Which direction?

Sometimes I feel like the day is never going to end. On a daily basis I wonder where on earth my life is going. What am I doing with my life? Sure I'm married, and I love my husband with all of my heart, so I'm not saying that my life sucks or anything. I'm honestly truly greatful for what God has given me and what he has done in my life. However, although it might be hard to admit, I don't know which direction my life is meant to be going. Let me elaborate... 

All through the senior years in High school. I knew exactly where I wanted to be in ten years. I had a solid plan. I envisioned that within a year or two of graduating High school, I would be married and I would have a full time job as a Group leader in a Childcare centre. I didn't care for higher studies, I would be content with tertiary education. After about 3 years of Childcare and marriage, I would have children and I'd become a stay at home Mum. I figured that by the ten year mark, I'd have a few kids by then, and they'd be off to primary school. Life seemed like it could be almost perfect for me. 

Guess what? I was a tad bit wrong! 

To cut a very long story short, I didn't get married till last year, after being engaged for 3 years. 

We live in my parents rental house, in the downstairs rumpas room. We only have a kitchenette and a makeshift bathroom. Its not ideal, that's for sure. A few years ago I ended up with a casual Group leader/ assistant relief work. For two years I worked for two hours a day doing lunch relief and the occasional full day of relief. At the very end of last year, my workplace had to make money cuts, so now I don't even get to work a few hours a day, I only get the occasional full day of relief work. Rob is finishing off uni in November, and will have his degrees with no certainty of getting a job straight away. He hasn't had any paid work since December 2013. To top it off, I'm still on my learners licence and I have to rely on Rob to get me around everywhere. We won't be able to travel or even have kids until Rob has a full time income, and we have a house to live in. It seems forever away! Not only that, but after just one year of doing Childcare, I decided that I don't like it, and I know that I can't go on to do further studies of anything until Rob is earning full income. 

Basically my point is, my life doesn't seem to be moving forward, and even if Rob gets a job soon, I have no idea what I would study. In truth, I just don't feel like I'm good enough for any job at all. The only thing I'm sure of is that Childcare is not for me. 

I'm disappointed that in the senior years of High school, I didn't think harder about what job would be best for me. I just picked a job that sounded easy enough and do-able. Now I feel like I'm no where. I'm also disappointed that since Graduating high school I have put on 30kgs of weight. I feel terrible about my body and my health yet I have no motivation to change. I'm also on 3 different daily medications, in which I never believed I would have to take. 

All I want is a bit more stability. I don't want to feel like this anymore. 

Ethical fashion

A few months ago, I got my hands on Baptist world Aid Australia's Ethican Fashion Guide. They develop one yearly, and I am always interested in taking a look. Here is a blurb on the first page of the booklet: "This guide seeks to empower you to purchase from companies that treat their workers ethically. By doing so, you can encourage more companies and decision makers to take action to ensure workers are not exploited, they are paid adequately and the work free from the tyranny of modern slavery."

In the booklet, there is a list of the clothing companies a-z, and next to each company is the slavery/ labour rights grade. For e.g. Converse received an B! I love Connies, so this made me super happy. 

However there are some of my favourite brands that received very low marks. The most disappointing one for me ways JayJays (part of the just jeans company) , who received a D. The NRL and AFL companies received a D-, which disgusted me knowing how expensive their brand is. 

Before I knew about the Ethical Fashion Guide, I didn't think at all about who my clothes were made by and how those people were treated. You see it isn't just about their lack of pay, but how these people are constantly treated poorly.  Every time I shop for clothing, I now take my guide with me, to ensure that I'm not buying clothes that have been made by the companies who don't care about the workers they are using. 

Please take a stand with me!

https://www.baptistworldaid.org.au/behind-the-barcode/

Why Porn is not ok.

This isn't an easy topic to talk about. It's uncomfortable, but I'm writing this blog post in the hope that it may change the thinking of some friends who have told me about their porn addiction. I'm no expert on this topic, but I'd like to share my views anyway. 

Why isn't porn ok? 

I'm not a saint, I won't lie and tell you that I've never ever looked at porn. We are all of sinful nature and curiosity is what the devil uses to tempt us. The thing is, we can't just use the excuse "I'm human", yes I am human, but I'm also a follower of Christ Jesus.

Mathew 5:28 (ESV) 

"But I say to you that everyone that looks at a woman with lustfull intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" 

Even though men are the ones being addressed in this bible verse, I believe it applies to women as well. Porn is lust, therefore it is sin, it isn't just a man problem. Lust feels great, but it is a temporary sin with full time consequences. Porn is distorted, it leads you into an self-centred, artificial world.

Christians, I will leave these questions for you to answer for yourselves: 

What are you going to do when you get married, and porn has been something that you have relied on for a long time, to satisfy yourself? What do you do with the sexual fantasies that porn has given you? Can you confidently say that you won't have crazy ideas of how your sex life with your spouse will pan out? What happens when you realise that you are disappointed that sex is nothing like the porn videos you have seen?

Sex is a wonderful thing, and it is to be shared between husband and wife. It isn't something you're perfect at from the first go, it takes practice. Porn may give you ideas, but it isn't realistic in the end. I don't know about other women, but if my Husband ever watched porn, I would feel like I'd been cheated on. I'd feel insecure, and worry about the sexual expectations he has of me. I would be terrified.

Please will you watch this video, it will only take up just over 5 minutes of your time. In case I haven't convinced you that you need to end your addiction, I truly hope this video does. It looks at a different aspect of the argument. 

http://posichange.com/youll-never-watch-porn-the-same-way-again/

Please leave your comments below. 

50 questions that will free your mind (questions and answers) -question twenty four

Question twenty four- 

Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or loosing touch with a good friend that lives right near you? 

I would have to say the latter, because these days you can contact good friends vire Facebook and Skype etc.. Yeah I know it's not the same as being face to face, but it makes sense.

Loosing touch with a good friend makes me wonder if they really were a good friend. 

The strangest acne minimiser.

As a teenager I had mild- moderate acne. Most teens get it, but it always made me super self conscious, especially when all my friends had next to no acne at all. 

I tried all of the on the shelf acne creams, cleansers and toners that you could think of. Then 

I tried Duac, a prescribed and medicated cream, which worked fantastically, that was until my skin decided to develop an allergic reaction to one of the chemicals used in the cream. I was almost tempted to try the famous Pro-Active, but my local chemist warned me that it is prone to completely dry your skin out, especially on people with sensitive skin. She then offered me Az-clear products, which were medicated, but didn't have strong chemicals. It worked for a while, but my acne still seemed to burst through.

Now I'm a young adult (nearly 23), and my acne is now adult acne. It drives me crazy. It's worse than teenage acne for sure! So a few weeks ago, I decided to do some internet research. Home made face masks made my skin feel a bit more moisturised, but I didn't find much worth in them, because they didn't do much for my Acne. With a bit more research I found my new favourite product.....

.... Tee tree oil!.....

I have no idea why I hadn't thought of using it before! 

Here's the trick.....

I've done face steams in the past: where you fill up a deep bowl or a jug with boiling water, and then lean over it with a towel over your head...It's like a mini sauna, but for your face. Breathing in the hot steam is good for clearing your sinuses, and it also opens up your pores. It is quite a relaxing experience. Ten minutes of that, and I feel like falling asleep! Now that I've discovered my love of tee tree, I have made my face sauna even more blissful, by adding a small amount of the oil into the bowl of water. Since tee tree is a great wound healing product, I love that while the steam is opening up my pores, the tee tree is cleansing. 

Straight after that, I grab a bit of cotton wool, or a swisper, and I put some of the tee tree oil on it, to dab on my pimples. It can sting a little, but the sting doesn't last long. 

If I've done both of those things before I go to bed, I wake up with a lot less bumps and redness all over my face. It slightly dries the skin out, so don't drench your face in pure tee tree! I also usually put on a good oil free moisturiser in the morning before my makeup, which really helps my makeup go on better if my face is dry.

I hope this helps someone else with acne. Seriously, try it!

My bucket list

Love them

As Christians, we are called to love...

During my teenage years I found myself being far from loving. I wanted to follow the crowd, and I tried to do that as well as follow Jesus. I knew little theology, and when I found the courage to talk to my friends about Jesus, I made stuff up in order to be "right". I told my friends that I was right, when in fact I was wrong. I wasn't wrong in saying that Jesus is for real, but I argued my faith without anything to back me up. On top of everything, I didn't even follow any of the immature advice that I was giving!  

Matthew 7:3-5

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

I was a hypocrite. Sometimes I argued rubbish, and sometimes I simply ignored my faith as though it didn't matter. I am thankful that God placed people in my life to correct me.

 In the past few years, I've spent a huge amount of time on the internet arguing my faith, with theologically correct facts. The problem is, fighting isn't helping. I've always believed in standing up for what I believe in, but I have started to wonder if I'm actually making a difference by forcing my faith onto an atheist (who will most likely ignore all that I say). It's probably fine If you can accurately (with enough proof) and politely correct an atheist who has the facts wrong, but mindless arguments are useless.

God's love is unending, unrelenting, and unconditional....

Ephesians 5:1-2

1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 

2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

.... To be imitators of God, we need to love those who try to fight us, and continually pray for them, instead of fighting back! 

Thoughts? 

50 questions that will free your mind (questions and answers) -question twenty three

Question twenty three-

Have you been the kind of friend that you want as a friend?

I try to be, but admittedly I made a lot of mistakes in my teens. I didn't treat some of my friends with maturity or respect. It's a lesson learned though. 

50 questions that will free your mind (questions and answers) -question twenty two

Question twenty two-

Why are you, you? 

Because God made me who I am. There is no other explanation. 

50 questions that will free your mind (questions and answers) -question twenty one

Question twenty one-

Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyfull simpleton? 

Joyfull simpleton. Pretty much what I am now hahaha! Nothing wrong with the "simple" life :)