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Connected?

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Over the last few days, with what’s happened to my Grandma, I have been so grateful to the people who have supported us by contacting and encouraging our family.

I’m happy to say Grandma is out of hospital and is at home resting with her speech coming back slowly. I spent time with her this afternoon and I found a bunch of brownies on our kitchen table, with a note from a friend saying she was praying and thinking of us. There are a couple of other big things going on at the moment that I cant speak about here, but we have been so grateful to our closest friends who are walking beside us.

Having friends drop by and offer to cook us dinner, one of my husbands friends drove down last night and spent the night with him. A friend came and took me to breakfast this morning and bought a little present for our son Max.

It is at times like this, that really show you who your friends are and how connected we really are. My experience over the last few days has been from friends I have known and developed deep relationships with over years. Friends that I adore seeing and connecting with.

Are you deeply connecting with people?

or are you only connecting with people in little sips. A text here, an email there, a status debate today, a de-friending off facebook tomorrow.

“Connecting in sips may work for gathering discreet bits of information, they may work for saying, “I’m thinking about you,” or even for saying, “I love you,” but they don’t really work for learning about each other, for really coming to know and understand each other. And we use conversations with each other to learn how to have conversations with ourselves. So a flight from conversation can really matter because it can compromise our capacity for self-reflection. For kids growing up, that skill is the bedrock of development.” Sherry Turkle

I stumbled upon a fantastic video which is all about the culture of connectedness in social media and how it tricks us into thinking we all have heaps of friends. In reality though it just makes us feel more isolated and more frustrated.

It’s called the innovation of loneliness

The information for this video, came from this fantastic TED video by Sherry Turkle

Are you feeling alone even though you have many friends online?

Are you connected really?

All my love

Amanda

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Build

20140128-125538.jpgRecently My little man, Maximus has been interested in Bob the Builder. The song has been getting stuck in my head and all day I have been thinking about the word build.

What am I building?

Who am I working with to build something?

What is my contribution to our world?

One of the greatest things I miss about working in a large organisation is building towards a goal, a vision that is greater than myself.

When you are not involved in something larger than yourself, I find it is easy to sit on the sidelines and criticise. It is harder to criticise when you have rolled up your sleeves and being a part of the answer. With its flaws and its problems, you are still getting dirty and making a difference.

At the end of my days I would want to know that I lived a life contributing and living beyond myself, than a life of tearing down.

Are you building or are you doing the opposite, tearing down?

Just like building a house there are so many niggley issues, and problems and project managing all the different contractors and people. It is difficult because everyone has different opinions and ways and outcomes.

The end result though is something to marvel at.

At the moment, my main focus is building my own house. As a stay at home mum, I am the builder of culture in my house. I am the one impacting my children and my family, I am responsible to build them up or tear them to pieces.

Proverb 14 says

The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.

I want to build a house of life, one of encouragement, one of wisdom, one of authenticity, one of innovation, one of health.

Today I have been reading my bible and this verse in Isaiah really impacted me;

Remove the heavy yoke of oppression

Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumours!

Feed the hungry and help those in trouble.

Then your light will shine from the darkness, and the darkness

around you will be bright as noon.

The Lord will guide you continually,

giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength.

You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.

Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.

Then you will be known as rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes. Isaiah 58: 9- 12

The last few lines of this verse from Isaiah have really challenged me today.

I want to be a builder of life.

I want to build my home and encourage those around me to build into their future as well.

I want to rebuild places that have fallen into ruins and restore homes that have become run down.

I want to build?

How about you?

Love

Me

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Silence

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Late last night, just as the last Australia Day firework smoldered, I got a phone call that silenced me.

I didn’t cry, I didn’t shout, I just listened and stayed quiet.

My sister called to say she was with our 90year old Granma, waiting for the ambulance and as she had suffered a stroke.

Many texts later, late into the night, the doctors in fact confirmed she had endured a minor stroke at home by herself, whilst we were all celebrating and she was intensely scared.

Silence.

Her greatest consequential struggle was with her speech, the stroke had slurred and she was very upset.

You see my Grandma, is legally blind, yet still lives by herself so losing her speech as well was intensely distressing for her.

I have been silent most of today.

I spent the afternoon in hospital with her and joked she must have had too many Australia Day beers, but a soft chuckle ensued as she grappled with her words.

Gradually her coherency has come back slowly throughout the day, but there still is a slight impediment.

Silence.

Honestly so much that goes on in social media land, makes me so sad.

Sometimes people just need to gain some perspective and practice the spiritual discipline of silence.

I think we often have way too much to say.

I think we often have way too many opinions.

I think we just spew out our responses to the difficult things that hurt us and forget that some times we require silence to heal.

I love a scripture in Thessalonians which says ‘I make it my ambition to lead a quiet life.’

I don’t think a quiet life means an unresolved one.

I don’t think a quiet life means an unproductive one.

I just think it means a life that speaks with wisdom.

Proverbs also says about a Godly woman;

‘She smiles at the future, and ALWAYS has something worthwhile to say’.

Silence.

Sometimes in our life, when we are hurting, the best thing we can do is remain silent.

To bow in prayer,

To bow in humility,

Wait for an answer and forgiveness to appear,

Wait for wisdom to reign,

And until we can trust that God has it all under control, to stay silent.

It’s not until someone close by you finds their speech impeded that you realize starkly how often we waste our words on the trivial and miss the opportunity to speak life into our future.

Whether written or spoken, don’t you realize words have immense power?

Scripture says life and death are in the power of our tongue.

The beginning of the bible begins by God speaking the world into being.

I have so much more I want to say, but I must restrain myself.

Amanda

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Breathing in books

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Just a few days ago, my Aunty returned from her overseas holiday. She knocked on our front door with a little gift. A repurposed present, but a much loved one at the same time. She said ‘I’ve just finished reading this book and I thought you would really love it.’

A paperback.

A fictional story called ‘The prayer box.’

It’s not a revolutionary storyline, in fact the first few chapters were not that enticing, but something changed around page 103.

I got addicted.

I started to dream the plot line.

I found myself breathing in the story and its characters and soon I couldn’t put it down.

I’ve finished this little story now and I find myself missing the characters living on a little island, protecting that which is important and dreaming of better days.

What I adored about this little courtship over a few days, was holding a paper book in my hands.

Holding something tangible, folding its corners over like ears, eating its ink with my eyes and breathing in its touch with my fingertips.

Sublime.

My kindle and Ipad have a queue of books awaiting the flick that turns them on, however I am a little over the glare of the screen and I am most definitely over scrolling aimlessly through others thoughts.

I want to breathe in words again, how they were created.

Off to the library on tuesday for me.

Monday is a public holiday in Australia, otherwise monday morning would have been my friend.

Pick up some paper this long weekend and delight in its delicacy.

Love

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