Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness;
come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord he is God;
it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise;
be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalm 100
I am one of those people you may watch when stopped at the traffic lights. You know the type; singing at the top of my voice, a little head banging and the occasional bout of drumming on the steering wheel. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. In fact I know I'm not as I have witnessed others doing the same on several occasions. There's something about being alone in the confines of your car that lowers your inhabitions and just makes you want to rock it out to whatever may be playing on the radio or CD player at the time.
It's the same at Shopping Centres. People will randonly break into song when they recognise a familiar tune. And kids! My girls are constantly making up songs about everything from bath time to spoons. And when they sing, they give it everything they've got. It's not always tuneful or in time, but it's infectious and always brings a smile to my face.
The Church we went to in Hobart had a lovely old man named Jeff and boy did he sing: loudly, out of tune and generally two bars in front of everyone else, but you always knew when he was there and to see the joy on his face when he sang was a real blessing. I remember shedding a tear one Sunday while listening to him sing - not because I thought he was bad, but because I knew what a great hole he would leave in the congregation when he was no longer there. You see, you don't have to be an awesome singer to have an impact on someone, you just have to sing from the heart. I don't profess to be the best singer and I don't think you have to be. It is no coincidence that Psalm 100 says "Make a Joyful noise unto the Lord". You see, God doesn't care whether we're in tune, on time or sound like a hippo in pain; He just wants us to sing praises to Him.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Pretty Dresses........
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.” 1 Peter 3:3-4
I like nice things. I love jewellery, clothes, bags, shoes…..and so the list continues. I not only like these things for myself, I also like them for my 3 daughters. Creating materialistic monsters springs to mind! But in my mind, if they always look good this reflects nicely on me!
In fact, after recently buying the older two a new dress each (which I of course justified them needing in a thousand different ways), I thought I’d best do a stocktake of their cupboard. I started counting dresses and was surprised (read horrified) when I reached 80 very quickly. I immediately started to panic that maybe in our relocation to Melbourne 2 years ago we’d inadvertently left 16 more daughters behind! But no, these are the dresses that I apparently need to clothe three little people. I should also point out that figure does not include skirts or the other dresses currently in storage until the warmer weather arrives.
This started me thinking about clothes and how important they are in shaping the kind of people we want the world to see. I am certain that I am not the only one who sees someone wearing a certain outfit and jumps to a conclusion of what ‘type’ of person they are. For example: trackies, mochies and a Ford or Holden jacket to your knees just screams “I live in Glenorchy and hang out in the Bus mall when I’m not shoplifting at Northgate.” Now, I know this is a HUGE generalization. They don’t ALL live in Glenorchy, but you get my drift. We have all been known to judge people on the clothes they wear and fit them into a preconceived stereotype that is probably vastly inaccurate.
One of mine & Paul’s favourite pastimes is people watching at the shops. There you will see the biggest fashion faux pas’ and it always gives us a bit of a giggle. Don’t judge us – I know you’ve done it too! There’s just something about a fashion train wreck chugging past that gives me great pleasure. But why? Surely an outfit shouldn’t define who we are as people? And yet so often it does. It speaks volumes of how much we earn, where we live, if we’re clean, how we’ve been raised, whether we have taste……. and the list goes on.
Counting 80 dresses in my girls’ wardrobe gave me a reality check. I am in danger of overlooking true beauty in this world because I am too concerned with the way it’s presented and a bigger danger of raising the girls to believe that you have to look and dress a certain way to fit in.
I want them to live by 1 Peter 3:3-4 and value theirs and everyone else’s inner beauty, for that is the beauty that matters most…………..
I like nice things. I love jewellery, clothes, bags, shoes…..and so the list continues. I not only like these things for myself, I also like them for my 3 daughters. Creating materialistic monsters springs to mind! But in my mind, if they always look good this reflects nicely on me!
In fact, after recently buying the older two a new dress each (which I of course justified them needing in a thousand different ways), I thought I’d best do a stocktake of their cupboard. I started counting dresses and was surprised (read horrified) when I reached 80 very quickly. I immediately started to panic that maybe in our relocation to Melbourne 2 years ago we’d inadvertently left 16 more daughters behind! But no, these are the dresses that I apparently need to clothe three little people. I should also point out that figure does not include skirts or the other dresses currently in storage until the warmer weather arrives.
This started me thinking about clothes and how important they are in shaping the kind of people we want the world to see. I am certain that I am not the only one who sees someone wearing a certain outfit and jumps to a conclusion of what ‘type’ of person they are. For example: trackies, mochies and a Ford or Holden jacket to your knees just screams “I live in Glenorchy and hang out in the Bus mall when I’m not shoplifting at Northgate.” Now, I know this is a HUGE generalization. They don’t ALL live in Glenorchy, but you get my drift. We have all been known to judge people on the clothes they wear and fit them into a preconceived stereotype that is probably vastly inaccurate.
One of mine & Paul’s favourite pastimes is people watching at the shops. There you will see the biggest fashion faux pas’ and it always gives us a bit of a giggle. Don’t judge us – I know you’ve done it too! There’s just something about a fashion train wreck chugging past that gives me great pleasure. But why? Surely an outfit shouldn’t define who we are as people? And yet so often it does. It speaks volumes of how much we earn, where we live, if we’re clean, how we’ve been raised, whether we have taste……. and the list goes on.
Counting 80 dresses in my girls’ wardrobe gave me a reality check. I am in danger of overlooking true beauty in this world because I am too concerned with the way it’s presented and a bigger danger of raising the girls to believe that you have to look and dress a certain way to fit in.
I want them to live by 1 Peter 3:3-4 and value theirs and everyone else’s inner beauty, for that is the beauty that matters most…………..
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