OCL ifeCOMPETITIONS Congratulations to last week’s winners

FACE IN THE CROWD: Renee Dempsey

I LOVE IGA: Ella Macdonald

LOONY LOTTO: Diane Gillette

MINI GOLF: Donna Lane

MOVIE FAMILY PASS: Leonie Jackson

MOVIE DOUBLE PASS: Julie Berendsen

FIND PINNY: Leshelle Weir and Monique Anderson

WINTER FEST GIVEAWAY: Abbey Senior

We have a $50 gift voucher to give away each week from Ashcroft’s Supa IGA.

To enter, simply tell us your name and contact phone and what product is featured in the small Ashcroft’s Supa IGA ad featured in this issue of OCLife.

Win a $50 gift voucher at Cheeky Barista Cafe

We have two vouchers to give away per month, be on the lookout in our July 13 issue for the face in the crowd. Meanwhile checkout their specials on page 4 of this week’s magazine.

We have a voucher for Orange Tenpin Bowl valued at $60 to give away each week, so the family can go bowling!

Each week we’ll hide a small version of “Pinny” (pictured) somewhere in OCLife. It could be anywhere. To enter, simply find him, write your name and phone number on the back of an envelope, along with the page number you found him on, and send in...

Win a voucher to the value of $20, to use at Coco’s Cafe or Paul’s @ Coco’s

TO WIN: If you have a personal or business phone number with these 4 numbers appearing in any order within it, put in an entry and we’ll draw a winner from among all correct entries each week.

School Holidays. I have a lovehate relationship with them. It is great that the kids get a couple of weeks o school. It is great that the regular rhythms of the term stop and we can catch our breath. But at the same time, it can be hard to keep soldiering on with the regular things that need to be done. Especially when it is too cold and wet to go outside and play. The family dynamics can become strained. Even the idea of going on a holiday can become just another stressful experience where all you are doing is moving the chaos to another location, and then removing sleep.

For those of us that work from home, you notice a significant shift in productivity as the interruptions seem to come from all di erent directions at intervals of around two minutes. How are the school holidays being spent in your household? Perhaps you are feeling about as excited as I am. Perhaps you have been limping towards these holidays, hanging out for a break after a long term of sickness and you are longing for some refreshment.

Whatever the case may be, we all have a deep longing for rest and refreshment. It is something that is wired into each of us. Our need to rest reminds us that we are finite. We each have our limits. We cannot be everything to everyone all the time. It can be easy to become overwhelmed with all the demands that are placed on us, so much so that by the time the holidays roll around we can fall into a big heap. But where do we find rest? It seems like such an elusive ideal for so many of us. One of the major themes of the Christian life is the idea of finding rest in God. Augustine, a theologian from the fifth century had this beautiful line in one of his books: “Our hearts are restless, until we find our rest in you.” This longing that each of us feel finds its answer in the person and work of Jesus. In numerous places, Jesus speaks about o ering true rest for the weary and downtrodden. He o ers true and lasting peace for the troubled soul. One of the places Jesus says this is in Matthew 11:28 where he says:

“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus o ers true and lasting rest for anyone. It is a rest that goes far deeper than a two-week break from routine or a good night’s sleep.

As I face a week of school holidays with all its ups and downs, it is remembering that my true rest is found in Jesus that sustains me in my moments of weariness. As you walk through these term holidays, may it bring you rest, but may you also look for true, deep and lasting rest in the one who is o ering it to you.