“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

We can live each day not knowing what tomorrow holds, but confident that God has our tomorrows all planned out. They’re not in the hands of our boss or our banker or our mate or anybody else. Nor are they in our own hands to manipulate and control. No, all our tomorrows are in God’s hands.

www.thewordfortoday.com.au

“Make the most of every opportunity”. Colossians 4:5

Every morning you are handed twenty-four hours free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you could not purchase a single extra hour. So what will you do with this priceless possession today?

- Joni Eareckson Tada

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,
so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we
might have hope.”  Romans 15:4

“The Bible is a harp with a thousand strings. Play on one to the
exclusion of its relationship to the others, and you will develop
discord. Play on all of them, keeping them in their places in the
divine scale, and you will hear heavenly music!” -  William P White

All my life I’ve found going to the dentist to be a traumatic event. It harks back to my early childhood experiences. I recall the stark terror of those needles, the buzzing drills, and the gas when an extraction was needed. Shudder!

Before I left Thailand to retire back to Australia I had all my teeth checked and fixed, or so I thought. That was back in 2007. A few weeks ago one of my crowns broke off including the post underneath (as I was eating muesli!). I had no choice but to go see a dentist. All the anxiety came rushing back… I was aware that I was holding my hands together so tightly that my knuckles were white. The procedure didn’t really hurt, so I had no reason to be afraid. The anxiety (fear/terror) was coming from those long ago and forgotten memories.Quite a reminder that childhood memories continue to affected our responses in the present.

The dentist did a great job. He was also gentle and kind. And, there wasn’t anything that should have fed my fears.

I must say I am reeling from the cost of having dental work done here.  Phew! My health fund covers some of the cost but not enough.

Storybook houses, Arboretum

Originally uploaded by bhojman

The Dallas Arboretum recently had a display of storybook houses. There were many fun ones including Dr Suess’s “Onc-ler House”. I think I’ve read the story but as I can’t recall the storyline at the moment I figure I should read it again just to find out why the house looks like it does.
It was a fun day spent with friends just wandering around enjoying the flowers, the storybook houses, the Arboretum’s always beautiful gardens, and the companionship of friends. Hmmm… nice!

“Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind” Ecclesiastes 4:6 NIV.

You can’t live a continually noisy life and expect to walk in peace.

www.thewordfortoday.com.au

“Remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to succeed in life.” Deuteronomy 8:18 AMP

Whether His blessings come in the form of increased finances, improved health or greater influence, when God gives you something, He wants you to use it for His glory. God is the source of everything you have – and ever will have!
www.thewordfortoday.com.au

Sparrow taking a drink, Port Campbell, Vic

Originally uploaded by bhojman

I took this image last year but didn’t get a chance to upload to Flickr till recently. I was interrupted by the death of my friend, Paulette in mid December. Was gone from Oz dealing with breaking up her house and life work in Thailand. Now trying to catch up with myself a bit.
A nice thing about this photo is how simple it can be to get a drink if you really need it! I also watched a seagull do the same thing, however, I missed the moment of his drinking and only got him afterwards. Still a fun photo but not as good as this one.

“I have finished my course.” 2 Timothy 4:7

Be yourself. Life’s too short to be anything else. You can only win if you run on the track God gave you. To run any other kind of race is to lose. God will bless you when you’re committed to being what He redeemed and called you to be. So, be yourself!

(www.thewordfortoday.com.au)

My very dear friend Paulette Hopple died on Thursday morning. It was sudden, yet not unexpected. For 20 years she’d had a death sentence over her because of a rare form of scleroderma which had attacked her lungs. Through much prayer God gave her more strength, vim and vigour than most of us without any disease. She was someone who never did anything by halves… it was always full on.
I’ve always been impressed with her keen interest in people, and no matter who they were she wanted to know them, was concerned for them and wanted to encourage them in whatever way she could. I remember on a visit with her earlier this year in Mae Sai. She would always speak with the beggars who’d come across from Burma; she wanted to know who they were, what language they spoke and what were the circumstances of their life that had brought them to begging. Invariably she would give them some money or pay for a good meal for them. I found this care about people to be quite overwhelming.
She had been serving God in Asia. While on a 6 week trip for language data collection and a literacy workshop she experienced increasing difficulty with breathlessness at the slightest exertion. She knew it was bad but did not stop until completing the literacy workshop in which training was given to speakers of the ethnic language with whom she worked. These folk were being trained to be literacy teachers for their own people in their own language. After this her breathing become more laboured and she ended up in hospital. Her heart was unable to oxygenate her blood and gave out just after midnight December 18.
I miss her, and will continue to do. She was a good friend to me. We’ve been friends since being in grad school together in the mid 70’s, so it’s been a long blessing.
All her friends and colleagues around the world are in shock, and feeling deeply the effects of sudden loss. Though it seems as if her life was cut short, it wasn’t. It was God’s time for her. It might not suit us, or make sense to us, but it was definitely God’s time.
This mornming I was reading John 14:1-3 and was impacted afresh by Jesus’ words when he said: “I am going to prepare a place for you … When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” Jesus had finished preparing Paulette’s place and came to get her! Wow! And, I’m sure she was ready to go and knew it was time.
When will our places be ready? Will we be ready to go with Jesus when comes to get us? I pray we will. I pray I will.
Bless you all!