2017 Tasmanian Mennonite Conference

Although I've mentioned this in with another post, thought I'd do a separate one for any who may be interested in attending:

I hope to get to some of the services... 

Weekend Walkabout

After church yesterday (Seventh-day Adventist) new friend Vicki came for a coffee, cake and chat.  I'm sure we could have talked all afternoon...
It's not often I meet some-one I can relate to (and they to me)...a kindred spirit...

Then, later in the afternoon, Marnie, Denver and I went to the Raspberry Farm at Christmas Hills for a walk around their lake and then afternoon tea...

 

 

 waterlilies on the lake

 boardwalk

 original old houses on the property

 

 some of the raspberry tunnels

 

looking across to the cafe

 

After my raspberry cheesecake I definitely needed my afternoon river walk, but undid all the good that did because I met Marnie and Denver at the river and we had fish and chips for tea!!!

 

It was a nice day...I'll just have to not eat for the rest of the week...  :))

 

xx

Thursday Things

It's hot and windy again today.  Walked earlier, before the wind picked up, but won't be going too far for the rest of the day.  And I have a headache :(

For Yarn Along...

Still working on my jumper.  Almost finished the back.

 

 Reading these two books from the church library:

Life Styles of the Remnant by Keavin Hayden

 

Slow Down and Simplify by Beverly Graham Stickle

 

 

Bought this table runner from One Colour...

Made by women in Africa...

Unfortunately I still need a table to put it on, but using it folded in half on my small table for now...

Love the colours (or lack of) and fabric

 

And it has given me some ideas for a patchwork/quilting project.

 

Letter writing today!

 

Keep busy and be happy :)

xx

Today

It's hot...and I'm tired, so no walk this afternoon.  You get a blog post instead :)

I walked this morning, and stopped at the supermarket on my way home to pick up a few things.

Then Gwen called in for a coffee and to relieve me of my one remaining fish in the fish pond. ( I think the birds killed the other one.)  So now I have emptied it out and will clean and refill.  I would like to keep it as a water feature (and bird bath), but didn't want the fish...

Worked in the garden for awhile.  Picking beans...

Pruning and weeding and enjoying a little patch of purple...

Made a lentil loaf...

 it tastes better than it looks :)

Here's the recipe...

 

 

As usual...I improvised/altered...

 

Cooked my own lentils

Didn't have Granola( I'm assuming that it's like muesli) so used rolled oats

Didn't have enough peanut butter so used 1 tablespoon of tahini plus 1 of peanut butter

Used my tomato relish

Added some fresh herbs, and spices

A grated carrot

And an egg

(I didn't whizz it...just chopped and mixed)

Didn't steam it, but put in a loaf pan and cooked in moderate oven (with foil over top) for about 1/2 an hour, then removed the foil for 5 minutes (or so) to brown top.

 

Tastes pretty good!

 

xx

 

Coffee?

Been for my morning walk.

Stopped at the supermarket for a few things on the way back.

Mowed the lawns. 

Taking a break now for my morning coffee...

and browsing the latest Aust Country Style mag :)

 

xx

Sunday Snippets

Eeny Meeny Miny...

I have never considered myself a particular denomination...but a christian!

I am  attending 3 different churches: Uniting; (Conservative) Mennonite; Seventh-day Adventist.

I love being with the Mennonites...their singing, preaching, friendship...

But I could never be a Mennonite.  I would love to be able to...but having not grown up in it, I feel stifled.  Not being able to think and question...and be myself.  But I will continue to meet with them on Sundays, even if I will always feel a bit of an outsider.  Not that they make me feel that way, it's just the nature of things...  And I have no problem with their theology, believing it to be completely Bible based.

And I've recently started attending the Seventh-day Adventist Church (although have had contact with them previously).  I do like their holistic approach to their faith - body, mind and spirit/soul.  They are very much into healthy lifestyle and eating.  They also dig deep and questioningly into the Bible, and seem to have more answers (and seek more) than other denominations.  I like to think, and am constantly asking questions, and seeking answers, about the Bible.  The only thing I am still a bit wary of is the emphasis they place on the teachings of Ellen White, but the more I look into it the more I see her works not so much as new revelations (as with the Mormons), but explanations and expansions on what the Bible says.

I still attend the Uniting Church when I am not with the Mennonites, and have made some lovely friends there, but I think the time is coming when I will need to make a decision re. my Sunday church of worship.

If I had to sum up my take on the Mennonite Church, it would be "come out from amongst them and be ye separate"...in that I feel them to be slightly isolating/ed.

And the Seventh-day Adventist Church would be "in the world, but not of the world"...mixing, but not conforming to.

I am only speaking of the Mennonite and Seventh-day Adventist churches here, that I have fellowshipped with.  I realise these churches in other areas may be slightly different.

Anyway...just some thought...

Happy to hear yours!!

Came across this poem in the latest edition of Keepers at Home (Mennonite publication):

Christian Friends

 

When our life is filled with trouble

And our joy has reached the end

Then our load again is lighter

When we share it with a friend.

 

Christian friends are priceless blessings

I am thankful for each one

May we overlook the failures

And in love continue on.

 

May our friendship as a flower

Bloom in beauty - fresh and fair

Bearing one another's burdens

And rememb'ring friends in prayer. (D.M.)

 

 

Blessings my friends!!

 

xx 

 

 

 

In a word

If I had to describe our summer in a word...it would be windy!!

Usually spring is our windy time of year, but this year it has continued to be windy right on through summer :((

Roll on autumn!!!

It is usually calm when I go for my walk around 7am, but by 9am the wind has picked up again and doesn't stop till around 7 at night.

So here are a couple of photos from my 'calm' morning walk...

And for Yarn Along

Still reading The Sunlit Night and still knitting my jumper...

Also dipping into the following from the church library:

 

How to Hug a Heart - Tamyra Horst

Ordinary People Faithful God - (edited and compiled) by Nathan Brown

 

 

And for travel and patchwork inspiration, watching:

Northern Exposure and How to Make an American Quilt

 

An update on my goals for 2017:

*As regards the keyboard...it has been purchased!

now I just need to learn to play it!!

 

 

*And my 'read through the bible in alphabetical order' is coming along:

 

Acts, Amos, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles...

 

*I've planned my first patchwork project!

 

*As regards travel...I haven't actually gone anywhere...except in my dreams!  And in my current book...all the way to Norway :))


Read this in my a Year's Journey with God devotional book this morning:

"Don't try and live a holy life for that will crush you by its immensity; rather think of a series of holy moments, each one lived for God - then one day you will realise that you have lived a holy life without effort.  Concentrate on Jesus rather than on  your own efforts because it is His job to sanctify us." (Alexander Lindsay Glegg)


Have a good day!

  I'm off to the dentist :(((((((

xx
 

 

Dreaming of a place far away...

Great Yarn Along weather today!  Rain...rain and more rain!  Sorely needed, and enabling me to stay inside and not feel guilty about the jungle that is my garden.

So I am enjoying some reading, knitting and cooking...

Reading

Picked up The Sunlit Night this morning from the library and have had my nose in it since.  Think I'm going to like it...

Particulary liked this...  "What does it matter if you do what you love, if what you love doesn't matter?" (p12)

And this (regarding Norway, where she was headed)...  "It promised to be solitary and terribly far away.  ...an eighteen-hour train ride that started in Oslo and connected to a four hour ferry trip across a major fjord.  .... Leaving the colony was possible only when the fjord proved crossable, on select and unforeseeable days." (p22)

Now that is my idea of a great place to live :))

Knitting   Still working on my classic jumper in my Willabaa wool yarn...so nice to knit with!

Picked up The Seal Wife and A Song for Summer for 50 cents each at the op shop. My (part-time) Paris Life is a new one from Book Depository...

 next in line on my 'to read' list

 

What draws you to a book?  For me it is mostly the setting. The above mentioned books are set in Norway, Alaska, Austria and Paris.  If I can't go there (yet) I can at least read about it!

 

I love books about cool climate, sparsely populated places.  I think that is partly why I read Scandi crime books, not because I like crime books...but because I like the settings.  And it seems to be that most of the settings I like are in crime fiction!! 

Cooking    Cottage Cheese Rolls...

Here's the recipe:

3 beaten eggs
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1 small chopped onion
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Combine all together.  Place on puff pastry sheets ( I cut the sheets in half then place mixture on sheets and roll up, then cut each roll into 4 or 5 pieces), brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Prick tops with a fork (to allow steam to escape) and bake on trays in 200'C oven for 20 minutes or until pastry is cooked and slightly browned. 
Notes:  I also add some tomato relish and fresh herbs (parsley, coriander, thyme, rosemary, mint) to the mix, and I used normal rolled oats as I didn't have any of the quick cooking variety.

these are some I made last week

And here's the wet garden as I wait for it to stop raining so I can gather some fresh herbs...

And last night's full moon...

Rain has stopped...making a dash outside to pick my herbs for the cottage cheese rolls, and some beans and silverbeet for tea tonight...

can't get much fresher than that

Rain is starting again.  Time for a cup of tea and my nose in the book...oh...and maybe a piece of the banana, date and walnut cake I made yesterday...

Bon appetit!

 

xx

Sunday Snippets

I received this email today from Timeline Ministries and thought I would share it with you...

Topping up your oil &trimming your wick!

David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. 1 Samuel 30:6



As David returned to his home in Ziklag he discovered his enemies, the Amalekites, had destroyed or stolen everything which was important to him. David stands alone, stripped and confused, in total despair, on the verge of being stoned by his men.

God fully intended a crisis be allowed in David's life that would take him into the more. For sixteen months, David had lived with the Philistines, leaning heavily on King Achish. God wanted to give David the kingdom; he was about to settle for Ziklag. God would not permit David to settle down in a place that depended on the flesh for survival. Could it be that David had grown tired of the struggle, weary of so many battles, so many hardships? Was he thinking he had earned the right to an easier lifestyle?

As David sat among the ruins of Ziklag he had a choice: he could allow grief, depression and bitterness to conquer him; Or he could fight back. David had no one to encourage or strengthen him, so he "strengthened himself in the Lord his God". But how did he do this? Consider the Psalms written by David during troublesome times.

In Psalm 34:1-4 David declared, "His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Praising God is part of the path to encouragement. When praise is in your mouth, there can be no grumbling, no complaining and no negative speaking or thoughts. Praise is the language of faith. If you want to strengthen your faith, begin to praise God. David also declared: "Oh, magnify the Lord with me." "Magnify" means "to enlarge or make bigger in perspective." When we magnify a small object, we change our perception of it. We cannot make God any bigger than He already is but you can magnify your perspective of Him. Magnify the Lord! Speak of His greatness, His power, His might. Talk about how big and powerful God is. "When you make God bigger, you make your trouble smaller." It's simple but true.

To strengthen himself in the Lord, David had to let go of all earthly trusts and rest completely in the strength and provision of His God, for it is not by might nor by power but my Spirit says the Lord. Zec 4:6 God permits the hard times so that we might cast ourselves wholly on Himself and to walk by His Word. As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:30



We live in times where every day the news gets worse, a little more ominous, a little darker but no matter how dark and hopeless this world becomes and how deep our personal challenges are, God's people are to strengthen [encourage] themselves in the Lord and rest on His great and precious promises. Maranatha

*************************************

 

 

I fellowshipped at the Mennonite Church this morning.  Always a time of heavenly singing and uplifting and encouraging Bible teaching.  They are having their annual conference next month.  Below is the program.  Maybe I'll see you there :)

 

click on the photo to bring it up larger

 

Very hot and windy here today.  I am holed up inside with the aircon on.

 

I hope you are enjoying your day!

xx

 

And so endeth (almost) another week...

A busy week, so I'm late with my Yarn Along link up....

Still knitting bright beanies for charity, and dug out this lovely soft wool that I've had for years, from a family woollen mill in Victoria, that no longer operates.   Knitting this classic jumper, one of which I made myself years ago, but waylaid somewhere in all my moves.  I really loved that jumper, so why not knit another one!!  It was in Willabaa yarn too...

And my friend Debbie in India sent me a parcel, and a challenge, to crochet a 'mood blanket'...

 lots of bright coloured yarn (and a rice bag to put it in)

Still working on my hexi flowers from a fabric swap with a group of ladies how many years ago??

think I might join them into some sort of carry/knitting bag

Finished reading Candle in the Darkness.  Enjoyed the historical content on the American Civil War and abolition of slavery...

In the process of finishing Blue Christmas (interesting, but a bit repetitive)

Still forming an opinion on Quicksand

And picked up this Reader's Digest (which I don't usually buy) as there looked to be some interesting articles in it

The year of using up and finishing off :))

Regarding bible reading...

I have my quiet time in bed with my early morning cup of tea, before the daily busyness starts.  I have been using the Our Daily Bread for years, but also like to add one or two other devotional reads.  Last year it was Grace Notes - Philip Yancey, but as I started it part way through the year, I am continuing with it this year.  I do like his writings...

Also this year, as well as Our Daily Bread, I am using Seeds of the Kingdom and a Year's Journey with God (both of which I have used in previous years)...

And in my plan to read through the Bible alphabetically, I am using the Holman Christian Standard Bible  (my usual preference is NKJV) for a change.  I'm on track with my reading:

1. Acts

2. Amos

3. 1 Chronicles

 

Had some recipes to share with you too, but that will have to wait till another post.

 

 

Will leave you with this poem I read Jan 2nd in a Year's Journey with God:

 

Lord, I surrender all my gifts, to take into this year,

That I may use them in your will, to bring the Saviour near.

The gifts you give are not my own - they're yours to take away,

Or let remain, if you should choose, to use for you each day.

 

And so my gifts I dedicate that I may serve you here.

May all the glory go to you - my King, my Saviour dear.

 

(Ann Clifton)

 

Onwards and upwards....  :))

 

xx