An interesting Pro-life choice

I recently went for an early ultrasound to a local sonographer. We had no idea of the age of our impending baby, so went to find out how old it was. Hubby and kids came along too. The kids were unaware of what was happening, but both hubby and I were hoping to see a heartbeat after the last experience of emptiness.

The gel went on, the sonographer put the handpiece on my abdomen, and there it was. Well, after a slight delay, anyway. The sonographer hesitantly asked, "Do you want to see?" before turning the screen so I could see the flashing heartbeat.

We were excited, but I couldn't understand her hesitancy. Then she said,

"You always have to be careful with these ultrasounds. When they come in for a termination they don't want to see."

Even with my husband and two children present, the sonographer wasn't sure how we were going to take the news. In Australia, it seems, the most common demographic of women seeking a termination is my own demographic: married or partnered with two or three children already. A very different demographic to the disadvantaged, rape-victim or teenage pregnancy that was used to justify it in the first place.

But before I get truly rant-y about the subject (and in my emotional pregnant state that is all too possible), I found an interesting blog series by Noel Piper. She's written about her choice to adopt a child as a way of putting her pro-life views into action. It's well worth a read.

You'll find it here: Orphan Sunday

Getting more brainless by the second...

Well, it's been a while between posts, hasn't it? There are several reasons for my absence:

1. Work has been busy. The number of kids in our group is growing, and I have been rather busy organising and running several kids' groups during the week.

2. Twitter has reared its ugly head. I've been trialling Twitter (username: westichick), which has a funny effect of truncating your thoughts. Whereas in the past if an issue arose I would take the time to compose a blog post, lately I've been throwing pithy little sayings into the ether. I don't quite know whether it's worth it...

3. I've been feeling quite under the weather. Nothing contagious, mind you. It seems that after almost four years, we are expecting Brainless #3. Eldest and Boo are excited, and Boo has christened the unborn one "Bub-Bub". Needless to say, it's a little difficult to be creative when you are feeling seasick...

So it seems I will be able to report once more about the effects of baby-induced brainlessness on my daily life and writings. I'll keep you posted about the progress of the next one.

The future of renewable energy?

A Nepalese teenager has invented a solar panel that utilises human hair instead of expensive silicon.

Check out the report here.

[Gizmodo]

Christian Martyrdom goes on.

Reports from the Daily Sun newspaper in Nigeria indicate that last week 3 Christian pastors were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam by an Islamist sect. I've reproduced the article below:

Boko Haram: How 3 pastors were beheaded eyewitness
From TIMOTHY OLA, Maiduguri
Thursday, August 6, 2009

•Photo: The Sun Publishing

More Stories on This Section

One of the victims of last week’s attack by the Yusufiya sect in Borno State has given a shocking account of how the Islamic extremists killed three pastors who were captured along with other victims on the second day of the insurgence. The victim was among those held hostage in Yusuf’s enclave.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Sun in Maiduguri, the eye witness who preferred anonymity disclosed that the three pastors were beheaded on the instruction of the sect leader, Mohammed Yusuf shortly after bringing them out of his inner chamber.

“The pastors alongside one Ibo man were asked to change their faith to Islam like they did to other people taken as hostages. I think there was an argument by one of the pastors which gave the others some level of confidence to also resist accepting Islam.

“The Yusufiya men who were armed on that Tuesday afternoon were not comfortable with the pastors and they took one of them to the sect leader in his inner chamber. They came out later to the courtyard within the compound and cut their heads one after the other and thereafter, shouted allah akbar in wild celebration accompanied with several gun shots,” the eye witness disclosed.

He said the hostages numbering about 50 within the area of the execution of the pastors and another fair complexioned man which he could not identify, were gripped with fear as non could foretell the outcome of their stay at the enclave of the fundamentalists. He was however lucky to escape as he was freed in the night with others with a warning not to mix with kafrici (infidels).

Corroborating the account of the killing, a Senior pastor with Good News Church, Wulari Maiduguri Rev. Baba Gata Ibrahim told Daily Sun in an interview that a pastor in his church, Pastor George Orjih was beheaded on the instruction of the Boko Haram leader because the clergy man refused to accept Islam.
“An eye witness who was also captured by the Islamic militants gave us details of how the pastor was killed. He told us they were persuading him to accept Islam and he said over his dead body. He was even said to have preached Christ to Mohammed Yusuf and that reportedly angered the sect leader who then as he ordered that the pastor and others be killed immediately,” he disclosed.

The late Pastor George Orjih was said to have arrived Maiduguri last week from Jos where he was doing his Masters programme in Theology. Described as a fearless, hardworking, and intellectually sound, his care for the welfare and well being of his family allegedly contributed to his capture and eventual death.
“He was mindful of his family and their welfare. He was really out of the house but thought to go back again. That was how he was captured by the Boko Haram before he was killed. It was the very week, in fact the following day he returned from school where he was doing his Masters in Theology that he was arrested,” the senior pastor added.

He urged the government to provide adequate security for Christian in the state.
Also delivering a sermon during the funeral rites for late Rev. Sabo Yakubu, slain COCIN Church pastor, the speaker, Rev Bulus Azi urged Christians to emulate the pastors who were killed because of their refusal to betray their faith. Quoting from the bible in Revelation 7: 9-15, the regional chairman of the church told Christians to prepare to die anytime as their calling demand.

I love these little guys!

Back in the 90s, I loved the computer game "Lemmings". Many procrastinatory hours were spent trying to get those little guys to escape without imploding or falling off a very high cliff to their collective doom. Now someone very crafty has created them in all their crocheted glory.

See the story behind the craft at Planet June.

Let there be Light in Jerusalem

In Israel, they've held a festival called Light in Jerusalem. The picture above comes from an installation called "Night Garden". You can see more of their beautiful pictures here.

This netbook is for people who like chihuahuas in teensy pink bags

... or just like to spend HUGE amounts of money for a PC that will fit in their handbag.

Sony Vaio P Review



Shared via AddThis

The Don't Song

This video provides some important relationship advice, and quite a few laughs, too.

Handicrafts - Paper craft

I've been cutting and sticking paper with my kids for a while now, enjoying their creativity as they make collages and other creations. But that is nothing compared to this castle, recorded by Tokyo Bling:

Photo from Tokyo Bling

According to the blog, this papercraft creation took four years for Wataru Itou to make, and includes a working train and lights. You have to go and see the pictures over at Tokyo Bling. They are incredible. The whole structure is made from painstakingly cut and folded paper (apart from the mechanical bits).

Creating a legacy

In the midst of the avalanche of parenting theories, how-to manuals, educational helps and self-help books, there is something more important to remember.

As I look back at my grandmothers' lives, and the lives of my grandfathers, one thing remains with me - an example I want to pass on (though I fail too often at this, in the business of life). Their example can also be seen in John Piper's tribute to his father. Well worth a read.

My Nan, who passed away last week, was cruelly struck down by dementia. But in my early years, her joy in her saviour was evident to everyone. Likewise, my other Grandmother demonstrated her love for Christ in many ways, and she was blessed with a clear mind and strong voice right to the end. Like John Piper's father, they created a legacy by their infectious joy and faith.

I don't know how well I am doing in terms of teaching my children about the world. I am not particularly good at sitting them down to teach them literacy or numeracy. It's been quite some time since I got out the easel to let them paint or draw. But one thing I pray that I do pass on. I pray that my children will see how much I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I pray that they will grow to love him just as much, if not more.

That's the legacy I want to pass on.

In Memoriam

My grandmother loved to sing. This was one of her all-time favourites:


To God be the glory, great things He has done,
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life, an atonement for sin,
And opened the life-gates that all may go in.

Refrain
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Let the earth hear His voice,
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the son
And give Him the glory great things He has done

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Refrain

Great things he has taught us, great things he has done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the son
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Refrain

Words: Fanny Crosby
Music: W. Howard Doane

Social commentary

The Sims has long been a fixture in the world of computer games. For years now, real humans have been able to play house, grow, employ or destroy pretend humans in a virtual world. Recently, the third incarnation of the Sims was released. Unsurprisingly, it's called The Sims 3.

There's a fascinating blog called "Alice and Kev", where a games student from the UK has experimented with creating a homeless family, and seeing what happens to them over time. It's an interesting look.

Passing...

I've been absent from the blog for some time now. Last Wednesday, at about 9:10am, my last remaining grandparent passed away.

Pearl had a troubled last few decades, suffering from dementia for 20 years; far longer than most.
Her fighting spirit was a feature of her life. She fought against becoming a Christian (though she gave in on that one, and became a member of the choir at one of the last Billy Graham crusades in Sydney). She fought against losing her memory. She fought against the strokes and fits that robbed her of her speech and ability to walk. But in the end she did not lose her smile, the twinkle in her eye, nor her love for her Lord Jesus. Thankfully, she has no need to fight anymore.

She leaves behind her a small family who misses her, and many others who remember her cheerful and active service in years gone by. However, for the past 15 years, my mother has been doing laundry, visiting hostels and nursing homes and organising care for her own mother. Her absence will be keenly felt.

Her funeral is this week.

Route 66

My eldest has asked for a Disney Pixar Cars-themed birthday this year, and it's been interesting to discover the lengths to which people go for children's parties. Or should I say, eye-popping.

In my travels, I've found a fascinating background post on some of the Route 66 sights that were the basis of Radiator Springs. It's really well worth a look.

Here are some of the incredible (and OK) cakes that have been created along the theme:





Coolest Birthday Cakes is a good source of pictures and inspiration for budding cake decorators out there, as is Flickr...

...and this blog post has a nice tiered cake with some close-ups of the detail in the decoration. They went with a plastic Lightning, but a good tie-in colour theme for the tiers of the cake. Quite simple, but effective.

I have taken the easy way out, and found a Wilton cake pan in the right shape (should make decorating much easier!). It isn't quite big enough for the coming hordes, so I'm making an extra tier to go underneath Lightning. I was thinking about a desert theme underneath, but the checkered flag might be better, though fiddly.

Any ideas?

Local sight

... three young blokes, walking down the street together. They were all silent. They were all holding mobile phones. They were all texting.


I wonder if they were talking to each other?

Angels and Demons

There's a new website up to help answer questions people might have about the new Tom Hanks movie, Angels and Demons.

You can find it here. It's been set up by Westminster Theological Seminary.

http://www.truthaboutangelsanddemons.com/

The articles are very even-handed and balanced, approaching the various topics raised by the movie. It's a very well done site.

My feeling is that most people who see the movie will absorb it as a piece of entertainment, and take on the movie's theories as "suspicions" without actually looking at the facts. I did a similar thing after watching the movie JFK, which threw doubt on Lee Harvey Oswald's status as assassin. But for those who are willing to look at the truth behind the entertainment, this is a great site to direct people to.

Explaining the Emotional Rollercoaster

The past three weeks has been very intense for me. Now that it's settled somewhat, I feel more able to talk about it. So here's what's been happening:

Tuesday, 28th
I was late. Not appointment-late as I often am, but girly-type-late. I'm usually a few days early.
I went to buy a pregnancy test. I bought a pack of two, just in case. I could always use it another month if I needed it, after all. The first test showed - two? - well, it was one and a half lines really, but all my previous negative tests were completely blank where the second line should be. My husband didn't believe me when I said I thought I was pregnant. After all, we weren't really trying anyway. I said I'd test again in the morning.

Wednesday 29th
Test number two. The second line was slightly more defined, being a morning test and all. But it still wasn't the standout it should have been. I dealt with mild queasiness and told a few close loved ones about the positive. It was a surprise. The due date was to be the 31st of December. I was a bit thrown, to be honest. I thought we were done. But all children are a gift from God, so there was no question we would love and cherish this one, too.

Thursday 30th
Massive cramping pains kept me in bed for most of the day. I had to cancel my SRE class and my husband organised for me to get into the GP. The doctor said there was a likelihood that I would miscarry over the weekend, but as there hadn't been any bleeding, I should just take it very easy and avoid baths. He ordered blood tests to check hormone levels, and gave me a referral for an ultrasound in a few weeks time. We prayed that God would work out everything according to his plan: if the baby survived, that we would welcome its arrival; if not, that we would cope.

Monday 4th
Second blood test - to check whether the HCG levels were going up. Hormone levels were increasing, but I wasn't feeling the waves of nausea that had accompanied the early pregnancies of my first two children. I kept feeling that something was wrong. We started making plans for how we would accommodate a third child into our house and lives. We started worrying about whether they would feel left out with two older siblings who were so close in age. We started looking at baby photos again, remembering what the newborn days were like.

Tuesday 12th
After a week, we travelled to another town for an ultrasound. We briefly joked about what we'd do if there were twins (I'm an older mother). We'd started referring to it affectionately as "jellybean".
We stood in the darkened room, and my husband lifted up my eldest and said "Do you want to see Jellybean?" just as the sonographer found the sac. There was a gestational sac that was measured to be around 6 weeks and 5 days old. But there was no jellybean. No evidence of an embryonic heartbeat. In fact, there didn't appear to be any evidence of an embryo. The sonographer was trying to be reassuring at first: we might just have the dates wrong; it can be unreliable trying to find a heartbeat so early on etc etc. She moved on to a different type of scan - a more reliable one - and didn't say anything at all then.

Wednesday 13th
We were phoned early in the morning by my doctor's office and asked to come in that day. Something was wrong. You don't get called into the office in haste for good news.
The diagnosis was given: a blighted ovum. It was the explanation for everything: the vague, almost-not-there morning sickness, the general feeling that I couldn't shake that I wasn't really pregnant, the cramping. The best thing, he said, was to go into hospital on Friday for surgery. He'd organise it with the gynaecologist, who was lovely and gentle. Far better than to leave it to naturally start to bleed (which could take weeks, he said), and end up with just anyone who happened to be on. I was booked in for a confirmatory ultrasound on the Friday morning, just to make sure. I sat there and nodded.
Nothing there.
No baby.
I went home with a heavy heart and a bundle of forms. That night I cried for a long time as I said goodbye to the idea of being pregnant. It was all so surreal. I hardly felt like I was pregnant in the first place, and yet we had still thought that if we waited long enough, got past the 12 week mark, it would all settle down. My husband was very supportive, and called relatives I didn't think I could talk to without sobbing. Friday was the big day. We prayed. On Wednesday I kept thinking of the hymn I published below. Spafford lost 4 daughters at once, but his focus remained on Christ and his finished work, not on his own suffering.

Thursday
I went off to do my regular teaching appointments with a little trepidation. "Lord, give me the strength to do this today," I prayed. And He did. In fact, by the end of the day, I was amazed by the sense of peace and purpose that God had given me. It was all going to be fine. He was going ahead and preparing the way. I was energized by the chance to share God's word with the kids during the day. We had a nagging worry, though: was it too early? Could the dates just be a little out, and the baby appear after all? We called and talked to the GP. Friday would mark seven weeks, and with the type of scans being done, there was no doubt that there would be a marked appearance of an embryo and heartbeat by that time - even by 5 and a half weeks. If there was one.

Today
The kids were sent off for a fun day at their grandparents' place, and I was packed and ready to go. I was hungry. I'd been told to fast from midnight, and the smell of morning coffee was very hard to bear. I even gulped down a mouthful of water in the shower without thinking. That wasn't supposed to happen.
We arrived at the day surgery at 9:30 to get ready for the procedure. Forms were completed, details were checked, consent forms were signed, beurocracy was satisfied. I was then supposed to wait until 11am for the ultrasound. The last time we'd been in this place, three and a half years ago, we'd welcomed my daughter into the world. The same DON who had been so helpful with my breastfeeding troubles then was now helping me get in early to the ultrasound so that things could be expedited somewhat. We sat in the waiting room, looking at the steam steriliser that I'd used late at night so I could feed a crying little girl. I felt numb.
The second ultrasound was definite. I watched the screen as the little black balloon of the gestation sac appeared in the grey haze. It was very large. It was also definitely empty. There was nothing there at all. No chance that if I waited a baby would magically appear. There wasn't anything there in the first place. I left with a sense of peace: this was the right thing to do. It was all going to be OK.
The doctor was waiting to talk to us, to make sure we were OK to go ahead. We were. Everything kicked into gear.
We went back to the day surgery, and I changed into the delightful gown and gear to wait for my turn. I was grateful it was closed at the back, so nobody could see the surgical pants that were like a puffy cloud that reached almost the whole way up my torso. Harry Highpants indeed!
I waited alone. They'd sent my husband out to a waiting room for the duration. An hour and a half wait, and I hopped onto the trolley to be wheeled into the operating theatre. Some brief joking with the staff, and then a quick "see you soon". Then a peaceful sleep and the operation was done.
In almost no time at all I was back to the next stage of recovery. A few sandwiches and a cup of tea, then dressed and ready to go home. All done. It was still rather surreal. In a few short weeks I had gone from being pregnant, to not really being pregnant, to not being pregnant at all.

In the morning before the op, I had read Psalm 25:

Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;

guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

.

A Favourite

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Refrain

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

Words: Horatio G. Spafford

For the background to this hymn, visit here.

Big Brother gets closer?

Worrying development in NSW today, with a law to be introduced in parliament. If the law is passed, it would make it illegal for "declared groups" to recruit new members.

Why is this a worry?

Imagine if a group - a political or religious group, say - could become a "declared group". With the legislation currently in place, it would not be too hard a step. It would then automatically become an offence, maximum penalty 5 years in prison, to recruit someone into the group.

Can you see the problem?

Decoding Twilight #1

Ok, so you'd need to have been stuck under a rock somewhere to not notice Twilight. When the DVD was released in Australia, it sold a massive 264,077 copies in the first week. That's huge - particularly for a rather ordinary movie. Huge hordes of girls are calling themselves twihards and wearing "I love Edward" t-shirts. There's even a new internet acronym: OME replaces OMG.

What's the deal? Is it something to get on board with, or something to hiss and point crucifixes and garlic at? Here's the first in a few posts decoding the Twilight phenomenon, and what it might mean for the young people you work with.

What is it?
For anyone who's been in a coma for the past few years (or happily occupied elsewhere), Twilight started out as a young adult fiction book, written by Stephenie Meyer. It was based on a dream she had one night where a young vampire was talking in a meadow to a young girl, explaining how he struggled between his love for her and his overwhelming urge to drink her blood. It's basically a romance, rather than a horror tale. There's very little of the gory stuff, and more of the heaving bosoms of chaste but desiring young things. Think of it as Gone With the Wind, or Pride and Prejudice for the 21st Century.

Key Characters
Bella - the heroine of the tale. She is supposed to be average, physically clumsy but intellectually clever. The child of divorce, she chooses to live with her father in a rainy small town so her mother can travel with her new man.
Edward - the hero. Appearing on the outside to be a handsome yet pale and imposing teenager, he is in fact a hundred-year-old vampire. He's part of a "family" of vampires headed by Carlisle Cullen, who is at least 350 years old, though he looks 23.
Jacob Black - a member of the Quileute tribe, Jacob is a year younger than Bella, but in later books discovers that he is a werewolf. He's the main rival for Bella's affections.

Other characters - there's a host of other key characters in the book: Bella's Dad, the other teens at school, the rest of the Cullen family, etc etc. But the four-novel story mainly revolves around Bella's love triangle, and the regular rescues from mortal danger that she requires...

Vampires and Other Dark things
In this tale, vampires have largely lost their dark and sinister nature. Sure, there are a couple of bad-guy vampires who show their faces, but they're firmly in the background for the most part. Instead of being coffin-dwelling, virgin-killing creatures of the night, they're more like superheroes. They stay out of direct sunlight, sure, but it's not because they're going to turn to dust. It's because their skin sparkles like diamonds, showing they're "different".

In fact, there are many points in the book where Bella is more like Lois Lane trying to discern Superman's secret identity than a young girl at risk of being taken by a vampire. Edward has more similarities with Superman than Lestat: he's super fast, super strong, has super hearing, and he can read people's minds (OK, so Superman didn't have that one, but he had X-Ray vision, so it's close). Lois/Bella also keeps getting herself into trouble where she needs to be rescued. Vampirism in this tale is largely removed from its Occult beginnings, and given a benign image: they're "vegetarian" vampires who live on the blood of animals rather than people.

James Dean Strikes again
Twilight taps into the classic "really good bad boy" archetype. Edward has a past: he's killed people before. He looks young, but is actually very old (my husband has said: "if Hugh Hefner had plastic surgery to look 17, would we be happy with him pursuing a 17 year old girl?"). As someone mentioned to me once, "Most 15 year old girls want the guys in their year to be more mature than they are." Edward fits that completely. He's handsome and dangerous, but besotted with an average girl. He fights his darker urges to be a protector instead of a predator. Well, that's what the story says, anyway.



Good thing #1: It's OK to be different
Being different is the constant fear of teenagers' life. They want to be individuals, sure, but Bella's predicament is common to many. She stands out when she just wants to blend in. The books place her firmly in the heroine's spot, and along with Edward and Jacob, make the point that different = special. Particularly when you have superpowers. Or a couple of superhero boys nearby.

Problem #1: Dangerous is usually, well, Dangerous
Twilight is a great fantasy. But the number of girls who have turned it into reality is a problem. Because most guys who have that "dangerous" air about them turn out to actually be dangerous. Not in a "I could succumb and suck your blood" kind of way, but in a "I could snap and put you into hospital" kind of way.

Oh, if only...

One of my semi-regular daydreams is about further study opportunities (yes, I am a geek, after all!).

I recently read of this new school opening at Wheaton College in Illinois, and I am very interested. I had looked at a course of study at Wheaton many years ago before being called to Bible College.

Wheaton has recently opened its Centre for Early Christian studies, a place to learn more about the early church. Its focus is on looking at the common traditions shared by Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant traditions, and looking at how the Early church shaped the different developing theologies.

Read about it here.

It's all a daydream, of course. I can't see myself going overseas to spend thousands of dollars on a course. Perhaps a local Masters' might be more do-able, though...

Dream, dream, dream...

Truth-drenched ministry

My apologies for the lack of posts lately. I've been a little unwell, and dealing with the return-to-school planning rush.

I found this post today on the Desiring God blog. It's a goodie...

5 Foundations of a Truth-drenched Youth ministry
by Abraham Piper

The following is from my notes at Kempton Turner's session yesterday at the CDG conference.

1. Be a truth-drenched example.

1 Timothy 4:16

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The example of your life is the hammer that drives your message home. If your life doesn't exemplify what you expect, your message will not be believable.

2. Have a truth-drenched marriage and family life.

1 Timothy 3:4-5

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?

We shouldn't see if someone is fit for the ministry by how they do in seemingly less important ministries. Rather, we should see what kind of husband and father he is [Edit: I would also add "wife and mother" here]. If he leads his family well, then maybe he's fit for the ministry.

Paul assumes that a church leader first leads his family. A truth-drenched youth ministry will get the overflow of the youth minister's leadership of his wife and kids.

3. Cultivate a truth-drenched staff.

Acts 13:2-3

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Gather as a staff mainly to go vertical. Meet with God and see what strategy comes from this worship.

4. Preach and teach truth-drenched messages and lessons.

Hebrews 13:7

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

The main thing your youth should think about when they remember you is how you spoke God's word to them.

Don't replace teaching truth with games, media, skits, etc.

5. Develop and implement a truth-drenched vision and philosophy of youth ministry.

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Picture youth ministry as a mountain. Develop a plan that puts the cross at the top with all the other good (but less important) things below. Then the truth of the gospel will flow down that mountain over everything you do, drenching your ministry.

----------
Apart from a concern about the connection of the last proverb to the principle (I would suggest another passage, perhaps, or a different principle...), and the lacking reference to female youth workers and their family lives, it makes some excellent points.

What would be your principles of a truth-drenched ministry? Would you choose the same, or different?

A little too much time on his hands?

Google Earth is a great source of endless procrastination, as well as the occasional good research. A bloke named Rhett Dashwood recently completed his task of finding all the letters of the alphabet in the state of Victoria. You choose whether procrastination or research it be...

His page has links to the Google earth locations of each letter.

Original Source: SMH

Embracing your inner geek, #76 - The Art Deco Geek

Ok, now this is far more my style...

I'm all for the streamlined, futuristic look of the Macbook Air (though the practicality is a little wanting), but there's just something about Art Deco style that really appeals to me.

There's a bloke in the US who has done quite a few custom PCs and cases based on the clean lines of art deco systems. Like this, or this one based on a 1940s Radio case:

 

Note the firewire and USB ports on the front. There are more pictures of this construction here.

Images from slipperyskip.

Embracing your inner geek, #75 - The crafty geek

Over at One Pretty Thing, they've compiled a list of handcrafted yet geeky items, and links to the instructions/how-tos.

They include cross-stitch patterns, like the one below...

Or on this list, you can find the ultimate computer geek's christmas decorations:

Very geeky, yet very crafty!

That's a little bit freaky...

Just in case you were wondering whether there really was anything to the rumours that living under high-tension powerlines was a little wobbly...

This art installation is called FIELD, and consists of 1301 fluorescent lights planted in an English field. The lights are completely powered by the electrical field created by the powerlines above.

 

You can see more information about this art project here.

Fascinating study

The Sydney Morning Herald published the results of a new survey by the Centre for Public Christianity, which asked "non-born-again" people about their views of Jesus.

The results showed that knowing something is different to following and accepting something...

45% of people who said they weren't Christians also believed that Jesus rose from the dead.

50% believed that Jesus was real and had divine powers.

87% knew that Easter was concerned with the resurrection of Jesus.

It's encouraging that people still know about Jesus, and many understand the basic details of his life. But there will always be a gap between knowing and accepting for some. I'm still saddened by people who know that Jesus died for them, who know that he rose from the dead, who know that he is God's son, who know that he has a claim on their lives, but for reasons of self or obedience (usually relating to sex, money, or lifestyle) just don't let it have any impact on their lives.

We pray.

It's not all bad on the computer games front...

This report from Kotaku shows that video games can be a force for good, too...

Pro-social games reinforce pro-social behaviour

Now what we need are more games to encourage the niceness... :)

My Boy

More humour from the Eldest...

Yesterday, my husband started singing "My Girl" in the kitchen while waiting for the kids to finish their dinner.

"I've got sunshine,

On a cloudy day

When it's cold outside..."

At this point, Eldest piped up in song:

"I put my jacket on"

.

The Little Evangelist...

We're in the process of handing out DVDs to kids in our SRE classes this Easter, and yesterday I explained why we were doing it so that Eldest could understand. Some kids, I explained to him, didn't know anything about Jesus or what Easter was about, so the DVDs were going out to help them understand.

Then last night, I had to take the kids to night church as their babysitting arrangements fell through. On the way out, Eldest grabbed one of his cuddly toys.

"I'm taking Monkey tonight, Mummy, because he doesn't know anything about Jesus. Lambie knows about Jesus, but Monkey doesn't."

On the way home in the car, Eldest reassured me:

"It's OK Mummy. Monkey's heard about Jesus now."

It's funny 'cos it's true (and not just for the US)

The Onion - that satirical news organisation that I've sometimes laughed at, sometimes cringed and run away from - has produced this gem recently:

Everything taking too long

It's a well-written piece laughing at our inability to be patient in the modern world.

Quite humorous. 

Note: Some of the Onion's site content can be offensive, so be cautious about your browsing at this site.

.

Oxymoron of the day...

I lied, but I'm honest, says Einfeld.

Um...

Otis Archives #2 - It's that time of year again...

I don't know whether you can see the detail of this graph, but it's an epidemiological record of the number of deaths from influenza, two forms of pneumonia and acute bronchitis between 1889 and 1919. Note the huge spike at the bottom from the 1918 flu epidemic. Scary times, those days.

It's interesting seeing the seasonal change. This is a northern hemisphere graph, so there are increases every winter.

Otis Archives #1 - why we should immunise

There's a flickr photo collection of historical archives from the US National Museum of Health and Medicine that has recently been published. It provides an insight into the devastations of war, the efforts of medical services going back to the US Civil war times. It ranges from interesting to very disturbing, but if you have a strong stomach (or a clinical eye), then it might be something you'd like to look at.

One of the things I found was the picture below, and it reminded me of how far we've come. 

In a former life (i.e. pre-baby), I worked as an immunisation project officer for a short while. Nowadays, being in my demographic (middle class, female, tertiary educated) is actually a risk factor for conscientious objection (i.e. not getting kids immunized). But let's not forget what we are protecting our children from:

The picture above is actually quite tame, but shows the devastating effects that vaccine-preventable disease can cause. Iron lungs (special respirators to keep people alive) were a part of life in my parent's generation, when Polio was a real risk for many children. Thankfully now its incidence is limited to a few small pockets on the planet. Health workers are working hard to eliminate it completely.

But the case isn't so rosy for other vaccine-preventable diseases. This year, a five-month-old baby died from the vaccine-preventable Pertussis (Whooping Cough). She lived in an area where a significant proportion of parents are choosing not to vaccinate. Pertussis is on the rise again, and I'm not going to post the disturbing images of babies "Whooping". But it's awful. I hope none of you ever have to experience it. Seriously.

 As vaccines are successful, the chances of contracting the disease reduce to the point where it then becomes just as likely to experience a side effect as to actually get the disease (i.e. very, very, very, small). But as recent events are showing, it only takes a short period of non-vaccinations for serious diseases to make a comeback.

Let's not go there, shall we?

Edit: for more information on the diseases that we immunise against, and why it's important, check out the Immunise Australia Program website.

Embracing your inner geek, #74 - *My* kind of restaurant

OK, this really is one for the gadget freaks. There's a restaurant in London called Inamo, which uses a funky projector and touchpad system to take the dining experience to a whole new level of "interactivity". The report comes from Wired.com's Gadget Lab:

Those spaceship-style things on the ceiling are projectors, which beam the images down onto the tables below. Instead of a menu, the images of potential food choices are beamed onto your plate. You can use the menu to select the particular colour "ambience" you want beamed onto your table.

After you order, you can use the touchpad to play games like battleship or watch your meal being cooked on a webcam from the kitchen. 

When your meal is finished, you can use the touchpad to ask for your bill, split the bill, and even call a taxi. 

It's a fully geek experience, yet incredibly cool at the same time...

 

Shame

I've been noticing that there are two main forms of "repentance" in my dealings lately. 

In the first form, people will often speak phrases like "I'm so ashamed," "what will people think of me?" "I'll never be able to look ... in the face again." "Now everyone knows, they're going to hate me."

This kind of "repentance" isn't repentance at all. It's sorrow at being caught. It's more concerned with public opinion than with a true apprehension of wrongdoing. At heart, people aren't really sorry for their actions. They're sorry that people found out about it. It's the "worldly sorrow" that Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 7:10. 

Worldly sorrow stubbornly holds on to the "I'm right" while saying whatever is necessary to get people to look away. Then they can get on with their behaviour again. "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." (Proverbs 26:11) Not a pretty picture, is it?

The second type of repentance is when we actually admit that we have done something wrong, and truly want to change direction. This kind of repentance is true repentance. It leads us back to Jesus - to see that we are all sinners before God, but that Jesus died to save us from our sins, so that we could live a new life with him. "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow leads to death." 2 Cor 7:10

I often have to ask myself the same question when I slip: Am I sorry for what I've done, or am I just worried that people are going to find out about it?

Thanks, but...

The other day, I had to conduct some rare transacting in a bank branch with a teller. Midway through the process, the teller stopped and said,

"Oh, you've been preapproved for a credit card. Would you like me to fix that up now for you?"

Uh... no thank you.

Credit cards, despite my best desire to be disciplined and careful, end in disaster for me. Not that I've been put in desperate circumstances like some who manage to rack up $25 000 or something. But psychologically, it somehow seems to become like a second form of income. Don't have enough money in the bank? Just charge it. 

 Then there are the monthly fees. The last time we had a credit card (quite a few years ago now), we usually had a grand two days between the bill arriving and requiring payment before the interest-free period expired. Needless to say, we began to receive interest charges.

Credit cards work for people who are extremely self-disciplined, able to calculate risks on the spot at a greater speed, and able to pay off bills the instant they arrive. For myself, I'm not completely undisciplined, but I still benefit from having some external limits. A Debit card only allows you to spend as much as you have, and doesn't fool you into thinking that you've just been given a lovely present of $30 000 or more.

And if the money isn't there? Just don't buy it. I probably don't need it anyway.

This just about sums up my day...

This poem was over at Girl Talk today, and I thought you might get a kick out of it too...

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

Original Author Unknown

If you give a mom a muffin, 
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it. 
She'll pour herself some. 
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. 
She'll wipe it up. 
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks. 
She'll remember she has to do laundry. 
When she puts the laundry in the washer, 
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. 
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper. 
She will get out a pound of hamburger. 
She'll look for her cookbook ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger"). 
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. 
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. 
She will look for her checkbook. 
The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. 
She'll smell something funny. 
She'll change the two year old's diaper. 
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring. 
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. 
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee. 
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. 
And chances are... 
If she has a cup of coffee, 
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

A little bit of unnecessary excitement...

Sundays are busy for us. They're one of our "big days" in the week, if you like. So this morning began as usual with me getting up to begin the process of getting the kids ready, and putting together the last minute pile of things for my lesson. As usual, I let the dogs out first so they could do their morning sniff, and turned to the kids. They had some dominoes out, and wanted me to sit down and play with them. I thought we had enough time for a little game.

Twenty minutes later, my husband came into the living room and opened the curtain.

"The gate's open. Where are the dogs?"

Sudden Chaos.

Our smallest dog is known for her silly habit of going on aimless runs and getting herself lost. Our largest dog is known for his silly habit of following her out. They had a twenty minute head start. We had an hour to get ready for church.

While hubby raced out in the car to do laps of the streets, I tried to concentrate on getting the kids their breakfast. I raced out into the lane, whistling and calling. Then I raced back into the house, buttering the toast. Out into the front yard. Back to put the weet-bix in the microwave. Into the lane. Back to get the juice.

Hubby came back. No dogs. "How long ago did you let them out?"

Too long.

I prayed. "Lord, please bring the dogs back before church." I had horrible mental images of our bigger dog sitting next to the flattened carcass of the silly one. She has no road sense at all.

The kids were happily eating their breakfast, oblivious to the panicked looks on their parents' faces. Hubby went out in the car again, looking in another direction. With a twenty minute head start, they could be anywhere. The bush. The highway. Someone else's backyard. I paced.

I thought about the dog bowls. The sound of clanking them together often brought the puppies running. Perhaps that might help. I went outside and picked them up, walking around to the front, whistling and clanking. A car pulled into our yard.

I walked slowly around to see if John had found the dogs yet. Time was running out, and we were going to have to give up the search to get ready for our weekly programs.

But it wasn't my husband in the driveway. It was a couple who lived across the other side of town to us. They were smiling.

"We found the dogs. They're inside. They were running around on [blank] street."

We still had half an hour to get ready for church.

Oh, and the reason for the open gate? We found an almost-finished beer bottle discarded on the ground next to the fence. It was Saturday night, after all.

Now *that's* commitment!

Over in Atlanta, a couple have taken their commitment to Scrabble to a whole new level.

They've created an enormous scrabble board in their own backyard.

I hope Hasbro doesn't jump on them for copyright infringement...

As if Re-reading the catalogues wasn't enough...

We all know that IKEA prides itself on providing nifty storage solutions for just about anyone (thereby making its creator the richest man in the world). BUT - there's a whole group of people out there who enjoy modifying their IKEA purchases for just about anything. You can find these (mostly) ingenious modifications at a blog called ikea hacker.

Some of the fantastic ideas include:

This kitchen was created from an ikea shelving unit, with a few kitchen doors, magnetic handle and other utensils thrown in.

This was the original IKEA item.

My favourite one, though, appealed to my desire to be clutter free. Below is the "before" picture...

Add a few modifications to an IKEA box/table, and voila!

This...

...to this!

Pictures all taken from IKEA Hacker

I am *really* behind the times...

This week I discovered a geeky subculture that I'd never heard of before - even though it's been around for decades. It's called Steampunk. The first inkling I had of such things was this post, showing a PC case that had been turned into something huge and interesting.

What is it? Steampunk is a whole genre of literature, art, decor etc. Steampunk magazine describes it thus:

  

BEFORE THE age of homogenization and micro-machinery, before the tyrannous efficiency of internal combustion and the domestication of electricity, lived beautiful, monstrous machines that lived and breathed and exploded unexpectedly at inconvenient moments. It was a time where art and craft were united, where unique wonders were invented and forgotten, and punks roamed the streets, living in squats and fighting against despotic governance through wit, will and wile.
     Even if we had to make it all up.

It also involves modifying modern-day technology to look quite different...

Here are some other examples, from the Wired site:

Believe it or not, this used to be a 1988 Mac. It still works. 

A keyboard and monitor modified with old-fashioned-typewriter style.

A laptop modified to look "steampunk"

What do you think of steampunk?

Embracing your inner geek #68

One of the big things that geeks tend to do is quote movies verbatim. Back when I was at uni, the most commonly quoted movie was the Princess Bride ("Stop rhyming now, I mean it!"). 

It seems we weren't alone. Now you can quote at people without even opening your mouth:

Thanks to the wonderful people over at ThinkGeek.com.

Accuracy in reporting AKA showing the nitpicker in me...

I'm sorry for those of you who think I'm being nitpicky, but this picture (above) was reported on the SMH website as being a burned page from a bible. 

Perhaps there are some Anglicans out there who would treat the prayer book with a similar level of reverence, but it's not the same thing...

Downright disturbing...

Now, I know that missing your flight can be a traumatic experience. I have, on occasion, experienced the tension that builds up when time is tight and you're running late for check-in. But is it really a rolling-on-the-ground-kicking-and-screaming experience?

 This is very similar in appearance to one or two of my (then) two year-old's temper tantrums...

I guess it goes to show that growing older doesn't automatically mean you lose the impulsiveness of youth. :/

Embracing your inner geek, #67 - geeky craft *and* subject matter

Ok, so this is something that should satisfy your inner geek on several levels. Crochet - that geekiest of handcrafts - is skillfully combined with the Geekfest that is Star Wars, to bring you the crocheted R2D2.

According to the source of the pictures, two people were involved in creating this little cutie: one to do the crochet, and one to do the gluing of felt etc. 

I always loved the bleeps and bips of the feisty little Artoo, and was very impressed that the man behind the sound effects was employed to good use in Wall-E. Now we have a cuddly little reminder (well, one lucky owner does) of the wonderful, geeky, '78 film masterpiece.

Sometimes it's better to listen to warnings

The whole situation of the Victorian fires is very sad, but I found this article even more so. I've reproduced the text of the article from Melbourne's The Age newspaper below:

Husband's defiant last stand

• Farah Farouque
• February 11, 2009

Elaine Postlethwaite, whose husband Len died in the fire, with a photo of her wedding. Photo: Neil Bennett

ELAINE and Len Postlethwaite, like many long-married couples, had their "creative differences". A difference of opinion on Saturday night, however, became a matter of life and death for them.

Mrs Postlethwaite survived while her husband perished.

When fire enveloped Marysville, the small town where they had marked their 48th wedding anniversary last year, Mr Postlethwaite refused to accept his wife's repeated urging to evacuate.

"He was stubborn like that," she said. "He was always in charge — and he'd lived in Marysville for 78 years. It was quite a record, and he was proud of it. He was the town's longest resident."

Still, hoping the 82-year-old would change his mind and agree to leave, Mrs Postlethwaite packed their ute. There was no room — or time — to pack the mementoes collected of a life together in the pretty home where they had reared two daughters.

Mrs Postlethwaite, 72, a longtime schoolteacher, recounts the chronology of the evening with the precision of her profession. Yet, she said, the loss of a loved husband had not sunk in.

"My daughter, Ann, rang around 5pm and said, 'Get in the car, and get out'," Mrs Postlethwaite recalled. "I thought it was urgent — I put the dog in the back of the ute, my handbag and my camera and I told my husband, 'Come on Len, come on'."

She had hoped he would enter the car when he put on his shoes — but it wasn't the white flag she had hoped for. Instead, the one-time champion axeman went and sat on the veranda. In a further show of defiance, he had his back determinedly turned against the smoke balls massing down the road.

The fire was fast approaching by now yet Mr Postlethwaite remained convinced they could beat it. "It was a case of him not believing — and he just didn't want to listen to me."

Mrs Postlethwaite believes her husband's intransigence was influenced by his experiences beating a bushfire back in 1939 as a boy in Marysville.

"He'd stood on the roof of the family home with a hose and succeeded in beating that fire."

This time, however, Mrs Postlethwaite had a bad feeling. So, because she could not drive, she began marching down the road. "All I had was a face washer to keep me cool."

As luck would have it, a passing car containing a neighbour picked her up. As they left the area, she spied an emergency SES truck approaching her home.

Her last hope was that the officials could persuade her husband to leave. But, to her regret, it seems he was not a man so easily overcome.

To the end, Mr Postlethwaite remained an immovable force.

There are many Proverbs that come to mind, but it is more appropriate to mourn with Mrs Postlethwaite and her family at this point in time.

Who makes your peripherals?

Your computer keyboards could be made in very nasty conditions.

From the folks over at Gizmodo comes this report:

A study by The National Labour Committee, which is a worker's rights group that actually is not associate with the government, found very crazy (and very cruel) working conditions in a Meitai factory in Dongguan City. Here's a very small subsection of cruelties employees were subjected to:

• Workers are prohibited from talking, listening to music, raising their heads, putting their hands in their pockets. Workers are fined for being one minute late, for not trimming their fingernails-which could impede the work, and for stepping on the grass. Workers are searched on the way in and out of the factory. Workers who hand out flyers or discuss factory conditions with outsiders are fired.
• The assembly line never stops, and workers needing to use the bathroom must learn to hold it until there is a break.
• All overtime is mandatory, with 12-hour shifts seven days a week and an average of two days off a month. A worker daring to take a Sunday off-which is supposedly their weekly holiday-will be docked 2 ½ days' wages. Including unpaid overtime, workers are at the factory up to 87 hours a week. On average, they are at the factory 81 hours a week, while toiling 74 hours, including 34 hours of overtime, which exceeds China's legal limit by 318 percent!
• The workers are paid a base wage of 64 cents an hour, which does not even come close to meeting subsistence level needs. After deductions for primitive room and board, the workers' take-home wage drops to just 41 cents an hour. A worker toiling 75 hours a week will earn a take-home wage of $57.19, or 76 cents an hour including overtime and bonuses. The workers are routinely cheated of 14 to 19 percent of the wages legally due them.

Workers are also routinely penalised for random things, including these, which BoingBoing highlighted:

* "Infractions" punished with the loss of over two hours' wages (fine of 10 RMB—$1.44), including for-
—"Being 1 to 5 minutes late to start a shift..."
—"Not periodically trimming fingernails, which will affect product quality."
—"Not lining up correctly while punching time cards or at the cafeteria."
—"Wearing work shoes outside the work room after work."
—"Putting hands in pant pockets while inside the factory or workroom."

* "Infractions" punished with the loss of 4 ½ hours wages (20 RMB fine, $2.88)
—"...answering a personal telephone call in the workroom."
—"Not diligently working or raising ones head to look around when guests or cadres come to visit."
—"Putting personal objects on the work desk."
—"...listening to the radio while on the job."
—"Not parking bicycles according to company regulations; riding bicycles in and out of the company in a way not in accordance with company regulations."
—"Returning to the dorm after regulated hours [curfew]."

* "Infractions" punished with the loss of nearly seven hours' wages (30 RMB fine—$4.32)
—"Switching beds without authorisation." (Dorm beds are assigned by management.)

* "Infractions" punished with the loss of nearly 1 ½ days' wages (50 RMB fine—$7.20)
—"Workers who arrive over one hour late..."
—"Riding the elevator without permission."
—"Plugging in electronics [using electricity] in the dorm room for personal use."
—"Using the company phone to make personal calls."
—"Producing products of low quality..."
—"Workers who...go to visit other workers during working hours."
—"Chatting at the workstation during work hours..."
—"Entering or leaving the factory area without allowing door personnel [security guards] to inspect [search workers]."
—"Treating supervisors with an arrogant attitude..."

* "Infractions" punished with the loss of nearly three days' wages (100 RMB fine—$14.40):
—"Leaving one's workstation without permission..."
—"Putting up personal notices...or handing out flyers."
—"Revealing confidential company or production-related information."

* "Infractions" punished with firing:
—"Violating labour discipline...and not obeying the company's work arrangements."
—"...Taking part in illegal organizations." [In China, this means independent unions; human, women's and children's rights organisations and non-state-sanctioned religious organisations.]
—"Not following the procedures spelled out by government regulations on stopping work, slowing work down, encouraging others to stop or slow down work."
—"Missing three days of work."
—"Disobeying China's one-child policy."
—"Not obeying company arrangements or directions or...collectively causing trouble as a group..."
—"Any behaviour similar to that listed above or helping or colluding in such behavior."

If you think these conditions are obscene—and I think most of us should—contact details for the companies that contract Meitai for manufacturing are located at the bottom of the link. [NLCNet via Boingboing]