From Matthew 10, vs. 11-16:

¹¹"Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. ¹²As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. ¹⁵I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. ¹⁶I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

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We are called to ‘fight the good fight’ - to spread the news, to love each other.

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Sometimes, though, we need to let things go.  To let some people go.  For, although we’d dearly love to take them and sometimes, shake them, there are those who simply will not listen, not even when, or maybe especially when, they are quite simply, wrong.

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Oh, I get so frustrated, when people who claim to be Christian turn out to be the most judgemental of all.  They make statements about others, criticize others, and judge others.  They take another’s words, and twist them, and try to push forward the idea that they are innocent victims of another’s attack, when the opposite is, in fact, the truth.

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Let us be humble, and let us take care.  We will not always agree on certain points, nor will necessarily like everyone we come across.  But we are called to love each other.  Even when a friend or an acquaintance refuses to listen or to see the truth.  Sometimes, we must say good-bye to someone who has been in our lives.  For the sake of all involved, we must move on, and move onto different friends, and allow the seeds of God’s word to take hold in His time, and not ours.

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Recently, after making a simple comment, I was judged as un-Christian, and despite my efforts to gently point out that this was untrue, my words were twisted, and I was slammed as, basically, a horrid person.  The comments were unfair, but, sometimes, we just have to take it.  I had my say, but, with someone who has judged you as one thing and who refuses to listen, what can you do?  

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I see this as a great concern, over the Internet, when well-meaning Christians judge others, whom they have never even met, so harshly.  My son came across a comparison chart today.  Did you know who are the most likely people to bag Christianity?  Those on the Internet.  This percentage was much, much higher than those who are gay, or who are gay activists, and those who are non-religious at all.  Simply being on the Internet means you are very likely, at some stage, to send a blow to someone who is a Christian. 

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So, please be careful.  Whenever we leave a comment that judges someone or puts someone else down, remember that on the other end of the ‘line’ is a real, live person.  Someone with a heart, someone who has feelings.  The Internet can be a wonderful source of encouragement and inspiration, but can also be a place where our confidence is shot to pieces.  

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For me, I’m staying off of message boards for a while; actually, I’m reducing my entire time in front of the computer, and  getting back to spending time with the people in my life who are here, right here, physically in front of me.  That’s not to say I don’t have any cyber-friends out there who really are my friends - I do!  But I need time to distance myself from cyber bullies who will chuck out derogatory comments in a flash, just because ‘they can’.

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Let us be as be as ‘shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves’, let us love one another, and yes, when need be, let us ‘shake the dust off our feet’ if some will not listen, and move on .

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Linda 

To all who have tried to access our site over the past few weeks - thankyou for your patience!

After many hours of hard work, our new site is now up and running, same address:

www.adnilpress.com

We have an opening special in that the first 20 customers will receive a free product with their order!

The site not only includes shopping cart and all our products, but also includes links, a forum, articles, reviews, RSS feeds, search features, and even my blog.

All this means that I will no longer be blogging here, but from now on,  it will be at the new site.

Check it out, at: www.adnilpress.com

God bless,

Over the past week, we took a break and headed off to Gawler for some time out with friends.

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We enjoyed a night of bush dancing, went to a cooking demonstration, tackled the shops for some 'retail therapy', and us girls even had an afternoon where we disappeared for a quiet coffee, cake and a visit to the 2nd hand book shops.    And of course, there was time to simply sit and chat, and to relax.

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But, all good things must end, and after only a few days, it was time to head home, and begin catching up on work, emails and phone calls.

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It was a lovely break, and we look forward to the next time we're able to get away for a few days. 

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And, as amazing as it seems - Welcome to August!    How the year is flying by!

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On Sunday, we took some time-out to take a ride on a steam train, through the Pichie Richie pass, which is just over an hour's drive from our home.

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It was a marvellous afternoon, and we were blessed with wonderful weather for the trip.  All up, it lasted nearly three hours.

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Here's a photo I took from our window:

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It was great fun - certainly a 'different' way to spend the day!

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The Springs are BACK!

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We paid a visit to our local springs on Tuesday - they had all but dried up after a whopping great flood did some major damage last year.  We have had some rain of late, and were delighted to find water in the springs - so much so, that it is almost back to its original level!

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The water is happily flowing from the springs to the rockpools, and we even found mini waterfalls along the way.  The birds were back, as were the frogs, the crickets - and the moss!

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I can't tell you the different place it is now to when we visited a few weeks ago - it's beautiful again - praise the Lord!

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Linda.

Just after Christmas, we packed our bags and headed for Melbourne.  We had a wonderful time, catching up with other homeschoolers, and also with dear hubby's family from all over Australia;  as his mother now lives in Melbourne, it has become the 'meeting place' for the family once a year.

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On our way home, we visited Sovereign Hill, near Ballarat, where they have a tourist village set up to remember the 'Gold Rush' days of Victoria.  We panned for gold, went 'back to school', and took a ride on an old, horse-drawn wagon.

(Panning for Gold)

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(Back to School)

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Then, we visited a wildlife park, where we were followed around by deer and kangaroos - it was just lovely!  Kind-of gave one the 'Snow White' feel, really - although I suspect the animals were really only interested in the little bags of animal food we were carrying with us!

(patting a kangaroo)

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All in all, it was a wonderful trip, and we are now glad to be home safely again.

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God bless,

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There is a famous Australian poem, written by Dorothea Mackellar, entitled:  'My Country'.

Part of one verse reads:

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains

of ragged mountain ranges,

of droughts and pouring rains.....

Well, it certainly is!  All of this year, we have prayed desperately for rain - there have been prayer meetings in our community like never before;  and it has been a trying time, and yet, a time where our small community seemed somehow joined in our prayers.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the heavens opened - and did it pour!   We received in one hour several months worth of water for our property - and as we run  ONLY on rainwater tanks - it was a welcome relief!  The creeks in our area came down like nothing I have ever seen - the local natural springs completely overflowed, covering not only the roadway in the picnic grounds, but went right up into the picnic grounds as well - it was incredible!

Amazingly, though - just two days later, we were able to drive down to the springs, and only stare in wonderment at the altered landscape - and stand next to the trees along the banks:  when the flood came, if I had stood in the same spot, the water would have covered my head!  The water came, and left just as fast - and today, as I drove along our road, a cloud of dust sprang up behind me - the road is THAT dry, after only a couple of days!

Still, the tanks have water, and many of the surrounding dams are full and overflowing, and we are very, very thankful.

Sadly, many farmers in the area has just begun reaping, so there was much crop damage;  we continue to pray for those farmers who are really having a tough year all round.  One local farmer had just finished putting up new fences - and they were completely swept away.

I'm still in awe at the power and suddeness of the downpour, and we continue to hear amazing stories - caravan parks that had to be evacuated, flooded houses, and so forth.

Amazing times we live in, eh?

There are times, like the past couple of weeks, when I really, really, appreciate the flexibility of homeschooling.

We have been so ill these past 2 or 3 weeks - with high temperatures, flu-like symptoms, and just, well - weak, absolutely no energy.  It's taken so long for me to be back on my feet, let alone being able to cope with a house full of sick children - wow!  Things sure have been challenging here.

But, it also does make me appreciate the flexibility of homeschooling - we are able to take the time out to simply 'get by', and do only what 'has' to be done.  Now that we are all recovering, we've also been able to take a couple of days to simply relax, and take the time to simply watch some television or whatever, and catch our breath.

Hopefully, we're now over the worst of it - I'm pretty much exhausted from it all, but we were back at 'school' today, so we shall see how we cope with the rest of the week.  There is, of course, a lot to catch up on - housework, bookwork, emails, etc. - but, slowly and surely, we'll get there!   I hope to write some more soon, once things are caught up somewhat.

God bless,

I called my blog 'Pillars of Pine', firstly, because the name of our location is 'Pine Villa'.  Our property is surrounded by rows of pine trees, all lined up like pillars.  And of course, 'Pillars of Pine' kind-of rhymes with 'Pine Villa', anyhow.

Also, we use a Classical approach in our homeschool - and I often use a Greek-style building as my avatar - again, 'pillars'.

Finally, I see a family as pillars - together we all hold the family together.  Jesus is our foundation.  We are the pillars that (hopefully) share the Good News.  Maybe the roof could be considered as 'heaven' - our ultimate fulfillment, just as the final stages of a building is the roof.

So, the word 'pillars' has special meaning for me, and it seemed fitting to name my blog as such.

God bless you,

Linda. 

Well, I'm new to the whole 'blogging' thing, but I figured it was time!

My name is Linda from Australia, and I homeschool my eight, wonderful, children.

No doubt as I learn more about the whole process, I'll be able to fill my blog with stories, articles, and share our homeschooling journey with you.  We certainly do have some 'moments', both good and bad, and it will be fun to write them down.

God bless you,

Linda.