any day now

So, in light of my previous post (and just generally) I am trying to keep thinking of ways to be more conscious of my true home. And along to the rescue came my youth Bible study group. We were up to looking at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11. There's nothing like being reminded that Jesus might return any day now to get you thinking about your true home.

The passage makes two great points about Jesus' second coming, that it will be
1) unmistakeable
with all the trumpets sounding and the archangel calling and us rising in the air to meet him, we don't need to worry that it might happen without us realising
2) unexpected
it could happen any day now, so we've got to be ready

In light of Jesus' imminent return, Paul urges the Thessalonians to be alert, sober and self-controlled. None of which I find easy to do in my current sleep deprived season of life. But this week I've tried to just take some time out in the midst of what I'm doing to think of what it would be like if Jesus returned later that day. I'm not sure that at this stage it radically changes the mundane tasks that I have to do, but I'm praying that it will change my attitude and that I can pass this awareness on to my boys.

Any other suggestions???

louisa and julia

I had intended to start this blog 22 months ago when we moved interstate. I wanted to be thoughtful about living in a new city and make the most of this new phase of life. But of course life was more hectic than I expected and harder than I cared to admit.

Part of the inspiration for this was having read My Life in France by Julia Child.
I find reading autobiographies a bit strange, but I guess whatever you read has its own biases. Although at least this book draws heavily on many letters written at the time (and obviously not intended for publication). Anyway I was happy to go with the flow and it seemed as though Child was pretty open about some hard times. It focuses on her time living in Paris (1948-1956) and how it radically changed her life.

But what I really loved was how Julia Child really embraced her move to a new city. She really tried to live like a local. She worked hard at learning the language and the customs. It changed how she cooked, how she shopped and how she entertained and made friends. And obviously she built an enormously successful career out of this immersion.

Now, I’ll admit there are a few differences between us and our life circumstances but as I’ve been settling in to life in Melbourne I’ve really tried to emulate this attitude. It has been made much easier by having wonderful family here as well as a new church family. But I can't help feeling a bit torn. The struggle continues to be how to be conscious daily of my true home, my heavenly home while enjoying the blessings of life in such a wonderful city.

Anyway, I hope to post some reflections on life in a new city over the next little while.