Daily Verse Rings True

Psalm 61:8

Then will I ever sing praise to your name and fulfill my vows day after day.

Had a bit of a weird day - a duel with a car salesman that I think I lost, and then this is the daily verse on my facebook page.

Thanks for the reminder!

Dad

Hey all.

For those who know my Dad I thought I'd give you an update.

Dad's had a heap of neck pain for a fair few years, and finally it was decided the only way to stop it for good was to perform surgery.

It had gotten to the point where Dad could hardly use his right arm due to the nerve damage that was being caused by inflamed vertebrae in his neck.

The surgery was yesterday, where surgeons removed fluid from the vertebrae relieving the pressure and inflammation. Obviously anything round the neck is dangerous, but Dad's come through the surgery ok. He's back home today - was suppose to be tomorrow so that's a good sign. He's in a fair bit of pain still, but looks like he'll recover fully.

Thanks to those who have been praying, and the people who provided meals last night and tonight, that took a lot of pressure of mum - and kept Brett and I fed while mum's been out so much :-P

Haha thanks

Schoolies Round Up

Well it's been over a week since I posted... so some of you may have started to wonder if I'd been trampled to death by a horde of schoolies.

Close... but not quite.

I was totalled after the long hours and stress of Friday, but Saturday was much much worse. I got up to set up all the laptops - we'd only allocated 10 laptops to assign wrist bands, and 14 for the schoolies to use who hadn't registered yet. I also had 10-12 laptops for use on the beach for the event entry scanning, and as I'd said in the previous post, they weren't working.

So my first job after setting up for the day was to cart those 12 laptops up to my apartment, and set about reimaging them from my self made imaging server (another laptop) and hashed up network set up on the dining table. I worked all day until they were ready to go, when I got a call from the MBC that things were banking up and getting out of hand, so they needed extra laptops to do the wrist band assigning. Event Entry went out the window and I used the extra 12 laptops at the MBC... in the end I jumped on one and started handing out wrist bands myself (we had 12 extra laptops, but not 12 extra people to use them).

At about 9pm the line for wrist bands was about a kilometre long, and 10 schoolies wide! I think it even made the news, as some schoolies were waiting up to 6 hours in the line - there was no coordination with the event staff and crowd control was horrible. In the end the inevitable happened and we had ourselves a mini riot.

The police shut the line down saying they could get onto the beach without a tag for the Saturday night... but for a few moments there it was very scary. A thousand or so schoolies surging forward ended up with the table I was sitting at pinning me against the MBC (so hard I had a bruise on my belly the next day), and when I went to get up I timed it really badly and stood up just as some drunken, ticked off kid decided to throw something at the truck.

It hit me in the head... it hurt... I don't know what it was, but I was really light headed and ended up falling over as I tried to get out of the area. I was helped into the truck and after 5 minutes or so and a bottle of water I was fine.

Eventually the crowd disbanded as police moved them all on - I'm amazed they didn't start hurling the laptops around or vandalising the Mobile Business Centre. A few of the cars around the MBC were kicked and stuff written in the dust... I'm quite grateful my work car - a silver Commodore Wagon - looked a lot like an unmarked police car... it was untouched, and when I went to leave people were getting out of my way quick smart.

Things could only get better after that and they did... on Sunday the IT manager and a couple of other IT staff came down, bringing an extra 25 laptops - we ended up with 50 laptops doing the wrist bands and registration combined... again I spent the day registering and assigning wrist bands, but with some proper crowd control in place everything ran very smoothly. The decision was made to cut the event entry scanning - which sort of made the wrist bands useless - but meant I didn't have to worry about setting laptops up on the beach every night.

By Monday the registrations had started to settle down - new problems arose like rain... and kids wanting replacement wristbands all the time (we found out they were selling them to toolies for $20 each!), so we had to come up with ways of solving these issues... but I've never been verbally abused so much in a week as I have this past one.

By Tuesday I was able to set up in the mornings, go have a swim, catch up with some friends, swim in the afternoon and then hang out with some of the friends I'd made at the MBC from Red Cross. Friday night I went and hung with some mates who were doing Red Frogs, it seems they had a much tougher week than I did.

The only other painful part of the week was getting stuck in the elevator of my apartment block. I'd just ducked out to grab some Indian take-away, and jumped in a lift with 4 other guys who seemed really rough round the edges... then the lift got stuck between the 1st and 2nd floor!

We rang the security, and one of the roughies swore his way through an explanation of what had happened... he annoyed the girl on the other end so much she threatened to leave him in there all night (which is when the others told hit to shut the %^$^%# up and that there were other people in here too). The conversation was not the least bit pleasant... and one guy had just had his nipple pierced and it was bleeding everywhere.

Oh these weren't schoolies either... men probably in their 30's!!!

Eventually after 30 minutes or so the repairman arrived at the apartments, reset the lift and we were free. I finally got to my room on the 24th floor, and enjoyed my somewhat cooled Indian dinner.

It was certainly a week of very different experienced... nothing like what I was expecting, but in some ways something I'm glad I went through, because it's taught me to deal with a lot of very different stuff out there in the real world... not that cushioned world us Christians sometimes find ourselves in.

Schoolies Day 1

I am gone... exhausted... flat... spent... buggered... knackered... etc etc...

I started at 7am this morning in Brisbane, and was on the Gold Coast by 8:30am, I finished tonight at 9:30pm. What a long non stop day.

We had all the laptops at the MBC (Mobile Business Centre) set up in time for the 10am media conference, and got the Skoolies Self Registering ones up not long after that. We then spent the rest of the time trying to sort out hat was going on with the Beach Event Entry laptops where half seemed to work and half didn't.

I checked into my room - a two bedroom apartment I'm sharing with the MBC Driver, on the 24th floor of an apartment block right on Surfer's Paradise beach. The view is AMAZING, but I don't know what chance I'll get to enjoy it.

At 6pm we started setting up the Beach Entry Laptops... and none of them worked. We realised they'd been set up wrong, and were connecting to the network in the MBC, but not the one we'd set up on the beach. The other issue is that sandy beaches work quite a bit like a Radar Jammer... the soft and absorbent surface of the beach literally eats radio waves... so our laptops on the beach were having a hard time finding the network.

Then there was a power surge and it blew 2 of the laptops up... and then some of the bar code scanners wouldn't work. So my simple laptop set up turned into an all night troubleshooting exercise as one after another things went wrong.

So it's 10pm, I've finally got dinner... and I feel like I'm about to die after 15 hours of the most stress filled work I've ever done.

And all the guys at work thought I was getting a holiday on the coast... I wish.

Sitting Around Waiting

We're not very patience are we!? I mean we may think we are, that we can put up with a lot, but when pointless waiting comes upon us, we don't usually handle it very well.

I'm sitting in the Ipswich branch at the moment. Since I live in Ipswich, I get most of the jobs in this branch, I just do them on my way in of a morning. This morning I'm swapping out one of the Travel Agency PCs. One of the other guys built the PC yesterday, but was unaware that there are a few extra functions this user completes that means they need some extra software.

So here I sit, on a slower branch network, waiting for a large install of Oracle to come down over the network and install here. Something that would take 5 minutes at the Head Office will take (has taken) at least 30 minutes here.

And I'm a little annoyed... not at Shane who couldn't have known this software was needed... not at the user (who should have told Shane the software was needed - but she's fairly new so probably didn't know better), but just at the fact I'm sitting here waiting.

I can be patience enough to listen to someone's problems, to put up with someone I know has a few issues and acts strange... but sit me at a desk watching a little status bar slowly creep from 0% to 100% and I go nuts!

It's funny how it's the simple things which we have to wait for that really bug us.

What is it for you? What really aggravates you and highlights your lack of patience?

This Week's Photography Assignment

Topic: Everyday Artifacts.

A fond memory of my childhood was mum cooking eggs and soldiers for dinner. This consisted of a soft boiled egg and toast cut up into strips (the soldiers). I'd love dipping the toast into the egg.

So my first thought for everyday artifact was an egg cup. However it's been a while since I was a kid, and I actually had to run out and buy a new egg cup for this assignment.

I haven't had a soft boiled egg in so many years, that not only did I enjoy photographing this assignment... I really enjoyed eating it as well

Scat - Digs Christmas

It's getting close to that time again, and Scat-jazz have been working on a new album... Sick of hearing Mariah belt out a carol? We'll Scat's got something a little more snappier.

Maybe being mates with the band makes me biased, but I think many people around Queensland have probably heard of Scat these days (most people in the 'Christian Scene')

I'm really looking forward to getting this album, and in true Scat style, they're posted a zainy YouTube ad for their new album

Check it out.

Understanding of a word.

I posted this as a comment on Hamo's blog: Terminology but thought that I've fleshed it out enough to be a stand along blog here... and was interested in your thoughts so here it is...

I think my ideas on the terminology of the word ‘church’ is what’s been evolving for me this past 12 months.

Looking at what you’ve been up to, my own journey with Whitehill Church of Christ in Ipswich and getting more involved in City North Baptist in Brisbane, plus looking at WEC and the Muslim targeted church they’ve planted in Sydney really has stretched my ideas on what ‘church’ really means.

Relationships seem to play the key role in the church, not the services, music and people already in the church (how i was brought up). The WEC church plant in Sydney especially has shown me how outer focused the church really should be, how comfortable it should be for the people around it who are not part of it, even if it’s not exactly what the people already in it are feeling.

The idea of the church is to introduce people to Jesus, through doing that we can strengthen each other, but the core focus isn’t strengthening each other, it’s a by-product of working together to introduce people to Jesus (did I just say the same thing twice back-to-front???)

By looking at that it’s really been able to define more clearly the work I’ve been doing at the Drag Track as a motorsports chaplain. That is no longer a ‘outward ministry’, but simply a church I belong to, I and the other chaplains, trying to introduce people to Jesus through being there at meets and simply building relationships with them.

I’d never considered it church before because we didn’t preach, or even very visible outreach. We were just there - people to come and chat with about every day life… people who the guys knew they could vent to, or come to if there was an incident at the track - which has now developed into them coming to us when they have bigger questions on life… like the death of a mate or parent, marriage and troublesome kids.

Suddenly that seems a whole lot more like the church (according to my new understanding of the terminology) than what a Sunday Service looks like.

Car Search Continues

I took the brand new model Mitsubishi Lancer for a drive last night. Wow! I never expected it to drive better than the Subaru, but it out-shines it easily. The Lancer feels sharper, more responsive and more comfortable.


I've been doing a lot of reading of late, and am slowly changing my ideas on a purchase of a new vehicle. Funny enough, it isn't looks, performance or 'newness' that's influencing my choices, but the safety equipment being fitted as standard in these latest model cars. The Impreza and Lancer now come with Electronic Stability Control, Cruise Control, Driver, Passenger, Side and Curtain Airbags and the Lancer even has Knee Airbags and Active Traction Control.

Maybe I've been working for the RACQ for too long, but it's that equipment that is starting to sway me to spend a touch more and purchase a new vehicle. If a second hand car had this stuff I'd probably still be looking at them, but it seems to only be these 2 new models that have been upgraded to such safety standards.

I guess I also find it a little ironic, that the swaying factors in buying a car are functions you hope you never use. The fact the Lancer has every type of airbag available is a selling point, but I know if I ever use those airbags I'm going to be in a whole heap of trouble.

RACQ works kind of on the same principle I guess. You join RACQ to have the option of Road Side Assistance, but you don't ever really want to use it. RACQ has always said they sell 'Peace of Mind', knowing that if something goes wrong, you have the peace of mind of knowing RACQ will come and help solve the problem.

So this extra for a new car??? I think it's just buying Peace of Mind, knowing that if something does go wrong, I'll be in the safest possible vehicle.

However it does mean that I'll have to sell the XR6 privately to get enough money. Trade ins and change overs just make it too expensive... so anyone know someone who'd like a near perfect condition 1997 EL Falcon XR6 Manual?

Bloglines

I've just started using Bloglines to monitor the different RSS feeds and Blogs I regularly read. I must say it's much easier than just following the different links on my blog roll and perusing individual blogs.

I do kind of like the personal effect actually looking at someones blog creates, but Bloglines makes it much more efficient.

So do you use a RSS Feed Reader of some kind? Are there any others out there better than Bloglines?

Reading Archived Blogs.

I've had a couple of people comment over the past week that some of the 'quotes' in my older blogs are hard to read due to the colour.

Sorry, but when I redesigned My Jarrol Spot the old quote colour I used became hard to read (see!!!!) so now I'm using a different colour to quote which is easier to read (I Hope!) - But I haven't gone through and changed all the older posts from before my blog redesign.

So I apologise if you have to work a bit harder to read some of the old posts. But be assured that all new posts will have quotes that are easier to read.

Simple and Effective

Both Hamo and Vawz have blogged on this, but I'm joining them. Made my $1 donation, and hoping to see it grow and grow until the world's changed.

ONEHITWONDER is an initiative of Third Place Communities in Tassie, I like it and hope others get into it as well.

http://www.onehitwonder.org/

Long lost Cousins

COUNSELLORS at an exclusive drug treatment facility in Malibu are scouring Los Angeles in search of Ben Cousins.

Sources close to the Summit Centre in Malibu told The Australian yesterday the 29-year-old failed to check in, as scheduled, on Monday.

They say they are worried for his safety.

"No one has any idea where he is," said a person with knowledge of the situation.

"He's got everyone freaking out because LA's not a good place to be out doing what he may be doing.

"I just hope nothing bad happens to him."
news.com.au Story...

Worrying, but by this point you have to ask, how much is fact, how much is media speculation!?

Impressionable Impreza

I'm currently looking to replace my car, the Falcon is getting old, and I'm starting to have too many problems (none very little) which are just costing me more and more money.

I'm also looking at something a little smaller. When I bought the Falcon I was using it to carry 5 people on youth group outings and camps, the extra space was really helpfull when you're going away for a few days and have 4 other people and their luggage with you. These days I'm finding 90% of the time it's just me in the car, which seems a bit of a waste being such a large car.

The only problem has been that I love my XR6, but I am coming to terms with the notion of getting rid of it.

I'd been browsing carpoint.com.au looking at later model Subaru Imprezas when I found a 2007 model with 133kms. Interested I looked into it a little more and found out the car is brand new, in Ipswich (amazing conincidence), and being run out because the new model Impreza has now arrived in show rooms.

2007 Impreza on CarPoint

I wasn't planning on buying a brand new car, but the price on this particular Impreza was amazing, so organised to go look at it, however the price was too amazing it seems, the car had sold by the time I arrived yesterday afternoon.

The salesman was really good though, he showed me the brand new model, let me take it for a test drive, did an evaluation on the Falcon and just gave me my option. He didn't pressure me on anything, knowing I hadn't particulary been planning to buy new, he even tried to find some used cars I might like but they had nothing.

I think they'd do me a really good deal on that new Impreza, but I don't think I can justify buying a brand new car, even at that price.

New Model

How's the new model Impreza drive though? Amazing! I really really liked it, the handling and grip is insane, but it doesn't quite have that exciting rigid feel my XR6 has. It's a tempting idea to own a car that's only been release for under a month, drives so well, and has one of the highest safety results in Australia.

But it's more than I had intended to spend, so I must fight the consumer within me that says spending a little more is ok...

Down In Flames.

I've never liked Acer computers, we have about 200 Acer workstations that were bought back in 2004. They're coming to the end of their working life with us, but they've always had hardware problems.

I sort of took it to a new level today though. Had an Acer workstation which wouldn't power on, we have a bank of spare power supplies, so I swapped them over and turned the PC on. Next thing I know one of the resistors on the mainboard (motherboard) melts, and lights up the plastic casing, which then lights up the plastic and silicon wires around it. It looked like a gigantic candle - which gave me the idea to pull the power and simply blow the flame out (lucky I've had 25 years to practise blowing candles out).

It created enough smoke to make the fire alarms beep, thankfully though there was not enough to set off a full evacuation. However everyone in my section learnt that burning computer components don't smell so good.

Sort of made the day a little more entertaining though.

An Old Drawcard.

Was just checking some stats on my blog. It seems one of the biggest link in pages for me is a certain post I made in May this year. It's one I really thought out, from a seeming random observation one day at lunch. I just read through it again and what I said still resonates deep within me.

So I thought I might post it again and see what other conversation it can develop, there were a few good comments on the original post so you can check that out here.

_______________________________________________________
Authentic Christianity – Like Chinese Food.
I was eating some Chinese food for lunch the other day, one of the dishes that was being served was ‘Crunchy Chicken’. I didn’t buy it (choosing a freshly cooked soup over the pre heated dishes out the front), but noticed that the majority of customers were ordering the Crunchy Chicken.

I wonder exactly what ties Crunchy Chicken has to authentic Chinese dishes, and if the dish is more produced for an Australian audience, and that’s created the high demand.

I like Chinese food, but the distinct thing I remember when I went to China back in 1995 was how different the food is over there. My favourite dish was Gou lao ruo, which was pork pieces wok tossed in a sweet sticky BBQ sauce with some sour (or more savoury) herbs and chilli flavours… (Gou lao ruo translates into English as sweet and sour pork). Now if you order Sweet and Sour Pork in most Chinese Restaurants in Australia you get deep fried pork balls with a sweet and sour sauce, which is runny, not BBQ flavoured and has pineapple in it.

There was no pineapple in the authentic Chinese dish I loved in Beijing!

See most Chinese Restaurants in Oz cater for an Australian customer base. They also have access to different cooking styles. In both cases this has altered the traditional style of the food to be modelled on an Australian ‘flavoured’ dish. The desire to be a successful restaurant usually overpowers the traditional cooking styles so that they compromise on the authenticity to give the consumer what they want. Over a long period of years we all in Australia have come to accept this is Chinese food, many restaurants advertise ‘authentic’ dishes, but are serving the Australianised version of authentic Chinese food.

To the point where we now expect Sweet and Sour Pork to be a serve of deep fried pork balls with a runny sauce (with pineapples) to pour over them. In some cases places that don’t serve it this way may be questioned as to why they’ve changed…

Are we a bit like that in the Church? To appeal to the society around us, or because of some of the ‘access to different styles and mediums’ we have at our disposal, do we change slightly from our authentic beliefs? Has this been going on so long that now the general population just assumes that’s what authentic Christianity is? Has it been going on so long that we believe that’s what authentic Christianity is? Do we compromise on our authenticity to give the 'customer' what they want?

Has the culture of music, entertainment, risky thrills, wanting to fit in, wanting to be uncontroversial, consumerism and materialism added ‘pineapple’ to our faith? Does this compromise the core biblical basis the church was founded on?

Like the Crunchy Chicken that was the obvious favourite for most of Brisbane’s CBD, are people outside the Church drawn into churches that offer a culturally acclimatised experience? Is that because they haven’t seen how good the authentic stuff is?

All I know is that if I had the choice of pork balls or traditional Gou lao ruo I’d be going the original and the best! I just pray that I’m also seeking an authentic faith of the same kind.

Update on Jeff

Received this email this morning, please keep praying.

Dear Folks,
Many of you will have heard this news via the grapevine or you're on othere-mail lists. However I am going through Jeff's list now to make sure nobody misses out.
The sad news is that Jeff's illness has developed into an acute arthritic condition. After 10 days in the Hovd hospital the Dr referred him to Ulaanbaatar (UB) for tests and treatment. After two days of these the Drs strongly advised him to come home toAustralia in the hopes that avoiding the Mongolian winter would help the condition not tobecome chronic.
Jeff had really resisted the thought of coming home till then, but hasagreed it is good idea and he will be arriving 10.30am tomorrow Monday 29th (not Tuesdayas we were at first told). He is coming with just hand luggage and a return ticket, so youcan see he really believes he'll soon be well enough to return.
Please pray for a comfortable trip. He is coming as a wheel chair passengeras he can't walk many meters without becoming sore and exhausted. Many of his joints areaffected, so the long trip won't be easy. I'm praying that he'll be able to have his sore leg elevated somehow, and the long trip won't affect him adversely.
Thanks for your prayer support. I'm sure it's not easy for Jeff to suddenlyhave his plans and life changed. But we are trusting for God to be glorified in it all, andthat healing will come before long.
Blessings on you all,
Alan and Anne King

Gold Coast Indy 2007

Here are some of the photographs I took over Indy Weekend.



[Will Power - Second Pole Position in 2 years, and second time he crashed out early too!]



[Aussie Racing Cars - look like great fun]

Holidays

It's been great to relax and just have some time off.

Many things to write about over the week, but I just decided to have a bit of a break from blogging too. Not think about too much and just take the week nice and slow.

Well it didn't start off slow with 4 days of Indy. Man there were some serious skills on display by the drivers to navigate that amazing circuit between the high rises of Surfer's Paradise. However you did have to keep you eyes off the balconies of those same high rises, and the general behaviour of people during the weekend was a pretty stark reminder of exactly what's going on in the world today... sometimes we forget within our Church walls.

Got home from the coast on Monday, spent Tuesday doing nothing productive at all - bit of a waste of a day actually... then Wednesday I went down the coast again, another swim and then had morning tea with a friend before dropping in to see my mates at 107.3 Life FM. Thursday I mowed the lawns and did some stuff around the house before driving up to Toowoomba to have dinner with another friend.

Unfortunately as I was leaving home Thursday the electric window in the Falcon broke - I heard a snap, and then the window just slowly slid down. Not being able to lock the car properly I jumped in Mum's and drove to Toowoomba after organising to take the car into Bryan Byrt Ford on Friday.

So Friday took the car to Bryan Byrt's, which I usually do and then get dropped off at work. Well this time I went into the Brissie CBD just thinking it would be a few hours. I was having a service done as well, and it seems the same problem has occurred as the last time I had the car in there. Suspension issues - Bryan Byrts had made me buy new tyres after they told me the suspension was fixed, now those new front tyres after only 8000kms have been worn through again!!! The inside edge of the tyres are totally bald, for that to happen after just 3 months is pretty incredible. The people at Bryan Byrt's have no idea what's wrong and the car's gotta go back in on Monday. I'm going to be hitting them up for a new set of front tyres though, since they got me to buy them after fixing it last time! Either way, I think it's still gonna be expensive!

Today I went back down to Burleigh with my Bro for a swim in the surf and lunch by the beach. Good times.

Well expect some Indy photos, and some other ones I've taken during my time off. Maybe a few more random blogs from thoughts I've had in all the spare time this week.

Gold Coast - and Indy

Well 6 days on the Gold Coast sounds fantastic, packing up Dad's caravan and heading to Tallebudgera right on the creek and near the beach.

Though I'm hoping to get to the beach today, it's not the reason for our holiday... the Gold Coast Indy Carnival is this week, and Dad's there as one of the official chaplains, I'm just lucky enough to have a free 4 day pass!

So I've packed my Ford shirts, grabbed my Willowbank drags shirt to show off some local pride and I'm ready to hit the track. Plus I've got my camera so hopefully I'll have some nice shots to post next week.

Have a good one...

The Day Before....

Isn't it funny how on your last day before going on holidays you have to work extra hard, and stay an hour late to get stuff finished off and write a huge essay explaining the things you've been doing the last two weeks because the place has a good chance of falling apart because you aren't going to be there for a week and a half.

Woah what a long sentence.... big breath....

HOLIDAY TIME!

New Blog Layout

Holy dooly!!! Check out the new look!

I thought it was about time I took advantage of all the new features of Blogger Beta (which is now just the Google Blogger layouts). It was a little more indepth than I thought it would be, and once I started there was no stopping until it was up to my standards (which took a while).

If you want to know why the car up the top, well simply it's cause I just love 1969 Dodge Chargers... and that's just a really cool photo of one. I'm all about putting forth all the stuff God's put in my life, and the passion he's given me for cars has allowed me to move into ministries like sports chaplaincy, so I think putting my favourite car up there is in a small way giving God glory for the passions he's given me.

Well it's a much cleaner layout, so hope you like... let me know your thoughts.

Please pray for a friend in Mongolia

A letter from Jeff's parents here in Brisbane. Please uphold Jeff in your prayers

_____________________________________________________________
Dear Folk,
For some of you this will be an update on Jeff and for some of you it will be first time news.
Jeff was admitted to a private hospital in Hovd, Mongolia early last week with severe back pain. He could hardly walk and nor could he stay lying down for long. The pain started after he got extremely cold taking someone home from a wedding in the early hours of the morning on his motor bike, and gradually worsened despite medical care.

It seems to be a pinched nerve or some such as he is not sick and has no fever. We have been assured that he is in good care there. The Dr has a good reputation and the clinic is well run. His Field Leader had visited there recently and was impressed with it. Jeff himself was very concerned before admission, but it is evident now that he is relaxed about the care there.

Until yesterday he was not noticing any improvement except after injections for pain. But yesterday a neurologist from the capital had a clinic there and she ordered physio and acupuncture and new medication, and he was feeling slightly better last night, certainly in better spirits. They can’t xray as the machine has broken down.

Thanks to all who are praying. We are trusting for God’s glory to be manifest in this and that the devil’s wiles will be thwarted.

Jeff has a Mongolian couple, man and wife, in the room with him. They are from way out in the country and have never been anywhere past Hovd. They are enjoying Jeff’s MP3 player etc and marveling at modern technology. The clinic provides just one meal a day and relatives and friends bring other meals. Jeff shares his with them, and they share theirs with him. They’d never tasted fruit juice before, nor chocolate, and asked if they came from Australia. They didn’t realize such delights existed there in Hovd itself. He’s also been able to start sharing Better Food with them. Actually the lady has been a recipient of a hearing aid the team had given out on a visit to their little settlement.

Of course Jeff is unable to access the internet there and asked me to contact you all. We have no trouble ringing him on his mobile.
_____________________________________________________________

Digital Photography School Weekly Assignment

This week's assignment topic is quite close to my heart - coffee!!!

This week I need to give a really big thanks to Bon-Amici, a cafe in Toowoomba. I was up there last Tuesday replacing a server in the RACQ branch, and whenever I'm in Toowoomba (for work or otherwise), I always love to grab a coffee from Bon Amici - they use Merlo Coffee and make a great expresso.

This week I asked if I could jump behind the counter and take some shot of coffee being poured. However I made a rookie mistake, too high an ISO, and didn't account for light and movement... not one of those shots were any good.

However as I sat down to enjoy my expresso, I chose a table with some really unique lighting curtosy of a down light, and some sunlight coming in through the windows. So I still got a shot I really liked.

Flat on my back...

That's basically where I've been since Thursday. Without warning my back started aching again and I spent all day Friday lieing around home, unable to move.

I'm still sore, and had to be careful all weekend, but I am at work this morning - not planning on doing any lifting though. Only have today and tomorrow till I have a week and a halfs holidays so hopefully that will allow some more time for healing.

The only time I went out was Saturday night, went for a BBQ dinner at Southbank. I sprained my ankle when kicking a soccer ball with some mates...

Just my luck eh???

Finally a Gambian Blogger.

Every now and then I peruse the net for different blogs. One thing I keep an eye out for are bloggers who are from or in The Gambia.

The Gambia holds a special place in my heart after the time I spent there working as a missionary in 2004, they are a unique people, and I'm really glad to finally have found someone not only writing in The Gambia, but are Gambian themselves.

http://fromgambia.blogspot.com/ is maintained by Amran Gaye and here's his little blurb about himself.

I am a Gambian, currently working at YMCA Gambia as a sysadmin. I am interested in writing, and this is my attempt to present my country, and my experience living here.

I also worked at the YMCA Technical Training Institute while in The Gambia, I was helping to start the Christian Union there, so I know the campus that Amran is working at, and I'm pretty interested to find out what sort of Sys-Admin work is going on there.

He covers some current affairs from The Gam, but also has some pretty humerous stories which relate to the life-style in the Kombos region of The Gambia.

I've added him to my blogroll.

I just had too...

To round off everything Bathurst.

This is especially for those of you who don't really know the extent of the history of this race in Australia - watch this video, made as an intro to the Channel 7 coverage this year, these are the drivers speaking a bit about the cars and history, but the end bit which is a walk through the track is just unreal.

Some great footage of big crashes from over the years, and some great quotes from the drivers... I love Lowndsey when he's talking about Skyline; "Then you come to Skyline... ooooh crap!"

Good sum up :-P

Garry Coleman

Well it seems fitting to round up a 'Bathurst themed' weekend of blogging with a Thumbs Up to the V8 Supercar Chaplain Garry Coleman.

When it comes to my chaplaincy work I guess you can say Garry is my boss... he organises and runs the whole motorsport arm of Sports Chaplaincy Australia. Putting this on top of travelling to every V8 Supercar event, ministering to teams and officials, and also looking after some speedway racing in Sydney, Garry's got a pretty busy job. He's not a young man these days, but does a fantastic job.

Walking around the pits at Queensland Raceway with him this year I got a small idea of the respect the entire racing community has for him. Drivers, engineers, media personnel, officials, marshalls and corporate staff all stop and take the time to greet and have a few words with Garry - well it's more that Garry stops to take the time with them - always with warm words and signs of great friendships which have been built over the 15 years of Garry's work.

The ministry model that Garry has with the V8 circuit (and what Dad and I have adopted at the Willowbank drags) is one of building relationships. Through being there in the normal life struggles, emotions and personal highs of people you build an unprecedented relationship with them... it's through that you can start 'injecting' Christ into their lives - sometimes without them really realising it. It's something that's apparent in Garry's relationships with everyone at the track.

From big things like marrying Steven Johnson, leading memorials for Peter Brock and speaking at the funeral of Mark Porter last year, to the small things of catching up on the health of a track commentator and checking the well being of merchandise staff, it all incorporates Garry's intent on showing people Jesus.

Garry's one big public moment of the year is the opening prayer on Sunday morning at Bathurst (and recently at Indy as well), the Bathurst one is always telecast and this year's blew me away. He spoke and prayed with conviction, remembering the family of people affected by last years accidents, praying for the safety of all marshalls, drivers and team members, and acknowledging that we are all imperfect beings who need God - even if we ignore that fact. And to top it all off it's proclaimed proudly in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord - AMEN.

Garry on the big screen at Bathurst 2005

He speaks with such God given authority, so that not one of the few million or so people watching world-wide could doubt this man's faith in God.

Garry's a great role model for me - and this is probably longer than most 'Thumbs Ups' but I can't say enough good stuff about this bloke...

1st - 2nd - 3rd - FORD!

With about 25 laps to go in yesterdays Bathurst 1000 I was thinking "This has been an uneventful, almost boring race."

Apart from it looking like a Ford victory, the first 135 laps really hadn't provided much to write about... sure seeing the Number 1 Rick Kelly/Garth Tander car struggle all day with brake issues was nice - the trip across the sand at 300km/h would have been a hairy one for Rick earlier in the race. Seeing the pace of the #6 FPR and #888 Vodaphone Falcons was heart warming, but nothing had really happened to make the race memorable.


Then it rained....

The small shower of rain suddenly changed the whole outcome of the race - within an instant Jason Bright went from needing an extra pitstop, to having a good change at an outright win, then only to slip on the wet track, hit the wall and end his race. A small clip of the wall by Mark Winterbottom meant the #6 FPR Falcon ended up with a flat tyre and took a hair raising ride across the sand at the bottom of Conrods Straight, leaving the pole sitter to struggle to a 10th finishing position.

Rain also took Russel Ingal and Mark Skaife out (two of the most experienced drivers in the field) when they slid at Regents Park and hit the wall - almost in tandem.

That left Craig Lowndes, Steven Johnson, James Courtney and Greg Murphy fighting hard for the last 15 or so laps of the race, all still on slick (dry weather) tyres on a damp and slippery track. The skill levels of these guys to fight each other for position without slipping into a wall or each other was exceptional. Steven Johnson's move of Lowndes at the end of Pit Straight to take the lead was fantastic! Unfortunately he slid a touch wide the next lap and both Lowndes and Courtney were able to pass him.

Those last laps were nerve racking - you had no idea if the next corner would be where they slid off, ran into each other or made a successful pass... 3 Fords up front with a Holden trailing close behind ready to spoil the show if any of the Ford drivers made a mistake.


In the end it was the second closest finish in Bathurst History (last year was the closest), but 2007 will be the most competitive finish, with 4 cars able to take the lead anytime on the last lap, and 10 cars on the lead lap at the end of the race.

Lowndes and Whincup made it back-to-back wins, which is just awesome. I've said before I'm becoming a big Jamie Whincup fan, and I've always been a Lowndes fan so I'm pretty happy they won. However, I wouldn't have minded if James Courtney/David Besnard had won, and would have been pretty impressed if the win had gone to Steven Johnson/Will Davison.


Having an all Ford podium is excellent - a proud day for Ford fans!



P.S - Some awesome photography from http://www.v8supercars.com.au/


P.P.S - Adding this youtube video - a news report with a great round up of the race. Footage of the Kelly off, Winterbottoms trip across the sand and the amazing pass Johnson put of Lowndes.

It's On...

Bathurst!


I love it, I live for it, every year since I can remember I have been excited, anxious and totally pumped for a full weekend of racing on the world's most exciting race track .

With Lowndes and Whincup winning Sandown this year, it's looking good for another Ford win. I'm really into Whincup's racing this year, I think he's a young guy who has an amazing talent. To have Lowndes and Whincup in the same car certainly sets up the most potent driving combination in the entire field... both drivers could still win the 2007 Driver's Championship.


Will Davison is someone else who's really stepping up to the plate this year. He's the No.1 driver for Dick Johnson Racing, relegating Steven Johnson to co-driver. Will's been consistent in practice so far and is looking good for a nice Top 10 Lap later today. The new paint job on the cars looks great too.

Also in typical Bathurst style, there has already been one big crash - in qualifying yesterday Damien White clipped the wall coming into the Esses, the force of the impact knocking him out. The car then careered down the mountain before slamming the calico wall. It tore the car apart.

Damien White won’t be returning to the circuit this weekend after a horrifying crash at the top of the Mountain. Damien lost consciousness during the accident and was airlifted from the circuit shortly after the crash. He is now stable and under observation.

It is a blow to the team and Damien’s co-driver, Christian Murchison. The damage done to the #14 Team BOC Falcon means that it is unlikely that the chassis will be repaired in time for Indy in a fortnight, let alone Sunday’s 1000 kilometre classic.
From V8Supercars.com

So bring on another awesome weekend of Australian motor racing history. Bathurst always brings on memorable moments, heart break and overjoyed success...

Looking Over the Shoulder (Part IV)

Final Session of Rob Coyle's speaking from Psalm 16 at Recharge...

~David's Prophecy

v10: because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

-let your Holy One see decay

• Acts 13:35-37 - Paul talks about the Holy One again, David is here in Psalm 16 looking forward to Jesus.
• The Hebrew word used here for decay means like an animal trap - caught to the point of death.

-you will not abandon me to the grave

• Because Jesus will not be caught in this trap of death, he can reach down and lift us out of our pit of decay.
• The great thing about being a Christian is the assurance that as we die Jesus is waiting to take us into heaven.

~David's Pleasure

v11: You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

• Three tenses

PAST PLEASURE:

-You have made known to me...

• David is saying "God, you've helped me to discern and that has helped me in times past"
• The Hebrew used for know here was used in Genesis and is the same word used to describe Adam and Eve's sexual relationship:: "And Adam knew Eve"
• Describes a deep deep intimacy. Like a husband and wife.

PRESENT PLEASURE:

-you will fill me with joy in your presence...

• David is saying "God when I spend time with you now it brings me unmeasurable pleasure.
• How often do we really get pleasure from our time with God?
• Are our church services providing that time?

FUTURE PLEASURE:

-eternal pleasures at your right hand.

• The Living Bible Translation says "And the pleasure of living with you forever"
• All sin will be gone
• Not just an absence of sin, but also the overwhelming presence of God.
• Something David looks forward to, as should we.

SEEK INTIMACY WITH JESUS!!!!

Looking Over the Shoulder (Part III)

Continuing with thoughts from Rob Coyle's Recharge messages from Psalm 16....

~David's Pliability

v7: I will praise the LORD, who counsels me even at night my heart instructs me.

• Does anyone else have those moments at night, just before you go to sleep where so many answers to the questions you're facing in life just come to you? It seems David talks of the same thing
• What are our reaction to those thoughts at those times?
• Are we like a block of clay? Solid, but when exercised by an outside force it can be shaped and moulded into whatever the potter desires.
• Or are we like a brick? A block which cannot be changed?
• Pliable - like the clay, can be changed, reconstructed - it's solid but not rigid.
• If we want to pick up God's plan we need to be pliable (reacting) to what he says
• To get better at this we need to reduce the time between hearing God and doing it.

~God's Place

v8: I have the LORD always before me, Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken.

• God is in two places at once... before me, and at my right hand.

-before me

• When someone is right in front of you, you can always see them
• You see what they are doing
• It is easier to follow someone who is right in front of you

-he is at my right hand

• Your 'right hand man' - someone you're dependant on, your strength, your trust.

• The way we are always able to take the right hand of God is to always put him before me.
• Have we this week in situations that shake us set God before us?
• Do we act like we know he is in control?

v9: Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will rest secure

• You know when you are in the wrong place with God.

This weeks Photography Assignment

ASSIGNMENT: In My Life....

As a Motorsports Chaplain, car racing is a big part of my life, it's also a great passion.

However as a chaplain, when I'm working at the track I don't wear any supporters clothes... It's a bit hard to have a chat with a driver when you're wearing an opposing teams hat and t-shirt.

So with the Bathurst 1000 this weekend (all you non-Aussies may not know it, but the biggest race event in Australia, and one of the toughest in the world) this is a very big part of my life at the moment.

I'm not going to Bathurst as a chaplain, so sitting at home watching it this weekend I'm free to don the Ford gear like a true fanatic... I think this photo captures that just a little :-P - I am wearing my Official V8 Supercar cap though, just to remind everyone I am still the chappy at heart...

A break from the messages...

Urgh!!! This morning I was helping unload a heap of new computers off a truck (great thing to do with a sore back eh?) and I got hit in the throat with the corner of a cardboard box.

Hard cardboard, made into a point by the corner of a cube... I think it bruised my larynx... gee it hurt! For the first few seconds I could hardly breathe, it scared some of the guys who were there... it still feels a bit weird, swallowing has been uncomfortable all day and there is still a mark right on my Adams Apple.

Looking Over the Shoulder (Part II)

[From Session 2 of Rob Coyle's messages at Recharge 07]

~David's People

v3 & 4: As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom I delight.

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods, I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.

-glorious ones in whom I delight

• It is who we choose to hang around with that will infiltrate who we are.
• David chooses to hang around people who run after God as Lord (see part 1)

-The sorrows of those will increase...

• In Hebrew sorrow translates to a meaning of intense anguish
• Used in the same context as what Job experienced.

-I will not pour out their libations of blood...

• God won't accept the sacrifices offered by people who are running after other gods.
• Some people of Israel would sacrifice to both God and other gods, just the act of preparing a sacrifice doesn't mean God will accept it.

• Who do you hang around? Do you spend a priority of times with saints or the sorrowful?
• Evangelism isn't negated in this, spreading the world amongst the lost is important, but as in John 13:34 and 35: "A new commandment I give you, love one another, as I have loved you. In this way all men will know that you are my disciples." People will know that you are Christ's disciples by the way you love other disciples. That is the greatest evangelical tool you have, the relationship with other saints.

~God's Plan

v5 & 6: LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup, you have made my lot secure

• God's plan is like a fantastic feast, something you just want to continue eating and eating and eating.
• Why then do we feel like we are eating brussel sprouts?
• God doesn't just give us amazing riches? Our lives don't become easy, however when you find out what God wants you to do with your life, when you live his plan, that's when you feel like you are dining at that amazing feast.
• Your feast may be a successful management job looking out for a group of people in a Christian way, or maybe your feast is living in a remote village in Africa, with no power, no hot water, learning another language but teaching and living in a community learning about Jesus.

-you have made my lot secure

• He secures your life - "Like dice that always roll double sizes" - you have the assurance that he is looking after your well being.
• God's plan for you is a penthouse with a magnificent ocean view - you will always love the look of it.
• "For Mother Theresa that penthouse had a balcony overlooking the slums of Calcutta" but she never grew tired of its beauty.

"Even though some things are bitter in taste, they are sweet inside because that's where God wanted you to be"


**That's session two wrapped up, session three and four coming up soon.

Looking Over the Shoulder (Part I)

Ok finally it seems I can sit down and write up some of my notes from the main speaking sessions at Recharge.

I went to Recharge with a real hunger to learn something new. I'm glad I decided to take notes (a last minute decision), because the teaching from Rob Coyle was fantastic.

Rob had been the Executive Director of Youth Dimension in Melbourne for 28 years. Youth Dimension's passion is reaching every school with the message of Jesus, hoping to see young people have an authentic relationship with Jesus and also to change a culture where the family is disintegrating.

Rob also barracks for the Essendon Bombers (woohoo).

Rob's message series was called 'Looking Over the Shoulder' and was taken from Psalm 16, a psalm which gives this over the shoulder look at David's life and faith, just some of the core details of David's life.

In true preacher style each main point begins with P.

~David's Protection

Psalm 16 - v1: Keep me safe, O God for in you I take refuge.

• We can feel physically unsafe
• We can feel emotionally unsafe
• We can feel spiritually unsafe

-"keep me safe"

• in Hebrew the 'keep' and ' safe' has the same meaning as in Job where Satan says to God "You have protected Job from me"
• means like a thorny impenetrable hedge which is placed around a camp. There's no way anything can get in.

-"in you I take refuge"

• God is where David is actively turning for protection.

~David's Position

v2 : "I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing.""

-LORD and Lord translate differently.

• LORD: Yahweh - the most reverent name for God
• Lord: Absolute ruler, controller of a kingdom.

-David is stating his position, the God of everything, his creator, the all powerful is his absolute ruler.

-apart from you I have no good thing

• It doesn't matter how you act or what you do. The only thing that makes anything I do look right in God's eyes is whether or not I position God as the Lord of my life.
• If you want to have this same position as David, Jesus expects no more from you than what he went through himself...

That's the end of the first session - I was going to do them all-in-one but it seems it will be the longest post in the world if I do that. Expect part 2 tonight or tomorrow...

Prayerful Leading.

It's been a little while since I've had the opportunity to give someone the Thumbs Up (Want to know what this is? Click the image above and read all about it).

I haven't been to a AM service at Whitehill for a little while, but went along yesterday because I was planning to go to City North in the evening. I've never really taken much notice before, but I realised I have always enjoyed the way one of the older guys (Ian) takes church prayers... (and before I get in trouble, Ian isn't that old... just older than me).

Instead of just praying through the prayer requests, Ian mentions each one and gives time for everyone to pray individually. Though it's not spoken allowed I think this creates such a real situation of 'corporate' prayer, because instead of just listening along, suddenly the responsibility to pray is on the individual, and if the responsibility is taken up, then the entire church is corporatly praying for the issue.

It's the way Ian's always done it, but for some reason I only realised its value yesterday.

Notable Mention

Well my back is continuing to heal - still sore, but nothing near what I was experiencing Thurdsay night.

Had a very quiet weekend because of it, got to sit and watch all the lead up to the AFL Grand Final, which was nice, especially with all the tributes to Hird and Sheedy. Oh and to see the Cats demolish Port was pretty awesome too...

I also spent a bit of time reading James Hird's autobiography Reading the Play, great stuff, and expect a blog post on it once I'm done.

The Recharge blogs are still coming, just couldn't sit in front of a PC long enough to type up my thoughts.

However a boost for me this morning was to check out the Digital Photography School blog for the weekly mini-contest results. My birthday cake shot was the first of the 'Notable Mention' shots. Needless to say I'm stocked that out of over 100 photos mine was picked in the top 3.

Check it out here dPS Blog - This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums.

You can see the photo below in this post.

Was going to write about Recharge tonight...

but earlier I was getting dressed to go out for dinner with my parents and bent over to pick up some shorts and pulled something in my back. I felt the 'click' and the pain... it was like on TV when someone bends over and can't get back up. Slightly dramatic... well anyway, it hurts and I can't sit here too long so the Recharge study write ups will have to wait.

If you'd pray for healing, or just some relief I'd be thankful.

:-)

Light Play

This week's assignment over at the Digital Photography School forum is "Light Play"

I really wanted to get a shot of a Top Fuel drag car at last weekends Australian National Drag event, but I didn't get out there to see them. Nothing lights up the sky like a Top Fueller burning its Nitros Oxide!

So instead I opted for some Birthday Cake... anyone want some :-P

Refreshed, and Recharged...

I'll do some more thinking and blogging about the studies later... but just a wrap up of my weekend...

I took Friday off and headed down the coast to lie on the beach and have a swim. Work's been real tough these past weeks and I just needed some alone time to chill out for a while. Burleigh was great, a bit windy to lie on the beach too long - but that was good cause I didn't get sunburnt :-P... The surf was pretty good, the blowy conditions were whipping up about 1m - 1.5m swells, which though coming in a little choppy were ok for body surfing.

After that I met an old friend Liz for coffee - so I'd had my alone time and was then able to enjoy a good coffee and a good chat with someone totally unconnected to any of the worries I'd had over the last few weeks - it was great!

I then headed up Mt Tamborine for Recharge 07. I actually went up the mountain a way I never have before (by mistake it seems), it was very steep, and windy... not as much fun as the usual way from home, but more fun than the normal Gold Coast road up the mountain.

Recharge was fantastic, 3 days of good times. The main speaker, Rob Coyle was excellent, and I got a lot out of his messages... the electives were really informative and mind-streatching, and I had a great time catching up and spending time with people I haven't for a while, and also meeting some awesome new friends.

I've come home feeling really refreshed from my day off, inspired by the teaching, and recharged by the time with friends new and old.

Sheep or Goat?

Matthew 25:43 "I was a stranger and you did not invite me in..."

How do you think Jesus feels about the hundreds of strangers in our land who are locked up in Detention Centres?

"...I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."

Where does that leave us who ignore those same people? We mightn't be able to get them out of Detention Centres, but that doesn't leave us off the hook does it????

Working Class Anthem

Vawz over at No Gurantees posted this today. I remember seeing it on TV a while back, we even did this in church on Australia Day a few years back.

Gives me chills, she's a total beauty and I think we should hear it more often.

Jimmy Barns, you have a lot to answer for...

God Talked To Me...

As the track chaplains for Willowbank Raceway, Dad and I were able to chat to Phil Lamattina yesterday after his amazing survival of that insane Top Fuel accident on Saturday night.

(Full Story of the crash here)

I wasn't at the track Saturday night, and missed witnessing the accident where Phil's Top Fuel drag car split in half doing over 500km/h, flinging the compartment with him still in it 10m into the air before crashing back down, bursting into flames and sliding 50m upside down.

I was pretty amazed however at how calm, jovial and care free the whole Lamattina team were on Sunday when they turned up just to sit back relax and watch the day's racing.

Phil said to Dad though; "When I was up in the air I think I heard God talking to me... he said "It's not your time yet" and even as I crashed to the ground, and don't remember much else, I kind of knew I was going to be alright."

Phil walked away from the accident.

Reviewing the footage of the accident - it's amazing Phil is alive, yet alone walking away from the wrecked drag car. Phil even says he didn't understand how serious it was until he saw the footage, it was then he realised how lucky he was.

We met the Lamattina team the first drag meet we were chaplains at, and have been building a good relationship with the guys (particularly the 3 Lamattina brothers running, and driving for the team). Hopefully we can continue to do this in the aftermath of this event, and it can be used for God's glory.

<Still photo from the video footage of the accident. Phil is in the larger ball of flame just about to hit the ground. Amazing stuff!

Weathered

This week's mini comp assignment over at the Digital Photography School forum is 'Weathered'.

Here's my submission.

Recharge = 1 week away

Missed out on registering for the weekend? Don't worry, you can still come for the Saturday (22nd Sept). The program for the weekend is jam-packed. Here’s just some of what’s on offer on

Saturday….

Jumping Castle and Rockclimbing 2:30 – 5:00pmBounce your booty on the jumping castle and test your guns on the climbing wall.

JC Epidemic BMX Stunt Show 3:00pmJC Epidemic will take to the skies with their talented crew of BMX riders.

The Panel 4:00pm How can you change the world? Come, engage and find out about the opportunities to serve with SU, GiA, BCQ and Compassion @ the Recharge Café.

Live @ the Café 9:30pm ‘til late Relax and enjoy live music and good times @ the Recharge Café.

Footy Finals Replayed 9:30pm A complete replay of Saturday night NRL and AFL finals on the big screen baby!

Missions Night 9:30pm Could this be your mission? Sip on South American Hot Chocolate while listening to WEC, Interserve, NTM and Pioneers share cross-cultural experiences and opportunities.

So don't sit there and wonder what you should do next Saturday. Come check out Recharge at Mount Tamborine. It will be AWESOME!!Hope to see you there!

First Published Photograph

On the back page of the latest INTO Newspaper (Published by WEC Australia) is an article on this years WEC Highschooler Camps. The above photo is used in the article and is my first ever published photo.

I guess it's a bit of a cheat considering the work I'm doing and have done for WEC, but it feels good to see my photo in print.

My Spelling Sucks

Oh man sorry for that - the last post had so many spelling and grammatical errors! I was just re-reading it after I posted it, and had to edit it about 4 times.

Sometimes I can't believe I survived 12 years of schooling, plus university!

A Challenge from 12 months ago.

Looking through some old blog posts today, here's part of one I stumbled across that continues to challenge me.

It's a story I heard told, it packs a punch. So have a read and leave a comment.

___________________________________________________

-All around the world these events happen at the same time.

Julia is in Brisbane, she’s 19 years old and driving into the Chermside Shopping Centre car park at around 8pm. Suddenly she starts praying to God with as much passion and faith that she can muster, because she has a situation that needs prayer.

At the exact same time Sara is waking up and getting her brothers and sisters ready for school. She is in Bulawayo Zimbabwe, and she spent all last night making some little craft items to take and sell at the now illegal market place just outside of town. She needs to make these sales to help feed her siblings, whom she looks after now that both her parents have died from AIDS. Sara is only 16. Before she leaves, she kneels and prays to God, please help me sell my items today, please don’t let me get arrested by President Mugabe’s police because he has tried to stop us from making money. Please keep my brothers and sisters safe while I have to leave them alone.

Back in Australia, in a Western Australian Aboriginal community, Lisa is sitting on her back porch. The ambulance has just left, taking her mother to hospital. Her father came home tonight, after going to a secret binge party. Lisa hid while her father beat her mother until some of the elders came and pulled him out of the house. The ambulance picks mother up, but her father has just returned inside and though Lisa has gotten use to the beatings, tonight her father seems even more violent. In fear she cries out to God to help her survive the night safely.

In a remote refugee camp in Somalia, Wilfred is standing in line. He’s been there for 2 hours already, and there are still so many people in front of him. But today may be the day. Today he might get to the front of the line and find out his name is on the list, the list of families granted asylum in a foreign country. Wilfred has heard Australia is a good place, and that is his first choice, but anywhere away from the war and hunger, anywhere where his 3 children can grow up safe will be fine. Wilfred stands in line and prays his name is on the list, he prays that God will save his family from all the troubles of his country.

Back to Julia, she’s still driving her 2002 model Hyundai Accent through the car park, and praying hard. You see she heard at church last Sunday that God wants to be part of every aspect of our lives, and tonight is Thursday. She’s meeting some friends for a quick dinner before heading to see a movie, and she’s a touch late. So she prays… Please God, give me a car park close to the entrance, I don’t like walking much anyway, and I’m already late. Please let there be a park, near Myers would be best, cause that’s close to the food-court… As she turns the corner she sees a white Magna reversing out of a parking spot, about 6 away from the door. “THANK YOU God!” she exclaims, waits for the space to clear, parks and walks in to meet her friends.....

What a Welcome

Also saw this on Rodney's Blog

What's the most amazing welcome you've ever received?

Well that's easy. When I arrived in Jarrol Village the response was just overwhelming. We had taken a gali-gali (African Bush Taxi/Bus) from the city and were about 3 hours late arriving in the tiny village, but the whole town had been waiting on the street since 2pm (so when we arrived at 6pm - suppose to be 3pm) they were still there and burst into spontanious song and dance.

Here's a short clip one of the girls was able to take as we drove into the village. Totally unbelievable!

Just Scraping in a weekly Thumbs Up.

Haven't had much to write about this week, it's been one of those weeks you just write off, have a break over the weekend and start again.

But tonight I headed down to City North Baptist and met up with a mate of mine who is heading out to Africa to work as an assistant cheif on the Mercy Ship.

Mercy Ships are a non profit organisation who have quite literally a floating hospital which travels the east coast of Africa. The perform free medical checks and surgeries from the ship.

So thumbs up to Tim who's giving up at least 12 months of his life to cross the world and feed the doctors, nurses and dentists who make this important ministry such a success.

Tim's been managing a McDonald's store these past years so I'm sure that experienence will be handy in a ships kitchen.

Not-so-Sunshine Coast.

It seems Thursdays have been my day to get out of the office. Yesterday I headed up the Sunshine Coast for a couple of printer swaps and helping out the Maroochydore Travel office.

Now it’s been raining in Brisbane and Ipswich, but nothing like what I experienced up the coast yesterday. I believe if this rain had been over the Wivenhoe and Summerset Dams we’d have headlines this morning like “Drought Breaks Finally” or “Dams Full”, because they would have had well over 100mm just in the time I was there.

Roads were washed out, and I saw the Maroochydore River just breaching its banks for the second time in 3 weeks.

It’s such a shame that most of that water will have no effect on the drought for farmers, or filling dams for Brisbane and the West.

It was a slightly strange experience though, I haven’t dealt with rain like that for a long long time, and driving through it was pretty tiring. I don’t mind walking in the rain these days, it’s a welcome change, but yesterday’s rain on the coast was so cold, and it was heavy enough that you were pretty well soaked by the time you walked from the car to the office.

I’m praying that today that rain will push a little more west and hit the dam catchments! Even better if it heads further west and soaks the Qld farming regions!

It Feels Different

Raining here in Qld today. It's only been 2 weeks since we've had rain, and it feels different to get some more so soon after. Usually we're hanging out for rain desperately so when it comes it's like this huge welcome relief.

This time it's almost like a continuation of a renewal. Everything was still a touch green from the last rain, and it's just getting more and more so this time. The ground hadn't hardened up again, so this time the rain is soaking more into it.

Praise God for his continued blessings.

Ouch

You pride yourself on how well you do your job. So how do you deal when you make a silly mistake that impacts a lot of people and leaves your whole section looking like a group of people who don't really know what they're doing?

Thumbs Up to Trent

Want to highlight someone making a positive difference?Is there a blogger who deserves a pat on the back or simply something that has you feeling thankful this week?The blogosphere can sometimes be a pretty negative place so I reckon it's great to make a habit of accentuating the positive.
(Rodney - The Journey)

This week I'm giving the thumbs up to a mate of mine who does some amazing photography work. I'm a pretty keen photographer as well, but I am always amazed at what Trent Rouillon comes up with.

Having photography as a bit of a hobby I look at a lot of Trent's stuff for inspiration and just some simple ideas.

I hope he doesn't mind me copying some shots of his over just to show you how amazing he is (all link back to his page).

Trent is great at shooting, but even more than that his photos always seem to display a positive attitude, either through the musicians he shoots or the landscape shots, maybe because I know Trent I can see his great outlook on life being reflected in the photos he chooses to take.

So check out http://www.trentrouillon.com/ or http://www.myspace.com/aka_music_photographer and if your in Brisbane and need a comercial photographer, Trents your man.