Latest Adventures

 At Currumbin Sanctuary

 Beach walks and swims.

Life in Oz

So, just to catch you up...

I have enjoyed burleigh sunrises with Frendy One-who then went on a great trek to the other side of Oz over Christmas!

On Oct 31 -Nov 2, I went to do a short house and doggie sit in Palm Beach with Oscar-the 4yr old black spaniel.

 
Oscar and a little artwork. :)

I was busy working to complete a commission and then Rache and I worked together on a Christmas contract for Kings. With Esther, we ploughed through that quick smart, as I needed all my work done in time for Larrie's arrival. And we did a superb job! Thanks to Godls grace and enabling!
You can follow this link to see some photos in the folder
Christmas Art

After that, I learned that my season in a Varsity lakes home was closing out and with the arrival of Larrie, I would leave there permanently ( as a place to stay). We booked an Airbnb place in Tugun from nov 15 until Dec 4, when Larrie returned to US. But I stayed on another two nights, not yet fully clear of where I was going next.

The thing I find I have to constanty remember is to be where I am fully. be engaged where I am. I try , and i say it over and over again, yet i find myself constantly needing to remind myself that doing life every day is enough.

Sometimes, overwhelming all by itself.
But do you ever feel like you are supposed to somehow get beyond the day to day and bring forth something that requires more from you?

I get plagued by this! Life is good, blessed and wonderful in so many beautiful ways, but I think eternity is always  tugging at my heart, saying 'this isn't all' and to live with this eternity in mind-yet, be fully present!

This is a great paradox and the only way to live truly fulfilled, I believe. It takes God's view- Amen. Renew yur mind with the Word of God, so you can see how.  

Whilst Larrie was here, we went to Rache'ls baby shower, where it literaly POURED lol, Currumbin Sanctuary, beach walks at Tugun, visited Toowoombah with friends and the Japanese Gardens, sang at a couple of restaurants, binged on Netflix and a little basketball...

I ended up with my new artist friend, Esther for a week after Tugun. She is a delight!

After that, Rachel and Kani had their new home approved and so, i went to help Rache get settled. Kani was away on a work camp, so we did our best to get things organised and I moved a bunch of things from storage...with more to go.

Thus began the most difficult part of my Christmas/New Year journey. (More on that later...maybe)

 

By the time Kani returned and was on leave, we were up to Friday, Dec 15. Bub was due Dec 17(or 21) and on the morning of Dec 18, Rache had a show. However, she had a full day planned to get a whole lot done before bub and sinceno contractions had started, we went for it! It was a HUGE day  and started to close down around 7 when I dished out dinner and Rache started having early contractions.

These were the beginnings of "birth pains" lol.

We stayed up late working to organise the place, Kani being a man with a mission to prepare his home for his soon arrival. Rache didn't sleep all that well due to nagging contractions but we made it thru the night.

The deliberation about which hospital began and really didn't end until an hour before the birth, when we finally ended up at the splendid University hospital in Parkwood, just 10-15 mins away. (After having been to Robina sent to Uni and sent home) 

  

In the end , Rache, in true Rache form, sang her baby out and we were delighted. There was worship, there was Ange[l] , the lovely midwife, there was a flash of scripture on a monitor at the peak moment:
"You are the light of the world"  both Kani and I saw it.
And then there was Pearl Hope Puru, 3277gm, 7 lbs 2.25 oz and 49 cm long!

As you can imagine, this is the very condensed version.  And we haven't got to Christmas yet.
Here's the view from 'my' room...my home now, when in Oz...
And I have to leave it there...for this instalment of My Noble Life.  It has been a full on and very full few months. And since leaving the to dog sit the first time, I stayed in 6 differnt places, two of them twice! It's no wonder I have dreams of losing and misplacing all things, even ID-losing my belonging and identity with it!
but GREAT blessings in the midst of it all!!!  Praise the Lord God!

This is baby Pearl's NUNO...Rache's dad, David, who came up to join us for Christmas and the birth.

Creative Fruit from my holiday :)

I painted my Matthew playing in his favourite sand pit!

A complete original 

A Quick Word

Why I Write

When I started this blog, I thought to use it as a casual kind of space, to journal somewhat about my life since marrying an American and moving away form home and family.
In my eagerness to simply record some events, I haven't included all that the Lord has been working in me through all of these events, travels, relationships and circumstances.

I think this is remiss of me, coz, for one, it makes for a much more shallow story of My Noble Life, but also, it doesn't do justice to the grace and power of the Spirit of God at work in a soul to bring forth the fruit of His life within.

I have another blog, called The IncorruptibleSeed  and this one is more substantially centred on God's Word, but even so, I want to be sure and cover significant things that God is doing, to heal, restore, bring forgiveness and reconciliation, as well as salvation, through life's every day events.

In Brief Review

So, in-keeping with this, I would like to write just a few paragraphs.

Since I arrived back in Oz, truly uncertain of when I would return to the US, the Lord has been doing some very deep restorative work. I feel like He brought me home to still waters and green pastures to minister to my soul and help navigate me through certain shadowy places that were lurking in my heart.

Having this glorious environment and being surrounded by lovers of God and lovers of me ( :) ), has been medicinal, but not without revelation about aspects of my own heart's condition, regarding previous choices, wounds and lost dreams. God always leads us through death to resurrection life. There is no other way.

All through this time, especially the holiday, and even continuing on, there have been insights, acknowledgements, acceptance,  releasing, seeking and  healing. I've cried a lot. I rejoiced a lot. I've prayed and struggled and studied and worshiped, been desperately disappointed, distracted, scattered and sometimes, confused and heavy hearted. I have, on several occasions, wondered why I am even on earth-feeling so pointless.

I know it sounds heavy, but it is all part of coming out of the darkness, out of the wilderness, and into the true Light and freedom of eternal life in Christ Jesus. 

In all this, no matter how ineffective it seems, I turn to the Lord, reminded that His eye is on me and His ear is attentive to my prayer. That He truly hears my longing and deluded heart, and graciously grants wisdom and peace for the moment, then, the next moment. He just wants me to keep close and by needing Him in every moment- I stay close.

Thing is, we always need Him every moment. We just forget and so He allows what's needed, so that we can be reminded and be drawn in for deeper intimacy.

In conclusion for now...

The point of the noblest life is to walk with the Lord Jesus and God, our Father, by the indwelling, ever present and precious, Holy Spirit. In truth, I face no situation, circumstance or relationship without this Presence.
He is my hiding place and for more on that go to my other blog, as that is the subject for today's post.

Thanks for reading.

Lisa

Family Holiday Highlights

Hello!!

I wanted to skim across the top of the highlights of this Family Holiday that I had not completed.
It was very full and eventful, having two sons having birthdays, staying between three different homes-mum's, my brother Jamie's and in laws.

The first night was an intimate family dinner which was very pleasurable.

We went for Thai, and it was a splendid night.

From Left, Parrish, his fiance Megan, two random people in the background lol, Paulie and Matthew.

Below: is me...Possum ( Sarah) and their Dad, Dave. Rache and Kani were missing

I stayed with mum for a few days after that as the siblings enjoyed each other, their dad and their grandparents.

I had a bit of a catch up with mum, but I also had a constant longing to paint!! In watercolours, I have found such pleasure and satisfaction and altho I felt at a loss, initally ( to use them in their most unique ways), I painted along to tutorials  and developed my tool box of skills. Of course, this continues constantly and is best reflected when I can take a subject matter of my own and create an artwork. 
Funny thing! Mum was in the middle of her painting project in oils...a wedding gift for Rache and Kani, JimBoH ( as I call him! ) is deep in quite a lot of his serious series of art pieces, and then, here come I, the humble drawer with her travel pack and palette lol. But I did get a lovely prize, painting wise, out of this trip-as you will see. :)

 I believe both of these tutes were run by the frugal crafter -bubbly  girl , this one!
:)

and I have done a few with Ekaterina Smirnova too ( love her accent!)    

 
 

and this was a definite highlight for me! Oh and for my brother and I, a true-blue Ozzie Meat pie by the lake and  a local art exhibition in the colonial house!

The following Friday was my Matthew's 25th birthday!! He and Sarah and Paul ( whose birthday followed two days later) took a trip into family history. We trained to Parramatta, walked to the River Cat and caught that up the river , across the harbour and under the iconic Bridge, so dock at Circular Quay where we wold board another ferry for Watson's Bay.

Due to an urgent toilet stop we had to wait another hour, so we decided to have a light meal in a nearby park. Place very busy. Waaaay too many photos of all this, so here a couple of the journey to Camp Cove, and the actual site of all Grandma's lovely stories! ( And also the opening setting for my  novel, Escape to Ecclesia. So...a pretty special place.

And when we arrived, we ate Fish & Chips.. as you do! but instead of the Doyle's take away on the wharf, or in the restaurant, we ate at the Watson's Bay Hotel.

After which, we wandered along to 23 Cliff St, where my children met there Great Great Auntie Faye for the first time ( who also inspired a character in my book!)

It was a very brief and sweetly hospitable visit with my 92 yr baby sister of my late Grandma, with a photo and then off, to show my babes the house where their Grandma and mine both grew up- 30 Cliff St.

 "Auntie" June (daughter of Faye's big sister, Joyce) -my mum's cousin, is there now, but she was out, so sadly, we couldn't go in, but I described as much as I remembered.

This historic place...familially speaking has charmed several generations. And it was not lost on my children. We ventured on down to Camp Cove, of which I have many memories as a very young local, having visited there with mum.  We passed through a bridal photo shoot and up into the old war 'ruins'. In this way, this place reminded me very much of San Francisco and and the headlands connected via the Golden Gate. 

Like my mum, I want to paint it all. Matthew took at least as  many photos as I did. I eventually ran out of space on both phones and battery for phone and camera! 

So, to finish off, we did not exhaust all we wanted to do by any means, so we want to go back, but it was a splendid family day!

These walls had holes for guns of snipers, And here is the classic little strip of Watson's Bay beach.

The rest of this holiday's highlights will have to go in yet another post! lol

It was a GOOD family time.
I think Matt has the images of Auntie Faye. But here's one from a visit recently with mum and Steve and her great, great, great niece and nephew, Charlize and Liam.

    

Noble Quest post script

I just realised that I never got around to posting the photos from my beautiful girl's wedding...who, by the way, is now 6 months pregnant :)

 The beautiful couple. I only did a special hem on Rachel's dress. I made the bridesmaids's dresses and my own (which I thought was pretty ordinary, lol-but I wore it-to the ceremony at least!)

Her hem, at the front, had to be raised about 15 cm (6") because everyone was barefoot.

God inspired me with the idea of drawing it in scallops from equal points, no need to cut anything and it created such a pretty hemline.

Rachel loved it!

The reception under trees , with fairy lights and and casual arrangement was perfection also. We had a diverse collection of musical performances and presentations as well as a 'flash mob', a Maori Haka and original items. I sang and played one of mine and sang his Eye is on the SParrow with Sarah, who also sang two others. It truly was idyllic and wonderful in every way and we had accommodation there, too, as it was a family property.  So , we had breakfast brunch together too. :)

The Bridesmaids, right to left, my eldest daughter , Sarah ( who announced her engagement to Ben at this time too), my niece, Chloe, lifelong friend ( family friends), Leesha and the latest, greatest sis, Lusi.

This event took place down at Cabarita Beach, northern NSW and i am yet to see the 'proper' photos! :/

 

 Here, you see the stunning couple and Kani's (pronounced Kunni) groomsmen. Brother, Maeheri and friends...ashamed to say I've forgotten all their names! You can see Pastor Dave Vaka through there too. :)

And finally, a personal highlight for me for reasons of the reconciliation and restoration it presents, myself singing The Wedding Song :There is Love with Leesha's dad, Mark Windle accompanying and Rachel's Papa Bear, Dave Schembri playing harp. Nothing like this has happened for maybe 15 years.
It broke my heart even as it healed it.

 ha.. this was the dress I bought from an op shop a day or two before for $5...lol I liked it better...  :)

Family Holiday Day 2

So, Day 2, we are up early! We all went to sleep early, altho Sarah, the earliest. We took advantage of the availability of movies.  Funny thing, the night before I left I had been watching a you tube video on the church in the Last Days. The preacher gave multiple Biblical examples of how God saves us through our circumstances-the catch phrase being the way is through. It witnessed with me just from that butthe first movie we watched Now You See Me 2, had a character come out with that same phrase, only more poignant the ONLY way out is thru! 

I shared my story with the kids and we talked about the idea a bit. Sarah went to bed and Matthew and I watched Mastermind-a funny movie by the same people as those who made Nacho Libre. And would you believe it, the main character declared The way out is through!

Ok, Lord, I guess you are going to be taking me through something, I'd perhaps rather go around...and at the time, I wasn't sure what it was...but now, in relfection of our time in Sydney and what the Spirit has been leading me, somewhat painfully, through, I think I see one very apt application. More on that...perhaps...later. 

   

Sarah thru the kitchen window, making her break-fast bullet.  Both she and I had the same idea to leave "thank you"s, and this image was etched into the glass of our balcony door-which I thought was very cool, hence the photo! lol
 An outside view.

Continuing on, we were slowed considerably by an accident between two double trailered trucks. There were no ambulances, surprisingly and we were very pleased to later learn that everyone had walked away unharmed!

It took maybe 90 mins to get past the wrecks, but Matthew and Ihad a pretty good time observing the foliage and fauna and discussing various details.

It did mean we arrived at a much busier time to Sydney than we had wanted to, but God has His perfect timing. We don't always know why.

We were tired when we arrived at G'ma's, but our supplies had lasted us well. We bunked there for the night! More soon!