What have I got myself into?

(9th Dec 2011)
I really don’t know why I was lead into this dark valley? I know in my deepest heart that this is a spiritual attack, a tremendous spiritual attack. It seems like I’ve been getting so many obstacles since I made my decision to lead the Christmas combined choir. I have people saying to me that it’s impossible to do, that we don’t have the skill nor time to become a good choir, it’s gonna be a train wreck, and so on. Some said that once I jumped into this, more and more requests will come my way and they won’t stop until I burnt out. I mean, what is it that people afraid of? I honestly don’t understand. I’m trying to do a good thing here but why am I being attacked, being scared off to not do this thing?

And who ever said I don’t have these thoughts myself? All I need is encouragement that everything is going to be okay. Encouragement and support. And what did I get? These comments that weighted me down. I feel like I’m drowning and my foot is tied with this bag of gold and I keep trying to swim to surface but it’s just so hard.

It was really eerie last night as I sat down in front of my TV. I felt I was back in the same spot as I was 5 years ago. The only difference is I have Baron sleeping on my lap :-). Random thoughts started flashing in my mind and these questions popped up in my mind. Questions of, ‘Why?’, ‘What?’, and how am I going to go through all this by myself.

Last night was in fact the first time in 5 years that I felt so alone and so small on earth. Thank God for a friend of mine who lent me this awesome book, Captivating, by John and Staci Eldredge. NOW I know that this is another spiritual attack and not something that is my fault. So, my situation last night was slightly different than what I experienced 5 years ago. Instead of blaming myself and crawled into a dark corner, I actually stop and try to converse with God and asked for direction (and ask Him to save me). And I believed that He answered me, in a strange way I have to say, I had so many questions and I didn’t know what to do, and then I saw ads on TV, the news headline, conversations in movies, that kinda resembled answers or guidance.

And then I remembered a radio talk I heard that very same morning about why people do bad things to other people. The voice on the radio said, most people who do bad things to others don’t really realise that they did a bad thing or say a bad thing or the effect of what they did. Although it’s hard to imagine how someone could do that to you. Remember that, it’s almost certain that they do it with no purpose, that it was just accidental.

So I thought, this is Christmas after all, a very happy but yet stressful time for most of us. Pressure to be on top of things at work, with family and friends, responsibility to church, giving ourselves a break and so on. So, I decided to take a step back and take all of these into consideration. I think it’s best for me to not be affected by non constructive comments and push on to finish what I have started. People may say what they say out of the blue without giving a second thought, and I shouldn't overthink it.

The battle is not yet won, but the fight continues on and I promise that I will be on top of every challenge that will come my way.

So, bring it on non constructive comments!
I dare you!
I dare you to break my spirit!

Apple Road Trip to Bilpin

Anyone know where Bilpin is?

For those who never heard of it. It’s a small town in NSW famous for apples. J

We went to Bilpin in the mid of winter season and gosh it was freeezeeeing!! But, we layered up and with lots of determination off we went to Bilpin.

This is me eating apple right off the tree. They’re green apples but super sweet. Not sour at all.

Oh! And it was drizzling as well that time, but we continued on. They have a few different apples, but I like the granny smith most of all. We saw lemon trees as well and a few of berries plants, but they’re not ready to be harvested yet.

We stopped over at Bilpin Botanical Garden at Mount Tomah and it is probably the smallest botanical garden I’ve ever been to. J But they’re okay I guess. A little bit more maintenance will do more justice to the place.

I particularly love this setting of succulents and dry land area.

Continuing our journey, we visited Leura shopping village and it’s the cutest little town. And it was so foggy, we couldn’t take proper photos of the place. But it was a beautiful place, it’s just our photos don’t do justice.

That night we had dinner at this truly amazing place in Leura, The Garage, or Leura Garage the local call it. The food is really really good. Amazing! We didn’t try the pizza, apparently it’s famous for its pizzas. But the stuffed quail was so delicious.

Next day, it was still foggy. J Really lovely weather…

We walked a little bit up the national park. It was really cold that day. I should’ve brought my gloves with me. We didn’t expect the temperature to drop that low. I think it was 6-8 C degrees that morning.

And then we start our journey back to Sydney. Crawl ourselves in traffic, while remembering the yummy taste of fresh picked apples. Splendid! Can’t wait to go back there!

Funky Baby Sneakers

I didn’t know it’s going to turn out to be this cute!!

This piece is a new pattern I tried a few months ago. The pattern says baby tennis shoes. 

They’re really really cute. I made them in small size for trial. I think I might make more of these.

They’re so easy and fun to make. The only tricky bit is when you join them together, the neater you work, the nicer they will turn out.

Cute lace:

This project is one of the smallest crochet projects I’ve ever worked on. Very intricate indeed.

(Completed 11^th Nov 2011)

Little Baby Boots

This pattern is one of my favourite baby boots pattern. They resemble ugg boots.

For a very cool looking baby. 

I first came across this pattern in a really old book and I made them once a few years ago. (http://littlemsbusy.blogspot.com/2009/11/knitting-baby-snow-boots.html)

This time, I had a few yarn left and I thought it would be cool to use this for baby boots.

(Completed 9^th Nov 2011)