Happy Australia Day!

I've been rather busy lately, but I just couldn't pass this day without sharing something about this special day... which is very much like the 4th of July in America!

I'm writing this at the end of the day. It's been lovely! Very hot and humid, but great! We enjoyed a picnic bbq lunch with friends at Wellington Point, a lovely park by the bay. Played music and sang and just basically got burnt to a crisp!  A typical Australia Day out! Though I could've done without the last bit...

Wellington Point, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
via Pinterest

I found this beautiful version for our national anthem: 'Advance Australia Fair'

The following is an oft forgotten verse...understandably so, I suppose but it is very special and I sing it prayerfully with faith and hope for the future! Nothing is too hard for God! 

(*oh, by the way, I think you'd enjoy listening to link above for the anthem. It's a lovely, sweet version*).

With Christ our Head and Cornerstone, 

We'll build our Nation's might, 

Whose way and truth and light alone, 

Can guide our path aright. 

Our lives, a sacrifice of love, 

Reflect our Master's care

With faces turned to heaven above, 

Advance Australia Fair

In joyful strains then let us sing, 

Advance Australia Fair.

Here is also one of my favourite Aussie songs...a bit dated, I think, and probably not so well known...it's by Ted Egan, 'This Land Australia'. However, I just love the way it describes the variousness and vastness that is Australia...Would just love to explore more one day! 

This Land Australia 

by 

Ted Eagan

Chorus: 

Try to understand

This land Australia 

Take her as she is, her moods, her mysteries

Mother of us all

Beneath the Southern Cross

In her frame of peaceful seas. 

(1) The shimmer of the midday haze 

Un-endless inland plains 

The busy city's bustling pace

The drenching life-filled rains. 

(Chorus)

Uluru - Ayer's Rock, Australia
via Pinterest

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
via Pinterest

via Pinterest

(2) The lustre of the Barrier Reef 

The snow-clad Alps on high 

The fires, the floods, the searing droughts

Just love her don't ask why!

(Chorus)

The Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia
via Pinterest

Snow gums in the Snowy Mountains, Australia
via Pinterest

Mt. Buller, Victorian Alps, Australia
via Pinterest

Searing Droughts and Burning Fires
via Pinterest

Floods!
via Pinterest

(3) The tribal stories ages old

The deeds of pioneers

The way of life we proudly hold 

The triumphs and the tears! 

(Chorus x3)

Indigenous Australia, 'The First Australians'
via Pinterest 

Pioneers
via Pinterest 

via Pinterest

_______________________________________________________________________________

This was just a tinsy-winsy sample of the so many contrasts of this beautiful land...this land I call home...I'm so blessed to live here. I pray that God would bless this land. May He visit us and truly make it ''Terra Australis Espirito Santo', The Great South Land of the Holy Spirit'! Amen! 

Extra Bonus!!! Just a couple of my favourite Aussie Movie Classics...

The Road Goes Ever On and On

"Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; and to You the vow shall be performed. O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come...You crown the year with Your goodness, and your paths drip with abundance. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys are covered with grain; they shout for joy, they also sing." (Psalm 65: 1-2, 11-13 NKJV)

via Pinterest

HAPPY NEW YEAR, dear friends! I can't believe it's 2015 already! This past year just went by so fast! So many things have happened. Many blessings and joys to be thankful for! Many challenges faced and conquered by His mercy and grace! However, new ones have also come that are still being faced and challenged back and others might show up in this coming year. I walk forward, though, confidently knowing that what He began He will finish. He is there holding my hand. Sometimes I may not 'feel' Him there beside me, the mists hanging low and obscuring the light, fear and doubt making me falter, but He is there all the same, ready to pick me up when I fall, ready to forgive, ready to heal.

"For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not; I will help you.'" Isaiah 41: 15

via Pinterest

My prayer is that I He will give me His grace and strength to hold onto Him more firmly; to learn to trust Him fully and without fear; to always commit my hopes and dreams to Him, knowing that only in His hands can they become something really beautiful for His glory; o love Him more who loved me first and unconditionally; to serve Him in everything I do, make or think; to do wholeheartedly and conscientiously anything He wants me to do; to be faithful and diligent in my duties; to learn to love and serve others better and unselfishly;  to be always thankful and contented; to pray and seek Him more wholeheartedly.

I don't know what this year will be like, but it is enough knowing the One who knows and that this One is my Father in heaven! It's a great comfort! Because of this I know it will be good!

So...

via Pinterest

...knowing He is holding my hand!

via Pinterest 
I love how this picture portrays our journey going straight to the glory of the horizon - where our Lord is! Everyday takes us one step closer to the Celestial City!