Blogtoberfest2014: Day 3 - Fauna Friday

Yesterday I had what I call the privilege of rescuing a blue-tongued lizard from my next door neighbours yard and their two Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs. While the pooches were only barking at the lizard, old bluey was giving as good as he got. I've been scared of dogs for the majority of my life, but since becoming a mum I have become brave for my daughter's sake...and mine!

So, after hearing the commotion next door and seeing the problem, I armed myself with my trusty broom and headed over. The broom was partly to help usher the lizard away from the dogs, but also as a support in case the dogs jumped up on me (they almost pushed me over the last time I had to go into the yard).

In I went and thankfully the dogs were more interested in the lizard than me! I then "helped" the lizard up the side of the house and under the gate. With the dogs safely behind the gate, I looked in a nearby drum and found a plastic watering can. Much to the lizard's dislike I pushed him into the can and took him home.

After placing the can into a plastic tub and providing some vegetables I tried to coax the lizard out, but he was having no part of it. I took the can over in front of my garden shed and placed it on its side on the lawn. I usually have a resident blue-tongued lizard in my shed but noticed it was absent a few days ago. I hoped that this lizard was it. After a moment or two, the lizard gingerly exited the can and walked nonchalantly into the shed. I think it was my resident. He seemed to recognise his home.

To say I was blessed by this encounter is an understatement. God's creatures are truly a blessing.

In Him Always,

Paula

Blogtoberfest2014: Day 2 - Thankful Thursday

After being in blogland now for almost nine years, I kind of feel that Thankful Thursday has become rather cliche. However, it is going to serve me well today as I share one photo that I especially love. I recently purchased a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70 and this is a photo of the moon - waxing crescent 35% (Southern Hemisphere) to be precise - that I took a couple of nights ago. I was like a kid in a candy store when I took my first moon photo over the weekend. I plan to take a nightly moon photo, weather permitting, between now and the end of October, and then do a video montage of each image. So, without further ado, here is Waxing Crescent 35%.

In Him Always,

Paula

Blogtoberfest2014: Day 1 - Endings & Beginnings

Last year on my Paula's Sharing Spot blog I joined Blogtoberfest 2013, which was hosted by Michelle from Shells in the Bush. My post on the last day of October was about endings and beginnings. This new blog page is exactly what that is all about. Ending what was and beginning what will be. Oldness. Newness.

One ending and beginning that I've experienced recently was the decision to leave my employment of 20 years and become a university student. It wasn't a decision that was made overnight. It was one that had been on my mind for a year before it happened. Why it ended up happening was because God allowed me to be in the right place at the right time. I had become very despondent about working in the administration field. I was tired of pushing pieces of paper around on my desk and on my computer. I had tried my hand at a higher level job and thoroughly enjoyed it under the right leadership. But, after some changes I was done with it all. I needed something else.

The transition from being employed full-time, to not being employed, then to becoming a full-time university student, as well as being a single mother, was indicent free. It took a while to get out of the "I have to get up and go to work" mindset, but after lazing around for a couple of months I felt some enthusiasm start to build up again. I wasn't feeling lazy because I missed working, or where I worked. I felt lazy because I had been on an emotional rollercoaster at my old job for 15 months and was glad to be off it.

My life now as a university student studying a Bachelor of Social Science is stretching me to capacity but I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have never read so many non-fiction pages before in my life. I had never written a research essay or written report up until last month. But I am learning so much about myself, my capabilities, and my learning style. I am also learning a lot about human beings.

One aspect of myself that I do know now is that working had become a chore for me. Yes, it paid the bills. Yes, I was more than capable at doing my job. But that's all it became. I was no longer passionate about working in the administration field. I needed to do something that I felt was really meaningful, and something that would stretch me beyond what I had been happy to settle on doing for so very long. As Rob Hills Sr. puts it here, I needed to do something that I never need take a vacation from.

I have found that now. I study counselling and psychology. I parent a pre-teen daughter, which is no mean feat. I create art to balance the left and right sides of my brain. I set my own timetable. I worry about my finances, while also thanking God daily that He has allowed me to be in the position financially that I'm in. I am happy and content.

So, my ending has given me a wonderful new beginning. I am looking forward to seeing where God is going to take me on my new journey into the second half of my life. I'm very thankful that God enabled me to be more, and do more, simply "because I know there is more".

In Him Always,

Paula

Thirty Years

Today, 30 years ago, I became a Christian. I openly declared that by shedding His blood on the cross, Jesus paid for all my past, present and future sins. But this year my Freedom Birthday means much more that just saying that I gave my heart to Jesus. This year it means more.

As some friends close to me would know, I haven't been to church much over the last two years. I've attended three churches in the last eight years and while I grew in my faith and discovered a lot about myself, I also found that I lost part of myself along the way. Now, I'm not wanting to bag any of the churches I've attended. They each served a purpose in God's grand plan for me as a Christian. But I'm now at a point where I need to be alone to hear what exactly it is that God has planned for me. I need stillness. I need quiet.

"You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realising who you are at the deepest level." - Thomas Merton

http://www.kylerichardson.com.au/

This quote adequately describes where I am at right at this very moment. I've tried to fit in, add new things, remove old things, and generally fluff my way through. Now, however, I've reached the point where I need to take what I have before me right now - motherhood, university study, homelife, friends, family - and build on those things. I truly believe God does not want me to have the added responsibility of anything else at this moment. He wants me to concentrate on what He has given me, and to concentrate on Him. 

So that is why this year's Freedom Birthday, aside from being my 30th, is so very important. God is trusting me to go out on my own, with Jesus by my side, to forge out my own faith journey. To free-range. To discover, To grow. To not settle on doing what everyone else is doing, but to find out where and what is the right fit for me. The journey will certainly be interesting.

In Him Always,

Paula

Because It Is Time...

As the music plays and the strain of the vibration on the cello strings reach right inside me and increase the beats of my heart, I am overcome with emotion. From tiredness, from reflection, and from the prospect of having to clean my university study neglected house prior to a rental inspection in two days. What holds fast within me is that everything is exactly how it should be.

I started this blog in April 2008 after being encouraged by an online acquaintance that I too could write like the ladies whose blog pages I had been devouring. That I also had something to share. And so Paula’s Sharing Spot was borne.

Almost six and a half years later, I have come to a standstill. I am at a crossroad, and this post is taking me on the journey that was breathed into me by God many years ago, but always thwarted by myself because I didn’t have enough courage. Because I wasn’t brave.

My bravery is now shining through, evident by the fact that I took a redundancy payout from the employer for whom I had been employed with for 20 years. Evident also by the fact that I enrolled into university to undertake a three year Bachelor of Social Sciences, majoring in Counselling with minors in Human Behaviour and Human Studies. And evident by the fact that I now class myself as a “free range” Christian, whereby I don’t feel the need to be aligned to any particular church.

And so, while I still want to share my journey with God as His returned prodigal daughter, I also need to be true to who I am and where I am at in my life. So today brings an end to posting on Paula’s Sharing Spot, a place where I documented my life as a newly single mum, returned prodigal and insecure people pleaser. A place where my doubts and fears were aired. A place where I grew up.

What now for Paula C. Whitehouse? Well, I have prepared a new blog page. One with a title that contains that words that God spoke into my heart many years ago. Words that are now my life motto and are inscribed onto a silver bangle that I wear with pride.

…because I know there is more…

Yes, because I know there is more. Much, much more.

If you would like to join me on my new journey, please pop over to Because I Know There Is More, bookmark the page and subscribe to email updates. My post feed is empty as yet, but I am working on a post that will be out soon. I would love you to join me.

In Him Always,