S T O R I E S
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
~ Helen Torrey
I logged on to share in regard to 60:60 and I am so blessed by reading the comments people have to share. Thank you so much for being open and sharing, it is so inspiring.
On Sunday I printed out some awesome verses out of Romans and made them into little cards. Every hour at work so far this week I have picked one up and read it. I am so awed by God's incredible love for us, his 'no strings attached, just believe in me' gift of grace, mercy, foregiveness, love...and salvation. I don't deserve it, but I am soo incredibly grateful for it. (And for the impact that 60:60 has had and is having in my life.)
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Tuesday, 22 September 2009
~ Ruta Lesa
I must admit, I haven't done the 60/60 experiment until recently. Our lives were turned upside recently when our family was hit with a double tragedy. My niece's life ended in a tragic accident. A careless person, after consuming too much alcohol, thinks that he is conscious enough to drive. He ran a red light and hit my beautiful nieces' oncoming car. She died on impact, her small petite body could not withstan the brutal force of impact. I told my sister that I will never forgive that man. His apology means nothing to me whatsoever. It was during this time that the 60/60 came to me and i started talking to God. I must admit, my heart was as black as a charcoal. The bitterness and all the ugly emotions raging war in my soul. I cry out to God. "how could you do this?" I was looking to blame everyone and everything for that. Talking to the Lord has somewhat helped eased the pain. The promise of hope and the plan of Salvation helped me a lot. Gods' answered to me was, "Will you not forgive your fellow brother as I have forgiven you? Did I give me life up for you in vain?" This has made me realize that the devil is very close to my heart. I am pushing God away and letting Satan run my life. After talking to my Father in heaven, I picked up the phone and called my sister in America. They have been going on the weekend to visit the one whos' mistake has cost her beloved daughters life. Her actions spoke to me in volume. I told her that on their next visit, would she please tell him that I forgave him and that I am sorry. Edwina, my sister, said something to me that I will never forget and it had stuck in my mind the whole time that my unforgiving heart wouldn't accept Joes (not real name)apology. She said, "Sis how can I not forgive this person when our Almighty Father have forgiven us our sins? How can I hold a grudge when God had gave His only Son to die in our place?" I tell you checking in with the God has helped me tremendously. A week after my niece passed away, my husbands niece in Sydney, Australia also died. Her life ended in a homicide. My daughter and I haven't have the chance to meet her at all. But after dealing with the loss of my sisters daughter I now have the stregth to deal with this one. I put my faith in the Lord because I know that He is never far away. He is my Rock during rough times, my Shelter during stormy nights and my Strength during these trying times. I thank Him for the plan of Salvation that He had laid out for me, for the greatest Hope of all, His second coming, and for all that He had done for me. My human nature will always surfaces now and than, but I know that if I keep closer to God and talk to Him everyday, my soul will be well. Yes it is well, it is well with my soul! Thank you, this experiment, albeit I wasn't faithful in doing it from the start, has helped me reevaluate my life and brought me closer again to Our Father!
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Thursday, 10 September 2009
~ Lisa Kask
60:60 has been having some interesting effects on my work life.
I particularly wanted to share one. On Tuesday I decided that I wanted to
focus on answering my 63 unanswered emasils and because I was so busy I did
not do 60:60. With all the interruptions I had that day I only managed to
get my emails down to 53 unanswered. However on Wednesday I did the 60:60
throughout the day and finished the day with a remaining of 7 unanswered
emails in my inbox. Its very exciting to see that even though im busy if I
take time for God I can get way more work done.
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Friday, 4 September 2009
~ Christina Levi
I began the 60:60 Experiment asking God to please place people in my path who He would have me share Him with and may I be able to listen more to his promptings in my life. I shared one of my God experiences during church a few weeks ago, about how I had intentions for Rob and I to attend the C/Christian celebration but God had other plans for us that night. God impressed Rob and I to spend over an hour at our kitchen table, sipping on cups of tea with my hubby's work colleague (whose name is Rob also) talking about 'GOD' and his feelings on God! His wife got a bit worried because he arrived home late. Later on that week his wife told me that she felt a little envious because she missed out on having some God conversations too! She told me her hubby came home and was 'On Fire' for the Lord, sharing to her all we had talked about that night. She asked me later that week, when will she get an invite around home? Totally out of character, without consulting my husband, I quickly took the opportunity to invite the whole family around home for dinner that coming Friday night. (This is soooo God's leading!!!)
Friday night arrives and here we are, opening our Sabbath and our home and sharing a meal with this beautiful family, that is eager to know about the awesome God that we love and serve. We ate with them that night, we talked a lot about God and what we believe, they shared their beliefs with us also, we sang and worshiped together, and then we finished the night off huddled in a circle with arms around each other in prayer. Glory to God and all he has done and is continuing to do!
Their youngest son Michael, is really wanting to know about Jesus, so we started sharing our book series of 'Forever Friends' with him. Each week he gets one book to read and when he's done he returns the book back and tells us what his thoughts are and if he has any questions. His comment was, "I don't usually like reading but I'm enjoying reading these books." Michael has read books 1 & 2 so far. Book 3 is due this coming week. His mum got a little curious and started reading the books herself. Her comment was "I like reading the books because it's simple to understand." Isn't that what the Kingdom of GOD is all about? It's not complicated... humans make it complicated! God is very simple...God is LOVE, unconditional LOVE. No strings attached, come as you are, kind of God!
My prayer is that God will impact this family's life the way he has impacted mine this last month. I pray that he will present more opportunities for me share His love with them and with others and may I be willing and able to hear His voice when he speaks to me. I've invited this family to Spring Praise this week, I pray that they are able to come.
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Saturday, 22 August 2009
~ Louise Inglis
Hey Kimberly,
I'm with you!! The challenges recently seem to have mounted relentlessly. Like you, I've often thought that my more-regular-than-usual connection with God (prompted by 60:60) is what has helped me to stay (barely) head above water. Thank you for sharing Kimberley. The very real pressures you face remind me I'm not alone! Thank you also for reminding us to keep God's word in the forefront of our minds. I used to do that so much more regularly and was really strengthened by doing so. I'm up to your challenge! After a particularly demanding two days, yesterday I finally had some quiet time as I walked home from the morning school drop off. As I walked in the morning sunshine I felt as if God's love was embracing me and filling me with peace. God really is there all the time for us and when I do pause and open myself to Him He is always ready and waiting to bless me.
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Saturday, 15 August 2009
~ Kimberley
Okay - no kidding, the last two weeks have been the weeks from HELL!
This 60:60 thing has kept me SANE [only just]....
They include:
- MULTIPLE assignments due [and accidentally wiping whole final copy 2 hrs before it was due]
- Printer not working to print assignments
- Internet not working to submit assignments
- getting sick and having to go to the doctors [which i haven't needed to do in 4 years!!]
-getting a blood test
- having my car break down, staying at the "shop" for 2 weeks more than intended, then costing $1k more than expected!!!!!!
- having to do approx 10 HOURS overtime in ONE week!
- trying to manage uni and work [having 16 hour days 5 days a week...]
.. All this stress slowly adds up in the end..
My way of beating all this is by reading a memory verse every hour. It's the same memory verse and i keep reading it every hour till i've memorised it... Then, i find another verse and do the same..
The memory verse that has got me through the last couple of weeks has been Phillipians 4:6-7
"Don't worry about ANYTHTHING! - instead, PRAY about EVERYTHING! TELL God what you need, and Thank Him for all he has done. THEN you will experience God's peace - HIS peace will guard your heart and mind.."
i encourage -no - Challenge you to take this memory verse experiment.... write it on a piece of paper or on something you keep with you, and say it to yourself every hour till you memorise it.... you'll be amazed at how it can change your "mood"..
*and see how many you can memorise...*
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Friday, 14 August 2009
~ Arrianna
60:60 has definitely heightened my awareness of the constant presence of God, and His interest in my life. As I've been touching base with God throughout my day, He has given me the courage to complete things that I have been afraid to do for months. I also find myself asking God more often "how do you feel about this?" in any given situation. I am also praying more for specific people, especially the boys in my Life Group. I hope that others are being blessed by this experiment. I think it was cool how Leanne asked people to share their experiences with the experiment. I personally would love that to happen every week :) I started it "kinda" in the first week, but after hearing others stories on Sabbath, I decided to do it properly. The power of testimony!
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Friday, 14 August 2009
~ Travis Kask
I came to Christ 3 years ago through the loving friendship and support of a couple from PAPSDA. They invited my now wife and I to join their small group where we could discuss the questions we had about God. Wow what a journey that was I felt like I had found the one thing I'd been searching for my whole life. I learnt all about this kind, gentle and wonderful Jesus, who died for my sins and loves me and just wants to be part of my life.
I've been studying about the type of relationship God desires with each and every one of us and I desperately want that too! Later however I have been feeling distant from God and its seems like my prayers are very one sided, I just wasn't hearing anything from God anymore. Life got busy and my focus became more and more about work and less about my relationship with my God - I was just too busy!
Realising I had a problem I went on the hunt for a book about Prayer and one stood out very clearly - like this book was written especially for me 'Too busy not to pray'. I started reading it and it all made sense to me, this is great I thought if I just do this I can sort my prayer life out. Well so I thought! I'm half way through the book and guess what I found - I'm too busy to pray - Go figure!
Anyway Warrick introduced this 60/60 experiment at PAPSDA a few weeks back I learned about 60/60 and how this simple yet life changing experiment could be the answer to my prayers. God put in my heart to give it a go and so I bought a watch to beep every 60 minutes.
I'm only on day 13 and already I feel that God has started to reveal a whole new world to me. I'm finding myself talking to God more and more each day and I can see where He's leading me which is the most amazing experience I've had since I first discovered Christ. I'm really excited about what might happen over the next few weeks and I want to encourage any of you that haven't started yet to GIVE IT A GO! It will radically change your world - go on I dare you to!
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Friday, 14 August 2009
~ Leanne
I'm really enjoying the discipline of intentionally connecting with God every 60 minutes. I always chat with God throughout the day, but 60:60 has made me be more intentional about not only asking God for guidance in my conversations, but also recognize and intentionally thank Him for the blessings of the past hour. I'm loving it!!
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Friday, 14 August 2009
~ Anonymous
I'm finding I'm having more conversations with God even between "beeps". His presence is very real, and results of knowing and feeling that are freaking me out a little. I'm finding I'm being a little more obedient when the Spirit prompts me. That scares me somewhat as it requires me to be brave, when I'm not naturally so. Seems God is being brave for me though. I want to get better and better at living moment by moment in His presence.
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Friday, 14 August 2009
~ Helen Torrey
I am so profoundly blessed by participating in this 'Experiment'. I have a 60:60 card at the base of my computer monitor and so it often catches my attention. The more I pause to dwell on God, the deeper my sense of trust in God grows and accompanying that is the awesome peace that comes with trusting God.
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Monday, 10 August 2009
~ Anonymous
My husband and I work together and decided today to do the experiment. We just had our third prayer and each hour is getting more and more exciting. Man, does God bless us all day long and we miss it because we don't stop to connect with Him? Thank you Papsda Leaders for challenging us in this way. Day 1, and we already feel God in a more powerful way.
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Friday, 7 August 2009
~ Anonymous
Whenever I have been in a group of people invariably a phone will sound indicating a txt has arrived, or a watch beeps marking time, or a laptop chimes saying a skype or email message has just come in. After the 60:60 experiment started each of these audible warnings or chimes have suddenly become another reason to stop and have a think about God... I have been finding myself often considering "God" multiple times each hour, even though I myself have been quite slack in resetting the timer on my phone for "another 59mins".
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Friday, 7 August 2009
~ Anonymous
Beep Beep - the watch goes off again. Sometimes ignored, sometimes noted...but beginning to take a mental note that this means God is here. Right here with me. (and the mac computer and facebook!)
Hard to believe at times He is so interested in me. Everything I do. When I spend time to reflect and pause I sometimes wonder how boring it must be to be God as there is nothing that exciting happening in my life much of the time. But when you think about it for a bit longer and spend more time reflecting I remember that the best times are spent with friends just being with each other! I hope through 60:60 I will learn to be - to be with God 60:60
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Thursday, 6 August 2009
~ Katie
well,when im at school i somtimes forget that god is ALWAYS there for me and i think 6060 has helped me when school gets tough which is good because i realy need him with me alot. so yeh its GREAT
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Thursday, 6 August 2009
~ Dave Simpson
Was just in the middle of my break in the lunch room with a work collegue. She started asking me questions about what church that i went to and what I believed in. Started to answer her questions with one word answers and then in to 5min rants of how great our God is and what he has in plan for us. We finished the conversation with her saying "I want to read the bible and find out about God". This was such a cool this being able to spent some time talking to a non-Christian about what a great God we have a how he has a plan for all of us. This was a great hour.
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Thursday, 6 August 2009
~ Jacinda
I agree Louise. Take this blogging for example. We had a couple of days where e-mails on our server just weren't getting through to me, hence a couple day's gap in blogging. Perhaps the devil wanted to block a very powerful testimony from getting through?
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Wednesday, 5 August 2009
~ Louise
Does anyone else feel like Satan is really peeved about 60:60? I've had a series of frustrations this week, way more than is usual. Is it just me, or are others feeling that Satan is doing his best to thwart our attempts to connect with God?
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Monday, 3 August 2009
~ Anonymous
I am surprised that our children are so keen to be a part of the 60:60 experiment. After one of the reminders went off while driving we had this amazing conversation; about life after death, how do we know if Jesus is real and when will Jesus return to earth. i was blown away at the opportunity that arose from an alarm going off. I will always treasure that conversation.
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Monday, 3 August 2009
~ Keira
Totally find myself looking at the clock to see how long I have until I check in with God again... What I am loving, is that it seems like it is now a constant conversation with God. Almost like "I did the day with Him." Considering I am a Christian this is not a profound idea. I would never have imagined the profound affect it is having - just because I check in.
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Monday, 3 August 2009
~ Joshua Bagg
Every day since I started 60:60 I realise how much I usually don't count God in my day. The experiment has made me pray more than I would on normal days.
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Monday, 3 August 2009
~ Douglas Bagg
I started 60:60 on 2 of August. My Dads phone keep's ringing for 60:60. I say a prayer when it goes off.
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Monday, 3 August 2009
~ Karli
I began 60:60 from the church service on the weekend. I'm so glad it took me less than 24 hours to work out how much of a dope I was checking the clock to see if it was time to talk to God yet! Duh! This is experience has definitely heightened my awareness of my need for God, minute by minute. Praise Him for His continued faithfulness when I am unfaithful.
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Monday, 3 August 2009
If you tried to blog on Saturday or Sunday (1 or 2 Aug) and your blog is not showing up, please try again. We had a problem with our system over the weekend. Our apologies for the inconvenience.
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Sunday, 2 August 2009
~ Louise Inglis
As I paused this morning to think about my relationship with God, I tried to think of it from His perspective rather than mine. It struck me how amazing it is that the God who created the universe, the God who keeps the sun & planets in motion and the God who has been in existence for eternity wants to have a close friendship with me. I like to think that my friends want to spend time with me, but it seems strange that I could have anything to offer to God. Yet, that is how it seems. When God had created Adam and Eve he liked to walk and talk with them in the garden. He seemed to want to know them and be with them. He must have experienced such pain and loss when they sinned and then hid from Him. He waited thousands of years before he was able to be with humans again in such an intimate and close way. Yet even when he walked the earth again, in human flesh, He wanted to make our relationship even closer. On His departure from earth He gifted us with the Holy Spirit so He could dwell within us. It seems God has done everything He possibly can to make it as easy as possible for me, and all of us to connect with Him. I think God’s heart must have been beating fast on Sabbath morning as He saw so many of us at Papsda and on the teen-youth camps coming forward to collect our 60:60 reminders. He is probably bursting with anticipation at having so many of us planning to connect far more regularly with Him. Wow, finally, maybe He’s going to get the closeness He yearns for as we truly invite Him into every part of our life.
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Wednesday, 29 July 2009
~ Jacinda Turnbull
I started the 60:60 Experiment on Monday. It’s now Wednesday. I’ve set my cellphone to beep every 60 minutes. My work requires me to do do lots of “God stuff” anyway, but it can become habitual rather than meaningful. So the regular interruptions help me focus on God’s presence, and I send Him a quick message of thanks and invite Him to keep drawing me into His presence. It’s working. Sometimes the interruptions are most inconvenient – like when I’m rather “unchristian”, but it’s probably just God’s perfect timing – reminding me that I’m rather imperfect and need His presence more than anything. |
