I am not 100% sure if I blogged this or not! But this last summer I was at the right place at the right time and completed a scavenge hunt in fast time in order to win us this photo session with the wonderful Kristen Shima! Check out the photos of us she posted on her blog!
Merry Christmas Everyone! We sincerely hope that your Christmas was a special time of celebration, a time where you were able to experience a reflection of God's love for us through time spent with family and friends.
We were blessed to spend time celebrating with good friends and good food here in Australia. Aussies are so hospitable and we have always felt so welcomed by them in general.
This is a longer post than normal! Feel free to just skip ahead to the pictures, but if you're curious about how we celebrated Christmas this year....read on!
Here they have somethings they call "Christmas Carols". This can actually start a couple weeks before Christmas day. It is a production put on by a band. The one we went to was at the C3 Church and it was more like rock carols! It was fun and we got to see some friends we met while playing at the park! Then we went to the "Christmas Lights" at Maroochy Baptist Church. There was a walk through the manger with lots of little baby animals to see and touch. Aubrey was very gentle with her petting. They also had a small production of "The Whole Christmas Story", a little market to buy some crafts, and then the BIG production. I think they got like 3000+ people coming every night this was on!!
When we sat down and waited for the show to start, we thought there was no way Aubrey was going to sit through this. It was already past her bedtime, she was squirmy and whiny. But alas, the Christmas rock music and dancing began and wow! Aubrey is quite the little party girl! We finally just let her loose to dance and twirl to her hearts desire in the aisle. We couldn't stop laughing - missing most of the actual show to watch her spin, arms in the air, head bobbing to the beat. She loved it!
For Christmas Eve we took on the rain and drove north out into the hinterlands past a little town called Pomona, QLD. We drove into the rainforest, following a long muddy driveway across a narrow wooden bridge (with no rails), across a creek that tends to flood when it rains, and up to a house and family that is very dear to me! The last time I lived in this part of the world I was blessed to spend some time with my Aussie Family and really get to know each of them. We had a great time catching up, and eating fabulous, FRESH food (they are the best gardeners!!). Sorry, i have no pictures of their beautiful place that has the feel of a toxic-free, rejuvinating rainforest getaway...but I will take some next time.
THEN (yes it continues!) Christmas morning...we slept in, opened a few pressies, skyped with family, and got ready to have lunch at our friend's house in Caloundra, QLD. This is a special family as well, the kind you just instantly connect with. They have two beautiful children who adore Aubrey. We met them at the park about a month ago when their daughter (5) played with Aubrey, taking her all over the playground. She had a lot of fun yesterday too! Their little boy (3) is the sweetest little guy! He is quiet, happy, and so gentle with Aubrey. Ben even saw him take Aubrey's hand and give it a little kiss...aawwwwwww!!!! We had an amazing day chatting with their family, swimming in the pool and playing with our new underwater camera, and eating really good vegetarian dishes.
We just feel so blessed to have met some really wonderful people already, and are so excited that we still have 6 more months here to hang out with them more!
Now for the pictures!
I love how she is gently squeezing the duckling's ear! So sweet.
For the BEST photo with the animals you will have to check out my photography blog-site!
Taking a little break from twirling, but not from dancing!
Mommy and Me opening pressies from Grandpa and Grandma !
Opening pressies from Nana and Gramps!
Saying hi to family in the US. Why yes we do let our child open pressies nude.
2 things : 1) Aubrey loves camera's, this is our new underwater camera!! Thanks nana and gramps! Get ready for some videos! 2) Aubrey is not one of those children who loves the paper more than the present. Notice all of the clips in her hair? She wanted each and every last one clipped on. She also tried to wear mommy's new flip flops. And loved her new pjs!
More photos on my blog-site! www.chelsaschaefer.com
Our neighbors found a big bucket of blocks and brought them over last week for Aubrey. Block stacking reminds me of the Modern Family episode where Cam and Mitchell bring Lily to the playgroup, and Mitchell sees a little boy stacking a tower of blocks. Now Lily hasn't learned to do this yet, so he fakes it, builds one, and tells everyone to look at what Lily did! The playgroup leader is so proud and asks Mitchell if they would like to take home a video of it, since the playgroups are videoed. They never returned.
I was reminded of this episode when a mom at the pool the other day mentioned that her 13 month old is stacking blocks. I felt a little like Mitchell, pulled out the blocks and showed Aubrey. She had no interest except to carry them all around the house. Until today!
Our other adventures, in between rain showers, has been some walking. Went to Buderim Forest....a little muddy but we made it to the falls. Worth a trip back for pictures and swimming!
Oh and a picture of Nana when she was here:
Check out Rain Rain Go Away on my blogsite for some puddle pictures!
I am 13 1/2 months! Cutting my first 4 teeth simultaneously. I sign : banana, milk, more please, all done, water, cereal, bedtime, bath, fan, yes, and no. I give eskimo kisses and butterfly kisses now. And all those months of Mommy & Daddy tickling me by blowing "motor boats" on my belly, well it's payback. I often catch them when they least expect it and I blow a big tickle on them! hahahahah! SO funny.
I LOVE my shoes. Because I love to walk and go play at the park.
Awwww, life is so sweet.
You can definitely find more photos of Aubrey on my photography blog-site : chelsaschaefer.com (check out "Suds in the Bucket" :)
The Bible isn't a collection of stories nor is it just a book you can read. I've come to believe that there are only two ways you can "read" the Bible, you can either study or you can meditate on it. Last week I made a comment that you should "get out of the commentaries" and get into the Bible (in an attempt to encourage study). That may have been a true statement but it doesn't make it necessarily right. If you've never been taught how to study the Bible then a commentary can be a good source of information. But with only reading a commentary your foundation for your faith is rooted in someone else's thoughts and interpretations. You run the risk of understanding theology without it actually meaning anything to you or having an affect on your life.
With that, I'm going to outline a technique, I learned on my SBS, for studying the parables found in the Gospels. Parables were a generally accepted style of teaching in the 1st Century. They were meant to stress a particular point. They are NOT meant to be obscure or have hidden meanings. They were told to a particular audience they were NOT told in a vacuum. There are three different types of parables; we are going to focus on one called a true parable. True parables are stories with a beginning, plot, and ending. "The Good Samaritan" would be considered a true parable (Luke 10:25).
To interpret a parable you ask a few questions; all of your answers will lead to the heart attitude of the audience. 1. Who is the audience? 2. What is the background to the story... what was Jesus doing before he told the story? What was the audience doing before Jesus told the story? 3. Who are the characters in the story? 4. What is the unexpected turn to the story? Consider this the surprise of the story. The surprise reveals the heart attitude of those surprised. 5. Who was surprised?
Once you understand who is surprised and why, you know the response Jesus is calling for. That response applies not only to the original hearer but also to us. A quick look at The Good Samaritan: 1. 72 disciples, 12 disciples, lawyer (what is a lawyer in the 1st century? where else are lawyers mentioned in the bible? who are they often hanging around?) 2. Lawyer's questions in verses 10:25-28. Definition of who priests are, Levites, and Samaritan. What is a denarii worth? 3. priest, Levite, Samaritan, half dead man, innkeeper 4. It was the Samaritan who took care of the half dead man. (if Jesus doesn't make the surprise obvious than an additional look into the history of the characters, audience, and setting of the story should help) 5. Everyone, especially the lawyer.
The lawyer asked who his neighbor was... Jesus response, everyone. Jesus is calling for the lawyer to love everyone. Jesus is calling us to do the same. We are to love those who may be different race, gender, social class, etc. The next logical question, what is Jesus' definition of love? I'll leave you with the opportunity to study and meditate on that.
If you remember that parables were meant to make one point you will do well. Don't over spiritualize every detail of the verse, don't assign identities or situations to the parable that the original hearer wouldn't have understood.
Now for Aubrey's 13th month movies! (note: turn off blog music at bottom of page).
Aubrey coming to understand the power of God through the waves of the ocean.
Aubrey demonstrating a few things she's learned in her first 13 months of life.
I've been meaning to write a post for sometime explaining where we are and why. I think it has become fairly apparent that we haven't been in the US for sometime...
We are indeed in Australia and will be for the next 8 months. Chelsa, Aubrey, and I have come all this way so that I can attend a 9 mo School of Biblical Studies, SBS. It is a non-stop course on inductive bible study of all 66 books of the bible. The intent of the course is not that you would know it all but that you would have a strong foundation, rooted in the history/context of the bible writers to interpret scripture using scipture. With a foundation firmly laid we are more prepared to teach and to continue studying and expounding on the scriptures for the rest of our lives. All that said, the intent, as described by the staff of the course, is that through study and prayer we would come to know Jesus in a more full way.
After just a month of study we have covered several new testament books and I'm amazed at how I studied the bible before, or in fact hardly ever studied the bible. I'm coming to the conclusion that Christians don't study their bible, despite owning 4 or 5 of them..., for several reasons. One reason is good enough for now; Christians don't understand the significance of the scriptures during the time in which they were written. For example, at first glance the book of Mark appears to be a book similar to the other gospels, Matthew, Luke, and John, because it is a collection of stories and parables dealing with/during the life of Jesus. While you can read these stories and develop a sense of right and wrong, that Jesus was a good teacher, that the disciples appear to be slow in understanding who Jesus was...you don't get a sense for why the book was written and why those teachings mattered to the original reader.
Now take a look at history. While Mark's date of publication is not set in stone, most agree that it was written between 64-68 and that it was written as a circular letter to churches of Rome. (circular meaning it is past from church to church) Nero is emperor of Rome. His palace has been burned to the ground along with a sizable portion of Rome. Rome figures Nero is directly/indirectly the cause of the fire, however, he blames it on the Christians. What takes place is an empire wide persecution of the Christians. Nero has them tortured, crucified, beheaded, sent into the coliseum as entertainment/ food for the lions and tigers, along with many other gruesome things that I won't write about but you can find in writing elsewhere.
Why then is Mark written? As an encouragement to the church for the persecution taking place.
How does this affect how you would interpret Mark 3:31-35? If you don't have a bible handy this is the paraphrased version. Jesus' mother and brothers are looking for him. The crowd says, your mother and brothers are looking for you. Jesus says, my mother and brother are whoever does the will of God.
What is the original reader (OR) think about this statement? Fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters are turning one another over to the Roman authorities on account of belief in Christ. The OR is losing their identity within their family, and very likely their life, if they convert to Christianity.
Mark is encouraging believers in that they aren't losing their families as they become Christians but they're now adopted into the family of God.
How does this apply to us today? If our "traditional" family isn't believers, or condemn you for your faith, you have Mark's reassuring words that you are adopted into the family of God. If you don't have a family for one reason or another, Mark's word's are encouraging because you do have a family and you are loved.
What actions would we take knowing this? As Christians we would accept other believers into our family. We would take care of them and look after them as family. You help to mature them if they're young, you discipline them when they're out of line, you love them through the hard times and the easy. (we could go on forever in 100s of different situations)
Does knowing a bit about the history and context of the book help to interpret it as it was originally written as well as help as apply it to our own lives? Absolutely.
There is so much more than what is on the surface it is mind boggling. Look at something other then a commentary for a change and get into the word of God. You cannot help but be changed.
Speaking of change look at this beautiful little girl!
If you are around our home these days you will certainly see Aubrey wearing her "rings and bracelets". She walks all over our flat with them just chatting or singing to herself. What you won't see is a clip in her hair. I have to be ULTRA swift and sneaky to get one in.
This dress she is wearing is my favourite! We always get compliments on it.... And it was picked out by a three-year old! Aubrey's cousin, Arden, picked it out for Aubrey's birthday present. Arden really loves to help out with Aubrey and give her hugs as I mentioned before....last I heard she named her baby doll "Aubrey"...awwwwwww!!!!!
Here are a few more pictures of Aubrey and her bracelets....
Right now we are experiencing beautiful Spring weather here on the Sunny Coast of Australia. However although the days are perfect for the beach, the wee hours of the morning tend to get a little chilly. Aubrey gets too cold and wakes up if she is wearing short sleeve pajamas, but she gets too hot if we put her in a full sleeper. SO, one night as we were getting Aubrey ready for bed I decided to put my plan into action. Here is what you need :
1. One husband and a semi-dull knife (sissors might be easier if you have them) 2. Have him cut off the feet of the sleeper, under the last snap of the pjs so the legs stay in one piece. 3. Ta-da!!! "In betweenies" :) For all your seasonal in-betweens .
Aubrey took her first steps right around when she turned one and just a couple weeks later look at her go!! Even just a few days after this video was taken, she has improved by leaps and bounds....we'll try and get an update sooner than later.
Aubrey is officially ONE YEAR OLD! After driving daddy to class, Aubrey and I met up with a couple of our new friends at Under Water World on the Wharf! We bought an annual pass so that we can go back often and look at all the fun sea creatures.
Then we picked daddy up and went home for some lunch...
Then headed to the beach of course!
Look at how well she is standing on her own! She has great balance but hasn't got the confidence to take any steps on her own...yet.
She LOVES playing in the waves and feeling the sand!
Mommy and ME
New words.... "bu-ya-bu-ya-bu-ya" "bu-da-bu-da-bu-da"....she says "thaAat" a lot, with a high inflection in the middle...usually when she wants whatever "thaAat" is.
Not sure how much she weighs....probably around 20-21 lbs...
She loves life and is sweet to other children. She has started to recognize how fun toys are and want them....she likes to put lids on things. She likes to play with other children...she is not the rambunctious one...she is usually the mellow observant one who doesn't mind if her toy gets snatched from her :)
This is our beautiful, sweet, loving little one year old!!
Welcome to our family blog! I started this blog when our story as a family began back in 2006....fast forward to 2015 and we are richer by 3 children who are growing up way too fast.
Between 2012 to 2015 I didn't add much, most of my updates for family and friends were done on Facebook...however it is time for a change, to get back to our roots on the Ben and Chelsa blog.
Thanks for stopping by, please say hello while you are here! We love reading comments and hearing from friends and family :)
If you would like to get in touch with us, my email address is chelsagirl@gmail.com
