Thankfulness

I am thankful I live in a country where:

• My father could obey God's calling to become a minister of a small church who could not afford to pay him and know that God would provide for his family's medical needs through our healthcare system.
• I was able to defer the very small cost of attending university so that I could concentrate on my studies and my ministry without having to work long tiring hours as well.
• While still a student I was able to receive emergency treatment after a car accident for free without having to stress about paying for a week's stay in hospital and various other medical expenses.
• A mentally ill homeless man who lived outside our church and repeatedly refused help received thousands of dollars worth of medical care after becoming seriously ill, his physical health was restored, his mental illness was diagnosed and now he is off the streets and a fully functioning member of society.
• One of my friends whose husband became ill and could not work was able to continue her ivf treatment under medicare and fall pregnant while her husband received the medical treatment he needed and was supported by the government while taking time off work to completely recover - he is now working full time again and they are expecting a baby soon.
• I can work in full time Christian ministry and know that even though I am on a low salary, God provides for me through medicare and family assistance payments, that enable me to take time off to look after my baby.

I am thankful I live in a country that cares about those who can not help themselves, I know the system is not perfect, that people fall through the cracks, that often the system is abused but far better that than for there to be no help at all...

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

James 2:15-17 (the Bible)

It's been a while

Wow, Aston is now 4 months old - it feels like so much has happened and yet not much has happened all at the same time...

I have neglected this blog page, I seem to spend much more time on Facebook and Twitter than blogging, mostly because I can access them on my iphone whereas blogging via iphone is a bit more tricky.

Believe it or not I'm back at work 2 days a week and so far (2 days) it seems to be working. Aston gets to hang out with Daddy on Mondays and with Aunty Belinda on Tuesdays so he is happy. FOr more about my work with Credo check out my AFES page

Hopefully I'll come back and blog a bit more often...

What's been happening?

It seems like lots as happened since my last post... Things like:

Despinidic Family Christmas





Mum, Aunty Lyn & my sister Liz in my backyard on 15th December.









Holiday in North Haven


Stu and I outside of Burst *003 our home for a week.











Followed by Christmas and a week spent at Stu's mum's in Matraville.

Since then I have vacuumed, worked out how to sync outlook with google calendar, made 10 rather large turkey pasties, eaten a lot of ham, done way too much shopping and playing on the internet...

But that's what holidays are for!

I've also started reading a devotional book called 60 days of Praying for Purpose for Women (sounds corny I know) but it's helping me think about my relationship with God and how I "do" life which is something I always struggle with when I'm doing my personal bible reading so am looking forward to the next 58 days...

But they're so cute!

In the last week or so we've noticed a bird's nest on the window sill of the window next to my desk in the office. Unfortunately the birds that built the nest are Indian Mynah birds, aka "the flying rat". Indian Mynah's are a common pest in Australia and often kill native Australian birds, see this transcript of a report by the 730 report for more info.

We did think about destroying the eggs (Stuart suggested boiling them and putting them back in the nest - very mean!) but there's something about being able to watch the progress of new life being formed...

Yesterday 2 of the eggs hatched!
It's hard to tell but there are 2 little birds there... They can barely hold up their heads and are really, really cute! Again, we had the conversation about killing them but now it's even harder to contemplate!

What would you do?