Out of Africa

I would like you to meet two friends of mine. Both work in Africa.

J, who I have mentioned before, works in a west African country. This week she sent me an email that started like this.

This comes with fresh greetings from a location where the air is clean from summer rains. While the downside might mean more litter washed into one's yard and less electricity (supplies perhaps 30% of the time), it is good to have the trees so green and the air dust-free.

Imagine if we only had electricity for 30% of the time...

The other is R, who works in a landlocked country in the south east of Africa. This is what she wrote in her blog earlier this month.

Remember my 'experiment' last year?

$1 a day (or was it $2?) no power, carry my own water for a week (or was it 2?) oh yeah - i remember- and no matress. lol

Well, I'm upping the ante. I've been given the opportunity to live in a village for a few months... and I moved out there last Friday! It's not about living on the edge or feeling good that I'm doing it tough- it's about getting as much language and cultural interaction as i can.

I'm looking forward to blogging all about it ...soon. But for now- First impressions?

- stinging eyes from lighting and cooking over a smoke fire
- the sheer time investment into every chore
- from boiling water for a cuppa to pumping water and carrying it up the hill to my house
- amazing generosity and friendliness of my new neighbourhood. They've visited, shared their food, invited me to family events (sadaka) and cleaned my pots....

but they're all stories for another day!

I'll write when I can- in the mean time, please pray that I'll get to the next level with language, make some good friends and stay well.

What J and R do takes my breath away.

J and R don't live choose to live in these circumstances so they can be seen to be living the politically and environmentally correct lifestyle.
J and R don't live like this to store up impressive stories to tell at dinner parties.
J and R aren't trying to show off.

Rather...

J and R are two humble women who love God and love the people of the nations in which they live and work.
J and R remind me of the difference between living surrounded by abundance and living abundantly.
J and R remind me to be thankful and to stop complaining when I am inconvenienced in some small way.

And there you have J and R, two friends of mine. Two amazing women.

Garden Update # 2

So, I thought I would ease myself into this gardening thing. In addition to the "tough flowers" and the herbs purchased at the nursery, I also got several bags of potting mix. I got my five large terracotta pots (actually, four terracotta pots and one plastic terracotta-look-alike pot), filled them with the potting mix, popped in the herbs and...

...there you have a very satisfying little corner. I'm very happy about that.

As for that rogue marigold, if you remember this part of the garden that looks onto the trampoline...

...you will notice a couple of dodgy looking plastic chairs just to the right - a place to sit when supervising children on said trampoline.

That little space has been transformed into this, with thanks to the marigold!

That is a much better spot to sit and supervise trampoline shenanigans, complete with a place to put one's cup of tea. I have visions of sitting there in the mornings to read and pray with a cup of tea when the weather warms up too.

Well, that was a good start!

What Genderanalyser Thinks of Church History

Genderanalyser has been doing the rounds for a while. How it works is that you type in your blog address at the Genderanalyser site and it decides whether the blog entered has been written by a man or a woman.

When I entered The Key to the Door this evening, this was the result.

We guess http://thekeytothedoor.blogspot.com is written by a man (52%), however it's quite gender neutral.

Interestingly, I ran Genderanalyser over the blog before the Athanasius post and look what they said then...

We guess http://thekeytothedoor.blogspot.com is written by a woman (54%), however it's quite gender neutral.

Athanasius seemed to make a big difference! Surely church history isn't the domain of men only!

Gonzales on Athanasius - Something for all of us

I have been reading "The Story of Christianity: Volume One" by Justo Gonzales from my reading list. Last week I read a chapter on Athanasius, a hero of fourth century Christianity. (Find him in Wikipedia here!) He was truly a great man of his time and God used him mightily for the Kingdom.

But have a look at how Gonzales describes this man early on in the chapter. (Please note, the following quote is one complete paragraph in the book. I have divided it up and the italics are mine, just so that you can see clearly what is going on here.)

Of all the opponents of Arianism, Athanasius was the most to be feared. The reasons for this were not to be found in subtlety of logical argument, nor in elegance of style, nor even in political perspicacity. In all these areas, Athanasius could be bested by his opponents.

His strong suit was in his close ties to the people among whom he lived,

and in living out his faith without the subtleties of the Arians or the the pomp of so many bishops of other important sees. His monastic discipline,

his roots among the people, his fiery spirit, and his profound and unshakable conviction

made him invincible.

I was SO encouraged to read this. Although his great learning, capacity as an orator and ability to lead were important (he had a big job to do so he needed a certain skill set!) what helped him to cross the line, in Gonzales view, was how he lived.

We may not be in a position to do significant theological study, we may not be good at public speaking and we may not find ourselves in a position of leadership such that we find ourselves with a great sphere of influence.

But we can all live well.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11-13

Garden Update # 1

Having presented the garden baseline here, the time has come to move forward on this little project. Thankyou to those who offered helpful suggestions, both in the comments section and also in person.

My first question is to ask about composting. We anticipate being here a good long while so getting some composting happening to keep boosting up the soil (as well as doing something more environmentally friendly with the carrot and potato peelings than just throwing them into the bin) seems a great idea. We have no composting infrastructure and I am after low cost solutions. What do I need to do to get started?

Received some great ideas about this long stretch here.


We have indeed used it as a cricket pitch and expect to have many more backyard games of cricket here. One of R's little friends suggested a swimming pool. And the mother of that friend suggested a lap pool. Both very good ideas but I don't think the owners of the house will come at that! So it will remain a cricket pitch/general running around and playing sort of space - and since winter arrived and the rain started, it has been greening up nicely. I am toying with the idea of a passionfruit vine or two along the fence and maybe a fruit tree or two tucked into a corner but these ideas are a long way down the track. And we may well be getting a friend's surplus-to-requirements swing set which will go somewhere along here too.

The more pressing issue is this patch.


When I first saw this space I immediately thought of a vegie patch. In the eighteen months since this patch became ours to fill, my ideas have moved from vegie patch to flower bed to a mix of the both, a children's garden with interesting little plants and stepping stones and even, in several moments of I-can't-be-bothered-ness, more brick paving...just do away with the problem altogether!

Well, to cut a long story short, I have decided on a garden of tough flowers, but keeping the little angled section to the left free to maybe do some basic vegies (ie. tomatoes and perhaps lettuce in the summer and spuds in the winter) for the boys to have the vegie growing experience.

As I said, I am no gardener! Well, not yet. And I don't have loads of time to give to the garden. I need plants that I know will thrive on neglect and that are low cost to acquire. But at the bottom line I want some flowers because this patch provides the view from the kitchen window.

So I've decided on rosemary, lavender, daisies and geraniums - and I may add a few other items down the track. A friend's mum is potting up some lavender and rosemary for me. And here is the stash from the nursery.

Yes, that is a marigold in there. I have other plans for that!

And because I love using herbs in my cooking and spend a small fortune on fresh herbs in the supermarket...and because I have all those empty pots to fill...here is the herb stash.

Sage, basil, coriander, thyme, parsley and mint. And rosemary will round that out well.
Stay tuned.

Prayer - (2) Quantity

I always feel it well to put a few words of prayer between everything I do.
So said Charles Spurgeon. And CJ Mahaney quoted him here as he wrote about punctuating his day with prayer, humbling himself before God in each new event rather than relying on his own self-sufficiency.

As I make my way from meeting to meeting, decision to decision, and phone call to phone call, I find the counsel of Charles Spurgeon very helpful. “I always feel it well,” he wrote, “to put a few words of prayer between everything I do.” Throughout his busy days, Spurgeon scattered words of prayer between each activity, a model I have sought to emulate over the years.
I really, really, really like this idea.

It's not a substitute for periods of extended, focussed prayer. But it's about coming to God at frequent intervals during the day – making sure that we are relying on Him in all that we do, that we are serving Him in all that we do, giving the mundane activity some purpose and doing such tasks with a cheerful, thankful heart - and keeping the things of God as our main priority throughout the day.

Since reading this I have been thinking about how this practice of pausing to pray before each new thing might apply in the life of a stay at home mum. Because the life of a stay at home mum is not divided into neat hourly blocks. I seem to move to something new every three minutes or so...from hanging out the washing to assisting in locating that critical piece of Lego to sweeping the leaves off the trampoline to dinner preparation and oh yes, back to hanging out that load of washing that was interrupted by the Lego! The days can pass by in a bit of a blur of unfinished activity. Which is fine. This is the nature of life with smalls.

But how might Spurgeon's model apply when life lacks a bit of structure?

1. Use cues in the environment. A friend of mine gave me some really groovy clothes pegs at one stage. At the time she was in great need of prayer and so I got into the habit of praying for her every time I put out the washing. That habit remains – she gets a lot of prayer because I do a lot of washing! This is one example of many.

2. I have the prayer diary of the main mission society we support and also our church's directory on my recipe rack in the kitchen. I seem to be in the kitchen a lot – doing things that don't take a lot of concentration so I use the time to pray through those lists of people. You can cover quite a lot of territory in a day this way!

3. The thing that punctuates my day is people - the people I meet at school drop off and pick up times, the people I might visit or who visit me, the people I speak to and do business with at the shops. I have decided, spurred on by Spurgeon (and CJ Mahaney!) to use people rather than appointments as markers in my day. So I am trying to stop (actually stop) and pray before I go to school, on my way to see someone, on my way to answering the door when someone calls by at our house – praying for those I will meet, praying for a valuable and encouraging interaction, praying that I will be like this.

4. Pray with our children. When something happens or someone comes to mind and prayer is required – or in any of the above three categories – I am just starting to try to form the habit of praying about it with our children. It is one thing to be praying often and silently (which is fine) but I have also become aware that our children need to see this habit of praying frequently throughout the day modelled too so that they learn to "pray without ceasing" and realise that prayer doesn't just happen when saying grace or goodnight prayers. And by teaching them this habit maybe they might even remind me to pray about something one day. That would be a joy.

I'm not too bad at the first two ideas. The second two are new habits that I am trying to form.

I always feel it well to put a few words of prayer between everything I do.
Well, between EVERYTHING may not be practical, but frequently has got to be a good alternative. Any other ideas?

Prayer - (1) Quality

As I was praying for my family a few weeks ago I noticed something about my prayers that absolutely horrified me.

There are various things that I pray for repetitively. I pray that my husband will have an effective and productive work day and that any meetings he has will of value. I pray that the gospel will sink deep into my boys' hearts.

And there are other things that I pray about repetitively. I pray that gospel seeds will be sown in the hearts of the children in my scripture classes and to that end, I often pray that they will simply behave during our lesson together so that they can engage with the lesson.

I pray that the children at our Sunday School will love coming to church, that they will make real relationships with each other and the grown-ups who are trying to connect with them and that they will learn something wonderful about God in their time together.

On these and other subjects I pray the same things over and over and over and over.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with repetitive prayers. Nothing at all. Except when you catch yourself thinking, before you pray one of your repetitve prayers, "Well, I suppose I ought to pray for such and such now..."

I suppose I ought to pray for my husband and his day ahead because I am his wife. I suppose I ought to pray for our boys because I am their mother. I suppose I ought to pray for my scripture classes because I am their scripture teacher...

It is wrong to pray repetitively if those daily prayers become empty words mouthed out of a sense of duty.

That horrible (and wonderful) morning I realised that I was praying my way through a list in order to tick the box of duty served and not because I actually believed God would answer those prayers. Autopilot meets unbelief.

It was horrible to realise that this was what I was doing. A weight lifted off me as I repented of my wretchedness. And a certain joy and fresh enthusiasm for prayer replaced it as the quality of my prayers changed - as I actually began to pray in belief that God is listening and will answer.

Yes, I still pray my repetitive prayers for my husband, my boys, my scripture classes, the Sunday School children and for a whole lot more besides - but now I try to start those prayers asking God to help me to pray with concentration, with genuine love and concern for those I am praying for and for a sincere and deep belief that God will hear those prayers and answer them. Again and again.

"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief." Mark 9:24

Fellowship with Vitality

Last week at Bible study we were looking at Hebrews 10:24-25 which reads,

And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together , as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

In discussing this we were talking about the importance of continuing to meet together as Christians and more over, the importance of making those times vital, valuable and worthwhile.

Which reminded me of a quote from Mother Teresa I heard on the radio recently - my Words of Encouragement for June.

Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbour…Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness - kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.

I think I have often considered the Hebrews passage quantitatively. But it has been very encouraging to think about not just the quantity of my fellowship with others but also the quality. And this is going to become a subject of much prayer for me. Because both are important.

The Year of the Garden

Mary, Mary quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

Just before the beginning of the year I had dinner with a friend currently living and working in England and we designated 2009 The Year of Optimism.

In other quarters however I had already declared 2009 to be The Year of the Garden. We moved into our home here at the beginning of 2008. It is in a really beautiful setting but the actual garden is, well...

"Garden" is probably a bit generous. "Yard" would be better.

I just couldn't get to it last year. So I decided this year would be the year. Rather rashly (or maybe for reasons of accountability/motivation to actually do something about it) I announced far and wide that I would get working on garden this year. (And I REALLY need to do something about it now that I have mentioned it here! Not that I going to be bullied by my own blog!!)

So here is the baseline.

The yard is an "L" shape. This is the base of the "L" - with the washing line in the corner.


Then, standing halfway along the upright of the "L", looking back down to the corner where the washing line is you have the boys' trampoline.


Turn the other way and you get a wonderful paved area, which currently features, among other things, a stack of empty pots that moved with us from our last house.

I need to confess at this point that I am no gardener. We brought empty pots with us because all the plants that had once been in them were dead...and there was no point shifting dead plants to our new home! You will start to get a picture of the challenges that lay ahead.

And then for the grand finale, the empty patch, just crying out for a garden.


Now there are three major challenges for me. One is to overcome my gardening ineptitude. The second is that I will be working on a tight budget. The third and biggest challenge is that there are lots of gum trees all around the perimeter of the yard and although you can't see it, there is one just to the right of this empty patch. And I would be reasonably confident that there are certain things that will not grow under a gum tree.

So that is the baseline. This is The Year of the Garden. And it is only the end of May. I haven't even missed Spring for 2009. Where there is still Spring to come there is hope.

I'll keep you posted...and no doubt I'll be asking for some advice along the way.

Oh, by the way, the United Nations has actually designated2009 the International Year of Astronomy.

Joy in Job

Yesterday I got up to Job* in my Bible reading plan. In many respects this is a heavy going book of the Bible.

At the very beginning Job is described as, "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil." God allows Satan to test Job's righteousness. And so Job loses all his vast livestock and his servants, his ten children are killed and he is covered from head to toe in painful sores. That is, Job loses his livelihood, the trappings of his wealth, his family and his health - all things we may be tempted to place our security in, rather than in God. That's just the first two chapters!!

But the rub for me is in the following 35 chapters. Job has three friends who come along and try to comfort and help him. This long section of the book records the conversation between the four of them. There is double edged sword for me in these 35 chapters. At one level (from hazy memory - and I may need to retract the next phrase in a week's time when I have finished reading Job) there is a certain degree of whinging - and if you have read other parts of this blog, you will know the extent of my patience with whinging. And then there is the discomfort of having to read what the three friends had to say in trying to comfort Job - words that were not at all comforting or helpful - and wondering if I have spoken similarly unhelpful words that were of no comfort to friends in need. Wondering that must necessarily lead to apology and repentance.

I almost thought of skipping over Job this time around because I didn't think I was up to it. But Job is the Word of God. So I prayed hard before commencing my reading of this section of God's Word that I would learn from it. And how grateful I am that God gave me good courage to read on and not put Job aside for another time - because look what I found only four verses in...

His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of fasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, 'Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' This was Job's regular custom.

Oh, that in our family we would have this level of concern for the spiritual welfare of our children. And oh, that our boys would grow up blessed by the fruit of our concern, prayer and actions on behalf of their spiritual welfare, just as Job's children clearly did. This is a breathtaking testimony of what it is to be a godly parent.

If the rest of my time in Job is difficult, it will not matter for I have been given a precious reminder and rich encouragement to focus on the one thing that is most important for our two boys - that they be brought up to be blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

Thankyou heavenly Father for the book of Job.

* The word "Job" rhymes with "robe."

Daylight Saving

Today 1.3 million adults in Western Australia will vote YES or NO to daylight saving between the end of October and the end of March each year.

I took R (who is six) and N (who is approaching four) with me to cast my vote - a good chance for them to see what the election process looks like when the ballot paper isn't too difficult to complete - ie. I could vote and supervise at the same time! On the way we discussed the issue.

M: So R, what do you think of daylight saving? Should I vote yes or no?

R: Vote no. I don't like it.

M: Why?

R: Because it is boring.

OK...moving onto the next boy...

M: So N, what do YOU think of daylight saving?

N: (with joy) I love light sabers Mummy.

Don't think we have fully grasped the issues in our household!

Take Hold and Rejoice!

Recently I did a Bible study on prayer with some friends and the text for the study was dear Philippians 4:4-7. Now, I thought I had pondered and thought over every letter of these verses but something new and wonderful came to light as we studied this passage together.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

I will say it again: Rejoice!

Let your gentleness be evident to all.

The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything,

but in everything,

by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding...

All good up to there.

But I realised that I think I've never taken in what happens after that. Sure I have read it. Probably hundreds of times. But I think my eyes have just run over the top of the next words, happily distracted (the word "reverie" comes to mind) by the prospect of experiencing the peace of God which transcends all understanding. After all, that sounds wonderful.

So if I rejoice in the Lord - because no matter what else is happening in my life I have cause to rejoice in the hope of eternal life with God through Jesus - and then be gentle, living in expectation of the Lord being near and rather than being anxious about the circumstances of my life, pray about them with thanksgiving - thankful that God is sovereign and He hears my prayers - then the peace of God, which transcends all understanding...

What?

What of that peace of God which transcends all understanding?

Well, it isn't given to me to make me feel all warm and comfortable and cosy. Strangely I think this has been my distracted thought while my eyes have read over the next bit with my brain disengaged. But the next bit actually says, when you stop to read it...

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The peace of God actually guards my heart and my mind - that is, my feelings and my thoughts. The peace of God reminds me that I am safe in Jesus, no matter what else may be happening. And if my feelings and my thoughts are under control and even more so, focussed on Jesus, then that should guard my actions - which will hopefully mean responding to any given situation in a way that honours and glorifies God. No wonder God wants us to pray always.

It is important to note in this particular passage that God doesn't take away the circumstance that would otherwise be causing us anxiety. He blesses us with a cool head and a steady heart to persevere. This is echoed beautifully in the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians when Paul prays for the Thessalonians who are clearly being persecuted and are in all sorts of bother. Paul prays not that they would be delivered from their circumstances but that they would be faithful and honour God through them.

Which is not to say that we shouldn't ask God to deliver us from difficult circumstances. Often He will. But at other times God won't because He knows what is best for us. And this is where we need to be observant to His answers to our prayers. Maybe God's answer is to give us a clear head and a steady heart to press on and ultimately to grow in our trust, dependence, knowledge and love of Him.

So, be encouraged. Rejoice in the Lord always.

Humility

I wish I was sufficiently well versed to know that this hymn comes from the pen of Horatio Bonar (1808 -1889). But as it turns out, I have become familiar with these words because of a Colin Buchanan CD. So thanks Colin and thanks Horatio. This is true humility – completely trusting God's sovereign plan for one's life – and a beautiful encouragement.

Thy way, not mine, O Lord, however dark it be,
Lead me by Thine own hand, choose out the path for me.

Smooth let it be or rough, it will still be the best.
Winding or straight, it leads right onward to thy rest.

I dare not choose my lot. I would not if I might,
Choose Thou for me, My God, so I shall walk aright.

The Kingdom that I seek is Thine, so let the way,
That leads to it be Thine, else I must surely stray.

Take Thou my cup, and it with joy or sorrow fill,
As best to Thee may seem, choose Thou my good and ill.

Choose Thou for me my friends, my sickness or my health,
Choose Thou my cares for me, my poverty or wealth.

Not mine, not mine the choice in things all great or small.
Be Thou my Guide, my Strength, my Wisdom and my All.