CEF camp

Hey everyone I just got back from CEF camp (child evangelism fellowship) it was so much fun despite the fact that I had a terrible cold all week. It was exhausting but I already missing my girls and all those lovely leaders You guys were awesome5! Anyway where do I begin? Well on Sunday afternoon a friend and I went down to the camp where a whole bunch of teens were gathered in slightly awkward circles waiting for everyone to arrive. When they all did we went inside and played some icebreaker games aka going round the circle saying your name etc. Then we played horses knights and cavaliers in which you had to pair up with a Guy (luckily I was paired up with someone who I consider to be an older brother) so with that person you had to do a series of three actions a horse, someone on there hands and knees and the other person sitting on them. A Knight, where one person was down on one knee and the other person sat on the other knee, and then there was the cavaliers where one person jumps into the other persons arms. And you had to do all three as fast you could with the director calling out the order -it was a great segregation breaker :) After that we had a devotional / challenge from the director, went through all the training stuff and eventually the director announced which leaders (teens) we were with, then we went to put our bags in the cabins, had tea and more training, with a little time to hang out before bed. The next morning we had breakfast and started decorating the cabins only to near that the bus full of children had arrived. Now there is nothing like the excitement of thirtyish leaders when the bus arrives. We all run outside wild with excitement and begin to unload their gear. Followed by morning tea and a safety regulations talk, the boy and girl campers get split and we find out who our "girls" are. I was in a cabin with seven girls and three other leaders. As the week progressed we got to know our sweet little girls, learnt the difference between just being nice and actually loving. You learnt how valueble encouragement is, what exhaustion feels like and you learnt that God has got this, and how important showers are for relaxing by yourself. How annoying head colds are, how fun air rifles are. You wonder how Jesus loved, how other leaders could be so constantly giving all the compassion they've got, how you could give more but in your own way, how food at home tastes worse than food at camp, how to be so tired that you have to think to spell your own name, what herding seven children outside at six o'clock in the morning feels like, because the fire alarm went off, what enthusiasm is after waking at sixish in the morning and getting.g to sleep at nine thirty if you're lucky, what giving every ounce of kindness within you 24/7, doing everything from acting to decorating your cabin in a cowboy theme, to getting complemented for that skull and cross bones that was painted on your cheek for pirate day, to getting home and sleeping from eight pm to eight am and still feeling tired, but most of all terribly missing every single moment of CEF camp Tiffany

Some fun

 So this is what I got up to today ;)
(second title: what you can do without a computer)

So I raided the dress up box and tried some steampunk... da da da ddahhh!! (drum roll)

                                            Then posed in front of the camera serval times...

                                                                heehee it was lots of fun!

                                                                         -Tiffany

Bits and bobs

I'm just writing down some interesting ponderings about stuff I learnt to day.

In search of truth.

Wouldn't it be nice if we knew somethings were absolutely true. I don't mean things like did God create the universe. But things like is being doggedly positive about everything Christian/Buddhism, Christian or Buddhism ;) get your head around that one. Ok I'll ease it up... Do you think "pain free births" are for Christians or is it an influence from an Eastern Religion? hmmm... I don't actually know... sounds Buddhist to me (as in everything is an illusion type stuff) but at the end of the day it isn't important (well definitely not for me ;D ) *

But it would be really nice if Jesus just said" Missy you're doing real well there.... and well this needs fixing." A kind of Rev 2 & 3 re-enactment. Well that might actually be kinda painful in the end... but a least you'd have some sense of direction!
(just paused to read an article about Buddhism and pain free births, wasn't that helpful in a philosophical sense but I gleaned one thing; *don't freak out* about labour pains and I have to admit that that's gotta help)

Anyway all that blah di blah was just a baby question of mine (pun not intended) and I guess everyone has questions about everything. Soo helpful. So last month I decided to go to a counsellor (someone fall over and die/scream or gasp) just to see what it was like -as it was free. It was like having a conversation, we didn't discuss anything big and it was a lady btw. We talked about fairly controversial topics like music and conflicting word views that you agree with (WHAT! somebody explain! ;) when someone on one side of the fence says blah di blah about singing and the other person on the other side of the the fence says blah di blah opposing their neighbours view... but when you analyse them they both make sense. Small problem) anyway we talked about stuff and one thing that I really got out of it was... don't worry if you don't get it right! well duh common knowledge... but for some reason I couldn't quite get into my head that you didn't have to know everything about God right away... I mean all he asks for is you to believe and receive that he loved you enough to die for you**... really? Is it that simple?! well apparently... But then life crashes in on you (btw I tend to be slightly pessimistic naturally) and you watch riveting videos about the promises in Revelation that are panning out in modern day Israel that urge you to study God's word (out of fear, I mean honestly who doesn't want to avoid bad stuff) but the problem is your bible isn't at all interesting and you want it to be interesting plus you've been raised on the book so you kinda know a bit. Ok a *bit*.
Anyway you go down the same old track of getting other peoples opinions and some say get to know God first then read his book and others say take a concrete pill/ build a bridge and get over it. Then you get really confused and round it goes again. Brilliant!
But life goes on... and you keep on struggling through it with highs and lows. So hopefully God will reveal himself more and somethings will fall into place before we're on our deathbed. ;D So I guess this is my little corner of rebellion. I hope it made sense. Probably didn't help one bit. But anyway it's a slice of a real teenagers life
-Tiffany

(and I manage to cover my favourite topics; midwifery and deep thoughts in one post and it's 11:10pm)





*Another unimportant, wanna be a midwife find;  apparently Vaginal Birth after C-section (VBAC) is safer than continued c-sections statistics for maternal death of VBAC mothers 3.8 out of 100.000 v.s the American populace of 13.4 out 100.000 (for non VBAC) also apparently Amish women have a lower c-section rate etc. read more here
**btw I only just realised that was all God asks for

A book!

In June I was reading a post on Writer's Alley, at the end of the post they asked the reader's what their favourite books were. So I looked at all the comments to see what books the other readers liked ( to get a good idea what to read ;D ) and typed in one of my favs, Mara daughter of the Nile.

A week later I was scanning through Writers Alley again and I saw my name it fairly big print. I stopped, and scrolled up a little and there was: Tiffany Jane won the favourite book competition. The prize being one of the Writer's favourite books. I was in complete shock. I didn't even know it was a competition!!! (If you go and have a look at the comments here you will see my remark of complete and utter shock)

 A few days and got a reply from one of the writers, saying yes I won it. But I had a small problem, I'm no from the States. So after a few days of emails going back and forth, the writer said she could still mail it. And today the book came!! I'm so excited, I haven't even read the back cover. I hope it's really good book!  It's called Wish you were here by Beth K Vogt. And it sounds very adventurous/thriller and romantic, a mix that I love!!

Real

Ok so after months of not posting, well in reality having no idea what to post, and not sure if I should bother as no one seems to be reading my blog anymore I have decided to post real, to post what I'm really like, not to second guess what people want to here, to get feed back. Last time I  did that I wrote a post and got 5 comments from it I think was stupid so I'm gonna write realness on here whether anyone reads or not.

You deserve my all Lord (Jai)

V1:
You will never have me incomplete
Without a heart that speaks of You with every beat
Daily take me far from compromise
Open up my eyes, to see with Heaven’s sight
I’m praying

Chorus:
Open my eyes and I will walk Your way every single day
You deserve my all Lord (You deserve it)
Open my mouth and I will shout Your praise Louder every day
You deserve my all Lord (You deserve it)

V2:
Put a new song inside of me I pray
An anthem for today to show the world Your way
Singing of the greatness of Your love
The Blessing of Your Son, the power of His love
You saved me!

Bridge:
I wanna know Your heart! Show me who You are!
Speak and I will go! Lead and I’ll follow!

(source http://justjai.com/lyrics/)

Had to share this song with you guys, I just love it!

A Life

Last night I was at a friends and we watched "Not without my daughter"
and the story goes that an American woman, Her Iranian Husband and their daughter go on vacation in Tehran for "two weeks". Due to family pressure and his Islamic faith her husband forces her to stay in Tehran, where she is required to wear a burqua etc. Long story short she tries to escape and he becomes very violent with her, many opportunities arise in which she could leave *by herself* but she refuses to leave without her daughter. In the end she finally gets back, but the thing that really hits home is that the story was true, and is true for many Western wives living in the Middle East.

This post isn't saying that all Muslims are women beaters, I'm very sure there is lost of nice muslims out there who love their familes. But the thing is there are lots of people being abused out there right now, regardless of religion, "race" or gender. Some people never get out of it and believe that this is what life is like. And when you think about that hard or what an intense movie like that,
You can't help but think... So much doesn't matter

So much... your own comfort... your house. If someone out there is hurting... if someone out there is dying inside, how can we keep living? How can we look at the world in the same way? How can we complain about our own problems when there is millions out there who have absouletely no hope? When everyday... every breath is full of pain? How can we begin to think of staying at home and getting married and having children, when so many children are abandoned, abused, starved and killed. How can we read books on how to be feminine when so many women are having the life crushed out of them? How can we buy a new couch or up grade some part in our house, when others go hungry?
How can we hog a hope to ourselves because we are scared of what others may think. How can we walk past people who are in chains?

But then we get locked up in our own little world, the world in which our utmost pleasure comes first. We forget what another's reality is like, we all are guilty of walking by and yes that "we" includes me.
So then I guess the question is how we break out of that? By taking a running leap at Jesus and making the jump?

Spaetzle

Spaetzle is a German free form pasta that I made this morning. Really addictive, I keep going back to the pan for more ;)
So here's the recipe

1 cup of Milk (about)
2 eggs (or one)
1 1/2 tsp of salt
2 1/4 flour

Mix milk, egg, salt and any other flavouring ( herbs, spices etc.)
Stir in flour. Add more flour or milk 'til it becomes the consistency of
thick pancake batter (sloppy batter) Rest 10mins

Bring a pot of water to the boil. Turn it down a little til it gently boils.
Push the batter through a colander (with a spatula) and into the water.
When the pasta floats to the top scoop it out and into a buttered pan.
Cook them a little in the pan. Serve with meat, gravy, soup or whatever.


 Pintrest

Vote

Do you think it is very good if people write about their feelings on a blog -as in what difficulties they are having? etc

our world

In these past to days I've been thinking about, well the situation in the world. Some of you probably know this but we are so terribly behind the times with any sort of news.
So for starters I didn't know that  the british crown wanted to reduce the world population to 1 billion to bring back under British rule. And the Prince and Queen have made this statement several times. How would they do this through the banks (in a hazelnut-shell) causing mass starvation.
I have heard a lot about banks myself but I was surprised that the rumor of mass murder could be achievable.

So I was thinking -what on earth do we do about that? Do we stock up on food and live in fear? Well the food bit might help, but then this is all self preservation. In that case do we employ all our money and hire an airplane and go round the restaurants and collect the 'pig food' and fly it off to those who are already starving in africa? But this even though it would make a world of a difference for them, we in theory would be treating them like monkeys, they are human they deserve the same as us. But then you go back to the idea of communism -which obviously doesn't work with selfish mankind.
So what do you do?
love- pour yourself out daily thinking -even in your own state of starvation, thinking only of what this would mean for the other person. Giving out in the face of mass murder for no gain -for almost no reason except that these people are beloved -God's passionate about them. That they deserve -or not deserve to see an inch of love and through this show Daddy/God can do so much more.  And in thinking this I was overwhelmed with the strength and sheer determination and trust in God this would take. I also know that this mayn't play out in my life time, but in the likelihood  of something happening      I can only hope that I can out just a tiny bit of this ideal. I guess we can practice. As I type people are starting out work - the most demoralizing kind there is, prostitution. In which they expose themselves to goodness knows who, for some money that requires being dominated by the unpredictable stronger sex.     And this is happening (at the most) an hour away from where I live.  


pictures meant to be coming

A Surprise!

Over the past few weeks we've had some vicious dog attacks. It started last year when our two bantums -and only layers were snapped in one night. A few weeks ago two other chickens were nabbed follow by four rabbits (all in an off the ground cage) next went our older rooster and two hens. Two days ago 4 young chickens were ripped out of a pretty secure cage -the dog(s) ripped out the chicken wire that their mother was also taken. And this morning we only find one hen and a rooster...

But also this morning our neighbour came over (they own the dogs)
and gave us two boxes of beef... steak, sausages, roasts and mince.
It was sooo exciting putting it in the freezer and realizing that the pork Mum had just ordered wouldn't fit. And all though it doesn't                          Source
quite replace the attachment one had to the chickens, it's pretty equal. I can only think that God can make good out of a bad situation!                                                                                                                                

Me Today

Today: April 10th, 2013

Outside my window: Chick/Chickens digging in the garden, tuna pink and aqua blue sky- Its dusk and getting cold

I am thinking: about what to write for JOJ -truly

I am thankful for: the wedding that's coming up, that my friend has been to a wonderful wedding in America

From the kitchen: ah.. not much, I made tea several days ago- forgot what though. 

I am wearing: my normal black pants, with a sea green top

I am creating:bunting for the wedding

I am going: ah.. count cars from 8am-5pm tomorrow

I am reading: The Moral Revoultion, very interesting. And the Bible :)

I am hoping: That Esther will get back safely. That Petra's jelly will work out -coca cola

I am hearing: The kettle boiling, and Mum tipping water on the garden

I am pondering: Trusting and obeying... all we have to do... so easy, so hard

My goals: To act in a passionate love to others, not out of duty. And to do all this when my heart is breaking...Daddy!

Jesus

“Jesus gave up his reputation 

so you wouldn’t be defined by yours.” 

~Jason Sterling

Source Christ is Write

Fixed!

umm you can actually ignore the last post. It's all fixed so I'll still be posting here :)
-Tiffany

God is everywhere

Last night I went to a combined youth group with all the New Life youth groups in our area. It was the strangest thing ever! There was a small group of us that went there with Cyrus and Naomi. At first it was really over-whelming like there were tons of young people some of them were giving each other piggy-back rides others, sucking lollipops it was pretty crazy. We just kinda stayed in the corner going yeah... ok.... um.... I was pretty uncomfortable a few people who knew C and N came up -the more sensible people. Our little group of "sane"home-schoolers just stood and stared.

After a little bit we all went into the hall room and took our seats which had a pen and paper on each one. Then one of the Youth pastors said we were gonna have some games... (I'd met the youth pastors before and they were just amazing, on fire for God Christians) We were told that out of the paper we had to make the fastest paper dart and put our name on it and throw it to the front... It was awesome! Darts were flying absolutely everywhere! Then they asked for three girl volunteers and three guys. They "partnered up" and then each "couple" had to decided who would eat. The eaters were sat down. A competetion was set and their "feeders" started to bring live after live hu-hu grub. The eaters swallow them down with effort. After that another set of three couples were chosen and the guys made to sit down while the girls pinned as many pegs as they could on to their partner's faces (end result was 15, 16, 15 pegs)

Then they had worship. How on earth do you do that when over half of the teens weren't Christian? It was madness. Some of the people were up the front praising God the others outside, texting or just galloping over the chairs. I was like... "God, how does this work?". But somehow it did somehow God was there and he was telling me that "I (God this is) can work anywhere. I'm not confined to their culture. I love each one of these people don't judge them- I have bought them in." I remembered this testimony that a guy had: In his dream there was a church and it was full of drunks, drug addicts and prostitutes - how were making out in the pews. The man then starting shouting at them telling them to get out. How dare they defile the house of God. Then God spoke to him and said "Don't send out what I have sent in." That hit him like a ton of bricks. And it hit me too, in that situation - Jesus always seemed to be in the company of prostitutes and tax collectors... he always went to the sick and healed them - as he said he came to heal those who needed healing teach those who were unlearned.

And I was just like....WOW! After that though I got distracted I tried to put my eyes on Him and not on the people who were ignoring Him. Honestly that night was Amazing! The message was about our relationship with God - that we shouldn't settle for less that we should see how much we can know Him in this short time on earth. Then they had even more worship everything seemed to be going up, up, up. And I know it wasn't emotional hype because I was very aware of not.. well I was just praising Jesus who had sent these teens here for some reason and he knew what He was doing even if half of them were already outside. And I honestly wasn't this amazing goody-goody who was only praising God - I got frustrated at Him for some of the things that have been happening to me that I just don't understand. At one time God just shook me (not literally but like a friend does when they're trying the get something across) and said "You're worth something to me! stop thinking you aren't!"I got prayed for by several people and one person was like I think God really wants you to know that you are really beautiful and I also think He wants to just hang out with you, rather than me praying for you to have a deeper revelation of Him. That night was really speacial and really strange - I want to go again even if I get slightly deaf in one ear again ;)
<3 Tiffany