​Guest Writer - Carly Bennet
Mums Keep Going
You are doing a wonderful job.


Hi my name is Carly; I am a wife of almost six years to Michael and a mother of five. Michael is a research agronomist at the Minnipa Agricultural Centre, South Australia.
Abbey just turned 5 (but not at school yet), Jamie is 3½, Lauren is 2 and Jake and Alex are my 1 year old twins. We live in a tiny town called Minnipa on the Eyre Peninsula with a population of around 100.
If you’re wondering where Minnipa is, it’s approximately 6 hours drive west of Adelaide, but more like 8-10 hours with little children! Michael’s family are living in Adelaide and my family are in Sydney, yes I am a city girl. Since having the twins we have had many exciting and memorable times and some very hairy times. We thought we were busy before, but I think busy has now been recalibrated. 

I have three children in cloth nappies and three children not walking. Lauren is hyper flexible which has delayed her walking. I feel as though I have three babies. Before you start thinking that I am a super woman/super mum and think that you could never do that, I would like you to jot down on a piece of paper the same kinds of points I did, but about yourself. You will be amazed at your achievements and how far God has bought you. I believe more and more that God has made mothers truly amazing. amazing. They go above and beyond the call of duty, they continue to care for their children when they feel as though they could not muster one more ounce of caring, then nurture when they have not slept, brushed their teeth, or showered. A simple hug from their children can reassure and encourage a burnt out mess of a woman that it is all worth while and okay.
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​With little children around, mothers get stressed because their house often looks like a bomb has hit and you can’t catch up. It’s only for a season. What encourages me a lot was remembering a question that my mother asked me over the phone one day when I was teary about the state of my house and the fact that she was 1,800 km away. Do you remember what your house looked like (in terms of neatness) before you were 5 years old? No I didn’t, I replied. Well what makes you think that your children will be any different? They will remember your love and the fun times that they had. Don’t be hard on yourself. God is slowly working on me to be less hard on myself. Some days I do better than others. Rest assured God is in control and everything will be okay. Take courage! “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” 2 Chronicles 15:7 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:

DALE’S STORY
Guest writer,
 Lyn Arthur, 
 
“Your Healing will spring forth speedily … (Isa 58:8) speedily … (Isa 58:8)
 “Push!” commanded Doctor and midwife in chorus. “One for Norwood” called my cheerleader-cum-husband. In the third day of labour, weary, yet determined, I pushed, and felt the baby slide out of my tired body into the hands of the waiting staff! “It’s a boy!” My mother, waiting back at the house, cried with relief. His father scooped him up the second the staff released him and laid him in my arms. The love we both felt for this tiny mite was overwhelming. “Look at the length of his fingers, he’ll be a pianist for sure” some-one prophesied. “He’ll be tall” commented another. “He measures 20 inches already!” A week later he came home to his newly decorated orange and yellow nursery. It was the 70’s! My Mum returned home, life settled into its new routine, and I began the visits to the Infant Welfare sister. He was five weeks old when she noticed his foot. There had been some comment when he was born about a possible clubbed foot, but it was considered mild, something to be dealt with somewhere down the track. This day though, as he lay naked on the scales she was concerned. His right foot lay pointing at right angles and resisted her outward push. “That foot is bad” she said “I think you should show this to the doctor. It needs immediate attention. “What will they do?” I enquired fearfully. “Probably put him in a plaster cast for about six months” she said. Six months! It was August now and we lived in the Riverland. How would he cope in the heat? I returned home and told his father. We would pray. At that stage we were relatively new Christians, and had never prayed for healing before, so it was two timid people, feeling slightly foolish who lay the babe on our bed and laid our hands on our son. Our two adult hands covered his whole torso! “Lord, I feel a bit silly doing this” his father prayed, “but if you can, will you please heal Dale.” It was two days before I could get into the doctors. I reported what the nurse had said, so he stripped the babe and checked him over, saying nothing. He then turned to me and said “Come on it’s near enough to your six week check-up I’ll do you first and then I’ll have another look at him,” puzzled, I complied. When he finished he picked up the babe again and bent his legs frog like up and out, then he lifted his head to ask, “Which foot was it?” This was our first experience of God’s healing power through our own personal prayer.
 
A POEM by LYN ARTHUR
A child, not yet two - and yet ...
 I bore him, he is mine ...
 Or so my heart would want.
Yet in that small boy
Lies a destiny far beyond my reach.
 I love him; I hold him;
 I call him my own.
My home is his home;
 My God is his God.
 Yet in all of this I am so small.
I mold, but life makes.
I dream, but time creates realities
 Some day a man, now a child.
 Mine to hold, but God's to have.

​A woman after her husband had passed away, confided that the most significant thing she missed was the touch of her husband. 

Jesus touched many people and healed them. Nothing has changed, Jesus still affects people, and they are repaired, restored, in spirit and body. Jesus desires contact with us more than we want his touch.  Jesus touch still heals today.
When God touches us, we recognize how empty we are and how deeply we yearn for a touch that is more than a brief meeting.

​Jesus death was a means to open the door for God to win us, to touch us, heal us, give us n abundance of life. There is so much fulness, completeness in the touch of God. When we reach out and touch God’s heart, we are overwhelmed by a love so unfathomable we can only surrender ourselves and live for his touch.
Thought for the Day: I feel the healing hands of God, touch my heart and kiss my soul.’  Harley King.