When you are the moon

The moon is full tonight and it's massive. I'm talking seriously is this some kind of Deep Impact/Day After Tomorrow Jeff Goldblum movie or at least an episode of Mighty Boosh. Heouge. God is so big. Unfathomably. My finite mind can't conceive of it which is radical because I don't want to be able to. If I could that would make God measurable and I rest at night knowing He's not.

So I've been distracted for far too long by things which a) I can't really do anything about and b) probably aren't a problem anyway. Insecurities. What a pile of dung they are. God has told me who I am and I constantly reject it, preferring to believe I'm not enough. Not enough for God, not enough for my family, not enough for my friends and not enough for a partner. And I realise tonight what a steal that is.

These are the things I know I am, things that make me feel like me:

An encourager
An instigator
Enthusiastic
Excitable
Positive
Silly

And the more I dwell inwardly on my insecurities and the things I think I lack, the less I have been those things I used to know I was. The less I encourage and the less positive I've been. Too scared to be foolish. Too concerned to be relaxed. What a thief the enemy is. Fear diminishes in the presence of awakened identities. I read that somewhere.

Know who you are. You are a beloved child of God, forever safe in Him. And be confident in the character He has given you. The more time we spend dwelling on the things we fear might be true about ourselves, the less time and energy we give to wholeheartedly being the things we know are true. I'm tired of being afraid and preoccupied with what may or may not be in my future. My future is now. And I want to spend it having fun with God and helping other people to.

Henri Nouwen - Life of the Beloved

Well that's just swell.

Hey howdy hey Northsiders

Here's some up dizzle from Austrizzle...

Matt came here to push the Pure Parks vision and he's really storming, the guys are doing trips nearly every weekend and taking groms with them. He's also connecting with and organising other teams of people to come and do Pure Parks trips... champion. His blog is here: radmiller.tumblr.com check out God's hammers.

The shops are always pretty quiet around this time so no big news there, Derek's still taming it keeping them juiced with hardware and as we're fully stocked with clothes I'm trying to learn to say no to reps without feeling guilty. The guys are all doing great jobs in the stores connecting with the locals and giving out more Bibles than the Gideons*

We have the keys for our indoor skatepark! Though the ramps have been delayed coming from the US so more accurately we have the keys to an empty warehouse! Please pray we have no more delays getting the park up and running with installation, insurance and all the setup, it's costing a big ole massive heap of money.

Anika has been connecting with girls at the skatepark which is awesome to see, she's a brilliant slice of Madrid in my day.

Overall One Friday is awesome, everyone is awesome, God is awesome. You knew that.

I'm doing some more artwork and praying God keeps reminding me why I'm doing it and keeps my heart in check. Some exciting stuff in the pipeline although I'm trying not to count my penguins.

And then if you want to talk to Jesus about me...

Over the last year I've started to have an anaphylaxis reaction when I dance and get hot. Sweet awesomeness! My eyes swell up so I look like I've been trying to get an eyelash out using a slice of onion after being told my puppy's dead. Very chameleon chic. A couple of weeks ago I got a bit hectic on the dance floor with Kath out for her hen do and had to spend the night in A&E. She stayed with me... what a beautiful friend she is.

Mr Doc says there's nothing that can be done, just take antihistamine before similar situations (which makes me drowsy) and then take stronger ones at the first sign and then go to hospital if it gets stupid. If you know me then you know what a bummer this is. Not a massive thing in the greater scheme of life but it impacts something I find great freedom in. So of course I welcome prayer about that, I'm praying too, it'll be interesting to see if God tells me it's related to anything else I need to sort out.

Super de duper.

Miss you all, thanks for your prayers and for being my friends!

*probably not as many as the Gideons. But it's a lot.

Go get the fun.

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to talk about our base value Fun at morning worship. Base values are things that we have decided as a YWAM community to prioritise in our lives. Things we commit to doing regardless of the cost. They are: Knowing God, making Him known, being visionary, holiness, communitas and fun. When I first came here to be honest I thought "fun?! Why is that something we need to commit to doing at any cost? I have fun anyway, you don't need to tell me to have fun" and I thought it was a bit lame. Because at that time it was so easy for me to have fun. I had heaps of energy, time and friends. Who doesn't have fun?!

Then I got busy. I took on more responsibility in the shops and was so tired by the time I left work that I didn't have the energy or motivation to get out and do things. All I talked about was work, it filled my brain and my spare time. And I stopped having or being any fun. It sucked. I felt like no one wanted to be around me, that I had forgotten how to have or be fun and I had lost a big part of who God made me to be.

Until I was invited to Zumba. For those unfamiliar, Zumba is a big dance party in a dim room with disco lights masquerading as a fitness class. You're supposed to try to follow this energetic lady bouncing around at the front and the side effect is you get a bit fitter. The main result was I had fun. My gosh this is so much fun for me. For that hour I didn't think about indents and rosters and banking and stockchecks. This was my release and it made such a difference. I began to prioritise it in my schedule and Wednesday became the day I would actually leave work on time.

This was the first time in my life I've had to be intentional about having fun. And the first time I understood how essential it is. Proverbs says that a joyful spirit is health to the body but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Sorry I think I'm mixing translations there but you get the drift. Fun makes me more relaxed, it helps me to process things, it helps me to let things go. It straight up makes me happier. But sometimes we go through seasons where life isn't fun and opportunities to have fun don't swing past our door. And if that happens to you I'd encourage you to go out of your door and find the fun. It might not be Zumba for you, for some people that's their worst nightmare after that one about being chased by Big Bird. Go and have some of your fun. And if you don't know what your fun is, go and find out. Be intentional. Value it.

Go get the fun!

Kerie, Mallory, Kodan, Bryan and I then made everyone do Zumba. Enforced compulsory fun! Thanks to Claudie for the video.

Opening fists

How does one go about "letting go" of something that's lodged in one's mind? I've often quizzed God about this one.

It's not as if I can physically drop this out of my hands at Your feet although that would be the most wonderful freedom. I need to let go of it mentally and I want to open my brain fists which are currently squeezing the life out of it. Let my hands go soft and give this to You, hoping that You will do something with it. The thought of letting it go and it falling to the wayside overlooked and ignored is part of what makes my hands clench tighter. What if I let go and that action means it is lost forever? I think I can keep it and try to protect it and nurture it and encourage it in this way and that and perhaps it will grow into something beautiful. Probably not, I've killed so many plants. It really is always better in Your hands.

And perhaps this thing I grasp at is not what You want for me, not intended for me or healthy for me and You'd rather I let go and go on without. I want to trust You and I cling to the hope that that seed of faith will be enough for You to work with. You are forever faithful and although I can't package this thing up and ship it out, I'll choose in a thousand daily ways to offer it to You. Thank You for wanting to take it, my hands are exhausted.

Tongue tied.

When I don't feel like I have the right words to encourage

When I don't feel like what support I have to offer is enough

When I don't feel like I'm speaking "spiritually" enough

When I don't feel like I'm totally understanding the situation

When I don't feel like I can relate or be relatable...

I thank God that He is who He has said He is. Encourager, refuge, saviour, King, friend, supporter, protector, peace maker, all knowing, all encompassing, faithful, forgiving, patient, gracious, merciful Father of everyone I know.

Thank you Lord for knowing, loving, understanding, speaking to us and leading us in the midst of all our circumstances. Thank you that it isn't down to me 'cos I would balls it all right up.

Moselle Monster x Maths getting out there

I was asked to create some design elements for Moselle's first certified Fairtrade and Organic range of tees. Check it out on my other blog here.

Coolum News ran an article on it last week:

The content about the monsters being from my childhood is completely fabricated, I'm not from Buderim or a street artist but it's a sweet write up and hopefully will help spread the word on Moselle and what they're trying to achieve.

If you would like to know where the monsters are really from, Dan asked me some questions which you can read about on their blog here.

And you can buy from the Monster x Maths range by going here.

And by the by how beautiful is Mallory?! Ooo girl you gorgeous!

D-Rock The House.

This is Derek. He is from Michigan, makes awesome sandwiches and tried to teach me how to eat quicker.

He looks a bit like a hero in this photo and I think I chose it because 2011 was the year he saved my butt. I was enjoying my role in the shops but I was getting close to self destruct. I was viewing ranges for and reporting on and ordering and receiving and distributing all product for the stores plus fulfilling customer requests, trying to populate the online store, make sure the drinks machine was full, the rosta was functioning, doing all the banking... you get the picture. I'm not trying to toot my own horn saying I did all these things, I'm saying I couldn't do all these things. I had a minor break down and Derek was there to listen to me talk about it and Derek was there saying he would help me.

Derek took over taking care of all the hardware in the stores. That's all the skateboards and parts which we sell through quickly and are ever changing, leaving me to focus on the softgoods (shoes, clothes, accessories). For Derek it involves trying to stay on top of things so we don't run out of anything people want as well as keeping an eye on what's coming next so we have the freshest gear. It's hard work, pressured and endless and he's doing it so well. I simply didn't have the time or energy to look into this new longboard brand or that new bushing but he has brought in new products that I hadn't even heard of. He has his finger on the pulse and works really hard and now I don't stay at the warehouse until midnight anymore. "Thank you" doesn't quite cut it.

On top of this, over the last couple of years our weekly BBQ became his regular duty. I'm not sure if it officially was asked of him or if it was something that fell onto his shoulders but his willingness and faithfulness, week after week, buying the food and cooking it and keeping it going has been really incredible and very humbling. He's awesome.

He's in Michigan right now visiting his family and please pray he has a wonderfully refreshing and relaxing time with them. Please also pray for him this year as he looks into his next VISA to stay with One Friday and generally pray God's abundant blessing all over him. Having him as a part of the Boardstore team is a big blessing to me.

Cheers D-Rock!

Your friend Nibs x

Rocking around as a Christmas Tree

At the YWAM Christmas shindig each year we have a costume competition and this year I won thanks to some home-made stilts and battery powered fairy lights. Kodan's snowman was epic so I was lucky to just take it - check out all that paper-mache! The Naus family came as the Grinches after the judging had already happened - they were amazing too and arriving a little earlier would have been real game-changers! YWAM laid on a mechanical bull to great comic effect...

And their finished products!

I ended up doing three sessions at Namtec instead of the planned two, and seven hours instead of two. It was sweet to be able to do the extra session so they could see their projects through to completion. Their designs were awesome, they seemed really proud of what they'd made, Jocelyn said she was really pleased with how the programme went and hopefully we can do it again!

Designing Decks at Namtec

A while ago Boris hooked me up with a youth support officer called Jocelyn from Namtec in Nambour who runs a programme for youth who have trouble staying in school. They run alternative classes in an attempt to engage the teenagers and get them into anything productive rather than just skipping school. Jocelyn asked me to come in for two weekly sessions and run a class for the youth to design and make their own skate decks. It's been ages since Create2Skate and what they're doing is sweet so I was keen to get involved.

Yesterday was the first session in which I helped them hash out a few designs and decide on their final layout, colours and materials. Three girls came and one guy who left quickly, obviously not keen on being the only dude. Two of the girls enjoy art so were pretty into it and one was less keen and got a bit bored after sketching out one idea. I tried to keep them engaged and pushed them to consider all elements of their designs, encouraging them to look through the books and magazines I'd brought for inspiration and reference.

The girl who seemed least keen found an image in a book and ended up doing the most bold and striking design which was great and I found it easy to compliment them all on what they had come up with to make next week.

After an hour and a half it was time for them to go and I asked Jocelyn how she felt it went and if it had been what she expected. She told me that normally they don't all stay for the whole session, someone usually goes for a joint and doesn't come back. And for them to remain engaged in an activity for that long with no dramas was really unusual.

I'm stoked.

More love from Starbucks

SUP SUP SUP

Starbucks are awesome. Did you know that? They are giving Boardstore 5% of all purchases made using a Starbucks card in their Mooloolaba branch from now until the new year! So legit.

Now I already know you go to Starbucks Mooloolaba. It's like YWAM SC's second blue room. I can't walk past the place without seeing someone having a "one on one" there. And I know you SC skaters are way classier than you want people to know and sneak around with Flat Whites pretending they're Redbulls. So I am asking you please please please don't pay with cash or eftpos! You can get any amount put on a Starbucks card and pay with that instead and then we get cash! COLD HARD CASH!

And if you are frequenting a different coffee establishment, please consider switching to Starbucks for a spell. You're planning on meeting up with someone to catch up on their life and all their comings and goings? Why not choose Starbucks Mooloolaba for their friendly laid back atmosphere and their awesome choice of business partnerships? Going away drinks? Starbucks Mooloolaba. Birthday party? Starbucks Mooloolaba. Wedding reception? Starbucks Mooloolaba. Secretive courtship non-date? Say it with me... Starbucks Mooloolaba.

Here is an example of a conversation you can have with your friendly Starbucks Mooloolaba barista:

"Hi, I'd like a Supremo Chai Latte on Soy with a shot of Espresso and extra syrup with a rasher of bacon in it"

"That's not at all disgusting and will be $6.95"

"Sure, can I please put this cash in my hand onto a Starbucks card and pay with that?"

"Absolutely, you must be friends with Boardstore, how very on the ball of you!"

"Yes we love Boardstore, they're the best most yo dizzle skateshop in the whole of Australia and straight after I drink my franken-chai I'm going to go there and buy all my Christmas gifts!"

"Great idea, me too."

The end.

Thanks guys, we love you!
Claire

Getting Boardstore out there

Advertising! Come to our store! Please!

Desmond's multi media talents are off the chain. Where would we be without him? And thanks to Kristen, Cody and Morgan for not minding falling down on TV.

Me X Sacrifice X Boardstore X Movember

This is Mark aka Geltchy. The bobble-head version.

He and his wife Melissa have three boys. Energetic alliteration pocket rockets called Jye, Jesse and Josh. They have always had a heart for skaters and have been super faithful putting on Skate Church in Coolum and feeding free snags to the skaters at Coolum skatepark. Mark is a really talented artist and graphic designer and set up his own company Sacrifice Industries, one can check out all the pies he has fingers in by going to his website here.

Mark approached me to do a collaboration tee to raise money for Movember. And here it is! $10 from each shirt sold will be going to charity. It's the first time I've had my drawing on a shirt and I'm really flattered he asked me. And everyone Derek knows can have his face on their chest. I'm not sure how he feels about this but we're all enjoying it... Derek can even go double Derek. That won't feel weird at all. Thanks Mark!

Burgers, S.K.A.T.E. and Starbucks

I used to have a certain view of Starbucks. As a non-coffee drinker I didn't frequent their shops so it was formed by other people's representation of them and I wasn't really interested in forming my own. I had good friends that worked there and I certainly wasn't anti-Starbucks but generally I thought it was just another big chain taking over the world. I had no idea what values they were trying to implement in their stores but Rob Hensser (our base director), Boris and Derek knew alot more about it than I did. Aside from being coffee connoisseurs they've read the Starbucks story and knew that Starbucks value community and want to be a force for positive action in their neighbourhoods. And so they have been meeting with the big wigs from Starbucks Mooloolaba and it turns out that they are Christians and have been looking for ways to get involved locally outside their stores. Thus begins a beautiful partnership. Starbucks usually works with registered charities which we are not but they really grasp the concept of business as missions and want to support what we do. Huzzah for Starbucks!

Our first outing with them was a couple of weeks ago. We put on a free BBQ and a free game of S.K.A.T.E. and Starbucks brought along free coffee and cakes. We emailed a flyer to a popular skateboard website for them to post up on their forum and we got some interesting responses...

One of the guys goes on to call us "biblestore." It's uncomfortable to be hated but whatever you're doing you're going to get hated on and I'm stoked that of all things, they're hating on us for giving away free bibles. They got the church funded and SBA backstabbing bit wrong but it's pretty rad that people know us for being about Jesus and they're even putting it out there for us. Biblestore. Cool.

Regardless of the negativity Friday night was busy and people were loving the free goodies. The crew from Starbucks were so awesome and friendly. I had a good chat with their manager and she was saying how excited they are to be able to get out of the shop and do something in the community. The comp was super laid back - no PA system, no registration, just rock up and play skate and maybe win $200. It was pretty cool hearing one guy in the middle of a game say "oi watch my coffee!" forget Red Bull, Boardstore comps are way more classy.

Cheers to Desmond for the photos.

And... you're back in the room

My wonderful sister Lisa is expecting my first niece in a couple of weeks! I couldn't be at her baby shower which sucked big time so I made some bunting to decorate it. She loves Sausage dogs. And these colours tie in with the blinds in my niece's room. And I put a leopard print one in there just to remind my niece of me but coupled with the red satin it turned out a bit sexy which is less me and perhaps more than a little inappropriate for a baby's room but then I guess being a little inappropriate is quite me so it works. Maybe.

I skyped into the shower and it was just lovely sitting listening to everyone chat and being able to take part in a couple of games, I really felt like I was there. I'm so excited for Lisa and Dave, please pray for them as they get ready to be parents to my niece!

From Australia...

... to England!

My view - note the food baby*!

*Not a food baby but in fact an actual baby.

Making a molehill out of a mountain

I took a day off and hung out with my friend Nikki, her sister and a couple of her mates. We climbed Mt Tibrogargen. No big deal. Actually a lot of it is proper climbing handholdsstretchinghowoneartharewegoingtocomebackdownthiswayholdonmyfootgoeswhere?! so it was kind of a big deal and very fun and very beautiful. Thank God for friends and mountains!

(Click to see what we saw)

Checking in with Boardstore Surf

Boardstore Surf has been open for just over 2 months now and it's ticking along nicely. I still need to get a handle on who our customer is there and what they want to buy but so far there's been no big issues and everyone's being very understanding. We have a few new staff working one or two days a week each including:

Jordy - a young local who recently did his DTS in Bali with my friend Katie and brings an excellent element of high-larity to the shop

Jono - the director of Christian Surfers QLD

Rob - YWAM Sunny Coast's own director and previous Englishman

Jeremy and Ashlee have been writing on their blog about the ministry that they are building up out of the shop which is incredible to see and a privilege to help facilitate.

We had a dedication morning at the shop, it was sweet to have it packed out, Jay shared his heart for the ministry and we prayed en mass for the store, the customers, the locals and the staff.

Jay in the (freshly recovered and recoated) hot seat

Kodan "bounce a coin off my abs" Lynam modelling one of our literally hundreds of Billabong hats

Some of the YWAM SC dads and their baby sons

With Love in Ludlow

A 42km Wet Lap Skateathon for Diabetes research

This is Jordan, his brother and his friends (and me and Dave).

Here's a note from his Everyday Hero page:

"As most of you know my brother Tyler is and has been Type 1 Diabetic since he was 2 years old. He needs approximately 5 finger tests and 3 injections daily just to stay alive.
A cure for him and many others living with this condition would be amazing so I have got together with a few of my mates to skate 42kms on August 27th to raise money for JDRF. (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)
Please give as much or as little as you can to support this cause.
Any amount is greatly appreciated.

Thank You

Jordan :)"

We gave them free team tshirts and they set off from our Caloundra store to skate to our Maroochydore store and back again, a total of 42kms in the rain which can make any long skate more tiresome and dangerous. Clarkson would definitely have called it a Very Wet lap. Some of them had not even been skating very long at all, I'm sure their calf muscles have really been giving it to them since! The attitude of these guys really touched me and I would love to encourage you guys to give them a big well done in the form of a donation towards their target of $3000.

Here's the link:

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/sunny_skaters_

Thanks!

Jordan's brother Tyler gives the starting orders

Off in the rain... first slide out was at the first corner...

Halfway at Boardstore Maroochydore - Jordan's in the green helmet in the centre

Arriving back at Caloundra "agh my thighs!"

Finished! Tyler and Jordan stoked as. How did that dude on the right stay dry?!

Mr Fisher

This is Dave also known as Mr Fisher the Art Director at Caloundra Christian College. Mister Fisher is going to be working at our Caloundra store on Saturdays. Mister Fisher draws awesome tattoos. And he bodyboards. And has an amazing moustache. And he got married in June. And he has a passion for the youth of Caloundra that is evident every time a kid walks through the door. He's still working at the school during the week so taking on Saturdays means he's taking on a 6 day week. Please pray for him and his wife Evie, they are super brilliant people!