Hey there Peeps,
I am back & I’m ready for action!
It’s been a pretty busy time over the last little while. Kids Games was in the first week of the holidays & it was HUGE! About 160 kids in total, with up to 125 on any given day. What a great chance to share the good news about Jesus with lots of young kids.
But the real work, the thing that has us all tuckered out, happened this week. Shona, Pumpkin & I have finally moved a couple of suburbs North to Ourimbah!
The move happened on Monday & so far we are stoked with the new place. The parish bought it as an investment & we get to reap all the benefits. Lots of room, solid entertaining area & a kick-butt area for a study. Let’s just say that Tim is LOVING having his own “reading room.”
It’s been a mad rush to try & get the joint sorted ASAP so we can both continue in the swing of work & the like.
In other news, Pumpkin continues to grow up cute & happy. If only she were cute, happy & a little more sleepy….
Anyway, we now have our good friends Bruce & Susan 2 doors down from us, so we’re off to dinner at their place. Here’s a couple of photos for those house-curious types…

Here’s the house from the front. It looks huge, but it is merely big…. Those lovely trees behind us, however, mean that we get about 0% sunlight & polar-like conditions inside the place…

The front porch is lovely. I have already spent one evening out there, Pumpkin in the bouncer & me on a chair reading a book. Ahhhh the serenity!

Here is where the magic happens! I LOVE this room. I love being about to see all my books & I love a place where I feel surrounded by the collected wisdom of thousands of greats as I read away at whatever…

Here we have the pumpkin. Can a new father ever blog without including at least one picture of his pride & joy?

This is me playing with the idea of soft focus… I like it, but I may be the only one…

All I know is that I do want to start again…
I know one place where many want me to start is by posting more pictures of “The Pumpkin” (I’ve decided not to use her name on the blog, so her foetal moniker will stay)
So if that’s your bag, then have no fear, there are a bucket load of them coming up, unless you’ve already seen them on Facebook.
Otherwise, where to go? Well, On Wednesday morning I spoke at an old people’s home about the first 7 verses of Revelation 2, and I think, applying a theological text to a blog, that I have “forgotten my first love” and need to get back in touch with the passion. You know those times when you start to observe everything more critically & pour it out in actual interesting ways!
I need to get observational again… We’ll just see if it happens.
One micro thought is this. (I apologise, I don’t want it to be a too baby-centric blog, but I can’t help myself on this occasion) Is one of joy of babies that their emotions are hardwired to their bodies?
Bubs just don’t seem to have that lag period we adults do, where everything has to be processed through the brain. It can be an earthshattering smile that comes out of nowhere, and that smile can be crying a minute later. Each feeling valid, each fascinating & each entirely spontaneous.
Do we fail to feel as much as we ought? Am I too involved in a taxonomy of my feelings to enjoy *actually* feeling them? Are we so caught up in a post-enlightenment valuation of equinimity that letting one’s self go & feeling those emotions is deemed *shock horror* unstable!?
Or maybe, do we just have a little more context? It’s a little less new? The coming months will tell…
Meanwhile, let the baby-fest begin!

This is one of my favourites at the moment. She has a really thoughtful look about her. Who needs a holiday when there are endless journeys to be taken in those soulful eyes?

There’s one of those emotions I was talking about.

That looks seems to say “Don’t tell me that this is how I will see you for the next 21 years… hiding behind a lens?”

Another thoughtful pose.
Finally, in honour of my big sister, a couple of pictures of the Banoffee Pie that Shona made the other night. A culinary masterpiece… or is it a calorie masterpiece?

They are going quickly, and they are very busy…
Still, no excuse.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I got to go to Greg & Belinda’s wedding. I always knew it was going to be a one-of-a-kind affair & they didn’t let me down.
Commentary during the service kept things light, but a lovely song by one of Greg’s step-daughters & a heartfelt speech to his wife, the stepdaughters & his sons really brought the mood to a heartfelt sombre tone.

Of course, then came the blowup castle & bull-riding machine & it was off again!


The rest of the night after that was a hoot!
Other news is either Annika-centric…. She is doing well, smiling more (as the prior photo evidences) but not sleeping as much as mum and dad would like, or news just revolves around church things. I go to a “Priestly Formation” class every thursday, and apart from the 5:55am train I have to catch, I find the whole thing to be a real blessing!
I have a bunch of different ideas for different stuff to connect with the community. We’re about to make use of our video watching license at church, by having a movie on one Sunday a month. “Life is Beautiful” coming up on June 7th… You’re all invited.
And otherwise life just rolls on.
I have been thinking about other stuff though, and, hopefully I will get around to blogging about it sooner or later… But in the mean time, after a couple of months off, it is back onto the bike tomorrow morning… Thanks Byron!!
And to keep the family happy, another couple of pictures of the treasure…


THis picture makes it look like she is doing something very naughty in her pants!

Bishop Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Reading (UK)
A quote of a quote from the first talk… It was a good three days. More to come
“The church is the one institution who exists for the purpose of serving it’s non members”
— John Templeton

So far in my “holiday” I have achieved a great deal less than I would have liked!
OK, so this might be the point in time where a thousand people smirk to themselves and mutter under their breaths “Duh! you just had a kid. Welcome to the real world.”
OK, OK, so I knew that having my own kid was going to take more time than I could imagine, but it is still amazing to think that days turn into weeks & I still haven’t done much of note.
That said, the last couple of days have been industrious in their own ways. I managed to whipper-snip the whole back lawn yesterday, as well as cooking a big fryup for Rog. Just to top off the business, I snuck off to Erina in the afternoon (thanks to my long-suffering wife) so I could watch “Wolverine” at the movies. I really loved it, but can’t guarantee that others will, unless you enjoy the Marvel Universe in general.
So there we go. I haven’t finished any books. I haven’t written any either. Heck, I haven’t even taken that many photos. For that one, I blame the unseasonably cold weather. I’m committed to capturing some cute pics of the little one, but as soon as she isn’t anything but completely rugged up, the lungs start to get a workout. Here’s hoping tomorrow is milder.
Meanwhile, here is what I wished Pumpkin looked like a little more often during the evening hours…

Here are the photos to keep the family happy.
Comments to come…

I apologise, I doubt I will be waxing lyrical for the next couple of days. I spend the whole day at the hospital (about an hour away) and only drive home to upload photos, and go to bed.
At least, however, I bring you something to look at. Check out the latest…. Oh how you will wish I never had a child, when this blog becomes saturated with Annika shots!

We, of course, are as proud as punch. Oh, and Shona scrubs up OK for someone who had a kid only one day ago!

Mama & Bop were pretty happy with the bub too.

Here she is, mustering up all the energy she can…

And at one day old we have a motor milestone! She gets her head in the air all by herself!
Well there you go….
Dad still proud, kid still cute & mum still doing well!

It’s impossible to look down at those tiny hands, that matted hair, those eyes, open in awe and wonder, and not dissolve into a puddle of cliches.
And now I understand.
I always wondered whether the moment would be too abstract for me. After all, it is just another face isn’t it? But it’s indescribable, unbelievable, maybe chemical?
It’s a new and different kind of love.
And it certainly puts God’s love in the sacrifice of Jesus in a different light, because I can’t imagine giving up my girl for anything!

***It was great to catch up with my good friends Joel & Terrill (and their lovely kids, and some friends) on the weekend. It was/is Terrill’s 30th, which is a pretty big & exciting time.
But that is not the Joel I wanted to write about today.
I had a new idea.
I thought one way that I could encourage myself as I do my own Bible reading & stuff, is to post some of my thoughts up here on the net. I’m not talking about any hardcore exegesis, just what reading a passage gets me thinking about.
And today I read the book of Joel.
Joel is a really interesting picture in two main parts.
On the first side is the prophecy of a coming locust plague. It’s an all-devouring plague, leaving nothing in it’s path.
I love the picture that Chapter 2 has, picturing the locust as a war horse, a chariot, an army, a well drilled soldier, and a thief. Their destruction is absolute when it comes.
At the same time, the reader abhors the locust, because of the destruction that they will bring, but at the same time, we can’t help but admire the little beggars. So disciplined, so powerful, yet so small.
Israel, is the counterbalance. They should have the same kind of power and coordination as the locust, but instead they have turned away from God and sit now under His judgement.
And yet, God doesn’t desert His people. V.12-13 are some of my favourites:
*Joel 2:12  “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster. *
As we find our way into the second half of the book, we see how God’s love and mercy only play themselves out when we understand the nature of God’s judgement. The promise of hope and glory stands out in stark contrast after the expectation of desolation.
Western society is becoming increasingly “spiritual,” yet I suspect that it is equally as insincere. We need to step back, look at ourselves and* “rend our hearts, not our garments.”* Where in my life do I need to strip off the pretense like a locust stripping wheat, and open up my heart to the Lord?
It’s certainly worth thinking about…

It’s fun having two countdowns going at the same time. Three really… actually… four.
I like Easter. I always have.
I really like Darrell Lea nougat eggs. In under two weeks I should have my very own egg.
It’s a downside of ministry that many of those big holidays become work days for you. Christmas, out. Easter… usually out…. But this year, I look forward to the possibility of having not only easter off, but three weeks after that too! What a fantastic idea! Holiday time.
But of course, the most important (at least on an eternal scale) is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
And of course, what better way to celebrate the promise of re-birth, than with the birth of our first child.
Of course, we don’t know if it will come on time.
Anyone willing to place a guess (or a virtual bet) on the due date? How about a name?