What they didn't tell you in 2007

Being New Year's Eve, the paper today has been full of "2007's Greatest and Biggest" - the things that made headlines in the past year. I found an interesting article on 2007's most underreported stories, though, that covered some of the things we didn't hear, but perhaps should have. Here is a selection from Medecins sans Frontieres' Top 10 list for 2007:

1. Somalia ... again.
The information age has given us a short attention span for human tragedy. A one-off tsunami that comes complete with dramatic images? We're transfixed. A 15-year-long humanitarian crisis that leaves hundreds of thousands of people homeless, waterless, foodless? Doesn't sell newspapers, so we don't talk about it much.

2. Zimbabwe ... again.
When our cricketers boycott a visit, we're interested. When 3,000 people a week die of AIDS-related illness, we're not all that keen to know. Another of Mugabe's grand achievements: the near collapse of a once decent health system.

3. A mega-killer disease outbreak
Our media loves to put the spotlight on the Meningococcal "outbreaks" that occur each year, when one or two people succumb to the disease. Nobody bats an eyelid at the 2 000 000 (that's 2 MILLION) people who die each year from tuberculosis. We're still using a dodgy test from the 1800s that only detects half of the incidences. Never mind. Tuberculosis is slowly developing drug resistance, so it's only a matter of time before it reaches the non-third-world population again. Perhaps then we'll put some money into research and development...

4. Shock! Miracle food can cure malnutrition!
I know the dilemma. Back in 1985, images of large-eyed and malnourished children staring at the camera drew a huge compassionate response, but now we're a little desensitised to the whole thing. But it is a little-known fact that a nutrient-rich alternative is potentially available to stave off malnutrition. Food that doesn't need refrigeration and can be delivered to hungry children who need it. Imagine if the front page headlines told us there was the potential to feed the hungry? ... Nah, you're right. The cocaine-using footballer is a much better seller...

5. Sri Lanka ... again.
See number 1. Except this time, the conflict between the Tamil tigers and Government forces has been going on for 25 years, not 15. Sorry, the media's not interested. Britney's 16 year old sister just got knocked up!!!

6. Democratic Republic of Congo ... again.
Once again it seems that conflict in African provinces doesn't make for good headlines. Never mind that Hutu rebels from the Rwandan conflict appear to have crossed the border to fight. Never mind that MSF have treated approximately 7400 rape victims at one hospital over 18 months. It's a long way away. Almost as far from us as Poor Anna Nicole Smith in the Caribbean...

7. Entire population of Sydney flees their homes! Well... not really...
Imagine the fuss that would be made if that really happened. Similar numbers have apparently had to leave their homes in Colombia as a result of the war over cartel control. But then, it's a long way away, so we don't talk about it much.

...I won't reproduce the entire list here. Go and visit the site. All 10 of the issues need to be read more than the fluff we've been fed this year.

Just wanted to say...

Merry Christmas, everyone! :)




I hope you have a joyous day.

Getting Crafty at Christmas

I'm always a fan of homemade Christmas goodies. Problem is, I'm not a particularly spectacular chef. So when a delicious and incredibly simple recipe falls into my lap, I'm all for it.

This recipe doesn't appear in a recipe book, as far as I know. I found it on, of all places, Colin Buchanan's King of Christmas DVD (see post below for link). It's so simple you can make it with your kids, but it tastes delicious, and if you don't let the cat out of the bag, people will generally think you've spent a great deal of time making them.

Mini Christmas Puddings

Ingredients
800g Dark Fruit Cake
375g Dark Chocolate Melts
250g White Chocolate Melts
Glace Cherries, to garnish

• - In a large mixing bowl, crumble the fruit cake into fine pieces
• - In Microwave, melt dark chocolate on medium heat until smooth
• - Pour melted dark chocolate over crumbled fruit cake and mix until fully combined.
• - Place a sheet of baking paper on a cookie tray.
  
• - Using a teaspoon, measure out small handfuls of mixture and roll into balls. Place balls on prepared cookie tray. When all mixture is measured out, place tray into fridge to set.
• - Chop glace cherries into very small pieces.
  
• - Melt white chocolate in microwave on medium heat.
• - Take cookie tray out of the fridge, and use a teaspoon to drizzle melted white chocolate over the mini puddings. Place two or three small cherry pieces on top of white chocolate before it sets.
• - Return puddings to the fridge to set.

For my christmas presents this year, I bought a set of pastel icecream bowls and filled them with the mini puds (see photo above). Wrapped in a sheet of clear cellophane and tied with a raffia ribbon, they really look lovely.

On Influence and growing...

My son's last afternoon of preschool was yesterday. He had a special Christmas party, and came home with an armful of goodies. Primary among them was a little cup of oats mixed with glitter. According to the helpful little label, it is

"Magical Reindeer Food: sprinkle this on your front lawn and it will direct Rudolph straight to your house!"

Now this caused some concern. At dinnertime, we asked our son what he'd been told about the reindeer food.

"You need to put the food out for the reindeer to eat!" was his response.
"Why do you need to put the food out?"
"So the reindeer will eat it."
"Which reindeer are we talking about?"
"The reindeer that eat the reindeer food"
"There aren't any reindeer in Australia"
"Yes there are. They eat the special reindeer food."

Glad we cleared that one up.

Christmas Ideas for Kids #3

Colin Buchanan is a favourite for kids, and over the years his children's music has become a mainstay of many a children's church program. His recent (well, 2006) King of Christmas album continues the tradition, and is available in CD and DVD (PAL) form.

For those of you who are tired of the "old favourites", this album is a welcome addition. Colin's musical style appears to be growing broader, so there are a variety of songs to appeal to all ages. There's a lot of humour too, some of which is definitely aimed at the parents (not rude, just grown-up). Amongst it all is an obvious desire to place Jesus firmly at the centre of the Christmas celebration.

The DVD adds some extra spice, too. There are funny parodies galore, from CSI to the local news and even to rapper music videos. There are also evidences of his day job at Playhouse Disney (and formerly ABC Playschool) - he takes us through a great recipe for mini chocolate Christmas Puddings that the kids can make (I've shamelessly borrowed it for my home-made Christmas gifts this year). His rendition of Go tell it to Australia is a particular favourite ("No Bells!").

Colin obviously has a fantastic sense of humour, and it permeates his work. If you're tired of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, go out and get this one now.

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged for the first time, so dutifully* here are my answers to this Christmas meme:

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, but gift bags to hold the collections of presents for each family (lots of cousins, now)
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. As it takes up so much storage space, we feel obligated to use it each year. I'd like to do a real one someday...
3. When do you put up your tree? Around the 1st of December. Begins the season of Advent.
4. When do you take the tree down? Around New Years' day. We had been waiting until Epiphany, but that is close to Boo's birthday, and it's easier to take it down early (the artificial pine needles would pop the party balloons).
5. Do you like eggnog? No. Just ... no.
6. Favourite gift received as a child? I still remember the Barbie campervan I received from my grandparents, so I guess that must have been a favourite.
7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Only on the kids' advent calendars. I've been trying to find a non-kitschy version for a while, now. I refuse to buy the blue-veiled Mary ones.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Grandmother-in-law. A combination of Type 2 diabetes, blindness and eczema makes it very difficult to find anything nice.
9. Easiest person to buy for? The kids. Toys are currently easy to get. One day they'll just want iPods for Christmas, at which point we'll be encouraging them to get a job.
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Walnut-covered Christmas cake. (Walnuts = screaming death for me. Well, almost.)
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, complete with gloss-over yearly letter (eek! I'm running late!)
12. Favorite Christmas movie? They're all mostly fluffy holiday fare, so I usually forget them rather quickly.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Around late June, early July. It's a brief period of birthday-free time that coincides with the end of financial year sales, so it suits the budget. We have a very heavy end-of-year time with lots of family birthdays.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I think I once passed on a nice skincare set that I had no use for.
15. Favorite things to eat at Christmas? Mini chocolate Christmas puddings (shamelessly stolen from Colin's Christmas DVD!). Dad does a great roast dinner for Christmas lunch (I miss them), complete with a choice of lamb,turkey or ham. We eat rather well then...
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Coloured low-voltage LED sparkly things. They are only switched on every couple of nights - I'm rather forgetful.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Lots. Colin Buchanan's King of Christmas CD has some new favourites. Of the older hymns, I prefer the Coventry Carol, Gabriel's message, or O Holy Night.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay in town for church services, travel to husband's family for lunch, then down to Sydney on Boxing Day. Last year we did the whole lot in a single day, which I wouldn't recommend.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I refuse to on the grounds that it's a schmaltzy Bing Crosby song.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star. It worries me that people have started calling the angel "the Christmas Fairy".
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas day is flat out, so we usually let the kids open one present the night before, and the rest in the morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Santa. Nicholas would be absolutely livid to think that his charitable work has been bastardised to such a selfish and greedy extent.
23. What is the "corniest" family tradition you do, or miss doing? We do the advent calendar each year, so the kids put on a new sticker each day as the day gets nearer. When I was a kid we had a corny tradition of putting biscuits and milk for Santa, and a carrot out for the reindeer. I don't think we'll be continuing that one!
24. Ugliest Christmas Decoration ever invented? The spraypainted gold gumnut with fake berries.
25. Which looks the best, theme trees or homey trees? We have a blue/silver/mauve themed tree, which I liked when we first bought it. However, we've started a tradition of the kids getting one new decoration each year, so it's transforming into a more homey, happy tree. I think I prefer the sentimental value.
26. What does Christmas mean to you? A time to thank God that he sent Jesus to us in human form. Being a mother now, that process is mindboggling.

If you've had fun reading this list and would like to give it a go, consider yourself tagged.

* Who am I kidding? I have a blog, so obviously I'm happy to talk about myself... :)

Mind-boggling lunacy, or is it just too late at night?

Here's something I am struggling to understand: the current plans for a Desalination plant in Sydney. My problems are as follows:

1. In an era of concern over greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, why did the government choose to build a very expensive and very high greenhouse gas emitter?

2. Why is Sydney Water leaving a $2 billion installation cost out of its expense calculations?

3. Why are they going to run it even when dams are 70-80% full, when as the article above mentions 58% will do the city for 6 years?

4. Why build it when most Sydneysiders don't want it anyway???

I can't help thinking that Bob Carr did some dodgy dealings before he did a runner, and locked the state into an expensive contract of some sort. But then, I am writing late at night, so I might just be a little delirious. If you have any insight on this matter, please enlighten me.

Just when you thought you'd seen it all

Last week, we dealt with our first experience of the pestilence: headlice. Never, never, never, never, never want to deal with that again, but probably will have to once they go to school. *sigh*

Anyway, I was surfing around at thinkgeek.com - a great website to find funny and geeky presents for the nerd in your life - and I came across this:

Yup. They've made them into a plush toy. Just so your kids can get a different view of the little vermin.

Also comes in salmonella, bubonic plague, syphillis, or the common cold (among others).

I think I'd prefer the brain cell. It's cuter.

Must be getting old...

OK, I just have to get this out, and then I'll be fine.

Something that is currently bugging me is the spread of SMS "txt" to everyday life. It really annoys me. I have absolutely no problem with abbreviated text on the small phone of a mobile. After all, you pay for a lack of brevity, so you don't want to be typing full words all the time. However, it reeeeeeeeeeally gets me when I'm travelling through Facebook groups, or looking at web pages and suddenly I'm assaulted by something like:

"hi evry1! hope u all r gr8 wats happening."

The Panda is not amused...

One of those days...

It's my regular solo Thursday, and I thought I was doing well tonight. At first, anyway. There were no frazzled nerves, and the kids managed to finish their dinner in under an hour (though they missed out on dessert due to a bit of silliness). As a reward, I let them play for a little while as I cleaned up in the kitchen and finished off the vacuuming. All the while, I was thinking how nice the night was for a change.

How wrong I was.

In the minute I was absent vacuuming our bedroom, my daughter had found a bottle of sunscreen, opened it, and proceeded to "help mummy with the cleaning". She cleaned nice little white patches onto our brown leather lounge, our dark blue fabric lounge, the carpet, her brother's wardrobe door, the coffee table, a couple of dining chairs, and other equally lovely places. Meanwhile, my son, in his "short" trip to the toilet, had proceeded to attempt to flush an entire roll of toilet paper - including cardboard inner tube - down the toilet.

Well, at least (most of) the carpet was clean...

Can't Help Myself... Bad Habits...

Once again I am reminded of my role in developing my children's habits.

In the past week or so, my son has become particularly bad at interrupting us. All the time. In every discussion.

When I try and ask him to put away his toys, or get ready for dinner, or some such thing, he will break into my sentence with a condescending voice to impart some sort of information. Often what he says has absolutely nothing to do with what I am trying to ask of him. Just random observations about life, the universe and everything. It has been very frustrating.

Then I realised why he was doing it. It wasn't that he was being intentionally rude. It was just that he thought normal conversations took that course. He imitates me.

*blush*

I'm now trying to be a better listener.

Vocab 4 th brav nu wld

SMS and net language is everywhere, now. Acronyms are developing their own pronunciation and making the transition to everyday language. Here are some funny little ones:

pwnd - sprung out of bad typing, and now peppered everywhere. Pronounced "owned", it comes from the online gaming forums where overexcited people typed "P" instead of "O" when they beat someone. Now used to refer to someone beating someone else soundly in a game, or making a winning remark in discussion/argument.

zomg - pronounced "Zo-meg", a general expression of extreme excitement or surprise.

noob - back when I was at uni, the term was "newbie". It referred to anyone who was new to a forum who made silly comments, or who made it really obvious that they didn't know what they were doing. Noob takes less effort to type, and sometimes substitutes zeroes for the O's. Seen more often in gaming circles, now.

Reflections from a Teacher

On Monday I had a rare opportunity to go to a conference. It was rare because 1) I don't get to go to conferences often, and 2) I don't get to listen to sermons or talks without interruption anymore, due to small children fighting in the cry-room. At least, not in the flesh. There are some podcasts I subscribe to so that I can hear talks while houseworking...

The talks were on 2 Timothy, and they were very refreshing. One of the things that I've been challenged about recently is teachability. As a teacher, I have become accustomed to several things that aren't helpful for Christian growth (or the long-term spiritual health of those I teach!):

1. The bible becomes a textbook. In the rush of modern life, our bible reading time can become our preparing-for-the-next-lesson time. When this happens, we look to the passage for what we can tell other people, rather than what God is trying to tell us. It's a subtle shift, but it ends up making us somewhat immune to God's voice. We become the authority over God's word, rather than God's word being the authority over us.
   
2. People become students, rather than fellow-journeyfolk. In pastoral ministry, if teachers aren't able to be taught themselves, they begin to treat other Christians as projects, rather than fellow believers. This can be exaggerated by the congregation - they see the pastor or teacher as invulnerable, and the teacher begins to believe it. We feel unable to share our vulnerability with those around us, and that makes us even more vulnerable to pride, arrogance, and the big crash into sin that creeps up ever so slowly.
   
3. We struggle to hear other teachers. At college, you're taught how to critique other students' sermons in order to help them get better at preaching. It's a good idea to work as a team, but it's an unhelpful habit that we don't lose once we leave college. Instead of sitting under someone's teaching on a Sunday, we can quietly think about alternative illustrations that would have worked better, or better ways to put the point. The word of God remains an intellectual exercise. It's the most dangerous position for it to be, for when we cease to allow our hearts to be challenged and changed by God's spirit, we are like the false teachers in 2 Timothy, "having a form of godliness, but denying its power."
   

I was reminded this morning of an old Petra song (showing my age!):

Don't let your heart be hardened
Don't let your love grow cold
May it always stay so childlike
May it never grow too old

Don't let your heart be hardened
May you always know the cure
Keep it broken before Jesus
Keep it thankful, meek and pure

Or as Jesus said:
"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

I need to keep on reminding myself to be humble, teachable and open-hearted, like a child meeting their saviour for the first time.

Christmas Ideas for Kids #2

A musical theme to this post. If you are tired of the constant sounds of the Wiggles or Playschool playing in the background as you drive, then you might be ready for some new music. The following are a few good CDs you might like to check out...

This one's for the preschoolers and early school-aged kids. J is for Jesus is a great CD, with lots of good, simple songs for the young. It's a follow-up album to this one:

Both include vocals from Karen Pang, who will be known to many Australian preschoolers as one of the presenters on ABC's Playschool. A Very Very Very Big God looks at simple concepts like God made the world, God made me, God loves me, Jesus died for me. It works wonders with our littlies Sunday School group.

If your child is older, and not quite as excited about actions to the "Hello Song", then this one might be more for you:
Get Ready! By Dr Rocktrin and the Groovemeisters is also a great album, with songs aimed at the upper primary level. Some of the songs are serious, some silly, some just fun. All of them give a great message about Jesus, the bible, and our need for salvation.

You can check them all out, and hear sample tracks on the Emu Music website. Enjoy!

All over now.

The election's all over now. I was impressed with the gentlemanly speech of John Howard and the grace with which he handed over the reins to Kevin Rudd. It made a great change to the nastiness of the electoral comments that I heard going to the polling booth, yesterday. I'm amazed at the venom that was expended upon the poor volunteers handing out how to vote slips. Very poor form.

Democracy is a good thing in many ways. It's a great opportunity to have your say as a nation on who you think will be the right person to lead the country. Time will now tell whether the country has made the right decision. In everything, God is in control, working through our leaders. We pray that our new leaders will now make wise decisions.

An irony of the election was the campaign for our local member. When your platform is "New Leadership", how do you sell a bloke who's as old as the prime minister and has been kicking around state politics since the 70s?

"Experience Counts"

Funny thing. The irony was completely missed by most people.

To Santa, or not to Santa?

Christmas always brings with it interesting pressures: the budgetary pressure, the pressure to find appropriate presents for the one-who-has-it-all, the pressure to see family in disparate locations, the pressure to get Christmas cards out, the pressure to have a nice time in the middle of all the pressure.

There's another pressure that we're beginning to feel in our family: the pressure to Santa.

Image (c) Coca-Cola (r) company, c. 1963

Santa is an interesting entity. He has several godlike attributes: he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good... (you know the rest)

It seems as the years pass that Santa is becoming the god of presents. We erect little (or enormous and inflatable) Santa idols in our yard, though nobody specifically bows down and worships him. We lay out little offerings to him on Christmas eve in the form of biscuits and milk (no wonder he's so portly). Our children write prayers in the form of letters to petition Santa for the presents they want. We tell our children that they have to behave a certain way, or Santa won't bless them with the goodies they've asked for. With overfull credit cards, parents sometimes hope that Santa will really deliver the gifts they need for their kids.

I know. You'll say "It's only a bit of fun!"

At SRE, I hear differently. The way some children talk about Santa is the way others talk about Jesus. In the minds of children Santa is as real as Mum and Dad, except better.
The question I ask is: are we doing our kids damage when we talk about Santa in similar ways to Jesus? When they hit 11 or 12 (or earlier) and find out that Santa's a myth, will that lead them to question the veracity of all the other unseen figures that their parents have been teaching them about? Or am I just being a party pooper and spoiling the world of imagination for kids?

Love to hear your thoughts...

Christmas Ideas for kids #1

One of the things I'm occasionally asked to do is to provide ideas for suitable Christian materials that parents can give their children. I've been looking around for Christmas gifts, and here's the first of a few that I've found:


I found this book in Angus & Robertson this week. It was a refreshing change from the large display of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which gives me the shivers (If you don't want to follow the link, just remember to never buy these books for your kids, and don't take them to see The Golden Compass unless you want them to be exposed to Anti-God ideas).

Geraldine McCaughrean writes a lot of books around medieval and fairy-like ideas, but this book is based on the birth of Jesus. She very cleverly imagines what Joseph might be wondering after his wife gives birth to the Son of God. Apart from a small reference to angels "roosting", it's a fantastic book. Well worth a look.

Unfinished business

A friend is a whiz at embroidery and crafty things. Reading her blog today, I was reminded again of my own unfinished projects, which, to my shame, have been on the boil for over two years now...

This first, and larger, cross stitch is almost complete. All I have to do is finish some fiddly backstitch around the border for the flower stems.


This one is supposed to have the same border and story fragment as the larger one. My intention was to convert it into a Birth sampler for Boo, rather than repeating the "sniffle sniffle snuffle" story fragment. It still needs the border and backstitch detail to finish, though the guts of the Tiggywinkle figure are complete.

My original idea was to have a Beatrix Potter-themed nursery. She'll be at school by the time it's finished at the rate I'm going!

Social Embarrassment

My son has picked up a bad habit from both sets of grandparents, and on Wednesday it caused a stir at playgroup.

I was standing inside talking to a few other mums when another mum came in and said,

"I just thought you'd like to know that your son has just pulled his pants down and wee'd on the grass."


We didn't teach him that!!!!

Learning words

The acquisition of language is a fascinating thing to me. As babies grow into toddlerhood, the development of language is like islands of meaning gradually appearing out of the fog of babble. For Boo, it has happened in jumps: she suddenly appears to acquire new sentences, rather than simply grasping individual words. Yesterday she sat on the floor and announced "I sit down" for the first time. It was very cute.

She has a mild tongue tie, so there is a soft, lispy quality to her speech that makes it quite cute. We're torn over whether to move to medical intervention, as she has no visible difficulty in swallowing, talking or movement. The problem first appeared when I struggled to feed her at birth: her tongue tie made latching very difficult, and coupled with her independent nature we only lasted 4 and a half months (translation: she got too impatient and preferred the bottle). She can poke her tongue out beyond her lips, so there shouldn't be a major issue. The worst that can happen, it seems, is that she'll be teased by schoolmates because she can't touch her nose with her tongue.

Here's a mini glossary of some of her favourite terms:

• Iyike cuggle = I would like a cuddle
• Wibbles! = The Wiggles
• Daddy hoss = Daddy is giving me a horsy ride
• Iyike dissh, Iyike dissh = singing her favourite song "I like noise, I like quiet"
• I sit down = I have sat down
• Iyike daps, pweeshe Mum = I like stamps please Mum
• Book weed = Read a book
• Payshool = play school
• Dohwee! = Dolly or Dora the Explorer
• Pay peese Mum = please play with my toys with me
• Jimmy hut mee = Jimmy hurt me, please inflict vengeance.
• Choc = clock (watch)
• Chocok = chocolate
• Poo = "Winnie the Pooh" or "please change my nappy now"
  

Feeding the hungry, click by click...

Back when I was at uni, the internet buzz was about the Hungersite, a place where you apparently clicked a button to donate a teeny amount of money to charity. I visited it regularly, then wondered if anything actually happened, and then stopped altogether.

Well, the site's back in a new form. Now, rather than having us mindlessly pressing a "Click Here" button, you can engage your brain while getting other people to pay for food. It's called Freerice.com, and it really does work. And it's added an incentive game to keep you clicking more than once. A vocabulary test.

For every vocabulary question you get right, a small number of grains of rice are donated to charity by the sponsors of the site. I visited, and kept having to repress the mental image of some poor retired person meticulously counting out the ten grains for each correct click.

"Barry, they've got another question right. Put another ten in the bag!"
"Yes, Marge"
"Another question, Barry! Have you finished that lot? They've got another question right. Put another ten grains in the bag, Barry. Did you hear me?"
"Yes, Marge"

Sorry. It's just my twisted imagination. Visit the site. Hopefully you can get more than my attempt of 46 vocabulary points!

Thought for the day

Heard in a sermon recently:

If you are a follower of Jesus, this life is the closest to hell you will ever experience.
If you are not a follower of Jesus, this life is the closest to heaven you will ever get.



There's something in that for all of us...

Things my kids say too often...

• Mine!
• Mees!
• Dat's NOT YOURS!!
  
• WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Things I say too often...

Here are some of the phrases I would like to stop saying quite so much...

• Not now, [insert child's name], Mummy is busy
• Boo, stop squealing
• Please stop daydreaming, and eat your dinner
• Don't take that away from your sister
• Share!!!!
• I'll come and play soon, I just have to...
• Stop that!
• No!

1,2,3... Awww

Romance is going all techie these days. Take this recent example:

A guy recently proposed to his girlfriend of two years on Halo 3 (that's an X-Box shoot-em-up game where you can play against people online). He set up a specially prepared map where he wrote "Marry Me" in weapons. She said yes.

Image from Xbox.com

They're obviously soulmates! :)

Simple pleasures

I've spoken about it before, but expense is no guarantee of success with kids. Here are the latest examples from Boo:

Favourite game: Bubble blowing. Cost: $1.50
Favourite accessory: Pink plastic toy watch from Christmas cracker (last year). Cost: $0.00 to us
Favourite toy: Laundry basket car/boat or book motorbike. Cost: $10?

You can forget all the big, flashy toy sales. The action's in the imagination...

Measuring success, part 1

It's a question that frequently pops up for us in our ministry: "How do you measure success?"

For many people, success in ministry = numbers attending. It's an easy measure of success - you must be doing something right if you've got the numbers following. It's a feelgood measure of success - leaders can pat themselves on the back when they've got hundreds (or even thousands) lapping up their every word. It's sometimes an arrogant measure of success: you look down your nose at those struggling ministries that just don't have the numbers - well, they must be doing something wrong...

Numbers is a dangerous game to play, but it's one I've been tempted to fall for because it's so visual. Everyone notices when your ministry is full. Numbers breed more numbers. Numbers make you feel good. Likewise, people notice when your ministry seems to struggle for numbers.

But it doesn't work. After all, if your only measure of success is numbers, then you'll do pretty much anything in your ministry to make the numbers expand. For example, in youth ministry there's a very easy way to boost numbers: turn your youth group into a pick-up joint. It's quite simple. You play games (lots of games) that give kids a chance to "legitimately" have physical contact with the opposite sex. You also provide activities (like movie nights with lots of cushions) that are conducive to forming relationships with said people, and you back off on any kind of heavy bible teaching. After all, kids don't want to be told how to live. They want to discover the joy of living for themselves...


What's wrong with this picture?

Limitations of language

It's a fairly common observation that the English language is lacking in certain respects. The fact that we only have one word for love is a key example "I love chocolate, I love watching movies, I love my husband".

Another limitation is the word "right". When my children tell me the correct answer to a question, my usual response is "That's right."

It's recently put me in trouble - mainly because of Eldest's newfound insecurity in putting his own shoes on. The evidence:

"Mummy, is this the right foot?"

"No darling, that's your left foot."

"Is this shoe right?"

"No darling, that's the left shoe"

Eldest puts left shoe on left foot.

"Is this the right shoe?"

"Yes darling, that's right."

"But this is my left foot."

"Yes, that's right ... er... correct."

Toddlerspeak, episode 467

Sometimes frustrating, sometimes patience-testing, toddlerspeak can also be quite funny.

Eldest's current toddlerspeak: "That's my favourite in de whole world!"

Used for: spaghetti, every toy in his room, every DVD he has ever watched, every TV program he's allowed to see, every game he's ever played, doughnuts, biscuits (any variety), all the books on his bookshelf, every colour of crayon in the crayon tin. Or for any item he wants you to buy/get down from the shelf/open/let him use.

I think we have some educating to do...

It's late, so just one more

Found a cute website today. It's called I Can Has Cheezburger. This photo is from said site.

Henceforth she shall be called...

Youngest had hair in pigtails today. She looked like this:


Henceforth she shall be called "Boo".

Hint: if you don't know who the picture is, watch the Disney Pixar movie, "Monsters, Inc."

Argh! I'm a fraud!

Yep, I'm going to have to change the name of the blog, it seems.
Today I did one of those online IQ test-thingies. Apparently I have an IQ of 143.

I guess the babies haven't completely stolen my brain after all.

Darn. Need another excuse for my absent-minded behaviour...

Am I too lenient?

Teaching kids has its moments.

In my regular weekly class, the kids seem to constantly test the boundaries. One of the kids tries it on to see if he can shock me with "outrageous" questions. Another seems to get his sense of security in being the centre of attention. Once he's assured of his privileged place in the pecking order, he'll sit down to listen to what you have to say. Still another will listen quietly as long as there's a Freddo at the end of the lesson. If not, he pretends that he's not at all interested.

Today I wondered if I'd been too lenient. I admit, it's hard to gain acceptance when you're only there for half an hour a week. But in my quest to reach the kids, had I let too much get past me? To be honest, I didn't immediately reprimand the boy who called me a name today. I only stepped up the discipline when one of the other kids said "You can't call her that!" (it wasn't a swear word, so I sat him facing the wall all lesson. His teachers thought otherwise, and he's been given a detention).

It's an interesting balance. I am in a position of authority, so I need to be respected. But I also come with an important message, that needs to be listened to. I'd far rather it was heard willingly than reluctantly, so I try not to be draconian. But when you struggle to be heard, yelling and threatening is a highly tempting course of action...

Great lessons to learn for future teaching years.

I won't give in to stereotypes!!!

...but it's hard not to sometimes. Youngest is currently exhibiting a lot of character traits that have traditionally been labelled "female".

When I was young, the anti-gender-stereotyping movement was in full swing. Girls weren't to be given dolls, they were to be given books, trucks, toy medical kits. Boys were to be allowed to play with dolls and dress them. Jemima on Play school was always the builder or doctor.

The problem is, my kids just seem to naturally flow into their stereotypical gender roles. I'm not trying too hard to buck against the system, but at the same time I'm not out there buying "Baby Born" dolls so my daughter can change dirty nappies. She just seems to want to play with girlie things. For example, last Christmas we gave her a Fisher Price zoo - it had little animals and a little zookeeper in a cart. At the same time her grandparents gave her a house in the same series, complete with Mummy, Daddy and Baby. She shows little to no interest in the zoo, and just wants to play with her dolls' house.

I've got to stop buying pink clothes.

Gadget Girl strikes again...

Ok, so here are my justifications:

1. Game consoles generally provide a choice of death, speeding, death, or violence in their line-up of games to play. There needs to be something suitable for smaller children.
2. I need exercise, so the chance to flail my arms wildly instead of just pressing buttons is appealing at various times. Our long winters make it difficult to get exercise.
   
3. We don't have room for a treadmill in our house.

These are the (supposedly) grown-up reasons I gave myself in order to provide permission to get one of these for my birthday:
Serious gamers may scoff. Non-gamers are probably thinking, "Why????"

It's just fun. Oh, and we've already broken one of our light fittings...

And now for something completely different...

I'm a bit of a dunce as far as the garden goes ... well, let's say I'm a work in progress. I know the difference between a rose and a camellia, but there are some plants that have me stumped. Take the picture above, for example.

No idea what it is.

For most of the year, it provides a haven to the plague of sparrows we currently suffer. However, around early October (mid-Spring in the southern hemisphere), it becomes absolutely covered in these bright blue blooms. Despite its vermin-attracting qualities, I can't bring myself to get rid of it. Too pretty.
We have two similar bushes (second picture is a different specimen). They might be of the same variety - the flowers are similar. But the leaves seem slightly different. I can't find a picture of them anywhere in my small horticultural library.

Any ideas?

"The violence didn't win"

The little boy had a name. Dean. He was only two.


You might be wondering why I've started harping on about this case. After all, the media memory for sensational events is a few days, and soon we all wonder when it's time to move on. It's partly it's because I share the community grief about what has happened. Partly it's because I went to preschool a few blocks away from where the suitcase was found. Mainly, though, it's because a friend of ours is the little boy's great aunt. At the moment, we are sharing in her grief.

Yesterday, a memorial service was held at the pond for the family to attend. The indigenous minister from Tregear led the service, and some friends from an Islander church provided music. The atmosphere was in stark contrast to the news reports that were published last night. Instead of crowds baying for blood, a family came to grieve and yet trust in the God who is in control. As one person who was there said, the whole thing proclaimed "The violence didn't win". God is on the throne, in spite of everything.

Please pray for this family, some of whom are Christian, some who do not know Jesus. Pray for them in their grief. Pray for them as the court case begins to roll along, that they will not join in the bloodthirstiness of others who are justifiably angry. God is already working in this situation. Please pray that through the darkness others will come to see his Light.

The Mob responds

I think I've mentioned before that being a mother of small children does funny things to you. The care and love you have for the vulnerable little lives that God has entrusted to you makes you protective, or sensitive to outside stimuli that would previously have only caused a brief moment of concern.

There are certain TV shows I just can't watch anymore: the subject matter is too raw to handle. I find it hard to see how the threat of harm to a child can be entertainment, even if the actors portray people who are deeply affected by it. Real life events are even worse.

Last week an event happened that hit me. A two year old boy, his body left in a suitcase in a duckpond to be found by other children. So vulnerable, yet left in such a public space. When the Sydney Morning Herald published a photo of his little body on its front page, I was furious. He'd already been treated with contempt by his family, and now the media were treating him with a callousness that belied the mock concern of the headlines. To make matters worse, Channel 7 duplicated the SMH's "mistake" - even repeating it on their evening news tonight, days after the event.

It's both a comfort and a concern that I'm not the only one who has been troubled by this event. I have seen tears in the eyes of fathers who hold their sons close - they too know how it feels to love their little one. Just like them, I've hugged my children and told them that I loved them many times in recent days. But I've concern for the mob. Shared grief and concern all too quickly turns to anger and blame. We are saddened that this has happened, grieved that someone so small could be left in such a horrible way. How quickly that sadness turns to anger, to a bloodthirstiness that leads people to scream "hang her!" at the alleged perpetrator. How quickly the grief turns to a morbid curiosity, and people make "pilgrimages", driving for an hour or more to visit the location. It becomes like the scene of a car accident: we worry about the fate of the people in the vehicles, but we can't help ourselves from slowing down to see the carnage.

And now for something completely different...

Found this over at Christian Cheese:
It's funny, but it's not funny because we sometimes think like that, but then that's funny, too...


...I'm confused...


P.S. there are some truly scary things over there at the moment, including a Jesus doll that talks... *shudder*

We're Going on a Book Hunt

Well, it's happened. The Book Club is beginning! If you're interested, you can find us at We're Going on a Book Hunt.

Come along and join us!

Growing up

An update on eldest's day today:

He has struggled to go off to creche at church. Every week there would be fountains of tears, screaming, pincer-grasps of my leg. I mentioned this fact to the preschool teacher and she very condescendingly let me know that I could call later in the afternoon to see how he was doing.

I didn't call. I wasn't going to be that mother.

Today he went off and happily started painting, and I felt terrible slipping away without saying goodbye. When the day finished and we arrived to pick him up (youngest had been walking around for some time calling his name, so we all went to get him), he came running out with an enormous grin, and showed me the work he'd been doing. He hadn't seemed to miss us at all.

It's a bit of a wrench when they don't seem to need you as much anymore...

Another Milestone

Eldest is hitting another milestone today: he's off to preschool for the first time.

When I was growing up, I never understood why adults always said "they grow up so fast, don't they?"


Now I know.

Puritan quote for the day

Just finished an interesting article on Sandemanianism which was sent to me today by a friend. The article's worth a read. I was quite struck by the quote at the end, by Jonathan Edwards:

"God glorifies himself towards the creatures in two ways: one, by appearing to their understanding, and two, by communicating himself to their hearts and in their rejoicing and delighting in and enjoying the manifestations which he makes of himself. God is glorified not only by his glories being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it, his glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart."

There's something in that, isn't there! :)

Book Club, Anyone?

OK, this may well be doomed to failure, but I thought it would be worth a go anyway! :)

Today I picked up a book from the Koorong catalogue (for those non-Aussies, Koorong is an Australian Christian bookstore). The book is called Women, Ministry and the Gospel: Exploring New Paradigms. It's a collection of essays presented at the 2005 Wheaton College Theology conference.

Now this seems like a really interesting book. The problem is, with my current small children and brain-eaten situation, I have a great deal of trouble sitting down and reading an entire "thinking" book from beginning to end. Trashy, useless novels? No problem. Important theological discussions? Whew. Too much hard work!
So, with sudden flash of inspiration, I wondered if there was anyone who'd be interested in reading it along with me - someone to keep me accountable, as it were!

The idea is, we'd go through a chapter or two a week, and discuss it on this blog. Each chapter is a self-contained essay looking at different issues within the bible, gender and ministry. It would be a great opportunity to interact with each others' ideas, and look at where some elements of contemporary scholarship are sitting on these issues. A chapter a week isn't too much - most chapters are only about 20 pages.

So who's in? If you'd like to get yourself a copy, you can find it here, or here, or here. (NB: some sites have prices in US currency or Australian currency).

What would you do?

Here's a question for the ministry-minded...

Imagine you were going to move your (Protestant) church to a new building. The land's been purchased. The old one sold. Where do you meet in the interim?

There's a couple of buildings in town, but the local Catholic church has offered to let you meet in one of their churches for free.

What do you do?

Random Supermarket observations

Ran to the shops for milk this morning, and noticed a few things:

• Early mornings are a good time to go to the supermarket, because the huge displays of chocolate biscuits at the aisle-ends just gross you out. Late afternoon shops always result in at least one packet of Tim Tams, if not one of each variety. Ditto for potato chips.
  
• The Kraft Singles packets make no mention of "cheese".
  
• Placing a picture of the Wiggles on a product instantly makes it delicious in the eyes of a three year old.

Spring in the Garden

I love Spring.

The garden is positively blooming at the moment. It's such a nice change from the cold, cold winter.


I'm also really excited that the tulips have blossomed. Never managed that before!

Learning to read

Books are a big deal for our kids. This morning I had some rare quality time with second-born, who woke up half an hour earlier than her brother. We sat on the lounge together and she brought numerous board books over to be read, one at a time. It was lovely.

Later, firstborn pulled out his favourite book. Not to read, however.

Noooo. That would be far too simple.

Turning the book on its spine, he turned it into a "motorbike", and rode it around the house, crashing onto the floor numerous times. His sister joined in, complete with the "ohhhh...cwash!" at the end.

I don't know where he gets it from.

The Christian and Depression

On Sunday, we had a special youth service on the topic "the Christian and Depression", and an old college friend of ours came up to speak. He chose Psalm 88 as his text, the only psalm not to have an uplifting "but I will trust in the Lord". It was a great night, and a really helpful talk.

As Christians, we can be spectacularly unhelpful in our response to depression or other mental illness. Here are some of the ways we might stuff up:

1. You're a Christian, you shouldn't be depressed!
The first way shows a misunderstanding of what being a Christian means. Sometimes people preach the gospel as if to say, "Believe in Jesus, and your life will be a bunch of roses". But being a Christian doesn't make us immune from depression any more than it makes us immune from the flu. We're saved by grace into a living hope, but it's not until Christ's return that we are promised that "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain" (Rev 21:4). We still live in a fallen world, and part of that fallenness is the Black Dog.

2. You musn't have enough faith. Bad Christian, Bad!
This is a worsening of the first way we can be unhelpful to people who are struggling with depression. Sadly, some sections of the church believe that if we have enough faith, we will automatically be healthy, wealthy and wise. The flipside of that is that if you aren't healthy, wealthy or wise, you therefore don't believe enough. So on top of the enormous burden of depression that people suffer, we add the burden of guilt and despair.

3. I've only got 5 minutes over a cuppa...
It's fairly common these days for people you pass in the street to say "Hi! How are you?" as they pass, clearly not waiting for a response. Our Sunday after-the-service conversations can be almost as bad. Sure, we're usually at least mildly interested in how people are doing, but if they've got real problems we nod, smile politely, and then look for the quickest way to get out of the conversation. It's little wonder that many people who suffer with depression learn to avoid social contact, or hide behind a veneer of "I'm fine thanks".

4. Aren't you better yet?
Us Aussies have notoriously short attention spans. You only have to look at Australian Idol to see: we're great at cheering for the battler, but as soon as the lights have faded, they're ancient history. We love the 60 minute story arc - our hero begins facing grave difficulties, but with a lot of heroicism overcomes between the ad breaks. Even our sermons tie up neatly with the 5-minute application.
Depression doesn't work that way. It's often around for the long haul.

5. I've been sad, too.
Sometimes we can show a classic lack of understanding about what depression really is. We try to empathise and say "Yeah, I know how you feel" without actually knowing, and end up showing that we really have no idea. This can drive a person who's depressed even further away, and make them think you aren't interested in them at all. I once heard someone say "Yes, I felt depressed once. I just threw myself into the housework, and it fixed everything up."

6. The depression-cure vending machine
As part of our short attention spans, we often try the "quick fix" therapy method. It often turns into advice like "Just pray about it"/"Think of how wonderful heaven will be!"/"Fix your eyes on Jesus!"/"Pull yourself together!" While it's good for someone who is depressed to pray or to know that they won't be depressed in heaven, depression is not cured by quick-fix methods. Sometimes it can't be completely cured at all. We don't like that idea, do we?

7. Nothing to see here! (The not-the-Good-Samaritan approach)
Probably the worst way we can be unhelpful is to live in denial. We see someone who clearly appears to be struggling, and like the Levite in Jesus' parable we cross the road to the other side. There's no Depression here! We're all Christians! We're all victorious! That person who wishes they were dead is not really thinking that at all. Don't mention the war!

As our friend said on Sunday, if Psalm 88 is in the bible, it shows that we shouldn't be sweeping depression under the carpet. Depression is not shameful. Let our friends who are depressed be honest, rather than hide what they're dealing with.

Movies for the kiddies

As our eldest child grows up, we've started thinking about whether to take him to the movies yet, and what to see. It's not a huge choice - there are usually only one movie that would even remotely be suitable for a preschooler.

The issue we wrestle with at the moment is the opacity of the current ratings system. Sure, you have more info than we had as kids, but what on earth does "Mild violence" mean? Is it the kind of cartoon "bop on the head", or something that would give our son nightmares?

There is a solution. I found this great website called "Kids in Mind". It's a movie ratings site that specifically goes through and gives you detailed info on what the "mild violence" is. And it provides you with a three-point ratings system based on the levels of sex/violence/swearing in the movie.

Sometimes it seems to go overboard, but if you're the kind of parent that wants to know exactly what's in the movie before you go, then check it out. Then make up your own mind whether your little ones would enjoy it or not!

Personality, schmersonality

Today, I took one of those online Myers-Briggs tests. Once again, it seems that I've changed in my designation.

Apparently, I'm now an INTP, otherwise known as an "Engineer" or "Absent-Minded Professor"

What the - ?

Well, perhaps the Absent-minded bit isn't too far off the mark, but Engineer I definitely am not!


Now where did I leave my sunglasses...?

(If you want to see what the test said about me, check here)

Edit: OK, so I spent a little more time reading the profile, and while I still disagree with the term "Engineer", here's what the site summarised:

"INTPs are logical, individualistic, reserved, and very curious individuals. They focus on ideas, theories and the explanation of how things work. They are especially adept at discussions and debate. They have the ability to focus intently on a subject. They appreciate and respect intelligence in others."

I'd have to agree with that.

Frazzled

Some nights are just tough - particularly when I'm doing the dinner/bath/bed/storytime thing all by myself. Patience wears thin, and I find myself struggling to keep a civil tone as the kids go nuts (they're tired and crabby, too!).
Colin Buchanan's written a song for families to remember in times like this:

Press On, Mums

Press on, Mums
In all the chaos
Look to Jesus through the tears
Press on, Mums
God will guide you
Through those precious, tender years

Chorus
And in all you do do it for Jesus
Who won you life and free forgiveness
Yesterday, today
He is the same
All you do
Do it in Jesus' name

Press on, Dads
Love your wife
Serve your children
Set the pace
Press on Dads
Seize the moment
Show them Jesus
Run the race

Chorus

Press on, kids
God adores you
He will hear you when you pray
Press on, kids
Love your family
Honour, serve
Forgive, obey

Chorus

...and when all your human energy is gone
Look towards your Jesus and press on

Words and music by Colin Buchanan (c) 2007 Universal Music Publishing (Aust)

Those last two lines are what I need to remember on nights like this. Strength to love even when you're bone tired...

:)

Weathering

I can't tell you how wonderful it's been to have sunny Spring weather again. A month ago, we were all staggering around under the weight of scarves, beanies, heavy overcoats and 14 layers of clothing. Now, the sun has appeared and life is beautiful.

It wasn't until the sun came out that I realised how much the weather had been affecting our collective mood. When we were in the middle of a rainy, freezing winter, lots of things happened:

• People didn't go out as much, because the weather was bad. Constant life indoors makes you stir crazy.
  
• People who did go out noticed the absence of those who didn't. Emptier churches made you sad, and less inclined to go the next week.
  
• Cold, grey days made for cold, grey people. The depression levels in our community rose considerably.
  
• When people are cold and miserable, sometimes they assume that it's someone else's fault. Complaints rose considerably.
• If you're complained to on a regular basis, you tend to pass it on. If not, you just internalise it and wonder what's wrong with you.

I've known about SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) for some time now, but this is the most extreme demonstration of its existence I have yet had. My resolution for next winter is not to be discouraged about winter-negativity, but to try and understand. It's not them.
It's the rain.

Happy Fathers' Day!

Is it just me, or are celebratory days becoming less about celebration and more about buying expensive stuff?

Why does love have to be measured by the size/expense/complexity of the present you get for someone?

Just wondering. Once upon a time, Mothers' day used to consist of running out to pick some Chrysanthemums growing in the garden. Now we have to buy the present, the wrapping paper, the card, and the flowers or else we're just not quite cutting it as far as familial love goes.

Believe what???

Quick postscript to the new toddler bed (see post below):

It's one of those pink plastic ones (chosen for budgetary reasons rather than taste) with pictures of princesses on the headboard. We bought it out of a catalogue and it came in flatpack form, so it wasn't until we were constructing the thing that we discovered its little "slogan for life"...

Believe in your dreams...

So many problems with this. So many. For a start, the bed manufacturers' notion seemed to be tied up with "your dreams" = "swanning around in pretty coloured dresses with white petticoats", which was a problem for me to start with. The bigger issue, though, is that at my children's age, their "dreams" seem to = waking up screaming in terror at 2am. I don't know whether I want to encourage belief of that sort!

Signs of Growth

Funny how things change.

When we were new parents, eagerly watching our firstborn for signs of growth, we couldn't wait to see the next stage. "Ooh, look! He's walking!" "Aaaw, doesn't he look like a big boy in his new toddler bed." "Wow! Aren't you clever brushing your hair all by yourself!" It seemed that we were always anticipating, always encouraging, always watching for the next step.

I feel differently now.

Yesterday, we put our baby girl into a toddler bed for the first time. Yes, I was proud of her growing up. I was also relieved that she managed to sleep right through the night in it. But my overriding thought was "No! It's too soon! Where did my baby go?"

Yup. I'm Pathetic. Obviously I'm doomed to be one of those blubbery mothers who tearfully watches their kids at school events, embarrassing them horribly and scarring them for life.

Doing Nothing for Fun

Having a holiday was disastrous for my waistline, but it was great for everything else. Experiencing warm sunlight, getting toes sandy at the beach, actually finishing several books. The best result of the holidays, though, has been the discovery of the joy of unstructured time.

As parents, we're threatened with the devastation of having a child "behind in their development", as if there is some golden standard of excellence to which we can and must push our toddler. We're supposed to maximise their learning, so any play they have is to be educational, not just fun. Toys can't just exist, they have to have some teaching component to them (even if it's just ABC-123). Our children have great expectations thrust upon them: they have to expand their vocabulary, they should learn to count to 20 before preschool, they must learn their alphabet and how to read, and above all, they must, must, must BE CLEVER!

It's a big burden to place on a small child. It's also a heavy guilt-trip to lay on parents. And it really isn't necessary, because sometimes it's better just doing nothing.

We did a lot of nothing this holiday. Nothing, that is, except spending time with each other giving our full attention to the children, and letting them be themselves. No agendas. No pressure-cooker flash cards. No super-engineered educational toys. No "Sorry kids, I just have to..." Just us listening to them, interacting with them, and experiencing life together. And you know what? In two weeks our daughter's vocabulary expanded quite considerably. Our son can now ride without training wheels. Not because we forced these things to happen, but because we slowed down long enough to let our children be themselves.

It doesn't take much. Tonight, I delayed dinner by half an hour so that I could sit down and wrestle with the kids. It was only half an hour, but we were all giggling at the end. It also meant that I didn't have to say "Sorry, honey, Mummy just has to..."

I highly recommend doing Nothing. It's a great way to discover who your kids really are.

Back Again!

We're back. It's been a great time away, and the weather was lovely. We were even able to go swimmming!

I've been told previously that I'm the optimist in our family, so in trying to live up to that reputation I'm looking for positives in our return home...

• The rain is helping our vegies to grow
• The cold helps us to appreciate our central heating all the more
• We're back to work, so I'll be able to get back to SRE and KFJs in the next couple of days
• I can log back in to Facebook again
• We get the dogs back this afternoon
  
• Um...

Can I go back on holidays now? ;)

Holiday time

Two sleeps until our family holiday. I am feeling mixed emotions about the whole thing:

• Excited - we've been feeling very run-down, so a rest is in order.
• Guilty - our jobs involve term-time teaching and other responsibilities. I'm feeling guilty at leaving those responsibilities mid-stream.
• Thankful - our two-week flu seems to be settling down now, so I'm grateful that we won't be travelling with an illness cloud over our heads.
• Stressed - I wrote down a list of things that I needed to pack for the kids. It took up two A4 pages. I know I'm going to forget something.
  
• Anticipation - we're going to catch up with my Grandmother while we're away, which is both a responsibility and a blessing.

We'll be away for two weeks, so this blog will be silent for the duration. See you when we get back!

Fairies I wish truly existed...

I don't know. Maybe the fever's made me delirious. Maybe it's too much Harry Potter with all its associated magic. The thought occurred to me this evening that it would be lovely if there were "fairies" who could do certain tedious tasks for you.
Here are some of the "fairies" I've thought of*:

• The Wash-the-Dogs Fairy
• The Clean-the-Jam-off-the-Carpet Fairy
• The Put-the-Books-Back-in-Order-on-the-Bookshelf Fairy
• The Put-the-kids-to-bed Fairy
• The Answer-the-phone-politely Fairy
• The Put-the-clothes-away-Ironed Fairy
• The Clean-the-Toilet Fairy (closely related to the Empty-the-Potty Fairy)
• The Vacuuming Fairy
• The Being-Polite-to-People-When-You're-Unwell Fairy
  

I'm sure there are others you could think of. Feel free to add them to this list! :)


*Warning: said fairy list should be read with knowledge of author's present grouchy demeanour. She will certainly regret some postings at a future date.

Harry Potter goes all religious?

It's a ripping yarn. I thought about stretching out my reading time, but I just couldn't let go. Whenever a movie or novel sequel comes out, I feel an initial hesitation: surely it couldn't be as good as the previous ones? Well, it is.

I was going to write a little spiel about the scripture quotes in the book, and the plot progression etc, but knowing there are lots of you who haven't yet finished, I won't spoil the fun. Besides which, I found an article which speaks along a similar train of thought.

So, if you have read the Deathly Hallows, feel free to go here. If you haven't, wait until you've finished, because the article contains spoilers...

The Last enemy to be destroyed is death...

Finished Harry Potter yesterday, and have been ruminating about the use of biblical quotes in the book. It was interesting that with all the supposed links to paganism that the media listed, no pagan holidays were mentioned. Only Christmas, and the description was explicity given of people being in church. I wonder if Rowling was deliberately trying to distance her novel from questions of religion (or trying to placate the Christian commentators).

What I did find interesting were the two biblical quotes used in the book, particularly "And the last enemy to be destroyed is death". I won't spoil the ending for those who are still reading, so I'll wait for a couple of days to expand on what I'm thinking with this one. Needless to say there are some literary parallels and comparisons that can be drawn here...

But it's so funny...

This appeals to my absurd sense of humour.

Profound thought for the day...

The Christian life isn't lost in a single, huge battle.
It fades away in a thousand "insignificant" compromises.

Ha!

I read this article about Sydney's cold snap today. All I can say is:

Ha!

One guy talks about having to scrape one millimetre of ice from his windscreen.

Ha!

We have to do that every Sunday night after church.

Helpful hint: don't try and turn the windscreen wipers on to clear it. Doesn't work.


Oh, and our dog needs two doggie jumpers before she'll deign to go outside...

How not to do it....

Lately I've been looking back at my ministry history of the past few years. I've discovered that it reads like a "How Not To Do Things if You Want to Stay Sane"...

• While studying full-time, take on a one day a week ministry job. "One day a week" = you do as much as the most committed volunteer, and then add the "one day" of paid stuff on top. Constantly be evaluated as "not quite up to snuff" because you should be "earning your money".
• While doing all the above, take on a voluntary position within the college that gives you pastoral oversight of other college students and administrative duties.
• After leaving college, get a full-time job (not in ministry). Then take on an extra one day a week ministry job on top of that (see requirements, above). Use your work overtime (i.e. time in lieu) to run bible studies.
• Get married
• Resign from the one day a week job, then continue to do exactly the same things you previously were doing but without the payment for it. Spend your one day off a month writing sermons.
• Instead of taking a holiday, change jobs and buy a house. Start work in a position that requires 120km a day commute. Spend your one day off a month writing sermons and youth group studies.

It wasn't until recently that I realised what a bad pattern this is to set. We were wondering how we managed to go for about two months without a day off, and then realized that we'd been doing this sort of thing since the beginning. I wish I'd learned earlier that it's ok to have a rest every now and then...

A quick learner

Imagine that household rules are like a line drawn in sand, with the command: "Do not cross here!"
Some children will respond by running as fast as possible over the line. They're the defiant ones. When given a command or request, they respond with screams, yells, or stubborn-faced disobedience.

Then there are the others. The sly ones. These children, when told not to cross the line, will respond by subtly putting their little toe onto the far side. If you don't pick up on this, they'll extend it to their whole foot, then their leg, then slowly inch further into defiance. They can be the negotiators, trying to convince you that the line is not really the line you think it is. Unless you're watching carefully, the disobedience of these ones is easy to miss. After all, when you ask them to not do something and they obey 96%, isn't that close enough?

We have one of each child.
Our daughter, when asked to do something, will often respond with screams and then lie down on the floor in full tantrum. If you ask her to come to you for some reason, she'll often run full pelt in the opposite direction. She's the openly defiant one.

Our son, on the other hand, is more subtle. For example, if you ask him to keep quiet in a public place, he'll make a single, medium-volume cry. Just at the level below which you'd easily reprimand him, but loud enough to obviously be testing the boundary you've just set. If you ask him to come to you for some reason, he'll tell you that he's doing something incredibly important, like cleaning up. When you're an exhausted or distracted parent, it's very easy to miss this sort of thing.

Another thing he's discovered is the benefits of confusion. For example: your son is found during nap time to be up and playing in his room, nappy off. The mother is out, and the father asks, "Why aren't you in bed? Who took off your nappy?" The son replies, "Mummy did it!"

He's only 3.

More Nostalgia

There are even more great time-wasters available on YouTube.

Showing my age, I've taken a trip down memory lane to some of the memorable and not-so-memorable visions of my childhood and adolescence.

• The Muppet Show - the Swedish Chef makes doughnuts.
• That Ma Na Ma Na song...
• The Muppets sing Danny Boy.
• The music - I'd forgotten about this one, but loved it when it was first released: The Colour of Money by Hollywood Beyond
• First crush on a singer: A-Ha
  

And then there's pure 80's kitsch:

• Jem - the cartoon singer to rival Barbie...
• She-Ra, Princess of Power
• Battle of the Planets: G Force

Ah, the list could go on...

A great time-waster

I've discovered a couple of places to waste time both online and in the real world.

One of these places is the UK's Times Online, where you can regularly download free puzzles and crosswords. I've discovered the "Killer Sudoku" puzzles, which are far more interesting and brain-stretching than the regular Sudoku. It keeps my maths skills going, too, so perhaps I won't be so far behind when the kids get to the homework-help stage...

First snow for 2007

The first snow of winter has arrived.


I bet you're impressed.


We might even get enough for half a snowman this year...
;)


P.S. This would have looked far more impressive if I'd taken the photo 4 hours earlier...

Just because...

I have nothing profound or interesting to blog about today. Therefore, I'm going to distract you with a picture of this dog.

See?

Nice doggie.

A model to follow...

Ruth Bell Graham (wife of Billy) passed away recently, and her funeral was held yesterday. She left behind a great testimony of a life lived for Jesus. One of the things that really hit me was the testimony of her children. One of her daughters summed things up this way:

Anne Graham Lotz, second daughter
“I would go down to my mother’s room early in the morning. Her light would be on, and I would find her at her big, flat-top desk. She would be reading and studying her Bible, with about 14 different translations spread out around her.

“When I would go down to her room late at night, I would see the light on underneath the door and I’d go in, and she would be on her knees in prayer.

“As I look back on my childhood, I cannot remember any impression whatsoever that my mother was ever lonely. She may have been lonely, but I never saw it.

“I believe that our heavenly Father, our Savior, saved my mother from loneliness because of her daily walk with the Lord Jesus, He was the love of her life. I saw that in her life. It was her love for the Lord Jesus, with whom she walks every day, that made me want to love Him and walk with Him like that.”

- Quote courtesy of Christianity Today

What a great witness to her children.

As I read through all the tributes on the CT website, there were interesting things that came out about her marriage to her husband, and I don't know whether that's a model that I would want to emulate. Phrases like "for all practical purposes, as a single parent". On the one hand, she was praised for her role as the "rock" to her husband, and the love the couple shared is beyond question. But her children make it clear that there were long periods when they were without a father, as he went away on his many crusades around the world.

I don't know. I'm still thinking through this. God used BG greatly to bring many people to know Christ (including my grandparents). His work was incredibly valuable, and there's no doubting the importance of evangelism. Maybe that was rightly priority number one. Maybe I'm just looking through the worldly eyes of a mother and wife who'd find it difficult being away from her other half for so long. I guess God gave her the gifts she'd need for the task she had, and from the sounds of it her children benefitted by her ministry, too.

Firecracker night

There are moments when nostalgia surprises you over the strangest things. Today it was firecracker night.

It's a pity that we don't have the innocence of firecracker night anymore. When we were growing up, our house backed on to a long council reserve, on which we always built a huge bonfire. Well. It was huge to little kids, anyway. Family friends would come over, and we'd all stand around the fire in our plastic parkas, hoping they didn't melt while we toasted our marshmallows. Then we'd all gather around for the fireworks display.

There were all sorts of exciting fireworks to be seen. The smaller ones would come packed in long, thin cardboard cylinders covered in brightly coloured labels. There would always be one wide, stumpy cylinder that held the grand finale, the biggest firecracker for the end of the night. There were also Bungers, catherine wheels, screamers, all sorts of banging and flash for that special night of the year.

Dad would set up a tall-ish metal post with a bit of coathanger wire attached, on which he'd hang the Catherine wheels. They'd always fly off 5 seconds after ignition, and the whole extended family would run around in panic, hoping that the spinning cracker wouldn't attach itself to their clothes.

Then there were the rockets. Dad would set them on top of a sawn-off log, and we'd all stand back to watch it take off with a WHUMP. Sometimes they were screamers, and we'd use our fingers as industrial ear protection. By the end of the night, our ears were always ringing.

In the lulls between crackers, when Dad would be fumbling with the torch to find the next explosive, we'd pick up the sparklers and try to light them in the bonfire. Singed eyebrows later, we'd stand up and write our names over and over in the dark. Then Dad would be ready, and another one would go off to a small crowd of "Ooohs" and "Aaahs".

Little matchbox-like containers held the Throwdowns, which did nothing other than create industrial deafness in the young. They were small paper cylinders with a target on the front that contained little bits of powder and small black stones to help create the big cracking sound when you threw them to the ground. They were occasionally used to scare the cat, and we heard that the "naughty kids" threw them at other kids. For us, though, they just made gunpowder stains on the front path.

We loved firecracker nights.