So, it has already been a couple of weeks since the anniversary!
Who’d have thunk that time can move so fast? I’ve been working hard with normal work stuff, CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) stuff, and “Kids Games” (Everybody jump up!) running for the whole of last week!
Man, it has been a lot of work, but it has also been a lot of fun. We had upward of 140 kids come to Kids Games (no more than 120 on any on day though), about 75 of which were unchurched. It really is a great point of contact with the kids of surrounding area. It also proves to be a great ecumenical exercise. It was awesome to have the Anglicans, Presbyterians, Churches of Christ, and the”Liberty Church” (pentecostal) together!
Of course, the joys of child safety mean that I can’t really show you any of the pictures (and there are lots)
Anyway…
I thought I would do a bit of a J-Moff & pose a question for those Christian readers out there (though you don’t need to be Christian to reply).
I’m thinking of doing a series with my Youth Group entitled “Ten things you need to know about Christianity.” What would you put on the list?

It was a great view from the Hotel room.

Click on This Link to view it Large on black! (Worth your while)

On Monday week, I will have been married for a year!
Dang it, that’s gone fast!
Boy things have changed in the intervening time. Different jobs for both of us, different suburb, and even different city to live in. I’m done with my study (or at least the Bible College study) and we’re in a whole new world of experience on the coast.
With this in mind. It’s great when you have a chance to spend time with the ‘old crew.’ I haven’t had a chance to catch up with some of my crew recently. Matt, Cate & Kirt, being big examples, but a couple of weeks ago we did get to catch up with some of Shona’s nearest & dearest.
It was great to spend some time with Felis and Andy, who are moving, daily, closer to their big day of transformation (i.e. their wedding) as well as Dave & Sim. Andy added another life-changing experience to my list, when I ENJOYED a vegetarian lunch! I know, I’m shocked too! (Mum, don’t have a heart attack)

(The vege meal in question… Haloumi is nice!)
Of course, the day was much sweeter, being able to link up with some serious cupcake action from some mini-cupcake store in the city. Cute & tasty!

OK, so there is nothing serious to this post. I had an idea about a week ago for something big I wanted to write about, and now I am trying to remember what it is! That sucks!

You know that youth group has been had when there is both blood & vomit on the floor by the end of the evening (unfortunately, carpet!).
Friday night was an exciting time. We had just had dinner and were playing a silly game whilst some of the kids finished their ice creams, when J tripped over & bumped his head on either a door hinge or a chair leg. I asked him if he was OK & he said yes. Then, as he ran his head through his hair, it came out with a fair bit of blood.
There ended up being an impressive amount of claret on the the floor, in a lovely pattern heading toward the bathroom. The drain in the bathroom was handy, to wash away the small pool of blood that collected there.
In the end, only three stitches were needed. head wounds are always a killer because they bleed like nobodies business! Fortunately Mr & Mrs J have a bunch of kids, so they were very cool about the whole thing. It just happens…
Encounter two happened when we played my new favourite game “Pass of Play.” Basically it involves giving someone a giant dice & asking them to “Pass or Play.” If they pass, then they don’t have to roll the dice & they can just sit & watch. If they play, they have to roll the dice & then eat the food that corresponds with the number they rolled. Some foods are good. Chocolate, Starbursts, etc. Some, not so good. On friday it was the Artichoke heart that got the vomit response, though the pickled ginger also seemed to come close.

Photo by Andy…

Click on the picture for a bigger apology, or go to The Bureau to make an apology (or another announcement) of your own!

So I’m away for the next three days.
I don’t know exactly what to expect? I do know that I have to help give a half-hour presentation. Nothing serious & not too much work, so that should be OK.
It’s just not right. My sister gets to spend the next month in the UK, and more importantly, some time in Scotland, and I get to spend the next three days in Kurrajong. A lovely part of Sydney, but certainly not Scotland…
I should manage to take a photo or two while I’m up there though.

There is a family that lives on a corner block near my church. You can look down into their back yard as you walk by. As I walked by on Sunday afternoon I saw a young girl, under two sitting on a rope-swing by herself and the following conversation took place.
Girl: Hello
Me: Good afternoon.
Girl: Do you want to come and play at my house?
Me: No, but thank you for asking. You look like you have a nice swing there.
Girl: Yeah I am good at swings.
(five seconds later)
Girl: Bye Bye
Me: Bye bye, have a nice afternoon.
Girl: I love you.
It was one of those golden little moments in life. She was a lovely little kid & was just looking for someone who might play an assisting role in her afternoon swinging plans. She wasn’t too concerned that I was a stranger, but was happy for some conversation and company. For one brief second I couldn’t help but be filled with happiness. You can see why Jesus said that the Kingdom belonged to people such as this. Simple, innocent, friendly & completely trusting. Coming from a family who remind her how much they love her, she wanted to share the love around.
It breaks my heart that the moment following this revolved around my fears for a kid like this. Had I actually come down & joined her for a push of a swing, the chances are that an enraged parent would have barged out forthwith. What was I doing in their yard? Why was I hanging around with their young kid.
Far worse than that scenario is the idea that a more nefarious character might have happened upon such a sweet little child. That maybe the parents didn’t come out fast enough & maybe she could have disappeared…
Moments like this surely have to make someone long for heaven. Oh for a day when golden moments aren’t framed by the black clouds of fear. For the day when love can be given with the knowledge that there need not be loss to come in the future.
Maranatha

(Eggs Benedict)
Should we go up to visit my parents over the ANZAC weekend? Well, they are on a nice vineyard in the Hunter, I do enjoy spending time with them, it is a chance to get out of the house and relax… They are all good reasons, but the clincher is when mum says “How about I make you Eggs Benedict for breakfast?”
We weren’t able to stay for the whole weekend, because I was preaching twice on Sunday morning (which went well, thank you for asking… I was preaching on the second half of Acts 17. Apparently, according to a reader at one of the services, Paul spoke at the Asparagus!), but we were able to head up on Thursday evening & stay till Saturday afternoon.
Rain was the name of the game, like most of the coast around Sydney, but with a warm fire going, a couple of scrabble games, and a cheeky red wine or two, the rain just added to the ambience.
Follow that up with a lovely misty morning on the Saturday & you have a recipe for success. The only downside to all the precipitation was that when we attempted to leave, the bridge at the end of road was under a metre of water! We had to drive 15km around to get off on another bridge. Again, all part of the fun.
Well, I have some other thoughts in my noodle that I would love to share, but they might have to wait for another post, which will hopefully only be in a day or so.
Instead, enjoy a couple of pics..

The foggy morning was lovely. There are a million little spiders webs on the vines!

Once the mist lifted, Saturday was magic. Not that that would make this a magic mushroom…

The road “should” continue down to a lovely wooden bridge.

A testimony to Shona’s patience that she still looks happy having driven 15kms to get around to the this side of the bridge…

It will never be green like this photo in Australia.
But over the last week it has certainly had all the rain. To be honest, I had forgotten that it could rain like this in OZ. Deep, driving, constant rain. I think it’s been going for about a week.
Days like today are fairly good for doing work. It’s just the right kind of weather to camp out in front of your computer & bang out a bunch of Bible studies for youth group & spiff up your sermon for Sunday.
That said, it would be an even better day to be snuggled up in bed, a good book (for me the picture in my head will always be Lord of the Rings… a product of my childhood) some chocolate (again, my formative years declare that they must be “chocolate bullets”, preferably the now defunct pascalls brand) with a Teddy bear (and now the option of my wife!) by your side.
Well, unfortunately, my day is more of the work & less of the vegging. Still, there’s always a spare moment to remember lush green walks & rainy days with my niece’s bear in bonny Scotland.