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?