"The Craft Group" plus...

One of my favourite days of the year is The Craft Group's Christmas Brunch. This was my "Christmas Tree" table centre piece this year. A gorgeous hydrangea in full bloom. It was a gift from a lovely relative from New Zealand who came to stay at our house during their Aussie holiday. I decorated everything to match it. Pink and silver. Everyone brings a little plate of something yummy to share  and we always end up with a lovely feast! The morning was full of lovely food, lovely people, we sum up our years ups and downs and collect money for a worthwhile charity. This year from the sale of a lovely bullseye quilt (made by Bev I) and donations, we were able to provide 5 sewing machines to women in the Solomon Islands! Anne came and gave a really lovely talk about Mary. Mary the mother of Jesus that is. Anne put us in the shoes of Mary and we travelled through her life to the death of her Son on the cross. It was profound to think beyond the usual C...

What a morning we had yesterday! At The Craft Group we hosted our annual "Cancer Council Morning Tea" as part of the big Australian wide fundraising project, the Biggest Morning Tea . We did some Craft, then we had some announcements. Then Pam introduced her ex neighbour who is fighting a pretty big battle at the moment with Cancer. Bec was coming home from hospital yesterday and is really not well.  We couldn't ask her to come and speak but we still were encouraged by her. We watched a You Tube clip made by her church. It is just Bec talking and sharing where she sees "Home" to be. It's only 5 minutes long and is really worth watching... Click HERE to watch it. Then we read out an email Bec sent to me the other day. She said how much Psalm 139 meant to her lately. (I've added it below). If you are reading this Bec.... thanks for sharing your Hope with us. It was very touching and helps put life into perspective. It is really all about ...

Last week after The Craft Group, who ever wanted to was welcomed at Marion's house where we shared a "High Tea".  Everyone brought along a plate of something savoury or sweet. Marion brought out all her prettiest cups, saucers and plates and we sat outside in the very pleasant spring afternoon weather. If you need to bring a plate of something savoury to a gathering this Christmas, try whipping up Bev's little recipe... Bev's Salmon Swirls: She bought a packet of gluten free crepes, or pancakes from the frozen section of the supermarket. She then mixed together well a small can of red salmon and some creamed cheese. She spread the crepes with the mix, wrapped the rolls in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer. Then on the morning of our High Tea, all she had to do was take them out of the freezer, cut them into slices while the roll was still a little firm and pop a toothpick into each one. They were so nice and the texture is reall...

10:30am is Coffee Time!  Here is Jenni (at the back), our morning tea co-ordinator. With her is her sister Leanne. They deny ringing each other in the mornings to see what they are going to wear but I tell you... the number of times they come wearing the same colour or style is a bit eerie! (Exibit A, photo above. Not exactly the same but well coordinated).  While we have our coffee, we have a few announcements, see some "Show 'n Tell", announce this week's "Happy birthdays". (Thanks for the love ladies. I had a lovely day!) and then have a little "Thought for the day". Today I mused on the idea of how 'good' we are. Good enough to make God happy? Good enough to 'make it' into Heaven? Hmmm. I'm afraid not. Not even close. So how unreal is it that God offers us a free gift of not only complete forgiveness but also of the adoption papers to become His child! Wow.   Here is a good little poem which I thought was appropriate :)