Jessica Watson - an Extraordinary Australian

I'm proud Jessica Watson is Australian. She has circumnavigated the world in a 10.23 metre yacht. Not only do I get sea sick but I'm also claustrophobic. This young lady's adventure has caught my imagination. No matter how hard I try, I can't imagine bobbing around in this small craft in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. Jessica has done it with only modern communication methods to keep her company. She hasn't seen another human, nor has she set foot on dry land since leaving Sydney on 17th October, 2009 - amazing for a sixteen year old female. But that's what kept me connected to Jessica's blog for these last seven months. This young lady is not your average sixteen year old. Jessica is brave, intelligent, adventurous, talented and much, much more. She has taken on the world's oceans and made them her home for seven months. Link to Jessica's blog to learn about how she coped with living at sea for seven months at http://www.jessicawatson.com.au/_blog/Official_Jessica_Watson_Blog/ .

Then I heard bad press that her attempt won't be recognised because she didn't sail far enough. Does recognition matter to Jessica? No. Her blog dated 6th May states:-

"I don't normally bother addressing critics because someone's always going to be saying something, no matter what I say or do. But I thought I'd have my 2 bobs worth on these claims that I haven't 'officially' sailed around the world.

Call me immature but I've actually been having a bit of a giggle over the whole thing. If I haven't been sailing around the world, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time! Yes it's a shame that my voyage won't be recognized by a few organizations because I'm under 18, but it really doesn't worry me.

I mean there's millions, properly billions of people who still don't believe in global warming, so I'm more than happy to settle for a few people going against the tide and declaring that mine hasn't been an official circumnavigation. Well I think I've wasted more than enough time on the whole petty debate - so moving on!"

This sums up Jessica's personality. This is what heroines are made of. Jessica has a big future ahead of her. I always dreamed of being an astronaut, and thought maybe I could really become one and be the first woman to land on Mars. Unfortunately, that dream won't be fulfilled because I now realise God has other plans for my life. But Jessica may have the time to study for such an adventure if she is that way inclined. I'm sure she has more goals in sight and it wouldn't surprise me if space travel was one of them.

Jessica expects to arrive in Sydney this coming Saturday. I take this opportunity to wish Jessica all the very best for the next stage of her life's journey. I am confident she has the courage and nous to deal with all the challenges ahead of her during the coming days, months and years.

Well done, Jessica Watson. You're an incredible young Australian!

Dating My Creativity

A grat location for a creativity date.

My passion is writing - on paper and by computer. My writing goal is to evoke emotion, inform, and entertain my reader. I will write and re-write the words until the desired result is achieved.

Each day, I sit at my desk, hunched protectively over my work for six to seven hours. Sitting there for that long is so easy to do. The hours flit by before I know what's happened.

During the writing process my brain never stops. It is a whirl of words and ideas all clambering to the front of my mind wanting to be used. I use many of them, but some have to be relegated to the background to be used at a later time.

Creativity is fun, but what's happening to my body while all that energy circulates in my head? My body, a sagging bag of meat, sits waiting and hoping I'll give it some attention. Sometimes, subconsciously, my feet move restlessly, I scratch my head, my neck or some other part of the body. By the end of the day, I'm sluggish, worn out and absolutely brain dead, but I still sit there because I'm reluctant to move out of my creativity, the place where God and I share some great stuff. We have a fun time, but I'm human. I've been sitting so long, my body becomes stale as a school lunch lurking under the bed during school vacation, and the lethargy and stiffness set up home in the muscles. When I get like this, I know it's time to get out in the real world and get the blood circulating.

I go on a date with my creativity to refill the creative well, and to remind my body it's part of me, too.

There are many ways I refill my creative well. I like to vary the way I do the physical and where I take that time out. Sometimes, I take a morning walk in my suburb. I like the warmth of the newly risen sun on my face, and the smell of the clear moist freshness of a dew-coated morning. The flowers' perfumes and the scent of a gum tree are sharper, and if it's rained overnight there's a raw earthiness blending with those smells promising today is going to be something special. Other times, I head to the beach for a whiff of that salty air to awaken my lungs and purge the stale air that accumlates in there with lack of exercise.

After 4 p.m. is also my favourite time of day. The smells of a day lived is what inspires me. After a day in front of the computer, the open air breathes life into the heaviness that hangs behind my forehead. In the same way as my body gets tired from a day in the gym, so does my brain get tired from a day in the zone.

So I take time out physically and spiritually and develop a sharper and deeper edge to my creativity. I encourage you to do your mind and body a favour - go out and have a date with your creativity. You might be pleasantly surprised how relaxed you feel after the experience.

Remember, creativity comes from the one who created the earth.

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." - Genesis 1:27 NIV

And God rested, too,

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." - Genesis 2:2-3 NIV

God took time out to rest and refresh from his creativity. I want to encourage you today to follow God's example and not only do brain exercise but physical exercise, too. Renew your mind, body and spirit and be ready for the creative work God has set aside especially for you.

Bella Generation

You've heard of Generation X and Generation Y ... have you heard of Bella Generation. That's right, Bella Generation.

Recently, I attended a seminar on the Gold Coast and learnt about Bella Generation.

Letitia Shelton is coordinator of an organisation called City Women Toowoomba, Australia. God placed a need on Letitia's heart to look after the young women of Toowoomba.

Too many young women are abused, come from broken homes, make bad choices because of misinformation, lack self-esteem, are caught up in drug and alcohol abuse traps. In short, they are hurting and they don't know how to stop hurting.

Bella Generation is the inspiration these girls and women need. This group dreams of a beautiful generation of women - a Bella Generation, now, and forever. They are a team of girls and young women who have a desire to see change come for the girls and young women who are hurting and overhwhelmed by life.

They are dreaming of a generation of girls/women who know their true worth and value; who nurture, not self-harm; a generation of purity; a generation who are empowered to be all that God created them to be, and to use their unique gifting to uplift and encourage the hurting and wounded; a generation of women who choose to respect and honour men and receive their protection; and a generation that favours beauty, not destruction.

To achieve their dreams City Women uses magazines, girls/young women's groups, camps, and their own designer label Bella G fashion and accessories. The idea is to take this generation of young women away from the image of modern woman that is portrayed in modern magazines and bring them back to the loving and nurturing human beings God created them to be.

What makes City Women unique is that they support and work together with other oganisations that already exist. They call on women from all denominations in Toowoomba to be part of and promote these existing organisations to make them stronger so that more women will be helped. In the process healthy and God-honouring relationships develop between organisations and individual women. To me this is empowering and enlightening.

I salute City Women Toowoomba for their courage, their compassion and their every day hard work reaching out to those in need of a helping hand. You are doing exactly what Jesus wants us to do:

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Col. 4:32 NIV

City Women Toowoomba conforms to the Collossians verse above. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see this ministry reach throughout Australia and beyond?

Finishing ...

I've just completed my current work in progress. The last few weeks have felt like I've been swimming in a pool of glue. I was so keen to finalise the last draft, but I got stuck at chapter seven. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't continue on. This resulted in giving myself a swift talking to.

What created my demise? Self doubt. Ecclesiastes 1:3 came to mind -

"What does man gain from all his labour at which he toils under the sun?"

I began to think, so why do I write here in my office all day long while the sun is shining outside? I hear the children laughing as they play; I hear the wind in the trees; and the cars going places. They all seem to have purpose, but what was I doing? Typing words into a computer. What for? Would there ever be any end to this writing work I'm doing? All these questions and more bombarded me from every corner of my mind. I was stuck on the last draft of my novel with another twenty-nine scenes still to edit. The work stretched before me seemingly endless. Will it ever be finished?

I sat back and took an honest look at where the work was going and the reason why I write novels. On the wall of my office I have my mission to "Inspire women to heal from past hurts and be the women God created them to be." If I didn't finish this draft, this manuscript had no chance of crossing a publisher's desk. That means I would not only fail in my work, but most importantly I would also fail the women I want to encourage. A half-baked manuscript wasn't going to reach anyone.

So I found a quiet spot and shared my frustrations with Jesus. We discussed my doubts, my human failings, my insecurities about my work. After sharing with Jesus my burden didn't seem so overwhelming. Jesus was faithful as always and gave me his mighty power to finish the work. He reminded me it's not about the end, it's about the journey and what we learn on that journey.

That wisdom was timely.

Making A Difference ...

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post. I've been grieving the loss of my brother. There's a hole in my life now where he used to be, and in the lives of all who knew him. Don's character is a precious memory I will call on if I ever have to be reminded what a man with integrity looks like. Don was three years older than me, but he taught me so much about integrity, loyalty and love.

Don's passing has made me think a lot about how easy it is to take our family and friends for granted. My life choice forced me to live an hour and a half flight away from him and his family, but I tried to keep in contact often. Was it enough? Could I have given up some of the busyness of my life to spend more time together? I wish I had shared more time with him, and on a deeper level than I did.

These thoughts have been tossed about in my mind for the past three weeks. I've come to realise our lives aren't only about our blood relations. If living near Don and his family was God's purpose for my life, I would have been there. God has a different purpose for me, and I'm not sure if I've even worked out what that is, but I believe he's teaching me community is what life is about.

As an adult I'm responsible for more than just my siblings and my immediate family. God has put me in community to help me understand everyone has a life journey and that life journey is different for each of us. The events of my journey have made me the person I am today, and there is no changing that, but I can change my behaviours for the future.

Through my experiences I'm able to help others who may be experiencing something of what I've been through. I come alongside and encourage and lift them up so they can continue on knowing someone else has also been there. They are not alone!

Community is about connection with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and also those in my community who don't know him, but need him in their lives.

Don served in the police force for 37 years. He was a man of integrity - a man people could trust to do a job properly. He possessed a strong sense of community and always wanted his community to be safe for his family, friends, and people he didn't know. On the beat and off the beat his integrity never wavered, but what I loved about him the most was his quirky sense of humour. He was able to blend integrity with humour. Ever since I can remember he loved playing tricks on people to make them think about what they were doing. He was a gifted man who knew how to sneak up on people in a imaginative way and get them to change their behaviour without them knowing .

Is this something we can add to our every day lives to make a difference in someone's life? Add humour, live with integrity and influence people in some small way without them knowing you're behind them giving them a gentle nudge in the right direction on their own journey?

I believe Don's subtle way of reaching people through humour, love and understanding has merit. I hope I can include those qualities in my everyday life to help others smile on their bleak days, encourage them that life happens and can be tough sometimes, but with God's unconditional love we will get through the darkness and back into the light, and be wiser for the experience.

Thank you, Don, for your loving contribution to my life, and the wisdom you've passed to me. I hope I can pass some of that wisdom and sense of fun to my community for the rest of the time God has portioned for me for this life here on earth.