A Scribe

Monday 16th January 2012 - Wow

2012-01-16T21:14:00.000+11:00

I got a surprise today. My good lady wifey was out doing a mobility instruction thingy. That's when her mobility instructor takes her over the bit of ground that she is learning.
The children and myself were to walk to the shops and get some bits and pieces.
In my last post I posted about a letter I wrote to my local member of parliament regarding the whole gay marriage thingy. I never expected to hear back from him. Well, you can imagine my surprise when my mobile phone rang and it was the politician on the other end. he was returning my call and assuring me that he would support heterosexual marriage as being the only model.
It does pay to write to our members of parliament. yes, you may get ignored. But I really do think it is important to vote in all election. You get the politicians you vote for and if you don't vote then you can't complain when they don't follow your wishes.
This " Gays to protest for equal rights at the Australian Open" makes interesting reading. Margaret Court has caused this uproar. Margaret is one of West Australia's greats in the tennis world. She is also a pastor of a church in W.A. She is also opposed to gay marriage. The idea is that protesters want to flood the Australian Open Tennis with a sea of rainbow flags. Seems it's not working. I drive trains down that way. It's held just near Richmond station. Not a rainbow flag in sight. All I saw was Australian flags. Guess that shows what we all think doesn't it?
Till next time..........

Saturday 14 January 2012 - A letter to my member of parliament

2012-01-14T22:12:00.000+11:00

This is a copy of a letter I wrote to my member of parliament. Oh, and I urge all who read my blog to vote in political elections. And to write to who ever is representing you. They have no idea what you think unless you do.

Thank you for taking the time to read my email. I trust you are well.

As you know same gender marriage has been very much in the news lately. There is a large section of our society who support this and would like the rest of us to go along with their view. If we don’t then we are considered to be homophobic. In Scotland the marriage act has just been re-written giving same gender relationships the same status as heterosexual relationships. However, it seems not all agree. I read this http://www.christian.org.uk/news/former-scottish-tory-leader-dismisses-same-sex-marriage/ article a few minutes ago.

I here quote a section which I think is very relevant:

“Organisations fighting to preserve the traditional definition of marriage believe homosexual groups should not have the right to redefine marriage for everyone and that people should not be intimidated into going along with it because of political correctness.”

I personally believe that those who insist that heterosexuals should allow same sex marriage to be engaging in sexual harassment. They are harassing us until we give in and agree with their view. I recently had a discussion with a work colleague on this matter. As I said to him, if I give him a hard time regarding his sexual preference I am engaging in harassment. Similarly, if he insists that I agree with his sexual relationship, he is harassing me.

My understanding is that you are a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. My Bible tells me that same sex relationships are not on. I take it yours does too. I also don’t know of any religion which allows for same sex relationships, be is homosexual or lesbian.

At some time this is going to come up in our parliament here in Victoria. I would like to think that you would stand up for the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, no matter what the Liberal Party may decide. I would also like to think you would have the courage to vote against such legislation even if the Liberal party should agree with it. I believe that you represent us the people who voted you in, not the views of the Liberal party. After all, we voted for you, not the Liberal Party.

Thank you for taking time to read this post.

In Christ,

I also posted a link to the post from The Christian Institute on my Facebook page.

This: “Organisations fighting to preserve the traditional definition of marriage believe homosexual groups should not have the right to redefine marriage for everyone and that people should not be intimidated into going along with it because of political correctness.” is the relevant part of the article.

I believe those engaging in forcing those of us to accept the view and their relations top be guilty of harassment also. They don't have that right. It's also bullying. There are laws in Australia against that.

Enough for now. Till next time.....

Wednesday 3rd January 2012 pm - Ron Fiegert

2012-01-03T22:07:00.000+11:00

FIEGERT (Ronald James):
30.1.1924 - 26.11.2011 Brother to Allen, Avis and Thelma (all dec).
Softly in the shadows, there came a gentle call, with farewells left unspoken, you quietly left us all.

A good friend. I first met Ron in January of 1970. At that time he worked for Lynford Motors, Osborne Park. I was a fresh faced 18 year old who thought himself 10 foot tall and bullet proof with a mouth to match. Ron was a gentle man who did not use foul language. I remember working with him. One day he quietly, but not in any way condemning, asked me if it was necessary to cuss so much. There wasn't a hint of malice in his tone; it was a simple question. And the way it was asked made a profound influence on me. I watched Ron over the following days. He was quiet, gentle and always eager to help. He was mostly on his own. There was something different about him.

What made him "tick" was Christ. I found that he wasn't a "religious" man. He was faithful, yes, but not religious. He lived his faith, or more importantly, his Faith lived him. For Ron to live was Christ and to die to self was gain. He relied upon Christ for his existence. Nothing else mattered but Christ. His verse was Galatians 2:20. He had died and the life he now lived he lived by faith in the Son of God who lived in him. If you were to ask him, he would say "faithful is He who lives in you who will also do it".

What else do I know about Ron? He farmed in the southern community of Kataning in West Australia. He was saved one night in a Baptist Church. His salvation was instant and miraculous. He walked into the service a drinker and walked out not being able to drink. There was no gradual change in his life style. It was instant. He was converted in the true sense of the word. When Christ got hold of him Christ did all that was necessary on the spot. Ron would go on to study at the Perth Bible Institute and to care for a Mrs Cummings. Mrs Cummings suffered from dementia and Ron became her full time carer. They lived in Harborne Street Wembley until Mrs Cummings passed to be with Christ.

Theoretically Ron was fundamentalist and pre-millennial. He believed that Christ would return for His church at any time and that it would be sooner rather than later. he believed in the 7 year Tribulation with the church to be raptured before that time. He believed that Christ would return to judge and reign over the earth for a thousand years.

As a result of this man's testimony I was to find Christ as my Lord and Saviour also. I will always be greatful to Christ for letting our paths cross.

Enough.... Till next time.....

Tuesday 3rd January 2012 - What must I do......

2012-01-03T08:27:00.000+11:00

Welcome to the first post for 2012 Common Era. Actually you might know it as A.D. Anno Domino, or if you will The Year Of our Lord.
The "Common Era" (CE/BCE) notation has been adopted by numerous authors and publishers wishing to be "neutral" or "sensitive to non-Christians"
What's that mean? If you are a genuine Christian you will use A.D. If you are a seeker sensitive fence sitter, you will use C.E.
That brings me to the question in the subject line. What must I do to be saved? You will say, and correctly so, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved". Or "Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart". And the list goes on. Try John 3:16. That is a deeply doctrinal statement that I wont go into just here. Enough to say that the verse has been misinterpreted many times.
But what about if you have never heard of Jesus Christ and His wonderful, life changing work on the cross? What then? That Jesus paid the price for our sin, wrong doing, rebellion against our Eternal Father is not in question. What if you have never heard the Good News? Many, me included, believe that Elohim would be utterly unjust (I think acting against His Merciful Nature) if He were to condemn one to Eternal torment because that person had not heard the Gospel and responded to it before that person died his physical death.
This is what I think.
If one acknowledges that one has acted in rebellion against a Holy and Loving God and relies upon that God for his eternal salvation, that person will live.
You see the Bible doesn't say at what time you must take Christ as Lord. It just says you must.There is, at some time in the future, a day or reckoning. When we will all stand before Elohim and give an account. That will happen after we have passed from our physical body unless Christ returns before that time. Our physical body is our temporary home.
Hear me loud and clear: We must, at some time, acknowledge Christ as Lord. We must, at some time, acknowledge, that before Our Maker, we have done wrong. We have by act of our free will, acted in rebellion. If you do wrong against another, that is acting in rebellion against God. Full stop. End of story.
But I believe that when we get to heaven there will be people of all persuasions and back grounds there.
Why? Because they admitted that they had need of a saviour, one to do that which they couldn't, and relied upon that saviour to fulfil that which needed to be fulfilled.

Thursday 8th December 2011 - I must confess

2011-12-08T22:00:00.000+11:00

I must confess there are some things about being a Dad that I don't like. For instance, I don't like my head being used as a soccer ball by a 15 month old. Yes, you guessed it, we co-sleep. That's a fancy term for people who have the kids in bed with them. And, yes there is a cost. Timothy uses mum as a pacifier some nights. Or as Stephanie calls it, he has "the all night milk bar". He uses my head a soccer ball. Nothing quite beats having your head beaten at 6 AM. It's an experience.
Then there is the sometimes never ending list of questions from a 4 year old. Why do they have to ask so many questions. "Coz I am kid!" Then there is the oldest daughter. She decided in her infinite wisdom that I am a mean daddy. Quick as grease lightening I came back with: "It's me job". You can borrow that one.
Till next time.........

Monday 5th December 2011 - It is none of there business

2011-12-05T21:08:00.000+11:00

Yesterday was the 4th December and I did post. I did have more to blog about, however time and space beat me.
Yesterday was also my parents wedding anniversary. They would have been married 66 years had they still be living. Mum passed away in 1980. At that time they had been married 35 years. I don't recall they argued about anything much. And certainly parental arguments were not common in our home. That's not to say there wasn't conflict because there was. I remember my dad said there were two things he didn't lend: his wife and his motor car. And he never did. For my mum, she could complain about dad, but don't you dare to even hint that he might have a fault.
The Labor party has just had their annual conference and one of the issues that came up was same gender marriage. And I guess all of us Christians will get our collective nickers in a knot. Well, at the risk of bringing the world down on my head, the government of the land has no right saying who can and who cannot get married and that includes gender wise. For Christians, marriage is between one man and one woman; not between a man and a man or a woman and a woman. And there are some who would say that Australia is a Christian nation. It's not. And, again, contrary to what some would have you believe, it was not founded on Christian principles. It was founded as a penal colony. Nothing more and nothing less. And so I don't believe the government should have any say in the marriage business. There is a lot the government gets into that it ought not.
Our Bible doesn't tell us to go to the government for guidance on marriage. It does tell me to respect the government and pay my tax. It also tells me to pray for those in power and where ever possible to respect them and try to live at peace with them. My Bible tells me to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Enough for now, till next time........

Sunday 4th December 2011 - Timothy

2011-12-04T21:19:00.001+11:00

Timothy is changing. I guess I really should blog more of the changes. Memories they are. And all to soon the moment passes and with it the memory of what the little children do.
Today he grunted this and that. I asked him what he wanted. More grunting and high pitched whining. I am now glad I ignored the whining. Some would say I was teaching him to get what he wanted by whining and that we should not reward the whining. So, I ignored the whining and instead decided to find out what he wanted. I asked if he wanted milk. He headed straight for the fridge and tried to open the fridge door. I opened the door for him and he lifted out the carton, all two litres of it. That's a heavy lift for a 15 month old. Then I needed his cup. I asked him where his cup was. Off he went full steam to find the cup and return with it. Later I needed to go for a walk to get milk. I decided to take him with me. I asked him where his pram was. Again off he goes running to the pram.
It's like this little light switch has gone on. All of a sudden he is understanding what we are asking. He is also very clear in making it understood what he wants. That makes our life, and his, a whole heap easier. OK, so we should not ignore the whining and maybe we shouldn't reward him. But I don't think we are. If he is able to make himself understood and we respond in a timely manner, then the whining should cease. In fact I have noticed a big change in the last week or so. He is much more compliant than he was. I like this.
It's that time of year again. Christmas. We decided this year the Christmas tree would go up on the first of December. It didn't. It went up today. Cathy and Michele put up and decorated it. Well, they started. Timothy and myself were out washing the car. I was washing the car, Timothy was sort of helping. No, I didn't and wont stop him when he tries even if I do finish up with a bigger mess. Anyway, Michele and Cathy decided they would erect the tree. And so I got the box with the tree in over from the garage and let them loose. A couple of hours later and the tree is up. They have done an excellent job. Not bad for four and eight year old.
Meanwhile, the car also is clean. Inside and out. I rather think Timothy enjoyed himself even if he did get very wet and very cold. How did the car get to need to be washed? Well, yesterday we went bush. Lake Thompson Dam was our destination, via Walhalla. We crossed the Thompson River twice. Our church, St Luke's Frankston, has a 4WD club within it. There are a few people within the church who have 4WDs. Every now and then we get together and head bush. Yesterday was the day to go bush. Five vehicles in the part. The oldest is a Nissan Patrol of 1987+- vintage. Next is a Holden Jackeroo of unknown vintage. Next was a Toyota Prado. Then there is a Hyundai Tucson and the newest is mine, a 2011 Mitsubishi Challenger. The Nissan and Prado are considered to be the most capable of the vehicles and the Hyundai Tucson is considered to be the weakest. The Tucson has the lowest ground clearance. A duck has more ground clearance than a Tucson. In fact some don't even consider it to be off road capable. Wrong. That little vehicle did its owner proud. We covered everything from river crossings to hill climbs and descents that would have given a mountain goat a head ache. All credit goes to the driver. Until yesterday Grant had never driven off road. And he did well. Very well.
Five vehicles and 15 people. We don't limit it to men only. It is a family affair and women and children are encouraged to come along. It is a big ask for some. Grant took his wife and two children. I had Stephanie and our three, Then Bruce had his son. Phil,s vehicle is in the repair shop after and argument with another car, so he tag teamed with Paul. Jeremy had his grandson with him.
For me it was experiment time. I had no idea how the kids would go. They had never been bush before. Something I badly want to rectify. And Stephanie is blind. Well, the kids did well. They hung in there and thorough enjoyed themselves. Even Timothy did well. But I learnt some things. Stephanie cant see. The trip must have some meaning for her. She was my radio operator. I learnt that I need to remember her when I get out of the car. I let the kids out and stepped away from the car not intending to forget Stephanie. But then I would get distracted and she would be left in the vehicle on her own. Not happy. So next time I need to get her out of the car and with me. Mental note to self: Remember the wife.
That raises another point. When we are out bush we use UHF CB. I didn't have one. Went and purchased two handy talkies. Well, you get what you pay for. We paid peanuts for the radios and monkeys were supposed to operate them. The audio on those things is terrible. So now I am going to get a mobile unit for the vehicle.
My car, the Challenger proved to be challenging. I wasn't told how steep one of the hills would be. Then I was told I would need second gear, low range. I stalled on the hill not good. Not only that, my hand brake didn't old the vehicle on the incline. It should have. The vehicle has only just come out of the dealer for the same problem. I went up the hill, and down the other side, in first gear and what I thought was low range. I now have my doubts that the Challenger had engaged low range. I am going to get a mate of mine to help me establish whether it is switching down.
We did enjoy the weekend. And we are going back. We want to explore the area more.
Enough for now. Till next time.........

Sunday 30th October - History in the making.

2011-10-30T11:00:00.000+11:00

In the head lines on ABC news is this: Qantas defends Joyce pay rise. This fellow is the CEO of Qantas. One of Australia's oldest airlines. His income from Qantas was? Hmmm, just 3.8 million. Am I jealous? No.But I cannot justify the sort of wage for anyone.
But wait there is more. Read the above article. Mr Joyce has just been voted a 71% pay rise. That's around 2.1 million increase. Now he will get 5 million, 3 hundred and ten thousand dollars per year.
But wait there is more.
Qantas grounds entire fleet. There has been a long running dispute between Qantas and its unions. So we give a man a huge pay rise to ground the entire fleet of 100 + aeroplanes.
Is this the end of Qantas? There have been rumours that Qantas wants to move its operations off shore to Asia.
I cant make any sense out of this at all. There is no justification for grounding an entire business because one cant manage its workforce. Further more, a 71% pay increase is completely out of order. It is corporate greed at its very worst.

Tuesday 18th October 2011 - AM

2011-10-18T06:55:00.000+11:00

This week in Triple M's my group is looking at 1 Corinthians, the whole letter. It is only 16 chapters. However it contains a lot of good solid though.
I am amazed at how quick Paul gets into the subject matter. His introduction is 9 small verses covering two subjects. He introduces himself, gives thanks for the Corinthian church and then at verse 10 lays it clearly on the line. "Your sinning!" That's the short version. One doesn't see that sort of direct speak now. We couch it seeker sensitive, gentle "lets not upset people" or dent their fragile ego mumbo jumbo.

OK, so that's a little crude. But is it? It's a bit like Paul's statement. Blunt, to the point. No holes bared. Like Paul's opening statement to the Corinthian church it hits you right in the mouth.
Preacher - that's how to do it. You got gossip happening in your church? Call it like it is. No gentle Jesus meek and mild. Gossip is sin. It hurts people. Call it like it is. It hurts Christ.
Now having got that off my chest. I also happen to like the picture I have included here. It is from the net and so is out there in the public domain. May we all do what the message says. Arrive at the grave in a worn out battered body, totally spent living life to its fullest, doing what Jesus planned for us.

That is Timothy a day before his 1st birthday doing what the sign says. Going up the slide, not down it. No one told him he was not allowed to go up the slide. And even when they did he p[aid no notice. He still greets life full on going up the slide instead of down it. But he is enjoying himself. Fully!
May we all do that.
Till next time...... hooroo

Sunday 16th October - We didn't.

2011-10-16T22:06:00.000+11:00

We didn't go to church. Why, do I hear you ask? Well, today was one of those days. Mum, Mrs Boss, was recovering from her illness from yesterday. Michele decided today was to be a day when she would try to disrupt just about everything/everybody she could. Timothy decided it was time to test the waters and see how much he could get away with. Which, given that Michele had decided to have a Michele moment, was nothing. So poor Timothy found that Dad's tolerance was at minus 100. Mum was extremely tired and not up to contending with a daughter who didn't want to.
So we did do the work/school washing, looked at a DVD or three and generally did not much. For Michele it was extended think time. And as was evidenced later in the day she didn't do much thinking. It would appear we have another 3 years of Michele "moments" before we see some improvements.

This is our new beaut trusty Mitsubishi Challenger. It is proving to be challenging. We is going a touring. We have been living in Victoria for 10 years and have seen very little of what this state has to offer. I did say I was a West Australian by birth and a Victorian by choice. That is true. Many years ago when I was ~~wet behind the ears~~ a lot younger I came over here every second year for 8 weeks on holiday. I got to know the Gippsland area very well.That was then. This is now. And now, apart from the Mornington Peninsula we know four fifths of nothing about the rest. Time to change all that. So we will challenge, pardon the pun, the rest of this great state with our presence.

This next week we are in 1st Corinthians in Triple M's. Last week we were in Proverbs 16-31. I liked chapter 30. Verse 2 Surely I am more stupid than any man. I do not have knowledge..... And so on it goes. Agur son of Jakeh spends the rest of the chapter proving that he is not stupid and in fact is very wise.

At Jim's group last week we had a good hard look at Exodus. It was most informative. Lots in Exodus. Most notable was those those who broke God's Holy law were not killed. They were to be put out of the camp. In other words, they forfeited their right to be part of God's blessing. Now there is a scary thought. God bless' us all. Yet what would happen if all of a sudden He stopped the blessing?

I will leave you with that thought. Till next time........ Hooroo

Wednesday 12th October 2011 - Coffee on Kareela

2011-10-12T21:23:00.000+11:00

Coffee on Kareela is a small cafe run as an extension from St Luke's and it's future is in doubt. We have been supporters of the cafe since it started. I cant understand how it could possibly close. Apparently it is due lack of volunteer support staff. Financially the cafe is doing fine. It is purely a staffing problem. I guess the cafe needs to be more "in your face". In other words, it need to have a higher profile within the church. Maybe we need a big fat notice board at the church devoted to things happening at the cafe and the needs that the cafe has.
For my family we are at the cafe ever week and many times, a couple of times each week. We have made so many friends, new friends, people we had not seen outside the cafe and probably never have met if it had not been for the cafe.
Cathy was 12 months old when the cafe started. The cafe was 2 years old when our Timothy was born. It has been a large part of our family.
Enough. Till next time.....

Tuesday 11th October 2011 - I am proud.

2011-10-11T23:05:00.001+11:00

The family at the Enchanted Maze at Arthurs Seat, around 40 kilometres from where we live at Frankston. This was our first trip away whilst Michele and Cathy were on holiday. I also was on holiday.

Cathy standing by a carved wooden figure.

The Hedge Maze. Mother disappearing around a corner. These mazes are ideal for Stephanie. She can find her way round completely unguided.

Michele looking very pleased with herself.
As I said that was the first of the day trips we did.
We attend St Luke's Anglican Church in down Frankston. This from Jordan's Journal for October 9, 2011:
He gives a quote from Steve Job now deceased leader of Apple.
"Job's himself reflected on death in a Stanford University:
'No one wants to die. Even people who want go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent. it clears out the old to make way for the new'"
I think that says it all. And Christ can be the agent of that change. If we will place our trust in Him, then we get double change.
Then there is this. A while ago, Mr Osama Bin Laben was assassinated by agent from the USA. He was blamed for the 911 bombings.
The world rejoiced at his death. In some places people danced in the streets. At the time, I didn't. I thought it was murder. I still think it was murder. And again, invasion of another land.
Today I was reading Proverbs 24. Verses 17 and 18 stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't believe what I read. Or more importantly, I couldn't believe that again the Lord must have been guiding my thoughts and guarding my mind.
Let me quote from The New King James Version:
Proverbs 24:17-18
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
18 Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him,
And He turn away His wrath from him.
Enough for now............

Sunday 14th August 2011 - I really need to do this.

2011-08-14T21:00:00.000+10:00

I really need to do this. Miles stones pass so quickly. And if not recorded they are lost forever. So much of our lives pass us by, never recorded and soon forgotten. Then we lament the passing of time. Lots of things have happened recently. A good friend and acquaintance has gone to glory. We didn't know him well. He was difficult to get to know. But his message was loud and clear. Galatians 2:20 was his message. I think he really did believe he lived it in his own life. Oh that we might have known him better. But he wouldn't allow that. Some people are very hard to know. They build this brick wall and cover themselves with pomp and loudness. But just occasionally they would give us a peek beneath the vial.
Timothy is walking. Not all the time, but he is walking. It is 2 weeks since he took his first tentative staggers. Oh the look of pleasure on his face. He was beside himself with joy. Giggles and laughter followed each successful waddle. Good onya Tim Tam. Michele walked, er, staggered at 10 months. Cathy took her first steps 3 days before her 1st birthday and promptly fell head first into a plastic toy box that just happened to be close by. And now Tim.
Of course other events should be left alone. Like diapers. The little man doesn't like dirty diapers. No sir. Kicks up a storm each time. Seems to me that he might be easy to toilet time.
Till next time.........

Monday 4th July 2011 I added....

2011-07-04T14:31:00.000+10:00

Radio is my hobby. Jesus is my life. My family is my first love. And when I have time I play with radio. Ham Radio that is. No, you cant eat it. You do it. Amateur Radio. Now we don't act. Well, that is not strictly true. When our radios and antennas don't play ball then we do. We act like spoilt two year olds having a tantrum.
We built antennas to work our favourite bands. No, that is not a music group. A band is a set of radio frequencies. For example, that 80 metre band cover from 3.5 megahertz to 3.8 megahertz and the typical antenna wil be 40 metres long. Just a wee bit bigger that your average TV antenna.

That is a TV antenna. Complicated looking animal. I could built that antenna. It is designed to work on two frequency's.
My antenna is just a wee bit bigger in size.

No, that's not my antenna. But the wire antennas are like mine. I have 4 wire antenna. No I don't share.
If you look at the gadget I have added called Solar Prediction on the top right hand side you will see our bread and butter. Solar activity pretty well governs what we do. No solar activity on the sun, no radio activity down here on planet earth.
That will do for now. Just a wee sample of what I do in my spare time.
Till next time.......

Sunday 3rd July 2011 - What's happening?

2011-07-03T22:18:00.000+10:00

What's happening in our world? Lots.
We are at the centre of the year. Michele and Cathy have completed 1/2 the year of school and pre-school. Both have done very well.
Michele is in grade 2. But her levels are 1/2 way through grade 3. Well done Michele. Apart from some issues she is doing so very well. I am proud to know her as my daughter. Just now both girls are on holiday. A very well earned holiday. Mum and Michele are going to have a mum and daughter date. Can two ladies have a date? Of course they can.
One of the questions we have in our Triple M's group is in relation to quality/quantity time in our most important relationships. Well, mum and daughter are very important.
Cathy is her usual bubbly self. She enjoys life and Timothy. Timothy is our little man. Cathy smothers him with affection. Drives us mad. But I guess they will work it out. Cathy can read some and is quite a little genius at maths. I am surprised and so is mum. We have taught her nothing. Michele sort of taught her to count, but the rest she has pretty well taught herself.
Now, a little while ago I mentioned Stephanie, the love of my life, had some big plans. She now has a music teacher and in November this year will sit her AMEB Grade 8 Music exam.. She had not planned to do the exam this soon.
She also had aimed to be able to walk from home to school and from home to the Beach Street shops by the end of the year. She can do that now. Yippee!! Now she wants to learn from our home to the Kareela Rd cafe. Her instructor in on holiday just now. When she returns then Stephanie will complete Kareela Rd.
Of course nothing remains static. Stephanie has now decided to get a guide dog. When she has learnt these routes, then she will be assessed and if found OK, will start training for the dog.
Till next time.............

Saturday 14th May 2011 - Proselytising

2011-05-14T19:23:00.000+10:00

This article appeared in the news a few days ago: Disciple claim sparks call for chaplain fund freeze. It goes like this. Some one thinks that the chaplains and those who are doing CRE education in schools are out to make converts of the children and get the kids to go to their school. The story makes for interesting reading. One of the things the claimants want is for those doing chaplaincy work and those involved in CRE to have no connection with any church organisation. "In that pause, we would want the Government to re-check these programs, so if we are going to have pastoral care in schools and that is going to be funded by taxpayers, those people have no connection to any religion." That statement comes from Australian humanist of the year Leslie Cannold. This also in interesting. Dr Cannold, is also member of the Fairness In Religion In Schools group.
Maybe I am a bit thick. But it would seem to me that if we are to have any religious education in schools, whether it is Christian, Islam, Buddhist or any other religion, if you are going to tell kids about that religion, you are automatically engaged in some sort of proselytising. It goes with the territory.
I support CRE in schools. I also support chaplaincy in schools. Kids, and adults, face all sorts of spiritual pressures. Those chaplains do an excellent job just giving folks a listening ear.
I thought it interesting that Dr Cannold is also a member of the Fairness in Religion in Schools group. Umm, he is the one protesting and yet he is in that group. He wants the chaplains stopped? Where is the fairness in that?
It's me age. I have a problem with my understanding.
Till next time........

Saturday 7th May 2011 - Lenard Ravenhill

2011-05-07T21:14:00.000+10:00

Leonard Ravenhill. I first heard this man a few years ago. Now they have written a book about him. Some called him a prophet of our time. Like all prophets, he preached the truth faithfully. Some found his words painful at times.
Until next time..........

Thursday 5th May 2011 - Do Justice, love mercy and walk humbly.

2011-05-05T10:12:00.000+10:00

Bin Laden's killing a 'perversion of justice'. Geoffrey Robertson QC said this: "It's not justice. It's a perversion of the term. Justice means taking someone to court, finding them guilty upon evidence and sentencing them," he said."
More evidence of USA bully boy tactics overseas. This man was never given a trail. It was/is premeditated murder or assignation. Even Saddam Hussein faired better than this. There is no doubt, that on the evidence put forward, both men were evil. However, there is a right way to do things... and a wrong. I believe, not that they or anyone cares, that this was/is the wrong way. The coalition of the willing invaded a sovereign nation and turned the country into a poverty stricken ghetto in a few short months. And now, one nation has gone into another nation, supposedly without the knowledge or consultation with the government of that nation. I would urge my USA brothers and Sisters to go read the Book of Amos.
Others may hide behind the statement "it needed to happen" and "The end justifies the means". I wont. This is wrong.

I do not condone what this man is alleged to have done. But I also don't agree with or condone what the USA military have done in murdering another man.

Friday 22nd April 2011 - Tim the builder.

2011-04-22T21:43:00.000+10:00

So this afternoon I decided to put together some shelving I got from Bunnings last week and at the same time listen to 3RPP. 3RPP is a community radio station down here on the peninsula. Friends of ours were on this afternoon with some Bible readings and a gospel presentation. Well it is Good Friday after all. This is the day we celebrate Christ dying for our sin. Of course He wasn't actually crucified on a Friday at all. In fact it was a Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon about 3 PM to be precise. But that is a whole nutha post for another time.
Young Timothy was having his afternoon nap and woke up whilst I was putting the shelving together. For Tim everything must be examined and if possible given the taste test.
Here is some of the results of that.

This first photo is of our children. From left to right, Michele with Timothy sitting on her lap. Cathy is next. See the dress Cathy is wearing? That was given to her by Nana Cher, Stephanie's mum. Cathy loves that dress and would wear it all the time if she could. I don't know where Nana Cher gets the dress', but they are all top quality and last for years.

About now Timothy decides to get into the act. First there is the tape measure. He looks to me, almost looking for my approval to look at it. Looking is good. Playing is good. Exploring is good. Safety is important and so we take into account that when we let him loose.

I can't remember what he is looking at. Maybe he is just looking.

Now it is really time to get into things. Go Timothy. Your never going to learn if you don't explore and we don't let you.

Michele looks down and spots what Tim is doing. Cathy is too preoccupied with the camera to worry about what Tim is doing.

Now the girls have spotted Tim and what he is doing. They are surprised that he is allowed. But as I pointed out to them, they are allowed, encouraged even, to explore and get involved, why shouldn't he. I can give him Bob the builder toys, or I let him play with some tools that are safe. I can supervise the safety and at the same time let him explore and learn and have fun. And yes, he will get hurt. But that is how he will learn.
The girls are the same. The other week Michele wanted to cut up some onions. The knife was sharp, very sharp. She slipped and cut her finger. Of course she panicked momentarily. Because I was there I was able to bandage her immediately and in no time she was back at it. But more carefully this time. If I hadn't let her, she wouldn't have learnt anything and not had fun working with me. I also would have missed out on her company.
What was mum doing? Enjoying a relaxing time whilst the kids were having a ball.
Till next time........

Wednesday 20th April 2011 - More bragging.

2011-04-20T19:48:00.000+10:00

These two photo's were taken in Melbourne. The top photo is the mouth of the Patterson River at Carrum. Carrum is around 10 minutes by train north of Frankston. The other is taken at the top of Cave Hill about 2 minutes south of Lillydale. I like going to Lillydale. What cannot be seen is a talc mine on the other side of the railway line.
Yesterday I published a set of photo's taken of Tim. Tim had been outside on the grass before, but only when we carried him out there. For some reason he decided it was time to go exploring. Very hesitantly at first. I expected him to get stuck at the step. Not so. Very slowly and very carefully he made his way out. Michele and Cathy were thrilled. Michele has carried him out before. But he didn't seem keen on the idea. This time was different.
It is interesting to see the children grow. Michele is outgoing and not concerned about much. She is a willing helper. I should say keen willing helper. About the only thing she doesn't like is pooy diapers. Cathy is the mothering one. She hugs and hugs Tim. I was amazed when Cathy was born that her and Michele got on so well. But they do get on well. There seems to be no rivalry between them. Again, when Tim was born we thought maybe we would see jealousy. But no. Not a hint. Tim loves the girls and the girls love him.
Mother is amazing. Three kids seems to be no effort to her. It was a big move. Stephanie did most of the packing. Tim was only 3 months old when we moved here. Over the Christmas break Stephanie had to learn her way from our house to the school. It's only 10 minutes walk. But when your blind it might as well be a thousand kilometres. She has had to learn all of it in preparation for the new school year. She did. Easily. Well, she made it look easy. Top that with piano lessons. Plus running a house hold. Yes, she is one busy lady.
Enough for now. Till next time......

Tuesday 19th April 2011 - The taste test.

2011-04-19T15:19:00.001+10:00

This is what happens when one small boy decides to follow his sisters and dad outside. Timothy is now 7 months old. No longer does he stay in one place. Go Timothy!

First we check out the scenery.

Then the bits nearest to us, complete with the mandatory taste test. But not on the grass yet.

But we aren't really sure just yet.

First one hand.

We will look to see who might be watching and at the same time show off our crawling ability.

The ball. I want the ball. Michele watches on.

Cathy runs across. Tim decides the grass is not so bad after all.

The girls think this is most excellent.

Time for a rest.

What is this then? Should I consider the shoe?

No. The ball is much better. But where did my sisters go to?

The ball will do.

Friday 15th April 2011 - Pigs, food and training.

2011-04-15T21:51:00.000+10:00

What has that got to do with anything. Well lots actually. They all relate to Number 1 Son. Timothy Elliott that is.
He has discovered he likes food. But not the usual mushy food that is fed to 7 month old's. He likes real food, Cheese, tomatoes, silverbeat mashed spud, carrots sweet potato, pie and so on. The only concession is that they are cut up small. And he loves all food. He is like a pig. Have mouth will fill. He will quite happily feed himself. And there are no bibs. We clean up the mess, not that there is much. He will take food from a spoon. But not a baby spoon. Tea spoons are good. Although when I eat my porridge in the morning we share the spoon. Well, we do share the food, so why not the food.
Why have we chosen to do adult style food. Did I mention he likes spaghetti bog? Well it goes something like this. With the girls we mushed up the food. They didn't like it. We would finish up feeding them off our plate. So we got wise. If we is gonna feed them off our plate, why bother with the mushed up baby food in the first place. Hence Tim eats what we eat. Same in a restaurant. We would order a kids meal, which they hardly touch. They preferred our food. Again, we got wise. Just order another adult and an extra plate. Two happy girls in no time flat. We would and do take the time to teach them restaurant manners. Timothy will be the same. He will be and in deed is, taught age appropriate manner.
That brings me to my next subject. Some time ago I wrote and article on training versus expectations. I need to revisit that article. It is here in the blog somewhere. I actually wrote that when I was associated with Raising Godly Tomatoes. It did not go down well there. Too new age for them. But it did stand us in good stead with the girls. But that was 3 years ago and they are - well - girls. The principles are the same but the application slightly different. It will be interesting to compare notes.
We have started with Tim. In fact we started training within a day or so of his birth. Things like "legs down". So important at diaper change time. I mean, can you imagine a leg kicking around in a pooey diaper on a change table? Nope, not good.
Then there is don't touch. We have both worked on that. He is now 7 months and grabs every thing within sight. We don't want him touching everything. Boundaries. And at this age it is so easy to set those boundaries.
Don't touch training looks like this. Timothy will make a grab for the curtain. We don't want him to do that. So we take his little hand off the object and fold the hand across his body and say "don't touch" at the same time. It takes time. Lots of time. But, like Cathy before him, he is getting it. I wear glasses and I really don't need him to touch my glasses. So it is the same thing. I say "don't touch" and at the same time take his hand away. I will also tap his hand and say "don't touch". It takes a while for him to get the message. But even in a week he has get it down pat.
We have been looking at some things by the Ezzo's lately. They have talked about working within the funnel. It means setting age appropriate boundary's. I like it. It makes sense. Let the child have freedoms appropriate to his/her age. Too few or too many freedoms and we have a frustrated child.
That will do for now. Till next time.........

Thursday 3rd February 2011 - The Shack

2011-02-03T21:04:00.000+11:00

The Shack. That is the name of the book I have just finished reading. Here is the first chapter. Just to wet your appetite. The book covers roughly the same subject as the Book of Job from the Bible. But from a completely different angle. The Book of Job has Job questioning God why all this stuff has happened to him. Job feels hard done by and his good friends, who some lambaste him, don't help much. I personally happen to now think they did a stirling job. If it had not been for them, Job might well has done himself in. But God, who is infinitely wise, knew Job and wouldn't let that happen. God doesn't tell Job why; He shows Job creation, God's glory in creation. Job sees just how little he is and bows before almighty God. That's the short version according to me, myself and I.

The Shack answers the same question. This time God gives Mack, the main character, though definitely not the hero, a revelation of the Father, named Papa but who is portayed as a big negro lady; Jesus who is a carpenter, male; and The Holy Spirit, with the name of Satuyta, or something like that. I haven't got the book right with me.

I have never been comfortable with the God we see in the Bible. In the Old Testament He is pictured as a cruel task master with a big picture. In the New Testament it is all about Jesus. And we could be forgiven for thinking that Jesus main task is to protect us from this hedonistic monster with the dirty big stick.

If we look at the world today, we could also be forgiven that God was a monster on an ego trip.

The Shack changes all that. People either love it or hate it. It will challenge your theology. It will shatter any idea you may have been fed by the "church". Read it. Try it. But do it with an open mind. I loved it and will be giving some to my friends.

Till next time.........

Tuesday 25th January 2011 - Warning, bragging to follow.

2011-01-25T06:20:00.000+11:00

Yes, he did what, do I hear you ask? He rolled from his back to his belly to his back and completed the roll, last night in fact. I don't know why I am recording this fact. I just am. The good thing is that very few people read this blog so the event will go largely unnoticed. Which is good.
It is just about 0600 right now. I have been awake since about 3. Why? Timothy woke me first. Then Cathy, who is normally excellent of a night, decided to have a "Cathy" moment. I don't react very well to "Cathy" moments. And this time was no exception. Stephanie snored through the whole thing. She sort of registered but that was all.
I have 3 book on the go right now. The Calvary Road, The Shack and Timothy from the Bible. I have been listening to some interesting podcasts lately. One of them commented on Universalism.
Universalism states all will ultimately saved. Some interesting names popped up in the whose who on subscribers to this theory. It appears Billy Graham may be one of that number. I have always held that to be saved one must confess Christ as Lord before shuffling of this earth. If ya ain't dun it before you physically die, it's too late. I have looked down on those who view things differently. After listening to the podcast I am not so sure. I will add it to my "infant Baptism" pigeon hole.
For the information of the uneducated, I don't hold with infant baptism. If you don't know Jesus, you ain't saved. And my Timothy is too young to understand that. So if Timothy were to die today he will be in hell. Sad, but true. In my understanding, the Bible is clear. No Jesus, no eternal life; know Jesus, know eternal life. It is that simple.
In an ideal world from a human view point, all would be saved. Those who do repent and those who don't. In an ideal world, there would be no human physical suffering at all. There would be no droughts, no floods, no famine, no starvation. No one would do evil to no one and we would all be nice to each other. God would intervene, in a gentle manner of course, in all earthy affairs. That's in a make believe world. It does take too long to see the folly of that theory.
Back to universalism. One theory is that God would be unjust to send us to hell for sins committed whilst on earth simply because the punishment would out way the crime. I am not sure about that. Don't think God's word quite agrees. As I understand it, salvation is purely on the grounds of who acknowledges the sovereignty of God. You believe, or you don't. You acknowledge, or you don't. If you don't believe, God has nothing to do with it. Your unbelief has condemned you to eternal separation. In other words, God honours your wish. You don't want to know Him, therefore He lets you be.
Universalism says, and I must admit I do like this, even in the "after life" Christ is actively interceding with the Father on your behalf and with you that you would seek God. The theory goes that if you refuse, then you cease to exist. I like that bit. I am not into pain and torment. If I have it all wrong I wouldn't want to spend forever in physical or mental torment.
Meanwhile, I believe. Thank You Lord Jesus for seeking me.
Till next time.........

Wednesday 20th January 2011 - It's my birthday.

2011-01-20T15:13:00.001+11:00

There it is. The new rumpus room. Not complete yet. Actually that one was taken last week. Now the walls have plaster on them. It's hard to see the finished article. This is to be the engine room of the home. It's where it all happens. At least in theory. There is another living/lounge room. But that is in the house proper.
I must admit, the longer we are here the more I like it. It's "homey".

Cathy, Timothy and Michele on Michele's birthday. My three wonderful kids. Timothy is a weed. Out grows clothing like Kikuyu grass outgrowing a lawn. Cathy, our little food thrower and baby sitter. Our smotherer of Timothy. And Michele. She is the one who can beat the pants off her mother at Uno. Uno, for the information of the uneducated, is a card game which Stephanie prided herself on being good at. Enter Michele. Exit Mum's pride. Last night I arrived home and could hear the excitement of the game from outside the house. And they didn't even know I had arrived home. Cathy, who also played quite well, was prancing around every time she made a successful move.
Until next time.......

Saturday 15th January 2011 - Some things ara hard.

2011-01-15T21:51:00.000+11:00

Some things are hard to understand. This is one of them. It is a very hard things to accept this one. How a loving and compassionate God could allow this sure beats me. I guess there are some things I will never understand.

Saturday 15th January 2011 - Me and my big mouth

2011-01-15T04:34:00.000+11:00

I like blogs. Not many, but there are a few that are worth reading. Internet Monk is one of them.Some of it is quite hard hitting. Take this one for example.
Here is a quote: "Jesus is not a self-help guru. He is not interested in you becoming a better person. He could not care less with you improving in any area of your life. Because in the end that is your life. Yours. And he demands you give it to him. All of it. An unconditional surrender. He did not come to improve you, or encourage you, or spur you on to bigger and better things. He came to raise the dead. And if you insist on living, then you’re on your own. Good luck. Sign up for all the seminars, workshops and marriage improvement weekends that you can, because you’re going to need them.
The Gospel is this: We are dead in our sins. Jesus, too, is dead in our sins. But because he is very God of very God, death could not hold him. He conquered sin and death and rose again. And the only life we are now offered is the life he lives in us. Period. He wants us dead. He’ll do the rest."
Go read the rest. I don't always agree with him. This time I do.
That brings me to back to the subject line of this entry. Me and my big mouth. Got me into trouble again, or should I say, as usual. Seems some one I know didn't like to be challenged about their rather public bad mouth. Seems they want to use it as an excuse to be the "real them". Sounds like something from that over popular self help guru-ess from "These United States of Umericu" This person has 2 daughters that she is attempting to raise to be Godly Daughters. Or maybe not. Anyway, that is not the point. In the flow of the conversation she said that shouldn't have to deny who she is or censor what she says and that I was being a judgemental old bag of wind and some other not so nice descriptions. All true of course, I plead guilty to all of them. Trouble is you see, she is claiming to be a believer in Christ, what ever that is these days. Well that being the case we have a slight problem. For starters, her language made her out to be a liar. The real person is not revealed until they have died to self and are alive in Christ. It is Christ in you that reveals the real you. The person concerned also objected to my censoring of her bad mouth. Oops, did I miss something here? I thought society censored us? I am getting old. Again, maybe I missed something. To a degree society censors what we are permitted to say and do all the time. Society maybe hypocritical, but it still sets the standard.
I believe one of my crimes was that I was condemning her? Oops, did I again miss something. So far as I am aware, my comment was about her mouth, not her as a person.
Oh, well, can't please everyone.
Till next time........

Wednesday 8th December 2010 - Reminders of a painful past

2010-12-08T05:05:00.000+11:00

Meet David Meece. I never heard of him until yesterday and yet he has been a Christian recording artist for over 30 years. He was born 26th May 1952. He is 18 months older than me. He speaks of a need to forgive a parent. An abusive one. This is hard. This song, My Father's Chair is one of the most powerful songs I have ever heard. Some where along the line, with Christ's help he was able to forgive. Two words that should never be uttered to anyone anywhere any time: Your Worthless. That is what his father said to him. He struggled with those feelings of worthlessness for years. And then there was the need to forgive the person who voiced those words.
This from the heart. Mine. We need to forgive those who hurt us in the deep way in which David was hurt. That is not easy to do.
I remember my mother well. Too well. The mental scaring is still there 30 years after she past away. Dad wasn't aware of all that happened. The physical scares heal over time. The mental scares never do. They are always just below the surface. Ready to come flooding back.
I thought about all that yesterday as I listened to David's testimony. And I got angry. And sad. Angry because my mother had inflicted all that hatred on her children. Sad, because we never got to know the beautiful woman she could be. David also was denied the knowledge of the good man inside his father.
Have I forgiven my mother? I hesitate as I answer that question. I am not sure.
Till next time.......

Tuesday 30th November 2010 - Rose coloured glasses.

2010-11-30T05:36:00.000+11:00

Not that we ever had them. For the house we are slowly turning into a home. We knew when we first looked at the place there would be a lot of work to knock it into some sort of shape. I have spent the last weekend and yesterday on the girls bedroom. Now it is starting to take shape. Today should complete the painting. I need to go round the door frame and skirting boards again and then there is the window frames.
The window frames through out the house are timber and still have their natural timber look. They have been varnished in the past and I intend to keep that natural timber look. I will use Estapol. I am using high gloss for the interior of the house.
One of the toilets is to be replaced. The cistern doesn't work properly and the seat leaves something to the imagination.
The kitchen stove was fitted yesterday and the electrics upgraded.
Tomorrow it is the carpets. The three bedroom need to have carpets fitted.
And we are just about a week from moving in. So much to do and so little time. Yet it will be done. At times it has seemed overwhelming. Slowly.
I guess it begs the question to be asked. Why? Why did we finish up purchasing a house to turn into a home that needed so much work? We spent six months looking for a house. Our requirements were simple. Three bedrooms and two living areas with a price tag of around 300-350k. It needed to be within walking distance to shops, schools and public transport, with no busy roads to cross. Sounds simple, doesn't it. Not so. In the locations we chose and in looking at so many houses we found nothing, and that was even looking at the higher price bracket. Then we looked to see what we could compromise on. We decided that if we could find the right location with a yard big enough, we would go for one living area. And so we arrived at where we are now.
Enough for now. Till next time.....

Saturday 27th November 2010 - Amish

2010-11-27T06:05:00.000+11:00

I like the simple life. I guess this is one reason why I have chosen to down size financially. It's called de-cluttering. Which is another way of getting rid of junk. All that stuff that we think we absolutely cannot do without when we purchase it, but then find we can and now it is taking up valuable space.
We really didn't need the financial headache of owning - part owning at least - a couple of properties. Also I am geting... well you have read it all before.
That brings me to the Amish. You can read all about them over here at Amish America. I always had this idea that they lived uncomplicated life styles. Was I wrong! Look at this. After reading The Amish Community I have had to change my mind. Then I read The New York Amish. I think, after reading that I will certainly need to rethink my ideas. They are anything other than uncomplicated. There are huge difference between Amish from one state to another.
Enough. Till next time.........

Wednesday 10th November 2010 - Nine years.

2010-11-10T15:34:00.001+11:00

At 11 am on 10th November 2001 at what was then the Mornington Baptist Church, Mount Martha. The groom was on time, aren't we always; the bride was a respectable 40 minutes late. Nine years and 3 kids later it feels like it happened yesterday.

And I am so glad we did. I love you my darling! The best is yet to come.

Saturday 6th November 2010 - Where from here.

2010-11-06T02:19:00.000+11:00

I read blogs. Not many; I'm a bit fussy. But this is excellent. Oh, and if speaking up for what is right makes one a bully, then I most certainly am a bully. However, I don't believe I am. For example, I happen to believe, and the Bible agrees with me or I agree with the Bible, homosexuality is sin. And same sex marriages are not on. However, one of my dearest friends in this world is homosexual. And, no I am not going to reveal his identity. I have known him for a decade and if I could I would adopt him as my brother. I respect him and love him like a brother even though I disagree with his life style and sexual preferences. He knows it and respects me for my position. Does this make me a bully? Does this make me homophobic? You be the judge. He is a great guy and my prayer is that He will one day come to know the Lord Jesus as his Lord and saviour.
My son and I are having a ball. He is now trying to giggle. He grins and makes this funny sound that has me in stitches. His little fat legs go for all he is worth and the arms go here and there. Like his sister before him, he is fast become a fan of the "lets see if we can stuff our whole fist in our mouth" club. Ably cheered on by his dad. Of course this is all done on the change table whilst doing the inevitable diaper change. Which of course leads to all sorts of comments from mother, like what's taking so long up there and so on.
I must confess though to being a bit jealous. When it comes to the smiling business, the women have it. Stephanie or one of the girls has only to come within a bulls roar of Timothy and he will give this winning smile. I must coach each one out of him.
We are now between two houses. This place has been our home for 7 years. Our home is now a house and the house we have purchased is becoming a home. You don't build a home. You make a house a home. There is a huge difference. It's what we put into a house that makes it a home. It's our "touch" that transforms the bricks and mortar into something uniquely a home. And it will take time. Meanwhile we have been packing. We take possession of Ashleigh Avenue on the 11th November but move in on the 9th December. We have just about one month to do all we need to do. The kitchen has to be fixed, an electric stove fitted and three bedrooms have to have carpets down. That's just for starters. There is much more. If one lists all that we want to do it becomes to much and is overwhelming. So we break it down. We do what we need to do to move in and then worry about the rest after we are in.
This house, which has been our home for the last 7 years, sold in 9 days. Settlement for this house takes place on the 13th December. So we have plenty of time to do all we need to do.
That brings me to another question. Where is the Lord in all this? At the end of this exercise we will, or should be, debt free. That is, we will owe nobody nothing, financially. And, it has happened fast. Very fast. Twelve months ago we hadn't even dreamed of this. I had 8 years to retirement and was happy to plod along slowly working our way into this position. Then all of a sudden it became apparent that it was the Lord's timing for us to move. Once we decided to make changes, everything fell into place and apart from some minor hiccups along the way, all has happened too fast. From debt to no debt and from one home to another. What is next and as the subject line says - where to from here? What is Christ's plan and will for us from here?
Finally one more blog post. Please do go read this one. Vacation Schooling. And may I ever remember and be reminded that the Jesus my children will see is the Jesus in me. And I had better make sure that I remain in Him.

Wednesday 3rd November 2010 - Tonight

2010-11-03T21:08:00.000+11:00

There are some things I really like. Right now, just this very minute I am content. Very content. I am lying in bed. My son is asleep beside me. I really like this. I loved it when Cathy was a baby. I love it now. Stephanie is here in bed also. She has just done feeding Timothy. Breast feeding that is. It is good. She fed him to sleep. He is happy, she is happy I am happy. In time, when Timothy is ready, he will start solids. It will be in his time. We did this with Cathy. It worked. She is a good eater. She is not fussy. There are some foods she doesn't like. There are some foods I don't like. I don't eat the foods I don't like and we wont force her to eat what she doesn't like.
Having said all that, not every one has the same attitude to such matters as we do. I respect them for that. I believe passionately in what we are doing, but I respect those who do things different to us.
May we continue to respect those who are different to us and may they continue to respect us.
Till next time.........
Oh, I forgot to mention, I am in trouble again........ or should it be, as usual. It's the nappy changes. It takes a long time to change a nappy. A very long time. One must do the admiring thing. One can't admire a son quickly. It takes time. A long time. Such matters should never be rushed. Then there is the smiling competition. Need I go on?

Wednesday 3rd November 2010 - I heard

2010-11-03T09:58:00.000+11:00

I heard an interesting comment this morning whilst listening to a podcast on Buddhism. It was on anger. Anger and hatred are selfish emotions. The focus is on the "me". Some one has pushed my button and I instinctively want to make that person pay. Interesting. I think this is timely. Maybe Christ wanted me to listen to that podcast.
A good friend of mine wrote a blog post regarding hearing God speak to us. He will speak to us through His word. But also through circumstances within which we may find ourselves. Above all we must be quiet. How can we hear Him if we are yaping all the time.
Another comment, this time regarding depression. How to beat depression. Take my eyes off myself and how I feel and focus on something else. This one is very true. When we focus on ourselves we become inward looking. Occasionally we do need to look at who we are and what we are doing. But to do that to the exclusion of all else is unhealthy.
Finally, we are one week away from a major event in our lives. A week from today Stephanie and I have been married for nine wonderful years. What will the next nine years bring?
This is interesting. Good on you Sarah.

Thursday 21st October 2010 - It's his birthday.

2010-10-21T07:15:00.000+11:00

"If, in my efforts to communicate, I cause the person I am communicating with, to concentrate how I am saying what I am saying, then I have failed to communicate what it is that I am attempting to say. I have failed." I wrote that about 5 minutes ago. I did that a few weeks ago. To my wife. This is not good. My motives were misunderstood.
I was attempting to communicate something really important. It was not the first time I had attempted to communicate this idea. I failed. Badly.
How do we effect change when it is needed without causing the other person to be overpowered by how we communicate what we are communicating? Is it how we are communicating in the first instance? What about when we can see something but the other cant? How do we overcome a life time of conditioning. Conditioning that says that you are inferior in the first place, when in fact that person is not inferior at all. In fact it is me who is inferior because I have failed to communicate something fundamentally important.
This brings me to another important thought. For training and discipline to be effective, the person being trained/disciplined, must be able to understand what I am trying to convey, not be overpowered by how I am saying it.
Maybe this is what the Bible means when it says "Be angry but sin not"? Be angry but let not my anger be so overpowering that what I am angry about is overpowered and becomes lost in my passion? Maybe that passage could also go in other areas? By happy but sin not? Let not my communication of my happiness and joy cause people to miss what I am happy about.
So, back to my original problem. How do I communicate what I want to convey in a manner that will not take away from the idea that I wish to convey?
Until next time........

Saturday 16th September 2010 - Part of a team

2010-10-16T21:36:00.000+11:00

I like Neil Cole. See here is his web-page and his blog.
Today I was reminded that I am part of a team. I am not called to be an evangelist or a prophet. I need to remember my place and what God wants me to do and do it. No more - no less.
Who has read The Shack? I listened to a podcast today about the author. His name is Paul Young. The book, it would seem, is autobiographical. And was written for his children. But it explores much more than that. I haven't read the book. They tell me you either love it or hate is. I want to read it. Any one who thinks outside the box is worth a good look. For example. He hints that God might be female. Really. What is so impossible about that. God is the creator. So what's the problem. Jesus in blue jeans? Yep, I can see that. God the Father also crucified on the cross? That's stretching it a bit. But I haven't read the book. I will reserve judgement until I read the book.
There is another book out there called No Fixed Address. This one is also autobiographical. By John BodyComb I think is the author. It is an account of one man's spiritual journey. We are on a journey. Our idea and beliefs will change as we go through life. Christ will show us things, lead us places that we would never once go. Again, cant wait to read the book.
Tomorrow normal programming will resume. That is, I may go back to bragging instead of blogging.
Till next time...........

Sunday 3rd October 2010 - We can be fooled.

2010-10-03T05:54:00.000+11:00

I stuffed up. Badly. It's my mouth. Well, my mind actually. It's just that my mouth gave expression to my mind and the person my mind was thinking about heard the expression about himself. It's not the first time I have had Foot In Mouth disease. It's a very long standing malady I have. Part of the self life. A part that refuses to die and go away and annoy someone else. The person of who I made the comment confronted me with my comment and I had to hold up the white flag. Not a good feeling but one that was necessary. I have resolved to keep my big mouth closed.
But that brings me to another thought and a part of my own past that I would rather hadn't happened but did happen.
In the course of our conversation, my friend made a comment about being taken out of service. I can relate to that. In 1984 I was living in Manjimup, West Australia. I was attending the Manjimup Churches of Christ and was an elder in that church also serving as secretary/treasurer. I also had an ego as big as Ayers Rock. I needed to be humbled and God did. It's a very long story and I will spare the details. In February 1985 I moved to Geraldton in my employment. And, partly as a result of my experiences in the Manjimup Church, resolved never to serve as elder in a church again and also never to preach again. I basically told Christ that I didn't care what He thought, I was closing that area of my life to Him. He took me at my word and took me out of service.
I spent the next 10 years in the wilderness, deluding myself that all was right with my Christian walk. In reality it was a sham. I went through the motions but that was about all. The really tragic part was that I had fooled myself into thinking one thing when the reality was entirely different. I praise the Lord that He brought me to my senses. It is an awful thing to be deluded as to the reality of our Christian walk.
Till next time.....

Tuesday 28th Setpember 2010 - It's ours.

2010-09-28T06:50:00.000+10:00

Well, subject to financial approval this:

is ours. Well, partly belonging to the bank. Although that shouldn't be for long. This is the second of the two houses we liked. It was our second choice, but I believe the Lord's first choice. Isn't it amazing how we get our choice and His will for us mixed up.

Back to the house. Let me try another image, hope fully in the right place.

There, now hopefully we have a floor plan. The bedrooms and the lounge are bigger than the rooms in our current house. The kitchen is smaller and there is no dinning room. So the reality is the kitchen doubles as a kitchen/dinning room. See the grey area at the back, labelled Terrace? That is going to be our second living area. It has a plastic roof at the moment. I will change that. Probably to iron or colour bond.
What is now the only living room will be Stephanie's piano studio. It will need a computer and other stuff. But the details of that we have yet to work out. And no I am not going to say how much. Enough that we should be debt free at the end of all this.

And now to a completely different subject altogether. Over here at Cole-slaw is an occasionally excellent blog. This got my attention. Go read it and come back.
First, Neil is one of my mentors, although he don't know that. He was my introduction to Life Transformation Groups. We call our LTG's, Triple M's over here at St Luke's in down town Frankston.

Back to Neil's blog and this entry. Neil makes an important point. If you teach it you own it. You take ownership of what ever it is you own. Because you have got to pass on knowledge of a subject, you research the subject and know it better than your students. In my former life I was a train driving instructor. I knew the rules and safe-working regulations like the back of my hand. I lived the rules, breathed the rules, ate the rules because it was my business to pass on knowledge of those rules. Now, I did that because it was my job. That's what they pay me to do. But I knew the rules at a far deeper, just like Neil says, than my students ever did.

"In fact, one of the most frustrating realities of teaching is that you are not able to convey to the people all that you have been able to learn studying for the process." This is so true. But it also goes to sharing something from God's word. I have lost count of the number of times I have attempted to share something, only to have the person's eyes glaze over. I have seen something or God has revealed it to me, but they don't get it.

That brings me to another important question. How does one get others to get excited about God's word? That is a secret we would all love to learn. This week we are in John in my Triple M's group. John's gospel has got to be one of the most exciting books I know of. I can spend weeks, no month's, in that book. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. How exciting is that?

Wow, and I haven't bragged about my family this time. That's got to be a first.

Till next time.....

Saturday 25th September 2010 - More bragging.

2010-09-25T20:57:00.000+10:00

That is Timothy. Three weeks and one day old. Well, actually, that is not strictly true. Depending on your point of view. If you take into account his conception, he's a little older that that.

And, yes, he is lying on our kitchen bench top. Quite happily I might add. I was making a cuppa coffee. Putting sugar and water and milk in the cup was no trouble. But getting coffee out of a jar was another matter. So I put him right there. Not the first time.
Some where in this next image is Timothy. He is sitting on Michele's lap whilst she reads a story to him. Not that he is interested. But he does enjoy the attention. Cathy is looking on. Pointing out all the pictures to him.

Fancy having three mothers and one father. That is the lot of one Timothy Elliott. I am quite excited really. I did wonder if jealousy might become a problem. But both girls love him and are eager to be involved in what is happening to and with him. I have heard of jealousy amongst children and prayed that we might learn how to recognise it and work through the issues surrounding it.
Till next time.....

Tuesday 21st September 2010 - No photo's.

2010-09-21T07:20:00.000+10:00

No, there are no photo's this time. And this is day 2 after holidays/birth of son/extra days off. Feels like I never left. Yesterday was a day I would rather forget. Today has so far been good.
This morning I listened to some pod casts from the BBC program All things considered. This morning the podcast was about this Anglican priest who has written a series of letters to important people in his life. That got me to thinking about who I would write to if it were me.
I guess I would write a letter to God. Expressing my appreciation for this wonderful but challenging life He has blessed me with.
I would probably write a letter to my mother. Expressing my desire to know what made her "tick" and why she treated us they way she did. It was a hard life growing up. Trying to just get from one day to the next was sometimes a nightmare. One never relaxed. To relax and let the guard down was to court disaster and mothers wrath.
I would write a letter to my dad. Expressing my gratitude for the gentle man that he was. Also for the values he passed on to me. Hard work. Honesty. Integrity. All these I learned, not by instruction, but by example. I looked up to my dad. He was my hero.
I would write a letter to Christ. Expressing my thanks that He has been my friend for 45-plus years. He was my friend when no one else was and when I didn't believe in myself. There is no condemnation. I would like all to know that. Not that we are perfect. No we are not. We were born sinners and sin by choice. But we were created in God's image. I never saw a man of God in the Bible who God first called by condemning him. Write me if you know of one.
I would write a letter to my wife. Expressing my love, adoration and devotion to her and her well being. My reason for living is her future security and welfare and happiness.
I would write a letter to my eldest daughter. Expressing my regret for the mistakes I have made and will make in helping to raise her. I would express my pride that she is. What a girl. Like my wife, she never ceases to amaze me.
I would write a letter to my second daughter expressing my affection for her. I made a conscious decision to love her and see her happy. That created a bond that will not easily be broken.
I would write a letter to my son. I marvel at the privilege of being able to help deliver him. What an intensely private and spiritual experience that is.
Please consider the Taize` Community. I also listened to this podcast this morning. I would love to spend some time in spiritual retreat some time. It is one of those dreams one has but rarely gets to act upon.
Our family has now been in St Lukes at Frankston for almost 4 years now. I think for both Stephanie and myself it has been a blessed time. I remember thinking that we had nothing to lose by visiting this church for the first time. We never left. Nothing to lose? You got to be kidding. We had everything to gain. I discovered spirituality on a level I never knew existed. I have been taken beyond myself as I have entered into that voyage of discovery that the liturgy accords.
Enough for now. Till next time.....

Wednesday 15th September 2010 - The woman in my life.

2010-09-15T15:21:00.000+10:00

There is only one. And there is a picture of her taken in our kitchen this very day. Stephanie, the love of my life. And today I got to do something I have wanted to do for ages. Spoil her. Do you have any idea how good it is to be able to lavish some attention on the only lady? There aren't any others. Other men may think they have the best woman. They don't. I do. We have been married 8 years, but it seems a heart beat.
Thank you Stephanie for being the best. And thank you for allowing me the privilege of spoiling you.

This photo was taken Monday morning at Michele's assembly. Michele is in the front row, fifth from the left. There are two classes and they are performing "There's a gumtree on a hill". There are actions that go with this song. Michele will sing until the cows come home, but will not do the actions. No sir, it's not happening.

Did I mention that Stephanie is a most excellent cook? Oh, well, she is. We have cooking competitions between us to see who can out do who. I guess we will have to keep trying as the jury is still out on who is the best.

Here is me mate. Cathy. Taken this morning. After preschool. She loves preschool. Stephanie and I had returned home, Timothy had been fed and nappy changed and I took the opportunity to photograph Stephanie with her hair done.
No, don't look for photo's of me. There aren't any. Sorry about that.

Now for the question of the day. How do I read my Bible. Or how do I interpret my Bible. Am I literalistic, or and allegorist in my understanding? Neither. I read the Bible as read unless obviously otherwise intended. So in a sense I am literalistic in my understanding. I don't try to read something into the scripture that is not there. A parable is a story. It is not intended to be taken literally. However, the creation account is a record of something that happened. It may or may not be seven literal days. But it is seven time periods, or days. The word day is not defined. It may or may not be seven 24 hour time periods. The Bible is clear that it is seven day/night time periods. But that time period is not defined. So, let me sort of move things along a bit.
When I read Genesis I read it as a historical record of events that occurred. Exodus the same, with some laws and so on thrown in for good measure. Leviticus similarly, as is Esther and so on. Esther is considered one of the prophetic books. That it not what the Bible would indicate. Neither Ezra or Nehemiah. They also are a historical record of events that took place. Psalms and Proverbs are obviously poetry and partly prophetical. The prophetical parts have proven to be literal. Especially Psalm 22 I think it it. Kings and Chronicles and Samuel, also historical records of events that took place. There maybe some future prophetical content, but largely they are historical accounts. Isaiah Ezekiel also largely prophetical. Daniel is part historical and part prophetical. In view of the prophecy's contained within Psalms, I would contend that the prophecy's contained within Daniel should also be read literally. This is by no means a complete listing, but I think you now get my understanding.
Now to the New Testament. Matthew to Acts, literal historical records unless otherwise obvious. An example would be the Parables of Jesus. Corinthians to Jude are all letters, with Revelation being historical record to start and ending with prophecy. And again, I would contend that as John would have no words to describe what he was seeing, it should be literal. I don't know how that plays out. Lets wait and see.
Till next time.....

Sunday 12th September 2010 - He smiled!

2010-09-12T14:18:00.000+10:00

And he is a boy. We are learning this fast. When you are changing the diaper on a boy, do it fast. Or wear the consequences. He is fast and there is no warning.
But he did smile. Actually he has been lining up and sort of doing practice smiles in his sleep. Some would say it is gas. Well, the gas works is at the other end and it works very well. This afternoon I was changing his nappy and doing all the usual things that dad's do that annoy the living daylights out of mothers, when I coached a genuine smile. We sort of stood there for a while looking at each other, I don't want to know what he was thinking, when I got this most wonderful smile. More a grin than a smile. But I will count it a smile and praise the Lord. He had his first outing to church today. Slept through the whole thing. Didn't snore, but out like a light. Oblivious to all that was going on around him. Not caring about all these strange people who cooed and gushed all over him. Stirred a bit when we went down to the communion rail but that was about all. It wont last of course. We will enjoy the peaceful Sundays at church while we may.
We have two unhappy campers in our house just now. They were a tad naughty. Outside playing basket ball with a tennis ball. That's fine. But the ball went out on the street. In this house, going out on the street without an adult is a no-no. Both girls know it. It has been drummed into them over and over again. But the temptation was too strong for Cathy. So now both girls are in the naughty corner. Oops!
The sermon this morning was from Genesis 2. About marriage. And why we should. And how God ordained it. And what His purpose was in it. And how men should love their wives as Christ loved the church. And how we men ought to do the same. That means we ought to die for our wives, such should be our love and desire for them. But, did he really mean die, as in a physical sense. Well, I got to thinking about this. We men ought to die to what ever desires we have for ourselves. The lady should be first. Not us, but she. The little woman. The bearer of our children. Her desires and wants ought to be paramount over ours.
Do I do that? No. Not all the time. I am trying now. Nine years on as I learn what it means to love sacrificially. Placing Stephanie's needs.wants/desires in front of my own. Up until now we have worked things out considering both of us. And, yes, there is a place for that. But in a practical sense that needs to change.
Now onto another thought. Vicar Phil's sermon this morning was essentially about getting married and the reasons for doing so. Some years ago a couple in a our church were going through some really tough battles in their relationship with each other. I remember something said at the time that really stuck with me. We are really good at making marriages but dreadful at keeping marriages. In other words, the church is good at marrying people but not at keeping them married. We the church need to work more at providing people with the resources to keep and maintain a marriage. And Stephanie said in a practical sense.
Till next time.....

Thursday 9th September 2010 - Three mothers, one father.

2010-09-09T21:22:00.000+10:00

This little boy will never lack for a mother. Three in total, here are two of them. Timothy's head is just visible. He is asleep. He spends a lot of time sleeping. That's when he isn't pooing or feeding. He likes feeding. I do remember my father-in-law's description of baby's. Little eating sleeping pooing machines. But that's about all Timothy has done this week. He lost weight. That's normal. Then Stephanie's milk came in. Now he is putting weight on again. For the rest of the time. He sleeps. And sleeps. And sleeps. And when he is done sleeping, he sleeps some more. He does spend some time awake working out who these strange people are who keep looking at him. It's hard when all people do is gawk at you.
Can you imagine life from Timothy's perspective? He has spent the first nine months of life in a warm water bed. We wont go into some of the noises he has heard in there or what he might have felt in there. Such things as that are not spoken of within polite company. Then one day all that changed without warning. Mum does a whole pile of moaning and groaning. Then he finds himself being pushed down this impossible narrow passage that no normal sensible person would attempt to negotiate. Then firm hard hands, solid, grab him and support him and thud he lands, backside first, on some hard squishy object. Then he is towels and washed. He opens him eyes for the very first time and here, not that he knows this, are these really weird people staring at him and crying and blubbering all over the place. And it is cold. And he is feeling a whole range of feelings and all he wants to do is get back in that warm environment that he just was in. As the days go by, Timothy has got to work out which way is up, and what these weird people who cry a lot and plant kisses all over him a lot, really expect of him. Can you imagine seeing for the very first time? Talk about sensory overload!
The girls are fascinated and want to hold him all the time. Or change his nappy. Can some sensible person tell me what is so fascinating about changing the diaper on a baby's backside is? Sure beats me.
The photo you see above is normal in our house with baby's. Some would say we will spoil the baby. Funny about that. Cathy was carried just about all the time until she wanted to move around on her own. We would place her on the floor on a rug. When she indicated she had enough we would pick her up. Some said she would be clingy. Not so. She is one very independent young lady. So for the time being, so long as it is possible, young Timothy will be in some one's arms. He will be carried here, there and everywhere. He will sleep when he wants. And wake when he wants. And he will sleep. He will not be put down to sleep. He will, like his elder sister before him, learn to sleep where ever he is. Like his elder sister before him, he will observe and learn. He will be smothered with love and affection, and occasionally tears. Tears of joy as well as tears of sadness. He will learn by example and observation and, where needed, correction. But that correction will be instance and without malice. Just like his elder sister before him. He does now, and will until he wants otherwise, sleep between his mum and his dad. Just like his sister before him. When he wants a feed, he will feed. Because he is right with us all the time, discipline will be instance and done with love. He will learn to keep his legs down when having a diaper changed and not to touch certain stuff.
Oh, and when I said about being held all the time, that includes meal times. When we eat, some one has him in their arms. He is only just today six days old. But he has not known a time so far when some one did not have a hold of him. And he is one very happy and contented baby. And, what's more the bond between Timothy and his older sisters is growing. Rapidly.
So, if you should come a calling any time soon you will no doubt get to hold a very small baby in your arms and experience parenting against all the rules.
Just one more thing before I exit. Timothy is showing signs now of smiling. And also has begun to study whoever it is that has a hold of him. It is a wonderful thing to observe a child growing and learning.
OK, I lied. But I have just this minute remembered something from this morning. Please be patient, but I am a dreadful bragger. Especially where my wife and children are concerned. This morning I was at Michele's school in her class hearing the children with their reading. I have two chairs just outside the class room door upon which the child who is reading and myself sit. I can see in the class clearly from this point. I glanced in the class room to see Michele and one of her friends looking up at the ceiling with a look of absolute wonder on their faces and in their eyes. I looked up at the ceiling to see what they were so en-rapt with. And some one was using a mirror to reflect a light beam upon the ceiling. The look of wonder on these children's faces was priceless! I am so glad I have the privilege to see such sights.
And if you are a male reading this blog and your married, and your wife has a baby, watch her. Observe her. Admire her. You are witnessing a miracle at work. She is doing something you can never hope to do. I can watch my wife for hours and hours and hours on end. And when I am done watching I can do it all over again. All of the time.
Till next time....

Monday 6th September 2010 - Timothy Elliott Mitchell

2010-09-06T04:24:00.001+10:00

On Friday 3rd September at 0707 Timothy Elliott made his very rapid but grand entrance into the world. At home. Yes, our house. We didn't make it to the hospital. Months of planning out the window in a flash.

Here he his, in Mum's arms the next day. Mum feeling a little sore, but a lot happier than this picture shows. We all are. See that lady? That lady is my wife. I am proud of her. I love her. She did exactly to the letter what God created her to do. Without fuss. Without one word of complaint. Willing submitting herself. Lovingly in fact. I am very pleased that Christ gave her to me to be my partner throughout life.
The birth plan went something like this. When labour started we were to phone the midwife. She would come over and pick up Stephanie and transport her to hospital. I would take Michele and Cathy over to a friends house then proceed to the hospital. That is not quite what happened.
This is roughly what happened. At 0410 Stephanie woke me to say that her waters had broken. No contractions. No need for panic. A very wet bad had the sheets changed. Stephanie had a shower and phoned the midwife. We all went back to bed waiting for the contractions to start. At 0535 Stephanie tells me that she has a contraction. Mild, but enough to get her attention. And mine. We doze on. At 0552 another contraction. At 0603 another contraction. Then they started in earnest. At 0630 we again phone the midwife to let her know that things are proceeding a bit faster than we anticipated. I wake the girls, and phone the friends and organise, still not aware of what was about to take place, that when she got her husband off to work would she come around and get the girls. At this point we are still confident of making the hospital. I organise the dressing of the girls and Michele's lunch for school and keep a tract of what is happening with Steph. By now I think we both know this baby is not going to be born in a hospital. We again phone the midwife to find out where she is. She is 15 minutes away. Tell midwife to come straight to our house. I leave the kids to get their own breakfast and dress themselves. The dressing bit is already done. I also tell them to stay at the kitchen end of the house. They do. They are magnificent. I am impressed with our two girls.
I go back, find every towel we posses plus an exercise mat we had got. I had checked on Stephanie quite a few times. But this time I find her on her knees on the floor using the bed to support her top end. Some how I get her off the floor and get the mat under her and get her back into her position. It was an excellent birthing position. I look down at that end. Now we have a "Show". Then the door bell rings. I fly down the passage, open the front door and inform the midwife that we are birthing. Right now. She goes back to her car to get the oxygen and other stuff.. I think what does she want the oxygen for. We are having a baby, not dying. I go back to Stephanie who is moaning. Loudly. Very loudly. I look down and see Timothy's head "crowning". I drop down on the floor to support him as Stephanie births him. Now there is only Stephanie, myself and Timothy. Time stands still. Now nothing else exists. There is just us. Stephanie pushes. Timothy's head slowly appears. I go to support his head. But then the contraction stops and his head recedes back so that his chin is resting against Steph. Another push. I notice now that Timothy is looking at me, mouth wide open. This time he turns 90 degrees and half his body appears. Now he blinks and opens his mouth more and takes his first breath of air. I am now supporting his upper body. The rest is still in Steph. He is crying. Loudly. Another push and his body does another turn as the rest of him comes out. He lands on the mat between Stephanie's legs. Hours pass, or so it seems. There is this precious moment with just Stephanie, myself, with Timothy lying on the floor. Stephanie saying "I don't believe we just did that" and Timothy crying. I don't know how long we were like that. It seemed like forever but what probably just a second. Time again resumes. We then become aware of the midwife suggesting that Stephanie might like to lift her son up.
I simply cannot describe the honour and privilege of being permitted to enter into the experience and joy of delivering my own son into this world. It is one I hope I never forget.

See those two? They are simply brilliant. They followed instructions to the letter. They got their own breakfast. Cereal and milk. Michele, the one on the left is six. Cathy, the one on the right, is three. I am proud of those girls. They are just the best. I don't know what we did to deserve those two. But thank You Lord Jesus that you gave them to us. You have worked Your good and perfect will into them. No fuss, no bother. No arguing at all. They just got on and did what they had to do.
One more little detail. Michele knew what Timothy was to be named. Once mum was more respectably clad, we bought the two girls down to the bedroom to see their brother for the first time. I don't think Cathy quite realised what she was seeing. But she was amazed. Michele fully realised what she was seeing. Her eyes were wide open. I have never seen bigger eyes on a six year old. Stephanie and I hadn't told the midwife what Timothy's name was. We asked Michele what his name was. She said, in a very small quiet voice "Timothy". Again one of those moments not forgotten.
See this picture?

This is Sunday. Stephanie is absolutely exhausted. She goes to take a nap. The girls and I, with Timothy in my arms go and get the roast ready for dinner. Those girls again shine. Michele peals the potatoes and sweet potatoes. Cathy peels the carrots. Yes, they are eager and willing helpers in the kitchen. I cut up the potatoes and sweet potatoes. This I can do with Timothy lying in my arms. But there are some things that cannot be done while holding a baby. Cutting up pumpkin is one. Putting a baking dish full of roast veggies and meat in a hot oven is another. So Michele drops onto the floor and I place Timothy, who is sound asleep, onto her lap. Not a bad effort for a little girl, who until 24 hours earlier had never held a baby in her arms. And he doesn't even wake up.
Call this a joint effort.

Here is Cathy holding Timothy with Michele supporting his head. But the wonder in Cathy's eyes. I ask her what it feels like to hold him. In a very small voice she says "good".
Till next time........

Thursday 2nd August 2010 - We are still waiting.

2010-09-02T23:27:00.000+10:00

That's what we are waiting for. Mum is uncomfortable. Mum has a headache. Mum has heartburn. That's indigestion. Mum has nausea. Mum needs to birth the baby.

Dad is cranky. Dad made a phone call today. It was not good.I have help a particular person for many years. When I made some life changes, that help was thrown up in my face. Yes, it is done to our Lord and saviour every day. I am not God and so find it hard in my week humanity to handle it. Why is it that those who are help the most can seem to be the most ungrateful?

Christ has blessed us immensely lately. In fact I find it hard to accept and wonder what we have done to be so suddenly blessed. But we have been blessed and I am happy. Glad in fact that He has seen fit to do what He is doing. Some times I pinch myself because it all seems so unreal.

But I am/can be weak and don't like confrontation. And I guess because I am so weak that I allowed the situation with this relative to go on so long. No, so to speak, the chooks have come home to roost. My question is do I help one last time or allow the person to sink. That is one for prayer.

We dined out tonight. We often do. We go down to our local food court. That's a place which is a bit like lots of restaurants around a central dining hall. Four people dining and four separate food places used. Mother chose a full cooked breakfast. Yep, she is a female and pregnant. Daughter number one chose Subway. Daughter number two had chicken nuggets and chips from a chicken spot. I had Cantonese beef from a Chinese place. Yum.

Wednesday 1st September 2010 - Spring is in the air.

2010-09-01T07:32:00.000+10:00

Spring is in the air. The question in this house is will we have September 1 baby. The next 24 hours will tell. And what will our new baby be - a girl or a boy? This much I do know, Michele and Cathy are the best. And our new baby will also be the best. And what will the name be?

I guess there is something to celebrate here. We should not have been there in the first place. Defending territory is one thing. Invading a sovereign nation, another. Mr Bush Jr, Mr Howard, Mr Blair and others should all be standing before a war crimes court explaining their actions.

Did I tell, this week Triple M's is in Luke 13-24. This is a historical account. However, it has some big lessons in it. Thank You Lord for Your word.

Monday 30th August 2010 - Ahava.. I will carry.

2010-08-30T15:13:00.001+10:00

I am reading a blog called Christian Men and found this gem on marriage.
Till next time........

Monday 30th August 2010 - And still we wait........

2010-08-30T06:13:00.000+10:00

Here I am at the start of another week. Week four of my holiday. 1930UTC or, if you please, 0530 Eastern Australian Standard time. That's winter for those who don't quite get it. I can't sleep.
Been awake since 0340. Don't know why I woke. I just did. No, no snoring. Well, there was, but not enough to bother. I have a little headache but not enough to bother. I just couldn't sleep and what is the point in lying in bed tossing and turning, watching the clock in its relentless march forward. Get up, get motivated.
Oh, I did spend a few brief minutes in prayer. Prayer, that most neglected of pleasures. Communing with the Almighty. An essential part of our lives. You know it occurs to me that we would save ourselves an awful lot of bother if we spent more time in prayer. Go back to Genesis and Eve's cosy fireside chat with Lucifer, for example. Now that wouldn't have happened if Eve had expended that energy in communing with Elohim. Are we any different? I think not. If we expended the same amount of energy in prayer as we do in some not so nice, but seemingly so at the time, pursuits, we also would not get ourselves into bother.
Why don't we expend that time in prayer that we ought? Coz prayer is seen as boring. I mean, who in their right mind wants to spend time attempting to talk to some deity who, seemingly, does answer? At least doesn't answer in a manner one would expect.
A little while ago Michele made the bold statement that one can't touch God or Jesus. She is right. Be touched by, but not touch. Because Christ is outside our physical domain, we can't touch him the same way we might touch another physical human being.
That brings me to another subject. Last week my group in Triple M's were in Luke chapters 1-12. As I read the start of the book it occurred to me that we supposedly never hear from prophets these days. Maybe we do. But do we, would we, recognise a prophet if we saw one? I doubt it. I don't recall seeing one. Scary isn't it. To think that Christ could pass you in the street, say hello, and we wouldn't even know. That is sad. But, lest we pass judgement on the Pharisees who missed Jesus when He was here, so would we.
They tell me next Sunday is Father's Day. We are supposed to celebrate our fathers. Hogwash! I will celebrate my two, maybe soon to be three, children. Children are a blessing. Sure, they cause us headaches to spare. But mine give me far more than I give. I can laugh and rejoice.
Back to Luke. This week we are in Luke 13-24. And it starts with a call to repentance. I need that. Even as I re-read this post I can see that I fall short. I need to revisit Galatians 2:20 and allow the message of that part of the Holy Writ sink into my soul. I need Christ to re-invade my being and make me the person He created me to be. I was created in the image of God. Then I truly need to display His image as he intended me to.
I am up to Chapter 16 today. It's actually quite interesting. Jesus spends a lot of time doing what the Pharisees considered to be wrong. They failed, as we do, to see what Jesus was all about. They, like us, looked at the outside. Jesus looked at the inside.
That brings me to Cathy. Words of wisdom from a 3 year old. A little while ago I was getting her to concentrate on at what Vicar Phil was doing as he went through the Communion. Our definition for the cup was that it represented Jesus cleaning us on the inside. The bread represented Jesus standing before God and taking our punishment, I am not sure my 3 year old got that bit. It goes something like this. We have all been naughty to God. And he needs to smack us. But if He did we would die. That's what Jesus did. He took the smack from God that we should have got. That's the gospel in its simplest form.
Till next time.......

Tuesday 24th August 2010 - Whose who

2010-08-24T14:31:00.000+10:00

This last weekend has been a smorgasbord of Ham Radio. It was the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. It goes like this. All us mad radio nuts go and operate from a lighthouse. In all I heard 246 lighthouses were activated. It is an annual event. This is the first year I have attempted to contact the lighthouse. In all I contacted 17. Which, given the state of the bands just now, isn't bad.

Kidz in the kitchen, or as this blog says, The New Chefs. I like this post. This lady in an un-schooler. She home schools, or more importantly, her children educate themselves. The kids usually come up with the idea's and Mum facilitates the learning. What a wonderful way to do things. Our kids are in the kitchen all the time and love cooking. But Vacation Schooling takes the whole concept one step further.

This Triple M's are in Luke 1-12. The first thing to hit me as I read was to wonder if we would recognise a prophet if we saw one today. I doubt it. Scary, isn't it. God spoke through His prophet in times past. The Bible says, now He speaks through His word. Interesting. Jesus is the Word. Jesus lives, or is supposed to, live in us. So, He is going to speak through us? And Paul talks about the ministry of a prophet.

Have I ever seen/heard a prophet? Not that I am aware of. That is sad. Would I recognise Jesus if He was to step out of Eternity and into time? I am not going to answer that one.

Sunday 8thy August 2010 - The cook-up.

2010-08-08T21:04:00.000+10:00

Today was cook-up day in our house. Yesterday we were asked by the girls if we could have a family cook-up day. They wanted, and we agreed, to breakfast at dinner time. This is where the whole family gets in on the act.

But first there was an apple cake to make. As you can see Cathy couldn't wait to get into the action. We needed an apple peeled. At 3 she is a dab hand at peeling things.

But wait, we must first read the directions.

Michele to the rescue. She is our resident eyes. Mum is resting at this time.

Having read the directions, Cathy continues peeling the apple and Michele carefully measures out the milk. At this point we required 3/4 cup of milk. We don't have ~~the kids nicked that cup~~ a 3/4 cup measure. But we did have a one cup measuring jug and so Michele worked it out from there.

So, the cake is mixed, and apple peeled and sliced and the baking pan suitably buttered and papered. The kids must do the first of many taste tests. This time it is the mixers thingys.

The finished product. Obviously we didn't butter the baking dish correctly and so some remained in the dish. It was at about this time we discovered we had left out the eggs. Would the finished product taste nice?

Cathy decided it most certainly was yummy! So did Michele and myself.
By this time, Mum was out of bed. The children and myself had been out in the yard to do this and that. They rode the bikes around the yard and help pull weeds from the peas and broad beans. There followed a discussion about our dog that had recently died. They wanted to dig the dog up. I don't think I need to say what I thought of that idea.
Now it was time to put our evening meal together.
Scrambled eggs by Mum, sliced onions and mushrooms by Cathy and me, sausages by Michele, bacon by Cathy, Michele and me, hash-browns by me, and bubble and squeak by me.

Cathy checks out the camera and me.

"Is this my best side Dad?"

Cathy checks out the camera, Mum cracks eggs and Michele hands mum the eggs and supervises all.

Mum is very busy with the eggs. Now we are getting to the end of things. The eggs are the last to be done. All the rest is ready to go, almost.

Will we do it again? Yes, you better believe it. It is just the best having every one involved. Takes a little longer but is so worth the effort.
We started Michele off cooking when she was about 20 months. Cathy as soon as she could stand on a chair. She fell off the chair a few times, but it didn't stop her.
The family who plays together, or cooks together has fun together.
Till next time.........

Friday 6th August 2010 - That word.

2010-08-06T05:07:00.000+10:00

What is that word? Political is what that word is. It is 0430 and I can't sleep. So a cuppa coffee and a look at Facebook and the news. Facebook was uninteresting at this time. The news generally is. Although this article got my attention.
Seems the Greens don't like be labelled "anti-faith". Apparently in a survey sent out by the Australian Christian Lobby they declined to answer 18 out of the 24 questions put. The ACL sent out a questionnaire to the major political party's on key issues at this time. Have fun wading through that lot. I found it confusing. But for the record. The labour leader is a "lapsed Baptist" at this time. She actually claims to be an atheist. The leader of the Liberal party is a "practising" Catholic, what ever that means. The leader of the Democrats was a humanist. The Greens was an atheist. That's the last I heard. Enough of that.
My sweetheart, yes that's you Stephanie, keeps getting asked 2 questions. When are you going to have your baby? Mean while Stephanie is waddling around like a very fat duck. She short answer is, we don't don't know. Any day now. If it were up to my sweetheart, it would be yesterday. Heart burn is not fun. Nausea is not fun. Being uncomfortable is not fun.
The second question she gets asked is: Your pregnant? Wow I didn't know that. Mean while back at the ranch, Stephanie's baby bump precedes her where ever she goes. Would you believe I have to bend to hug her these days? Yep, sure do.
Then there is the check list.

Baby in Belly - check.
Nappies - check
Nappy wipes - check
Case packed for hospital - check
Cot in position - unchecked. We co-sleep.

And so on the list goes.
Then there is that big question: How is she going to manage a baby. It is about this point that the over whelming urge to be sarcastic overcomes me. I usually am polite and say, the same as the rest of the world. She is not the first lady in her position to have a baby. Oh, but what about the poo? How does she get around that problem. It is about here that I get the urge to go into a very graphic description of fingers and baby poo and smell and touching and so on. There is this almost irresistible urge to go all out. I resist. Instead I just say lots of nappy wipes. The folks are very well meaning and are just curious I know.
And the children, Michele and Cathy, how do they feel about all this? I am not sure. Michele I think is looking forward to the event. She has been reading the updates each week as they come in. And I don't think Cathy is really all that aware of it all. She can see Mum has got fatter out front. But just how sure she is about that baby I am not sure.
Talking of Michele. Yesterday I was over at her class hearing the kids read. Michele is doing grade 2 work. She is only in grade 1 but doing the more advanced work. Go Michele. Dad is proud of you girl.
It is amazing to see the huge difference in the children. Michele's class is made up of grade 1 and 2. In reading there is a huge difference from one child to the next. All children comprehend what they are reading or is read to them. However, some of these kids can barely read a single word. They know what the word means when it is read to them, but not what the word is. Others, like Michele, a reading at an adult level.
Enough for today. See you later. Or as they say in text speak: C u l8r.

Wednesday 4th August 2010 - King David

2010-08-04T17:04:00.000+10:00

This week we are in 2 Samuel 1-12. It is an interesting book. King David in a man. A sinning man.
But some things are, at face value, a mystery. Take for instance 2 Samuel 6. Why would God kill a man simply for putting his hand out to steady the Ark. Well, actually the Ark is in an oz cart. It's not supposed to be there in the first place. That begs the question, why would King David place the Ark in an oxen cart when he knew/should have known it didn't belong there in the first place. I think about this time, historical context comes into play. Previous to the Books of Samuel is Judges. The Israelites had been controlled by Judges for all those years. And to quote Judges 21:25, there was no King in Israel in those days and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Wow, what has changed in a couple thousand years. So, it is not inconceviable to believe that King David had no idea and quite possible had never read the Law. He lived simply by faith. He had relationship with Christ but no knowledge. If we go back to Abraham, he also is the same. When God called him out of Ur of the Chaldees, Abraham's family apparently made idols for people to worship. Hence, God extends much grace and mercy to Abraham.
One things really stands out here, King David makes no excuses for his behaviour. Look at 2 Samuel 12. King David has been a very naughty boy. Caught up in adultery he tries to cover his tracks and has Uriah murdered. Nathan confronts him with his sin. No excuses. Just a simple I done it. "I have sinned against the Lord." Oh, that we would do the same. Christ is merciful. If we come to Him in repentance He will extend mercy.

Monday 2nd August 2010 - More bragging dad.

2010-08-02T21:28:00.000+10:00

The midwife called today. It was a good visit. Now we really do play the waiting game. Will it be tomorrow? Will Baby 3 be born tomorrow? According to the midwife, Baby 3 is head down and in the right position for birth. Mum feels yucky and the rest we will leave unsaid. It's better that way. Officially Mum is 37 weeks pregnant. And so we play the waiting game. I start holidays next Sunday which is the 8th August.
Now, bragging time. Dear Daughter Number 1 did herself proud again today. We went to her school, Karingal Heights Primary School, check out the web site, no we are not much proud of the school, recently had a Jump Rope For Heart day for the Heart Foundations. Each child was encouraged to find sponsors and have a go. There were prizes for the most money collect. No, Michele didn't collect the most. That went to another little girl in her class. But Michele did earn enough in sponsorship to win a prize of softball gloves and other stuff. Well done my little one.
Not to forget Cathy, who is no just Cathy. For a while she was "normal Cathy", now she is just "Cathy". Tonight we had our devotional time at the table after dinner. The devotional consists of a story with questions followed by a prayer. Michele read the devotional and then asked the questions. Cathy answered all the questions and correctly. She showed, that although only 3, she understood completely what was being talked about.
This week we are in 2 Samuel 1-12. David is king. King David makes lots of errors. He protects those he shouldn't in Chapter 4. In Chapter 5 he takes lots of wives. This is a no no. One man, one wife. He sets himself up for a fall. He also reclaims Michal who is not happy about this. In chapter 6 he brings the Ark to Jerusalem. First time wrong, second he gets it right. Through all this, he shows he has a heart for God. Although he is a man, his heart is in God. A sinner, just like you and me. Fallible, just like you and me. But loving God and seeking God.
Tomorrow.

Sunday 1st August 2010 - The count down begins

2010-08-01T21:11:00.000+10:00

Officially 21 days and counting until Baby 3 makes his/her entry into this crazy world.
And I have been busy this last few days. Not with baby preparations. Those are already done. Mum even has the case packed.

Work and radio have been keeping me busy. I have been playing with my

Yaesu FT-2900R and my Icom IC-V82.

They are both good radio. However, they are modern radios with features I have never experienced before. A very steep learning curve. Also I am working toward PSK, which is a bit like Morse Code, but faster. I am also learning about Slow Scan TV, amateur style. Then there is Ham Radio Deluxe. And that is for starters.
Cathy has been sick, but is now much better. This lead to Michele thanking the Lord for helping Cathy to get better. Two amazing kidswith an even more amazing mum.
This week we are in 2 Samuel 1-12 in Triple M's. David becomes King. Not without lots of mistakes. But he has a big plus on his side. He consults with God. And we all need to do that. But we don't. Even me. I need to put Christ first more. I don't pray enough. I need to be able to talk instantly with Jesus so He becomes the second person all the time. Full unity. We have been talking a bit about the image of God. We need to be the image with Christ moving the arms and legs. Him fully in control.Not me, but Christ.

Till next time.

Tuesday 27th July 2010 - I am playing.

2010-07-27T14:25:00.000+10:00

But first, Melbourne Metro had a horror start to the day. I was travelling in from Frankston. And this is about as bad as it gets. Loss of overhead power means the trains don't go anywhere. And they didn't.
Today I have another complaint. Yes, it's those idiot half breads called passengers. This time, the ten foot tall and, so they think, bullet proof variety. Yesterday it was Moorabin station on the Frankston line. Three young idiots with a death wish run down the railway line in the direction a train would be going. No brains. Well, maybe, but certainly brain dead. What will they do when they stand before the Lord and try to explain why they got run over by a train when they were where they were not suppose to be.
This morning mother has a visit from her midwife. Yep, it's getting close now. Only a month to go and we will be holding Squirt in our arms. Here are his vital statics, or so it seems. Mother is now very happy. Squirt is now head down and bum up. Which is how he should be. I did think about posting the picture from that site. But then thought maybe not.
I have been taking my Icom IC-V82 to work with me to do a repeater study around Melbourne. It is an amazing little radio. So far I have been able to access my chosen repeater from Craigeburn, Sydenham and Upfield. I bought the radio at a Ham swap-meet a couple of weeks ago. After the disaster that is the IC-T90A, I was a bit nervous buying an unknown radio. I am glad I did. When I got home I looked up the reviews online and was not disappointed. I also purchased a Yaesu FT-2900R at the same swap-meet. Again the reviews have confirmed an excellent purchase.
And finally, blind Bartimaeus suffered from cataracts. See Mark 10. Actually Mark 10 has some real challenges. What would we do if we had to give up our riches? It would be hard. We live a very comfortable life. But what if it were all taken away? That's what happen to Job. I am not so sure how I would handle that. I like my creature comforts.
See you later.

Sunday 25th July 2010 - We were heathens today.

2010-07-25T16:40:00.001+10:00

Yes, we were. We didn't go to church this morning. Come to think of it, what did we do. Well, mum woke up very late. She is pregnant and is having a tough time of it. Lots of nights with heart burn and nausea and feeling uncomfortable. Oh, and hormonal to boot. It sure is tough being pregnant. She is 36 weeks. I might come back later tonight and post pictures.
But it's not all bad. Last night whilst we were laying back in bed (Keep the party clean please!) I found some bits that I thought might be a baby's leg or arm maybe. When I rubbed those bits, the baby responded. That is good. Then I went to sleep, and snored of course, and mum did the night shift with the comfortableness and all that. Think she got about 3 hours sleep then the alarm was going off.
Today the choir mistress had decided to have a lunch for all those on the choir, mum included. That was at lunch. So she went to that. The girls and I had lunch at Karingal Hub then home to prepare the evening roast.
Tonight I will play radio.
I got to have a complain. No, it's not about Stephanie. She is the most wonderful person I know. God's gift to me and I would trade places. It's not about the girls. Parenting is an evolving process. Which is one reason why I believe in evolution. One changes one's opinion all the time. Besides, any one who knows me and my girls knows I am the most obnoxious bragging dad around.
My whinge is about animal passengers who leave their garbage on trains. I called them pigs and dogs last night. But that's not true. pigs only do what they are pre-programmed to do and dogs never shit in their own back yard willingly. Unlike some of the misfits and feral passengers I have to cart around. I think we should shut down the trains after 7pm until the misfits can learn some manners and remember what a bin is for. Trains are not bins. They are vehicles of mass transit. I often wonder what the homes of these dregs of humanity are like. A rubbish dumb I will voucher.
My Bible verse is Galatians 2:20. It is true.
Oh, and while I am on about it. There is a reason for the above verse. I think it should be mandatory learning, along with Ephesians 2:8-9 for every works based heretical preacher and priest of this land. And that is most preachers. What these thick headed heretics don't understand is that God never intended for us to do was to live the Christian life. Look at Genesis 1:26-27. Look what it says. God intends us to be an image of Him. Go look in a mirror and your image. That is what God intends YOU to be in Him. So you are the image in the mirror and God is on the outside of the mirror and when He moves, you the image INSIDE the mirror move. You were never intended to move on your own. You were/are designed to be moved by God. Think about it then write to me at sjm53@iprimus.com.au and tell me from the scripture where I am wrong. Don't ask me to follow. I am too slow. No - I do not lead a purpose driven life. It is Christ's job to drive me, not some purpose or other works based program. I don't need another program or other psychobabble. I need Christ alone.

Saturday 23rd July 2010 - And baby makes

2010-07-24T16:17:00.000+10:00

Triple M's group has been looking at Mark chapters 1-8. Each week we ask the same question: Have you completed the Bible reading? What has God been saying to you and what are you going to do about it. Well, I am not sure what God has been saying to me and so don't know what I am going to do about it. What stood out most? Jesus birth is not mentioned. Why? The book launches strait into John the Baptist and then goes on with Jesus getting baptised, first by water then by the spirit. What do I do with that? I don't know.
This morning we all went down to Kareela Cafe'. Then to the hub for lunch. Now I am off to work.
Till next time.....

Friday 23rd July 2010 Blogging

2010-07-23T21:45:00.002+10:00

Today is/was Friday. Tomorrow will be busy then I work. But today was quiet. Except for my lunch break when I did a quick sprint across town to Jaycar and Dick Smith Electronics. I wanted a dummy load. When I saw the look on the gentlemen's faces I knew that they didn't. Bah humbug! Why do I have to put up with idiots who run communications stores but haven't got a clue. So, tomorrow I will phone Strickly Ham and get my dummy load from them.
I have now read Mark's Gospel, chapters 1-8 two and a half times. I think.
My darling wife cooked the most simple but delicious pasta for our meal tonight. Loads of pasta, chicken and tomato soup. Simple but yummy. And the kids loved it.
I arrived home from work at 1990 local time. Had my meal then spent a very pleasant 1/2 hour with two little girls who were just bursting with news.
And now, normal programming will resume. Till we meat again.

Thursday 22nd July 2010 - More of this....

2010-07-22T20:51:00.002+10:00

So I have been trying WordPress which is another blog writing tool. I rather like the look of it but I am not sure.
So.... I am going to double post. Over there and here. Here is the post.
Today I have a Carrum shift. I was going to take my car there, however it is a Frankston driver that I relieve. I am sure he doesn't want to go back to Carrum and then have to travel home.

I am still in Mark chapters 1-8. And our memory verse is: Ephesians 2:10. We are God’s workman ship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He has predestined us for. Or something like that.

Stephanie is at her ladies meeting at Seaford this morning. She has Cathy with her. They will be hungry when they get home. I will get some lunch for them so they don’t have to panic and be hungry.

For some reason I have a slight headache this morning and feel a little down. I don’t know why. Must be the weather.

Our baby seems to be doing OK at this time. Hopefully scans and ops and other things wont be necessary. Please Lord.

The other news is that the 2M radio I got last Saturday went flat yesterday. Took four days. It is recharged now.

Lord, please do with me what You will today. may I be clay in Your hands. Please do take care of my family and may we see You at work in our lives and around us. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Thursday 10th June 2010 I know one shouldn't...

2010-06-10T02:49:00.005+10:00

I know one shouldn't brag, but. Each week one student from each class is awarded Student Of The Week. Last week was Michele's turn. She has worked hard all year for this. In fact, it has been a hard year for her and a very steep learning curve. There is a big difference from Prep to year one. This year she is in 1/2B. That is her grade. That's different from last year when she was Prep/1B. Last year was really just an advanced form of preschool, which is really a bit like an advanced playgroup.
Her teacher knows Michele's capability and wont except anything less from her. She calls Michele when she doesn't do her best and insists on nothing less than 100% effort. Michele is responding well, even if with loud protestations.
At home we have also changed a few things. We are having a "be nice to each other" challenge. There was a bit of tension in the home that resulted in certain folks deciding they really didn't like each other. Not good as you can imagine. Certainly didn't make for much harmony. I decided this needed to change. We need to like each other. So Mum and I put our heads together and came up with the challenge. Is it working? The jury is still out on that one.
Talking of Stephanie, she also is having a hard time of it. She is now 29 weeks pregnant and it shows, pardon the pun. She is uncomfortable almost all of the time now and getting more tired each day. She did say one day that I should carry a baby so I got some idea of what it is like. No thank you very much. When I think about how something that big could come out of something that small, I cross my legs. And keep them cross. Any one who thinks women are the weaker sex has obviously never seen child birth.
Things are a changing. No I am not retiring. Yet. But at some point in the future I probably will. However, I do need to face up to the fact that one day soon I will be retiring. And so we need to plan for that and make some changes. We have been in this house for 7 years now. However, it certainly wont suit our future needs and we are still carrying a bit of debt. So we have set ourselves some goals. First is to get debt free as soon as possible. The second is to sell this house and purchase something more suitable for our, and in particular, Stephanie's future needs, given that if the Lord delays, she will out live me by a long way. More to follow, watch this space.

Monday 24th May 2010 - Churchy stuff.

2010-05-24T13:46:00.002+10:00

As I type this mum is having an afternoon nap, Cathy is watching play-school on TV and Michele is at school.
Been a few interesting things I have heard about over the last few days. I am an avid fan of ABC podcasts. They are all well worth watching. I listened to one last night that suggested that the expulsion of the Jews from Israel 2000 years ago may not have actually happened. Some one has written a book on it, calling it a myth. He raised all sort of interesting thoughts on the matter. What makes it interesting is that the fellow is a lecturer in general history at a Jerusalem university. Add to this that his parents were Holocaust survivors. Don't that beat all.
The second one was about Catholic requirements for celibacy amongst its priests. The suggestion being that the celibacy requirement was a possible cause of the some of the sexual crime allegations that have become a real problem within the Catholic church over the last decade. Now I am not a Catholic but it seems to be that this problem is not isolated to catholic priests. I would imagine that anyone working with children alone would be subject to the same problem. I seem to remember that there were some other church and also Scout leaders who also have been charged with paedophilia. I really think that saying that celibacy is the prime cause is really stretching it a bit.
So, my Triple M's team is back in Nehemiah this week by popular demand.
Here is Nehemiah 1.
Verse 3 and Nehemiah is weeping of the state of Israel. Gee, sometimes I think we ought to weep over the broken down walls of the church. What a mess.
Nehemiah acknowledges God and asks that God give attention to his prayer. "Let Your ear.....", then straight into it. "We have sinned.....". No excuses. Reminds me a bit of Psalm 50. And it's not just sin. It is sins they had committed against God. Not against any man. No, Nehemiah calls it as it is. The crimes are against God and they were done by everyone. I thought verse 9 is interesting. Had the Israelites acknowledged their wrong doing? Obviously. Or so it would seem.
Maybe we need to do the same today. The sins of the church and those therein are far greater than those of yesteryear. Today we call sin righteousness. We do. We call homosexuality good and ordain those who practice it. We call what God calls sin, good. We say that God is wrong. We forget that God said don't be unequally yoked to unbelievers. We do it. Unbelievers married to those who would name the name of Christ. Then there are some who would say that God told them to get divorced even though His word says otherwise. We would call God a liar nowadays. See verse 4. That's what we ought to do. Verse 11b "And I was the kings cup bearer." What is implied here? It was not a good career move to be sad in the employer's presence.
Chapter 2.
Here I think is a good example of a chapter placement in the wrong spot. I think maybe Chapter 2 should have started at verse 11b. There is a little gem in chapter 2 verse 4b. He sent up a prayer before he spoke. I sure do wish I could remember to do this. I know I need to acknowledge God every day all day. But I don't. I am sure my relationship with Christ would soar if I did. I love the life in Christ I have. I live very easy and very comfortable. But I need to acknowledge Him more. So Nehemiah prays and talks at the same time. And the king, with the queen sitting beside asks him how long will the journey take and what does he need. I think Nehemiah's heart would have quickened about now.
There are interesting bits here. Tobiah and Sanballat enter the scene here. It is a passing reference. A bit like Nehemiah is setting the scene.
Nehemiah tells no one at first of his plans. He looks and looks and studies the situation. He is in no rush. He wants to see it all unhindered by the worlds opinion. He wants to see what God wants done, not what man might like to have done. The temple is God's and it is His plans that are important.
Look at verse 20. Nehemiah puts Tobiah and Sanballat in their place. "You are not one of us so leave us alone." Ouch, that had to hurt no matter how true it might be. I am a bit surprised actually. Nehemiah reminds these two that it is God's work that will be done in His way and they have no part therein.

Monday 10th May 2010 - Can we lose our salvation?

2010-05-10T13:24:00.002+10:00

On a forum that I look at the question was put: Can a person lose their salvation?
Here is my response.
"I am of the camp who believe once saved always saved. I do believe one can backslide. I have done this many time. At one time it lasted for 10 years as I recall. But Christ never gave up on me for one instance.
Consider Noah and the Ark in Genesis 7:16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.
Who shut Noah in? God did. Noah assented to it but God did it. There were 8 people saved on that day. All later were to backslide in various ways but it was God who shut up and sealed the ark. Just as we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Now, when could Noah leave the Ark? Not until 8:15-16. When God called him out.
"Then God said to Noah, 16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.""
I find great comfort in this.
Consider Jacob, probably one of the greatest swindlers and backsliders of the Bible. His saving grace was that he loved God and in turn was loved by God. Hence we read so many times the interchange of names between Jacob, the old flesh man, and Israel, the spiritual man.
I do acknowledge what people say. There is also a passage which mentioned that we shouldn't make light of Christ sacrifice, something about there being no further sacrifice. If I had time I would look it up.
By the way, maybe we can use some of those verses, which I will look up later, as a Triple M's memory verse program.
Just one more little question? How does one work out whether one is saved or not saved? And as we look at the people in our church are all of them saved? And what would be the evidence of that salvation?
I have been saved for over 30 years now and I some times doubt my own walk with Christ. But I know Whom I have believed......
You can look at the thread on this at St Luke's Forum.
Let me add some bits here. God's Covenants are conditional on what He does, not on what we do. Our part of any covenant is to allow God to do what He wants. Mind you, not that we have a lot of option in this. To quote my wife "God is gonna do what He will do anyway".
Hebrews 6:4-6 is an interesting passage. It would indicate that maybe we can. If we have once tasted the glories of God and then neglect them then there is no further repentance. I would then be asking was that person saved in the first place. Is there a genuine change of heart. I know we are a work in progress. But if one takes that passage to its logical extreme then I am not saved and further more have no hope of salvation. So, when I backslid was I actually saved in the first place. And furthermore, given my proven ability and guarantee to backslide again, am I saved now?
What to make of 1 Corinthians 1:12. I agree with this passage. We really do need to do this. Also Philippians 2:12.
Now, I am convinced even more, 1 Timothy 1:12 that I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed against that day.

Wednesday 5th May 2010 - Face book.

2010-05-05T16:03:00.002+10:00

This is in response to a post in a thread in Facebook.
It's about homosexuality and the life style and the Biblical position. God calls it an abomination. He decreed that man should be with woman and not man with man or woman with woman. Look in Genesis 1 and Romans 1.
"Thank you Lionel, I couldn't have put it better. My own opinion, long before becoming a believer in Christ, was that the life style wasn't nice. I guess it proves the point in Romans 1 that we are all born with this inner knowledge of the Almighty and His requirements for us. Then when I started to read Leviticus it all made sense. The more in fact that I examined God's law and the demands He made and stacked them up against history the more sense it made.
Having said all that, I work with 700+ men in my job. There are many who have this life style. I respect them even if I do disagree with their life style. They know my thoughts and respect me. We could not work together if we displayed the attitude I have seen in this thread.
I also have a close friend who is Jewish and homosexual. He parents died when he was very young. This guy is one of the nicest people I have ever met. I wish you and Jacob could meet him. I have never heard him say a bad thing about anyone, and I have known him for 11 years. And love him like he was my own brother. Recently I jokingly said to my niece that we ought to adopt him into my family.
You see it is possible to disagree with a person and their life style. It is possible to love them and even enjoy their company. For example, I don't know Jacob, I have never met him. But I have no doubt, that despite his antagonising and some time patronising attitude in here, that he is a really nice fellow. But his attitude puts people off side and so we can't have meaningful discussion and more importantly, get to know him."
OK, so I guess even my position is wrong. For the Bible tells me that I oughtn't to have fellowship with such a person. But I need to balance that with Christ's own attitude.

Monday 3rd May 2010 I need to clarify some

2010-05-03T19:47:00.002+10:00

I need to clarify something I wrote in my last post.
Jesus did die once and for all. This does not mean that all are automatically saved. No, not so. The Word is clear: Except a man be born again he can not see the kingdom of God. Not now or after physical death. If we haven't come to Christ in repentance and asked Him to forgive us and birth us then we die in our sin. Christ's death was for all/is for all, but is only effective for those who seek Him.
Now, if you haven't read the previous post this one will make no sense. Could I lovingly ask you to go read the previous post.
This week I am reading 1 Corinthians 9-16 and Sinners in the hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards.
My little girl received high praise at school today. She helped a fellow student with his work today without having to be asked.
Till we meet again.

Sunday 2nd May 2010 I feel better...

2010-05-02T16:24:00.011+10:00

There is something liberating in making an admission which one has avoided for so long. It's like I have come to grips with this. I am not sure how I feel. But liberated is a good word.
What am I talking about? My last post of course. I have never really fitted into any camp I suppose. I am not in the Armenian Camp which says that God is not in control and don't know any thing and that we have to do it all.
At the same time, I don't fit into the Calvinist camp which says that we have no say in anything at all and when one gets right down to it, that God is basically a control freak bully. Ouch! Did I say that. One day I will put my thoughts in order and write about it. Maybe.
The other issue I raised was John Piper's book "Desiring God" in which his basic starting premise is that God is a self seeking egotist. Which is exactly the opposite of what God tells us to do and exactly the opposite of what He is. He paints God as some sort of "don't do as I do but do do as I say" maniac.
Consider this:
Quote "The ultimate ground of Christian Hedonism is the fact that God is uppermost in his own affections" and "My conclusion there is that God's own glory is uppermost in his own affections. In everything he does, his purpose is to preserve and display that glory. To say his glory is uppermost in his own affections means that he puts a greater value an it than on anything else. He delights in his glory above all things. " End quote. This is from Desiring God by John Piper, 1996. The italics are mine.
Now John asks the follow question and again I quote"
"But now the question arises: If God is so utterly enamoured of his own glory, how can he be a God of love? If he unwaveringly does all things for his own sake, how then can we have any hope that he will do anything for our sake? Does not the apostle say, "Love seeks not its own" ( 1 Corinthians 13: 5) ? "
I think in part the question is wrong. After all, it is not about us. My problem is in the way God is portrayed as an egotist. It is as though the only thing that makes God happy is His own glory. Not true. His glory is in fact is the Son-ship of the God head. But that's another story. To see the rest of what Mr Piper has to say, go read the book. For me he contradicts himself. For one one hand he is saying that God is self seeking then in the next breathe He is not. He then goes into great detail about what God has done/is doing.
Do I happen to believe Mr Piper is correct? No I don't. Does this mean that He doesn't delight in our praises? No, that also not true. He does. Just like any of us do when we are appreciated. Do we praise Him because He demands it? Nope. That is praise for the sake of praise. He does ask that we get our happiness from and in Him. That also is correct. As we live in Him, I believe, that will be a consequence. But it will/should be a consequence and not be a demand. Christ died for me and my sin. For that I am eternal grateful. I could never hope to pay the price for even one of those sins. I am also grateful that He guides my day and watches over me. I see that and praise Him for that. Not because He demands it, but because I see it and appreciate that.
Now this leads me to another question which came up recently in another conversation with a friend of mine who wanted to know if Christ died for those all the Jews who were born before Christ or only those who believed. It's called limited atonement. In other words Christ didn't die for the whole world, only for those who believe in Him. The sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ. They were a forerunner and didn't remove sin. They only covered it until that better and more complete sacrifice happened. But the Bible also states that God is not willing that any should perish. That simple statement shows me that Christ died once and for all, not a selected few who chose to believe or as the double predestinationist would have it, for those who God put the dot on.
Enough. Till next time.

Saturday 1st May 2010 The chirf end of man

2010-05-01T14:48:00.003+10:00

I confess. I am confused. For me the sovereignty of God has always been a major issue. I am unable to understand a god who would prescribe some people to hell and damnation for ever. That is a god who would say that this person - I decide before that person is born - is going to be a right bastard and is going to spend forever adfinitum is torment and does that deliberately by act of his will. That for me is unthinkable.

That is like me saying that I am going to father a child who I am going to torment and cause to be tormented deliberately. That is, I am deciding this and that child will have no say in that what ever no matter how hard that child might try. And from where I am standing that is what I understand by a 5 point Calvinist double predestinationists say. That is unthinkable unbelievable and makes God evil. That's issue one.

Here is issue two.

Quote "The ultimate ground of Christian Hedonism is the fact that God is uppermost in his own affections" and "My conclusion there is that God's own glory is uppermost in his own affections. In everything he does, his purpose is to preserve and display that glory. To say his glory is uppermost in his own affections means that he puts a greater value an it than on anything else. He delights in his glory above all things. " End quote. This is from Desiring God by John Piper, 1996.

Ouch, ouch and double quadruplicate ouch. God delights in "His own" glory. Sorry but there is a fundamental problem with my understanding here.

Now this statement I have no problem with: What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever.

That statement I can understand embrace and act upon. I have no issue with this. Simply because the God I experience every day is good kind and just and loving and forgiving and is totally unselfish.

"The chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy himself forever" Hello? God is selfish? When did that happen? Oh, and that is from John Piper's book, Desiring God also.

There is something dreadfully wrong with either John's understanding, my reading of his book, or my understanding of what he is saying.

Enough for now.

Monday 26th April 2010 - It's a while....

2010-04-26T04:28:00.003+10:00

... since I posted in my blog. It's face book you see. I sort of got face book, then I left face book... it was so boring, or so it seemed. Then I got bored and gave it another go. It can be so addictive. It's like the hip place to be. Or maybe one can do My Space. Why would one want to have one invade "My Space". I mean my space is my space. I thought that was some place I went to get away from people so that I could have something that is just mine. That is my excuse. I got Facebook and forgot my blog. I think. Face/space. It seems people either get in my face or invade my space.
So here I am and it is 0430 hours Eastern Australian standard time. Why? Coz Cathy jumped into our bed at one and then I couldn't sleep. I tossed and I turned and I turned and I tossed. At about 3 she went back to her own bed. And I still couldn't sleep. So I thought time to get up and see what the rest of the world is doing, or more importantly not doing. At the same time, it seemed good to look in here and see what I had written last time. Then I got to looking at other blogs I read from time to time and I found this. A now middle aged man set in life. That set me to think why I am doing what I am doing and why move.
Oh, yeah, we moving. Well I think we are. We might be. Up market maybe. Keeping up with the "Jones" maybe. Is that the real reason? And am I so happy and contented? Well, the answer to the last question is yes. I am happy and contented. Christ has provided all we could want and I am contented in Him. Good way to be and one I don't plan on changing any time soon. The Christ life is a good life. Not easy some times, but in comparison with life without Christ it's a breeze. Gee, sounds like I am having a mid life crisis. Maybe I am.
The other question about the Jones; the answer is no. Well, I don't think so. But I have been looking ahead a bit. Well, maybe Christ is causing me too. Anyway that's what I am doing. You see the mirror doesn't lie. I have grey hair and it's getting greyer every day. I am 57 and a little bit. About 8 years away from retirement. That might seem a while, but on the great scheme of things it's a heart beat. By then I will be 65, my wifey will be .... yes we will just leave that alone. Now when I got to thinking about that I thought of what would happen when I shuffle of to greener pastures upstairs. What's my good lady wife going to do then. How will she manage. You see she is going to teach piano. That's the plan subject to change without notice. Christ has a habit of leading us in other directions. Anyway, that's the plan now. That set us, well me to start with - Stephanie later on - to thinking as to whether this house would really cut it when it came to using our home to teach piano privately and for us to live in. Yes, it's an excellent house. On a corner blog, with a school straight over the road and a preschool just down the road and a deli just beyond that.
So does the house fit our present and future needs. Present, yes. Long term? With Stephanie teaching and me getting to be a doddering old fool not driving any more? And what about shopping. Lets look at one thing at a time.
This house has a "L" shaped lounge/dinning room. That's it. That's our inside public and private space. And that is where the piano is and would be. It seems to me that we could really do with two separate living areas. One for us and one for the piano lessons to take place.
And then what about Stephanie's life after Stanley? Would this really do her, considering that eventually there will be no children at home and she really does need to buy food. One cannot live on fresh air. What is here? One small deli that might close down, or maybe not. For the rest she would have to find a shopping centre. Try blind folding yourself and getting around a shopping centre. Not funny.
Then a day or 5 ago Stephanie did a trip down memory lane to our days of living on the Pines Estate when we were newly married and stupid. We didn't know it when we moved there, but it was a drug dealing, rat infested, hoon driving hole of a place. We lived exactly 200 yards/metres from a nice little strip of shops. There was a post office, deli, super market, chemist and hair dresser. Despite me going through a mid life crisis, which when I look back now was depression, Stephanie loved it. She could get what she wanted, when she wanted and had a level of independence that a blind person dreams of. And she says she would like that again.
Add to that the fact we owe a bit on this place, but we could sell our other assets we have and sell this too and buy another place that has a strip of shops near by, but not on the Pines, and be debt free.
The debt free bit I do like. This is my aim. To retire at age 65 with a nice practical house with walking distance to shops and public transport and have a brand new small car.
And her life shouldn't stop with me. She is a good bit younger than me and should Christ tarry, she will out live me by a few decades or more. But I am rambling now.
We are/will look for a new house. We don't have a time line when it all has to happen by. We have 8 years till I retire. Stephanie has got a bit of study to do yet before she starts teaching. But I do think it is time to be looking/planing.
It will be interesting in a few years time to look back on this post and then see what we actually did.
Oh, and I am in Corinthians this week. Where are you?

Thursday 1st April 2010 Maundy Thursday.

2010-04-01T20:41:00.002+11:00

This is where my wifey is tonight. This period, from Thursday to Sunday, is the busiest time of the year for the Church choir of St Luke's. The choir sings at all services over Easter.
Today is Maunday Thursday.
Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday beforeEaster that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles.
That definition is from here.
Not many denominations celebrate Maundy Thursday. It finishes with the washing of the feet, the last act Jesus did before going to the Garden of Gethsemane. At St Luke's the washing of the feet is done in total silence, then the lights of the church are dimed and every one files out in silence. No one says a word. It is as though they are anticipating something.
Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Now I have no proof of this, but I rather think it was here that the full weight of human sin and deprivation was caste on Him. Can you imagine that. He Who had known no sin is suddenly made to be sin for all of us.

Tuesday 30th March 2010 - In the news.

2010-03-30T10:27:00.003+11:00

I was reading the ABC news just now. And this article entitled "China ties questioned after 'harsh' Hu sentence" Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says, and I quote: "Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith has described Hu's 10-year jail sentence as harsh by any one's measure but says it will not affect the bilateral relationship."
I could not disagree more. In view of some of the questions raised, I for one, would not do business in China. One would not know where one stood or what laws one is likely to break. From my understanding, the "gifts" that were passed around, was quite common when doing business in that country. Further more, if I owned a company that had been doing business in China, I would be winding up my business interests very rapidly.
My work colleague said this morning that ignorance is no excuse. Correct. But how do we find out their law. Where is the cross over point between custom and practice and law breaking.
I find it interesting that we know do some much business with China. Indeed, if we examine the labels on our clothing, most of this is manufactured in China. We have, and are becoming increasingly more so, dependant on China for much of what we consume. From clothing to foot wear to cars to electrical goods. China is an importer of our goods. Yet in doing business with China we may be leaving ourselves open to breaking laws that we are unaware of/don't understand fully.
Finally, I really think it is good to think on the relationship between, and differences between, mercy, grace, condoning, repentance and forgiveness.
Also, where do we want our enemy? I want mine where I can see them.

Sunday 21st March 2010 My Testimony

2010-03-21T20:47:00.005+11:00

This evening/afternoon we, that is my family, went to Connect 4 Families at St Luke's Anglican Church in down town Frankston. This evening I was asked for my testimony. Here it is.

Simply this: I can't and only Jesus can.

My early years where nothing to write home about. As one of five children life had no joy and no meaning. As a 12 year old boy I had spent most of my life in trouble. I had no confidence in my own ability. I could do no right and had long since given up trying. For 12 years I existed in a kind of void. I had no friends. I ate, I washed, I slept, I endured. I was forced to endure Scripture lessons and at 12 years of age I had enough of this "religious crap" that I was forced to learn and so told the Anglican minister, whose lot it was to teach us, exactly I thought of his non existent God, what he could do with his God and where he could shove Him.

To my utter amazement I didn't get the thrashing I deserved. In fact I didn't even get into trouble. The minister simply told me that Jesus had died to forgive me all my sins and that He was just waiting to be my friend. Having no friends this was just what I needed. A friend, a friend who would accept just as I was, warts and all.

Years past and at age 19 having walked away from God. I met a man in Perth, West Australia, who questioned my constant use of bad language. He seemed different. He had a peace that passed all understanding. He wasn't angry with me, just merely asked the question. Again I was impressed. I wanted what he had and asked him about it. He told me his secret to life was to be found in, none other than Christ Himself. Christ was his life. Without Christ he was nothing.

More time past. I went my own way and did some things I am not proud of. My friend kept writing to me regarding the state of my life. By this time I had long since decided that God would by now have given up on me and so there was no sense in even trying. I wrote my friend along these lines. I reckon that must have been the fastest answer I ever got from any one. The post office really out did itself in getting his answer to me. Far from giving up, he told me, God was just waiting for me to come back to Him. All I had to do was ask and forgiveness was mine. I did. You bet I did. I thought, I have been given another chance and I aren't going to blow it this time. I asked Jesus right there and then to forgive me all my sins and to save me from death.

But, I still had to learn about life. Christ's life. After having been forgiven my sin I thought all would be roses in the garden. Wrong! With the roses are thorns. I fondly imagined that now I was saved I would no longer sin. Wrong Again! It was about this time that I read a book called the Saving Life of Christ by Major W. Ian Thomas. In there I discovered that not only could I not live the Christian life in my own strength, but that God was merely waiting for me to discover it and then make the biggest discovery of my life, both before and since. You see I found that not only could I not live the Christian life, but that only Christ could, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in me. You see I had to surrender my life to Christ and let Him live in and through me. Wow! What a miracle. My part? Willingness and surrender. No more, no less. Like I said, what a miracle.

Now, I am not saying life has been without its pit falls. I have made many mistakes over the last 20 years or so. But this I do know, God is faithful. He has been faithful to me all these years. But He has been my life. I cannot live without Him. I could not imagine life with out Him. For me, Christ is life. All else is death. People are unreliable and cannot be depended on. Jesus can. Christ is life and is utterly dependable. I am totally convinced without a shadow of doubt, that nothing can keep me from His love, save only me. He will never leave me. No, not ever. For me to live is Christ, all else is death.

In Him alone do I trust. There is only my death and His life. I owe, quite literally, my life to Him.

Stanley J. Mitchell

It is some time since I penned that testimony. I can now affirm that testimony even more. Both in my own life, and in the lives of some others I know who are still trying to do it on their own - we can't, they can't, you can't. They can try to clean up their act, but at the end of the day it takes Christ.

Saturday 20th March 2010 It occurs to me

2010-03-20T21:33:00.004+11:00

The Birthday Girl

That it has been a while since I posted in my blog. That is what happens when one has Facebook. Anyway I am here just for now.
Today we went walkabout to Kananook Creek Boulevard redevelopment. It was one of those been there done that. Actually it was disappointing. There was quite a build up and the stuff we had read led us to believe that it was really very good, lots of restaurants and the like. Well, that lost something in the translation. The sides of the creek as been concreted. And now it gets flushed out. But that is about it. Absolutely nothing to write home about. I don't think we will be going there any time soon.
Since I posted seriously, our little angel has turned 3. I have included a picture or two. The drawing is from Michele. In the photo the birthday girl is standing and wearing all the cloths. There are many layers.
Now to a subject dear to me. Bible interpretation. How to do. Well, I have always accepted what I read at face value. It always seem to me that when something was allegorical it was fairly obvious. So for example. If God said the earth was created in six days, as far as I was concerned it was. No big deal. So university degree required to understand that. Pretty straight forward. Various Christian friends of mine had, over the years, tried to muddy the waters and make it more complicated than it needed to be. I just went quiet and said nothing. But lately I have tended to be a tad for forthright in my views. You see I have been listening to some podcasts from Faithroots Radio. They are over here at Good News For Israel l. In a recent podcast they addressed the issue of Bible interpretation. There attitude is like my own. Read and interpret the Bible at literally unless otherwise indicated. So, Jesus always made it obvious when he was telling a parable. So it is in some other places. For example, remember Nathan when he confronted King David over his misdemeanor with Bathsheba? But else where the Bible means what it says and says what it means. This morning at Triple M's we had a discussion on this. One of our number is a bit into "high criticism." He says we need to look at how it was written and all that. Way to complicated for a little boy like me. And most times when I go to the Greek or Hebrew dictionary for a meaning I find the KJV is very close in it accuracy of interpretation. As I said to him we should keep to the KISS principle where S = Stupid which I mostly am.

Monday 8th March 2010 John Rutter

2010-03-08T20:33:00.003+11:00

But first I like this song.

But I also am a fan of John Rutter. He did songs like "For the Beauty of the Earth". Try this: All things Bright and Beautiful.

Saturday 20th February 2010 I don't know what I did.

2010-02-20T13:39:00.005+11:00

I don't know what I did but it now works. In a previous post I sort of bragged about a 5 element Yagi beam that I built/designed for 146 MHz. I got the antenna to work. Then the radio died. My trusty Yaesu FT-480R that had served me faithfully for best part of 15 years appeared to have dropped dead and was no destined to live in Yaesu heaven. Now this did happen once before, many moons ago and I got it to work. I don't know how. It just did.
Well in a repeat performance it all happened again and that which appeared dead, isn't. It works well now. What did I do? I have no idea. You see this hobby is 90% luck, 1% knowledge, and 100% bragging. He who brags the most and the loudest, wins.
In another bit of good news, a friend was operating one of the repeaters here in Melbourne and asked me to give him a sound check on his speakers. I was to talk (I am good at that) and he was to listen. I used high power and low power. On low power he was able to tell me that I was making the repeater but not real well. Now if I have been operating on a whip antenna I would have made the repeater with ease. The reason my signal was poor was coz I had my antenna pointing away from the repeater. Good news indeed. Saved me many hours of leg work and waiting for others to tell me what I hoped would happen.
That brings me to another little subject. I do a thing called Triple M's. One of the questions we have to answer is: How did you honour God with your money this week and did you covet something that didn't belong to you. Well, I did covet something, sort of. My little Icom IC-T90A has an antenna problem which I can't fix. The radio is sort of useless anyway and I was going to trash it. Whilst looking on eBay I found another radio I rather liked and (coveted) put in a bid on the rig. I was out bidden and have now repented of that and will look at some Ham Radio swap meets a little later.
Enough for now.

Wednesday 17th February 2010 I like good news

2010-02-17T07:19:00.004+11:00

You know there is so much bad news in this world that it is refreshing to read good news. South Side Mission is a good news story. Here is an excellent account of what our Great Lord and Saviour is doing. I found this Mission through an internet group I was involved with for some time. I always enjoy reading the blog updates when they happen. Reading through back issues is well worth doing.
Don't tell me bad news. Tell me good news. What is the good news of the day? Christ died for sinner, of which I am one. Because of the death He died, I can live the life I do.

Tuesday 16th February 2010 One antenna

2010-02-16T20:10:00.007+11:00

Some time ago I built a 70 Cm Moxon to operate on 432 MHz. The antenna was/is a screaming success. Better than I expected. I am impressed , both with the antenna and its performance. My on air tests with that antenna echoed the designers claims. Flush with the success of that antenna, the first I had built for almost 15 years I decided it was time to have a go and build a 2 metre/144 MHz beam. A good friend of mine gave me an old TV antenna that he was to put out for recycling. I recycled it into my latest project.
This is the radio it was to work on:It is a Yaesu 480r, vintage unknown. It puts out about 10 watts. Old but simple and, I thought reliable.

This is the parts for the gamma match:The coax is around a metre long, as is the aluminium tube that it slides into. For those not in the know, the antenna is tuned by sliding the aluminium tube over the coax. Simple, but effective. I used the same gamma match, that's what it is called, many years ago in a previous life when I designed and built a 14 element Yagi and later still a 7 element Yagi.

Here is the antenna, minus the gamma match:
Now here is the same antenna up in the sky:
On the top of the pole is a 5 band Comet vertical. Nice antenna but a bit deaf. The wire antenna that is connected to nothing is my 40 metre dipole. I sort of switch between the vertical and the dipole.
So, that is my success story. Now for my sob story. That radio in the top picture is dead. It died just after I got the antenna on air. It works every now and then when I give it a bit of a tap in the right place.
My next project is to build or design and build a dual band 2/70 Yagi. But, I can't find any plans for this antenna anywhere. So if you happen to read this post and happen to know of any, please to tell.
I got the plans for this antenna from here. but I changed things a bit. Mainly in the spacing area because the boom length I had was only 1.5 metres.

Friday 29th January 2010 Busy busy...

2010-01-29T18:54:00.002+11:00

No pictures this time. There ought to be, but there aren't. Things are a bit more peaceful 'round 'ere just now. And I am working on another project. If I get a chance tomorrow I will post a picture of my latest project.
I am building an antenna. Haven't done that for years. It's proving to be a steep learning curve as I try to re-learn/remember what I did and all the theory involved. I am attempting to build a 5 element Yagi beam to work on 146 MHz. And so far the total cost has been to drive around to a mate's place and collect an old TV antenna and a few nuts and bolts. Oh, and loads of time. Ask my Stephanie, she'll tell you.
Lots and lots of time. Designing is the major part of the project. Theory book to look at, antenna designs to study and polar plots to look at and fiddle with. All very time consuming.
Take this afternoon for instance. I spent 2 hours beginning the process of building the driven element and the associated tuning arrangement and it's not completed yet. It might be completed tomorrow afternoon, maybe. Then I have to complete the construction stage, then start the tuning stage.
I had hoped to have the antenna up and running for this seasons ducting. But I doubt that will happen. I will finish the project this summer and then next summer work the ducting.
What else? Well, I think I might have mentioned a time or two that our family attends St Luke's Anglican Church in down town Frankston. I also head up, sort of, Triple M's. My current partner at Triple M's and I decided a while back to look at the Book of Revelation as part of our Bible plan. I must confess, I don't much like Revelation or understand the book, which is maybe why I need to spend time in it. Seems I am alone in my feelings for the book. My partner seems to have a better understanding of the book. So I hope he is going to help me get a better handle on the book. A part of that process is looking at the Book of Daniel. Now that book I do like and I understand it. It seems some time one must go backward to be able to go forward. I hope so.
So, assuming we have finished reading our part of Daniel this week, next week we will progress to Revelation chapters 1 to 10. Watch this space.
Enough for now.

Monday 18th January 2010 I am not surprised by this

2010-01-18T07:43:00.004+11:00

It would seem some research has been done into home births. That is from ABC news. Why am I not surprised at their findings? The claim is that more deaths have resulted from home births that hospital births. Well, that would be obvious wouldn't it. If the baby is born in a hospital help is right there. But that is only partly true. A good midwife worth her salt will recognise problems in the birth and respond very quickly. Go have a look at this. Look at what the midwife has done. This is excellent.
"He says the AMA does not support home births." Of course the AMA wont support home births. Less work and income for their doctors and nurses.
We have two children so far. The hospital was useless with both past the birth. The births of both were good. The care was excellent up to the point of returning to the ward after the birth. The nurses have too many patients to give good post natal care. Breast feeding help and support was not available at the time is was needed with our first. With our second Stephanie got independent counselling and support. The hospital was not happy with that even though we outlined our reasons. Their answer was to try to get Stephanie to attend a breastfeed class. They didn't like the idea that Stephanie had used her initiative and sort help. They wanted to be her only source of support even though they wouldn't offer her the help she needed.
For my part, I went along with what she wanted. She is the mother and knows best. The hospital may think they do, but they are way to busy to cope.
Do I support home births as a father of two with maybe more to follow? I support a woman's choice to have or not have a home birth. It should be a woman's choice, not a hospital. This is one area where governments should but out.
Call me cynical, but the Australian Medical Association has a vested interest in not supporting home births. Long live a woman's choice!

Sunday 17th January 2010

2010-01-17T15:17:00.003+11:00

This is an after dinner photo in our house. Usually it is me doing the reading. On this occasion, Michele requested to do the reading and the girls wanted to sit on Mummy's lap instead of mine. How could I possibly pass up an opportunity.
As I write this blog post there are a number of things on my mind.
First there is the earthquake in Haiti. Seven and a bit on the Richter scale. Go have a read of this. Why? Why has it taken so long to get aid to these people?

This image is from ABC news today. It is terrible. It shouldn't happen. It doesn't need to happen. Within hours, aid and food should have been on the ground and the people should have had access to it. I heard a radio report this morning that said ready to eat food packs had been delivered but that the people didn't know how to open or eat them. Why? Because they weren't shown. Some one is going to tell me they can't read. So what is wrong with pictures. If the army can't land to deliver much needed aid to a starving people, then do as one helicopter pilot did, drop it direct to the people on the ground. They will work it out. And do it fast. And put out more feed than is needed. If there is waste, so be it. But get aid on the ground yesterday. The world has the resources to do it.
Desperate men do desperate things and so we need to also do desperate things to help. One does what one needs to in desperate situations. A lot of bad things are happening because of delays. Unnecessary delays will always lead to lawlessness such as is evident in Haiti. People are going to lose their lives unnecessarily because of the rapidly deteriorating situation.
One thing I think it relevant to point out. Haiti is not known for earthquakes. Apparently the last one was a couple of hundred years ago. Of course the nation isn't going to be prepared for this. And my criticism isn't of the Haiti people. I am squarely pointing my finger at the governments of the world who are clearly in a position to offer humanitarian aid and have delayed that much need aid.
And that is my first post for the year of 2010. may the future posts be of a more positive nature than this one.
And one learns something new every day. Seems what used to be Richter scale is now known as Mercalli scale. And I found that bit of information here.

Monday 21st December 2009 Merry Christmas

2009-12-21T13:48:00.004+11:00

Lots Of Flowers.

These are images of my garden. The top one is of potato flowers. Yes, it looks like a bumper crop. Potatoes and tomatoes are in season. But it is hard growing. The soil is sand and drains to well. Water this morning and dry tonight.

The second image is bottle brush. It is growing in my drive. Of course, it likes sandy soil. I am also experimenting with the photo's. Sort of re-inventing the wheel as it were.
Next is a rose. This one was going to get the chop. I had already killed three roses by loving them too much. Rule number one. Don't dig around the base of roses. They don't like it. Apparently I had destroyed the main tap root.
Last but not least, even if you can't see it, is a sweet pea. And no I didn't. But it does look good in full flower.

So, we are at the end of another year. This post is my first post for a long time. There is a good reason for that. In this house we have been through some turmoil. I wont go into the details; that isn't necessary. However, that is the reason for no posts so far for this month.
Michele has passed her Prep year and next year go into Grade 1-2. Well done.

On another matter. I think some times I must look at things a little differently. It's God and man thing and I am not sure I can express my thoughts on this very well. But lets look at a verse from Micah. Chapter 6 verse 8. And He has shown you what is good, oh man. And what does He require of you? Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
That is a loaded verse. It requires us to have a relationship with God, doesn't it? If your going to walk with some one then your going to talk with them and follow them and engage with them and so on. Yes, you agree? Then why do we all keep treating God like He is sort of not really here, or there? It is sort of like we have Him on a telephone line and we can dismiss Him any time we choose. We are all going about our lives and tacking Christ on like an extra bit of clothing. We "do" Him when we have time.
We go through this every Christmas. Um, I wonder what would happen if we were to ask Him how He wanted us to celebrate Christmas. Now that would be interesting.

Friday 20th November 2009 It's not that I don't believe...

2009-11-20T11:46:00.004+11:00

... it's just that I can be both cynical and sceptical.
There has been a lot of noise over the last few years concerning changing conditions on planet earth. A few years back it was the hole in the ozone layer. We were all going to look like toads due to skin cancers due to CO somethings in power transformers and air conditioners and spray cans. Oh, woe was me.
The latest scare seems to be the warming of the late great planet earth because we all burned fossil fuels and but all that carbon into the atmosphere and so earth got warmer. Wasn't there something about that with spray can thingy destroying the atmosphere. Was it an ice age coming or a heat wave? I am not sure. Anyway, the latest is about carbon. And there are all sorts of schemes on the go, all guaranteed to fatten some one bank balance.
Well I was doing a bit of reading the other day on a subject not even remotely related to climate change and all that stuff. Have a read of this.
I quote a bit:
"The longest minimum on record, the Maunder Minimum of 1645-1715, lasted an incredible 70 years. Sunspots were rarely observed and the solar cycle seemed to have broken down completely. The period of quiet coincided with the Little Ice Age, a series of extraordinarily bitter winters in Earth's northern hemisphere. Many researchers are convinced that low solar activity, acting in concert with increased volcanism and possible changes in ocean current patterns, played a role in that 17th century cooling."

Above: The solar cycle, 1995-2015. The "noisy" curve traces measured sunspot numbers; the smoothed curves are predictions. Credit: D. Hathaway/NASA/MSFC
Oh really? 70 years do we say? And some bitter cold winters? You don't say. Well, fancy that now. Oh, my.
Now maybe it is the sun? So, let me get this clear. The sun has a long period without sun spots and sun flares. Reduced radiation heading for planet earth and a period of extreme cooling on planet earth? Very very interesting.. I say no more.

Wednesday 18th November 2009 Did I tell you.....

2009-11-18T22:21:00.002+11:00

..... I like to brag a lot. Well, I do. Especially when it comes to my kids. See that photo? Well, I know you can't Stephanie. But most every one else can. Anyway, Michele did that. This is what it says:
Dere Dad I love you and I wish you did not haf to work anymore. Love from Michele Michell.
That is pretty good I think. Now this last Monday her school had their assembly. It is the first assembly I have missed for a very long time. Michele received 2 awards. One was for student of the week. Her writing is not all that flash. However, she tries and tries and tries. They rewarded her for her efforts. the other award was the Premier's Reading challenge. Our local member of parliament showed up to hand out the awards. there are 250 children in the school. many received the award. Four students were presented with the award. Michele was one of them. I am not surprised that she got the award. She loves reading. She has been credited with having read 150 books so far this year. But that only includes the books at school. That doesn't include the books we have brought both her and Cathy over the years. Plus books that her Nana and poppa's have brought for her. Now I ask you: Is that good or is that good.
I forgot to mention Cathy. Who could forget Cathy. You see the school is straight across the road from our house. Every Friday I hear Michele's class with their reading. Every Friday Cathy goes over with me. Whilst I am hearing the kids read, Cathy goes into the class with Michele and does what ever Michele does. They have a seat for her and she sits there. When the students go sit out the front with the teacher, Cathy goes out to and sits quietly with the others kids. When the kids go outside for their run around, Cathy goes out there and runs with them. Then there is the free fruit Friday. Cathy joins in with that too.
What is the school? Karingal Heights Primary School.
Normal programming will now resume.

Monday 16th November 2009. Yesterday

2009-11-16T22:50:00.004+11:00

This is what we did yesterday.

It reads:
Certificate of Confirmation. Stanley Joseph Mitchell was confirmed at St Luke's Frankston on 15th November 2009 by Archbishop Philip Freier. Signed Philip Melbourne.
I have today, of my own accord, in the presence of God and his church, declared my allegiance to Christ. May God the Holy Spirit strengthen me so that I may keep my promise.

Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12

Thursday 12 November 2009 It's braggin time.... agin

2009-11-12T22:09:00.005+11:00

It's always braggin' time. Michele came home from school today. Braggin'. Seems I taught her well. Apparently she did three good things at school. She sat nicely when the teacher asked her. She cleaned up her area very quickly when asked. She couldn't remember the third one. Maybe she will remember in the morning. She does enjoy her school and is learning very fast.

Cathy was Cathy. She followed me around whilst I was moving antennas from here to there and back again. Yes, it's that time. I finally got around to moving my antenna from the back of the garage to just out side the back door. So, the short version goes like this. Look at it for a very long time. Remove one leg of 40m dipole from the mast to a temporary mast. Risk life and limb lifting vertical antenna from mast. It's not heavy, but very awkward due to its long length. Fine in its verticle position so long as there is no breeze. I dropped it on the roof with a bit of a crash. I survived and so did the antenna. Then move mast. That was the easy bit. Then re-attach antenna. Then discover, to my horror, that I hadn't secured the mast. Very quickly secure said mast.
Why all this? Coz I can. And because I really want to do some work on the dipole. I actually want to add to it. At the moment it only covers 40 metres. I want to add a 20 metre leg and maybe later on 80 metre leg. I don't have room enough for a bean.

Mum was out to choir practice tonight. She has this descant thingy to do this Sunday. I dictated it to her last week and this week was the trail thing. It worked and she is a happy lady. One could say a very happy chappy. But you can't coz she isn't a chappy. She is a lady.
Finally back to Michele. Seems I am not permitted to brag. So she informed me a prayer time tonight. I told her I was going to brag about her not myself. Nope, according to my 5 almost 6 year old daughter, one is not permitted to brag at all full stop end of story.

Sunday 8th November 2009 Ezra part 2

2009-11-08T21:12:00.004+11:00

Did I tell you I enjoy Ezra? I do. Restoration described. Explicitly. And it is good. You remember the work on the temple got a bit of a hiccup when jealously got in on the act? Well, in chapter 6 jealously gets the royal order, please do pardon the pun. I know I shouldn't gloat, but when justice is done, I gloat. Look at verse 6 of chapter 6. God tells the crooks to nick off and mind their own business. This is God's work so go back and play with your own toys in your sand pit and leave mine alone. Oh, and coz you stuck your nose in where it isn't wanted cop this, and look at verse 8.
There is an interesting tit bit in chapter 7. Go have a look at verse 9. It took 5 months to go from Babylon to Jerusalem? That is a long time for such a short distance?
From chapter 8 on things happen quite rapidly. Chapter 8 marks a change from reporting to testimony. Chapter 8 is Ezra's personal testimony of what happened, rather some one else's report of what happened. A similar thing happens in Act where Luke goes from reporting on what others tell him to actually giving an eye witness report to events as they unfold. Ezra 8 is the same. When Ezra gets to Jerusalem the temple is complete and he does the dedication? Sounds right.
Ezra chapter 9 is all about repentance. Genuine repentance and recompense. The type that costs, lots. This isn't hip pocket repentance. This is heart repentance. There is a declaration of sin. And acknowledgement of sin. A sorrow of sin. Not being sorry for one self sorrow. But an acknowledgement that this is against God order of events. Ezra's prayer of confession is recorded for us starting verse six. It is gut wrenching in its honesty.
Chapter 10 changes from Ezra's testimony to be a report of what is happening. That is an aside. The real deal is to be found in verse 3. The people put the wrong right. They restore. They turn around and put the wrong right: They put their foreign wives complete with their offspring away. Could you imagine that being done today? Not I. Besides, do I hear the arguement that we are not under judgement today? That's true. We aren't. But does that mean we can/should continue in sin? Ought we not put right what we know is wrong? Should we continue in sin because it is inconvenient to change it and it is going to cost - lots? But it would never happen today. It couldn't. I think verse 44 is staggering.
Or could it?

Saturday 7th November 2009 Ezra

2009-11-07T21:26:00.003+11:00

What's that got to do with anything and what does "Ezra" mean. Glad you asked. Always nice to see inquisitive folks around. Oh, your not? I will tell you anyway.
Ezra is a 10 chapter book in the Bible snuggling between Nehemiah on its right and 2 Chronicles on its left. Some call it a prophet book and I wont dispute that. But I think it is historical. No, not hysterical, historical!
Why am I reading it? Glad you asked. It goes like this. Over at St Luke's in down town Frankston there are a bunch of us men who meat for breakfast and fellowship and answer some questions on how our discipleship is progressing. Some week we are up, others we are down. But part of that discipleship process is reading our Bible every week. Like lots of the Bible every week. No, not to study it, but to see what Christ wants to show us this week. There are three of us in my group and last week we looked at Ezra. I forgot to tell you, we agree each week how much of the Bible we will read the following week. And if we don't complete the agreed reading by breakfast time on Saturday, then we do that reading again until all of us have completed the particular reading within the week.
So, we are in Ezra, well we were last week and since one of our number wasn't able to complete it, we all start back at Ezra chapter one this next week.
The question we are answering is: Did you complete the Bible reading? What has God been saying to you, and what are you going to do about it?
So, just now I have been having a look.
As I read this one thing occurs to be. Restoration. One simple little word. Putting something back the way it was. Returning something to its rightful owner/place. The work is the Lord's. (7)
Chapter 2:2. Nehemiah is numbered. Interesting. Nehemiah was the one to build the walls.
Chapter 4, the work of the Lord will never happen without opposition. Whether it be here or in our own lives.
I do have a question. It would seem to me that the building of the temple and the building of the walls happened together. Yet I was always taught that the walls went up first and then after that the temple. Yet here we see a parallel opposition as described in Nehemiah. Interesting. Very interesting. And the response is the same. the work stops, for a while. I also notice something else. Jealously. When God's people are having a ball, there will always be opposition. Some one will get jealous and want in on the action and when told no will get cranky. Been there done that. In fact many moons ago in a previous life I had to repent of my jealousy of another brother's success in his work for the Lord and seek that brother's forgiveness. That brother was very gracious, which only served to poor salt on my open wound. There after I prayed for him and was not jealous of the Lord's success in another brother.

Thursday 5th November 2009 Mark 15:21-47

2009-11-05T13:42:00.001+11:00

St Luke's Bible reading for today is Mark 15:21-47
It's been a while. But here is my 2 cents worth. There are lots of goodies in this passage and it lends itself to many a happy hour contemplating what God is showing us.
Now, let me see. Is it possible this Simon the Cyrene was the one and same who carried Jesus cross?
Note verse 23. They offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
Why didn't he take it? Because the mixture would have dulled the pain. He would not do that. You see, for you and for me He had to experience death, be death in fact. Is this cruel? Nope. Not according to God. And remember Satan will use any tool to try to trip up Christ. Go back to the beginning with all that he offered Christ that Christ might worship him. You see Satan's purpose is to keep us from God. The means don't matter. It is all in the deed.
Verse 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
The Jews objected. But then they would. they didn't see Christ as king. But he was/is the only Prophet, Priest and King. He is the only one able to claim that title. Others might be a combination of all three, but not all three. But then, there again we have the Trinity defined.
Verse 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,
But that's just the very thing. He did. And we are living proof.
Verse 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!"
And if He had then we would/could not have been. Sin must be dealt with. Once. For all. Completely.
Verse 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
That would have been tough. You and I can never even begin to plumb the depths of this. For the first time in all eternity the Trinity was in a sense incomplete. I let that one sink in a while.
Verse 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
That curtain was a seamless curtain. It covered the mercy seat hiding it from view. The Mercy Seat was behind it and only those ceremonially clean could go therein. In fact, to go in unclean meant instant and certain death. God and sin cannot meat. They are completely opposed to each other. That curtain was part of the process of keep it that way. It was a pointer to what was to come and to what was to happen. It pointed to Christ and the work He would accomplish upon the cross when He died in our place. Died the death that we should have but never could have.
Now, once Christ had died and the penalty paid there was no need to guard the Mercy Seat. For now we are all, by virtue of Christ's death, free to approach the Royal Throne. That curtain was/is proof that Christ work was complete/enough.
OK, I have waffled long enough. I now invite some one else to comment upon verses 42-47.

Tuesday 3rd November 2009 The Copenhagen treaty

2009-11-03T20:11:00.002+11:00

There is a little bit on controversy over this treaty. Mr Obama has been accused of giving up the sovereignty of the good old US of A if he signs on the dotted line. Then there is this whole climate change debate thingy going on. Some say that if we don't pull our heads in we will all be doomed and others say it's a lot of fluff and dust over nothing.
Well, I am not sure what I think of it all. There is this Mr Morton, is that his name, who says it's a lot of bull and that climate change science is dead and buried in the water. Then there is the age old argument over deforestation of our late great planet earth. And we're all being greedy and abusing the earth, God's creation and all that and woe is me spank my backside, boo hoo.
Here is what I think I think. Yes, we probably are burning fossil fuels faster than they can be regenerated. Yes, we are certainly contributing to climate change. And, yes, we are using the forests up much more than we ought. And humanity will sometime in the future be called to account by the Living Lord of the universe, He who created it.
However, my Bible tells me that this earth has a finite life. It will exist for a time and then will be either replaced or cease to exist. Ezekiel would suggest that we might even blow the who thing up. But.....
I have no doubt that what ever God puts in front of us, He will also provide us with the means/ability to cope with what ever He plans. That don't mean I will be complacent in what I do or how I use the resources granted to me. But My reliance is not on commodity, but rather on the provider.
There is one thing we can do to help the planet. Plant more trees. That will direct reduce carbon in the atmosphere. We grow trees, then harvest those trees. Instead of burning trees, use them for single level building. In those houses we can use lambs wool for insulation. That will reduce our heating/cooling bills. If we have a rain water tank in every house we can collect the water and reduce the demand on a limited resource. We can use that water to grow our own veggies. That will give us some exercise. This makes us fitter.
Lets do some more walking. That will directly reduce the obesity level in society.
Need I go on? I think that if we only implemented one of the things I have mentioned then this treaty become fairly redundant.
Oh, and if your are an Ozzie reading this , don't get too alarmed. Our country is pretty well ruled by treaties. Mr Hawk and Co signed away most of our rights years ago. What they didn't do the banks and state governments did back in the 1980/90's.

Friday 30th October 2009 Comunicating with Christ.

2009-10-30T21:09:00.003+11:00

I like Lectio Divina. Go to this link to hear about it.
Lectio Divina basically means divine reading.
So, according to me, what is Lectio Divina? What does it mean for/to me? It is a connecting with Christ. It isn't Bible study. That is something entirely different. No, it is allowing Christ to connect, speak with and to me. There is no right or wrong way. It is not an exam I have to pass. It is me connecting with Christ and Christ connecting with me, through His word.
The short version. It is in four parts.
1. Lectio - the reading of a very small passage of scripture. Sometimes only a few verses. Reading aloud and very slowly.
2. Meditatio - chewing on the passage. What is the passage saying to me? Perhaps I will need to read it again until it becomes evident that Christ high lights a word or verse.
3. Oratio - talk with the Lord. Prayer if you will. For me there is no right way or wrong way to pray. For prayer is essentially talking with God.
4. Contemplatio - contemplate what Christ has shown you. Bask in His love and glory.
I guess one could think of lectio divina as being part of our spiritual journey. If it has a down side it would be that it is very time consuming. From past experience I would venture that a minimum of 15 minutes, preferably 30 minutes to get the best from it. I found it hard at first.
Something to think about.
There is another form of reading of the Bible for personal time. it is called Speak The Word, or something like that.

Monday 26th October 2009 Please consider.

2009-10-26T20:04:00.003+11:00

The image of who You are that You want me to be. What's that got to do with anything, do I hear you say? Well, ponder this. Who are we? What are we? What is our purpose? The list goes on. God created man in His image and likeness, in the image and likeness of God created He man. Male and female created He them. So, therefore, I am to convey the Image of Got that He created me to be. My prayer would be then, that I would be the image of Who You are that You, God, want me to be.
Now the image of God that He wants me to convey will be different to the Image of God that He wants you to convey.
Now let me get on my soap box. It occurs to me that there is a certain element in society that wants to pull down parents and destroy any authority that they may have with their children. This same element tells children that they, the children, can do what ever they want. If we discipline our children they will say that we don't have the right to do that.
Recently a family was informed that they were not permitted to discipline their child with a wooden spoon. The merits of the incident I am not going to debate. However, this was done publicly and in the media. The underlying message that was sent to the child was that their parents are unfit as parents, that the parents don't know how to bring up and raise a child and that the child is supreme. It is no wonder that parents are lacking in confidence where bringing up and disciplining their children is concerned. My Bible tells me that I am responsible for my child's upbringing and that God will hold me accountable for my child.
Let me quote a bit of scripture that is so true:
Romans 1:21 For when they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God, nor were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Ouch.
And this:
verse 25 They changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.
And this: verse 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not fitting.
How does the state get a hold of our children? By destroying the credibility of the parent in the eyes of the child. And by destroying the parent's confident in their parenting ability. So the state gets the parent to think the state can do better and knows better than the parent. The state isolates the parent by creating a society in which both parents need to work in order to survive and so the child becomes a ward of the state by default and the state can then indoctrinate the child to think the way the state wants the child to think.
And there is a section of Christianty which unwittingly plays into the hands of the state by telling the parent that physical punishment is not God's way.
Well that is wrong. In my Old Testament of my Bible, God did. He is rather a bloody God as I read it. Then along came Jesus, by design of course.
Where are we at not? Read Romans chapter 1 and we have a very accurate description of where we were at and where we are at right now.
Ouch, ouch and double ouch!

Saturday 26th September 2009 It's bragging time.

2009-09-26T18:30:00.006+10:00

It's braggin' time. Yep. This is where I resort to being a boring egotistical boring dad. The one every one avoids.
The first photo is us. Me, Cathy, Mum and Michele. And we are standing at the Elms, which is in Karingal Hub. Michele is the reason we are here. You see it is school holiday time just now. And the only time we can go out as a family and do breakfast is when Michele is on holiday.This next photo is of Cathy doing her level best to carry a bucket of water that is near on as heavy as she is. And yes, she did move that bucket although she did get very wet in the process.
And lastly, this photo is one of the three favourite ladies in my life right now. One Proverbs 31 woman and 2 Proverbs 31 Women in training. Stephanie is practicing for her Grade 8 classical music exam and the 2 girls just decided to tag along for the ride. The boring bragging dad is on the other side of the camera.
There are more photo's. But you will have to go here to see the rest.
Tonight we watched a Testament DVD. It was one about Jonah. Now you may recall Jonah was sent to Nineveh to warn those people about the impending judgement to come. Short version, the repented and Jonah was not happy. Go here to read the whole story.
After the DVD finished we got to talking about people we would like to talk to when we got to heaven. For me, I would like to have a chat to Jonah. After all the book ends with Jonah not being all that cheerful. Michele wanted to meet Adam and Eve, coz they ain't got a belly button. Michele then decided that she also wanted to have a chat with Judas. You know, the one who betrayed Jesus. Never did get to find out why. Anyway, I told her that I didn't think she would get to see Judas coz he committed suicide and as far as I know he never ever repented. Although maybe he did. After, as I recall he did say he had betrayed innocent blood.

Thursday 24th September 2009 What is church?

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I am getting educated. Church tag educated, or maybe pigeon hole educated. Once upon a time way back when I got born again there was church. In those days there was 2 streams. Tongue talkers and anti-tongue talkers. Tongue talkers said they were baptised in the Holy Spirit and the rest weren't coz they didn't. Of course there were Catholics. But they also were pigeon holed along the same line.
Fast forward 30+ years. Now we have a thing called Organic Church. Oh, and Emergent Church. What ever happened to just plain Church? Maybe we can explore what Jesus wants to do in church and how He wants to live in His church and where He wants us to go. And maybe that is what is behind the Organic and Emergent Church. Jesus trying to get back into us and our church. Oops, did I say that?

Monday 14th September 2009 Church 3

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Cole-Slaw is a blog I found some time ago. Hop across and have a read. Neil Cole is the author and thinker. He is the sort of pioneer of Life Transformation Groups of which I happen to be a fan. We at St Luke's here in down town Frankston "do" LTG's. Although the way we do LTG's is slightly different to Neil's.
We call our LTG's Triple M's. And we mainly meet on a Saturday morning at Macca's for breakfast.
That was not the purpose of this post. Although a little boasting and advertising is good for business.
This: What Do You Mean By Church 3.0 is what I wanted to comment on. I guess what Neil is doing is looking at what it means to do church today and also what it means to be the church.
Why was man created? To be the visible expression of an invisible deity. We are to be the "image" of God. And what is an image? It is a visual expression of something. In our case, that is God. A photo is a visual expression of what you look like imposed on a piece of paper or what ever. It is not you. Only you can be you. And only God can be God and only Christ can be Christ. But, by allowing Christ to live out His life in and through us, we can display His image in the world.
Neil Cole is really exploring in depth what it mean to be Christian. And to be church. Church 1 is the early church. The persecuted church. Church 2 is the institutionalised church. Church post 313 when Constantine decided to make Christianity the state religion. Church 3.0, as I understand Neil's post is a combination of Church 1.0 and 2.0.
Can we have a combination of the two? Yes. As I have commented to Neil, we need both. We need the institutionalised church for corporate worship and as a meeting place for welfare in the community at large.
The church is the place where we meet for solemn assemblies and so on. It can be the place where the public, those out "there" meet us in "here". It the place where we, as a body of people, meet to collectively express our worship and love of God. It is the place where the different small groups, or cell groups, meet to interact and share ideas and resources.
Small groups, or house church's, as I see it, is the place where we are ministered to as individuals. This is the place where people know us, warts and all. Here we share out laughs and hurts and our joy and pain.
LTG's are the accountability place. This is the place where I must account to another for where I am in my Christian walk. Is the sin in my life, have I done my Bible reading. In other words, have I breathed in and out.
That brings me to another thought. We breathe in before we breathe out.
Back on topic. So, as I see it, Church 3.0 is a necessary transition on where we are.
I look forward to more of what Neil has to say. What this space.

Why does God allow suffering....

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That was the topic of Phil's sermon. Why does God allow suffering and bad things. And he chose as his Bible reading Genesis 3:1-8.
It is a tough subject and one that I pondered in a life crisis about 7 to 8 years ago. I applaud Phil for tackling the subject. It is a tough one. He arrived at the same answers I did. When I questioned God about it I didn't like the answers I got. because I got the same answers Phil did. We are responsible for where we are at. Six thousand years of human history is the mess we are in today. Six thousand years of sin.
What do we want? God to step in and stop fires? But hang on, God preordained the way the earth was to be managed and if we violate the laws then what? God steps in and doesn't allow it? So then what, God is interfering in our affairs? We can't have it both ways. We want to have it both ways. We don't want God to interfere and yet we want Him to get us out of trouble?
And what about when we violate His standard? What then? He just lets us go free and doesn't hold us accountable?
Phil said where is God. His answer was that God is in the suffering. God is right there where they are. And He has provided a way. The cross.
Back to my original point. Way back when I questioned God about why He allowed things and didn't stop others. Did I get an answer? No voices spoke out of the mist. All that happened was that He kept taking me back to the source of the problem. And that was us humans all the way through. It is our sin. It is our disbelieve. It is our disobedience. And that folks is a hard and bitter pill to swallow. When ever we point the finger there is always one pointing forward and four pointing back. So where did that leave me? Did I get answers? No. Did Job get answers when he went down the same questioning road? No. Job was show God's glory in creation. I was shown my own ugly sinful and selfish nature.
But I was also shown the cross. And to the cross I cling and nothing do I bring.

Friday 4th September 4 2009 Amazing.

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Just now a good friend and myself are engaged in Bible reading. We are reading around 14 chapters of the Bible each week, or there abouts.
This week it is Acts chapters 1-14.
Acts chapter 4:24-31, the believers prayer is a truly remarkable prayer.
Look in particular at verse 24: "And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:"
Can you imagine that? They are all in one place. Peter and John have just been up before the Sanhedrin and have been released. And then this prayer. Did they all say the same words? This says they did. At least to me it does. What convinces me? Look at verse 31. The place where in they were, was shaken. Now that's powerful. I have been in corporate prayer before. And yes, it's powerful. But not like this. And we didn't all say the same words in unison it suggests was done here. Or maybe I am reading more into the passage than is here?
I am going to let you, the reader, ponder this one and make up your own mind.
And no, I don't think it was a liturgical prayer such as we have in our beloved St Luke's in down town Frankston.

Wednesday 2nd Septemer 2009 A milestone.

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Yes, today is a milestone for me. At 0730 WST on the 2nd September 1972 I commenced my life in the rail industry. It was a Wednesday that I went to the Forrestfield wagon repair depot of the West Australian Government Railways and applied for a job as anything they had on offer.
I had got fired from my previous job for questioning my manager's decision. Not a good career move.
Anyway on Wednesday the 1st September 1972 I applied for a job, any job, at the WAGR. They asked me when I could start. I said when ever it suited them. They said to be there at 0730 the next morning, which was a Thursday.
I started out as a labourer doing this and that and very little else. I went from being a labourer, to a wagon repairer, to wagon examiner, to train guard, to trainee engine-man, to train driver. That little lot took me 22 and a half years.
In March 1995 I resigned from Westrail, as it became known, to take up employment with National Rail Corporation at Kalgoorlie. I was at Kalgoorlie for the next 6 years, working as a train driver and later as a Driver Trainer.
At the end of April 2001, I resigned from National Rail Corporation and on 25th June 2001 commenced with Connex, soon to be Metro, driving suburban trains around greater Melbourne.
Where do I go from here? Retirement, hopefully, in about 10 years time.

Thursday 27th August 2009 I have a problem with

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my understanding. It's this whole creation/evolution thingy. You know, in the left field we have the old earth evolutionist camp. In the other corner we have young earth creationist camp.
It's actually the old earth, my mum and dad were monkey camp. We sort of evolved from them. Well, I guess some would look at me and say Yep.
But if that were so then the earth would be totally over run with monkeys and humans and everything in between. And, let count backwards population wise from where we are now. I think maybe the earth's human population is around a few billion just now? Now if the age of the earth were say just a few hundred thousand years old, wouldn't one expect to see more humans or at least human/ape type animals?
And lets look at technology? What about that then. I mean steel hadn't even been thought of in Christ's time and that is only 2000 years ago. And look at the last 300 years. Look at where we have come in the last 300 years ago.
If we have evolved and technology with us, then I would have expected the car, just one example, to take a thousand years to get to where it is today.
I think you can work out where this line of logical thinking is going.

Monday 17th August 2009 I got distracted.

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Yep, that's what happened. Yesterday I set out with the intention of waffling about creation and evolution and got to thinking about us and what we were created to be. Naughty me.
But before I go there. Today has started out most excellently. I have taken Michele to school and helped another parent hear Michele's class of 25 student with their reading. What a pleasure! Michele is an excellent reader and there are a number of others in her class who are also excellent readers. It is a pleasure to hear them and offer encouragement. Then there are the poor readers.
Well, really are they poor readers? I mean lets keep everything in perspective here. Michele is now five and a half. Most of the kids in her class are about the same age. Now, I can remember back when I was five. In those days, very few if any, five year old kids could read. Most of us didn't know what a letter was. But then, in those days we didn't start school until we were six. Kindergarten was expensive and most parents, mine included, couldn't afford the cost. So we missed out. Also, most parents in my day didn't encourage their children or have the facilities that I have. I started Michele on the computer when she was 2.5, Cathy the same. I wonder, even today, how many parents of public, or private, school children would do that. Maybe let the child on the computer to "play", but not learn.
So, when I take that into consideration, the children I am hearing read are not so bad after all. And, when it is all said and done, isn't that what we pay the teachers to do?
So, where does that leave me? How can I best help these kids and further their reading ability? The stories they read are very simple, depending on their ability. Obviously some one like Michele, and about 4 others, will be reading very advanced books. With the poor readers, we encourage them to read the words. Those they can't, we read and get them to repeat the word. We also get the child to sound the word. Now, because I suspect some can't, I get the child to tell me the letters in some words. My idea is to get the child to concentrate on the letter, the word and the story. We also get the child to look at the pictures, something we were never allowed to do in my day, and work out from the picture what the story might be about.
Just one more little brag. Yes, yes, I know, I can't help myself. Cathy can recognise all but four letters in the alphabet. How good is that? She, like her elder sister is an amazing kid.
So, this morning it was reading. Did I mention that I also took Cathy over to the school with me? Well, I did. It is a good lesson for her in getting use to a structured class room education system. Also, she thoroughly enjoys it.
This afternoon we will return to the school for a thing called PMP, what ever that means. It is an exercise thingy. We are in a big room with five little exercise stations set up. Each class, there are four in all, come into the room, one class at a time. The children are divided into 5 groups. They then work their way through each of the stations. The children are supposed to do the exercise and talk us through what they are doing. each exercise is very simple and takes very little time. We do 4 class rooms with around 25 kids in each class. That takes around 90 - 120 minutes in all.
OK, so, by now you are probably wondering what sort of education style parents we are. Some one called us un-schooler's because of our approach to schooling with our girls. But that isn't true. Both girls will attend school. But, we also do a bit of home schooling with both girls. But our approach is a bit like un-schooling in that we allow, certainly at home, both girls to learn at their own rate. So, I get that makes us Public Schooling Home School Un-schooler's.
Stephanie calls us Involved Parent Schooler's! Well, at least Stephanie's tag isn't such a big mouthful.
And I still haven't addressed the subject I started out to. But maybe that is another post for another time. But I really do want to address this issue of creation/evolution.
Lots of questions to think about. How old is the earth really? Was it created in 7 literal 24 hour days? Were they consecutive days? How long was each day? Was an hour the same as we understand an hour to be? Is man today the finished product of what Elohim intended? Or did we evolve, spiritually into what we are today? How long did man live for say around a thousand years ago?
So, maybe I might get to look at that next time. I do have some legitimate questions for those who believe man has evolved over 10's of thousands of years. Next time maybe.

Sunday 16th August 2009 A question?

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"Each night before my grandmother went to bed, she checked that her house was tidy. She wanted to leave a clean, neat house 'as a testimony to unbelievers' if the Lord came during the night. We might smile at her concerns but, like Paul, she lived each day firmly believing that Jesus could return at any time. Both her heart and home were ready.

How many of us eagerly anticipate the Lord's return on a daily basis?" KYB study 3, 1-2 Thessalonians - The key to the future.

Stephanie and I were just thinking about that statement. We both agreed, to our collective shame, that we rarely think on a daily basis about Christ emminant return, even though we know it can happen at any time. Maybe we need to re-evaluate. Repent even.

On another thing that has been on my mind lately. I am a creationist/evolutionist. How is that for a contradiction. I believe that God created the world in seven periods of day/night. How long each of those periods in terms of hours might be is open to question. There is a line of thought that says they were 6/24 hour periods. God rested on the 7th. That is, He ceased creating. He didn't stop working. He stopped creating.

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

God didn't stop working. Just from the work He had done. So, that takes care of the creating bit. Now for the evolving bit.

God created man complete in a sense. Man, and woman, could function but were not complete. God was still working in their hearts to conform them into His image. That, after all, is the purpose of man. To display God's image. To display God's character. To have God dwell in them. He would be the source, they would be the display. Go look in a mirror. A mirror has an image of you. Like us without God, the image in the mirror is incomplete. Again, for the image in the mirror to move, you need to move in order that your reflection in the mirror can move. The image in the mirror has no ability to move. As we also need God to make us complete us, we also cannot complete the image. Only God does. Our part is to act like the image in the mirror. We must let God move in us. To be the source of our effect. That image in the mirror can't move without us. Similarly, we can't move without God.

Friday 14th August 2009 Something different...

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I was going to do another brag post, but I am too lazy to get the photo's of my camera to upload, so that one can wait until tomorrow, or Sunday.
Anyway, for today's post. I go to this church over here. But you already knew that. I am in a group over at St Luke's called Triple M's. What is Triple M's. Well, it is an accountability group for us mere males. The concept for Triple M's comes from Life Transformation Groups or LTG's for short. And you can read more about it here. Part of the accountability is reading the Bible every week. This week my partner and myself are reading Genesis 12-25. That's 14 chapters. I love Genesis. Ask my wife. Drivers her batty. So for me this has been a goody.
But.... Genesis has lots of questions. Un-answered ones that is. Like, who paid tithes to who in Genesis 14. And, how did Pharaoh know that Sarah was Abraham's wife. And where did Isaac get to after his mountain top experience with his father? And what ever possessed Abraham to sell off his wife trice? And how many characteristics of God can you spot? And why did God decree that boys are to be circumcised after 8 days. Why not 7 or 9. And how many years after Sarah did Abraham die and what is the significance of this number in the Bible?
Enough for now. Enjoy.
And here. Look up this NASA and The Bible. That'll give you something to chew on.
And I promise not to brag about me kids until tomorrow at least.

Monday 10 August 2009 Brag brag brag!

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This is Cathy

That's Cathy. She is number 2. Well, not really. They are both number 1. At least that is what I tell them and I believe it. Now this young lady, not yet 3, spent most of the day over the road at school with her elder sister. The reason? Piano practice and lessons. For mum. So, as I had the day off work and had to be over at the school to help out and mum really needed to get into the piano, I took Cathy with me. Mum was of course a tad worried as to how Cathy would get on. She didn't need to be. Cathy did what Cathy always does. Took life in her stride. She rejoiced in her life in Christ, had a ball and entertained the masses. In the morning I was working in 2 classes hearing the kids reading. I love it. Cathy stayed with Michele and "learnt" what Michele was learning. Now Cathy is 2.5. However, the teachers kept on commenting on how clear her speech was. Is it just me? I thought all 2.5 year old kids were, or at least should be, clear with their speech. Cathy had no problem making herself understood and did exactly as shew was told when she was told without argument. How good is that? But then she is the more compliant of the two girls. I must confess though, to being worried when I wasn't hearing any noise. But I needn't have. I praise God for that little girl. She has brought me so much pleasure. She is really easy to train and loves a good play session. At 2.5 she is well on her way to knowing her entire alphabet and can count quite well. If she is asked to get 4 spuds, she will get 4 spuds. She is also so eager to help. She will most times do stuff, like getting the scrap bucket or setting the table without having to be asked. In fact the worst time of the day is the evening meal. Which, I might add, we don't fuss too much about. After all, she starts eating when she gets up in the morning then eats all day long. I think they call it grazing. But she "grazes" on healthy stuff, like fruit and cheese and so on. So who are we to worry.
The there is the fun stuff. Like she will look sad and say "I'm not happy", which we know is a put on. So I will ask her "Do you want me to pick you up, turn you upside down and shake the unhappiness out?". Of course the answer is yes. She is usually laughing her head off before I have even got that far. Then there is racing down the passage way of our house with her going "You can't catch me", knowing not only that I can and that she wants me to. Then there is the "daddy broke" game. That entails me flopping on the bed and saying "Daddy's broke". She will then jump upon the bead and "Kiss daddy better" followed by me grabbing her at exactly the same time as she plants the kiss and rolling her over and blowing a fat raspberry on what ever bare skin I can find. That is followed by mother shouting at us to "stop squealing and will you stop rough housing that child. Is it any wonder that the kids wont obey." Actually that parts not true. Ours do.

And then

This is Michele

Dear daughter number 1. Where does one start? Today I was most disappointed. I didn't get to hear her read at school. I like listening to her read. Yes, I know she is 5.5, but she is an excellent reader. And she comprehends everything she reads. It is always a pleasure to listen to her. She has been reading now for almost 12 months. Michele loves life and cooking and reading and writing and dressing up and playing piano, at least for the moment. Playing the piano that is. Now we have been branded un-schooler's because of our approach to early learning. Michele is a prime example. When she was around Cathy's current age, we were looking at how we were going to school her. We were examining our options. Would we home school, would we public school, would we private school her? So many options and such a difficult decision to make. In the process of exploring we found, or the Lord guided us to, starfall.com. Michele was around 2.5. She wanted to climb up on my lap when I was looking at this site. She showed interest in the screen and with what was happening. I encouraged her. Six weeks later she knew her entire alphabet. I couldn't believe it. But, we didn't push her. Later, when it came to transitioning to and then sentences, we let her govern the rate and amount. Later we looked at Hooked on Phonics. Again, this was a learning mile stone. Some days she would want to do lots, other, none. We let her govern the pace and amount. We noticed that if we pushed her she would stop. If we let her go, she would fly. Now some would treat this as obedience, or the lack of thereof. And, to a point it was. But I looked at it this way. If I pushed it and outlasted her and said "you will do this, she might have done it, but it might also have put her off learning and school for life. Obedience and be sorted out in other areas. My approach is that learning should be fun. If it is fun, she will want to learn. If not, she wont. And which is better, a kid who enjoys her book, or a kid who hates school and all it stands for.
Today was a good day for Michele. She had her sister at school, and in her class and at assembly in the morning. She was one happy and proud little girl. And good on her, so she should be.
That brings me to another brag. (Did I ever mention I brag about me kids a lot?) These two girls get on real well together, they are best of mates. Yes, occasionally they do disagree, but not often and not for long.
This is Mum. How could I ever forget the best woman in the world. She is my standard of beauty, on the outside as well as on the inside. We have been married for near on 8 years now. I don't know her very well. Oh, it's not that I don't know her. It's that when I think I know it all, she blows me away with something new. Now that photo is blurry. Sorry 'bout that. Try taking a photo of a moving target. You see, Mrs Wonderful has decided to go back to school. She wants to study grade 8 piano plus grade 6 theory plus get a diploma in teaching piano music. Why? Coz she can. And because she wants to put something back into other students and coz God is calling her to that. And she wants another baby. Well, we both do. Just requires more practise is all. Now each piano lesson cost A$60 per hour. But if she can achieve, and I know she can, what she wants then that is cheap. Her teaching can all be done at home if she chooses. That accomplishes her goals of being a Proverbs 31 woman and a keeper of the home. This also accomplishes something that I want for her. I want my Love to be fulfilled in every area of her life. She is not my slave. We are a team. She is my "help meet". What does that mean? Go look it up. You will be amazed at what you find. Stephanie is my "other" self. I am her "other" self. We fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Exactly as Christ called us to be and designed.
OK, enough waxing lyrical.
Oh, no it's not. Did I tell you she is good looking. And a good cook. And I enjoy just spending time in her presence. And she is good in (wash your mind out). Now every man should have a lady as good as mine. Well, they do, they just don't know it.
Time to go.