Goooooooo Wallabies!

Watched the Wallabies game last night, with all the normal expectation of watching a Wallabies-All Blacks game.
Hoped it would at least be better than the Recent Eden Park game, but didn't expect them to win. After all, it is not a World Cup game so the All Blacks have a better than even chance of winning.

But the Aussies came out and fired the heavy artillery from the first shot, and the All Blacks were just shell shocked for the entire first half.
The half time break gave them the opportunity to regroup, and they came back hard, but it just wasn't enough.

A decent showing by the Wallabies would have been a confidence boost.
This was a real triumph - the All Blacks will have it in their minds now.

Was going to write something about the difference between a game and the way the Lord worked with Gideon, but my wife just called me to cook the eggs for breakky, and then we have to go, so no time to think of a great way to word it....

Bye,

Skelli

Down day.

Have been having some trouble figuring out what to write about  lately.

I guess part of the trouble is that I have been feeling really flat.
Didn't want to complain and carry on here - no-one wants to hear that.

But you know what? This world is full of people putting on masks and acting like everything is always rosey.

Maybe that's part of the reason why people are afraid of being depressed.
Everywhere they look they see people looking happy and life going grand for everyone else, but not for them. They never see people being unhappy and just getting on with life as though it was part of life.

And so, being depressed has become a problem.

Don't get me wrong - some people DO have a problem with depression. But most of what people regard as problem depression is just life.

Right now I am feeling quite depressed - there is no apparent reason for it - I am just a bit down.
But tomorrow, or the next day, or maybe not until next week, I will be back on track.
No need to worry about it.
Just get on with life, and be content to not be happy for a day or two, and try to make the best of it.

You know it is alright to not be happy every minute of every day.
In fact if you are always happy, then happy becomes normal, and there is no further up to go to when good stuff comes.

That, to me, sounds depressing.

People need to realise that life has ups and downs. Live through the downs, and enjoy the ups when they come.
And they will come.

The trick is to not worry about the downs. Deal with them, get on with what has to be got on with, and continue.

There is something far more important than constant happiness, and it is called 'contentment'.

You know, I can be content even while I am depressed.

I can rejoice in knowing that the God of Heaven watches over me, even while I feel down.

Paul said that he had learned in whatsoever state he was, to be content.

It is a little like women who go to someone else's house and then when they get home they get depressed because that person's house is beautifully kept and their own house is often not perfect. They don't realise that, the house they just visited is just like their own really, and not perfect all the time - it just "becomes" perfect in preparation for visitors. So all the women out there think that every other woman is a better housekeeper than they are.

So also people think that everyone else is happy all the time, but they are not.

Well, let me tell you - this is one bloke who is not always happy, and is sometimes depressed, but I am not unhappy about it!

Get real folks - don't worry about being a bit down - go with, work through it, and come back up later today, or maybe tomorrow - or even next week - but keep your eyes on the Lord and keep the world in perspective, and it will all be fine.

Really it will.

Later,

Skelli

(I fell better already, just sharing that! I hope that someone else feels better about it too.)

A good mistake to make.

I opened my little pooter up and started things going - once it was up and running, I started three programs - web browser, mail, and Bible program, as I try to do each morning.

Then read the Proverbs passage for the day - 18th today, so number 18 - started reading, greatly blessed as it starts off praising the Lord for His greatness - then it occurred to me that it didn't 'sound' right for proverbs - and when I looked closer it was Psalm 18.
OOOOOOPPPPPSSSSSS

But as I continued reading I discovered that today it was a wonderful oops for me.

We need to be reminded that God is good and God is great (and he puts the food on my plate... Sorry couldn't resist that!).

And further, that God is the one who protects me, guides me, helps me, strengthens me.

I have had on occasion people tell me that God is a crutch, and that person doesn't need that sort of crutch.

Well I have news for people of that attitude - God is no mere crutch - He is a full life support system and I DO NEED HIM!

Anyway, what sort of crutch are those people using to help them through life?

Money, which can be taken away in any number of ways - theft, loose spending, crookedness, carelessness, or bad investment.
Drugs, which ruin your mind, and eventually your life, and while they may dull the senses so you don't feel your problems, they are still there. In fact worse because now you're broke from buying drugs.
Alcohol - which of course is just another drug - and which is no better than any other drug - and certainly doesn't make anyone's life better or easier - just the other day I heard some guys talking about $10 a pint for beer - I couldn't afford that even if I wanted to! So what do they go without for their booze?
Smokes - will kill you, don't actually calm you down (medically), ruin all sorts of parts of your life (you stink, your eyes, teeth, and skin all go yellow), and  it too will send you broke.

Yep, everyone in this world has and needs a crutch of some sort - I would far rather it be a crutch like a dependable, loving, almighty, all-knowing, eternal, unchanging Creator God, such as David describes in Psalm 18, than a worldly, temporary, damaging and condemning something that people deny is a crutch at all.

I DO depend on Him, and when I think I can do it all myself, that's when things start to go awry.

As David says:Psa 18:2
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

What a blessing that God is willing and loving enough to do this.

Skellibert

This one will get me into trouble....

Just lately, some of the ladies I know have been discussing the retirement of their husbands, or of other people's husbands.

They have a huge laugh at the men's expense, and mostly because the men in their lives, who now have time on their hands, are wanting to help, but actually just end up getting in the way.

One of them was heard to say "I am so thankful to him - I finally know how to stack a dishwasher, how to iron clothes, how to vacuum,...." etc
And all the others joined in laughing and agreeing, and wondering how they ever managed without their husband to teach them all these things.

I didn't say anything at the time (I'm not quite that dumb!) but I did wonder if they bothered tot ake on board anything that was said.

In a company, when you have a new person come in, they often will see things that have just become "the way we do it" that are not really very efficient or the best way. You would have to be a fool to dismiss their observations just because "We have always done it that way" - but apparently the same doesn't apply to running a household.

Now just as in business, there is experience which will often tell you that the best way doesn't always seem to be the best way, and a wife and mother who has been doing it for years probably most of the time knows the best way.

BUT - there are some things that I see many women doing wrong, and they should sometimes - just sometimes - consider the direction that an observant husband gives them.
The classic that the ladies mentioned was stacking a dishwasher. This is not a difficult task, but there are very few women I have seen stack a dishwasher properly.
Now this is not an 'experience' thing, and there very definitely is a right and wrong way - and it is in the instruction books! And it not only fits more dishes in, but it also allows the proper movement of the water within the machine, to make the wash better and cleaner.

Of course there are some women who do, but I have never met one!

The thing is, this is not something that take years of experience to find out - it is clear, logical, and written down often.

I DO agree with them that there are things that someone new to running a household just does not understand, and the "new ideas" are not new at all, but tried and failed already.

But you know, the newly retired guy is just trying to be helpful and to feel useful.

Let him stack the dishwasher the right way - but tell him doesn't know what he is talking about on some of the other things. I can't give an example, because, quite seriously, I don't know what they are!

And I am not likely to find out for more than a few years.

But come on ladies - give him a break - he feels pretty useless right now, so humour him a bit.
And I know that most do that - this was talk between ladies, but in the presence of men, not to men!

So anyway, when my lovely wife reads this I am going to find myself with dishes to do at the very least!

Told you I was dumb!

Skelli

My feet are cold.

Here I sit, mostly dressed, not yet having had breakfast, checking a few things on the pooter, and no doubt running out of time to put some toast on - which I should be doing right now, but here I am 'blogging'!

And although I am mostly ready to leave for work this morning, I do not yet have my shoes on, and it occurred to me that my feet are a little bit cold - physically - this has nothing to do with any big decision or anything like that - my feet are actually cold.

And it makes me think that although this has not been a year of really cold nights, it has been a year of many cold night. Yes we have had colder nights in outright terms - gone below zero once or twice in recent years where I live - it seems colder this year. And I think it is just because there are more of the colder ones.

If I was to check, I would probably find even that is just an impression.

But it also is maybe because this time last year I was still riding my bike to work most of the time - and when it is really cold, you just get pedaling and warm up. I don't know but maybe I didn't notice it so much because I just expected to get cold.
Now I am walking to the train, I wear a jacket at the moment, and because it is a fair walk, I actually end up opening the jacket to cool myself off - it gets warm when you are exercising in a jacket - and then I can feel the cold.

Isn't it funny how "impressions" can be different from facts?

Impressions are based on how we feel, or how things look or appear to be - but the reality, or the facts, can be very different.

I have found that when I listen to much to what I am feeling I get myself into trouble, but when I stop and consider the facts I get myself out of trouble.

It happens when someone is talking to you - you hear someone say something to you and the impression you get is one thing, but what they said is quite different. But I jump to what I feel has been said, and get into verbal trouble....

I have found the same thing on forums that I have visited - people often don't read the posts fully (or it is badly written), but just skim picking up on a few little points and then 'flame' the person for something they didn't actually say. And it them matters nothing at all how much the person tries to explain, the scene is set and the fight is on, and the respondent will not let up on the "defense of what is right" (to their eyes).

We get that way in real life too - I have been on both sides of it too - either saying something that is taken the wrong way, or responding wrongly to something someone said.

Sometimes, no matter which side you end up one, it can best just to shut my mouth and let it blow over, then start a different and unrelated conversation when things have settled and calmed down.

Or maybe I just shouldn't be so dumb in the first place - but then again, I am just a dumb bloke.

Skellibert

Census time in Oz

That's right - it is time for the census in Australia again.

I think it is funny the chatter that goes on about it every time it comes around.

There are the ones who are sometimes unkindly referred to as the tinfoil hat brigade - especially among Christians - you get those that are all wrapped up in the "end times" and they get carried away about the government trying to get all your details and information in preparation for the end times.

It makes me laugh because it is so irrelevant.

I have been involved in data acquisition of sorts and I can tell you that there is nothing in your backyard that I can't find out about with very little effort - even easier now that google earth and a few others (nearmap for instance - far better detail than google) are widely available.

So they can look at readily available photos and find out what you have in your back yard in, oh, about two minutes. And I know that there is far better aerial photography possible, and it is improving every day.

They already know where you live - if you own a house you pay rates, and they know about that.
They know how much you earn, because everyone here has to fill out a tax form.
They can access your bank account information - don't think they can't. Try not paying your taxes and see whether or not they can access your account.
They know what sort of car you drive - because your car has to be registered.
They know where you park regularly, because many carparks are watched by video surveillance, and they can cross reference your rego number.
They can tell where you drive if they want, by following the bank cards you use to buy fuel.
They could even, if they wanted to, find out what you buy -  the supermarkets cross reference their receipt with your bank receipt - and the government could get that info if they wanted, cross that with your bank account info and tell what sort of food you regularly buy.
If you catch a train or use public transport with one of the train cards they have here, they can tell which stations you get on and off at, and even which bus stop, because the busses can calculate how many zones you have travelled.
And of course if you use a mobile phone, they can know who you talk to and when, and even where you were when you did so.

So what are they going to find out from a census?

Nothing they can't already find out if you use any sort of modern technology or banking.

It makes you realise how easy it will be to control things in the tribulation.

But seriously - fill out the census and give them the info on your terms and maybe they won't have to go investigating too far, and maybe find some things out that you would rather they didn't.

Skelli.

Sometimes one gets busy.

Posting a couple of times a day at first, but then the novelty wears off.

Don't get me wrong - I still enjoy the blog and the whole concept and process, but I am finding it hard to make the time this last couple of days.

Just some interesting things going on - like the day job getting in the way of things I want to be doing.

For instance - after a really busy few days which began on Thursday evening, by the time the weekend ended I was totally tuckered out. Tried to get out of bed for work on Monday when the alarm went off, and just couldn't do it. Wife ended up taking me down to the station because I was running late, and then I left my back-pack at home. Was just about to get out of the car and realised that I also left my jumper at home. No proplem thinks me - Its not that cold. Then looking at the sky thinking - in any case it looks like it should have been the jacket and umbrella.
So there I am getting off the train at the work end, with about 2.5kms to walk, and already late for work, and 100m from the station it begins to rain. And me wearing nothing more waterproof than a business shirt....
Can't stop under cover, because I don't have the time; can't hop the bus up the road because.... well there it goes, just before I get to the stop.

Thankfully the rain is not heavy, so I don't get all that wet - totally dried off by the time I get to work in fact.

So there I am, late, a little bit cold, with nothing with me but my sunnies and a packet of noodles.

And I end up not getting my full hours in at work, so I have to make it up the rest of the week now - so later nights, longer days - and I started the week tired......

Which means, by the time I get to the end of the week, I am tired and either sleep in when I should be getting to 'church stuff' or get on with it, and stay tired.

So I really shouldn't even be posting this here and now - I should have my shoes on and be walking to the train right now.

But I have read Proverbs 9 today already, and thought I would make this quick visit to ramble on about nothing important for a short while, because I have the pooter on anyway to read Proverbs 9.

Oh well, let's get these shoes on and start walking.

Skellibert.

Slow patch.

Not sure why, but this dumb bloke isn't having a lot of relevant thoughts right now.

There is not much happening in this brain at the moment that I wish to put down here - either because it is just not interesting to anyone else, or it is way too interesting.

Actually, about the only thought lately was with regard to the adds on the blog - this whole thing was an experiment for me, and part of that was the earning capacity of these things - which by the way appears to be very little at the moment.
That is hardly surprising, considering that as it is only a few weeks old, and not a specific interest thing. No-one is going to go looking for my thought specifically, so it is down to searches finding words within the text that relevant, but again, because it is meandering thoughts, the subjects change and flow probably a bit too often.
I also have not advertised it at all, and the only links anywhere are on the facebook pages of a few people who know me, and on my other blogs (yes, I am having so much fun that I started another....2). That means that at this time there are only about 200 reads of this page in total, and that apparently works out to about 0.2 of a cent in earnings.

I think that is hilarious!

Quite seriously, I am sure there are ways to improve that, but that is not the point here - never was - there is the experiment side, and the enjoyment side - all started with the experiment, and the plan was to set it up, do a few posts and pass on the info - but I enjoy it way too much to stop it now.
There is also the enjoyment side of it - I find it fun to put my thoughts out there - I never was much of a creative writer, so the likelihood of great stories or prose or poetry appearing here is very low - unless I steal it from someone else, but my head wanders around all sorts of things, and this is an opportunity to organise those wanderings, and record them - I find it interesting to see where a post like this starts and ends. I don't normally plan the path, it just happens.

I do hope to do some artwork and put that up here - but I am having trouble motivating myself to do it. There is a creative side to me, it is just not really with words.

Anyway, read Proverbs 3 today, and learn from it, or at least enjoy it - OK then at the very least DO IT - it will be worth you while to not lean on your own understandings all the time.

Skellibert

Walking slow, sitting restlessly.

Not sure exactly what I did, but the back is playing up.

I hurt it when I was just a pup, and it gives me trouble every now and then.
It could be any one of a number of things, but probably a combination of several - however the result is the same - walking is difficult, sitting uncomfortable - anyone with back trouble know what I mean.

I walk to the train in the mornings at the moment - normally takes me about 25mins, 20 if I am hurrying a little.
This morning, because I was walking with some...um... discomfort, it took me almost 50 mins.

However, life still goes on - this morning because I was later than normal the train was reasonably full, and I chose to stand - not sure I would be able to get up from the chair. So I didn't read my Bible on the train.
On the way home the back was a little better, and I sat and read Proverbs - chapter 1 because it is the first day of the month.

It would have been so easy for me to 'forget' about reading today because I missed my normal time, and I am not feeling all that well with my back and all, and there have been times when I have done exactly that - but it really is important to get the Word of God into you every day.

You may not miss it initially, but one day leads to another, and then another, and before you know it, it has been a week or a couple of weeks - and you are feeling angry or discouraged and can't really figure out why - but more than likely everyone around you knows that something is not right.

Spend the time, force yourself if you have to.
You don't have to get something incredibly deep from it - just read it.
When the Lord has something to teach you, you will find it easily.

If it is just reading, then read and be content that you have fed on the Word of God today - it will not always be a feast - sometimes it is just a sandwich - but it still sustains.

And when the master prepares a feast for you, then feast.

Later,

Skelli