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Am I the only person who gets annoyed with corny little Facebook and Myspace layouts? The 'Christian' ones especially. I mean, why on Earth are you proud to be a Christian? That's the dumbest thing I've heard. What is there to be proud of? It isn't like YOU did anything. I'm not saying we should be ashamed of it, not in a million years. We need to be fearless and honest about these things. But actions speak louder than words. Especially when those words make Christianity look more like a fandom than anything real. So, clever things, things that make people think or do a double take are pretty cool. But tacky teeny-bopperish things are just.. wrong. If you want to share your faith, live it. Don't just talk about because it's the latest fad.

And please, don't be proud of Jesus or proud to be a Christian. You have done nothing to be proud of. In fact, being a Christian is to be in a state of humbleness. Admitting that you have nothing to be proud of. But don't be ashamed of Him either. Just.. point people to Him and what he's done.

Ok. Mum's in hospital, waiting for something to happen with Sam. Hopefully she has to wait a long time, cos 26 weeks is a bit too early, though it's nearly 27 now. She's moving into Ronald McDonald House tomorrow (I think), and by Tuesday week us kids all have to farmed out, because our lease expires then and we are officially homeless. I was entirely unhappy about my billeting, not because I don't like the lady, she's really lovely, but because I hardly know her and I don't want to take help from a stranger. Especially up to three months of living in her house.

As Mum pointed out though, a different friend of hers who lives in Brisbane is going away the exact dates a friend of mine fom New Zealand was due to stay with us, and when she heard we were at a bit of a loss with where to put her, she offered to let the two of us use her house. This lady's met me twice before and knew nothing at all about my friend. For all she knew, there would be two sixteen year olds there. Mum said, "I don't know any other sixteen yer olds who have been offered someone's [i]house[/i] just like that. Linda said she thought you were mature enough to be trusted with who you invited, so even without knowing anything about Alexia she offered it to you. She thinks you're mature, live up to it."

So I'd better stop complaining lol.

Okay, okay. I haven't posted in forever. I'm terrible with things like this, plus I'm not sure anyone actually reads these odd ramblings. Well, haven't been too busy really, just pottering around, doing life quietly. Found out on Friday that the baby will be a girl. She's gonna be the seventh daughter out of seven children. Can't wait to see her! Yeah. Lots of reading, lots of forums, lots of blank staring into space. Welcome to my life. Stayed up to watch the Olyimpic Opening Ceremony teh other night. 'Twas very pretty. New Zealand didn't come out till like 1AM though, and the lamp wasn't lit till 2. For someone who needs as much sleep as I do, wasn't nice next morning. Then last night I had the worst migrain I've ever had and couldn't sleep at all. In the end, it was sheer exhaustion that got me to doze. I'm not much the worse for wear now though. I've had lots of deep and meaningful thoughts lately, but I forgot most of them, and the others I really should research a bit more before I post them. Anywho, that's where I've been, if you cared :P

Ok, so I'm running on not a lot of sleep and this might not make much sense. I wish I could make this thing separate paragraphs.

Anyway, we were at a homechurch last Sunday, and when people were like giving their testimonies and sharing what they'd been learning, one guy said that he was learning the difference between a servant and a slave. Acourse, that confused most everyone there, but this is what he said (or something like it. I'm working from memory here):

"All of us are God's servants. We don't really get that choice. But what I'm learning is the difference between a servant and a slave. See, a servant comes to work, does his job, and goes home again. A servant has time for himself, where no one is his master. On the other hand, a slave doesn't have rights. If your master wakes you at 3am and asks for a drink, you don't think twice, because no matter what YOU think, you must obey your master. Now the question is, I am God's servant, but am I willing to be His slave? If He calls me at 3am, will I get up and obey?"

Think is, I don't know. Am I? Are you?

I've been thinking about moving to New Zealand again. I was talking to Alicia last night, and she says she can set me up with a house and job and everything. The thought scares me a little, and I don't want to leave the rest of the family, especially with a new baby on the way, but this is a great opportunity too. I have to move out sometime, so if I can get housing and work taken care of before I get there, that;s great! I guess it all comes down to Mum and Dad's decision. If they say no, I don't go. And if they say yes, then I guess I'm going home!

So. I've been reading all these posts, and I've come to the conclusion that debate is a good tool, but a terrible master. It's good to stand up for the truth, good to seek the truth, and good to lead others to the truth. But it's bad to be stubborn. Open minded is a hard phrase to deal with, because perhaps the best position is somewhere in the middle. 'The mind is like an umbrella, it functions best when open.' A true statement to be sure, but you have to be careful not to be 'so open minded your brains fall out.' I don't know. I've found that nearly everything has a grain on truth to it, but most things have mostly lies with just enough truth to be convincing. Maybe that's why Eastern religions are so popular. They have enough truth to be convincing, and enough lies to be deceiving. Haha, I can't believe I'm so off-track. Maybe the point is that we are so easily mislead by the small truths that we miss the Truth. I'ma gonna stop rambling now. But I want anyone actually reading this to think about this quote. I just stole it from Scott Hanna, he said it was ok as long as I gave him credit, so here it is :)

"There's 3 sides to every story, your's mine and the truth."

Why are people so hard on each other? Christians in particular, we're the worst at it. I don't know if we're really worse, maybe it just feels like it. After all, we are held to a higher standard. The greatest commandment we have been given is to love. To love first God, and then our neighbor. But we, quite frankly, suck at both.

I talk to maybe a hundred people a day on the various forums I'm on, and everyone has their own opinion, and everyone is so sure that they are right and everyone else is wrong. I have no problem with debates, I think they are great learning tools for everyone involved, but in the midst of all our arguing, can't we be loving and respectful? We are called to speak the truth in love. I see many people speaking truth, or at the very least what they believe to be truth, but I'm not seeing much love.

Even when the debate centers around sin, the debate shouldn't get personal. We are called to hate the sin and love the sinner. But we seem to be throwing the baby out with the bath water. Can't we be a little more caring?

I believe that there IS absolute truth, don't get me wrong here, and I believe we should be trying to find it, and to share what we have learned so far, but we need to accept that while there is absolute truth, we as sinful humans don't have it. We need to study scripture and be willing to learn from others. And we have to do it in a far more loving way.