Cheese anyone?

I saw this photo and thought; did you meet people like this cat? Always wanting to be on the other side of that door, no matter which side they are on? They always want whatever is there on the other side, out of reach, out of grasp or out of control. It must be better working in a different place, living in an another house, driving a different car, having a different family, etc…..Whatever is behind that door, I want and I will try and get

The culture of many choices doesn’t help either, as I do the shopping, I find that there are more than 60 different types of cheese! I later learn that there are actually 500 types of cheese recognized by the International Dairy Federation. Come on, it is just CHEESE!

So sometimes we approach life and relations in the same way as shopping for the best cheese, if it is not this one, it might be another and surely with all these different varieties, I must find the one I like!  If we look at relations as consumers rather than individuals, we then want the ‘best cut’, ‘the front of the shelf’, ‘the long expiry date’ and we may also ask to ‘speak to the manager’ if we are not satisfied with the product. However, I know that the heart that God gave us was to help, love, support and befriend, rather than to consume and just consume.

One evening in Avenue Q

People's dreams, trying to find your purpose in life, finding love, ahh and finding a place that is affordable…welcome to the neighbourhood in Avenue Q. A funny and sweet (and at times rude) musical that I enjoyed very much last night. The use of puppets was superb and the ideas although simple, were addressed so nicely. One of the main characters –Princeton- spent all his time trying to find his purpose in life and “Kate monster” was always trying to help. There were also the “bears of bad ideas” who always chip in at the wrong time with bad ideas that often made things worse.
Avenue Q was great fun and as always there is something about the theatre that is so magical, powerful and highly enjoyable.

Summer Blessing

THE FRIENDLY ALIENS WHO COLLECTED JOKES AND PICTURES THROUGH HOLIDAY CLUB WEEK

What a great summer we had! Even with my broken foot, praise God it went really well. There were lots of sport activities (for my daughter not me obviously), meeting friends and having picnics. However, between the quad biking, the swimming, the tennis and the walking, there were enormous blessings through the love and the support we received from family and friends. Also the practical support with my inability to drive. So thank you all.

On the top of my list of blessings, some of the great messages we received this summer through our holiday with All Souls church and through the holiday club (starship discovery) in our local church. My daughter and I have decided to make the effort and work hard on memory verses and here are some of the verses that are now on a "bible mobile" in the kitchen (so no excuse):

1- If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 9:7b)
2-Choose yourself today whom you will serve, as for me I will serve the Lord. (Josh 24:15)
3- Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. (Prov 3:5)
4- Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (1 Tim 1:15)
5- I will always be with you, I will never abandon you. (Josh 1:5)
6- In God I trust, I will not be afraid. (Psalm 56:11)

So as we trust the new school year in God's hands, we thank Him for the summer and for the fact that I have finally got rid of my crutch now.

The day after the night before

I was overwhelmed by the amount of email, messages and calls I have received from family and friends. I am so grateful to you all. I think it has started to be part of reality, my research has been a big part of my life and letting go of my project is kind of letting go of a loved one. I am glad that it is done, but one gets so emotionally attached to certain degree of obsession sometimes. I remember having to remove some tests and cut few experiments that I already carried out, that was hard.

However, letting go and pressing on ahead is what the bible teach us, to forget what is behind and straining toward what is ahead (Philippians 3:13). It is always taught in the sense of letting go of the past and it's painful memories, or bad experiences and drama etc. But in my opinion I feel it is letting go of it all, the bad and the good, the failures and success and not to get stuck to what and who we WERE but what we are doing now. I said before that degrees and success inflate egos, but as we press on toward the goal, the ultimate goal of serving the living Lord, we keep focus on what matters most.

My celebration for obtaining my PhD has just begun and I am sure it will continue for a while yet and my gratitude to God will carry on as well. My prayer is not to loose sight of what is important in all of this.

A PhD is bad for your health!

So..do you think this is a good idea? Do you recognise any of these photos(you can check some more of these on "I did a PhD and did not go mad web page)? If you are mad enough to think about doing some more studying, have a look at these funny photos (the before and after shots of someone fictional I hope:), and may i just say this is not me (although some may disagree!). But just for the record I kind of enjoyed my PhD, it was a long and painful journey at times and it tested my strength and abilities to the limit some times. However, I was blessed with wonderful people whom i worked with and they provided continuous support and advice, that made this "endurance" course a lot bearable. I just hope that for them it wasn't as trying as it was -at times- for me. God has been my refuge through it all and His provision was evident all the time.

Next time you have to go and see the dentist, think yourself lucky, this could be the alternative!