Tribute

I've been a bit slack about keeping up the blog, haven't I? Sorry. Life has been very busy lately, and it feels like there is way too much going on to focus on a blog ;)
Anyway, here is a poem I wrote about 9 months ago, when Mum miscarried and a little baby left us all and went to heaven. I was a painful time for us, and it hurt so badly. I did a lot of thinking and crying and praying things through and came up with this poem. It still hurts to think about and to re-read it. Kinda brings all the memories and feelings of that time in our life back.

Tribute


I was happy you were here
And looked forward to your birth
But now you’ve gone ahead
And left me on this earth

I know you’re in heaven
So I guess I should rejoice
But I can’t yet find that in me
Cause I never heard your voice

I never got to meet you
I never saw your face
But though I still miss you
Heaven bound you’ve won the race

I really wish you’d stay
But I know it’s too late,
You’re already on your way
So I’ll join you there someday

I didn’t want it to end this way
But sometimes there’s one thing to say
And that is to praise our God
Who gives and sometimes takes away

One day I know I will understand
Why it didn’t happen like we’d planned
So for now all I’m asking
Is God, that You’d hold my hand

Boy, girl or both, we’re still not sure
But this child is on earth no more
That’s right friends, we need to say
A child to heaven has slipped away
24/07/2010


To a baby whose identity is unknown
From a sister who will one day
See him/her face to face in heaven <3
By Rachel Christine Thompson

CEF Camp

Camp is over, Yay! This camp was hard. It's not to say I hated it, it's just that it was one of the more difficult camps I've done. Actually this camp went really well. It was full on, went really fast and completely wore everyone out, but it was fantastic.
On Sunday all the leaders arrived and we had leader training and games and stuff. I met the girl who was going to be my co-leader for the week, and we got along well, which was great! We also realized we live just down the road from each other - how cool is that!? She even baby sits my next door neighbours children :).
Monday morning all the children arrive- I'm not sure how many this camp, but probably 65-70. 6 little girls ages 8-10 in my team. Getting the hang of all their names was hard. They had such weird names!
For the next few days we did heaps of games and activities - got covered in mud, got majorly sunburnt, and we even got to light our own little team camp fires and cook sausages and marshmallows.
The reason this camp was hard was because the girls I had were not the most well behaved girls that ever walked the planet. They got very tiring very fast, which was not a very good thing. They almost constantly fought with each other, or wouldn’t do what they were told. At times it was hard to keep my cool. There was a couple times when I felt like dragging those little darlings to where they were supposed to go - not a very good feeling, but it was all worth it in the end. There is something amazing about knowing that all those children heard the gospel, and that even if most didn't get saved, they have in their hearts and minds the Truth. We can only pray that someday, perhaps when they are older, they will remember the bible stories and memory verses they learned and it will somehow bring them on their knees before their Maker. And that is a thrilling thought. To give hope to children in a desperate world. Where their families are in pieces and many have "issues", behavioural, emotional; etc, and then they come to camp and find that Someone truly cares. When I think of it like that, it makes all that stress and tiredness and plain hard work all worth it. And I can't wait for next camp :)

Here is a poem I wrote, which says a little about CEF camps :)

The Camp week

Day 1 is so scary

Where icebreakers abound

Old friends are still there

And new ones are found

Day 2 is the day
That camp really starts

70 children arrive

With wide open hearts

Day 3 the children

Are all settling in

We remember their names

Now let the fun begin

Day 4 it’s getting tiring

Late nights and early mornings

The children know us better now

And that should give us warnings

Day 5 is the long haul

And you very soon find

That patience is a virtue

 Everyone should mind

Day 6 camp is almost over

Hugs and lots of goodbyes

The last songs we sing together

As we leave to our separate lives

And though it has been hard

And went in such a whirl

The gospel has been told

To every boy and girl

That makes it all worth it

It’s why we put up with the slack

And the next time camp is on

We leaders will be back

~Rachel

Trust

I wrote this a while ago...

If trusting means letting go

I’m not sure I wanna know.

If letting go means walking away

Well, I’d really rather stay

I know it’s wrong to delay

Isn’t there another way?

I’d rather You used another plan

Why can’t he really be “The Man”?

 

I told You once in You I’d trust

Now I wonder if I really must.

But of course I do,

When I think it through

How to could I think I know best?

Only You know all the rest

I can’t see the future, only the past

I know many things don’t really last

So help me God, to trust in You

Even when it’s so hard to do

I will let go of the old me

And then I know I’ll really see

 

If trusting means letting go

I wanna show I love You so

So I’d much rather walk away

And have You to light my every day.

~Rachel :)

My life isn't very long
I know it really won’t last
So make what I do stay strong
To remain when life’s past

One day the memory of me
Will be a name on a list
So make what I do count
Before I am missed


I don’t need to be wealthy
Nor do I need great fame
But what I really want
Is to stay true to Your name

I don’t want to be luke-warm
That is my greatest fear
So teach me to be faithful
And please be always near

Though my life may seem long
Teach me to number my days
That to You I’ll ever be strong
And of Your love count the ways

Remember Them...

“It’s not easy being a Christian!”

We sigh from our big soft chair

“Why, today I was reading my Bible

And my co-worker gave me a glare!

While down in a cell

A brother’s life is hell

Shackles on his legs

In pain he sits and begs

“It’s not easy being a Christian

It’s really just not cool

While I have trials at work

The kids get bullied at school!”

While in another country

Too far away for us to care

A woman cries in agony

For her child is no longer here

Why do they weep?

Well, we don’t know

And if we care

It sure doesn’t show!

There is family out there

That we’ve never met

And it’s just so easy

Their pain to forget!

They are the ones who really know

How hard it is to be a Christian

And while we sit and complain

They are suffering in Jesus’ name

We try to remember them

And pray for them too

But our lives are so busy

And there’s so much to do!

So while we sit in complacency

Can we at least spare a prayer?

Cause if it was you or me

We’d want our family to care

Hebrews 13:3 - Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. NIV




~Rachel

Look Up

When confusion abounds

And fighting surrounds

When there are tears in the night

Let Jesus hold you tight

When you can’t face another day

When your whole life turns to clay

Look up, there is another way

You don’t have to be alone today

When your life is all just one big fight

You’re struggling to see any light

Ask God to show you the way

And He will light up your day

If you ask, He will give

So stop trying just to live

Cause there’s more to life

Than all of this strife

Please stop trying on your own

He said He won’t leave you alone

So let Him walk beside you

To lead and always guide you

~Rachel

A poem

I don't know what to write, so I thought I'd just put on a poem I wrote a little while ago...

A Clean Heart

“Create in me a clean heart”

The psalm, that is how it reads.

But what about my own heart?

Only You know how it bleeds.

For from You my heart, it strayed far away,

Re- pounding the nails again yesterday.

My audacity, my shame,

I can only look with pain.

You died for me, I mocked You.

I’m all sin, my whole heart through.

How I could cause You so much pain?

I know not how I can explain.

But there is something more

I’ll never understand

How ever You could ask me

To come back into Your hand.

I know You’re all-forgiving,

That much I have been told.

But I never really knew how much,

Till the day I re-entered Your fold.

Father, I know You’re able

To keep my feet from slipping.

So make my way pure and stable,

‘Till Your glory I am seeing

“Create in me a clean heart”

Yes that is my hearts prayer

`Cos I’m on a new start

A walk where You are there

~Rachel~