Day One: Ash Wednesday

Reading:

John 1:1-18 (ESV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'”) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Isaiah 1:2- 20 (ESV)

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. 5 Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. 7 Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. 9 If the LORD of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations– I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. 18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Meditation:

In the midst of darkness and destruction, is there hope?  When the world around us looks crazy and out of control, is there hope?  When every new day seems to bring new challenges, is there hope?  Brokenness scares us because we believe things cannot be put back together.  We are taught it from an early age.  And even if they do get repaired, they are never “as good as new.”  Ash Wednesday reminds us of our sin.  It reminds us of our brokenness and frailty.  It is good to be confronted in this way.  It is good to be reminded that we cannot understand the Light of Christ and that our human attempts are rejected.  It is also good to hear the reminder that we can be born of God, made more new than even new.  That we can be made clean; that we receive grace upon grace.  All is not lost, there is hope!  The midnight hour will pass and the light will begin to peak out in the dawn.  The sorrow will be made joy.  We will see the Glory of God.  God will teach us how to pursue Him.  He will wash us and guide us toward justice.

Prayer:

Father, we know that our attempts to please you fail.  We do not understand the light on our own.  We want to possess it instead of being possessed by it.  We want our work, our history, our striving to count for something.  We are estranged, but you break in and shine light even more.  You make us your children.  You wash us and make us clean.  You change us so that we can be obedient in response to your love not as a way to can it.  You redeem us.  We thank you Jesus for being fully of grace and truth; thank you making a way for us.  Move in us today to show us how we have been made new.  Pour your hope into our lives.  Spirit, enable us to cling to the truth of the Gospel; that we are now children of God. Amen

Action:

Over the first part of this Lenten season hide John 1:1-18 in your heart.  Read over it, write it out, and listen to it.  Do not do this in order to gain acceptance from God but do it as worship.  We receive grace and truth through Christ.  Let these verses become a reminder/sermon to you about who you are in Christ.  You are a Child of God by His own making

  1. Celebrating NYE 13 hours before the people you are use to celebrating with is weird.  We hosted what we hope to be an annual NYE celebration at our house this year.  It was a fun evening with new friends.  We enjoyed watching the fireworks that were fired from Rottnest Island.  Thanks to the Tafts of Indianapolis for their example of hospitality and generosity.  We look forward to our party being as full and lively as yours always are.  Before the New Year rang in Shay, Reg, Maddie and one of her friend and I walked to the Monument Hill to discover a large gathering of people getting ready to count down to the New Year.  It was exciting to meet folks from the neighborhood and to ring in the New Year.

   
 2. You can go sledding in the summer.  You just need some ice blocks and a hill.  As part of our NYE celebration we bought a few ice sleds to take down the hill.  It was a great time.  I even got in on the fun. 

 3. Australia has Fairy bread. 

 It is white bread, butter and candy sprinkles.  These are in the shape of a dinosaur that was at a birthday party we all attended this week.

  

4. Always check the price before you purchase something. I went to buy some cough drops and breathe right strips.  They are $13.00 in the states but when the clerk gave me to total for the purchase I thought that the cough drops must be especially expensive.  Imagine my surprise to find that it was the Breath Right strips.  They were $35; almost 3x the cost in the states.  Should have looked first.  

   
5.  New friendships with great families are exciting to watch form.  We spent time with a great family watching fireworks on New Years Day.  They are quickly becoming close friends.  We are grateful to God for all the new friendships He is providing. 

   

  You don’t need to have an evergreen  to have a Christmas tree. Shannon and the kids are so creative with what we have around us. They always remind me of our Creator God and how He takes things that seem to be pushed aside and makes them beautiful. Branches found on the side of the road, paper, plastic bottles, glue and glitter all repurposed to decorate our place this week for Christmas. 
  

  2. When you need to you can make home made bisquick. It is hard to be away from family and friends and those things that are tradition for your family during the holiday season. So I knew I needed to have at least a little taste of normal. Sausage Balls have been a Christmas tradition in my family for as long as I can remember but you can’t find bisquick in Perth. So the Internet helped with the recipe (really simple and should have known it) and we had sausage balls. 
  

  3. Prawns and seafood are traditional fare for Christmas in Australia. Prawns straight from the ocean that you see everyday are delicious but are a little more work and well worth it. 

    4. A Christmas Day visit to the beach is also an Aussie tradition. It was a little chilly and windy but that never stops our three littles from putting on their bathers and jumping in the water.  

5. Every sunset is amazing here and it’s a good thing. God provides this amazing event everyday for us to witness. They give us joy even on the days that our transition seem hardest. They remind us of God’s mercy and His continuing work in this world. They remind us that God moves toward beauty at the end of a hard day. We are overjoyed to have them.  

Our girls are finding creative ways to deal with the absence of The Harrison Center For The Arts.

R and G Art Centre

  
As our earthly possessions are being loaded up today to eventually land in Perth I have been thinking about an old song.  

This world is not my home

I’m just a-passing through

My treasures are laid up

Somewhere beyond the blue.

“For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. “(‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭14‬ NLT)

Thinking of not seeing our family furniture, heirlooms, and art for a few months can send you into an interesting place.  The first thing Shannon and I usually do when we move into a new place is put all of our art, much of it created by Indianapolis artist that we love dearly, up on the wall.  This turns our new place into our home.  This move will make us wait.  We will move into a new place, in a new city and country, and stare at blank walls for a bit.  This will be hard.  Again I am reminded of the verse in Hebrews.  

This lack of art is not a permanent existence.  It is temporary.  Much like our lives here and our momentary troubles.  But even as I type those words I am aware of many who are in the midst of troubles and strife that do not seem temporary.  They are overwhelmed with the thought that it is permanent.  And it can seem that way.  There is only one place to look.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭16-18‬ ESV)

God continues, by His grace, to reveal His unseen in the seen.  His bride, the church, provides the visible, tangible, physical presence that provide for us a glimpse of His glory.  

We can, through the Spirit’s power, endure.  It is not easy but it can be light in the truth of His Glory.

Join our team and be a 

 

  Edit Wombat=  $150a month

Five fun facts about wombats

• Wombats are native toAustralia 
• There are two types of wombats.  The bare-nose or the hairy-nose
• Few Australians have a seen a wombat in the wild
• Wombats look like a miniature bear
• Wombats can live in burrows that are 30 meters (100 feet) deep.

Below are links to our secure donation site or our pledge card if you are ready to join the team and become a Wombat. If so, please let us know that you are joining by e-mailing me at lee@hinkledownunder.com so we can add you to the team and get closer to 100% of our budget. 

Pledge Card      Secure Donation Site

Join our team and be a 

  

Wallaby= $100 a month

Five fun facts about wallabies:

• There are 30 species of wallabies
• A group of wallabies is called a mob
• Wallabies are nocturnal
• Wallaby pregnancy last 32 days
• Wallaby moms produce two types of milk

Below are links to our secure donation site or our pledge card if you are ready to join the team and become a Wallaby. If so, please let us know that you are joining by e-mailing me at lee@hinkledownunder.com so we can add you to the team and get closer to 100% of our budget. 

Pledge Card      Secure Donation Site