Is ‘Happy’ the Best You’ve Got?

January 1, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

2014

Over the last few days there’s every chance you’ve been exchanging the customary greeting of “Happy New Year” with anyone who happens to cross your path. Even while you’ve been trying to grab a bargain at all the post-Christmas sales you’ve probably had complete strangers not only hurriedly scanning your discounted items from the other side of the counter, but wishing you happiness for the next twelve months. But is happiness what it’s really all about?

Of course I want to wish you a happy new year but I don’t want it to end there. I want more for you than happiness as you launch into 2014.

Happiness comes and goes and we all know that you’re not going to sail through 2014 with a smile on your face the whole time. There will be struggles and disappointments. I’m not wishing you difficulties but I’ve been on this planet long enough to know that each year will bring a mixture of good and bad. Sometimes there’ll also be extreme highs and devastating lows. With that in mind my wish for you goes deeper.

I wish you joy for 2014.

Joy is different than happiness. It’s more. It’s not so dependent on circumstances. There’s a strength in joy that goes beyond the happy times. It’s a confidence that no matter we’re facing, we can go on.

I wish love for you in 2014.

Love means a lot of different things for a lot of different people. We’ve all been let down, even by those closest to us. That’s not the kind of love I’m talking about. The kind of love I wish for you in 2014 is a deep, abiding love that never changes, leaves or disappoints. That’s the kind of love we need during the tough days in 2014.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below, indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39

I wish grace for you in 2014.

What is grace? It’s been describes as undeserved favour but there’s more to it than that.

Grace is not only God’s disposition to do good for us when we don’t deserve it. It is an actual power from God that acts and makes good things happen in us and for us.

God’s grace was God’s acting in Paul to make Paul work hard. So when Paul says, “Work out your salvation,” he adds, “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). Grace is power from God to do good things in us and for us. – John Piper

There are many other things I could wish for you in 2014 like hope, peace, strength and wisdom but I’d be interested to know what you’d like to wish for others as we begin a new year. Leave your thoughts in the comments section of this post.



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The Hardest and Easiest of Times

December 22, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
4 Comments

compassion

Wednesday the 27th of November, 2013. It was the beginning of something new. It was the beginning of a difficult journey that has been one of the easiest upon which I’ve ever embarked.

I’ve worked in radio for a long time. Over 25 years in all. My most recent time in radio lasted nine and a half years so when I started telling people that I was leaving radio to work for Compassion Australia I had quite a variety of responses. Many talked about it being a huge change and about how courageous it was.

Big change? Courageous? I suppose they were thinking about how big a step it is for a 50 year old man to be changing careers. I have to admit that until friends started drawing my attention to it I hadn’t really considered it to be such a major change. I always knew there’d be a steep learning curve and that I would have to master a range of new skills but it all just seemed so natural and logical to me.

My passion to help those in poverty has been growing over many years so the opportunity to be more closely involved with an organisation that is recognised as being a world leader in poverty relief was an easy step to take. It just makes perfect sense.

Compassion works to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. The photo above is one I took while visiting some of the children Compassion was releasing from poverty in Dominican Republic back in 2008.

Over the last few weeks my brain has been spinning with everything I’ve been learning. My new job is indeed very different to my last job but as someone who has simply wanted to be where I believe God wants me, it’s just another step on the pathway.

So … in some ways this change has been the hardest of times, and there is still plenty of learning and adjustments to come, but it’s also been one of the most natural and easy things I’ve ever done.



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A Decade of Blogging

November 9, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
3 Comments

Blog

It was a Monday, just over ten years ago. I sat at my computer and typed the following words.

I’m sure it’ll all work out. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it. I’m sure I’ll be able to post stuff that’s not about trying to work out the technical side of blogging.

I’m just trying to set up the template so it has the kind of stuff I want on it. Then I’ll get down to business.

It was, as the title of the blog post suggested, the dreaded first post.

That was the 3rd of November 2003 and there have been a lot of blog posts since then. Over a decade of blogging.

The second post wasn’t a whole lot better. It was titled, Does It Look OK?

I think I’ve got things sorted out.

I guess that means I should introduce myself. My name is Rodney and I live in Perth, Western Australia.

The loves of my life are God, my gorgeous wife, my adorable kids and cycling.

I’m sure this blog will take its own shape so I won’t predict anything at this early stage.

I’m hoping you’ll agree that things have improved since then.

Back then I had only recently returned from cycling from Perth, Western Australia, to Hobart, Tasmania. It was the fifth time I’d cycled across Australia. (I really need to arrange another ride across the country.) Earlier in the year I had visited India for the first time. I’ve been back twice since then and I’m always open to offers to return.

When I started my blog I’d been married for almost 11 years. I had a 7 year old daughter. I had a 5 year old son.

It all seems so far away.

At the time I was working for the Bible Society. I left the Bible Society the following August to go back to 98five Sonshine FM where I’ve been working ever since.

Blogging was very new and exciting back then and it wasn’t long before I felt part of a community of bloggers. We would stay up to date with each other’s posts and often leave comments. I’m still connected to people around the world thanks to the early blogging years.

The posts here have been less frequent over recent months but I’m sure that things will pick up again soon. I’ve been breathing life into this blog for over ten years. I’m not going to let it die now.

If you’re new here, why not check out some of the archives and read some older posts?

If you’ve been reading my blog for years …. thanks. It’s meant a lot to me.



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Smart Phones?

September 23, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
6 Comments

I love the convenience of smart phones and being able to capture memories but there comes a time when we need to stop “capturing moments” and start experiencing life again.

With a smart phone comes much responsibility. Use it wisely.



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Sweet Lorraine

September 6, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

I’m a man.

Men don’t cry.

Unless they watch this video.

I didn’t even get half way through before I started crying like a baby.

Let me know how far you make it without shedding a tear.



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