Heart Reflections Live

Well, we are all unpacked and settled back in after a wonderfully refreshing & well deserved break!!

The children had a lovely time with their grandparents & though we missed them "something shocking", we had a lovely time ourselves enjoying the romance & atmosphere of a 100 year old
Bed & Breakfast Maleny Lodge, & slept peacefully as the rain on the tin roof lulled us off to sleep...There is nothing like a rainy day up in the hills...
But while we were busy relaxing, reading aloud, walking the local streets, God was busy, as He always is, setting up providential meetings & circumstances for us, while we holidayed.


After settling in, we thought we'd take a stroll down the street, grab some lunch & rediscover the local 2nd hand shopping, which is great in Maleny. We were browsing in an op-shop when I over heard a lady speaking of some Christian charity work she was involved in overseas & her orphanage work. I waited while she finished, & then felt led of the Lord to ask about it, as the 2 countries she mentioned, my husband has a great heart for, & has many contacts there. I mentioned how he had set up a charity for the poor in Malaysia, & how he wished to expand into these other countries as well. Hubby came down the stairs & I left them to talk, he gave her a card & she will catch up with us, before her next trip. The meeting will most likely benefit both parties & I scored a lovely long black skirt as well!

After having a quick lunch at a little cafe, we went back up the street to check out a great 2nd hand bookshop, where I'd gotten a couple of great buys in the past. While it's often tempting for me to want to bring home half the shop, I got 2 bargains to share with the children ( I love the children's section!!)- a reproduction Victorian Poetry book for kids-Talitha LOVES the pictures! & God saw fit to bless me with a holiday annual of Jack & Jill 1979! I'd been searching for them for years. They were my favourite comic book as a child- very sweet & innocent-an English publication- the girls love it too- God is so good! Does anyone else in blogland remember "Jack & Jill" from the 1970's?


Back at the B & B we got chatting to an older couple who had checked in for the night. They attended a Westminster Presbyterian Church too! Two of their adult children are in full-time ministry & they took a card to pass on to one of them, who'd been to Malaysia too.

We spent so long chatting to & fellowshipping with this lovely couple, that we lost track of the time, & forgot that a lot of eateries in & around Maleny either close early, or aren't open at all on Monday nights. So we decided to drive to Montville & came upon God's next providential meeting.


Just to recap a bit, we have some dear friends from central Queensland, who we visited last year during the September school holidays. We initially met them through our church & they come back to the Coast 2 or 3 times a year to catch up with family & friends. We'd had a laugh after Church the previous Sunday over the amazing coincidence that both of our families had decided to use gift vouchers that we'd had for ages, on the same 2 nights, away from the kids- we in Maleny & them in Montville & had already arranged to meet somewhere for coffee one afternoon to catch up. Anyway, we drove to Montville, found that the Pennyfarthings English Pub was still open for meals-just-so we thought we'd pop in there. Our friends emerged from behind a partition-"Surprise! Whatever made you decide to come here?" Our response-"They were the only place open!!". So we got some extra catch-up time with them, while we had our meal & enjoyed afternoon tea with them as well as Maleny Cheese, the next day. God has an amazing sense of humour!!



The next day was wet & rainy, but deliously cosy in the lodge, so we didn't really miss our stroll down town-besides I could hardly move after the delicious 5 course breakfast! We drove out to the coast that night for a movie-"The Pursuit of Happyness"- excellent movie- really highlights the plight of the poor-it really made us want to hug our girls too!! Then we grabbed some Chinese that we ate back at the B& B.

After a good nights sleep & a relaxing morning we couldn't wait to hug our girls & get them back from their holiday with my Mum & Dad. We had a wonderful break & have decided to try to do it more often than once every 5 years!!