviews Tim Keller, minister of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York.

I liked how he emphasised the importance of the vows that you make in marriage and how you need to work everyday at keeping those vows, and also how marriage is about both people being selfless in their relationship.

One of my favourite quotes is. "You should have a vision for what God is doing in that persons life, and you want to be part of the process. . . [and] you want that person to be part of the process of you becoming the person God wants you to be."

Green Smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 06:25:00 +0000

When I started eating more natural/less processed food I started making green smoothies for breakfast.

Green smoothies are a fruit smoothie with green leaves added. Don't be put off by the green colour, it really tastes so fresh and fruity and clean. It feels good for you, in a nice way :).

The craziest thing was that I had been drinking them for a few weeks but didn't mention them to anyone (as most people think they are a bit crazy) - then within a few days last week two different people mention to me that they were making them. Maybe there is a green smoothie movement happening :)

There are lots of combinations you can make - any fruit you like and any greens, add some water and blend it up. My local Harris Farm green grocer has small buckets of fruit that are slightly bruised at a cheap price. I buy whatever is available in the buckets each week. Luckily at the moment there are always mangoes in the buckets, which are so yummy in green smoothies.

My favourite recipe is;
2 oranges peeled and chopped up
1 small mango peeled and chopped
a handful of baby spinach
Pop in a blended and then add in about 1 cup water to blend up.

This makes about 500ml, I drink it in the car on my way to work. Yum.

I've added a video of Sara from Walk Slowly, Live Widly making a green smoothie.

How To Make a Green Smoothie from Sara Janssen on Vimeo.

(Photo credit)

Alive

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 12:11:00 +0000

I am thinking big things. And asking big questions.

It always happens, when I can't distract myself enough to ignore what's in my mind.

Why would God create life, only to let it be taken away? Why does God grant some peoples desires and not others? Why is surrender so hard? Why are the best decisions the hardest to follow through on? Why does God let the world keep going when it is so messed up?

Why is questioning so much easier than listening to the answers?

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:50:00 +0000

I write this wrapped up in my doona, on the lounge with my lap top. As of 6:30 pm tonight I began my lovely 10 day holiday.

This has been booked up for ages, and I have no plans. I'm staying home for some much needed R&R.

It has come about at exactly the right time.

Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 08:35:00 +0000

I've been doing a bit of sewing lately.There are a bunch of picnic/engagement parties/parties in the next few months that I think it will be good to have a few cute summer dresses to wear.

I tried out New Look 6020 that I bought ages ago. I made view D, because of the sweetheart neck line. However it gaped really badly so I ended up adding some elastic to the neckline and also a few tucks. So the neckline ended up being more gathered/round.

One comment; the size on this pattern is way out. After measuring myself (and measuring again - what fun that is, blah) I then decided what size I should cut out. I decided to go down a size because I know patterns sizes are off. Even then I had to re-sew almost every seam in varying degrees to make the dress fit the way it was meant to.

Anyway . . . here is the dress. I really like it - the fabric is sooo pretty. And the dress is really comfortable, I've worn it most of the weekend.

Haha, this is my attempt at self timer photos on my balcony while pretending to the people walking past it's no big deal.

How do the style blog girls do it? :)

Reading Material

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 03:04:00 +0000

I picked these up from the library today. They may or may not already have post it notes marking pages.

Because a girl can dream, can't she? :)

Cow Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 08:00:00 +0000

I feel a little like a fraud posting this cake because I didn't actually make the cake (insert gasp here). I have a good reason - I had made the batter and the cake was in the oven when I realised the element in my oven had broken. So I had to run out to Woolies to grab a slab cake to decorate for my friends birthday (the same one whose part I went to last week).

But I did decorate it, which is why I'm showing you.

And yes, those are suppose to be cows. And it's because Alannah loves cows :)

Real Eating

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:14:00 +0000

This year I've been eating better, more healthily. And my body is defiantly thanking me for it.

But the last few weeks I've been researching different types of food we can eat and how they affect our body. In particular how processed food can affect our mood and health.

I've been thinking that I may have been eating healthily, but maybe not nutritionally.

The last two weeks I've been trying to eat mainly plant based, whole foods. Some guidelines for myself are

Each meal has a plant based element to it.
Either fruit or vegetables (or both!) which make up the majority of the meal.
If there are grains, they are whole grain (unbleached and as unprocessed as possible).
Only eating processed foods that have 5 or less ingredients and that have real foods as part of the ingredients (e.g. swapping bread that has flavour enhancers and random numbers in the ingredient list for a bread that is made of wholemeal flour, yeast, oil and salt)
limiting meat to only one meal a day, or less (and it's whole meat, not processed)

I defiantly notice a difference. The biggest difference is that I'm sleeping better, and actually feeling rested when I wake up. My mood is improving a bit, but it's really hard to gauge. The weirdest difference is that when I do eat a meal that is all processed (like grabbing take away on the way home, or eating one of the freezer meals I had left over) a few hours after I eat it I feel queasy and unwell for a bit. When I feel this way I can go - "Oh yeah, I ate that didn't I? Opps."

I'm interested in seeing how this goes.
I know these ideas can seem a bit extreem - but I'm willing to try it out to see if it helps me lead a better quality of life, and I figure it can't hurt. These are some of the resources I've been reading.
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
100days of real food
Green Smoothie Girl/12 Steps to Whole Food

I can garentee I won't ever get fanatical about it - it's more a case of eating as well as I can for the majority of the time and not worrying about little things now and then. And, as yet, I haven't given up my diet coke :).

Some more pics

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 02:49:00 +0000

Some more photos of the facinator I made.

If I made it again I don't think I'd add the ribbon, it just wasn't necessary. I like the beads, but with the flowers you can barely see the ribbon.

Facinating

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 08:00:00 +0000

I am off to a 21st tonight which is a Mad Hatter dress up theme. We've been asked to wear a hat.

I'm not a huge hat fan. I haven't found a hat that I find attractive on me, I wasn't about to spend a whole lot on something I propably wouldn't wear again. I was planning to wear a black and red floral maxi dress so decided to made a facinator to go with it.

Flowers - $4.95
Netting - $2.30
Hair clip - had already, I think I got it for about $1

Add a bit of ribbon and a whole lot of hot glue, and this is what I came up with. Not bad for $8.25 and half an hours time.

Sorry about the dodgy phone pic, I was trying to grap a photo before running out the door. Will take some better ones soon.

Considering the colours it feels a bit Spanish :)

What's happening to our kids?

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:15:00 +0000

I went to a talk given by Maggie Hamilton about a week ago. Maggie is a writer who has done alot of research with children and teenagers. She has written a number of books, in particular Whats happening to our Girls? and Whats happening to our Boys?

I read Whats happening to our girls? a while ago and bought the boys book at the talk to read. The books can be quite confronting, reading in black and white what is happening in children's lives in the 21st century. And even from my limited, rather sheltered experience I saw and experiecned many of the things Maggie writes about so I know alot of this is correct. But what I appreciate about Maggie Hamilton's books is that she doesn't just try to just present information, but uses the 100's of interviews she conducted with normal children/teens to illustrate the facts.

I could go into all the things children are faced with, but really I encourage you to read the books.

Instead I wanted to share some of the tips Maggie gave to help counteract what the world is teaching our kids and help them cope with a range of situations they may not be ready for yet. (the talk was aimed at parents so the tips are more family focused)

Have a family meal every day (without the TV on) and just chat about the day, the plans all of you have, what things are coming up in the nest few days, whats on the news, something you read during the day.
Spend some time alone with each child each week - this could be as simple as taking a child with you when you go grocery shopping, walk the dog
Involve children in a useful physical activities that have a purpose. Getting them to help with the renovations, volunteer to look after animals at the RSPCA, create a small business on Etsy (this one made me smile), cook dinner for the family - or for another family.

Involve them in a multi-generational community so they are not only interacting with peers their own age. For Christians we have a multi-generational community on our doorstep - the church! (I've written about my love of my multi-generational community before)

Each of the books also has lots more ways to help young people. This is one of the things I appreciate about Maggie Hamilton is that she doesn't just tell you all the things that kids are exposed to and leave you feeling hopeless. She gives you ideas and strategies to counteract.