the universe declares Your majesty

Think i’ve expressed before that photographs often aren’t able to do justice to God’s beautiful creation. Well, i stand corrected after seeing Ken Duncan’s work on the big screen at Subi church today. What breathtaking sights he managed to capture, and a really amazing testimony about how God revealed Himself to him, and called him to a life of adventure, and how He manages to use such a regular guy as himself. Thoroughly enjoyed the service. Being faced with the majesty of nature, i really do think that it needs more “faith” to believe in the Big Bang theory and evolution rather than just believe that Someone created it all. Was also moved by the photos from Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, especially the one of Jesus (Jim Caviezel) holding a lamb (see here).

Just to update, have been keeping real busy having started the testing for my thesis here (which is going well, thank God), as well as working on assignments. Erm, don't think i'm as busy as someone who's presently on the east coast of Australia having a dream holiday (only that it's really a work trip and i'm sure few holidays were ever so packed with activities!) But anyway, shall keep my mind focused on things here in Perth instead of Sydney or anywhere else (;P) and enjoy the wonderful people and activities i have here for the present! Here's a picture of a sunset i took from the Busselton Jetty - perhaps not a Ken Duncan, but i am rather pleased with it anyway ;)

As shared during last night’s girls’ prayer meet, there are many things to give thanks to God for:

1. Even though it was no fun being sick, it was great having my parents around to look after me. Was also lovely having friends show their concern by giving lozenges and cough drops : ) Thank God for healing too!
2. Thank God i’m able to start testing some kids at a school here tomorrow!! Really glad to be able to start that second part of the testing for my thesis. (Thanks to those who have been keeping this matter in prayer!)
3. Two months more until July!!! ;)

At the same time, with so much to be thankful for in my own life, thoughts and prayers are very much with those around (and further afield) who are going through particularly tough times. The worst part is that there’s often not much that can be done to help in many situations – sometimes the only thing one can do is to offer a listening ear and just to be there for the person. But i do believe that prayer does work miracles. So i will not give up bringing my dear friends before the throne of grace, and ask the Lord to work in their lives; that He will be their ultimate source of comfort and strength, and that these times, though difficult, will lead them to draw nearer to Jesus.

There is an optimal level of stress / arousal; and that level differs for different people. I know i can definitely vouch for that theory.. With too little to do and too much time on my hands, i get bored. But with too much to worry about and too little time, the stress starts to build up (which i’m sure many of my friends back home can identify with). On the other hand there’s also the penchant for procrastination. Contacting schools and waiting for them to get back to me has been quite frustrating (one of the hard parts of conducting research); on the other hand, throughout the last few months, i’ve done little to start analyzing the results i’ve already collected, or achieved that headstart i so often think about on assignments due at the end of the semester. Ideally, analyzing the data, or putting an assignment together should be an enjoyable experience, especially since i’ve chosen this course of study. It can be exciting to look at results and make sense of the findings, and i do recall times of enjoyment as i read an article on, say, language development in young children ;P But so often that perfect balance isn’t there; it does take wisdom and discipline to know how much additional responsibility we can handle on top of the necessary. And i suppose times of stress and worry can teach us how to depend on God all the more. Reading 2 Peter 3 today further reminded me that all too often we worry for the wrong reasons. Important to keep asking: Does it really matter? How are we spending our time and energies in light of what’s really important.

finally travelled out of Perth..

Had a really lovely time with my parents, showing them around Perth and Fremantle, and especially our trip down south. We stayed in Busselton and used that as a base to travel around the Margaret River region, as well as to the treetop walk near Walpole. It was generally a very relaxed trip and I hope my parents enjoyed it as much as I did. (Only now I have tons of work to catch up on… :P)

Well you know what they say about pictures speaking more than words, so here are 4000 words worth of photos ;)