Shattered

The other day we went to the animal enclosure at Queen’s Park. We checked out the lizards and snakes, said hello to the wallabies, emus and dingoes, and chatted to the farm babies at the end of the circuit. It was fun (and littlest bean looked like he was in animal heaven…)

In the middle of the circuit there’s a mosaic sculpture, and a mosaic seat called the Numbellie Seat (The Everybody Seat)
The plaque on the end says it “depicts the story of the creation of the land of the Yuggera, Jagara and Ugurapul peoples, told by Aboriginal storyteller Shannon Ruska“. It seems to have been a collaborative effort between Artist, Storyteller, and various school kids…

I like the idea of mosaic… that you can take what was broken, shattered, only fit to be thrown out… and transform it into a thing of beauty – something that tells a story… heals a heart… speaks peace.
In my life there have been times when I felt shattered and broken… like rubbish, shunned and only fit to be thrown away…
I know that was not the truth of who I was – but it was how I felt…
Many years ago, God gave me a verse that told me what He saw, and comforted me in a broken place…

“O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will build you with stones of turquoise,
your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.” – Isaiah 54:11-12

It helped me to see that I did not have to stay where I was – that He would rebuild me, stronger and better than before…

 Even the “underside” parts of life can be incorporated to sparkle and let the sun shine through!

Is my life peaceful and easy now? … Well, not so as you’d notice 😀
… but my healed cracks and fractures tell the story of my Creator-

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, 16-18

… whether I stand in sunshine or in storm, I still stand firm in Him 😀

Published in: on May 23, 2012 at 4:53 pm  Comments (2)  
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Building A City

Today’s learning was about designing and building a city that included all the essentials, while still keeping environmental impact to a minimum. We talked about the fact that we impact on the environment just by existing… that we can’t make others live more simply or in a less impacting way, but we can design a city in a way that could minimise the ease-of-use or availability of the more destructive practices. We talked about pre-plastic days, and reusing and recycling as a matter of course, about living without supermarkets within easy reach… about seed saving and heirloom varieties, crop rotation and leaving the land fallow… one thing led to another, and each thought brought up a new question. It’s been a (mostly!) fun day.

Along the way, we watched some clips –
This one talks about conflict minerals, leading us to talk about the source of the things we buy and use..

This one was fascinating to the boys – connecting to the internet through lightbulbs!

We looked at some of my previous posts… the woodland house, and changing education paradigms – another go at getting that divergent thinking working! We talked quite a lot today, and will have a lot more to think about…

… and – just because I can (and because it made us laugh!) – here are some cuddly carrots…

Source: 27.media.tumblr.com via Chalice on Pinterest

Published in: on May 21, 2012 at 4:52 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Joy…

… feeling the need for it today…

Today… choose.. 😀

Published in: on May 20, 2012 at 8:44 am  Comments (2)  
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To His Door

The path to your door
Is the path within:
Is made by animals,
Is lined by flowers,
Is lined by thorns,
Is stained with wine,
Is lit by the lamp of sorrowful dreams:
Is washed with joy,
Is swept by grief,
Is blessed by the lonely traffic of art:
Is known by heart,
Is known by prayer,
Is lost and found,
Is always strange,
The path to your door.

Leunig
When I Talk To You
(A Cartoonist Talks To God)

Published in: on May 17, 2012 at 7:58 pm  Leave a Comment  
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The Post That Was…

😀
A couple of posts ago, I was too tired to write about the topic I’d planned to cover…

This is that post..

I’ve always thought that I was born to be a hippy… all that back to the land/living simply/recycling before it was cool type stuff… free your mind etc…

I even like lentils…

… probably not too keen on the unwashed/stoned/spacey stereotype…. nevertheless –

TIE-DYE!!!
(Tie-dye is cool!)

It’s amazing, what you find at the local library.. this is a partly funny, but also partly useful look at hippydom… it’s written by Chelsea Cain , who was brought up by hippy parents in the 70’s, and knows what she’s talking about..
At some point, we want to create a sort-of commune – a Christian community, for the broken, encompassing health/nutrition, “green” practices, living on and with the land… this book is a humorous snapshot of that kind of life, with useful instructions mixed in (How to build a compost pile… How to change the oil in your VW bus… How to grow tempeh in your bathtub… How to tie-dye a T-shirt)

Those last two may not be essential.

Even in the humour, there’s spots of truth…

How to start a commune –
1. Move into house.
2. Get along.
3. Garden.

 What else can be learned?
– How to anthropomorphise inanimate objects…. I’ve been doing this, to some extent, for most of my life. Not all the time… but I have been known to talk to trees, coffee mugs and computers… and of course, I named both my cars..
They’re not inanimate, but I can hold a long conversation with cats or dogs… because – well – who doesn’t do that from time to time?
– How to amble… some tips are – Walk barefoot. Jaywalk (because crosswalks are oppressive). Play a pennywhistle.
– How to hitchhike… Try to look more like a college kid and less like Charles Manson. Do not carry an axe, rifle, or any other kind of large weapon.
– How to dance like a hippy… Take off your shoes. Put your head back. Close your eyes. Extend your arms straight out from your sides. Spin. Repeat as necessary.
– How to play “Kumbaya” on a guitar… I don’t think this needs explanation…
– How to paint a mural on the side of your house or minibus… (suitable subjects… peace doves, rainbows, unicorns, purple haze, an octopus’s garden…)
– How to panhandle… Flash a peace sign. Make eye contact. Be polite. Don’t lie. Look downtrodden but not demented…
– How to make “oregano” brownies.. 😀
and last, but not least… How to run away to Morocco –
Purchase your ticket to Morocco. Fly to Morocco. Purchase rugs, caftans and jewellery and have them shipped back. Groove on it all. Fly home.

Now, I’m obviously not going to do most of these things…. But I think I could adapt the philosophy and..
groove on it all.. 😀

Who wants to join me in my commune?

Published in: on May 17, 2012 at 11:23 am  Leave a Comment  
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Changing Education Paradigms

This is another TED talk I came across… it’s quite short and easily digestable (although it seems to end quite abruptly… there may be more somewhere.. 😀 )

Very interesting, and I agree with a lot of what he’s saying…
Our homeschooling journey has evolved over the last few years… I went through the school system (and, by and large, enjoyed it..) so my initial focus was on workbooks and standardised testing. I’ve drifted over to the unschooling side of things since then, although I still cling to “the rules” a bit 😀 .
I think, at the moment, that we should go with the best of both worlds… I agree that divergent thinking is an important trait in any educational situation – the ability to learn, to use the information given, is more important than amassing facts with no connection to reality.
Having said that, I still want my boys to learn facts! I still feel the need for some sort of structure… I don’t want them to get to graduation and realise we forgot to cover an essential subject! I can’t help thinking, though, that a lot of that is based in my fear rather than reality…
A friend posted a link to the updated Australian Curriculum… I haven’t checked it out completely, but I will find it helpful as a basic guideline..

I want my boys to –
Stay curious…
Keep an open mind..
Question!
Be able to distinguish between fact and opinion..
Be flexible..
See, experience, and explore the whole, beautiful wide world out there!

I still need to find the balance between structure and… non-structure? 😀 I think they are steadily learning each day… both in their different ways…. and, in the end, we learn/discover/grow for a lot longer than twelve school years…

 

Published in: on May 16, 2012 at 10:22 pm  Leave a Comment  
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The Hows, Whos, And Whys…

… my day was special….

Love you, Sweet Boys 😀

…even on those not-so-picture-perfect days!

Published in: on May 13, 2012 at 6:55 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Talking With God

Today was one of those bleah-what-shall-we-do-for-school type of days… I don’t want the boys to get too much into the workbooks-as-drudgery thinking (although it’s sort of hard not to…)
Thankfully, our combined Bible readings this morning led us into thinking and talking about how God talks to us, and the importance of listening and letting Him guide us….
…. and there was our curriculum for the day!!

I wrote down five aspects of life – Personal, Spiritual, Social, Work, and Giving Out (Mission). I then had the boys take time to pray specifically through each one, and write down anything that came to them…. at this point, there was no “wrong” – it was mostly an exercise in hearing, and I didn’t want them talking themselves out of something that God was saying, but that didn’t seem “normal”, or “comfortable” 😀

After this part, they could then pray through again, and check….

… and then they were to draw it all up into a sort of mind map, with lots of colour and illustration  (note to self – little beans’ notion of “lots” vastly differs from mine….) They spent the morning on it, and took it seriously… results were very interesting!
I love it when God steps in to everyday life! 😀

Published in: on May 9, 2012 at 9:01 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Can Art Change The World?

Just had a look at a TED talk –

Perhaps not “change the world”, as such, but maybe change our perspective of the world (and thereby help us to change the world)?

I’ve heard about TED talks (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design), but never really had a proper look… I will check it out now…
There seem to be a variety of subjects from a variety of perspectives… a teensy bit of language in the above clip, if that worries you… so possibly check out talks if you’re showing them to the kids 😀
Here’s the link for the talks…
Here’s the link for the Art Project from the above clip…

Published in: on May 8, 2012 at 8:46 pm  Leave a Comment  
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His Child

As well as the song in the previous post 😀 I’ve also been playing “Father and Daughter” by Paul Simon a lot lately….
This is from a movie called The Wild Thornberrys, which I have seen, but can’t remember much about it….

I heard this song a while ago but as I was listening one day, I felt that God was singing it to me…. I heard such love, like a doting Daddy, and felt warmth and safety, and an unquestioning trust. I have heard it that way ever since.

I know that, line by line, some could take issue that I’m being flippant… perhaps I’m not being completely theologically sound…
I only know that God let me know He loved me 😀

My Dad was one of the good guys. He had a temper… and my memory is that he worked long hours… but he was trustworthy, a salt-of-the-earth type of bloke. When I hear of God as Father, it’s not a huge stretch for me to comprehend it…
… but I know there are many who didn’t have good fathers. Many who, when they hear of Father God, think of a cold, heartless, abusive, destructive being…. and they close up in fear..
I so wish that I could get across that image of God as loving Daddy… as a safe haven, a warm embrace. As One Who is delighted to watch His children grow. That’s the Daddy I know. I wish that everyone could find Him.

Yes, this is just a song. Maybe I’m the only one getting this image from it…
But I pray that you can listen, and catch a glimpse of the loving Father, waiting for you to come to Him…

Published in: on May 5, 2012 at 8:43 pm  Leave a Comment  
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