The Human Spirit

We can't do everything but we must do something…

''Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others''  Nelson Mandella

The clean-up begins as the flood waters recede in parts of Queensland.  Over 15,000 volunteers are registered to begin a salvage operation, with some looking for people they know.  People have come from all over Australia to help complete strangers rebuild their homes and lives.  There has been over 1400 Australian Defense Force teams deported to help with the clean up.  This is more than when Cyclone Tracey hit Darwin on Christmas Day in 1974 killing 66 people.

As I watch the recent flood disaster in Queensland,  and throughout Australia (now in Sri Lanka and Brazil too) unfold on my television screen I have been overcome with so many different emotions.  I have been overwhelmed by the devastation and loss of lives but moved more by the human spirit that has risen up in this desperate time of need.  Brisbane is my hometown where I grew up and it is unbelievable to see so much of it under water.  However, Brisbane has now been swamped with a new flood. Human kindness.

The human has a spirit that does not sleep during the deepest sleep. It is powerful, and is capable of earning eternal life.

John Teske views human spirit as a social construct representing the qualities of purpose and meaning which transcend the individual human.   It is not just the power of one, but many coming together in UNITY – when a group of people come together for a common cause.  If just one person turned up to help with the clean up it would not accomplish much, but together we can really make a difference.

During times of loss and devastation like this it is easy to ask WHY?  It’s human nature to want answers to justify the devastation.  But if we keep asking this one question we will never move on to what’s really important.  Instead of asking WHY did this happen, ask WHAT can I do to help? 

I loved what one man said on the news…”The flood has taken our homes and livelihood, but it will not take our souls.”  There is something in the human spirit that God created only to rise up in the midst of adversity.                                        
                                                                                       
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul.

We have Hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

We can now thank God for the flood of miracles that have come and will continue to come after the flood waters recede.

Yet hope returns when I think of this one thing:

The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continue,

Fresh as the morning, and as sure as the sunrise.

The Lord is all I have, and so in Him I will put all my hope.

The Lord is good to everyone who trusts Him.

Lamentations 3:22-25

So I pray that the word God gave me for this year – RESTORE - will be imparted into the hearts, souls and minds to every life effected by the flood waters.  And to those who have not been directly effected, our fingerprints never fade on the lives that we touch… so please help in some way donating some of your time, money or skills.  If you would like to donate money please go to this website

http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

As of today $103,325,414  has been donated by generous souls.  You can also register to volunteer at the above website.

RESTORE

"Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"
Oscar Wilde




I have spent the first week of 2011 asking God for a word that I can place as a mandate over this new year. I wanted a word that would represent the future and not a past full of regret or unattained goals from last year, but all the potential God has for me and all HIS plans for me - not my own agenda. 
Psalm 80:3 
Restore us, O God;  
Cause Your face to shine upon us,  
And we shall be saved! 

I felt He gently dropped the word RESTORE into my heart. 
So I looked up the word restore in the dictionary;


1. To bring back into existence or use; reestablish: restore law and order.
2. To bring back to an original condition (how He created us, pure and whole)
3. To put (someone) back in a former position (before we were hurt, abused, rejected or deceived) 
4. To make restitution of; give back: restore the stolen funds.
5. Undo changes if problems occur
6. Backup and recover (I have done that many times on my iPhone but never thought of it in relation to my life!) God will always back us up in time of need and help us recover. 


2Cor 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new

After reading these I was truly moved by how much God is FOR us and not AGAINST us. 
God wants to make all things new again. Situations and circumstances that we have messed up or situations and circumstances where other people have mishandled our hearts. 
So this year I yield control for God to restore every area of my life that I have taken control of and messed up without acknowledging Him in that area. 
He wants to RESTORE:

Strained Family relationships
My passion for His Word
My relationship totally devoted to Him
My mind full of Faith  
Dreams and Visions that I have slowly let go of over time
Disappointment and heart break

God intentionally wants to RESTORE ALL of these things in my life and in yours too. The thing is, for Him to do that - we need to RESTORE back control to Him in some areas of our lives.
.   
Matt 12:13
Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 
This scripture talks about a man with a withered hand who needed healing. Jesus asked him to reach out his hand to him before it was healed. Why would Jesus ask him to do that? He could have healed Him anytime?
I believe it was symbolic to us reaching out to him in abandonment like we do in worship, showing God that we truly need Him and we can't do this thing called life on our own.

I recently read this quote that I thought was so true.....

"The benefit of looking to the past is that we gain perspective. We see things differently after developing an awareness of what we know and what we wished we knew." 

We have all experienced the harsh reality of life through wrong decisions, bad judgment or careless advice.   How true is it that we often learn our most effective life lessons through the bad experiences as opposed to the good ones, or even other people's bad ones!  But the good news is that  all of those things we often regret in life is covered by the amazing grace of our Heavenly Father, and can be RESTORED.

 

I truly believe God can and will restore everything if we allow Him.  We will never forget the past, but will grow stronger and learn from it.  


I pray 2011 brings greater blessings, greater opportunities, greater growth, wisdom and prosperity! I pray courage to pursue your dreams and the tools to make them a reality! 

DUBAI

The first word that came to mind when entering Dubai is

EXTRAVAGANT... meaning;

  

• Lacking restraint in spending money or using resources
• Exceeding what is reasonable or appropriate; absurd
• Excessively elaborate in style
• Lavish and excessive

All of these words perfectly describe Dubai.

The Dubai flag

The United Arab Emirates flag consists of four colors: red, green, white, and black. The Emirati flag is rectangular in shape, its length double its width, and it is divided into four rectangular bands. On the hoist side of the flag there is a vertical red band. The top stripe is green, the middle one is white and the bottom dash is black. It looks similar to the letter E.

The Red means:  Security

The Black means: Natural Resources

The Green means: Prosperity

The white means:  Peace

The Date Palm Tree

The Date Palm tree is the National tree for Dubai.  They are everywhere, and the date fruit is offered at almost every meal.  The custom in Dubai’s history is to use the date palm leaves for many different things such as houses, boats, ropes and bags.  However, Dubai has come a long way since then!...

The Islamic architecture is the most photographed in the world….

The Atlantis

The Burj al Arab

Dubai boasts the tallest building in the world; The Burj Khalifa is known as the new urban masterpiece.  It has 160 floors with a viewing platform on level 124.  The elevator goes up 10 metres per second which is very fast.

There is also The Atlantis 7 star hotel which has the famous Lost Chambers within.  The only way to get to this hotel is to go through an under ground  600 metre tunnel under the Arabian sea.  And of course we cant forget the Palm resort that is shaped as a date palm in the Arabian Sea.  It has 17 branches that can be seen from space.  Also, the world residential islands.  Many famous people have bought one of these with a starting price from 10 million to 100 million on the water!  No joke!! These iconic buildings have up to 2000 visitors a day!

Another well known building is The Burj al Arab.  It is built 300 metres out on the Arabian ocean and 321 metres high.  It is shaped as a breaking wave or a giant sail.  It has a reef aquarium for the guests that can only be visited by a submarine.  Seriously… everything here is totally extravagant!

SHOPPING!

Ok. So we visited the biggest shopping centre in the world.  You name it, they have it.  Including an ice rink, large water fountain that puts on a spectacular show to music every night, an indoor aquarium.  That is only naming a few things.  We got to visit only for a short time, well five hours actually.  But it apparently takes 3 days to walk around it!  So we didn’t get to see that much!  We had an amazing steak and chips (that is all I had been craving since leaving home) and a pedicure.  The red African soil on our feet was very obvious. 

One thing that was amazing about the Dubai Mall is that each level has the same type of products.  For example, if you wanted to buy children’s clothing or toys it would be all together on the same level, side by side.  If you wanted to buy electrical equipment it would all be together.  It just seemed so practical to me and something I wish Australia would adopt. It means that even though it is the biggest shopping centre in the world, it can still seem small to the locals who come and visit regularly, instead of walking back and forth for hours like we do!

There are also many many moscs in Dubai.  The opinion in the Jumerah moscs is that “Open doors = Open minds”

So when visiting Dubai they open up the doors of the moscs to all non muslims and visitors to come and have a taste of what they believe. Islam means submission to spiritual and temporal behaviour, which is why there is a prayer call five times a day throughout the nation.  Friday is their holy day.

The Old Souke Markets

I was in shoe heaven!

We were only in Dubai for 3 days, but we definitely made the most of  every minute.  We went on a tour bus that dropped as at a museum and then the Old Souk Markets.  It was an incredible experience.  The sights, smells and sounds captivated us upon entering.  What I loved is that you can negotiate every price!  I truly wish I had an empty suitcase to fill!

One of my Henna Tattoos

We then on an Arabian Safari.  Nothing like the one in Africa!  We went out into the dessert in 4 wheel drives and watched the sun go down.  The driver drove very very fast over the sand dunes, it was so scary, I felt like I was at dreamworld!  I also think the louder we screamed the faster he would go!  I was so sure we were going to roll.  We asked him if this was his first time driving…he said yes!   He was joking!  The Arabs actually have a great sense of humour, we were just not expecting it on the first occasion when we arrived at 2 am off the plane and the concierge apologized that our booking was cancelled.  We were so not impressed, but he said that the look on our faces was worth it!  We then arrived at a beautiful place where we rode on camels, watched belly dancing, got henna tattoos and ate an authentic Arabian meal.  We met some great people.  Everyone has a different story to tell… I love it!

Christmas Traditions

Christmas arrived with gusto for me this year. I came back from Africa only five days before.  It didn't even feel like Christmas in Uganda. They are not as extravagant as we are with decorations, music and advertising everywhere like we are here in Australia.   I thought I was organised before leaving but it became very apparent that I wasn't!  I didn't realise how many presents I had to wrap. Why did I have 5 kids again? Oh my goodness...

Christmas Cooking!

A Favourite Tradtion!

You see my husband Martin is Danish. So they celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve only. It is always a great time together with family. It works out great for us...Christmas Eve with Martin's family and Christmas Day with my family.
The Danes have so many unique traditions. One of them is walking around the Christmas tree holding hands and singing Christmas carols before opening the presents.  Really puts things into perspective!
It is lots of fun for the children and can be very moving too when singing some of the more traditional carols like "Oh Holy Night".  Another tradition is the "Almond game". A whole blanched almond is hidden in a rice pudding, also with chopped up almonds in (they only eat this pudding on Christmas Eve, no other time of the year). The idea of the game is to find the almond while eating the pudding without biting it..AND without telling anyone. You have to discreetly get it out of your mouth without anyone seeing!  If you are lucky enough to do all that, you then receive an awesome present. There is usually one for the adults and one for the kids. Martin always wins because he eats 5 times more than anyone else!

So it got me thinking....what are some of the traditions that we have as Australians or in the Hansen family?
I never thought we had any, just like I thought I didn't have an accent either, well until going to Africa!  So apart from the obvious.... beach, prawns on the BBQ, I couldn't think of anything.  So I thought I  would share our Hansen family tradition that we do every year.

1.  After having our children, Christmas suddenly took on a whole new level. They rip open the presents, fling the paper over the shoulder only to want more! So many years ago after the carnage of one Christmas morning, I was grieved feeling like we had lost the true meaning of Christmas. So I decided that every Christmas morning we would have a party for Jesus!  With balloons, streamers and a chocolate cake for breakfast. We light the candles and sing happy birthday. The week leading up to Jesus birthday we talk lots about it in preparing for "the party" just like we would for any other member of our family. I have found this really works and creates a good atmosphere for my kids as we start opening presents.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

2.  When we do open the presents, I set a new set of rules all those years ago too.... One person only chooses a present for someone and gives it to them. We all watch them open it and comment. Then that person chooses a gift for someone else and we then watch them open it. It goes on like that until all presents are opened.

  

Yes... It does take a long while!  

But I was determined to find a way for the children to take the focus off themselves and onto others. 

It's so ok to have fun on Christmas Day and indulge in food and gifts, but we just need to remember the real reason for this season!

ARRIVING HOME...AT LAST!

Home at last!....

                                                   We flew from Dubai to Singapore, then Singapore to Melbourne. 

Our husband's looking very anxious that our
plane lands safely

It was actually good, because that allowed us to go through customs then freshen up in the bathrooms after our 15 hour flights.. Trust me, we needed it! 


We then arrived home (Cooloongatta)  on a domestic flight from Melbourne. Everyone was probably wondering what on earth all the fuss was for, just from Melbourne! You see my family and friends were there to greet us. They made signs that we could see from a long way off before we even came through the doors! my son Joshua made the most amazing card I have ever received! It has me on the front holding one of the African babies from Uganda and on the inside he spent hours drawing a map of the world with all the countries and a flight path of where I had been! One that I will cherish for ever!

The amazing card Josh made for me!

 Then if that wasn't enough, my mother had many balloons connected by string with welcome back written all over them. She then proceeded to wrap them around me! It was an incredible scene, one that I will never forget. It was so good to be home, I almost wanted to kiss the ground! When we were going through customs, I truly never thought I would miss the greeting "g'day mate, how's it going".  When I heard those words I nearly cried! I might be more patriotic then I thought!

It was so good to see all my children again, I'm sure they have all grown in 3 weeks! When we finally arrived back to house, the kids were so proud to say they had cleaned up the house.  The house was totally spotless! What a relief that was!! 

Kylie and Jaccii made huge signs!

My beautiful Angela

Brodie and Corey

My big boy Lachlan who is now taller than me!

Since coming back I have missed a lot of things in Ugands, but since being home I have found more things to be greateful for that I used to take for granted...

A few things I am now more grateful for:

• Drinking water from a tap and
• Brushing my teeth with tap water
• Home cooked meal (Aussie style!)
• Not squatting for a toilet
• Hot, looong showers
• Clean air
• My iPhone 4 and great telstra coverage!
• Australian currency that I understand!
• Driving my own car
• Traffic lights and road rules
• Not living out of a suitcase
• My amazing pillow top kingsize bed! (without mosquito nets)
• Being a mother to my 5 amazing children
• And of course my husband... It turns out that absence does make the heart grow fonder!

Mixed Emotions...Sad to Leave Uganda

 Murchison Falls

We got up early and left in time to catch a ferry across the Nile. I am sad to leave the Paraa Safari Lodge. For me it felt like were living at sizzler... With an amazing buffet at every meal!

We drove through Wadongo forest where they do chimp tracking (we only saw Baboons though!), then stopped at Murchison Falls.. That was spectacular! There is such a sad history with these falls.  In the 1960s Idi amin was the army chief of staff he stormed the royal palace and through the kings out and anyone else who was against him into the River Nile.  Yoweri Museveni and his brother started tactics to take over from the government in the 80s and only came into power in the 90s when they put a stop to all the killings. Praise god!

Our return to Kampala was 6 long bumpy hours. Oh my gosh I wish Watoto added sports bra to the packing list!  We then stopped at the church office to pick up our passports, (they keep them in a safe for us during our stay).   And of course we got to stop at the markets one last time since we have been begging Colin (our host)to every day.   He just doesn't understand why women love babies and shopping so much! So we have been training him up for his future wife!  He was telling us that in Uganda you have to save up and buy cows, chooks and goats to give to the wife's family in order for them to allow her to marry him. And the quality and amount of animals that you give determines how well the husband will provide for their daughter! Talk about pressure!

For lunch we went out to a "western" restaurant it was great since breakfast was 9 hours earlier. For dinner we were shouted by Watoto to an Italian restaurant for an APPRECIATION dinner which they do to all volunteers who come to serve. We felt very privileged and honored to spend time with annie the director of the bulrushes baby home. We heard many amazing stories of some the babies that have come through the Bulrushes. She had our full attention all night. We asked many questions!
We are now back home (At Kampala) and trying to figure out how I am going to pack my suitcase and get all my African artifacts through customs!! Arrgh!


As our time in Africa draws to a close I am reflecting on James 1:27
Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after the orphans and widows and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I  would love for God to see me as pure and faultless or at least see that my heart wants to be. But not being polluted by the world is very hard when it is all around us.  This journey to Africa has helped me to see life with a different perspective. Sharing a life experience with 7 different people from around the world - the good time, the bad times, the ugly times, the sad times. But this has only made me stronger in Who I am in God. I endeavour to go home with my heart and mind enlarged and live life unselfishly by the grace of God. 
I think what it means is to enlarge our mind as well not just our capacity to serve in church or our workplace or even in our families.   Sometimes we can even put borders on our thinking.  My perspective of God after my journey to Africa has broken all mindsets and only enlarged the territory of my thoughts now. God is so much bigger than we can ask think or imagine just like the scripture reminds us. Ephesians 3:20

Sad to say goodbye to our amazing team...

God has totally exceeded all my expectations above and beyond anything I imagined before I came here....and this is only the beginning! 

We were so sad on the plane after saying good-bye at the airport

 

SAFARI

We left Gulu early to head for Safari at the Paraa Lodge. 

It was a four hour road trip that seemed to go fast because we were so excited.  Except for the toilet stop which was a hole in the ground... not a nice experience, but relief all the same!

Upon arriving it was so nice to see electricity and water was all working after being in Gulu!  Its a 5 star lodge and very warm and welcoming.  We were told that the wildlife is very close by and not to leave our doors open because baboons come in and steal things!  So funny..

Last night when we were getting ready for bed we heard noises, and right outside our door we saw hippos with a baby eating, then not long after we saw 3 large elephants and a baby.  They were knocking down trees in the process.  The guards nearby didn't waste anytime in making noise to encourage them to move on.  Apparently the hippos like to eat the short grass because it doesn't poke up their noses!

I have found out lots of interesting information while staying here on Safari.

Here are some of the things I have learnt:

• The animal like Pumba in the Lion King (Wart Hog) walks backwards into his home
• The Crane birds stay faithful all their life to their partner bird, (they are also on the Ugandan Flag and Money)
• Antelope are also faithful partners remaining with the same one for life!
• Antelope are also very forgetful, they forget where and why they are running then stop, and usually get eaten by a lion! (Hence the term "like a deer in headlights!") Thats why they are better in groups.
• The Safari we went on cover over 8500 square metres
• The Lodge is located right on the River Nile
• This lodge is 12 km from the Congo (Where the LRA are), but takes much longer by car
• When male buffalos get old, they kicked out of their herds and live the rest of their life alone
• The giraffes that are darker in colour are very old and male only
• If the lioness takes too long to bring back dinner, the male lion eats the babies!
• They sleep for 20 ours a day and divorce after mating
• People only fear elephants and not lions.  They look the lions in the eyes and they run off, but elephants charge
• Birds are always on elephants backs because they pick ticks off them to eat
• The elephants gestation period is 22 months
• They live to be 80 years old
• An adult elephant weighs 6000 kgs
• A baby elephant weighs 250 kgs
• Elephants have a 40 year memory, (If a poacher comes and tries to kill them, they will remember them years later!)
• Crocs fear hippos 
• I have also learnt to get out of the car and push next time when bogged in mud, and not to think of any unsuspecting animals lurking! 
• Hippos stay in groups of only one dominate male and the rest female
• The male hippo weighs 5000 kgs
• The female hippo weighs 3500 kgs
• Hippos like coming to graze on short grass during the night because they hate the long grass going up their noses!