Christian Chat

Good morning @Realness I'm missing you! Are you okay?

It's my last day helping out at the church pop-up Opp Shop. I've been invited to go to the river and have fish and chips at lunch, with a small group of women that I know. I'm going to ask for some time off from the Opp Shop to go and say hi. If I say I'm going to do something, I like to do it! Hopefully they won't mind me disappearing for an hour.

Sending much love and hugs 💛

Hi @heartathome , @DownMoreThanUp , @Appleblossom , @ENKELI , @AlwaysMyself , @REDLINEZ750 ,

John 1 today.

- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

- Jesus is [the part of] God that created all things.

- Jesus is LIfe.

- Jesus is Light - a light that darkness cannot overcome.

- John the Baptist - came to testify about that Light - anyone who receives the Light is given the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name.

- "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

- John the Baptist - He Who comes after me is greater than me.

- For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

- John the Baptist tells the Pharisees' messengers that he is the one that prepares the way for the Lord (from Isaiah).

- John the Baptist's witness of Jesus - the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world - when John the Baptist baptised Him the Spirit descended and rested on Him - how the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit was to be recognised - Jesus is the Son of God.

- John again identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God.

- Andrew immediately follows Jesus.

- Andrew finds Simon his brother - "We have found the Messiah!"

- Jesus gives Simon the name Peter (A Stone).

- Jesus tells Philip, "Follow Me!"

- Philip finds Nathaniel - "We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law."

- Jesus convinces Nathaniel He is the Son of God by saying, "I saw you under the fig tree."

- Jesus tells them, "Truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Jesus, [the part of] God that created all things, is full of grace and truth. Darkness cannot overcome His Light. Lamb of God - Jesus would sacrifice His life.

Hi @heartathome ,

All good. Thanks for missing me! The main reason for the delay in posts was that I was finishing Luke off in the second translation I am working with at the moment. I wanted to finish Luke completely before I started John.

The first chapter of John is not easy. It jumps all over the place. Talking about Jesus then talking about John the Baptist and from one to the other almost all the way through. Also jumping from one type of terminology to another as it goes through. And interchanges from past tense to present tense also.

Hopefully you're at, or about to be at, your lunch at the river. I'm assuming they said yes you can have the hour off. I hope you have a nice time. You're good to help out at the Opp Shop! I hope it's not out in the heat - are you experiencing the heat wave where you are?

Thanks for all your greetings and kind words. I'm still often at a loss for words so have been using the support button.

Is that your view?! @DownMoreThanUp SO PRETTY!

It is a struggle today!! haha but also, I do a lot of hot pilates and yoga, so I don't mind it too much (as long as I don't have makeup on and have to look put together!). @Realness

What have you been doing to stay cool? 💛

Hi @AuntGlow ,

We (Mum and I) have the house all closed up and the air conditioner on so it's not too bad. But I will venture out later to water some plants since tomorrow is going to be even hotter.

Yes, looking nicely made up in hot weather is a challenge!

Hi @Realness

I'm so glad to hear from you and that everything is okay! 🙂 I did go to the river for an hour and got to chat for a little while. I like meeting up with them. They are four strong, independent women! We have all been through the mill! That's an old term. We met at a mental health hub that I used to go to, and it's been good to keep in contact with them.

It took two hours to pack up the Opp Shop which wasn't too bad. I'm back home now, back to the forum and my music. I'm on the far north coast of NSW. The weather has been a stable 29 degrees for the last week. I can handle that temperature. I don't watch TV, so I didn't know about the heat wave until I saw a few people post temperatures above 40 degrees!! That's ridiculously hot!

I just had to speak to a neighbour who left his rubbish next to my bin. He could have put it in the bin but no! He's a violent psychotic when on ***. I'm shaking now but at the time was assertive but nice. He seemed to take it well. I left the rubbish with him. It's a shame that I have to keep my doors locked at all times these days, even going to check the mail. I feel safe enough although I know other tenants have had quite a bit of trouble with him. The police and ambulance are around quite frequently but they can't do anything because he refuses any help. Housing won't do anything. It looks like we're stuck with him. So sad. I'm glad I'm not in his bad books!

Where abouts do you live again? I was just thinking of the temperatures around Australia at the moment. 💛

Hi @heartathome ,

It's hot here. NSW South Coast. I haven't listened to the news but I thought the heat was everywhere. 29 degrees is okay - especially compared to 40 degrees.

Sounds like you had a lovely day. I'm wondering about the ladies you met from the mental health hub - is it like the forum only face to face. Is it the same level of sharing? If it is, it must be amazing! How often do you meet?

Confronting your neighbour took guts. No wonder you're shaking. I get in such a knot over those sorts of confrontations. It's good that you feel safe enough but not so good that you have to lock the door even to get the mail. I wonder if prayer might move him on (like the lady who bothered the unjust judge). Definitely don't want to be in his bad books!

We had some shutters installed today. The text message said 11am. They turned up at 4pm. Fortunately I just got on with my day. When we finally rang up to find out what was happening the door bell rang five minutes later....of course.

Tomorrow is meant to be even hotter than today....another day of laying low. At least I like reading.

That heat is shocking! I've never seen that kind of heat go on for so long, unless we're talking about the areas that average that temperature. Do you know if there's a cool change coming soon?

The mental health hubs are fantastic! No assessments. Just walk in off the street. There are head clinicians and peer workers that work there. The closest one to me closed a couple of months ago. 😔 There are still three open around the far north coast. The closest one to me is an hour away now. I pop in every month to say hi.

I never thought of prayer to move the neighbour on @Realness :face_with_rolling_eyes: I feel sorry for him. I mean, where else can he go? He needs mental health care but it's difficult on everyone because he doesn't want the help! Oh well. I must remember that I'm in a beautiful part of the world and am happy to be here. I'm grateful that I got any housing at all after the flood.

How's your mum doing, Realness? It's funny in a weird way but I often think of her when I'm writing to you. Can you tell me her age? It's okay if not. And you know what? Even though I just asked you a question, there's no need to reply! How's that for taking the pressure off?! 🤗 💛

Hi @heartathome ,

The cool change is due Sunday. Just one more day of the heat. Except it's going to be hotter tomorrow.

I had an image of you when you wrote about popping in to the mental health hub. I imagined you to be the life of the party person arriving. Everyone drawn to you - wanting to say hi to you. Someone everyone instantly likes. The room feeling a nicer place now that you've arrived. Am I right? Do you appear an extrovert in such gatherings?

I don't ask about the floods in case the information would be too site specific. I can't begin to imagine what that would be like. Even so, you're very kind hearted with your neighbour.

Mum's is in her mid eighties. She's feeling the ageing process but she's okay. She watches TV a lot. We've taken to watching Deal or no deal. We each pick a case to see what we would have got. One night we both chose the same case and it was the $100,000.

Hope you have a lovely evening.