100 Things to Do Before I Die

It's been a really warm week here though there hasn't been as much rain as we've needed. The warmer weather does have it's downside though. The flies in Australia are numerous and are specially bred as 'attack flies'. Ruth has found a way of avoiding being eaten alive - as you can see from this photo. It's almost as if we're intentionally trying to allow the locals to play 'Spot the Pom' or something like that. We'll be availing ourselves of the community swimming pool in the very near future, but we draw the line at wearing socks and sandals at the same time.


It's not been a great week for Ruth. She was tasked with looking after a friend's budgie over the holidays (today marked the start of a two week Spring break in Australian schools). He was delivered and it was decided that it would be a great idea to put him the aviary that we have on our veranda. A previous resident of this flat had converted part of the veranda to a luxury bird storage facility, so in went Buddy the budgie. He looks happy doesn't he? Well, he was - flying all around and having the time of his life. But all the time that he was enjoying a bit of space and exercise he was plotting anarchy in his tiny bird mind and within a couple of hours he had quite literally flown the coop. So Buddy escaped from a maximum security aviary where he had been imprisoned for a crime that he, quite conceivably, didn't commit. He may, and I stress the word may, have escaped to the Los Angeles underground and be working as a soldier of fortune. If you have a problem and if you can find him then maybe you can let us know.

So, I've promised you something special haven't I? Well I suppose I'd better deliver the goods.


Yes. It's this week's Dubbo Photo News. And guess what? A couple of weeks ago Georgina (a daughter of some staff members here) had her 18th birthday party. And guess what? There was a photographer from Dubbo Photo News there. And guess what? THAT'S RIGHT! I was in the one of the photos that was printed. Here's the page that I appear on. Can you spot me?



No? Here's a close-up for you. The quality's not great, which is probably the only thing that makes this photo bearable.


OK. It's a terrible photo in about every possible way, but I made it. So I had to go to Georgina's 18th birthday party in fancy dress to get in, but at least I made it. And when I say fancy dress then let me clarify that I was dressed...ahem...as a woman. A hideously ugly one at that. Let me explain how this happened. We were invited to Georgina's party and the theme was 'Fashion'. Ruth suggested that we go as old women and for want of a better or even more relevant suggestion I agreed. I left her with the task of securing costumes as I was in Victoria for the days before the party. When I returned from Swan Hill and prepared for the party I was given my costume of a dress and a wig. There was nothing 'old ladyish' about either of them. Even more puzzling was the fact that Ruth's 'We'll go as old ladies' suggestion had become 'You go as a woman and I'll go wearing only slightly less fashionable clothes than I normally wear'. So I went to this party dressed in a highly inappropriate manner. No-one else, and I mean no-one, had even touched the whole 'cross-dressing' thing. I don't know what's more distressing - the fact that none of the other guys in the photo are in fancy dress or the fact that I suspect I now know what Xanthe is going to look like when she's older and feel really, really sorry for her.

Still, appearing in the Dubbo Photo News was number 58 on my list of '100 Things to Do Before I Die' so we're getting closer to the number 1 spot. Now I just need to move on to number 57. I'll keep you posted as to how my attempts to turn lead into gold are going.

Another update.

This is just going to be a brief update to let you all know that we're still alive and kicking. This has been another week where there has been not much happening, so I've not really got any news for you. The 'something special' that I thought I might have for you this week didn't materialise, so you'll have to wait until next week.

I suppose that a lot of this week has been taken up thinking about the coming year and what it might hold for us. We're still not sure if we're going to be in Dubbo for another year or if we'll be shipped off to a first year centre in another part of the country. We're open to either option and there are benefits to both.

Matt and Jane left last weekend which means that Bill and I have been left with responsibility for the Mat Exchange. It also means that I have lost a Risk buddy. Oh, and if you're reading Jane then you left some tweezers in the flat. Ruth is going to send them on to you. Or maybe they're Matt's tweezers?

Spring is a really nice season. The flowers are in bloom and the weather is lovely, but we're still praying for rain. This week I was speaking to a guy who reckoned that he was going to lose about $15,000 worth of crops unless we have rain in the next week. Drought is a serious matter.

Congratulations to English pals Terry and Ruth who are expecting their first baby sometime in the next six months or so. Having babies is also a serious matter. Just as I've found so many Australians who are able to be positive about their future (regardless of the drought) so too can the birth of a new baby be and expression of hope for us Christians. There are a lot of things that aren't going too well in the world, but bringing children into it can be a practical way of demonstrating faith that God is still involved and going to do good things in the future. At least, that's what I tell myself when I catch Xanthe causing various degrees of havoc around the house. See you in six or seven (days).

To Swan Hell and Bourke

Hello all. Today I'm going to be telling you about my mammoth road trips undertaken this week. Firstly, on Wednesday I went down to Swan Hill in Victoria (about a nine hour trip) and then, after returning on Thursday, the Webb family took a trip inland to Bourke (a mere four hour trip). Let me tell you how it all went...

I went down with Matt to Swan Hill to help him move some stuff in preparation for his family's move there this weekend; I also wanted to check out a first year centre and see another Cornerstone set-up. There are some important things to pass on about this adventure.

i) Ruth told me that I had to tell you that Matt was pretty ashamed of his packing skills here. He told me that it was the worst packing that he had ever done. Nothing broke though, except for maybe a bit of a cupboard.

ii) Here's a handy hint - it doesn't really work too well to try and cook meat pies on a truck engine. It seemed like a good idea, but by the time we checked them out the bottom crusts were black and charred. I tried a bite of the unburnt bit but it tasted like I had put my mouth to an exhaust pipe and inhaled. Matt then chose that moment to tell me that he suspected that the truck had an exhaust leak. Not nice. In fact, I couldn't get rid of the taste of carbon monoxide for a few hours.

iii) Avoid the Hay Plains. Imagine a landscape that's totally flat and devoid of anything interesting. Now imagine this stretching on for about three hundred kilometres. That's about three hours of nothing but sky and flat scrubland. Yes, it may sound romantic but it was one of the most soul-destroying experiences of my life. By the time we got to the other end I was about ready to throw myself off a bridge - but that may have been a residual pie effect.

iv) Swan Hill itself is pretty nice and we noticed that there seemed to be an opening for a mat rental business. Maybe I can convince Bill that he needs to do a run down there - a sixteen-hour round trip should sort the men from the boys.

v) I hurt my finger. Ouch. It's gone a bit black under the fingernail.

Bourke is a different kettle of piscines. It's a town that is considered to be a gateway to the Outback - there's not much civilisation left inland after Bourke. In fact, in Australia the phrase "Back O' Bourke" is used to refer to something that's in the middle of nowhere. Bourke has suffered greatly because of the drought and the town looks very dry and desolate. However, it has something of a rich history by Australian standards and some of the locals are optimistic that tourism will replace irrigation as the lifeblood of the town. It was encouraging to find hope in such a place.

We stayed with John and Heather Buster on their farm. The Busters were one family who, I guess it's fair to say, were instrumental in making Cornerstone happen thirty years ago. The Busters are just one family who have really felt the impact of the drought but remain hospitable and generous. The boys certainly enjoyed the trampoline, swimming pool, rope swings and all sorts of things. It's certainly a great life for children out here.



Bourke is, of course, where Splashe Cola originated. It's no longer produced here but we were able to get a photo of the factory where it used to be made. Even this sight is not enough to dampen my addiction.


Paul and Robyn Roe took us out to Bourke to see where Cornerstone all started. We visited Pera Bore, the original Cornerstone Community site, and although the properties had fallen into a state of disrepair we spoke to people who were still influenced in one way or another by the impact that Cornerstone had on the town. It's really exciting to be a part of Cornerstone; you feel that you're a part of something that's leaving a lasting legacy. That's a pretty great place to be. No doubt I'll have more to share with you about these trips over the coming weeks but it's getting late and I wanted to get something up on the blog before the end of the weekend. Have a good week and I think that I might have something exciting to show you on the next update...

Youth isn't everything

Another week has passed and it's been another good one. Although it's been business as usual for Ruth and I it's been a busy time for the children. Xanthe has a little tooth budding up from her bottom gum. I'm of the firm opinion that (generally) teeth ruin children but Xanthe carries it off pretty well. Reid has been ruined for a long time now, but we've finally broken the back of the potty training with him. Like Calvin he's gone to being pretty much trained overnight. He's a very clever boy.


As it's a slow news week I thought that today I'd post an excerpt from something written by one of the teaching staff Peter Volkofsky; the Director of Mission at Cornerstone. It's something that I've found really encouraging and gives a glimpse into the sort of thing you can expect from Cornerstone. Read it and then think hard about how you're going to get over here and join us.

I sometimes think that we are too clever in Cornerstone at being flexible and fitting in. There are times when this is a great quality. But we make a habit of it and what with forgiveness and grace and restoration, we forget that there are oceans of could-have-been saints, could-have-been Mary Slessors and Amy Carmichaels who are sidelined by the cool scene and now are just warming pews in a cool church somewhere. Nightclub evangelism and party evangelism is usually a great way for the enemy to wreck the lives of Christian young people. If you read the books of those saints, you realise that the only reason they did not end up as fizzled pew-warmers is because when the others were at parties, they were running kids clubs, youth groups, preaching, praying or studying the scriptures. A lot of us have no idea - the books tend to make it look as if they just had great self control.

It was no accident that Jesus did not engage in the most risky and dangerous part of his life's mission until he was well over thirty. The reason many middle-aged Christian people are doing less dangerous things than they used to is because when they were younger, they disqualified themselves. Their Father in Heaven had no other option but to put them on light duties. Adventure will come! No fear of that. It is the dreadful lie of our culture that you must take the great adventures while you are young. Maybe so in abseiling and Bungee Jumping; but it is not so in the truly dangerous business of the Kingdom. Your youth is supposed to be a time of qualifying yourself for them, let the Father bring them to you in his own careful way. I believe he has allowed you to taste some serious failure because he knows that one of the biggest qualifiers for those later mission tasks is steely and patient obedience. You only get that after years of training your body and soul in lonely places. The enemy knows what you can do and that the Father wants to use you to do a lot of damage to the gates of hell. It's kind of like the way the opposition try to take out a talented sports star in a rugby team. A wise coach will not expose that young player too much at first. He knows that the player's very enthusiasm and passion is in fact a weakness at this point. It is only when that player has submitted to the boring and hard art of building strong defensive skills that he will be truly ready. The lesson of your experience so far is that your defensive skills are weak. It's often the case with talented people...