Festival of Mission Blessings....

This week I attended all the night meetings at the festival of mission at the Watson Park Camp grounds... it was absolutely AWESOME!! I loved it so much that now that its over, Im suffering a bit of a let down!

but anyway, on Friday night, I got there nice and early to get a seat in the middle near the front to take a couple of photos. Two Papua New Guinea ladies came and sat in the two spare seats next to me. We exchanged smiles, and sang in praise together. Towards the end of the program, we had communion, and I mentioned that it was cold that night. They both told me that they had been so cold at night all week, that they had swollen legs and feet, and did not sleep well at all due to the cold. I said 'dont they have blankets for you"? and they said that they were only allocated 2 blankets each, and they were woollen. I said "I wish I had known, I would've brought you some from my home, perhaps I could get some for you tonight?" They agreed, and so straight after the meeting, they followed me to the van, and we got in, having a little giggle! What an adventure!

Their names are Cecile, and Rosina, and they told me a little about their homeland, Rosina has 2 girls, and had lost her husband about 5-6 years ago due to a car accident.
When we got to the house, they were going to wait in the car, and I said 'no!! come up and meet my husband, he will make you a hot drink while I get some blankets!' So we giggled again, and came upstairs.
Hubby was a little taken back but quickly understood when I explained how we needed to supply blankets! So while they sipped hot cups of milo, I gathered our winter doona, a feather doona, and 4 woollen blankets and some of the kids blankets too, and bundled them up into one of our suitcases. I said to them, share them with your friends, so that they are not cold too! So off we went back to the camp ground and they guided me to where their tent was. I went inside, and found that they were just living on grass, which made the tent really cold inside, so I got our picnic blanket out of the back and put it down on the floor so that they had something to stand on when they got dressed.
Remember, just because they are from PNG doesnt mean they live in a grass hut, they lived in houses too! So to know someone is cold, is a really uncomfortable thing to suffer!

Cecile said to me, I have a 'meri blouse, and a lap lap back in my tent, we are going to wear ours tommorrow for Sabbath, will you wear it with us?' and of course I said 'really? of course I will, but its not necessary for you to give me anything!' She insisted that she had been waiting to meet someone that week of mission to give this outfit to a friend that she had made. So it was an honour to accept it.

So I drove home, and tried it on in front of hubby and also looked in the mirror... well, I looked like a big Mamma, 9 months pregnant, and very fluffy.
I said 'oh man, this is going to be kinda embarrassing to wear this tommorrow, because I look so big in it, but I said Id do it, so I will. Its important.' I wore normal clothes to Sabbath school the next morning, and said to my friends how embarrassed I was to have to get changed into the outfit for church over at the camp ground. They looked a little embarrassed for me and had a bit of a giggle at how I looked.
I went to the big tent and started to look for my new friends, I could not see them, but what I did notice is that other Islanders were looking at me and smiling!
At first I thought it was because I was holding Eden and they were smiling at how fair she was, some even took photos which I found a little.... not comical, not strange, but 'new'.
Eventually I found my friends, and showed them my new clothes with humble pride which could have been tinted with a little embarrassment, but they did not see that. We exchanged addresses, and phone numbers, emails, and kisses and it was kind of sad that there was only Sabbath to see them. They took their seats inside and I remained outside with the family. And still, the growing realisation of all the Islanders, and there were heaps of them, looking at me and smiling and waving, and saying to me they liked my outfit and I looked nice. Slowly, my western world embarrassment diminished and dissappeared and was replaced with humble pride! So many beautiful dark people recognising me as their friend, because I had befriended one of their own. We were all one! no barriers, no westerner embarrassment, but a growing satfisfaction of belonging to them, and they to me. It is hard to describe - it was such a beautiful lesson, and a beautiful blessing from my beautiful God.

Groan...

I know I should be thankful for every little bit of 'stuff' that the kids bring home, but sometimes I just groan inside... they want to keep it.. and I just go... 'where?'.
Im getting really good at throwing things away, and cleaning up around the place, Im throwing out anything broken, and Im also keeping up with cleaning out sizes that have been grown out of... Im even keeping our room tidier!!! So when these beauties come home, I do cringe a little. Im not talking about artwork, bring that on, but the little peices that are made out of cartons, paper, - junk. See Im mixed in my feelings, because if they stopped bringing them home, then I would want them to bring more, but because they are, I cringe... I think its because there is so much. And this will tripple once my youngest is in Kindy!! It also makes me think of how our society has become so disposable in its way of living. We have packaged everything! We throw out things that 2 weeks later we need again, so we buy it again only to throw out again a little later.... Our re-cycle bin fills up more then our normal bin some weeks, and I say they should collect our re-cycle bin every week! Its a little bit funny, we went to Kombarcho last week, an environment festival at our local council, & they were giving out so many leaflets of different information representing different organisations that I really noticed the irony of it - arent we meant to be saving our trees??? Your giving them out on paper. Then the kids had to have all the leaflets... all will end up in the bin... or hang on, I might send them to school with my son, and they can get rid of them!!! Then there is the balloons from the shopping centre, they love carrying it, and getting in the car with it, and then when we get home, they either drop them on the floor, or carry them for 5 more minutes and then leave them laying around!! sheeeeeesh!
I am keeping their art work, and I know there is heaps of it, but what Im going to do is photograph it. I know this is not an original concept, but this also will take time to do... I have to make sure I know who did what too! My little ones are growing up so quickly, and Im finding that I dont want to just throw it out, I want the memory! Im so torn! aaarhhhhh!

Thermomix

I love to cook, I love to save money where we can by cooking for the school lunches, making our own jam etc etc... its endless. Ive notice of late, that my mix master (kenwood chef) is starting to make a few sounds, and its motor just doesnt work as hard as it used to... after all, it is nearly 19 years old!! How's that for a good run! My smaller little hand held mixing device has karked it, so I had to throw that out last week... my braun mini processor is wearing thin, the bowl has cracked, the whipper has broken, and we've repaired it a few times, but its wearing out too.

Anyway.....

I realllllly want a Thermomix... a few friends have purchased one, and are raving about them... I looked it up, and wow... it could really open up a lot of cooking possibilities for us, and save money! Thats always a good thing right? Let me tell you a little about them...

It will:

Mills, Grinds, Pulverises & Grates All Grains eg. wheat, barley, buckwheat, oats, rice Coffee Beans Chocolate Parmesan & other hard cheeses Sugar into icing sugar All Seeds eg. linseed, sesame, poppy, sunflower (make LSA) All Nuts eg. almond, walnuts, hazelnuts (make Dukkah) All Spices eg. peppercorns, cinnamon, lemon zest, nutmeg, vanilla (make Garam Masala) Breadcrumbs Kneads All Breads, Pizza, Foccacia and Brioche Pasta Dough Pastries including Choux Minces All meat including chicken & fish Chops Fruit Vegetables Onion, Garlic, Ginger & Chillies Herbs

Prepares Drinks eg. juices, lemonades, cocktails & milkshakes Pâtés, Dips, Pesto & Tapenades Salads Dressings including Mayonnaise Ice creams, Sorbets & Desserts Cakes & Pavlovas Jams, Marmalade, Preserves & Spreads (eg. peanut butter, hazelnut) Cappuccino, Caffè Latte & Ice Coffee Yoghurt Cooks Soups Sauces & Pastes eg. tomato, seafood, hollandaise, curry Curries, Stews & Casseroles Pasta Risotto Custard Baby food Whips Egg whites Cake frosting & fillings Cream Butter Crushes Ice Steams Fish & other seafood Vegetables Meat & chicken Dumplings & buns

And, the best thing of all is, it washes itself!!

How good is that? Its German, so very good quality, and basically we'd be able to minimise our kitchen appliances to just 2-3 appliances instead of 6-7.. and by the time these other things need replacing, well, that starts getting expensive hey. I have decided I am going to save up for one. They are about $1800 - I know - GULP. But I will do it... I will save up. We would even be able to make our own Soy Milk if we get one. My girlfriend said that she has made her own soy milk and it tastes similar to Soy Good. We drink about a litre of soy a day - having it on cereal, and my youngest drinks it as her milk drink.
I just have to try and sell it to my husband.... wish me luck!!