30 years ago..................

............on March 15th, 1990 our family commenced farming at Bordertown. A lot of water has "gone under the bridge" in the years since then. (Where does that saying even come from?? Had to google it, and I will go with the explanation of "much time has passed").

We moved from a new brick 4 bedroom home that we had built when we were dairy farming on the river to this much smaller 3 bedroom house at Bordertown.......

                                   My baby was just less than 2 years old......................

...............and the girls settled into a new school, travelling each day on the school bus.............

 .........and the years went by until the eldest moved out of home and there were only 2 left.

 We enjoyed many family gatherings while living in this house...... an extended family Christmas.......

...................an end of year gathering for my local Bible Study group...........

...............................and a family birthday celebration when I turned 40!!

I found this photo of mum and dad, in their younger years riding our bikes around the farm.

Who would have even thought that I would be living here, in town, on my own and machine quilting for customers 30 years later. While I was very familiar with a sewing machine back in 1990, the world of quilting was still a mystery to me. But not any longer. The road from there to here has been quite the roller coaster.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a video by Rick Warren, and remembered that I had a book of his in my library. This is called "The Purpose Driven Life - What on earth am I here for?", and I remember buying it when I was wondering pondering what God's purpose for my life was. I even put dates on the pages, and wrote some notes as I was reading it, but it is plain to see, that I never got to the end of the book back then. (The date was 2004, 2 months after the death of my husband, and I guess I was wondering what was next?)

As I am rereading this book now, I can see that the words I underlined back then, are quite different to the ones that jump out at me now, 16 years down the track. But, the underlying reason for reading the book, and pondering what God's purpose is for my life remains the same.

I could elaborate a lot more on this subject, but for now I will just say that I accept that I am where God wants me to be, and using the talents he has gifted me with, and be at peace with that.

And that brings me to the next part of my message. (I had decided earlier this morning to write this post, and had drafted some notes before heading off to church). Today I was meant to be driving to the city for a family birthday celebration for Mr 10 year old. But, in light of what's happening in our country, and in fact, the world today, a decision was made to cancel lunch. It is alarming to see how society is reacting to events. I still don't understand why people would be stockpiling toilet paper and not food?? And fights in the supermarkets? Fear and selfishness appear to be in abundance.

We are going into unknown territory in the days ahead, but I am reminded of the verse from Phillipians Ch 4, v 6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus". 

And it was reassuring to listen to our sermon in church this morning, which was all about knowing God's peace, and not the world's peace. I am very glad that God is in control of all, and I can trust in Him.

May you know that peace in your life, as we go ahead into future days.

Blessings, From Jude