Friends

the world cries for men who are strong –
strong in conviction, strong to lead, to stand to suffer.

i pray that you will be that kind of man –
glad that God made you a man,
glad to shoulder the burden of manliness in a time when to do will often bring contempt.

— Elisabeth Elliot

I think it has come to a point where you live your life and I do the same. 
Au Revoir.

------

Christmas came and went - it was a good one.  I had fun!  I'm still on leave till Jan and the trip to OZ was much needed and definitely went awesome.  I miss Melbourne so much! :/

At the end of the day, you just have to,

Obey.

hello everyone i'm back! loads of stuff has happened in the past two weeks - advance in batam and then holiday in bangkok, but i'll blog about all that later. for now,



i'm not sure why i just spent time doing this on illustrator instead of going to bed early when i'm still slightly flu-y lol. maybe i should print it out and try to pass it off as a christmas card :P

anyway, have a blessed christmas everyone!! count your blessings and not just your presents! aha

I bought mom Chanel No. 5 and skipped on champagne for myself.


- I am such a lovely daughter. HAHA


Otherwise, it's good to be home to spend Christmas with friends and family!  And err, I'm wondering what's for breakfast and my room feels foreign to me. 

Yep, I'm home.

We had our family's "official" Christmas dinner last night - dinner, music, presents, etc..

P and I made dinner, and it was DELICIOUS. The menu:

Nibbles:
Cheeses (Jarlsberg, Gouda, Red Leicester) and crackers and a red pepper & cashew dip

Dinner:
Pork Loin Roast WITH CRACKLING (mmmmm... that's the best part) stuffed with thyme, rosemary, and a LOT of butter. Served with white gravy made from whatever's left in the pan (the meat drippings, the butter, herbs, roasted garlic) + stock & white wine.
plus creamy mashed potatoes (secret: use cream)
plus steamed vegetables (just to keep it healthy)

Dessert:
Bread & Butter Pudding... made with chocolate panettone instead of bread. This was SO easy to make and absolutely heavenly. Served with a dollop of....yes, cream.

Drinks:
Ginger Beer (the boozy type)
Peach Iced Tea

Lots of presents were opened. The Niece pooped and then went around telling everyone about her sore bum. She's 2 years old and very talkative.

I am still recovering from the food.

Now we are fattened, P and I are planning a total makeover of our back yard. Paving, digging, the works!

We will be little brown raisins by the end of the holidays, hopefully.

With puddles of butter around our ankles.

Well, I don't think so as well.. and hey, it's excluding the 5kg worth of shopping that Faye and Xinyi helped me bring back earlier. Haha! I'm packing.. yes, going home soon. I'm excited that Christmas is coming. :)

Fools.



Anyway, I've posted Sydney piccas and I'm going to Canberra tonight.. then it's back to Sydney.
Then.... yes, I'm heading home.

Sigh, mixed feelings about going home but I'm really excited to be home for Christmas! :)

I miss all my friends and family and my bed! It's raining today so hurrah! Cos the weather here has been disgustingly hot that I'm SO sunburnt and I've got such ugly weird unbalanced tan lines.. Hahaha! Oh well..

Yes, Christmas is coming and I finished writing all my cards this year! YAYYYYY!!!!!!! Also, the postcards are STILL here in my Moleskine.. the post office is quite hard to find here.. Ahh...

OK need to pack.
Bye and see you next time!!


Love,
The BSK.

and then I am taken to a place called Rarkdound. Mute Math's Come to Me plays in the background and everything starts to merge into one.

What I'm seeing is what I'm hearing is where I am is everything.

Black spheres revolve around my head, patiently, smoothly floating, driven by the frictionless energy in the air. Rarkdound is a place where anything can happen. Today, it's black spheres. Black spheres are happening. I can bob and shake my head to the mesmerizing rhythm. Let God take over, let Him do His thing. It feels good to be here. Peace of mind and spirit.

Every tiny movement counts. Every detail in this huge picture matters. Every twitch of the finger is noticed, and taken into account. The twitch changes the direction of the experience, and I just let it.

Now Overcome plays.

Opening my eyes lets me back in to reality, but Rarkdound is a nice place to be. Every one has their own. It's called something different to everyone. Mine changes its name everyday. Poetic prose seems the just expression of this place for now. 

God covers me with His wings. He can be quite a psychedelic God. When my eyes are closed, they are then opened. He splashes layers upon layers of wonderful atmospheres all at the same time. A deluge of blankets descend and overwhelm me. Blankets of every colour imaginable, and every colour unimaginable. Then the words. The influx of 'mine', 'love', 'amazing', 'ocean', 'beautiful', 'new', 'revelation', 'glory', and everything else beyond and in between.

'I was ______________, but God helped overcome.' What would you fill in that blank with? If you can't think of anything now, I pray something happens so that you'll have something to write in it.

It's like a bath. A cleansing. An immersion. A baptism. A myriad of beauty-particles (I don't know what else to call them) swirling and vibrating in and around me. Thick but not suffocating. Soft and comforting, they create a surrounding for me; a covering. 

All that, everything I just described, is God. God is. God is here.

God is. 

And this, is where I fall into a beautiful, deep, sleep.