The Sims 3 Ambitions: Large house fire walk-around

This is completely off topic for my regular blog, but it took me almost an hour to find any posts online that would help me overcome this bug and I feel like I should share the solution and post on how to walk around the problem.

 

Problem:

My fireman Sim is at the top of the fireman career path.  When he gets to a large house fire, he manages to put out all the fires on the windows and in the yard, but he is unable to enter the house to save the panicking sims.  All the walls of the house are raised and his only option when clicking on the front door (after breaking it down) is to visit the household.  The household won’t respond due to panicking because of the fire.  He cannot enter the house to save the sims.

 

Solution:

Make your fireman/woman leave the lot of the large house fire and go to the neighbours lot.  Then make your sim return to the lot containing the large house fire.  (S)he should now be able to break down the door and enter the house.

 

This worked for me.  I hope that it works for anyone reading this.

Home Church and Growth

A quick praise report, the host of the former home church I went to has moved back to town and he has started up the home church group again.  It was such a blessing being with all my old friends. 

 

I missed the first two meetings because I only found out about it last week.  When the host saw me he apologized and told me that he was telling people as he saw them and hadn’t seen any of the [insert name of bar here] crowd yet since he had not gone there in a long time.  I replied that he should worry because I hadn’t been to [insert name of bar here] in almost 2 years either.  He was rather surprised and asked what happened.  I told him that I outgrew it – which wasn’t the complete truth…

 

The complete truth is that since I started studying God’s word for myself, almost everyday, I didn’t feel right going to [insert name of bar here] anymore.  It started off that I would rather stay at home and have a beer or glass of wine while watching a movie.  Then I stopped drinking beer and it became a glass of wine with dinner.  Then it became a glass of port or sherry when I had guests over.  Now I only have half a glass of port or sherry occasionally when I have guests – and only if they are drinking already.  I few times I haven’t felt like any type of alcohol and have stuck to tea or soda.  Perhaps in a few more months I’ll be off completely.

 

Recently I committed to reading the Bible and/or praying for 1 hour a day, everyday.  I am amazed at how I have grown in only a month of this.

 

Even though I tend to talk big, I have always had difficulty keeping my focus on God throughout my daily life.  I so easily find myself getting carried away.  Just last week I noticed that I think of God much more often during the day.  In everything I do I have found myself asking if God would approve of it.

 

The other area where I noticed a change in the past month is during conversation and also in what I watch.  I had friends over the other night and the conversation moved towards age-restriction 16 topics.  It got to the point where I excused myself and went to wash the coffee mugs.  I was not enjoying it at all – 6 months ago it wouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did that night.  The same goes for movies and TV shows.  In fact, the closer I am getting to God, the less I have in common with my friends – even the Christian ones!

 

And this is why I was so thrilled to find out the home church group was starting again.  It brings me to a place where once a week I’ll be able to talk about God, and also all these experiences I am having during my growth.  It brings me to a place where I can watch the growth in others too.

 

God is definitely blessing my socks off!

God’s hand in everything

Remember that a while ago I told everyone I had a secret that I couldn’t share yet? I have got to the point where I can share the secret.  On Tuesday, I got a job as a Junior Programmer.  Looking back at the whole process I am amazed at how God seemed to move everything into place at the perfect time.

Firstly, I wasn't even looking for a new job, but out of the blue I got a phone call from a recruitment agency (I still have no idea how they got my number) to tell me about the job and ask if I would be interested in going for an interview.  I went with the thought in mind that God must be involved in this because I wasn't even looking for a job.

I was then called for a second and a third interview.  Next I was called to work for the company for 2 days as a trail period.  As of Tuesday I was offered the job.  I am utterly amazed. 

Not only this, but the timing is perfect too.  I recently moved into a larger home and while I didn't overspend and I could afford it, I knew it would be a little tighter on cash than previously.  I need to work because I am supporting myself (my father passed away last year).  My salary has effectively doubled with this new job, so I'll be earning more than enough to meet my needs - God provides!

The timing was perfect in another way, at my current job the easiest time of year to make a switch in career is June/July or December/January.  This is because the University holidays happen at this time of year so the campus is very quiet and my work is at it's end until the next semester starts.  My new work wants me to start on the 1st of July!  The timing was absolutely perfect!

One more thing happened that I saw God's hand in.  There is one student who is really struggling financially.  He is working every odd job that he can to get through university and guess what?  He is the most qualified person to take over my job from me!  He knows more about how I run the course than anybody else (excluding my boss).  It hasn't been confirmed that he will get my old job yet, but I know he needs it - so this is perfect for him too!

Even though I want to be a stay-at-home wife and mother someday, it cannot be denied that God's hand has been in this change of jobs for me.  It seems as though this is where he wants me to be for now because with every interview I prayed that he would stop the process if it wasn't his plan for me for the moment.

Praise be to God!

Our pet babies

No photo’s since they are too small to photograph, but two of our mommy guppies gave birth.  The one yesterday and the other one today.  The first gave birth to about 17 young ones and the second gave birth to about 41 babies.  They are currently in a separate tank so that they can all grow up together and be safe from the hungry mommies (and other fish).

 

This is the first set of babies that have ever been born under my roof.  None of our pets ever fell pregnant while I was a child so this is very exciting for me.  All I want to do is sit at the fish tank and watch all the little babies swimming around.

 

On top of that two of my budgies (Lee and Stitch) have been very friendly towards each other recently and today Lee was climbing into and out of the nesting box.  He is probably just being curious, but I am hoping that I’ll have baby budgies someday too.

Plunging on into the weekend

It’s Friday morning right now, and I am siting at the computer with a cup of lemon tea while writing this post.  I am way behind on reading emails - 751 in my inbox from various forums and groups I am part of.  I’m going to to a quick read / delete this morning and see how far I get with it.

On the bright side I have been able to get parts of my morning routine back on track.  Yesterday and today I woke up, turned the kettle on, turned the washing machine on and packed away the clean dishes.  I’m waiting for the washing machine to finish so I can hang out the laundry before work today.

Today is going to be a busy day.  I need to get to:

• check the post office box,
• pay an account,
• go to a hardware store to buy a door handle for the bathroom door
• Send the assistants a reminder to fill in their claim forms so they will be paid
• Go to the nursery to buy a gift for my previous landlady and return the keys for my previous home.
• Water the garden

And that is just what I can think of on the top of my head.

I must say that I do enjoy busy days because at the end of them I actually feel like I got something done.  The quiet days I seem to mess around doing a little bit of everything and not actually getting anything finished.

God’s Will vs. Relentless Prayer

One of the things which has been happening in my life is that I have found myself in a situation where I need/want direct guidance from God.  The people who know me best (family) advise me to pray and wait for God’s guidance.  The absolutely wonderful Christian people I have met and I have told about my situation in private have either pointed to Bible passages to advise me, or have encouraged me to continue praying and waiting for guidance, and have agreed to pray with/for me too.  Personally, I tend to follow the advice of the people who know me and my situation the best (my mother for example).  However, I also know that God’s timing is perfect and if I were to make a move now then it would be a disaster. 

 

But this got me thinking there is more to prayer than we want to believe, especially prayer requests.

 

I know from past experience that persistent prayer results in God giving me direct guidance (or moving the figurative chess piece for me) at exactly the right moment and in exactly the right way, and it isn’t just my life experiences that say that persistent prayer results in God’s answer to that prayer, it is also written in the Bible in Luke 11:5-9, Luke 18:1-8, John 16:23-24, Philippians 4:6 and Matthew 15:21-28. 

 

I have been reading a book written by Leslie Ludy.  It is called “Set-Apart Feminity”.  I could never put it as eloquently as she does, so I am going to present you with a short excerpt from the book:

When I spent time in Christ’s presence, I had learned how to worship Him, study His Word, let Him speak to me through stories of great Christians, and journal my thoughts, fears, and praises as prayers to Him.  But the idea of wrestling, importunate, persistent prayer was completely foreign to me.  Whenever I had a specific request, concern, or need, I brought it to Christ – once or twice.  Instead of praying with confidence and boldness, I prayed, “Lord, if it is your will, then please do this or that.”  And if no answer came after one or two times of praying, usually I assumed that it wasn’t “His will” to answer, and I let it go.  It even seemed unspiritual to keep pressing the issue with God.  I felt that it was better to just cheerfully accept the lack of response from heaven, rather than act like a pesky child and go back to Him again and again.

But then I started studying what Scripture says about prayer.  And what I found was somewhat shocking…….

…….Instead of assuming that Christ doesn’t desire to answer our prayers when we don’t receive an immediate response, we are to press in with even more persistence, not letting go until our request is granted.

~ Set-Apart Feminity, by Leslie Ludy (excerpt from pages 152, 153 and 155).

I could never have said it any better than this.  It was also mentioned in the book (and this part I am paraphrasing) that if a prayer is not coming from a Christ-centred heart then eventually the person will give up on the prayer request -  that person is not praying according to God’s will.  However, if the prayer is coming from a Christ-centred heart then the person will never give up praying until their request is granted – that person is praying according to God’s will.

 

As Leslie mentioned, many times we give up and assume it wasn’t God’s will.  Or as I have experienced, start looking for the answers ourselves instead of watching, waiting and listening.  It is important to read your Bible to know God’s character, but a person can also read their Bible in such a way that they see the answers they want to see.  We need to rely on God to show us what he wants us to see, and when he wants us to see it.

 

I don’t know about everyone else, but I have decided that I am going to be bold in prayer and silent while listening for God’s response because I know he will show me where he wants me to go as long as I stay focused on him first.

News: Been a while

It’s been some time since I last wrote a post here.  I have finally finished moving everything from my old home to my new home.  Today was the last load.  Now I need to do the final unpacking and it will all be over.

 

There has been a lot going on in my life, but most of it I cannot post about just yet.  Typical isn’t it?

 

There is something very important happening tomorrow, and I am absolutely dying to tell everyone what it is, but my lips have to remain sealed until I inform all the parties concerned.  I have spent the afternoon and evening preparing for it.

 

William and his brother made me a late lunch or early supper today so that I didn’t need to cook and could focus on the preparations for tomorrow.  They made a fire and cooked Boerewors and lamb chops on it.  I am so grateful to have such caring people in my life. 

 

William’s brother even helped me wash dishes and clean the living room this morning.  That really cut the time it would have taken me in half.  And William washed the Mercedes while we were doing this!

 

Our neighbour’s child, Gareth, came to visit us this afternoon.  I have a Nintendo Wii, so we played games on it.  Unfortunately, I had to cut the games short so that I could get to work for tomorrow.

 

Oh, I think I should mentioned that the Spider I mentioned in the previous post is dead.  It took a bit of skill to catch it, even with the vacuum cleaner.

 

William went to see one of the Major’s at the army base on Friday.  It sounds like there is a very good chance that he will be accepted for training.  Which means we won’t have any contact with each other while he does his Basic Training.  He has to go for a second interview and then we will know for sure.

 

That’s the news from me.

 

May God Bless Each of you!