A Beloved's Journey

A month from today I will be holding a quiz night at Sugarhorse to raise funds towards my $20,000 target (we have just over $3000 currently). I also have 3 raffles that will be drawn on the night but tickets can be brought from me beforehand. Each raffle has one main prize pack with lots of goodies. Tickets are $2 each and you can choose your number. The raffles are detailed below with the amazing organisations that have gifted items. If you are interested in buying some raffle tickets email me at amy.millar85@gmail.com. Thanks! Raffle #1: The Beauty Raffle This raffle is for the women... Hair by Sonya voucher - My incredible hairdresser who manages to turn my wild array of curls, twirls and straight into gorgeous flowing curls every time. Sonya is an incredible woman who also has a heart to make a difference in the world (ask her about how she is supporting girls rescued out of slavery in Cambodia). Sonya is incredibly skilled at her profession, not many people c...

Today on my walk through Hagley Park I stumbled upon this sign written on a bridge. It wasn't just aimed at pigs, there was one for fish too. To start with I was frustrated. If I had chalk with me I probably would have drawn a picture of a women or child and written, "Is your lifestyle (or wardrobe) worth more than her life?" I was fuming that someone could consider that this cause was worthy to 'brandish around' the community. It's an animal for goodness sake... people are dying! As I walked on I reconsidered. This person is obviously passionate about something (not eating animals) and had the courage to put their message out there, to stand up for their cause. My anger and frustration turned to a sort of admiration (sort of). What are you passionate about? What are you willing to stand up for? In order to really live we must be truly passionate about something. I work with people who are truly passionate about the environment, or truly passionate a...

'More often than not, the journey to where God wants to take us requires that we travel further than we ever expected... if you simply give up because the journey was longer and harder than you expected, then you have become a settler when you should be a pioneer. The unfortunate reality is that many of us would... rather settle for less than sacrifice more.' The Last Arrow by Erwin Raphael McManus Pioneering is never easy and settling for the comfortable can seem the best option. But pioneer we must. The past few weeks have been filled with difficult challenges. One of the most recent (and most costly) being waking up to a water cylinder that had been leaking throughout the night. You don't want to discover a leaking water cylinder even at the best of times but when you know the only way to pay for it is to use money you have personally saved for your dream (adoption) it can be dream shattering. So $2,500 and a new water cylinder (and lino) later I'm back to savin...

Several months ago I read a blog about minimisation. I don't know about you, but it is something that I am interested in and would like to be good at... but I'm not. Reading the blog was a great start though and I would like to share with you the ideas behind it. It was written by a parent of three children. And as a family they had decided to get rid of things from their home. On day one they all got rid of one thing. Day two, two things. Day three, three things and so on. Now I don't know about you but I am terrible at keeping up with what day it is and how many things I am supposed to be getting rid of! So instead I counted the items of things I would need to get rid of in a 31 day month, 550. That had a nice ring to it. So in May this year I started throwing things out, selling them or giving them away... ...and I'm still going. Not because I'm amazing at minimising but because I haven't achieved 550 things yet!! I started on a roll. Eager to clear my h...

I've been having a 'dilemma of faith' over the past few weeks and God reminded me of a story found in Matthew 14:25.  The story goes like this: Jesus has just performed a great miracle of feeding thousands of people. He sends his disciples across the lake without him while he spends some time praying. As the disciples are crossing the lake the wind comes up and batters the boat. Many of the disciples are experienced fishermen so a little bit of wind won't cause too much trouble. What they didn't expect was the figure they now saw moving across the water. They were 'scared out of their wits' (The Message) and thought it was a ghost. Jesus was quick to comfort his disciples and tell them it was him. "Courage, it's me. Don't be afraid."(NIV) Peter took this courage and said, "Master, if it is really you, call me to come to you on the water (The Message). Jesus calls Peter out. Peter gets out of the boat (often the biggest step) and b...

It's time to celebrate! I have officially lost 10kg and am almost at the point of being the lightest I have been since the age of 10! (Yes you read the right... 10. That is 23 years.) I have always been a large person. I remember being shockingly embarrassed at 4 years old when I had to have my school uniform specially made for me as I was too large to fit anything in the shop. Throughout my primary and high school years I was constantly teased and ridiculed for my weight. Names like 'Mr Blobby's Wife' and 'Burly Shirley' were called out as I walked past. Even at youth group my 'friends' would call me 'Titanic'. I would often feel unacceptable and unwanted. As I was often larger than my taunters and had a temper (we will blame that on the slightly ginger tinge to my hair) I would get angry and sometimes physically harm them. I don't know why I never got in trouble for this. I suppose they too knew they were guilty. Fast forward into my ...

Have you ever climbed a hill waiting to see the beautiful view just around the corner to see that there is a large boulder or tree blocking the way? Or it's not around that corner but maybe it's around the next one, or the next one? Today's blog is a hard one to write. It's a story of road blocks, unachieved goals and tears. There's a boulder obstructing the view. How do you write about emotions that are hard to feel, little own understand? My mind tumbles through my thoughts like a dryer turning through clothes. See although the home study interview went well and my social worker is lovely, we have officially arrived at the boulder... MONEY I found out over a week ago, in my first interview with the social worker, that next Thursday I need to have evidence that I can afford to adopt. I need evidence that I have access to $50,000. And. I. Don't. This $50,000 will cover the cost of flights, accommodation, legal fees, translation costs and taking a year...