About Me

 
In hospital with pancreatitis
I was born under dramatic circumstances, the eldest child to my parents Dave and Kath Gardner, a young Christian couple living in the isolated township of Breewarrina, New South Wales.  

I don’t remember giving my life to God, but I remember Scripture memory and Sunday School and Bible Studies in our home, wherever we lived, and Church on Sunday and knowing Daddy God who sent His Son Jesus to earth to die for my sins.  

I knew that Jesus was a man who healed back in the Bible and in everyday life.   He healed me when I nearly died from a viral strain causing severe pancreatitis, He healed my Dad when he fell from a power pole at work, He healed my sister when she was bitten by brown snake and showed no side effects, and He healed my uncle when he was run over by a tractor.   I knew He healed, I knew He performed miracles, I had experienced them and I knew He lived inside of me but I was frustrated and wanted a deeper relationship.



Dad and Me in PNG

At  14, my Dad took me on a mission trip to Papua New Guinea where I was introduced in a very real way to the Holy Spirit, the 3rd member of the Godhead who was missing in my life.    This Holy Spirit changed my life and changed me from a mouse to a lion.  My story is recorded as an easy to read humorous account of our trip to gently inspire, challenge and tell the story of a great God, His Saviour Son and the Holy Spirit left to teach and comfort us.  It has been read by Christians and non-Christians alike in the manuscript stage and I pray that it will be of benefit to you too, as a published book.



Courtship

Me, my friend Natalie,
and her brother, Stephen,
6 months after we met.
When I returned home, I prayed for a friend and found one . . . and her brother.  I knew when I met him that he was my future husband, and he knew that too.  However, I was 14 only and he was 23.   Thus began a five year relationship where we struggled with friendship and courtship and the reality of knowing and waiting and growing and honouring our parents.

I had prayed that God would send me ‘hard’ circumstances so that I could grow and He certainly did.  (I severely doubt I will pray that again!) This growing time saw us learning to hear from God, dealing with deep, painful issues in our lives, and sorting out arguments.  We grew in ministry at our church, leading services and preaching and I travelled to PNG twice more with VMTC to help with training schools and seminars.


Wedding

It was a very happy day when our wedding finally arrived in September 2011!  Our service was very evangelistic and we were able to act out a Jewish Betrothal scene, portraying God’s love for His bride the Church.   I arrived at the church where we had relocated the service and reception the day before, after rain had flooded our garden wedding plans.  After a time of worship and Scripture reading, Stephen and his father, came over to bargain with my Dad for my hand in marriage.   Dad refused the offer of 2 camels and 10 camels, settling on 2 John Deere tractors for his farming needs.   This enactment caused a roar of laughter and much applause from the congregation, half of whom were non-Christian workmates and relatives.  

Stephen poured a cup of wine (grape juice) for me, which in ancient Hebrew tradition sealed the covenant that He would come back for me after he went to prepare a place for me.  He and his merry men fumbled around creating a home for me at the other side of the auditorium, while my bridesmaids and I lit our lanterns.   Stephen and his groomsmen blew the shofar to announce that they were coming and with celebration we went out to meet them.   After this portrayal of The Father, Son and Bride of Christ, we continued with a very normal wedding ceremony, including our very first kiss, followed by words of prophecy from my VMTC missions team and a lovely afternoon tea reception in the Sunday School room. 

Our wedding deeply impacted Christian and non-Christians alike with a revelation of God’s love for His people. 



Narrabri

We settled down to our jobs in Narrabri after our wedding, hosting a Bible Study in our little house on Tuesday nights and attending and participating heavily in our local church and prayer meetings.  At the end of the year, we felt God calling us to Toowoomba and we prayed fervently for an open door which came in April and by the end of June we had packed up and moved miraculously to Toowoomba, amidst some hilarious and crazy moments along the way.
 
Toowoomba
 We dove head first into a cocktail of meetings, ministry and madness in Toowoomba.  We took over the Sunday School ministry, youth group, young adults and also participated in the Healing Rooms, VMTC, and worship leading, while Stephen also worked full time welding at a local business. We loved all our busy-ness, but by the end of the year it was time to slow down a bit when I discovered that I was pregnant with a little girl!  

I continued applying the brakes to my crazy life, until an opportunity came up from Stephen to stop working full time and to take over my jobs at the church and work part-time for YWAM as a Mission Builder doing the maintenance.  This change included a move of house, 6 weeks before my due date. 
Our little girl was born in August, and we worked with YWAM for 9 months.
God then made it clear it was time for a change, so we moved back into a rental, my sister moved in with us, we cut our hours back at the church, Stephen started working for a builder, and I'm trying to figure out what it means to 'bear fruit' for God in this season where ministry and meetings aren't my priority.    Hope you'll join me for the journey!
 
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7 comments:

  1. I seen a comment you did on aussie mama about the food list for trim healthy mama. I was wondering if you could send me that list because she doesn't post it any more and I can't afford the books right now. I would greatly appreciate it. God bless. swampcritters5@yahoo.com

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  2. I was a bit excited to find another Australian Christian blogger in the Cornerstone Confession Link Up! 'Another' probably doesn't sound right as I'm a total newbie. I am enjoying what I'm discovering on your site. Thank you!

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  3. Hi Lizzie, What a beautiful story of God's work in your life. And you tell it well. I love your heart for Jesus and am so glad you left a comment on my blog. Your life speaks of God's gracious hand. May He continue to bless you and your family abundantly!

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  4. Hi Lizzie, it was fascinating reading your story and I am looking forward to reading your book about your time in PNG. I am also an Australian and spent time with relatives in Toowoomba although I grew up in Brisbane. I now live in Western Victoria and have been married for 26 years. Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting on my blog because I am so pleased to have met you. Looking forward to getting to know you better. Blessings to you and your beautiful family. xxx

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  5. Lizzy, welcome to Thought-Provoking Thursdays. How lovely to come from a family with a strong heritage of faith! May God give great wisdom and favor to you and your husband during this new season of parenting and marriage.
    Blessings,
    Lyli

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  6. Lizzy, I really like your site. Thanks for sharing so much of your life here. My daughter also had a spiritual life-changing ministry trip to Mexico at 14, and after a few more trips, and some college summer breaks ministering in Mexico, she is now in ministering in Honduras. God does use those moments away from our normal lives to impact us for Him.

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  7. Respected Pastors and all

    Greetings in Jesus name. We are at Hallelujah Village Church Trust located in Melmonavur Village Vellore zip code is 632010 Tamil nadu state, India we are indigenous, non-profit, non-denominational, Christ centered, Pentecostal, charitable, christian ministries

    We are working remote villages and slum dwellers disadvantaged villages in vellore district we are needs your prayers and partnership, physical visit our village churches and visit our orphan children, rural pastors and their churches and visit widows, aged, lepers, disabled, we are invite you and your mission team make mission trip in vellore tamil nadu state India visit our ministries and observe our entire situation and know our needs and pray fervently and have heart for villages of vellore Tn, India please do act quickly and do something for orphan rural pastors and bible school.

    Kindly do send your positive reply to our private email id please do send your postal address and Email id and mobile phone number and land line phone number please do consider

    May God bless you richly
    Pastor,T.John
    johnrchandran@gmail.com /http://jesushvct.webs.com/donation.htm
    Mobile: 00919842891578/ 00919345578149

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