Equip Academy

Holidays with Audiobooks

2012-01-25T13:15:00.004+08:00

These holidays, as with previous holidays spent at home, our days have been ordered around two activities: swimming lessons in the morning and Individual Quiet Time aka Audiobook Hour after lunch.

We spent an hour a day for four weeks in the local pool and Sam passed Level 1 and Anna passed Level 4 and Level 5. Abigail practised Level 3 and Joshua struggled with floating and perfect form in Level 4. The physical exercise has been great for the kids.

Meanwhile, the quiet provided by an hour of kids in separate rooms reading their own books, or together in the lounge listening to an audiobook, has been great for me! Having something interesting to listen to has helped us all cope when 30+ and even 40+ temperatures have kept us cooped up inside for all but the very early and very late hours of our days.

(Jeff has also finished - after the better part of 2011 - reading aloud the Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkein, and I've begun reading the Borrowers sextuplet. Our after dinner read alouds sometimes get missed in the business of term time, but we really get into them during holidays.)

This summer, we have enjoyed the following audiobooks, for most of which we are very thankful to our local public library:

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The BFG by ditto
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by ditto
Charlie and the Great Glass elevator by ditto

Clarice Bean Spells Trouble by Lauren Child

Cry of the Cat by Emily Rhodda

Anne of Avonlea by LM Montgomery

We're finishing the holidays with The Incredible Journey by Shiela Burnford. It has indeed been an incredible literary journey.

Playing Church

2012-01-25T10:53:00.004+08:00

Abigail invited her siblings to join her and the dolls and teddies for church this morning:Abigail chose to start with a prayer and then two songs, "No More Tears" (from A Very, Very, Very Big God) and "Away in a Manger". Anna read the Bible reading. Joshua served Holy Communion with bread and grape juice, after I had led a discussion of what the elements remind us of. Anna preached and Joshua taught the memory verse. Abigail led two more songs, "If You're Happy and You Know It (Praise the Lord!)" and "Praise Ye the Lord, Hallelujah!". All had a good time being "church" together!

Joshua's weekend woodworking project

2011-11-21T17:10:00.003+08:00

Made using recycled timber, with Dad's help for the lettering... but all Joshua's idea.

Have you seen YouVersion?

2011-11-20T07:50:00.006+08:00

Jeff introduced me to this app and I love it!

It's basically a Bible reading app, and I already have those for the NIV and ESV translations, but YouVersion has a Bible reading plan element to it as well. You can choose from over 100 different plans, which vary from two day plans to read through epistles to week-long plans following a topic through the Bible, to year long whole-Bible reading plans that are organised chronologically (in the probably order the events happened), historically (in the order the books were written), or following several popular systems such as the McCheyne system. The best feature: automatic alerts sent each day, at the times you decide, to remind you to read the Bible passage set for that day.

I have chosen the 21-day "Plan for Busy Women: a rich and satisfying life" devotional, which will be my personal Bible study for the next three weeks. I've set my alert for this for 10am, by which time the kids are off to school, I have done my basic chores for the day and I'm ready for a coffee break - but (I hope) before I get lost in other, less essential, activities. (Perfect for filling the gap left by the summer break from BSF in the Southern Hemisphere.)

I've also signed up to read the Bible chronologically, since I want to read the whole OT through before I begin studying Old Testament 501 at Trinity next semester. I've set my alert for this longer reading at 8pm, after the kids are fed and in bed and the dishes are (usually!) done, but before I get distracted by evening TV shows or reading novels.

Logging in to YouVersion.com allows you to adjust the length of any plan, as well. So I have condensed my year-long chronological study down so that I am reading enough chapters each day to get through the OT by February 17, when classes start.

YouVersion has accountability features as well, where you can sign up a friend (who already uses YouVersion) to receive emails telling them how you are going with the Bible reading plan you have signed up to. I could ask Jeff to keep track of my reading progress and encourage him with his reading of his chosen plan as well, for instance. (He's chosen the plan from the ESV Study Bible, a year-long plan with four shorter readings from different parts of the Bible each day.)

You can either down load a Bible version (or more than one) so you can read anytime without internet access, or you can download each reading when you want it (taking moments). I've downloaded the Holman Christian Standard Bible, so I can check it out - so far I like it. (I've been reading the NIV - 1984 edition - as my personal Bible for years.) I like that the HCSB text uses "Yahweh" in place of "LORD" for the tetragrammation, God's personal name, which means "I am who I am" - as God taught Moses in Exodus 3. This occurs in at least 500 places, but not in every use. I like this feature in the HCSB because I have just been teaching the kids in Children's Church all about who God is, and we started with Exodus 3. I hadn't heard about the HCSB until I read about it in the latest Briefing, which has an article considering the comparative merits of the ESV, NIV11 and HCSB for use in local churches as the version from which the pulpit Bible readings are presented.

If you're looking to turn over a new leaf in your personal Bible reading and study for 2012, YouVersion can help you get on track and stay on track.

PS Two months in, I've read about 60% of the Bible, according to the little green line for my Chronological reading plan. I dropped the other reading plan after a few days, but hope to get back to it once I finish reading through the Old Testament - I'm currently reading Jeremiah.

Operation Initiate Bookworm

2011-10-21T22:26:00.003+08:00

is well underway:

Joshua announced this morning that he would like to take some books to school to read in between the athletics carnival events so he didn’t get bored. I told him perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea to take books to read on the oval and he informed me that he and his friend J read books on the oval together at lunchtime already.

More news from the campaign:

Anna and Joshua must have read close to 50 chapter books each over the holidays. I had to take the kids to the library three times for more, and they kept reading each other’s as well once they had read their own! They both love Rainbow Fairies books; Joshua also borrows non-fiction books and Anna has recently discovered the Babysitting Club and Pony Tails books. Not to mention the Go Girl and Undercover Fairy books Anna owns, which they have been re-reading since it has now been - shock, horror - seven days since they were last at the public library.

Joshua had to draw his favourite character for an art lesson on Thursday and he reported to me that although his favourite character is McGuyver (from our TV watching in the early mornings on the holidays) and his second favourite is Digit (apparently a Pokemon), he chose to draw the Diamond Fairy from the Rainbow Fairies books.

Jeff has finished The Two Towers and begun The Return of the King for our after-dinner read alouds. He hasn’t got too far into it so far, since the kids have wanted to head off to their own beds immediately after dinner to read their own books.

Abi has begun reading The Beginner’s Bible to Jeff or me in the mornings before school, and has been reading the Doc Seuss books and Endeavour Readers aloud in her free time as well.

Even Sam has been keen to be read to by whoever is willing to read their book aloud to him. Not to mention his borrowing of Joshua's Star Wars encyclopaedia that was out from the school library.

I'm off to bed to read for myself now!

Jeff learns Man Skills

2011-09-24T13:04:00.002+08:00

Thanks to Tim for teaching Jeff how to service his car!

Cross Country

2011-09-17T12:29:00.003+08:00

Joshua was selected for the second year in a row to represent his year level (along with two others) at the Christian schools inter-school cross country competition. He had fun cheering on his schoolmates in other year levels:Then he tried very hard in his own race,and finished just behind his team mates Sean and Josiah,coming third last.

That's my boy!!

Lego Star Wars

2011-09-17T11:57:00.005+08:00

Jeff has been busy spending all our life savings (well - almost) on Star Wars Lego. Very little of this was bought new. Most of it came via eBay, saving us money and allowing Samuel to obtain the Storm Troopers that he earnestly desired. Jeff, Joshua and Samuel have a bit more to build from the last eBay package, but Joshua invited us to a Star Wars "movie" this morning, so I took some photos.This is the Small Games Room (ie, the room for games with small pieces, which almost exclusively means Lego). Occasionally, the Lego has to be packed away so the SGR can become the Guest Bedroom. But in the meantime, the addition of a slab of MDF painted green makes the bed a perfect platform for wars between the Seperatists's droids and the Republic's Jedi and clones.

According to Plan

2011-09-15T20:24:00.004+08:00

I've just begun my second half-unit of theological studies at Trinity (Systematic Theology), and have just embarked on reading The Everlasting God by Broughton Knox, for my book review for this unit. So I thought I'd post the book review I submitted for the first half-unit, Biblical Theology.

Please keep in mind that my word limit was 750 words +/- 10% ... I managed to get my report down to 818 including footnotes, which was massively difficult. I spent as much time editing and re-wording as I did writing the first draft, if not more. The effect of this is that, if I were to write all my thoughts on the book, there would be a lot more here. But I don't have time for that... I have another book report to write, as I've already mentioned! So here is my "tight" book report on According to Plan, by Graeme Goldsworthy:

---

Graeme Goldsworthy’s According to Plan provides an explanation of the progression of God’s revelation in the Bible, identifying the Bible’s main message as God’s redemption and regeneration of his people through Jesus Christ.

The book begins with an apologetic for the study of biblical theology (part one), and a rationale for Goldsworthy’s presuppositions about knowledge, and process of typology (part two). He establishes a “Christian approach to the Old Testament” (p.55), whereby the gospel is used to interpret the Old Testament. At the core of the book (part three) is a detailed examination of biblical content, divided into 17 eras treated in chronological order. This begins with the most significant chapter of the entire book, (chapter 8), where Goldsworthy argues from the four gospels “the progression of events [in the Old Testament] will only find its true meaning in Christ.” (p.88). The gradually refined concept of the Kingdom of God, and its three ingredients (God, Mankind, World [Footnote:Goldsworthy (p.11) describes these in his introduction as “the three elements of the kingdom: God as ruling Lord, his people and the created order in which God and his people relate.” “Mankind” and “World” are signifiers of the latter two. Roberts (2002) replaces these terms with the apt descriptors “God’s people” and “God’s land”.]), is examined. The theme of regeneration is followed through stages of foreshadowing, prophecy and consummation in Christ. The book concludes (part four) by providing examples of how this applies in the study of doctrinal topics.

The descriptions of the varying modes of theological study in chapter 2 were personally relevant; explaining why my husband’s preaching has been a major change for our church. Previously, many of the preachers taught on some area of systematic theology, using the Bible passage to define the area of doctrine to be taught. In contrast, the majority of the preaching is now conducted by a pastoral theologian (p.31), seeking to apply everything in the passage to the everyday lives of the congregation.

In part two, Goldsworthy argues against humanism, literalism and liberalism, but does not address Catholic and Pentecostal claims regarding post-apostolic, non-salvific revelation. I do not think that Goldsworthy’s establishment of Jesus Christ as the fulfilment of God’s salvation promises precludes some of these claims, though it does rule out such heretical claims to ongoing salvific revelation such as those of the Latter-day Saints.

One of the major concepts is that of God working through one person to reach many. Goldsworthy writes “mediation of God’s acts through certain chosen people is a constant biblical theme.” (p.158). He gives multiple instances, such as God’s fatherhood being mediated through Abraham; his rule through Moses and David; his salvation and deliverance through Noah and the Judges; and his message through the prophets. Goldsworthy uses the concept of mediation to illustrate our need for something better, which is provided only in Christ. Jesus fulfils the roles of Son of God, sinless Adam, faithful Israel, true prophet, perfect priest, supreme king and also wisest man (p.204-206).

Several times Goldsworthy uses God’s choice of mediator as an illustration of God’s sovereignty in the election of his people, which helped clarify the Old Testament basis of the doctrine of election.

I applied these ideas recently when preparing a Sunday School lesson, connecting God’s choice of David to be his king on the basis of the obedience he saw in his heart (Acts 13:22) with the perfect obedience of Jesus, God’s final chosen King, who is our King now. Previously, I would have used David’s obedience as a positive example in exhorting the children to obey God, without pointing the children to Jesus and his sufficiency for our salvation.

The complex relationship between types and faith is clearly explained: “those who by faith grasp[ed] the shadow [were] undoubtedly thereby grasping the reality of salvation in Jesus Christ.” (p.186) This comment helped me understand that the religious cult of Israel never achieved salvation through the prescribed acts, although the acts gave the people a tangible means of demonstrating their saving faith in God. Faithful obedience to the law was a proxy for God’s true means of salvation: the death, resurrection, reign and return of Jesus Christ.

Understanding the role of typology in God’s revelation has led me to consider the validity of using the Christ-types found in non-biblical literary sources written by Christian authors (such as Aslan in Lewis’s Narnia series and Harry Potter in Rowling’s books) to begin an explanation of the significance of Jesus to unchurched people, who have no knowledge of Old Testament promises and patterns. I think this would be acceptable, provided Jesus is clearly presented as the antitype and the literary characters as metaphorical types, and the “divine-human” (p.62-63) source of biblical revelation is distinguished from the (Christian) worldview of authors.

In these and other ways I found this book useful for understanding the biblical basis of doctrines and improving my teaching about Jesus.

Meditation - Isaiah 53

2011-09-14T06:44:00.006+08:00

I spent 5 hours yesterday afternoon studying and meditating on the second half of Isaiah 53. (I was home too sick for work still, but Sam was at his usual Tuesday child care.) It was perhaps the best 5 hours of my life... beats my wedding day memories, marvellous as they are!

I kept skipping between Isaiah 53, the ends of the gospel accounts, Psalm 22, 1 Peter 2:22-25, and various other verses in the Bible that came to mind. The fourth "Servant Song" begins in Isaiah 52:13. I've been reading it this week as my BSF study.

52:13 See, my servant will act wisely;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. [Num21:4-9; Jn 3:14-15, 8:28, 12:22-34; Acts 2:22-23; Phil2:8-9]
14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him - [Is49:7a; Acts 2:13-15, 4:10-11, 7:51-52; Heb12:3]
His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man
and His form marred beyond human likeness -
15 so he will sprinkle many nations,
//so will many nations marvel at Him//
and kings will shut their mouths because of Him. [Is49:7b; Acts 26]
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.
53:1 Who has believed our message,
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? [Is50:2, 51:5,9, 52:10]
2 He grew up before the LORD like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him,
nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
4 Surely He took our infirmities and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered Him stricken by God, [Mt 27:43]
smitten by Him, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, [Ps22:16; Zech12:10; Jn 19:34-37; Lk24:39-40; Jn20:20-27]
He was crushed for our iniquities; [Ps22:1; Mt27:45-46; Mk15:33-34; Lk24:44-46]
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,
and by His wounds we are healed. [quoted in 1Pet2:24]
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, [quoted in 1Pet2:25]
each of us has turned to his own way;
but the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all. [1Pet2:24]
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, [Mt26:63, 27:12-14; Lk23:8-9; Jn19:8-9; 1Pet2:23]
yet he did not open His mouth;
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, [Jn1:29]
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgement He was taken away.
And who can speak of His descendants?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people He was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, [Mt27:38; Lk23:32-33]
and with the rich in His death, [Mt22:57-60; Mk15:42-46; Lk23:50-53; Jn19:38-42]
though He had done no violence, [Mt26:51-56; Mk14:47-49; *Lk22:49-53, 23:13-15; *Jn18:10-11,36-38]
nor was any deceit in His mouth. [quoted in 1Pet2:22]
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer [Acts 2:23; Jn10:18; 1Pet2:23]
and though the LORD makes His life a guilt offering, [Lev5:15-6:7, 7:1-10]
He will see His offspring {I'm one!} and prolong His days, [Is49:20-21]
and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand.[Jn4:34, 6:38; Ps2:9, Rev2:27, 12:5, 19:15-16]
11 After the suffering of His soul, [Is53:5]
he will see the light and be satisfied; [Is8:19-20, 9:2, 42:6, 49:6, 50:10]
//He will see the result of the suffering of His soul
and be satisfied.// [Heb12:2]
By His knowledge //By knowledge of Him// my righteous servant will justify many,
and He will bear their iniquities. [Is53:6]
12 Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, [Is50:7-9, Heb12:2]
and He will divide the spoils with the strong, [Acts10:42; 2Tim4:1]
because He poured out His life unto death,
and was numbered among the transgressors.
For He bore the sin of many, [1Pet2:24]
and made intercession for the transgressors. [1Jn2:1]

Chapter 53 begins with the words "Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? I have to answer these questions with a resounding "Me!" after studying this chapter. I am soooo thankful for the suffering of Jesus on the cross on my behalf as He bore my iniquities, the sin of many.

LORD, Please make me ever more thankful for Jesus' propitiating sacrifice that reconciled me to You. May my gratefulness be shown by a life of righteousness, evangelism and discipling, testifying the Truth that You are good and Your love endures forever!

John Lennox at Oxygen 11

2011-09-13T09:56:00.002+08:00

John Lennox is the author of God's Undertaker: has Science Buried God?, the just released Gunning for God: Why the New Atheists are Missing the Target, and other books. He is a prominent Christian apologist, who has had the opportunity to debate several of the New Atheists publicly, such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Peter Singer. He has lectured extensively (especially in Europe) on the intellectual defence of Christianity. He is also Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, and has worked as a translator of Russian mathematics.

John Lennox speaking at Oxygen 11, a conference for Christian pastors and leaders:Lennox spoke from the Book of Acts. In his first sermon, titled "A flame that spreads - the word and the Spirit", Lennox showed us that in the earliest church as the word "grew" (spread, expanded in outreach, was preached faithfully and increasingly) the church grew. (See Acts 6:7, 9:31, 12:24, 16:5, 19:20 and 28:30-31.) He reassured us that the same would be true in our areas of Christian ministry; but also warned us that the church will not grow unless the word grows. We need to get our evidence out to our society; we need to teach young adults and new Christians in the church to think biblically. We must take Scripture seriously! By grappling and wrestling with Scripture, we will hear God speaking to us. Lennox quoted Nigel Lee (words he asked Lennox to say at his funeral):
"Soak your minds and hearts in the Word of God until you see and hear the Living Word of God."
These words were the most significant for me in all of Lennox's talks.

In his second sermon, "A kingdom to live for - the witness of the church", Lennox said that Christianity's "supernaturalism" is a basic and significant aspect that must be accepted by faith that comes by hearing the word of God. (Not 'airy fairy' unsubstantiated faith, but faith that has it's basis in the truthful evidence of many witnesses; in the divine revelation of God; in our sound, rational, logical, intellectual understanding and acceptance.) Jesus' ascension was a visible, physical event, which provides a pattern for Jesus' coming return (Acts 1:9-11). Thus we are to get on with telling the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, until Jesus Christ returns to restore everything.

In his third sermon, "A truth to die for - the martyrdom of Stephen", Lennox argued that we must always be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. He discussed some of the "potentially embarrassing" moments of early Christianity, such as Judas's defection from the twelve (and thus from the gospel), and showed how Peter faced these head on. We must deal openly with, and not ignore, the problems of criticism from inside the church and defection from the gospel - the problem of sin. LORD, Do not let those who hope in You be put to shame because of me! Amen. Lennox gave some great insights into the difficulties Jewish priests faced when they became Christians - since they believed that Jesus made one sacrifice for all, how could they continue to sacrifice animals on behalf of the Jewish people who came to the temple? What they believed had done them out of a job! It was now disobedience to God to continue in the old ways - the point that Stephen made at the end of his talk to the Sanhedrin (Acts 7:51-53). Like Stephen, we must uphold the centre and foundation of True Worship. We must be willing to give up other things so that we may uphold the gospel in obedience to the LORD. LORD, Help me not to blow it! Help me to stand for the central things, not the peripherals. Amen. Paul began his ministry where Stephen's death left his off (calling the Jews to Christ). We must not let the failure of one evangelist prevent us from attempting to evangelise.

Lennox also spoke at two Q&A sessions, which we didn't attend because we went to other electives. I have just downloaded them to my iPhone and am looking forward to listening to them soon.

With Friends at Oxygen 11

2011-09-13T09:55:00.002+08:00

Oxygen 11 was a conference for Christian pastors and leaders, held at the end of August in Sydney. Jeff and I had the privilege of a week off work with no kids - thanks to Granny and Gramps! - so we could attend the conference.

This photo was taken at lunch on the first day, with our friends the Ayambos, who minister to a Sudanese congregation in the suburb north of ours. Jeff was one year behind David at Theological College.It was great to discuss the preaching with them each afternoon and in the evenings, and to encourage one another and pray for each other regarding each of our ministry situations, and our marriages.

Sydney

2011-08-29T05:33:00.003+08:00

We arrived in Sydney last night around 8:30pm local time. The flight went well, with the exception of the entertainment system which was on the blink the entire time. Despite being on a full 747 we found ourselves seated only two rows behind our friends the Ayambos, who minister to a Sudanese congregation in the suburb to the north of us, and were able to swap seats for a chat.

On reaching our hotel we found we have a tiny, triangular room on the 9th floor. I can't look out our window too long or it gives me the heeby-jeebies! It felt a bit anticlimactic to catch a train and walk to our hotel and just go to bed, watching TV and playing Sudoku, but that's pretty much what we did.

One thing we have found at our hotel" American hotel beds are much, much softer. Ours is fairly close to a plank. I didn't sleep well, and neither did Jeff. But he is the one who will suffer the most. He'll be walking with a stiff back the entire time we are here.

This morning we're off for a 3km walk to our conference, Oxygen 2011, at Technology Park.

Birthday Adventure at Caversham

2011-08-20T21:27:00.009+08:00

We went to Caversham Wildlife Park today and the kids looooved interacting with the animals: patting the koala, feeding the kangaroos, milking the cow, watching the sheep being shorn... and I got to crack a stock whip! These are the best of the photos that include family members. For photos that just show animals, see the previous post.

With the koalas:With the kangaroos:

At the Farm Show:

Exhaustion!

Australian Animals at Caversham Wildlife Park

2011-08-20T21:24:00.006+08:00

From our trip today with Grandpa to celebrate Jeff's 37th birthday. These photos just show the animals. For photos inlcuding family members, see my next post. (Rude pic alert! The last picture shows two kangaroos mating... which Joshua was quite keen to point out to me when he noticed them hiding behind a grass tree.)

Avon Descent fun day

2011-08-08T09:09:00.006+08:00

After our church fellowship lunch on Sunday, Jeff took the older kids down to the river to enjoy some of the Avon Descent festivities. Meanwhile, Sam and I had a nap, which Sam really needed and I really appreciated. There were lots of free activities, and our kids enjoyed the rock climbing (except Abigail, who was still too short):They also loved the face painting (for which Mr R queued for an hour and a half for his son and our kids!):Jeff had the pleasure (?) of being chosen to join a knife juggling act, where he lay on the ground and the juggler walked over him with the knives whizzing in the air. Unfortunately, the kids didn't take any photos of that experience. Perhaps they were too busy fearing for their father's life!

Twins

2011-08-04T16:53:00.000+08:00

Ha! That got your attention, didn't it?

A conversation I had with my 4yo son this morning over cuddles:

Me: I love you, Sam.
Sam: I love you too, Mummy.
Me: I know someone else who loves you. Can you guess?
Sam: Jesus! Jesus loves me!
Me: Yes, Jesus does love you. And I was going to say God loves you.
Sam: God is Jesus.
Me: That's right, Jesus is God.
Sam: God and Jesus are the same, kinda like twins.
Me: You're right. Kind of like twins... did you hear that, Jeff?

Jesus is God. He is the God-man who makes God known to us, in a body we can understand.

Hunger Games the Movie (Poster, that is)

2011-08-04T16:51:00.002+08:00

I really want to see this movie. Perhaps almost as much as I am looking forward to the November release of Breaking Dawn Pt1, even though all the action is going to be in Part 2. I'm just not sure if I do go to see the Hunger Games, if I'll be announcing myself as a "Capitolist" at heart, or if I can just go as a reader who enjoyed and appreciated the books for all that they are; for their anti-war message and apotheosis plot. Any thoughts from anyone who has read the books by Suzanne Collins?

The view over my kitchen sink

2011-08-02T13:05:00.005+08:00

Actually, I took this shot through the fence just outside my kitchen window, a metre in front of where Sam was floating a Lego boat in our kitchen sink.The canal next door has been steadily filling this winter, unlike last, when there was not enough rain to raise the ground water table sufficiently. Since yesterday, for the first time, the canal has stayed looking Full even after the rain has stopped, rather than like a snaky line of water between puddles. Over summer it is completely dry.

I noticed this morning that the small lake at the end of our street is looking Full as well. Hooray for rain in WA!

Did you know you can find out how full the dams around Perth are? Just head on over to the Water Corp's site. And there are a few graphs and other information to help understand what is happening in our dams here.It seems we are still well below the average for the past 8 years, but climbing out of the dry hold that last year's lack of rain left us in, with a sudden upswing in the last week. Last year was the dark blue line; this year is the black line.

Again I say, Hooray for rain in WA!

Joshua the Dwarf fights Samuel the Hobbit

2011-07-25T15:00:00.004+08:00

:-D

Jeff has made the kids daggers, swords, and (very important!) shields so they can pretend to be the characters that they are hearing about each evening after dinner, when he reads The Fellowship of the Ring to them. Abigail has had a sword for a while, but Joshua made a specific request for an axe to be made so he could "be a dwarf". Samuel's dagger is named "Sting" after the dagger that Bilbo hands on to Frodo.

In between his forays into weapons and armour manufacturing, Jeff has been hard at work creating my desk. He has spent hours sandpapering the legs in the past week since he has recovered from Man-Flu., and is just about ready to glue them together.

Joshua the reporter

2011-07-25T14:50:00.008+08:00

Joshua has written a report on fantasy and science fiction creatures these holidays. We have found illustrations online for him to include in his report and colour. I did the typing and formatting, but the words are, with very few exceptions, all his. And the colouring is certainly all his work. You can see the impact of Jeff's reading of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring upon Joshua's knowledge of dwarves etc very clearly. (The cover illustration is of a Balrog.)Star Wars has also been of great interest in our household, enjoyed through the animated TV program Star Wars the Clone Wars, and Lego kits.

Anna the Author

2011-07-25T14:29:00.007+08:00

Anna has written a fairy tale during her holidays. She has occasionally asked me for help in spelling certain words, but by working steadily, she has written her own story. She tells me the names of her heroine and hero come from her favourite Pokemon names, one of hem modified slightly. Below I have transcribed her story as she has written it; she wrote 3 1/4 notebook pages in a faint grey pencil which doesn't scan well.
The Race
Once upon a time there lived the kindest princess her name was Roselia Roseade. She was so beautiful that every one loved her and asked her if she would mary them, but every time she would answer no. One day a prince came and his name was Alfa he was verey rick [rich] and soon fell in love with Roselia Roseade, but she said no to him like the she said to the others. One day the prince Alfa asked Roselia Roseade to have a race with her the next week. Roselia was surprised that he asked her to race because everyone knew that she was the fast in the world she was the fastest girl she was the faster then any boy so why would anyone want to race her? So Roselia agryed to take on the race so she and the prince practiced and practiced for the race. On the day before the race the prince went to a place and asked someone for something to win the race with. So the person gave the prince three golden apples. On the day of the race when the race stated Roselia zoomed away and left Alfa at the start line but Alfa rolled a golden apple in frunt of Roselia Roseade so that she picked it up so the prince ran on in frunt but the princess soon got up and realised that she had been left behined so she started the race again, but the prince again rolled a golden apple in frunt of Roselia and again she picked it up and the prince ran on ahed but the princess got up and ran but the prince rolled the last golden apple. The princess triped over the golden apple and fell over. Some people came and took care of her but she said she was fine. Roselia was angry at the prince for rolling the apple so she picked up the apple and rolled it in frunt of the prince so he picked up the golden apple and ran but the apple was hevey so he could not run very fast. Roselia won the race and the next second the prince came so the princess said since you were close second I will marry you and they all lived happly every after.

Holiday Highlights and one Lowlight

2011-07-25T12:01:00.000+08:00

We spent the first week of school hols schlepping across the city and up the freeway to North Beach Baptist's holiday King's Club program, "Out of this World". The kids loved it, and we were able to take two kids form our church along on three of the days as well. Sam was able to join in for the first time, attending one full session and two half-sessions as he found the overwhelming noise of the all-in kids sessions, which had lots of singing, a bit overwhelming. It was also a good change to grab a free cuppa and some cake while I did my pre-reading for Trinity, worked a little on something I am writing for another blog, and caught up with some mums I know from when NBBC was our church.

We spent the second week mostly at home, with the kids taking turns to use Mathletics or Reading Eggs with my closer-than-usual attention to see how they were going. I have made a deal with Joshua and Anna that they have to earn a certificate (1000 pts) for Mathletics each week before they are allowed to play any computer games, or visit other sites they are interested in. This morning Joshua earned 450 points, so the target is well within their reach. Abigail and Samuel have to work on Reading Eggs before they can play computer games.

We also watched a few movies: Rango, which made me ask myself "Is this a Christian parable or a Christian parody?" and Ramona and Beezus, which taught the kids to use the word "bilious". Played loooots of Lego, particularly Star Wars. Closely averted Jeff spending just under a thou on 2nd hand Lego on ebay (phew!) and played with mooooore Lego. Went to several birthday parties. I enjoyed sitting in the church service through the entire thing two Sundays in a row as our Missions Committee ran a holiday program for the kids on David Livingstone and I wasn't part of it. It was lovely to partake of holy communion again! The cousins and Auntie Carla came for a visit. The kids also had a playdate with some kids from church while their mum babysat our kids so Jeff and I could attend a Work in Progress seminar at Trinity comparing John's gospel with the Synoptics, which was very interesting.

We caught a train into the city to buy a birthday present for Uncle Michael and stayed for a short visit to the Art Gallery. We love spending time there looking at the exhibits and talking about them. In the main foyer this time was an exhibition of four metal sculptures and a painting of the sculptures. It was only when we looked closely at the painting that we realised it was of the sculpture figures, and then we began to find out which sculpture was which figure in the painting. The kids thought that was a great puzzle.

All in all, a lovely holiday. But what was our one lowlight? The trip to the emergency dept yesterday afternoon to get Abigail's head stuck back together. Part of a disassembled bed frame fell on her at a friend's house and we made the dash to PMH where she was seen and sent home before Jeff had time to take the other three kids home for a quick bath each.(The silvery gleam is the glue.) Abi's fine now, just a little bit sookier than usual, and upset because Anna got to play at Kidzland today rather than her, since she isn't allowed to bounce for a few days. So instead, I'm off to cook a pineapple upside down cake with Abigail to cheer her up.

They'll be back at school and child care tomorrow. :-(

My New Adventure, Part II

2011-07-20T21:49:00.006+08:00

I was reading back over some old posts and I noticed this one, called "Shameless Brag". It mentions my last Trinity@Night lecturer commenting on my paper for his class, "Have you thought of doing something more challenging at TTC? Say Grad Dip units? Look into it!"

Well, as of last night I have begun my adventure, studying the Grad Dip unit Intro to Biblical Theology. So if anyone else out there is interested in studying at a Bible or Theological College, but thinks embarking on a Graduate Diploma or Bachelor is beyond them, why don't you see if they have a Certificate Level course that you could try to get your toes wet? You might find that an easy way of getting into deeper study. Also, I am already finding that for me, having done the Cert III in Christian Studies, the lecture content at Grad Dip level is not beyond my comprehension. Mind, that was just the first lecture! My BSF studies and the background reading I have done preparing to coach Sunday School teachers each week has helped hugely as well.

I finished reading God's Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts on Tuesday morning, with my first lecture that evening. Each of the chapters of this book had Bible study questions at the end, which were quite effective at driving home the message of the chapter from the basis of a passage from the section discussed in that chapter. I really appreciated, perhaps for the first time, just how completely the New Creation of the New Jerusalem will bring us back to the same state of sinless glory as Adam and Eve enjoyed for such a short time in Eden before the Fall. At last, all the effects of sin upon the world and upon us will be undone and we will be able to enjoy and glorify our Creator as He created us to do from the very beginning. That marvellous future is why one of my kids has Hope for their middle name.

Next step for class reading is According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy. I bought it this morning. I need to write a reading report on this in six week's time, just before I head off to Sydney for Oxygen 11. At which point I might note that I was very pleased to find out that my lecturer has moved our lecture-free week back a week, which makes it coincide with our trip for Oxygen. So I won't be missing any of my lectures for it after all!

So, from this week's lecture, how can I describe the Bible?

1. The Bible tells the story:

from the beginning, Creation to a renewed beginning, the New Creation;

of God at work, saving His people, establishing His kingdom, and making and keeping coventant (contractual promises);

that is all about Jesus Christ. In reading the Old Testament we are prepared for Jesus, and in reading the New Testament we are presented with Jesus.

2. The Bible can be split up into several sections. Let me show you this in the way my lecturer showed us:

Pick up your Bible and grab the two testaments in your left (Old Testament) and right (New Testament) hands. Leave out the editorial matter at either end. You will notice that the OT makes up about 75-80% and the NT about 20-25%. There has to be a reason such a big slab of the Bible is there, doesn't there? Given the relative sizes, it seems obvious that the NT will be difficult to understand without the OT.

Now put the NT down and take the OT and divide it in half (roughly) according to the number of pages. You will find that your left hand holds the books Genesis to Esther, and your right hand holds the books Job to Malachi. The first half of the OT reports the story of God at work, in chronological order with a few overlapping parts. The second half of the OT responds to the story of God at work that the first half told.

Now put the "reportage" pages down and divide the "response" pages not quite in half but more like 40% to your left hand (that's Job to Songs) and 60% to your right (that's Isaiah to Malachi). The books in your left hand, also called the Wisdom books, interact with the story of God at work; they examine different parts of individual human life (suffering, love, joy, etc) within the context of the story. The books in your right hand, also called the Prophets, interpret the story of God at work, giving commentary on the larger events that affect people on a communal scale.

Now put the "interacting" pages down and divide the "interpreting" pages into, at left, Isaiah to Daniel, and at right, Hosea to Malachi. Your left hand holds what is known as the works of the Major Prophets, and your right holds the works of the Minor Prophets. The key to these is to remember the Major Prophets are not more important or significant than the Minor Prophets, they just wrote more words.

We also did a lovely schematic of the Old Testament, but since I wrote in tiny writing, there isn't much point in reproducing it here. I was sooo thankful of my BSF and Sunday School studies during this half of the lecture because without them, much of this would be, if not new, at least unfamiliar. As it was, I felt like I was being shown a snapshot of a place that was already quite familiar to me. None of the names were unfamiliar (not even Jereboam and Rehoboam, thanks to the Lord's Learners' studies on the Kings of Israel and Judah last term) and although I might not have known the dates by heart already, they weren't a surprise.

I did appreciate my lecturer's comment on the two commonly held dates for the time of Moses: "the difference is in how you interpret the archaeology; neither date is heretical". He didn't go into the differences, just mentioned this in passing. Thanks to my study of the Life of Moses with BSF, and the extra research I did to satisfy my questions over that very issue, I know what he was talking about. *smile*

Grace and peace to you in Christ Jesus our Lord!

5 books that changed who I am

2011-07-18T20:24:00.006+08:00

Meredith tagged me with Ally's meme to list 5 books that have changed who I am. It's almost a month since Meredith tagged me, and I have been thinking about my list ever since. You might think since I am an avid reader, I would have lots of books vying for my top 5. But the truth is, I don't. I must not be reading as many Quality books as I thought... or is it just that I read so many books that whatever I grasp from one is soon lost to the new insights of the next book? I'm not sure. But after much deep thought, I have created a list. You'll have to forgive me, even still, because it isn't exactly a Book List. It includes two books that I actually experienced as courses that were presented to me, rather than reading the books the courses were based upon (although I have since read the books as well). In order, not of influence, but of the time I read them, starting from the earliest significant book:

1. 2001: The Alpha Course: Questions of Life by Nicky Gumbel
This book is a transcription of the lectures that Nicky Gumbel gives in the Alpha Course. I went to Alpha with Jeff back in 2001, after we'd been married for a few months. It changed my life, as I learnt that being a Christian is not something you do, because everything necessary has already been done for you. It changed Jeff's life, as he realised that being a Christian requires you to do something about it. That might seem like a conundrum, but both are true. We are Christians because Jesus Christ has done all that is necessary to save us - but we live our lives Christianly (more and more like Christ) in response to that free gift of salvation. Alpha changed our marriage, because all of a sudden we weren't a neo-pagan married to a nominal Christian, but two Christians united in marriage by God seeking to bring glory to God.

2. 2002: The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Without this book I'm pretty sure I would not have spoken to my mother-in-law for much of the last decade. It opened my eyes to the fact that Betty shows love in completely different ways to the ways I do. It helped me to understand that the things she was doing, she was doing to show love for me, not criticism. My reading this book and discussing it with Jeff made a huge difference in our relationship because all of a sudden I could choose to react to Betty according to her intentions, not my interpretations of her actions. And I could make an effort to show love to her in ways she would accept as well. Now most of our disagreements are usually precipitated by my suffering PMT-related insanity.
This book also made a difference in how I dealt with Jeffrey, as we learnt to appreciate each other's ways of expressing love. I learnt to spend time with him while he did stuff - even if it was just wandering around with him while he watered the chilli trees in the garden after work, and he learnt that he needed to talk to me and not just be with me.

3. 2003 onwards: The Bible, studied with BSF. For the last seven years I have read my Bible with the help of Bible Study Fellowship, aka BSF. I've read and studied Acts, Ruth, Genesis, Matthew, Exodus through Deuteronomy, Romans, John, and now I'm half way through Isaiah. I began reading my Bible shortly after the Alpha course with the help of Nicky Gumbel's Challenging Lifestyle and A Life Worth Living. I joined a Bible Study small group, and read the Bible with them. But it was BSF that helped me put the two together, providing questions to help me study the Bible on my own and getting me together with other women to discuss what we'd learnt, then listening to a lecture on the passage to bring home the Bible truths. BSF has kept me reading my Bible through thick and thin for the past seven years... and BSF has made me apply what I have learnt from all that reading to my life.

4. 2004: The Bible Overview Course by Matthew Brain, Matthew A. Malcolm, Matthew R. Malcolm and Greg Clarke
Matt Malcolm and his wife Bec presented this course to the incoming students at the beginning of Jeff's first year studying for his MDiv at Trinity. It was revolutionary for me because it changed the way I have read and understood the Bible ever since. This course provides a simple 15 stage summary of the significant events in the story of the whole Bible from Creation (Genesis 1-2) to New Creation (Revelation 21-22). Before attending this course (three sessions over two days) I knew that the Bible hung together as one story, but I couldn't really have told you what it was. And I definitely couldn't have said anything about what the story of the Bible as a whole meant for how we should understand each part of it. This course was indeed revolutionary for the way I now read the Bible - each verse, each chapter, each book in its context within the mega-story of the Bible.

5. 2009: The Twilight Saga, by Stephenie Meyer, and Spotlight by John Granger
This might seem like cheating, to list a saga of four books and then to go and add another book that provides a literary analysis of the series, but these books together have indeed changed who I am. Before reading these books, I read a lot of books. But it wasn't until I read Twilight and Breaking Dawn (and the other two books that fit in between them) that I realised that what I learnt about reading and understanding books in Year 12 English actually applied to anything other than the works of Geoffrey Chaucer and Robert Frost. Somehow, despite my A grade, and my voracious reading before, during and after Year 12, I managed to miss that nugget. (A bit like I managed to miss the nugget of the gospel message in years of Sunday School and Youth Group, I imagine.) Yes: Good Books have more than one meaning, and that meaning is often hidden under the surface. Lightbulb! Reading Spotlight - and posts on Granger's Forks High School Professor website - showed me that there was even more to understanding the meaning of literature than the smattering of such tropes as allegory and irony as I had absorbed from Mr Collins, my English teacher. I never would have read John's book if it wasn't for Stephenie's. Now, thanks to John, I can use "alchemical scaffolding", "ring composition" and "anagogical analysis" in sentences and know what I am talking about, even if you don't!

These two just missed the cut:

2002: The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise-Bauer
This book is the reason why I homeschooled Joshua, Anna, and (intermittently) Abigail for their kindergarten and pre-primary years. And through me recommending this book, it's the reason quite a few of my friends now homeschool as well. While I am not homeschooling this year, and I don't plan to go back to homeschooling long term, this book has made an impact on the way I teach kids in Children's Church and in the books Jeff and I choose to read aloud to our kids (the very term "read aloud" is only in my vocabulary because of TWTM).

2008: Redemption: Accomplished and Applied by John Murray
I read this book for one of the Trinity@Night courses I did. It helped me to understand my salvation on a much deeper level than I ever had before. It took a lot of effort to get through, but the effort has paid off in my having a very good understanding of what it means that I am saved, how I was saved, and how I am sure I am saved.

I'm supposed to tag 3-5 others to keep the meme going, but everyone I would tag (Meredith, Amy, Kellie) has already been tagged. Actually, I would be curious about John Granger's top five. Bet Harry Potter is there...

So I'll just leave you with Jeff's list, in order from most recent to earliest:
1. Total Church by Tim Chester
2. Mere Christianity by CS Lewis
3. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

A New Adventure

2011-07-07T13:14:00.005+08:00

Next Thursday evening, I am going to be attending Trinity's orientation for new students. Why? Because I am becoming a student once again. I am embarking upon a Graduate Diploma of Divinity, starting with Biblical and Systematic Theology in second semester.

I am very excited! I bought my pre-reading for the first part of the subject, God's Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts, yesterday, and am studying through it one chapter a day to have it read in time for my first lecture on the 19th. I'm only in the second chapter so far and already I have had several questions to discuss with Jeff and one rather heated conversation with him as I struggled to get my head around something. Mind you, I did promise the principal in my prospective student interview that I wouldn't be as argumentative as Jeff was when he studied his MDiv at Trinity. It will help that I can Discuss (it really does need that capital) my questions and Issues (yeah, that needs the capital as well) with Jeffrey at home, rather than only with the lecturers in the lectures. I hope!

Isaiah makes his main message in the story of Hezekiah

2011-06-25T14:10:00.001+08:00

In BSF last week we have been studying the central chapters (36-39) of the Book of Isaiah, which tell the story of Hezekiah, king of Jerusalem. In 36-37, God saves Hezekiah and Jerusalem from the Assyrian king Sennacherib, and his army. In 38, God saves King Hezekiah fro a deadly illness, granting him 15 more years of life. In 39, Babylon sends ambassadors to Hezekiah, and he shows them all his treasures before Isaiah warns him that within a few generations, his own descendants will be taken along with the palace and temple treasures to Babylon as spoils of war.

This week I have also been thinking and reading about the rhetorical technique of chiasmus, which according to Corbett & Connors' Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student (p394-5) is the "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses. ... it does not involve a repetition of words."
In many Biblical and other ancient writings, chiasmus is used in an expanded form called chiastic structure. A chiastic structure was used to draw attention to the main idea of a passage. Idea or Event A is paralleled by Idea/Event A'. Idea/Event B is paralleled by Idea/Event B'. C is the critical event. The ideas/events occur in the passage in a sequence of steps leading up to and down from the main one: A B C B' A'. Or a longer, more detailed chiastic structure might be outlined in this way: A B C D E D' C' B' A' etc. Thus this pattern forms a symmetrical text. A chiastic structure may also be described as a Ring Composition.
In a Ring composition, the chiastic structure is developed in such a way that "it is a construction of parallelisms that must open a theme, develop it, and round it off by bringing it back to the beginning. ... the meaning is located in the middle." (Mary Douglas, 2007, Thinking in Circles: An Essay on Ring Composition, x.) Interestingly, John Granger argues in his book Harry Potter as Ring Composition and Ring Cycle that JK Rowling's works follow this ancient practice of organising writing with the main message in the middle.

Over breakfast just now, these two trains of thought came together as I read my BSF notes. If Isaiah is written as a ring composition, with a chiastic structure, then this explains why my BSF notes say, "Chapters 36-39 link chapters 1-35 with 40-66. ... The events of chapters 38-39 seem to precede the events in 36-37. However, the outline of Isaiah's book reflects the decline of Assyria and the rise of Babylon as the new enemy." I haven't looked over all of Isaiah, so I can't say for sure that it is a ring composition. But I can see evidence of chiastic structure in the chapters at the centre of the book, and it has drawn my attention:

A 1-35 Judgement to come; also deliverance
B 36 Envoys from Assyria

C 37 God protects Jerusalem from Assyria
C' 38 God protects Hezekiah from death

B' 39 Envoys from Babylon
A' 40-66 Deliverance to come; also judgement

The main or middle message (C,C') is thus that God will save his people; both corporately and individually.

Considering chapter 37 more closely, I can see that there is a chiastic structure there as well:

A 37:1 Hezekiah mourning in the temple
B 37:2-4 Hezekiah asks Isaiah to intercede with God for deliverance
C 37:5-7 Isaiah tells Hezekiah the commander will leave Jerusalem
D 37:8 The commander withdraws, Jerusalem has relief
E 37:9-13 Sennacherib predicts Jerusalem's fall, pridefully
F 37:14 Hesekiah presents Sennacherib's letter to the LORD
G 37:15-16 Hezekiah prays to the LORD, praising Him
H 37:17 Hezekiah reports Sennacherib's insult to the Living God

I 37:18-19 The other nations fell because their gods were worthless, false gods

H' 37:20a Hezekiah asks the LORD to deliver them from Sennacherib
G' 37:20b Hezekiah prays to the LORD, seeking that He be praised
F' 37:21 Isaiah presents the LORD's response to Hezekiah's prayer
E' 37:22-29 Isaiah prophesies Sennacherib's fall, as punishment for his pride
D' 37:30-32 Isaiah prophesies relief for Jerusalem
C' 37:33-35 Isaiah tells Hezekiah the king will leave Jerusalem
B' 37:36-37 God delivers His people
A' 37:38 Sennacherib killed in his temple

The main/middle message (I) of chapter 37 is that all other gods are all false, they cannot save. Only the One True God deserves praise.

And Chapter 38 breaks down to anther chiastic structure:

A 38:1 Hezekiah becomes ill and (through Isaiah) Hezekiah learns he will die
B 38:2-3 Hezekiah prays to God, praising his own faithfulness
C 38:4-6 God will grant Hezekiah life
D 38:7-8 God promises to give Hezekiah a sign, and He does so
E 38:9-14a Hezekiah describes the anguish of his illness

F 38:14b-15a "O Lord, come to my aid! But what can I say?"
F' 38:15b "He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this."

E' 38:15c-16 Hezekiah describes the blessings of his recovery
D' 38:17 Hezekiah prays to God, praising God's love and salvation from sin
C' 38:18 Hezekiah considers the fate of death
B' 38:19-20 Hezekiah prays to God, praising His salvation
A' 38:21-22 The method of God granting health to Hezekiah (through Isaiah) is described

The main message (F,F') of chapter 38 is thus that When we call out to God for help He Himself will save us.

The point of all this chiastic analysis:

God saves His people corporately (the Church) and God saves His people individually (as Christians).
Are you joined to God's people, the Church, gathering with, growing with and loving His people in a local church?
Are you saved?

No other god can save.
Are you relying on something or someone other than the One True God to save you?

God saves His people when they cry out to Him for help.
Have you cried out to God to save you from your sins?
Have you cried out to God to help you with your current struggle or stress?
How has the LORD answered you and saved you?

Sam Sneezed:

2011-06-02T19:22:00.001+08:00

"Bless myself!"

Bed Time Read Aloud

2011-06-02T19:03:00.003+08:00

Jeff has finished reading The Hobbit, so we were faced with the decision of what to read next. Rather fortuitously, I accidentally wandered into a bookstore with Samuel yesterday, and found The Great Big Enormous Book of Tashi. And bought it. And brought it home.

Anna has read a few Tashi stories as take-home readers from school, but I wasn't sure if Joshua would be very interested. The Great Big Enormous Book has 988 pages, which by anyone's measure is a little intimidating. Not Joshua and Anna's apparently. Currently, the bookmark rests at page 279, and that's only because Joshua was forced to put the book down to eat his dinner.

And the even better news is this: Joshua and Anna have agreed to take turns taking over the After Dinner Read Aloud session. This evening Joshua read the first Tashi aloud to Anna, Abigail, Samuel and I. He was marvellous!

Our New Footpath

2011-05-29T09:46:00.004+08:00

Samuel says:

We have a new footpath. The workmen made the footpath. We asked them to have morning tea with us to say "Thank you for our new footpath." Their names are Joe and John. Joe lives down our street. The workmen were very happy that we said "Thank you".

The workman said "You can stick your hands into it and make a mark in it, or you can write your name. It will stick in it all the days and last forever." We drawed my name on it. Then I pressed my hands in the wet concrete. It felt like hard stone.

Now we can ride our bikes on it and ride our scooters on it. We will be safe from the cars that drive down our street. We are happy with the footpath.

xxoo Sam

Fairy School Dropout narration by Anna

2011-05-07T11:45:00.000+08:00

Anna read at least one Rainbow Fairy book each day of the holidays. We borrowed a dozen from the library before the Easter long weekend and she had finished them all within a day of returning from Albany, a week later. Easter Sunday was her seventh birthday, and she used some birthday money to purchase a fairy-style b*rbie and is presently playing fairies in the Play Room. Fairies seem almost ubiquitous in the literature for her age and gender at the moment.

Some of Anna's birthday gifts were books. From her Uncle Michael, Anna received Fairy School Drop Out by Meredith Badger. This is the email she sent to Uncle Michael the day after she received the book:

Dear Uncle Michael,

Thank you for “Fairy School Dropout”. I received it in the mail yesterday afternoon, when we got back from camping with Grandma and Grandad. I have already finished reading it.

It was all about a fairy and she made friends with a human girl. It was mostly about the fairy and the girl. The fairy was called Elly and the girl was called Jess. Jess’ problem was that she had to do a school project about a volcano. Elly helped Jess make a model of a real volcano with wire, clay and red bubble bath stuff. When Jess returned it to school, her teacher was so excited, that he entered the volcano into the volcano fair. Elly’s problem was that her wand did not work properly. It did not work because her sister Kara bit it. Jess tried to fix it, but it didn’t work out properly.

I enjoyed reading it very much.

Love, Anna

Michael's comment upon hearing that Anna had read the book so quickly was "She's definitely YOUR daughter!" Yes indeed.

Since her birthday, Anna has moved on to slightly longer books such as Audrey of the Outback by Christine Harris (an Australian trilogy) and The Faraway Tree trilogy by Enid Blyton. I read the latter aloud to her and the other children several years ago and now she is able to read it herself. How cool is that?

[Image from http://us.macmillan.com/fairyschooldropout]

The First Pentecost

2011-05-07T11:44:00.005+08:00

This is the final children's talk to end the series on The First Easter. It is based on the events Luke recorded in Acts 2:1-41.
---
The First Easter ended with the apostles,
the men that Jesus had chosen to send out as His witnesses
to tell everyone about Jesus, waiting in Jerusalem.
Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

So listen quitely while I tell you the story of what happened next:

It was 10 days after Jesus was taken back to heaven,
50 days after Jesus rose from the dead,
and the apostles were still waiting, all together in one place.
Jesus had promised that they would get power when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
At last, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came!
There was a rushing sound: Whoooosh! Like a strong wind: Whoooosh!
Then the apostles saw a fire – and they saw little flames of fire.
The flames were resting on each of the people who had waited for the Holy Spirit.
Now, the Holy Spirit had come! The apostles weren’t waiting any longer!
The Holy Spirit was here, filling the apostles with power… and filling them with words, as well.
Words bubbled up inside the apostles like a fountain.
The apostles couldn’t help themselves,
suddenly they were all talking and talking and talking about Jesus!
Soon, a crowd of people gathered. And the apostles kept on talking, telling everyone about Jesus.

Everyone could understand what the apostles were saying:
people from many different countries, who spoke many different languages.
10 days after Jesus went back to heaven, the Holy Spirit came,
filling the apostles with power to tell people about Jesus.

“What does this all mean?” some of the people began to ask.
They were amazed and bewildered. They didn’t understand that the Holy Spirit had come
filling the apostles with power to tell people about Jesus.
So Peter stood up with the rest of the apostles, in front of the crowd,
and Peter began to talk to the people about the Holy Spirit.

“What is happening today is just what was promised in Scripture.
Long ago, through His prophets, God promised to send His Holy Spirit.
Today, God has filled us with the Holy Spirit so that we can tell you:
‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!’”

Peter told the crowd about Jesus:
“The Jews handed Jesus over to be put to death on a cross,
but it was all part of God’s plan to save you.”

Then Peter said, “God raised Jesus from the dead.
This is what David wrote about in Scripture, writing,
‘God will not abandon Me to the grave, God will not let His Holy One rot.’
David was writing about the King whom God would send, Jesus the King, Jesus the Christ.
God did not leave Jesus in His grave-tomb to rot. God raised Jesus to life,
and we – Jesus’ apostles – are all witnesses who tell you that this is true!”

Lastly, Peter told the crowd, “God has taken Jesus up to heaven,
to sit next to God on His throne. God has made Jesus the Christ-King of heaven.”

Wow! Everyone heard what Peter had said, and understood Peter’s words.
But the people in the crowd did not know what to do next!
“Since Jesus died to save us, what should we do to be saved?
Peter said Jesus is God’s King, the Christ, so what shall we do to obey Jesus as our King?”
Peter had an answer for the people who asked “What shall we do?”
Peter told them to turn away from their sins. Peter told them to be baptised.
Peter promised them that their sins would be forgiven in Jesus’ name.
Peter promised them that the Holy Spirit would come upon them
and fill them with power to tell everyone about Jesus as well.
And so many, many people believed in Jesus and became Christians on the First Pentecost.

Peter told the crowd that his promise was for children as well.
Peter said, “This promise – that your sins will be forgiven and you will receive the Holy Spirit
– is for you and for your kids, for everyone whom the Lord calls to Himself.”
You can choose to turn away from your sins as well.
You can choose to stop doing the wrong thing and start doing the right things.
You can choose to obey Jesus as your King.
If you do, your sins will be forgiven in Jesus’ name.

When you believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will come into you as well,
just as the Holy Spirit came into Jesus’ apostles.
And you can tell people about Jesus.
You can tell people that Jesus died, and God brought Jesus back to life.
You can tell people that Jesus is God’s King in heaven, and Jesus is your King too!
Perhaps you can use the First Easter story book that you made
to tell your family and friends about Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will help you to tell people about Jesus.
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All illustrations are copyright 2011 Chrissie D. She drew them specifically for our program. (Isn't she wonderful?) The illustrations have deliberately been resized to about 10% of their original size to prevent people copying and re-using Chrissie D's original art without permission.

If you would like to use this story, the illustrations or the accompanying program including materials for activities and songs with your children or church or in some other way, please leave a message on the blog and I will get back to you directly.

First Easter 3

2011-04-29T17:10:00.002+08:00

This is the text of the story from the second session of the Sunday School program that I wrote for Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday and the Sunday following Easter for 2011. I based the story text on Luke 22:47-24:53 and Acts 1:1-14. This session is based on Luke 24:50-53 and Acts 1:1-14. The story for the first session can be found here. The story for the second session can be found here.
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Jesus is God’s King, the Christ. The Jews asked Pilate to sentence Jesus to death by crucifixion, so Pilate sent Jesus to the cross. Jesus died on the cross to save us, so we may live in heaven with Him.

On the third day Jesus’ body was missing, because Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus met Cleopas on the road to Emmaus and showed him that all of the Old Testament points to Jesus. Jesus reassured the disciples: “Everything must happen that is written about me in Scripture.”

After Jesus rose from the dead, He spent a lot of time with His disciples. Jesus lived and ate and talked with His disciples for 40 days after the First Easter Sunday, when He rose from the dead. For 40 days, Jesus taught His disciples about God’s Kingdom and about the Holy Spirit.

Jesus talked with His disciples about the Kingdom of God. His disciples had lots of questions about God’s Kingdom. One day while they were meeting together with Jesus, the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, are you going to make Israel into a great kingdom again right now?” The disciples thought that now that Jesus had risen from the dead, nothing could stop Him if Jesus wanted to be king of Israel – not the Jewish leaders, not Pilate, not Herod, not Caesar nor any other human leader. The disciples knew Jesus is God’s King, and they wanted Jesus to start reigning as King right away!

But Jesus told His disciples that they didn’t need to know what time God had decided things would happen. That is God’s business, because God is the King in heaven.

Then Jesus told His disciples that soon, they would get power – special power, some of Jesus’ kingly power – when the Holy Spirit came upon them. But first they had to wait!

“Apostles” means “People who are sent out to do a task.” Jesus called His disciples by the name “apostles” because Jesus was going to send them out into the world with a very special message about Him. Jesus told His apostles that when they had some of Jesus’ kingly power, when the Holy Spirit had come upon them, they would tell people all over the world about Jesus. But first, Jesus told His apostles to wait in Jerusalem. The apostles would tell people about Jesus in Jerusalem as soon as the Holy Spirit had come to them. Jesus taught His apostles about God’s Kingdom and about the Holy Spirit, for 40 days.

After 40 days, Jesus led His apostles out to the Mount of Olives, a hill near the town of Bethany. It was only a short walk outside the city of Jerusalem. Jesus lifted up His hands [lift up your hands] and blessed His apostles. As Jesus was blessing them, He was taken up, lifted up into the sky. The apostles watched with their faces tilted upwards [look upwards briefly] until Jesus was hidden by a cloud. Then the apostles couldn’t see Jesus any more. Jesus had been taken up to heaven while His apostles were watching.

Jesus was gone from the earth. Jesus was not with His apostles any more. They stood staring up to the sky where they had seen Jesus covered by the cloud. “What would happen now? Would Jesus ever come back to them again?” they wondered.

All of a sudden the men realised there was someone else with them. It wasn’t Jesus. Standing next to them were two men, dressed in white. They were angels with a message from God, just like the angel messengers that the women had seen at Jesus’ tomb 40 days before. The angels asked the apostles why they were looking up into the sky. The angels said, “Jesus has been taken from you into heaven. Jesus is not in the sky, He is in heaven. And the same Jesus who has gone to heaven will come back. Jesus will come back from heaven in the same way you saw Him go into heaven.” The angels told the apostles that Jesus will come back from heaven.

The apostles wanted to worship Jesus. So they went straight back to Jerusalem, and they worshiped Jesus at the temple, the place where Jews worshiped God. The apostles praised God for sending Jesus. They praised Jesus for dying on the cross to save them. They praised God for bringing Jesus back to life as God had promised in Scripture.

The apostles met together with other people as well. These people were also followers of Jesus. They had seen Jesus after He had died, after God had brought Jesus back to life again. Jesus’ mother Mary met with the apostles in an upstairs room in Jerusalem. Jesus’ brother James met with them as well. Later, James would write a letter to Christians all over the world about what Christians do. But for now, all the Christians were in Jerusalem, praying and praising God. The apostles, with Mary and James, prayed and worshiped God in Jerusalem. They were obeying Jesus’ instructions to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.
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All illustrations are copyright 2011 Chrissie D. She drew them specifically for our program. (Isn't she wonderful?) The illustrations have deliberately been resized to about 10% of their original size to prevent people copying and re-using Chrissie D's original art without permission.

If you would like to use this story, the illustrations or the accompanying program including materials for activities and songs with your children or church or in some other way, please leave a message on the blog and I will get back to you directly.

First Easter 2

2011-04-29T17:00:00.004+08:00

This is the text of the story from the second session of the Sunday School program that I wrote for Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday and the Sunday following Easter for 2011. I based the story text on Luke 22:47-24:53 and Acts 1:1-14. This session is based on Luke 23:50-24:49. The story for the first session can be found here.
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The following explanation is part of an activity that our church kids did before the Bible story. It helps the kids to understand what Jesus is talking about later in the story:

When Jesus lived, the Jewish people did not have the same Bible that we have today. The Jewish people called their Bible “The Scriptures”. Today, we call it “The Old Testament”. The Old Testament Scriptures have many books. They include the books called “The Law of Moses”, which were written by Moses. Then came the books called “The Prophets” which told the history of the people of Israel and what God said to them through the prophets God sent. There were also “The Psalms”*, which included the Book of Psalms and some other books such as Proverbs.

* "The Psalms" was also called "The Writings", but in this passage of Luke, Jesus refers to these books as "The Psalms".
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Jesus is God’s King, the Christ. The Jews asked Pilate to sentence Jesus to death by crucifixion, so Pilate sent Jesus to the cross. Jesus died on the cross to save us, so we may live in heaven with Him.

Jesus was dead. When people die, other people bury their dead bodies. So a man named Joseph asked Pilate if he could bury Jesus’ body. Joseph took Jesus’ body down off the cross on the hill. Then Joseph wrapped strips of linen cloth around Jesus’ body. And Joseph put Jesus’ body in a tomb cut into rock.

The women who had seen Jesus dying on the cross, who had cried when Jesus died, watched Joseph bury Jesus’ body. It was getting late in the day and they could not put sweet-smelling spices on Jesus’ body now. The women would not go near or touch Jesus’ body on the next day, because it was a holy Sabbath day. The women knew they would have to wait until the day after the Sabbath, the third day, to come and put spices on Jesus’ body. So they went home to get the sweet-smelling spices ready for the third day.

Very early on the morning of the third day (it was a Sunday), the women took the sweet-smelling spices and went to the tomb where they had seen Joseph bury Jesus’ body. When the women arrived at the tomb, they got a shock: the big stone that should have been in front of the opening to the tomb had been moved. The stone had been rolled away. The women could see right inside the tomb. But Jesus’ body was missing! They looked and searched but they could not find the body of Jesus anywhere. It was the morning of the third day since Jesus had died, and Jesus’ body was missing. “I wonder where Jesus’ body is!” they said to each other.

And while they were wondering about it, they had an even bigger shock: suddenly two men were standing beside them. Their clothes shone very bright, like lightning. They were angels with a message from God. The angels said to the women, “Why are you looking for someone who is alive in a tomb for dead people? Jesus is not here in the tomb. Jesus is risen!”

The women ran to tell the disciples that Jesus’ body was missing, because Jesus had risen from the dead. At first, no-one believed them. So Peter went to the tomb to look for Jesus’ body. When Peter got to the tomb, he looked inside. All Peter could see was the strips of linen that Joseph had wrapped around Jesus’ body. The linen strips were lying by themselves. Jesus’ body was missing because Jesus had risen from the dead.

Later that day, two of Jesus’ followers were walking from Jerusalem to a nearby town called Emmaus. Cleopas and his friend couldn’t stop talking about everything that had happened to Jesus. And as they were walking and talking, a man came up and began to walk along with them.
“What are you talking about?” the man asked Cleopas and his friend.
They could not believe that the man had not heard the news about Jesus dying on the cross.
“What has happened?” the man asked them.
“Jesus of Nazareth was a powerful prophet,” Cleopas and his friend told the man who walked with them. “The leaders of our people, the Jews, asked for Him to be sentenced to death, and Jesus died on a cross. We had hoped that Jesus was going to save our people. But now it is the third day since Jesus died, and some women told us that Jesus’ body is missing. Peter went to the tomb and found out that the women told us the truth.”

The man said to Cleopas and his friend, “You are very foolish because you do not believe what the Prophets have said. Didn’t you know that God’s King (the Christ) had to suffer? Didn’t you know this had to happen before God’s King (the Christ) could enter His glory?” And the man started to explain to Cleopas and his friend all about what was said in all the Old Testament Scriptures about Jesus. Cleopas’s heart felt like it was on fire inside his chest as he listened to the man begin with the Law of Moses, and then talk about the Prophets. At last Cleopas and his friend understood that all of the Old Testament Scripture points towards Jesus.

Cleopas was very excited. When they got to his home in Emmaus, he invited the man to come in. They sat down to have a meal together. As the man prayed thanking God for the meal and then held up some bread to break it into pieces for each of them, Cleopas suddenly recognised the man. It was Jesus who had been walking and talking with them! It was Jesus! Jesus had risen from the dead!

But then, just as mysteriously as Jesus had come to walk along with them, He was gone. Cleopas ran all the way back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples what had happened. The disciples told Cleopas that since they had left for Emmaus, Peter had seen Jesus as well. They knew it was true: Jesus had risen from the dead!

As everyone was talking together, Jesus came into the room. The disciples were shocked, but they were also frightened. Was this really Jesus, or was it a ghost? Jesus said to them, “I am not a ghost. Look at the wounds on my hands and feet where I was nailed to the cross. Touch me! I am not a ghost.” Then Jesus ate some fish with the disciples to show them He was real. Jesus was not a ghost, Jesus had risen from the dead!

Then Jesus helped His disciples to understand the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus said, “Everything that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms must happen. It must come true.”
Jesus explained to them, “The Scriptures say that the Christ, God’s King, must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.” Jesus died on the cross and then rose from the dead just as God had promised His people long ago, when the Old Testament Scriptures were first written.

Jesus said, “People in every country will be told that they should repent of their sins and their sins will be forgiven in my name, the name of Jesus Christ, God’s King. You have seen everything has happened to Me just as God promised in the Scriptures. Soon you will tell people everywhere about Me.”
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All illustrations are copyright 2011 Chrissie D. She drew them specifically for our program. (Isn't she wonderful?) The illustrations have deliberately been resized to about 10% of their original size to prevent people copying and re-using Chrissie D's original art without permission.

If you would like to use this story, the illustrations or the accompanying program including materials for activities and songs with your children or church or in some other way, please leave a message on the blog and I will get back to you directly.

First Easter 1

2011-04-29T16:36:00.007+08:00

This is the text of the story from the first session of the Sunday School program that I wrote for Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday and the Sunday following Easter for 2011. I based the story text on Luke 22:47-24:53 and Acts 1:1-14. This session is based on Luke 22:47-23:49.
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It was very late at night. Jesus had been praying in his favourite quiet place, in a garden near a hilltop, out under the stars. Jesus’ disciples were with Him, just as they had been for the three years that Jesus had gone through Galilee and Judea, teaching people about God and doing miracles. In the three years they had been with Jesus, the disciples had learnt that Jesus is God’s King, the Christ.

Only one of Jesus’ disciples wasn’t there in the garden. Judas was missing. Judas did not believe that Jesus is God’s King, the Christ. Earlier, while Jesus and His disciples ate dinner, Judas had left to talk to the Jewish leaders about how he could betray Jesus. Judas had made a plan to bring the temple soldiers to Jesus when He was in His favourite place, away from the crowds. Then the temple soldiers could arrest Jesus in secret.

And all at once, Judas was there in the garden. Judas boldly walked up to Jesus, and gave Him a kiss on the cheek [blow kisses] as if to greet Jesus as his friend. But Jesus knew Judas was betraying Him.

When Jesus’ other disciples saw Judas there with the temple soldiers and the Jewish leaders, they wanted to fight to get away safely. But Jesus said He was not leading a rebellion. Jesus knew it was time for the Jewish leaders to do what they wanted with Him.

The temple soldiers arrested Jesus, and they took him to the Jewish council. Jesus was on trial. The Jewish leaders accused Him:
“If you are God’s King, the Christ, tell us!” they said to Jesus.
And Jesus agreed with the Jewish leaders. “You are right,” Jesus said, “I am the Christ.”
The Jewish leaders were outraged! They did not believe that Jesus is God’s King, the Christ.

The Jewish leaders took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. They told Pilate that Jesus claimed to be the Christ, God’s king. The Jewish leaders knew that the Romans said only Caesar could be king. Once again, Jesus was on trial. Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus agreed with Pilate. “Yes,” Jesus said, “It is just as you say, I am King.”

Jesus is God’s King, the Christ.

The Jewish leaders were very surprised when Pilate refused to say Jesus was guilty. So then they took Jesus to Herod. Herod teased Jesus. He put an elegant robe on Jesus, dressing him up to look like a king. But Herod didn’t really believe Jesus is God’s King, the Christ. Then Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate.

Pilate didn’t agree that Jesus was guilty. But the Jewish leaders kept telling Pilate to punish Jesus. And now there was a big crowd of people filling the court area. Pilate offered to let Jesus go free, but instead the people shouted that Pilate should kill Jesus!
“Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” the people shouted.
So finally Pilate agreed with the Jewish leaders and the shouting crowds. Pilate sent Jesus to be crucified.

Jesus walked up to another hilltop. It wasn’t peaceful and quiet on this hilltop. Women were crying, terribly sad that Jesus was going to die. This time, there were no stars shining in the sky. It was the middle of the afternoon, but the sun stopped shining, and it was dark for three hours.

On that hilltop, Jesus was crucified. Jesus was put on a cross to hang until He died. On the cross where Jesus was crucified, there was a sign. The sign said, “This is the King of the Jews”.

Jesus’ disciples had been with Him in the hillside garden, but now next to Jesus were two criminals who were also sentenced to die. One of the criminals called out to Jesus in a rude voice:
“Aren’t you the Christ, God’s King? If you are, save yourself and save us!”

But the other criminal believed that Jesus really is God’s King, the Christ. That man said that Jesus had done nothing wrong.
Then Jesus said to the second criminal, “I tell you the truth: you will be with Me in paradise.”
Jesus promised that He would save the criminal, so that he could be in heaven with Jesus.

Many other people teased Jesus, making faces at Him. “Let Him save himself if He really is the Christ, God’s Chosen King,” they said.

The people didn’t understand that Jesus chose not to save himself. Jesus is God’s King, the Christ. And staying hung on the cross to die was the most important job Jesus had to do as God’s King. Jesus was the only one who could do it. Jesus died on the cross to save us, so that we can live with Him in heaven.

If Jesus saved himself, and did a miracle to get down off the cross and make himself safe, we would not be saved from our sin. We would never live with Jesus in heaven. So Jesus, God’s King, the Christ, died on the cross to save us.
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All illustrations are copyright 2011 Chrissie D. She drew them specifically for our program. (Isn't she wonderful?) The illustrations have deliberately been resized to about 10% of their original size to prevent people copying and re-using Chrissie D's original art without permission.

If you would like to use this story, the illustrations or the accompanying program including materials for activities and songs with your children or church or in some other way, please leave a message on the blog and I will get back to you directly.

Easter in Albany

2011-04-27T19:00:00.008+08:00

Kojonup playground, on the way down:
Granny's and Gramps's house:
Most of the rest of these photos are from the Strawberry Jam Christian Music Festival at Albany.
On the Jumpy Castle at Strawberry Jam on Sunday. Abi (pink pants), Anna (white top, fallen down), Sam (green top behind Abi) and Josh (white top, black jeans jumping up centre back):
Article One (from Canada) - the violinist was something special!
Petra! Yaaay!Not good photos tho' just too dark by that time. They played "Gravedigger", "It is Finished!" and "Judas Kiss" among others. Listening (and singing along to) the songs again made me wish I had listened better to the lyrics the first time I heard them as a teen. I heard them - I still could sing along with them two decades later - but I never took the message in. After the set I spent some time asking God's forgiveness for my stuborness as a teen refusing to listen to the gospel message of salvation through faith in His Son, Jesus.

The girls watching Walter on Monday in the pouring rain:
Fans of Sean W Smith:No photos of Sean W Smith playing - I was too busy dancing along to his songs with the kids!

Success at goose shooting on the farm:

There is no such thing as "Christian Tolerance"

2011-03-15T20:41:00.004+08:00

I've begun reading Isaiah recently, studying with the help of daily Bible reading questions and weekly small group discussions, lectures and notes from my local BSF class. (Since I live in the southern hemisphere, my BSF classes run from February to November, starting and finishing after the northern hemisphere classes.) I've just finished studying Isaiah 5, and the notes were particularly helpful this week in helping me to understand what the behaviours Isaiah condemned among the people of Israel and Judah in his time equate to today.

Isaiah 5:18,20-21 says,
Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit,
and wickedness as with cart ropes...
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.

It is easy to think of instances when this happens today. Most notably, perhaps, in the recent news in Australia, the Labor/Green alliance in government is looking closely at legalising homosexual (so-called) "marriage". Isn't it evil, not good, to tell people that their distorted and destructive lust for each other is the same as the creative, supporting and edifying love that is between couples whose marriages reflect biblical instructions for marriage? Yet this is promoted as a "good" thing for Australian society.

One of the arguments that often comes up in such debates is the idea of the "virtue" of Tolerance. Live and let live, we are told. If they want to do it, let them. Be more tolerant. And then, as a Christian, I might be asked, "What about your Christian Tolerance? Where's that in this situation?"

"No-where", I'd answer. There is no such thing as "Christian Tolerance".

A quick search for the words tolerance, tolerate and tolerant on my iPhone NIV Bible app, and on Bible Gateway, reveal only 11 instances of the words in the entire Bible. Here they are:

1. and 2. Esther 3:4 and 3:8
Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew. ... Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.
A foreign power would not tolerate a Jewish man's cultural practices. Not supportive of the idea of Tolerating wrongdoing, but not really relevant to Christian or godly Tolerance anyway.

3. Psalm 101:5
Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret,
I will put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart,
I will not tolerate.
The Bible says God will not tolerate haughty eyes and a proud heart.

4. 5. and 6. Habbakuk 1:3 and 1:13 (twice)
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds. ...
Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
The Bible records Habakkuk, God's prophet, complaining that God tolerates wrongdoing (v3). God replied that he is about to send the Babylonians to wreak havoc upon these wrongdoers in punishment for the wrongdoing. God does not tolerate wrongdoing, as Habakkuk later recognises (v13a): "You [God] cannot tolerate wrongdoing." Then Habakkuk again complains to God, asking why God tolerates treacherous people. God's response is to pronounce woe upon the treacherous, and to reassure HIs prophet that his revelation of destruction for these people will indeed come to pass (eg Hab 2:3,8). God will not tolerate the treacherous forever.

7. 1 Corinthians 5:1-2
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?
Paul says it is completely wrong for the Christians to tolerate sexual immorality. Paul says it is better to treat the wrong-doer as if they are dead than to proudly tolerate the sinners.

8. 2 Corinthians 11:16
I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting.
Paul suggests, in passing, that the only person whose wrong actions may be tolerated is a fool, who is intellectually incapable of better.

9. and 10. Revelation 2:2 and 2:20
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ...
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
Firstly, Jesus commends one group of Christians because they cannot tolerate wicked people. Then Jesus condemns another group of Christians because they tolerate a particular teacher who misleads other people into sexual sin.

In conclusion, it seems clear that the Bible condemns tolerance of wrongdoing, particularly tolerance of sexual immorality. There is no such thing as Christian Tolerance.

However, as was alluded to in the Habakkuk passages, there is such a thing as God's tolerance. It is only mentioned once in the Bible, and it isn't in the latest (2011) version of the NIV, where the word "forbearance" is used.

11. Romans 2:2-4
Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
God does tolerate our sin - for a time. But God only tolerates our sin so that there is time for us to acknowledge our sin and turn from our sin to Him for His forgiveness. And God will not tolerate our sin forever. One Day, Jesus will return in judgement, and His standard of good and evil will never be confused, because God's judgement is based on truth, not on the wisdom of our own eyes.

What sin is God tolerating in you, kindly and patiently giving you an opportunity to turn away from your sin and repent?

If you'd like to study Isaiah with BSF in Perth, here's a list of classes:

Perth Women's Day class (with pre-school children's classes)
Wednesdays 10am-12nn @ Subiaco Church of Christ, 260 Bagot Rd Subiaco

Perth South Women's Day class (with pre-school children's classes)
Thursdays 10am-12nn @ Perth Chinese Christian Church, 9 Gedling Close Parkwood

Perth Women's Evening class (with school-aged children's classes)
Mondays 7-9pm @ Mt Pleasant Church of Christ, 29 Darnell Ave Mt Pleasant

Perth North Women's Evening class (with school-aged children's classes)
Mondays 7-9pm @ Duncraig Christian Fellowship, 41 Beddi Rd Duncraig

Perth Men's Evening class (with school-aged children's classes)
Mondays 7-9pm @ Mt Pleasant Uniting Church, 1 Coomoora Rd Mt Pleasant

Perth North Men's Evening class (with school-aged children's classes)
Tuesdays 7-9pm @ Kingsley Church of Christ, 58 New Cross Rd, Kingsley

Perth Young Adult's class Evening class
Mondays 7-9pm @ Mount Hawthorn Baptist Church, 96 Hobart St Mount Hawthorn

Family Adventure to Swan River near Guildford

2011-03-12T14:25:00.005+08:00

Today we went on our first Family Adventure for 2011 since we came back from driving across the Nullabor. We took the kids for a picnic lunch this time, to a little park called Lilac Hill Park just out of Guildford, in a loop of the Swan River. There was no "hill" in sight, but we did a little bit of exploring along the river bank.
The kids had a fun time playing the the playground:
Others were enjoying the park as well.
Boaters:
Magpies:
And some inch ants!The mosquitoes were what finally drove us back to the car; but I think the kids had a great Family Adventure, even if it was a short one. And the abrupt ending was softened somewhat by a drive-by stop for ice-creams on the way home.

A special moment between Jeff and Sam:
As usual I was behind the camera so there are no photos of me. But in between taking photos and slapping mosquitos, I did manage to push the kids on the swings for a bit and explore along with everyone else. It was lovely to get out of the house with the whole family again.

Anna lost her first tooth

2011-03-09T20:14:00.006+08:00

She's been trying to wiggle the front two out for a week since the dentist said she'll have to give her a needle to remove them if Anna can't wiggle them out since the adult teeth are growing up behind.Tonight while Jeff and I were watching TV, Anna came out and told us she thought it was about to fall out. I gave the tooth a tug or two, and there it was in the tissue! Anna was very, very excited. And Sam, the only other kid still awake, spent the next ten minutes trying to make his teeth fall out.

Mary Poppins

2011-03-02T19:33:00.005+08:00

We've finished reading Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Comes Back and tonight we have begun reading Mary Poppins Opens the Door. At the beginning of the first chapter, Mrs Banks is determined to advertise for a new nurse for the Banks children (Jane, Michael, the twins Barbara and John, and the baby Annabel). Mr Banks is so distraught with the situation - Robertson Ay has just put black polish on one of his shoes and brown polish on the other, a sign of the degeneration the household has fallen into without Mary Poppins - that he mournfully wishes that he had never married; perhaps he could have "Lived in a Cave" instead, he muses.

"As long as Mary Poppins was in the house, everything had gone smoothly. But since that day when she had left them - so suddenly and without a Word of Warning - the family had gone from Bad to Worse.
Here I am, thought Mrs Banks miserably, with five wild children and no one to help me. I've advertised. I've asked my friends. But nothing seems to happen."

Mrs Banks even considers hiring Miss Andrews, the frightful governess from Mr Banks' childhood. On reading this, I looked up from the book to meet Jeff's eyes and suggested, "Perhaps we should advertise for Mary Poppins to come and be our nanny."

Jeff thought this was a brilliant idea. "But," he said, "I don't think she'd like to sleep in the guest room."

And then he added, "But for Mary Poppins, I'd move out of our bedroom and stay in the guest room myself!"

I'd better get back to the reading ... the kids are in bed and Josh is calling out his window, "Mum, we've been waiting for Mary Poppins!"

My first baby is half way to getting his Learner's Permit

2011-02-16T21:04:00.004+08:00

Provided they don't change the age requirement to greater than 16... Joshua turned 8 last weekend.We invited a family from church over for lunch which made it all seem a little more like a celebration.(Amy, please note the "dinnertime read aloud" books under the cake!)

Then the day after, I turned... well, let's just say I'm half way to being officially Old!Jeff bought me Orange Lion Tulips in memory of my awe over the beauty of God's creation in the flowers at the Bellagio flower conservatory during our driving trip across the western half of the USA last year. I love him more every time I walk past our dinner table!

Home again safely, praise be to God!

2011-01-26T21:45:00.000+08:00

Holiday pics coming soon.

Caravanning from Perth to Adelaide & back

2011-01-23T19:11:00.004+08:00

We are presently somewhere between Kimba and Kyancutta on our way back home. Our last few days in Adelaide didn't quite go as planned since I had yet another (!) anaphylactic reaction that took me to hospital when I sat with the rest of the family as they ate dinner at the Adelaide Central Markets on Fri night; and everyone except Sam (cross fingers) has had gastro in the last three days. But we are on our way back home, and having just finished reading Corrie ten Boom's autobiographical book The Hiding Place, I am feeling much more like celebrating God's grace to me and mine than wanting to whine over the 2500km to go!

A week at the beach

2011-01-10T11:56:00.006+08:00

With Granny, Gramps, Uncle, Auntie and cousin Jonathan.

Spotting crabs:
Clambering over rocks:
Sunset on the first day:
Swimming on the second afternoon:We swam every day but Granny wasn't always there to take photos. Each day the waves grew, which gave the kids an opportunity gradually to become familiar with the joy of being tossed by breakers onto the shore as each day made for bigger crashes.

A bike ride on the foreshore:
Water fight on the back lawn of the rental house:
Ganging up against Jeff:

Christmas vist with Grandpa

2011-01-10T11:23:00.005+08:00

Grandpa (Jeff's Dad) arrived for a visit on Boxing Day, and stayed until New Year's Eve. Uncle Andrew, Auntie Kim and cousin Jonathan spent a few nights with us as well.[Sam took the photo above.]
We took Grandpa to the local shops to see the kids smile their biggest smiles ever while they each had a go on FlyMotion.
We showed him our expertise with the family Christmas gift of Nerf guns (last year it was water guns - there seems to be a theme here that might have something to do with Jeff, the ex-army officer, choosing the presents).
We went for a sunset picnic to King's Park and then had barefoot races on the soft grass at dusk.
We flew a kite in the park next to our house

and even had a kick of the footy.
A busy, beautiful Christmas visit.

11 books to read aloud to the kids in 2011

2011-01-03T12:07:00.010+08:00

1. Pannikin and Pinta by Colin Thiele
Already read this one - it was short!

2. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Finished! 8/2/11

Anna was very excited when I told her we had bought the Mary Poppins Omnibus rather than just borrowing it from the library, so it is ours to keep and read over and over again!

3. Mary Poppins Comes Back by P.L. Travers
Finished! 1/3/11

4. Mary Poppins Opens the Door by P.L. Travers
Finished! 13/3/11

5. Mary Poppins in the Park by P.L. Travers
Finished! 19/4/11

6. Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane by P.L. Travers
Finished! 15/4/11

7. Mary Poppins and the House Next Door by P.L. Travers

8. Atticus the Storyteller's 100 Greek Myths by Lucy Coats, illus by Anthony Lewis

9. The Aesop for Children illus by Milo Winter

10. The Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault

11. The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt

11 books to read (or finish reading) in 2011

2011-01-03T11:15:00.015+08:00

1. Confessions by Augustine
I'm actually three-quarters of the way through this at the moment. But since I started reading it with my friend Shelley way back in June 2010, I want to commit to finishing it this year.
Finished! 31/1/11

2. King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
Finished! 6/1/11

3. The Travels by Marco Polo
Finished! 26/4/11

4. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Again, I have only a few chapters to read to complete this book, but I think I started reading it at the end of 2009, so I'd like to get back to it and through it finally.
Finished! 12/1/11

5. Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus by D.A. Carson
Finished! 28/5/11

6. Desiring God by John Piper

7. The American Patriot's Almanac by William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb
This was my Christmas gift from Amy who has discovered Jeff and my woeful lack of knowledge of the history of the United States.

8. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Finished! 23/1/11

9. The books of Deeanne Gist
I'm counting them all as one since they will each take me only a day or so to read.
~~A Bride Most Begrudging~~
~~The Measure of a Lady~~
~~Courting Trouble~~
~~Deep in the Heart of Trouble~~
~~A Bride in the Bargain~~
~~Beguiled~~ (With J Mark Bertrand)
~~Maid to Match~~
Finished! 20/4/11

(and as a contrast to the former)

10. Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, complete and unabridged
It took my brother Daryl several years to get through this and he car pools for an hour each way to his work site, so it is quite conceivable that I might not get through it this year. But I'm determined to get started on it, at least.

11. The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
My friend Shelley has been telling me about this book for a year now, so I'm finally going to read it.
Finished! 1/4/11
Also Finished! The Bridge to Holy Cross and The Summer Garden 8/4/11

This is probably against the spirit of this 11 books in 2011 thing ... but I'm going to add
12. ~~All the Harry Potter Books by JK Rowling~~
Finished! 9/3/11

11 goals for 2011

2011-01-01T11:04:00.005+08:00

1. Love and worship God more, more of the time.

2. (er... this one is a secret between me and my husband)

3. ~~Help Sam settle into Childcare two days a week... somehow!~~
26/05/11 Jeff and I talked to Sam a lot about this and he is doing really well with this now. He still says "I hate childcare" on the mornings before I take him, but we pray together as we walk to the room, and he almost always is happy and quickly settles when we arrive. There is no more crying or tantrums, just the occasional crossed arms and frown - which is a huge improvement. So what was the solution? We bribed Sam with a McDs icecream cone each afternoon after we collected him if we heard from his carers that he had settled well that day. Now we're down to just an icecream on Friday if he settled well into childcare on Tue and Fri and into BSF Bible Study on Wed morning.

4. Be diligent in supervising Abigail's Grade 1 homework as she learns to read and write.

5. Encourage Anna as she learns the self-discipline required for gentleness with others - and learn along with her.

6. Support Joshua to being more self-controlled emotionally - and improve in this myself.

7. ~~Start~~ and finish a digital scrapbook for our holiday to England and Singapore five years ago.

8. Make time and put in effort to complete the book I have begun writing and submit it for publication.

9. Learn the basics of Biblical Greek from Jeff, as he revises and refreshes his own skills.

10. Spend more time outdoors on my bike and in the pool and park so I can lose 10kg.

11. Do a good job mentoring and discipling the young Sunday School teachers who will be meeting with me weekly for Bible Study and Sunday School planning this year.

Music to my Mothering Ears

2010-11-13T16:49:00.000+08:00

Me: "So Joshua, what fun things are you looking forward to doing while you have your sleepover with L?"

Joshua: "Well, we mostly have fun reading books together."

Remember Lemmings? GliderPRO? Tetris?

2010-10-23T14:32:00.007+08:00

In the search for fun, challenging, non-nasty computer games for Joshua to play, I thought today of Lemmings.According to Lemmings Universe, "Lemmings is a puzzle game in which the goal is to guide a certain number of Lemmings to the exit on each level. The Lemmings enter the level through one or more hatches somewhere on the level. They can be assigned skill that are used to help them get to the exit."

Originally an Amiga game, a version of Lemmings was given to me free with my first Apple Mac, when I bought it straight out of Uni. Unfortunately, I don't have the CDs for it now. But I found an online version here. This javascript version (it plays in a web browser window) only has 10 levels in each of the four ratings (Fun, Tricky, Taxing and Mayhem), rather than the original 30 for each, so the jump in skill level between level 10 in Fun to level 1 in Tricky (etc) could be a challenge. But Joshua managed, with my help, to get through the 10 levels of Fun, and I enjoyed it even more than he did, I'm sure.

Another favourite of mine from the free games that came with my Apple Mac was a paper plane game called GliderPRO where I had to fly the paper plane through a complex series of rooms in buildings, never letting the plane fall to the ground.You can download it for free from the author John Calhoun, here. That game was an enjoyable challenge for me through my first year of working as a teacher and beyond. And it didn't involve teaching maths to teenagers, which was not such an enjoyable challenge of those times. I think Joshua will enjoy this one as well, but he may have to fight me for the computer to get at it!

Now I'm off to play an online version - unfortunately not a clone for the original Tetris:How well I remember the hours spent playing Tetris on the uni computers when I should have been writing code for my programming classes!

Abigail's First Day of Away-School

2010-10-15T10:54:00.002+08:00

Abi joined Joshua and Anna at their away school today. It was a busy day for me, since Jeff flew down to Albany to be with his mum and step-dad for a few days, as Ron is sick in hospital. It was also a work day for me, so I was glad I'd asked our babysitter to arrive a bit earlier than usual. We managed to only be 5 minutes late for the school assembly. There was lots of excitement as it is the children's first day in the new school buildings that have been being built on site for the last three terms. The classrooms looked very tidy and crisp, and Abi looked very neat and crisp as well, at the beginning of the day.At the end of the day it was another matter - she was tired, disappointed about a few expectations not being met, and quite upset over (of all things) the fact that she had to leave her hat in the classroom and not bring it home overnight.Wednesday and Thursday saw a gradual improvement in her response to school, as she grew used to the routine and the way things work at school. The best thing from my point of view was having her tell me at the end of Thursday's school day that "You can invite those two girls with the black hair and the ... um ... blond hair to my birthday." Incidentally, Abi's birthday isn't until next May. That was Abi-code for "They are my friends."

PS And I enjoyed my time alone with Sam on Wednesday and Thursday as well.

Pets

2010-10-11T09:17:00.002+08:00

Sam: I would like a dog pet.
Dad: Sorry, our landlord says we can't have dogs here. What about a pet tiger?
Sam: No. Tigers are too scary.
Dad: What about a pet snake, a long snake?
Sam: Nope. Snakes are too scary.
Dad: What about a spider, a really big black spider?
Sam: Nope.
Dad: What about a pet elephant?
Sam: No. ... They sit on little boys.
Dad: They sit on little boys, do they? Well, what about a pet camel?
Sam. No. Camels live in the desert.

Family Adventure to Scarborough Beach

2010-09-25T20:49:00.006+08:00

Making the best of the beautiful Spring sunshine, we headed to the blue and white expanse of Scarborough Beach this morning.We thought we might only be there for a short time, but the kids were having so much fun we decided to stay a little longer than we'd planned.

I loved taking the kids into the water one at a time for a dip, and having a bit of a paddle myself as well.Anna was the bravest and spent the most time out with me.The others were too busy having fun with the sand.Even Anna and I succumbed to after a while.
We were home for a late lunch of mini franks and salad in front of the TV watching the grand final* (that's AFL, for my non-Aussie friends). It was a draw, so they'll have a rematch next week. How anticlimactic! Something about this reminds me of a certain election...

*Er... and for those who know me personally and find it hard to believe I would watch AFL even for a grand final, I will admit that I didn't actually watch it. I went into another room and read a book - Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - but I did have a quite snigger when I heard the final buzzer go and knew there was a draw. My big bro will be pleased, or at the very least satisfied. In his words from an email a few days ago, "Collingwood vs St Kilda - I can't think of anything less appealing (other than maybe Collingwood vs Port Adelaide). St Kilda have no appeal, due to their tediously boring gameplan and the complete unlikeability of their players (most notably Stephen Milne)... Collingwood are.... Collingwood. The only thing better than seeing Collingwood lose a GF by 100 points is seeing them lose a GF by 1 point. Meh.. I'm just going to have to blank out the AFL 2010 season from my memory banks. It never happened." Well, Joshua enjoyed watching it, having been prepped for the experience by watching a few games when his Grandad was here recently.

Boxing Kangaroos

2010-09-21T18:07:00.002+08:00

Granny shot this video from her kitchen window:

Aah... Spring is here!

2010-09-16T13:53:00.007+08:00

I love Spring.

I think Spring is my favourite season in the south. It reminds me of the Dry season in Darwin.

Here are five things I like about Spring:
(1) Finding a pansy flowering between the pavers in our back yard:
(2) Finding a gigantic ladybird enjoying Abigail's flannel sheets on the washing line:
(3) The kids using lots of energy riding their bikes and scooting their scooters and swinging on the swings ... etc ... so at night they sleep well and soundly:
(4) The sun rising early enough that there is time for the kids to read or draw at the breakfast table before we have to leave for school or church:(But not rising so early that we are woken before 6am by children who are cheerfully and loudly awake, declaring, "Sun's up, Mummy!".)

(5) Mostly, I like Spring because I can hang out the washing on the line and get it dry without:
(a) worrying that it will be rained on before I get an entire load hung up (as in the Winter); or
(b) getting so hot hanging it on the line that I need to wash myself when I'm done (as in the Summer).
My fourth load for today is currently drying on the line. The rest are already picked in, folded and put away. Now I'm off to hang out the fifth load.

A breakfast story and a bedtime game

2010-09-10T12:30:00.009+08:00

At the breakfast table yesterday, Sam decided to tell me the story of Cinderella, beginning with the clock striking midnight:

Cinderella ran away from the ball room.
She dropped her glass slipper.
The man found it.
He tried it on the other ones, Cinderella's friends.
Then Cinderella tried it on.
Everyone said, "It fits! It fits!"

Sam loves to listen to fairy tales. We borrowed two fairy tale books that came with CDs from the library and I had to renew them twice, I think; he and Abi liked them so much. He also enjoys listening to the Jesus Storybook Bible on CD (by Sally Lloyd-Jones, narrated by David Suchet), which is the kids' regular bedtime listening. Sam asks for that to be put on every night as soon as he is in bed. He can quote parts of it verbatim and sometimes plays games with me using the words from the JSBB. On Tuesday, our game went something like this:

Sam: "Mummy, you be the sleeping girl," (that would be Jairus's daughter*, Mark 5:21-42 and Luke 8:40-56) "and I will be Jesus."
Me: "Okay." (Close eyes and lie still on the bed.)
Sam: (Puts his hands on mine.) "Honey, it's time to get up!"
Me: (Open eyes and smile.) "I'm better!"

Sam: "Now you be Jesus and I will be the sleeping girl."
Me: "Okay."

Sam: (Closes eyes. Makes loud snoring sounds.)
Me: "Honey, it's time to get up."
Sam: (Stops snoring immediately. Opens eyes and sits bolt upright.) "I'm hungry!"

Sam: "Again, Mummy! Again!"

* From Luke 8:
Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. "Stop wailing," Jesus said. "She is not dead but asleep."
They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!" Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up.

From the Jesus Storybook Bible, p219-220:
Just then Jairus' servant rushed up to Jairus. "It's too late," he said breathlessly. "Your daughter is dead."
Jesus turned to Jairus. "It's not too late," Jesus said. "Trust me."
At Jairus' house, everyone was crying. But Jesus said, "I'm going to wake her up." Everyone laughed at him because they knew she was dead.
Jesus walked into the little girl's bedroom. And there, lying in the corner, in the shadows, was the still little figure. Jesus sat on the bed and took her pale hand.
"Honey," he said, "it's time to get up." And he reached down into death and gently brought the girl back to life.
The little girl woke up, rubbed her eyes as if she'd just had a good night's sleep, and leapt out of bed.
Jesus threw open the shutters and sunlight flooded the dark room. "Hungry?" Jesus asked. She nodded.
Jesus called to her family, "Bring this little girl something breakfast!"
Jesus helped and healed many people, like this. He made blind people see. He made deaf people hear. He made lame people walk.
Jesus was making the sad things come untrue.
He was mending God's broken world.

[Image from koorong.com]

Cross Country Athletes

2010-09-09T16:47:00.005+08:00

(A report by Joshua)

I really wasn't prepared. I never knew this was going to be so tough. I came in 29th place. My friend Sean came 26th and Moss came 39th; he fell on a stick and still was pretty fast.

After the race, I made a new friend, but I don't know his name. I built a rock castle with him while the other races were on.

Me with my friends, Lachlan, Moss and Sean:
At the start line, I thought the race would be longer than it turned out to be:
I ran with all my strength the whole way:
Moss did a very good job and I am proud of him:

Abigail was listening in Sunday School

2010-09-05T18:11:00.002+08:00

This afternoon Abigail (who is 5 years old) asked Jeff to write out a prayer for her to copy into a little book she wanted to make. This is the transcript:

"You are my mighty King, and I am your sheep.
You are my mighty King, you look over me while I eat.
I am your flock and you are my Shepherd.
You come for me* and walk with me.
You help me grow big and strong.
You guard over me when I am scared.
You watch over me and I love you.
You are my King because I love you.
I love you because you are God."

Abi was obviously listening hard in Sunday School this morning. Miss Jacinta was leading the kids through lesson #6 from the kids@church curriculum, Serious Play 3: Trusting God and living for Him. Lesson #6 looks at one of David's prayers recorded in Psalm 23, which begins, "The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

This whole term, the Abi's Sunday School class are learning about the prayers of various people in the Bible, and they are learning to pray themselves using the biblical prayers as a model for their own. This is narrative scaffolding - an educational combination that works very well with a diverse range of students. The students hear a story that helps them to understand the meaning and usage of the literary genre (in this case, prayers) and then they are encouraged to build their own literary attempts modelled upon the examples they are given (that is, they are encouraged to pray themselves).

Along with the actual skill of praying - and yes, it is a skill that can be taught and learnt! - the children are learning of the character and nature of the God to whom they pray. You can see that evidenced in Abigail's prayer above.

* I find it fascinating that Abigail prayed "you come for me" rather than "You comfort me." Verse 4 says,
"Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me."
I am not sure if Abigail misheard the prayer/psalm in Sunday School, or if she is also recalling what we learnt ages ago in BSF about Enoch, whom we still sing about sometimes:
"Enoch - walked with God,
Enoch - walked with God,
Enoch - walked with God,
And then God took him home."
Either way, it is fascinating to watch my child's understanding of who God is grow bigger and Truer as she studies the Bible.

Frogs

2010-09-04T11:51:00.000+08:00

Abi (left) and Anna (right) "frog watching":
Joshua has also been "frog drawing":

Thoughts on Evangelism (1)

2010-09-03T11:16:00.004+08:00

I've been thinking about evangelism a lot lately. In both of the churches that I attend (my home church whom I serve as Children's Ministry Worker in the mornings, and within which body my husband is the pastor; and the church which I join for evening services) I have heard sermon series on evangelism and mission-mindedness this year. Last Saturday a good friend, who came to Australia as a refugee from Sudan and studied at Theological College the year ahead of Jeff, held an update evening on his work providing training and support for native pastors and evangelists in Sudan through the Sudanese Gospel Mission (more on David's work in another post). And I have been reading Augustine's Confessions as well; Book V brought quite a few evangelism thoughts to mind as well.

---

In Bk V.13, Augustine says, “Unknown to me, it was you who led me to him [Ambrose, bishop of Milan], so that I might knowingly be led by him to you.”

This sentence caused me to recall the people who led me to the LORD, who God used to lead me back to Him. I am so thankful for their determination to share the gospel with me. Especially Nathan, a fellow teacher who argued and argued with me in the Science teacher’s office over our need for a saviour and the identity of God’s chosen Saviour: Jesus Christ. I was so determined to reject all he had to say, and yet his invite to Alpha was the spur for me eventually attending Alpha with Jeff, even though I didn’t go to the Alpha course that Nathan invited me to. And it was at the Alpha course that I couldn’t get away from the Truth of the gospel.

Who did God use to lead you to Him? Have you thanked God lately for their witness to you?

Who have you told about Jesus?
Have you only told your children? Or are you actively seeking - and praying for - opportunities to tell many people about the good news of Jesus?

In John 15:26 and 16:13-14, Jesus says, "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. ... But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you." It is, ultimately, the Holy Spirit who opens peoples eyes to see the truth of the gospel, and softens their hearts to respond to the gospel with faith.

Have you thanked God lately for the Holy Spirit's work in your heart, convicting you of the truth of the gospel?

Have you been regularly praying for the Holy Spirit to be at work in the hearts of those who do not yet have faith in Christ?

---

In Bk V.6, Augustine says of the Manichean Faustus, “My ears were already ringing with these tales and they seemed to me none the better for being better expressed, nor true simply because they were eloquently told. Neither did I think that a pleasant face and a gifted tongue were proof of a wise mind. Those who had given me such assurances about him must have been poor judges. They thought him wise and thoughtful simply because they were charmed by his manner of speech.”

In thinking about this section, I was thinking about how much stress (Christian) homeschoolers can put upon the necessity to develop literacy skills, in particular rhetoric skills, so that Christians can share the gospel charmingly. If logic skills are also emphasised, this is all to the good. But if our children grow up to be able to tell the gospel clearly, but cannot defend its basis from biblical and observable reasons, they may come across as nothing but snake oil salesmen. And they may end up doing more harm to the gospel than good, if they persist in using bad arguments that are easily discredited by the dogmatic New Atheists, who will continue to act as antichrists well into our children’s future, I imagine. (1 John 2:22 - Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.)

Further, if we fail to teach our children that our faith is indeed sound and reasonable, we leave their own faith at the mercy of those people who, like Faustus, argue charmingly but without substance. This is where we see the need for Christian organisations that argue polemics, such as the Creation Ministries people. I know they have their faults, and are perhaps just a touch blind to the fact that belief in a literal 6 day creation of the world does not actually equate with belief in Christ Himself (after all, I am sure “even the demons believe that – and shudder” - James 2:19). But they do a great job, in their Creation magazine and online, for example, of providing tools that defend one of the basic doctrines of Christianity (God is the Creator of everything) in a way that is both generally logically sound (not falling into Faustas’s fault) and also charming and engaging. I think in our raising of our families, and in teaching Sunday School, etc, it is good to be utilising such resources so that our children grow up knowing their faith is defensable and reasonable, even while they also know that it is only by God’s grace in the work of the Holy Spirit that they have heard and accepted with faith that gospel message.

What are you doing to build up your own faith, encouraging yourself with the truth of the gospel message?

What are you doing to build up the faith of the "little children" in your care, whether they be your own children, kids at Sunday School, or even adult "lambs" who have just heard the gospel and are new believers?

---

One further thing. Augustine says of Ambrose that he “was a man known throughout the world as a man whom there were few to equal in goodness.” (Bk V.13)

This is the third characteristic of those who would be winsome for the glory of God in the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our faith must not merely be evident in our words as we teach and preach the gospel. Our lives should also be lived in a way that brings honour to the LORD as our Lord, and does not undermine our arguments of the veracity of the gospel message of new life in Christ. The concept of sanctification – the gradual process of being made more like Christ through the counsel of the Holy Spirit within us and our obedience to His instruction – is one of the basic tenets of Christianity. If our daily lives show that our claim to having a new life in Christ is a fallacy, then we undermine our presentation of the gospel message, no matter how logically sound and rhetorically persuasive the manner of its delivery. In contrast, if we, like Ambrose, are known as godly, good people, then our presentation of the gospel message is enhanced. If we are seen as honest people, we can be understood to be presenting a true, believable message. And even if the message is not ultimately believed, our lives still bring glory to God through the evidence of our own ongoing sanctification.

As Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians (1:27-28), "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God."

What evidence of sanctification is there in your life?
Are you conducting yourself in a "manner worthy of the gospel of Christ?

Any thoughts?

Another Family Adventure

2010-08-28T21:49:00.001+08:00

I started posting a while back about our Family Adventures. In the depths of winter, we came down with a few colds and such, so didn't manage to keep up with it.

But for the last Saturday in winter, we went to a nearby church's Kids' Fair. The church ran it as an outreach event to the local families. I attend this church for evening services while our church doesn't have them and I am out the back with the Children's Church every Sunday.

We got photos of Sam and Abi having fun, but Josh and Anna were having far too much fun to be caught on camera. They found several friends from school (Emily, Lauren, Luke and Sean) and enjoyed the jumpy castle, popcorn, fairy floss, the puppet show, modelling with clay and model racing car track while Jeff and I followed Abi and Sam from one activity to another.

Abi enjoying her hotdog:
Sam loved painting with brushes and sponge stamps:
Abi had her face painted and then rode a pony:
Sam was able to ride the pony as well:
It was a wonderful day together, and I'm glad we are back into our Family Adventures.

Penpals

2010-08-27T11:46:00.005+08:00

Abigail received a letter from a friend today. This particular friend lives here in Perth, but we don't see him nearly as often as we did in the past since we moved to a distant suburb. They keep in contact via very occasional play dates and slightly more frequent letters. This is the first of Abi's letters to her penpal that have actually consisted of real words and sentences, though!Translation:

Dear Isaac,
Thank you for that lovely letter. I hope we get to play soon.
[...]
Love from Abi
xoxoxoxoxoxox

Here's the picture she drew for her friend:

Ubiquitous Contamination

2010-08-23T10:24:00.010+08:00

(This post continues the thread begun in "Something worse might happen to you" and Life Savers.)

A fortnight ago, Jeff and I and our four kids went to dinner with a couple from our church and their adult son. They took us to the local Chinese restaurant to celebrate the birthdays of all three men.

Now, this particular Chinese restaurant serves crab. But, knowing I am allergic, we didn’t order any meals with crab. Instead, we had pork, and chicken, and beef, and tofu. Plain rice, with no poisonous prawns. The problem was, our food as contaminated. Someone in the kitchen hadn’t washed a pan, or a dish, or a knife properly after preparing a crab meal for someone else that night. And one or more of our meals had tiny, invisible crab toxins in them.

Shortly after we left the restaurant, I began to cough, which is the early sign of an asthma attack for me. By the time I got home, I knew I needed to take an antihistamine tablet. And within a few minutes, I was asking Jeff to stab me with my epi-pen and ring triple zero. I sat on the couch, my hands shaking, my shoulders heaving as I struggled for breath, tears flooding from my eyes, as I sat waiting for the ambulance. The medics gave me oxygen, commended us for doing the right thing using my epi-pen, and took me to Royal Perth Hospital for the night to recover.

Now I didn’t plan to eat the crab that had contaminated the food I ate. I didn’t ask for it. But, I knew it was a risk when I ate at that restaurant. That’s why I carry my epi-pen with me. Lately, I've been reading food labels a lot and discovered that shellfish is an ingredient in a lot of foods where I wouldn't expect it, such as the jar of Thai Green Curry paste I nearly bought last week. It's also a possible contaminant in foods that I thought might be suspect, like the pre-packaged frozen fish from the company that also sells frozen crumbed prawns. And it also might be present in foods that come as a complete surprise to me, like the pea and ham cup-a-soup packet I couldn't buy this week.

I’m learning that shellfish, just like sin, is pervasive. Sin can be there in my life, even when I think I am obeying God just fine. Because God’s definition of “sin” isn’t just the big, bad acts that I think of when we hear the word. Sin isn’t just doing things like committing murder, or stealing, or even telling a “little white lie”. Sin is whatever I do when I ignore or disobey God. So that includes every single act that I do when I don’t deliberately choose to do it for God.

Examining myself for this sort of "invisible, yet still deadly, sin" means asking myself questions such as these:
Did I put God's glory or my own personal desires first when I voted on Saturday?
Is there a more godly way of spending my Sunday evenings, after I come home from evening church, than just plonking myself down on the couch and watching Bones? (Is watching TV just a way of shutting off my mindful responses to what God has been teaching me through the sermon/s?)
Do I choose to work for the glory of God when I wash the dishes and fold the clothes, rather than letting the dirty dishes pile up by the sink and the clean clothes pile up on the couch? (Do I recognise the value in my sanctification that comes from putting others before myself?)
Do I pray honestly and earnestly "in everything", or is prayerful dependence on God something I mouth platitudes about while my prayers actually consist of occasional one liners that demonstrate my unwillingness to depend utterly upon the sovereign grace of God?

And like the food contaminated by crab particles that were miniscule, but nevertheless poisonous, I need to face the fact that any sin, no matter how small in my eyes, separates me from God and would, without the saving intervention of Jesus Christ, inevitably lead to eternal death. (That's hell, folks.)

Examining myself for this sort of "miniscule, yet still deadly, sin" means asking myself questions such as these:
Do I keep all of the minor promises I make to my kids (mostly to get them to stop nagging me), or am I really telling a deliberate lie each and every time?
Are my interactions with my husband characterised by loving, submissive service; or are they flawed by occasional derogatory remarks that show disrespect towards him, constant nagging that reveals my unwillingness to recognise his headship in our marriage, or bitterness over the way he spends his "free" time?
Is my attitude to food, and chocolate in particular, one that magnifies the God who created everything - including the cocoa bean - or is it one of unthankful gluttony that seeks to slake my thirst for the joy that is found in the immense goodness of God in what Augustine called things of "the lowest order of good"?
Do my short but snappy bursts of anger at my kids reveal a heart that is burdened with pride, impatience, and self-will; or a heart that strives to be humble, patient & enduring, and selfless?
What does my impatience with everything from the rate at which my children tie their shoes to that driver in the lane ahead of me say about my contentedness with the position God has given me? What does it say about my (earlier in the day) prioritisation of my own self-centred activities over daily necessities, that led to the need for my present haste and consequent impatience?

Perhaps you might ask yourself similar questions. And don't put off finding the time to answer.

If you're not a Christian, you should also ask what your answers say about your need for God's saviour, Jesus Christ, who took the punishment for your sin for you already on the cross.

If you're a Christian, the Holy Spirit within you will counsel you as to how you should live. Listen to Him!

Life Savers

2010-08-22T10:19:00.000+08:00

(This post continues the story from my last post, "Something worse might happen to you".)

If I slip up, and sin again, Jesus still saves me from the deathly consequences of that sin. And once again, my shellfish allergy reminds me of how that happens.

When I got back to Australia, and was able to get an appointment with an allergy specialist doctor, he told me the same thing. I can’t eat crab, lobster, or any other shellfish. To me, these foods are poison. And because I suffer from asthma, if I do have a reaction to shellfish, it is likely to affect my breathing, rather than just giving me an unpleasant-looking case of hives, such as my mother gets if she eats mango.

The doctor impressed upon me that if I don’t have the epi-pen he prescribed with me, I can’t eat anywhere. So now, I carry it in my handbag along with my asthma puffer, everywhere I go. If I do have an anaphylactic reaction, the epi-pen will inject adrenaline into my leg, and it will kick-start my body’s recovery process.
Jesus, just like my epi-pen, is my Life Saver. Jesus has rescued me and continues to preserve me daily from the sure death that comes from the sin in my life. Jesus has promised me that God will give me eternal life. Jesus has made that promise to you as well. In John 11:25, Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live.” That promise is for you as well. Jesus went on to say this: “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

I want to ask you the same question. Do you believe that Jesus has saved you from the deadly consequence of your sin? Do you believe that God will give you the gift of eternal life, to never die, because Jesus died in your place? That’s what it means to truly live.

"Something worse might happen to you"

2010-08-21T10:08:00.006+08:00

Many of you will have seen the photo that I posted a while back, of my husband Jeff and I on the last day of our holiday to the USA.We look pretty happy, don’t we?

Would any of you guess that I had almost died only a week before this photo was taken?

Well I did. Here’s another photo, of that time.
One evening during our five week driving tour of the western half of the US, Jeff and I dined out at a rather nice, small, busy restaurant. For the last four or five days we had been in Washington State, enjoying the delights of coastal food. This evening, in Astoria on the northern coast of Oregon, I decided to order a bowl of Dungeness Crab pasta. It was delicious!

But to me, that crab pasta was also poisonous. You see I didn’t know, when I ordered that pasta, that I am allergic to crabmeat.

Jeff and I enjoyed our meals, he paid, and then we began the short walk uphill through the drizzling rain to our Bed and Breakfast. We were only about 20 metres from our B&B when I felt something like a punch in my chest and started breathing a bit harder. After a few deeper breaths, I mentioned to Jeff that I thought I might be having an asthma attack (along with all our kids, I’d been diagnosed last winter). I could still speak fine. As Jeff and I made our way more quickly now to the B&B, we tried to work out what had set off the asthma. Surely not the exercise of the short walk from the restaurant, since we’d walked much further and steeper trails in the last four weeks exploring the Grand Canyon and other wonders of the American environment.

When we got to the B&B, I used my puffer, which I had left in our room. But it didn’t seem to work. After a brief improvement, my breathing was actually getting worse. After only a few minutes, I was taking heaving breaths, my eyes were tearing up, and I knew that whether this was an asthma attack or something else, I had to get to a hospital. Through breaths, I told Jeff he had to take me to a hospital… and then, when he couldn’t contact our host to get directions, with a rather clear head despite my shuddering breaths, I suggested he look up hospital on our GPS.

I know that God is in control over everything that happens. But honestly, when I found out later that the emergency department was only about 1km up the same road we were staying on – a one way road in the direction of the hospital – I knew that God had been looking out for me, knowing what was going to happen when I chose to eat that crab pasta.

To cut a long story short, the triage nurses took one look at me when I stumbled through the doors of the emergency department, gasping for breath, and whisked me into the closest room. They put an oxygen mask on me (oh, bliss!) gave me an injection of adrenaline, as well as giving me several antihistamines, and after about half an hour, I was almost breathing normally again. My episode of anaphylactic shock was under control, and now I just needed to recover. They discharged me at 2am and I slept through much of the next two days of our holiday, exhausted from nearly dying.

The one thing those emergency department staff drilled into me before they discharged me was that I was not to eat shellfish again. Never. If I did, it just might kill me.

The next morning, as I looked back on what had happened, I was reminded of a few verses in the Bible. The first, I had read in my regular Bible study that week. In John 5:14, Jesus talks to a man he has just healed. The man had been an invalid for 38 years, and now he could walk again. Jesus warned him:
“See, you are well again. Stop sinning, or something worse might happen to you.”

What the emergency department staff had said, reminded me of that verse. They had said, “Stop eating shellfish, or something worse might happen to you.”

Jesus said to the healed invalid, “Stop sinning, or something worse might happen to you”: something worse than 38 years unable to walk? What on earth could be worse than that?

There’s another verse in the Bible with a similar warning that tells us just what the “worse” thing is. Romans 6:23 says “The consequence of sin is death.” The Bible tells us that sin – ignoring and disobeying God – leads to death, in just the same way that for me, eating a plate of shellfish will lead to death.

Of course, I didn’t die from the crab pasta, because the hospital staff intervened. And Romans 6:23 goes on to say that we don’t need to die from sin either. It says, “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God doesn’t want us to die as a result of disobeying Him. God wants us to trust His Son Jesus Christ, and to accept the good consequence that comes from trusting Jesus. That consequence is just like my second chance after eating the poisonous pasta – but even better. Eternal life is God’s gift to everyone who trusts in His Son, Jesus Christ, who already died on our behalf so that we can live forever with God.

Because I trust in Jesus, I am going to have eternal life. But Jesus is not just some “get out of jail free card”. I still need to work hard to “stop sinning”, because Jesus calls me to a high standard, a life of complete obedience to God.

Just because ... Sam is cute

2010-08-18T13:14:00.001+08:00

"Will you snuggle me up?"

Peter and the Wolf

2010-08-18T12:26:00.004+08:00

Grandma and Grandad visited last week for a few days before setting off on a month long cruise. While they were here they entertained the kids with a CD of Dame Edna telling the story of Peter and the Wolf, complete with the orchestral score. They had quite a bit of discussion about what the different parts of the music represented, and how the speed, volume and other characteristics of the music helped us to imagine what is happening in the story.

This morning, Abi asked if she could make a book, (5 sheets of folded A4 paper, bound with string):Once we had made the book she decided she would write the story of Peter and the Wolf. I promptly opened Word and transcribed her narration:

Peter went into the thicket. You shouldn’t go into the thicket because a wolf or a fox might eat you. There was a wolf in the thicket. But just in time, Peter’s grandpa realised that Peter should not have gone into the thicket because there could be a wolf. So Peter’s Grandpa rushed outside because he knew there was a wolf going to come. So he got Peter before the wolf came.

After they were inside, Peter saw the wolf and decided to save the cat, because the wolf had eaten the ducky.

But bad hunters came. Not to kill the little boy, but to kill the wolf. They tried to kill the wolf, but the little boy called Peter told the hunters to not kill the wolf but take him to the theatre show, to sell him for lots of pieces of gold. Golden gold!

Before the hunters could find the wolf, Peter got a good idea. He told the birdie to fly around the wolf’s head so that Peter could tie the wolf’s tail to the tree. After the hunters came, they told him to untie it and hold the string. But Peter said “No, don’t kill him. Take him to a theatre.” So that is what they did.

There's something about Asterix

2010-08-18T12:19:00.000+08:00

It's lovely to see Joshua and Sam sharing an interest - even if I am fairly certain Samuel doesn't understand more than half of what is going on without the words, and even reading the words Joshua doesn't get every joke.
(These photos were actually taken back in July, I think. It is a long time since I've blogged.)

Jungle War story

2010-07-12T11:11:00.004+08:00

Jungel wore [war].
By Joshua, J...
Once in the Rainforest A group
of stray soldiers attacked the
Cobra Hideout. The cobras kept
on spitting on the soldiers.
The soldiers kept on hitting
then [them] with their spears at the
cobras and throwing dynamite
on the hide-out. The cobras [...]

[This is a literacy task Joshua completed in school last term. It is a final draft, though not complete. His spelling has dramatically improved this term since he has been having extra help. He has been learning to ask for help with his spelling when he is unsure, and to spell more common words from memory and phonetic rules or cues.]

Letter to a friend

2010-07-12T11:06:00.002+08:00

Dear Lauren
I hope I can come to your house soon.
I am looking forward to you coming to
my house. If it is not raining we can play
on the trampoline. If it is raining we can play
with the doll's house. We can play with the
blocks if you like playing with blocks.
See you soon,
Love, Anna. x x x x x x x o o o o o o o o

[Anna sat next to me while she wrote this and asked for help with the words she had difficulty spelling, such as "forward" and "trampoline". That is why her spelling is so well done.]

Big Ben and the Thames

2010-07-09T14:27:00.006+08:00

Jeff found a photo frame that we have never used the other day, and since it came from England (from our Christmas with Joshua's godmother's family back in 2005,) Jeff thought it a good idea to put in a family photo from our holiday to England. Amazingly, of all the photos we took, there were only three family photos taken. And two were versions of the same; you know, where someone blinks in one so you take another. We chose the "most English", I cropped it, and here is the result:
L-R: Abigail, Jeff, Anna, me, Joshua (Sam was yet to be conceived.)

Family Fun

2010-06-21T12:46:00.009+08:00

Last week we had Jeff's brother Andrew and his son, our nephew Jonathan over to stay. We took them to dinner with Jeff and Andrew's cousins, and all their kids. Unfortunately, two second cousins had left by the time we thought to get some photos taken. But here's two of the best. It was very, very hard to get them all to sit still.

Then last weekend, we celebrated my Mum & Dad's 40th wedding anniversary with a family lunch including Mum, Dad, and everyone descended from them.Back row, L-R: Carla, Daryl with Stephen, Mum, Dad, me, Jeff, Michael.
Front row, L-R: Rebecca, Lisa, Abigail, Joshua, Samuel, Anna.

The group included Stephen, who was born on Friday just in time to join in the celebrations.

We had our Family Adventure one day late this weekend, with a fun time at Faulkner Park, a large playground not too far SOR.

Bree Tanner...

2010-06-07T16:09:00.007+08:00

An exercise in arguing against the injustice of God's (or the Roman Catholic Church's) uncompromising justice. Showing that even evil can engender love in the hearts of Meyer's readership... or at least that's what I am reading between the lines in Amazon.com's reader comments section for The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, a recently released novella by Stephenie Meyer.

As usual, Meyer has her own rationale for writing a book set in the Twilight universe and allowing Little, Brown & Co to release it less than a month before the movie of "Eclipse" is released in theatres. The Short Second Life parallels events described from Bella's perspective in Eclipse, in the same way the unfinished Midnight Sun manuscript parallels the events of the first 12 chapters of Twilight. You can read Meyer's reasoning on this book at her website (the only page there that seems to be opening at the moment). You can also check out her excerpt online:

Tomorrow, we'll all be able to read the whole thing for free at breetanner.com. Unless you want the paper copy to add to your twilight collection.
If you want to really understand Twilight, I highly recommend John Granger's Spotlight, by the way.

Family Adventure #4 Whiteman Park

2010-06-06T16:45:00.004+08:00

We had our Family Adventure early this weekend, on Friday. This weekend is a long weekend in Perth and very, very busy. But conveniently the school gave our kids the day off so the teachers could attend a Christian Teachers' Conference. So on Friday we went to Whiteman Park, with Grandma & Grandad, and Auntie Carla, Lisa and Rebecca.

Anna gave Rebecca a little bit of assistance.
The flowers were magnificent.
Jeff took this delightful photo of the cousins at Mussel Pool. Left to right, they are: Joshua, Lisa, Abigail, Samuel, Anna, Rebecca.I was very impressed - it only took four photos to get one with all six smiling!

We walked from a lookout southeast to Mussel Pool, then back northeast to Whiteman Village, where there are several playgrounds. Dad and I then walked back west along the road to the cars, and drove back to the Village car park, bringing our picnic lunches to enjoy by the playground where they children had been playing in our absence.

Mrs Peters' birthday cake

2010-06-05T16:18:00.006+08:00

The Seven Silly Eaters enjoyed Mrs Peters' birthday cake very much.So did our four, plus the T family six, plus another friend, L, today for lunch. That made eleven silly eaters!If you'd like to taste the cake, the author's recipe is here. I can happily report that it is very easy to make, even when one has to convert measurements to metric. (For those who would like a helping hand, 1/2pnd of butter is roughly 225g, and 325F is approximately 160C.) I hope you enjoy Mrs Peters' cake, as we did!

Jesus and James - and our children

2010-06-02T17:46:00.005+08:00

In my personal Bible study with BSF, I have been reading John’s gospel. John 7:5 says, “even his own brothers did not believe in him.” How could it be that Jesus’ own brothers, who had lived with Jesus all their lives, did not believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be? They did not really know Jesus.

This is one problem Christian parents must overcome as we strive to bring up children who believe in Jesus. Our children, growing up in a "Christian family", may become so familiar with a simplified storybook image of Jesus, that they fail to see Jesus as He really is.

James, the eldest of Jesus’ brothers, did become a believer in Jesus Christ, a dedicated Christian. He was described by Paul as one of the "pillars of the church" (Galatians 2:9), a leader in the new Christian church based in Jerusalem. James spoke after Simon Peter at the first church council in Jerusalem (Acts 15) and made the final judgement (Acts 15:19ff). He even wrote some of the New Testament!

So what made James believe in Jesus? Paul records that “He [the risen Jesus] appeared to James” (1 Corinthians 15:7). Seeing Jesus alive after His death made all the difference. Now, James knew who Jesus was: someone with the power over death and life; God Himself!

How do we show our children who Jesus is? By telling them what the Bible says about Jesus, and helping the children to understand, so that they see Jesus as He really is. Jesus was not only the gentle Man who said, "Let the little children come to me." He was not solely one who healed the sick, lame and blind. He was much more. Our children need to know Jesus, in all His glory.

As I read through John, I am finding out that Jesus said a lot of things about Himself. Jesus' descriptions of Himself were audacious and unprecedented. (After all, this was the first time God had come as a Man to live a whole human life span on earth with His people.) There is a lot in these passages that we can talk about with our kids, even if they are young.

Jesus said that He would give those who believed in Him eternal life. In John 6:40, Jesus says, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." In John 8:51, Jesus is recorded as saying, "I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." (Also see John 6:27-29, 33, 35, 47-51, 54-57.)

Jesus said that His disciples (those who hold to His teaching) would know the truth, and they would be set free from sin. (See John 8:31-32,34-36.) He also warned, as recorded in John 8:24, "if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."

This warning from Jesus needs to be taken seriously by parents and others who care about our children. If our children do not know who Jesus claims to be, how can they believe He is Who He says He is? We must teach our children about Jesus: all about Jesus.

Family Adventure #3 Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary

2010-05-29T20:13:00.007+08:00

Jeff was sick in bed this morning, but I was determined the kids would not miss out on our weekly Family Adventure. This time, rather than going up a hill or through a hill, we stuck with the low lying areas. We visited a bird sanctuary very near to the Swan River.

We mostly saw ducks on the water.Near the car park we saw a heron and an ibis.- I think! My parents would be able to identify these birds, I am sure.

We enjoyed following the path around the wetlands and the kids liked exploring the surrounding bush, although large portions were off-limits to exploring adventurers, to protect the birds and their homes.

We stopped to take some family photos. I got a few very nice pics of Joshua, who hasn't been one for posing much recently. We admired scenery.The Autumn (Fall) colours reminded me that it is Spring for my friends in the USA, and you won't see colours like these for another six months.All in all, it was a delightful way to spend a few hours on a Saturday.

Seven Silly Eaters read by Grandad

2010-05-26T14:38:00.015+08:00

While I was in the USA, I caught up with Kellie "argsmommy" from Blue House Academy. (Amy took me and her kids to meet Kellie. Amy blogged about the meeting here. Kellie blogged about it, with far more artistic photos than Amy or I took, here.)

Kellie very kindly gave me a present for my whole family: a copy of her family's favourite book, Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Marla Frazee.
Thanks very much, Kellie. My kids all like this very funny story of a family who all want to eat different foods, but end up finding one food that they can all enjoy.This morning I read it to Abi and Sam, and then when Sam was down for his afternoon nap, Abi asked Grandad to read it to her again. I love the benefits of having grandparents over to visit!

Isn't that last photo a corker?

Now, we just need to try the recipe!

Me and My 5 Year Old

2010-05-25T22:52:00.000+08:00

Abigail turns 5

2010-05-25T14:37:00.000+08:00

We celebrated Abi turning five on Sunday. On Tuesday, her real birthday, she received our family's traditional 5th birthday gift: a brand new bike.

Being 5 comes with quite a few privileges in our family. Abi can now use a metal knife as well as an adult sized fork, and she can also play with the little Lego in the small games room. The only problem with the last privilege is that our Small Games Room is now our Guest Room. So Abi enjoyed building her Lego gift in the lounge room instead.

Appreciating the cake:
Enjoying the cake:
A new present:
Riding her brand new bike, wearing brand new clothes, with a brand new handbag:

Family Adventure #2 Swan View Tunnel

2010-05-23T21:13:00.013+08:00

After last weekend's Family Adventure #1, we decided not to climb another hill but to go through a hill this time!It was just as well that we chose to explore a bush trail that went through an old railway tunnel, since it was a very wet day, and we needed to be kept out of the rain. The kids loved the opportunity to get their raincoats out of the cupboard. Unfortunately we didn't think of getting their rainboots as well... but next time we will not forget.

Though the sky was grey, the scenery was lovely. The Swan View Tunnel is on the Railway Heritage Trail, in John Forrest National Park, in the hills to the east of the city, inland from where we live. Completely the opposite direction of last week's trip.
The kids had lots of fun clambering over the rocks at the side of the path.And I even managed to climb a rock of two myself.
There were lots of opportunities for photos.I think they turned out well despite the fact that we were only using Jeff's iPhone, since I had forgotten to bring the new camera.

Jeff and I

2010-05-21T08:59:00.006+08:00

A portrait, taken when we were at Saddleback Church, (Lake Forest, Los Angeles, California, USA) for Mothers' Day, 2010:

Family Photo

2010-05-17T09:46:00.006+08:00

It's a little bit fuzzy, and Abigail would not smile - she refused to since she had no stockings to wear, a consequence of making holes in the knees of the last pair - but here it is, our Family Photo from Sunday, when we all went to church together for the first time since Easter.
(as requested, Amy!)

One Big Happy Family

2010-05-15T17:36:00.003+08:00

We are back home at last after five weeks away in the USA. Jeff and I drove 6,616 miles together (that's 10,647km!) through 12 states. Our route took us through California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, more of Colorado, more of Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and then more of Oregon and finally California again. We visited 12 National Parks, Monuments and Historic Sites plus numerous National Forests and Wildlife Preserves. And we came away inspired to be tourists in our own city, exploring Perth together with our children.

Today we began our hometown tourist exploits, walking up Reabold Hill in Bold Park, with a few stops to explore the bush on the way, and admire the banksias, taking in the views of city and sea. It was a great "adventure" and we all had a lot of fun. The complete absence of mountains, after so many weeks admiring them, was somewhat startling. But the presence of four happy children more than made up for the absence of mountains.It is absolutely marvellous to be home again with our four beautiful, beloved children.

Thank You God for holidays. And thank You for bringing us home. Amen.

Twilight Sights

2010-04-29T13:54:00.002+08:00

Some of the Twilight sights from Port Angeles, Forks, and La Push.
Forks, where Bella moves to live with her Dad after her Mom remarries:Where Bella goes to school:First Beach, La Push where Bella meets Jacob Black and learns of the tribal legends that say Edward is a "Cold One":The Port Angeles Bookstore where Bella buys a book about Quileute Legends, always wanting to find out more about Edward's strangeness:Bella Italia restaurant in Port Angeles, where Bella gulps down mushroom ravioli while interrogating Edward over those same legends, not to mention his mind-reading abilities:If you want to find out more, you're just going to have to Read The Book!

And thanks for the recommendation that we visit Third Beach, Kellie. We really enjoyed the walk and scenery.

"Hmm, this slug looks interesting!""Mmm, and tasty!"Jeff didn't really eat the slug. After all, we were in a National Park!

I'm in America

2010-04-20T22:06:00.002+08:00

I'm with Amy and we went to BSF together last night to study the Bible together ... life before The Day doesn't get much better than this!I love to think that our friendship grew out of our shared love for the word of God. To be able to sit together in a BSF class, when we study in BSF classes across the world from each other normally, is such a treat. And we were studying John 19:18-30, which tells about Jesus' time one the cross bearing our sins. In the car on the way home, we were full to bursting with praise for our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

The Kids left this afternoon

2010-04-04T16:59:00.004+08:00

And already I miss them.

It helps to know that while they are in the immediate care of their grandparents, they are in the omnipotent care of their Father in Heaven. The same God who is with me, is with them, even though we are apart.
---
Next time (next time!?!) I will not plan a major holiday to begin during and immediately after the Easter weekend. It has really brought a great deal of crazy busyness to what should have been a time of quiet and reflection, focussed on Jesus' death on the Cross, which saved me from my sins, and His Resurrection, which secured eternal life for me.

But when I wished for more peace and quite I was reminded that Jesus promised an abundant, eternal life to his followers, not a bland life. (And now that I have peace and quiet, I yearn for my four children to be smothering me with their elbows as they squirm for one last cuddle before they leave.)

John 10:
7 Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Are you living the full life that God offers to those who come to Him through Jesus, the one and only Gate to God?

Car Day

2010-03-31T13:33:00.007+08:00

Yesterday was a Car Day. For the uninitiated, that was a day spent primarily in getting myself and at least two kids in and out of the car and driving all over Perth - mostly back and forth, but sometimes in circles. FYI, here's my list of pit stops:

8:30am Drop Josh, Anna and Lisa to school.
9:00am Meet Jeff, Abi and Sam at a friend's house for morning tea with them.
10:00am Doctor appointment to get my stitches out and an asthma script for the trip. (Abi and Sam with me.)
Then home to pick up the things Josh and Lisa forgot to pack for school.
11:15am Drop off items to Josh and Lisa's teachers, Pick up Anna from school.
11:45am Anna's dentist appointment. She needed two fillings. I am a bad mother.
Then Drop Anna back to school (she preferred going back to school over lying on the couch for the afternoon watching a DVD of her choice. I gave her the option. She said she'd cry if she couldn't go back to school. Amazing child!) When Anna asks for a drink of water in the car, I lean over to reach Sam's drink bottle and my shirt rips all down the back. The shirt that I spent half an hour sewing buttons onto two evenings ago. Drat. But I know what is next in the car day after I drop Anna off at school, so I chuckle and pray briefly, Father God, thank you so much for afternoon naps for toddlers. I love them. Especially when they force a break in the middle of a Car Day.
Then stop at the shops to buy some fruit for Abi and Sam's lunch since we have run out.
PAUSE in Car Day. Home for lunch, to change my shirt, for Sam's nap, for Abi's homeschooling lessons, and for my Bible study time. My BSF discussion learer rings me while I am in the middle of my Bible study, and I have a laugh with her over the shirt ripping incident.
4:30pm Collect Josh, Anna and Lisa from after school Italian lessons.
4:45pm Drop Josh, Anna and Lisa home.
5:02pm Miss the Medicare office being open for my refund by 2 minutes. Drat.
Then while still at the shopping centre, swap a faulty purchase at the Target front desk, and briefly peruse shoe shops, looking for something without heels to wear in the US. Nada. Drat.
5:45pm Home for the evening. Kids are having a water gun fight in the front yard with Jeff. Relax.

It is days like this that remind me so thoroughly that everything I do - what little it is - I do in the power and strength of Christ. Psalm 42:11 puts my feelings this day very clearly:

11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

The same verse is also in Psalm 42:5 and 43:11, so the Psalmist must have needed to remind himself of this a lot, just like me.

Yesterday, that time I spent reading my Bible at the dinner table while Sam napped and Abi quietly played in another room was like a balm to my soul. It also brought some laughter. One of the questions from my BSF study notes for John 4:1-30 read, "Jesus uses symbolism in verse 13 when He speaks of this water (the water of the earth). Give examples of things for which people thirst that, while not bad in themselves, cannot satisfy their desires."

I started answering this with some specifics:
money;
chocolate;
caffeine, fat, sugar;
sexual passion or the adoring emotional attachment of another person;
having a clean and tidy house;
quiet;
having perfectly well-behaved children;
knowledge;
rhetorical skill;
having read many of the "Great Books"...
The last thing on my list was "having all the buttons sewn on your shirt". You can see where the laughter came in.

But the truth is, none of these things can satisfy. Even a Car Day that goes rather smoothly by all accounts is no substitute for the new life that is only found through a relationship God in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Do you have that relationship with God in Jesus?

USA Holiday Itinerary

2010-03-29T14:12:00.003+08:00

Just the basics of our plans...

Fly in to Los Angeles
Death Valley
Las Vegas
Hoover Dam
Grand Canyon
Navajo National Monument
Monument Valley
Santa Fe
Dodge City
Wichita
Kansas City
More Wichita
Denver
Salt Lake City
Seattle
Olympic National Park (yes, including Forks)
Fort Vancouver
San Francisco
Yosemite
Los Angeles
Fly home from Los Angeles

Only a week to go before we fly out now. One suitcase is packed already. We are definitely counting down.

A reading list for our holiday

2010-03-24T09:15:00.003+08:00

Since Jeff and I will be spending many hours on the road over our five weeks in the US, and even I don't think I could come up with enough topics to talk on for the entire 8-9000km journey, we've put together a book list for the trip. I'll read, Jeff'll drive. We may not be able to read our way through everything - after all, I want to see the scenery, not just pages - but we're going to see how we go. Here are some of our selections to read together:

The Cross-Centred Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing by CJ Mahaney

Living the Cross-Centred Life by CJ Mahaney

Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper

King Solomon's Mines by H Rider Haggard

The Travels by Marco Polo

The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (on audiobook)

How to Be a People Helper by Gary R Collins

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp (yes, we never got too far into it before)

Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp

Guests

2010-03-23T08:22:00.007+08:00

As of the last few days, we have a new (temporary) member of our family. Her name is Lisa, and she is my niece. We call her Lovely Lisa. You can see why from this picture:Lisa is living with us for Sunday evenings through to Friday afternoons, and going to the same away-school as Joshua and Anna during the weekdays. She will be with us for the next four months or so. The astute of you will realise that we will have a hard time looking after Lisa while we are in the US! During that time Carla will be looking after the whole family here, or Lisa will be looked after along with our four here by Grandma and Grandad. When we get back from the US, we'll take over the week-day parenting again.

Lisa is staying with us because her mother is in the later months of pregnancy with Lisa's little brother. Because Carla has been diagnosed with Lupus as well as Thalassemia, she needs greater medical care than can be provided in the rural gold-mining town of Kalgoorlie, where my brother's family normally live. So Carla has moved with their younger daughter Rebecca to her father's house near Freo, and we are looking after Lisa here. Lisa is the same age as Abigail, so we have a lot of chatting after bedtime with three girls sharing the same bedroom!

Please pray:
for Lisa, that she will not miss her mother, sister and father too much, and will feel "at home" here with us.
for Daryl my brother, that he won't be too lonely without his family back in Kal.
for Carla, that our nephew will be growing strong and healthy within her, and that the docs here will be able to treat her well.
for Rebecca, that she won't miss her Daddy and sister too much, and will love her time with Nono.
That Grandma and Grandad will be safe on the roads as they drive across Australia to look after their grandchildren for several weeks.

Last night, we had another guest in the house as well. It was Cuddly Koala, a toy from school that Anna brought home overnight.Yesterday afternoon, after one of the driest summers on record, (only one day of rain before yesterday - 0.2mm on 7 Feb), Perth experienced a marvellous thunderstorm, which resulted in many of our roads becoming temporary rivers. The evening news said that Perth metro had received at least 36mm of rain since around 3:30pm, when the storm hit the northern suburbs. Our friends the B family had about 50 holes in their pagola from hail the size of golf balls, and their garage flooded. By around 5:45pm, there were 150,000 houses or businesses in Perth without power, though ours was not among them.

The rain hit in earnest just before 5pm where we live, and we didn't get any hail. But with a Play Room that is not sealed well from the weather, we had almost as much rain inside as there was outside! God managed to keep our two couches dry, but the Play Room had to be "evacuated". The carpet and recliner are now drying out nicely (we hope), since not only is the roof permeable to strong rain, but the floor is extremely permeable as well (really, the floor is just outdoor pavers on sand, with no sealing at all - it's not exactly a "to code" extension) so we don't have any puddles. The canal next door was the highest we have ever seen it as well, but this morning it is back down. Here's how Anna described the events in Cuddly Koala's journal:I went home with Anna.
There was a big storm.
I was scared, but Anna saved me.
She kept me dry so that I
wouldn't get wet, when the
Play Room flooded with water.