Holidays!!

I didn't think I'd have a chance to do any blogging this trip; but here I am on my son's computer (he's at Uni, so he doesn't know). Our trip to Sydney was very relaxing - we took our time, met up with some friends at a caravan stop, and have spent the last few days trying to find time to spend with our son.

Mark has been a little stressed out and grumpy for most of the trip - just nervous about the caravan and the wedding; but after the wedding I'm sure he'll settle down a bit. Money is his main concern! I don't know why, God always blesses us with what we need. As my old mate, Bob Gass says:

"It takes maturity to understand that if God doesn't supply it,
you don't need it. If you needed it, he'd give it to you."



I don't know if I'm mature, Mark would call me `uncaring'. My theory is - if we run out of money, we stay put until pay day. That's what Mum and Dad do!! So far, we haven't stayed in any caravan parks - our biggest expense up to date has been washing. Aaron doesn't have a washing machine yet, and the Laundrys here charge you by the `kilo', rather than the wash. Yesterday our washing costs $17 - it was to be $25, but we took out the heavier stuff. Today Mark took Aaron's clothes down to wash (he said he was running out), and it cost $35. Unbelievable!

One thing that is believable is our PRAYER and READING THE WORD has helped us on our trip. I am a great believer that starting the day in the word is the the only way to get your day started. I even made up a little song about it, but I forgot to write it down. This is something I hope I can pass on to my son and his new lovely wife. (Mark hasn't written his wedding speech yet, maybe I can add that in).

The other day Emily's Mum Ros, who is very outgoing, said that she and I should do the speeches: 1) Because our husbands are both really shy.
2) She hates Mark's jokes. Hah!! Hah!!

At the moment I am reading a great little book on PRAYER by Bob Gass. What I love about his writings are that he always follows up what he says with Scripture.

"Without time spent in prayer what do we have to draw on? You'll work harder and accomplish less because you're operating in your own strength. But after you've prayed, you'll struggle less and accomplish more because you're operating in His strength." Bob Gass

Paul had a lot to say about this, particularly in his letter to the Philippians. I wonder if this was an area they struggled in. I love Paul's encouraging words in this letter, but of course the best words are:

"I can do anything through Christ who gives me
strength." Philippians 4:13

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