Walking The Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden

Many moons ago, shortly after it was opened to the public, my girls & I did this walk with my mum.  The newly planted specimens were little, the garden raw, the sculptures brusque so while it was interesting & had great potential that potential was yet to be fulfilled. 

 Doing it this time reminded me how much time has obviously passed as things like the gum leaf seats & the stone sculptures have aged & weathered, fitting neatly into their surrounds.

 The infinity pool is an excellent example.  Last time there were great swathes of open ground waiting for the shrubs & bushes to expand & fill all the empty space.  The pool stood out like a sore thumb, raw & exposed, & the infinity symbol perched at the edge of the pool without meaning or purpose. So different now with the pool surrounded by shrubs & native grasses, the sculpture seeming to hang in the air & reflect in the water.

This is a big park with a number of different walks, none strenuous or taxing, lots of open space for picnicking & a huge variety of native flora, though we found the bird life  to be wanting.  We loved the fern walk.  Too dim for good pictures but very tropical & as so often the dense green creates a cool haven.

Sadly there has been little rain & the gardens were very dry & the creek beds valleys of worn rock  dreaming of water. 

Walking Mary Cairncross.

We have been walking through the Valley of the Shadow.  It has retreated for a while ~ but it will be back.   That's what shadows do.

Amidst all the angst & difficulties I managed a week with my own mother, who is in her 80's but robust & healthy.  As I always say when I stay with her & am asked the perennial question: What would you like to do while you are here?  I answer: Walk.

The Sunshine Coast is littered with National Parks & walking tracks, some good, some not so good, but all dependant on having amenable weather. Rain brings out the leeches & makes many of the tracks slippery & dangerous.  Too hot & they are exhausting.  This year we had wonderful weather & on the Wednesday we walked the Mary Cairncross track.

Mary Cairncross is perhaps my favourite walk.  It is part of the lush hinterland around Maleny/Monteville with spectacular views towards the Glasshouse Mountains. These 13 volcanic peaks can been seen for miles along the coast or out @ sea before you are anywhere near them.

I have done this walk any number of times.  It is neither a particularly long or strenuous walk but has recently been upgraded to be more wheelchair friendly. It is home to a huge variety of native birds & always, always I see birds I never see @ home ~ & hear the calls of many more I can't identify.

 Pademelons can usually be spotted if you don't have noisy small children with you.  I have walked this with children but mine were well trained to walk quietly & keep their eyes peeled & invariably it was a child who spotted the most interesting things having sharp young eyes that didn't need glasses! ☺

 The quality of the pictures is bad but we were so excited to see a family of yellow Robins, robins being ecologically sensitive.  We also spotted log~runners, a brown cuckoo & a rose crowned dove, all beautiful in their own way, while we were serenaded around the track by Golden Whistlers, Cat birds & Koel.

 There is a special spot just for the bats.  I have always had a special affection for our native bats since the bitter winter day we rescued an abandoned baby & I learnt how soft & hugely affectionate they are.

 Nests.  No idea really.  Gerrygongs maybe... There were lots of them hanging right beside the track, abandoned of course as most species have finished breeding.

 We completed our outing by having lunch @ the new Resource centre with its wonderful views of the Glasshouse: quiche & salad, so very scrummy.

The updated resource centre is wonderfully informative.  Nests, feathers & exoskeletons are on display & they have several interactive things, including bird calls, which ate up huge wads of mum & my time as we attempted to identify all the birds we had heard but not seen ~ which meant a lot of guessing to start with! Then whittling it down bit by bit.

Our final call was Nambour train station to pick up my niece who is @ uni in Brisbane & spends most of her free time up @ mum's.  Luckily she too likes to walk!

Being taught by the Rabbi.

Amongst all the things I read, watch & listen too  there is, & always has been, a strong Messianic flavour.  The Lord impressed on me early, even as a child, that He was a Hebrew.  Middle~Eastern. Jewish. I understood this even as I didn't grasp exactly what that meant .

I got, over time: prayer shawl; phylacteries; tallit.   I even understood His teaching was from a Jewish place but information is information & I simply absorbed the information.  Occasionally I applied it to scripture.  What I didn't do was apply it to me. I'm western.  AngloCeltic. Maybe the Celtic bit is why I missed something so very obvious because Celts are prone to operate in something of the same way.

See, we live where we live & that has always meant we are on our own when it comes to growing in God.  None, & I do mean none, of the other churches even come close to where God led us.  It has always created difficulties but we are meant to be following Jesus not some church or minister or congregation so there we perched like birds in the wilderness doing our thing & trying so very hard not to draw unwanted attention to ourselves.

So far, so good. Now, @ some point the Holy Spirit began chatting quite clearly to me & me being me simply went: Oh, right, now we are operating scriptually... I know... It never occurred to me people might think that was weird.  Not hearing was what I considered weird 'cause I'd read Acts you know... And what started happening was my kids because, you know, they were kids & they had no idea so I'd get this stream of: mum, would you pray for me about...

There were the dramatic answers: BLUE BARINA. There were the straightforward answers & then there was something odd.  See the kids got bigger & in all honesty they should have been hearing from God for themselves. Instead they'd ask me but instead of getting blue barina answers, or something straightforward, I'd get part of a scripture, often one I didn't know, or didn't know well & I'd have to google Mr Google & find the rest of it & sometimes there was more than one choice.  I can assure you this was more than a little on the frustrating side.  Just tell me already!

When I am super bored & sweltering in the humidity of a Queensland summer, what I do is amuse myself on Amazon reading all the book reviews on subjects I will never investigate ~ or better, seeing what's new in the religious department ~ which is how I came upon Sitting @ the feet of Rabbi Jesus.

Actually there were a number of books I was interested in ~ including The Hebrew Yeshua V the Greek Jesus ~ bits of which are online & very good~ & which I may still get, but I opted to get a book by Christians rather than a Jew, @ least to start with.  After that I watched all the Jewish videos anyway so I have to wonder about me. 

Having started the book I sighed.  It felt a little dumbed down & the first chapter I knew the info & boy do I hate spending money for stuff I already know. Still, I'd spent the money, the book was here & the other book I am waiting on is still weeks away [which is what happens when you order rare books from overseas.] Hmph! And I got my come~upperance. 

Discussing Rabbinic teaching methods, which I thought I knew in a fairly broad sense, the authors mentioned how the rabbis would only give part of the scripture, leaving their disciples to look up the reference ~ & it hit me like a thunderbolt!  Jesus has been doing this to me for years! lol Nothing like being taught by the rabbi Himself!

This is it...

The anomaly is snow.  No~one gets snow ~ well, Tassie did one year but even that close to the pole that's more than a little odd.  What we get is heat, lots & lots of heat.  And humidity.  We get lots of humidity.

Out on the island the nor'easters have been blowing steadily all summer, so though it is hot we don't swelter & stew.  Sadly we weren't staying on the island.  We were on the 5 past 8 boat heading to Birkdale where there is no breeze & sweltering is the order of the day.  Mind you, the other lot of in~laws are up from South Australia & were really suffering.

As temperatures go 84/5 F isn't too bad until you factor in 100% humidity, no rain.  The Little Man did the sensible thing.  He went to bed  in the only room with functioning air con & slept through the whole thing.  Smart lad.

The rest of us chattered & sweltered ~ & ate.  So much food ~ all of it wonderful!  And yes, we had a nice time though it is always a little weird doing somebody else's thing rather than your own.  The sad thing was getting the boat home.  All I can say is that I think every islander who left the island spasmodically throughout the morning decided the first boat of the afternoon was the one to be on!  They did a headcount to ensure they could safely get everyone on board ~ & it's been a while since that's happened, then all the standers ~ & there were lots of them were constantly being moved forward or back to balance the boat & get up speed because, predictably, the air con wasn't coping.  It was like being in a steaming sardine can.

So nice to get home to the cool before the massive thunderstorms started cracking over our heads & the cats were pleased to see us because hardly ever does everyone leave home @ once!

Being Good.

So I was back again: finger painting, story~telling, fun in the park ~ & several baths because I managed to get the kid filthy~ twice!  Not a grizzle to be heard & I am not the most accommodating grandmother.  Sure, I'll do stuff but when enough is enough, I'm done.

Meanwhile, as anyone who knows us knows, we moved away from celebrating Christmas several years ago for lots of reasons:

• we came out of serving the homeless with a very jaded view of how most *Christians* celebrate Christmas
• I can be pedantic & knowing the date is wrong just bugged me
• there is a huge increase in domestic violence, abuse, alcohol related problems & loneliness
• Very few people can even be bothered to attend a service
• And last, but not least, it has become a very secular, greedy holiday  ~ which I find offensive. This year Coles or Woolies [not sure which] is so totally focused on all the non~essentials they are calling it *Santa Day*.  Uh~huh.  Pretty much sums it up. Jesus has well & truly departed the building!

We do celebrate Hanukkah ~ not because we think it's the Jewish equivalent of Christmas, but because we can focus on the prophetic elements of the Messiah & it becomes totally about Jesus rather than totally about food & presents ~ & yes, I do know what it is all about from the Jewish perspective!

However... *sigh* My DILY comes from a family who celebrate Christmas BIG TIME. Her tree touches the roof.  There are wreathes & baubles [which I am so good @ shattering!] all over the house.  The tree has been up for a month surrounded by a playpen stuffed with presents.  I was slightly appalled. Even when we did Christmas we did it low key & fairly restrained & read the gospel account on Christmas eve when we broke out the first of the goodies.  Their family, their traditions....Only we are expected there as they are hosting Christmas this year. I do not want to go.  My anti~socialism can be fairy extreme... people.  Lots & lots of people.  All her family,  Us...As CG used to say: I might cry...

Dear Reader: I am being good. I have girded my loins for the fray.  I have agreed to make my speciality breakfast pancakes to feed the hordes. I have agreed to stay till after lunch.  I will refrain from regretting a peaceful day spent contemplating my navel on our lovely cool verandah enjoying a sultry sea breeze ~ & I will pretend I am enjoying myself.  I will not scream: Get me out of here...!!! I promise.  But just between me & thee ~ I can't wait till it's all over!  Gosh, but I hate hoo~ha!

They're not normal...

I think I first realised this when ODD's chorus mistress announced her toilet flushed in F Major. Seriously? Who thinks like that?

In point of fact, according to Google, most toilets flush in Eb, though anything in D is also a strong contender. I have no idea.  My ear is nowhere good enough for that even if I could be bothered. There are, however, whole forums dedicated to discussing this esoteric fact.

What it did highlight for me is that musicians hear the world differently to the rest of us. I hear noise.  They hear keys & scales.

Perhaps I should have twigged earlier, only I didn't because we weren't doing music & the rest of my bombastic lot made noise, not music, by anyone's standard. I didn't know any musicians, not real musicians, only people who learnt music & that is not necessarily the same thing.

That changed with ODD. When she was quite little, but had started schooling with me, she would occasionally, spend a morning in the local grade 1 classroom while I taught the big kids in grades 5,6 & 7 how to read. I would collect her @ break & we would go home together. She never wanted to stay for the afternoon session, even though, for the first few times we did this, she thought it was super exciting & very grown up & it was all so novel she was on her best behaviour & the teacher adored her, she was so well behaved.  I wasn't sure, @ first, we were discussing the same child...

Then it happened.  I went to pick up my child & found her sitting all alone, pale & wan, totally ignored by staff & pupils alike.  She hadn't touched her snack.  She didn't want to play. I thought she was unwell.

Now my ODD is a talker.  She can talk the moon down from the sky & she has been like that from about 5 months, when she first began talking, & not only did she talk all day, she talked all night as well because she talked in her sleep. She was, perhaps, my noisiest child.  It is so deceptive.  I had completely absorbed my mother's maxim that given her drathers she would have opted for quiet, musical children. Oh, dear. If only she'd realised.  Her one really musical child was also her super noisy one!

So I took my very quiet child home & she put herself to bed & slept for hours. Even when she got up she was still quiet & pale.  Eventually I asked about her morning.

Oh, mummy! They were noisy & naughty!

I have since learnt that many musicians have very sensitive hearing that is easily damaged by excessive noise & that a rowdy classroom had literally made my child sick.  Even before I knew anything, before we began the years & years of music that were to become my life as well as my child's, the Lord was ensuring her hearing was protected.  Years of your Average Australian Public school classroom would have damaged her hearing.  Our house was normally very quiet because I don't do well in chaos & mayhem.  And we pottered through our days doing the sort of things that us arty~farty types like: art, craft, drama, music ~ lots & lots of music because, as homeschoolers, we had time to practise more than one thing & I learnt that musicians know which key their toilet flushes in.  I'm sure that's not normal.

A Little Problem

I am, by inclination, a night owl.  I like the dark & the quiet & the emptiness, not being a people person.  I like to read & potter & think in the quiet & the dark.  When the kiddies were little I always did my housework @ night because my days were so busy with little people & when you have little people nothing done ever stays done & I am academic enough that  I really like to complete a task, know it's completed & receive my *mark* ~ something not possible with housework in general & most definitely not with small children.

However, a number of those small children were very early risers.  Four a.m was not uncommon, especially in summer, & so I learnt to rise early & muddle through my days half asleep because my body clock did not change.  It still informed me that it was time to rage once the clock ticked past 10pm.

Over the years the body has just got muddled.  It wakes @ 3 or 4 am & I get several lovely early morning hours before crashing to finish the sleep I should have had last night.  Of course that leaves me raging into the wee sma's ~ & so the cycle continues...with brief pauses for normality.

The nice part of this circus is that I am usually up early enough to be blessed by our wildlife.  This morning, as I opened the verandah door for my cats, I heard a loud sloshing through the mangroves & very shortly a small, dark wallaby hopped through the shallows to glean the mangrove seeds from the low growing grey mangroves.

Too early to get a really good shot but he wasn't fazed by both cats & me lined up along the verandah staring @ him intently & eventually moved off unhurriedly.

 A little later there was a commotion on the verandah.  A family of Butcher Birds had arrived for their morning bath ~ & then there was Kirby, trying so hard to be good but wanting very badly to hunt.

And then there is this:

Hmmm. I was alerted to this teaching on a FB group I am a part of. My spirit immediately quickened to the concept because my understanding is very much that Heaven operates in legalities.  That is the big picture: Fall = breaking a covenant; Cross=restoring a workable covenant: Epistles=walking out the covenant.

Now my O.T understanding could be a whole lot better.  I am not, by any means, the sort of scholarly academic who can nit~pick theology & word meanings & break down entire concepts BUT I do well with big picture concepts where you can see the whole picture @ a glance so I do think Henderson is on to something here.  I am less sure about some of how he gets there.

Why I think he is onto something is the very simple fact that satan is the accuser of the brethren [Revelation 12:12] & he accuses us day & night before God.  So he can ~ because we were born into sin as the sparks fly upward. Now, Jesus has dealt with our legal standing with His blood but as so often I find there is something God does & then there is stuff he wants us to do & together He works out the details of our salvation. That the bible is, in many ways, a legal document just makes common sense to me.  It is other things as well but one of the things it is is a legal document.

Now satan accuses us ~ so we must not agree with him either for ourselves or for those we are praying for. That gives him legal ground for his accusations. We must agree with what God says. That is what I believe.  That is what I teach.  Guard your mouth for out of it flow the issues of life ~ because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. [Luke6:45]

Where it gets dodgy is between revelation & literal interpretation ~ mind you I'm not even a third of the way into this book yet! Are there literal courts in heaven? I believe so. There is a judgement seat; there are judgements rendered & that is a legal process & there are books: the Book of Remembrance [Malachai]; the Book of Life[Revelation]; the Book of Truth [Daniel] ~ & numerous scrolls... Are there legal processes for dealing with stuff on earth?  I suspect so ~ hence why I picked up this book.  Does that invalidate our standing with Christ?  Our authority in Christ? Our salvation?  Grace?  I don't think so.  It's just another aspect of the jig~saw & once you understand that you can put it in it's proper place & access it if you need it.

Now, having said that, without having read anything @ all, before I got the book, I worked with what little understanding I did have interceding for a friend in a matter that was causing her difficulties because there is no point in any of it if it is ineffective.  I did point out to Abba I was operating in a lot of ignorance & to forgive me if I was being presumptuous, but as I prayed the entire atmosphere around us changed!  It was really, really quick. It was a massive change ~ one my friend immediately noticed & she is not normally the most spiritually discerning of people. So I am proceeding with caution because there are some really big, really difficult things that we have been praying for & as they haven't shifted it is time to reassess what we are doing & how we are praying because Einstein nailed it: Insanity is doing the same thing over & over & expecting different results. Yeppity~yep.