Sydney Harbour Bridge - Australia

I was born at Paddington Royal Hospital for Women, in view of Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Sydney is the capitol of New South Wales, the state I grew up in.
I have always had a strong love for Sydney harbour and that wonderful iconic bridge that spans its waters.  

The Sydney Harbour Bridge crosses the harbour at its narrowest point between Dawes Point and Milsons Point.
It is a double-hinged, riveted steel arch bridge.
It has a reinforced concrete deck and reinforced concrete pylons.
On its completion in 1932, it was considered the essence of modern bridge design and engineering

creativity.

At different times of day, the bridge becomes almost magical.

Many enjoy to take the three and a half hour climb of the bridge for a great view of the harbour and city.

My daughter Femia and her husband David enjoyed their climb a few years ago. 

    "The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it -- 

      the world and all its people."

     Psalm 24:1

Share the Love and Pass it on.

I have been feeling dried out of late..
Why? I don't know, just aging I suppose..
I can't seem to think or concentrate for long..
Maybe I need a Sabbatical from life?

THEN... I received TWO blessings on Facebook and both stirred my spirit.
The first one was from a man who I don't know personally but who loves the Lord and continually rejoices in His love.
This man, Murriel sent me (and others) the loveliest surprise.

THEN...
I discovered a lovely message sent from my TN Crossroads Church.
It featured Pastor Stephen, his wife Latonia, son Corey and daughters Cara and Kaylen.
They shared from the church and from their hearts.

How my heart thrilled to hear this, and see those joyous faces..

God is so good.

NEXT,  I saw this photo on a friend Facebook page.. and I know I am so much more fortunate that this.

Or am I?

Love shared and Love given... that's what life is all about.

"I love you, God— you make me strong.
   God is bedrock under my feet,
      the castle in which I live,
      my rescuing knight."

Psalm 18:1

The Valley Rattler Steam Train Gympie Queensland

The Valley Rattler won't be running while its flooding.

Old Photos of days gone-by:

  
When the sunshines again..
There will be the thrill of the journey...

Colour Your World With Happiness

What do you do when you spoil  something?

When you feel it can't be fixed and should be thrown away.

I paint flowers over the problem....

This makes a change, it produces a new creation.

 Here's another problem.

All fixed and made ready to use again.

I used to love to paint... and what a difference some colour and effort can make.


Isn't this the same with life?
When things go wrong often we want to give up and hide away?
Yet there is nothing that can't be fixed...with a little love.

So many times I feel like throwing in the towel..
I have loads of excuses..
I'm getting too old.
I'm tired.
I can't be bothered.
Who cares anyway..
BUT...
Someone does, and His name is JESUS.

Jesus says to me: "Crystal I forgive you and I love you."
Place your name here, and read it again.
"................, I forgive you and I love you."
Doesn't that make you feel good!

Colour your world with happiness: 

Photo by my daughter Femia Shirtliff.

 LORD! 
Praise, O servants of the LORD, 

Praise the name of the LORD! 

Blessed be the name of the LORD From this time forth and forevermore! 

From the rising of the sun to its going down The LORD's name is to be praised.

The LORD is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens.

Australian Son. John Farnham - Burn For You

Going to live in the USA from my own country, Australia I was home sick.
Some of the things I missed besides my family were:

1. Vegemite, a spread you eat on bread.

2. The eucalyptus trees and smell.

3. Meat pies.

4. Our wild beaches.

5. AND.....Hearing John Farnham on the radio.
So I am sharing him here with you now...

Johnny began singing at fifteen years old.
He is sixty two and still going strong..

A Christian

What makes a Christian?
The other day I was startled to see someone state, that belonging to their particular religion, made them the perfect Christian..
Needless to say there were many comments.
And you can imagine, I also had mine.

At times like this I try not to get angry..
As what would that say about me?

However, I do point out something I discovered many years ago..
That the very first Christian church was called the Sect of the Nazarene..
 Acts 24:5, 24:14 and 28:22.

Amazingly, Peter was not called the leader of this sect, or church, but Paul was.
They had no church building as such but met in homes.
Was this a fore taste of how the church should be?
To me, this spells humble.
Yet, they all stood firm on the salvation of Jesus Christ.

Speaking for myself, I rarely answer to a particular denomination, although I do worship in one.
I prefer to be, a part of the Body of Christ.
To me this encompasses, many Christian denomination believing in Father, Son and Holy Spirit.


On the cross...Jesus put to death the hostility between Jew and Gentile...
Ephesians 2:15-16
Surely He would want us to love each other..
After all, He loved us enough to die for us..
Shouldn't we then, love one another??

   Daughter Daniella with my grandson Izaiah.   Love conquers all.

Sunshine and Happiness

I cannot imagine the world without the sun shining.
Today it came out in full force and we rejoiced.
For days it has rained and rained...
Occasionally there was some reprieve, and the sun would peek through..
But then the rain came pouring down once more.
On the side of town where we live, we are safe from the floods.
SO it was a shock to hear the other side of town was flooding again..
NOT AGAIN!!
On Saturday I went to the shops and purchased milk, bread and eggs..
Little did I realise that some people would soon be panicking for these items.
Yes, our main highway in and out of town was underwater.
The two bridges leading to the other side of town, our church and my son's were flooded.
Water was some 16 meters (53ft) above the water line.
Here are some pictures.

And the road tore up in the next town..
Flash flooding caught many unaware.
Thankfully no one drove onto this is the dark.

NOW, the sun is shining again,  and its time to clean up the mess.

The Koran is a Killer!

My Blog posting on Sunday, 28th of March, 2010 was entitled Obama Can't See the Koran is a Killer where I stated that President Obama's praise of Islam is putting America and the world in danger. According to him and other misguided politicians, the Koran promotes peace and tolerance for non-Muslims. This is a dangerous misrepresentation of this inherently violent and undemocratic text. It can be compared to a medieval Mein Kampt (Hitler's murderous blueprint for the world).

Yes...that violence was there again this past week in Afghanistan. It is a perfect example of the sick Islamic psyche that accidentally burning a Koren is more offensive then killing people. It's a sign of how close this country is to renewing its cesspit status once Obama pulls out the troops in two years. Twelve people, including two soldiers, have been already killed in the bloody protests raging across Afghanistan over the inadvertent burning of the Koren at a NATO military base and riot police are on alert for more violence.

div>This covert Muslim U.S. President sent a letter to Karzai apologizing for the unintentional burning of the Korans with Newt Gingrich lashing out that Obama's apology was "astonishing and undeserved". He noted that Obama again has fallen for this moral, ass-kissing posture to Muslims. Remember him genuflecting in front of Saudi Arabia's ruler in 2010? Gingrich said the Afghan President owes the U.S. an apology for the shootings and Obama should say so. He would do better to make a strong rebuke for the constant harassment and killing of Christians in Egypt, Libya, Iran and Iraq before further apologies are considered.

"There seems to be nothing that radical Islamists will do to get Barack Obama's attention in a negative way and he is consistently apologizing to people who do not deserve the apology of the president of the United States...period." Gingrich said and added, "And if Karzai doesn't feel like apologizing then we should say good-bye and good luck to your dung heap. We don't need to be risking our lives and wasting our money on these bearded bastards when your cowardly youth ship out to other countries! I think he has a point.

THE WAY I SEE IT....when you apologise for causing offence and promise never, ever to do it again, you give succour to the idea that offensiveness is a unique and terrible evil and you flatter the ostentatious offence-taking group who wish to be protected by a moral force-field from public debate and ridicule. You set a precedent for future grovelling.

By now effectively reorienting its Afghan mission around improving its Politically Correct credentials and Islamic empathy of its troops, NATO has unwittingly giving a green light to easily offend these scumbag agitators, boosting their belief that any offence is evil and must be quashed. NATO has made itself a hostage to future violence, giving radicals a licence to go mental at the next whiff of any slight, whether intentional or accidental, against their obviously foul religion.

Nothing is Impossible

Jesus looked at them and said,  

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:26

Sex Changes in Children

A Lonely Little One

Can you believe this!!!

Taken from: Circle of Moms.......

Do you know a kid who feels he was born the wrong sex?
Sex change treatments for children as young as eight are getting more support from parents and are on the rise, according to a new study. A recent medical report in the journal Pediatrics revealed that a growing number of children are being diagnosed with "gender identity disorder" and receiving sex-changing treatments.

Response from one mother:

  I wouldn't have a big deal, but I think I am more open to it. Some kids aren't born in the right bodies. Whatever you want to call it, it is what it is, and you can deny the truth and force your kid to live in an uncomfortable life and body until they are old enough to do it themselves or you can embrace them and help them.

My Response:   

 Children that age cannot know their own mind and it is ridiculous to suppose they do! 

As a retired Registered Nurse and mother of four grown children, I would talk to them about it. 

There is much confusion about many life events for children today. A parent needs to be just that, the person who wisely guides a child to adulthood. A child is not accountable of full understanding until the age of eleven. Even so, if you look back on your own teen years, how many things did you do that you regretted later? 

A sex change is not something that can easily be reversed, either physically or emotionally. 

I say to parents who support this, GROW UP yourself, and be accountable! this is a life you are meddling with. As for the diagnosis...coming from a medical background myself, I know the screw ups there...

 Doctors are not Gods, they are people with points of view who also make mistakes. 

I would never have allowed a young child of mine to be a guinea pig for some fad... 

They may later hate you for the rest of their lives... so wait. 

 GOD TELLS US:

"The thief (devil)comes only to steal and kill and destroy; 

I (Jesus) came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

 John 10:10 

Yes, the devil takes away and destroys life, but Jesus came to give it, and give in abundance.

I once heard a story. (short version)

It was about a young homosexual man. 

His way of life distressed him. 

Wanting to change, he met a woman and married.

Yet he kept returning to his un-natural acts with other men.

One night he decided to end his life..but before he did, he rang an old school friend.

"Wait" said the friend, "There is someone I want you to meet first, I'll come and get you."

His friend took him to a house meeting where people were being released from demon possession.

This homosexual man was set free from many demons...

He cried and cried as he was changed and given back his soul ....

He gave his life to Christ, and returned to his wife a new MAN.

THERE ARE MORE ANSWERS TO LIFE THAN THE WORLD WANTS YOU TO KNOW.

READ ABOUT LIFE IN GODS WORD "The Bible".

If it is unfamiliar to you then start with a modern version.

Read the beginning of Genesis, then go to the New Testament and read there. 

Ask God to be your teacher.. Then find a church who serves Him.

Now its your turn...What do you say??  

Thailand Pets and other Friends

I love animals and we were all set in this photo to go on the "Flight of the Gibbons.."
We saw a couple on the roadside, but otherwise, I think we were suppose to be the monkey's.

 

Harnessed up with the other ladies and all ready to go.

I chickened out..

It was so high up in those tree tops.

BUT, I met a lovely guide who sat and talked with me while we waited the two hours for the ladies to return.

His name is Gon.

Gon is 28yrs old and was very open to learn more about Jesus.

We had a lovely discussion and time together.

I believe God planned this.

Please pray for him to grow in Gods love and knowledge.

We went to see the elephants..

Elephant Art

Can you imagine elephants peddling along on bikes..and they seemed to love it.

A baby tiger drinks from a bottle.

New friend the lovely Cheryl, among the REAL exotic Macaw birds...

These may make you feel you are going potty? 

Happy Pots.

Ray tried a car made of Pots.

A lone rider at the end of a hot day on the beach.

 

The Bible...   Proverbs Chap 1: Verse 33

"But whoever listens to me 
will live in safety and be at ease, 

without fear of harm."

Thailand Visit.

Thailand and the East, is unique, and very different to the western world.
It's great for a holiday and a change.


From the old world to the new....lots of smiles and laugher.

 Out of town toilet...and difficult for a woman to use.

A modern toilet with no wall. It looks out on a goldfish pond...lovely.

Under the street arches.

Travel transport of the East...the Tuk Tuk.

This was mostly our travel for comfort.. and the air-con.

 Travel by water.

In the middle of a roundabout.

Our hotel accommodation.

Hotel hall/breezeway with entrance to rooms.

  Hotel outdoor restaurant.