God's provision

This may sound a little ridiculous, but I am sometimes completely surprised by the way in which God provides. Let me give you a current example.

In the college where I'm living, we were warned a couple of weeks ago that the hot water system is dying and that there were plans in place for replacing it next week, meaning that most of the showers would be unavailable for 3 days from Monday. That didn't seem to be too big a problem for me because I had already made arrangements to head to Shellharbour for 3 weeks on Monday - if I had a shower on Sunday night, that would be fine.

However, last night I got home to find an email saying that the hot water would actually be turned off at noon today so that the system had time to cool before they start work. Now, that's more of a problem! I'm still in Sydney for the next few days and I didn't think I could go to church on Sunday without washing my hair!

In being awake for half the night tonight (agh, shouldn't I at least be able to sleep better during my holidays?), one of the things that has been running through my head is the whole issue of sorting out showering arrangements for the weekend. It has just occurred to me, however, that last weekend, some friends from church are heading to Melbourne this weekend and had offered me the use of their house while they're away.

The solution has been found!

And isn't God's provision amazing? His timing is perfect!!

And I might try heading back to bed now for a bit more sleep :-)

'Holidays'

Well, I'm officially on holidays for the next two weeks. However, I'm certainly learning that holidays around here do not always allow a lot of time for relaxing. I have a big Old Testament essay due in the middle of the holidays (although I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into the reading and writing for the essay). I have chosen to look at the topic of what happened to the people who remained in Judah during the exile of the 6th century BC. Although there is not a lot of data available, it should be interesting nonetheless.

I'll be spending the bulk of the holidays at my brother's house in the Lower Blue Mountains, as he and his family happen to be going away at the same time. After wrapping my head around the idea of packing a bag again, I'm looking forward to spending time in a place where I can spread out to write my essay and have some time to simply unwind.

However, as much as I'm looking forward to that, I'm still struggling with the number of holidays we have a college (I know that sounds weird!). After 15 years in the workforce, where my longest holiday was the four weeks I had before starting college, I have subsequently had another 6 weeks and am about to have another two! I just want some routine that lasts more than a few weeks at a time. I would much prefer that the pace at college was slowed down a bit and that the terms were therefore longer. Does that sound really strange?

Anyhow, we are on holidays, regardless of my feelings about it all, and I know that next term will be crazy as we approach the end of the year and exams. So, please join me in praying that I will not freak out about being on the move again and that I will achieve lots of work while also getting good rest and refreshment.

Moore Revue

Wow, I think it's been ages since I've laughed so much and so hard for so long. Who knew that we had so many talented comedians amongst the students at Moore College???

From comic routines to witty songs to comedic take-offs of lecturers, clever editing of movies and even some serious acts thrown in, Moore Revue 2008 was an enormous success. My guess is that it won't be long before some of the acts make it to YouTube so watch this space for any links!

Even walking back to my room after it finished I heard people talking of plans for acts next year.

It is, however, more than a little frightening that these people are the future leaders of our churches!! Nah, on second thought, it's great to see people with the ability to laugh at themselves and not take life too seriously! Who says life (even Bible College) always has to be serious???

Joys of Bible college

One of the things that has surprised me about being at Bible college is how much I love the doctrine lectures. I always expected that something like New Testament would be my favourite subject. However, I've found that I love thinking through what it is that I believe about God, Jesus, the Bible, etc.

Today's Doctrine 1 lectures were a continuation of last week's lecture on penal substitutionary atonement. Put perhaps a bit more simplistically, Jesus paid the penalty that I deserved to pay for rejecting God and trying to live life my own way. This is not something that I could ever do myself, nor is there anything I need to add - Jesus has already done it. All of it! And, because Jesus was the substitute that God provided to pay my penalty, I can now stand before God on Judgement Day and not be afraid of God's wrath.

How can it get any better than that?

In the meantime, New Testament lectures are exciting too! We are studying 1 Peter this term - there is so much to take in from just 5 chapters!

Please pray that I will continue to be excited by what I am learning and not get bogged down in all that I need to do.