tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3248605223510835732024-03-18T19:17:05.403+09:00 on the edge of ordinaryWendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.comBlogger3200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-75898200989897486632024-03-18T19:17:00.000+09:002024-03-18T19:17:02.591+09:00Day 3: a lake, three beaches, and a conference<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5qjEF_dCF-t6vUyJltTt6xJr54JskIztiDlb_U8cAU9ju41IxYW8tbXIrSnstjcZFR2pq7qT09-3Fn7kV8YeoCzO_jSyxb9Hm2xHC6ToCatA5nWUf4MUUMkTW5nB-7XDBijnhSQyZtB7qIxIkzs_kLSQQxu7EAxP0xuj43zUO9et4MFuGTcEYM6jxww/s4032/IMG_9286.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5qjEF_dCF-t6vUyJltTt6xJr54JskIztiDlb_U8cAU9ju41IxYW8tbXIrSnstjcZFR2pq7qT09-3Fn7kV8YeoCzO_jSyxb9Hm2xHC6ToCatA5nWUf4MUUMkTW5nB-7XDBijnhSQyZtB7qIxIkzs_kLSQQxu7EAxP0xuj43zUO9et4MFuGTcEYM6jxww/s320/IMG_9286.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you spot Lake Macquarie in the background?</td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span>This day we woke up in a caravan park on the shores of Lake Macquarie. A peaceful caravan park where we only encountered cheerful staff and residents. We're still adjusting to the change to daylight saving that we copped when we crossed the Queensland-New South Wales border on Wednesday (for non-Aussies, Queensland is the only state on the eastern side of Australia not to have daylight saving). The sun got up after 7. It was very weird to wake up at 6 am and find it was still dark!</span></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyECVhyh9fmh-fojE2P7j0hDDNoUmP6bGeIteiPd1tmFP8Djwpvx8rRimLPNxTMMxqndNoybLxBHGyLkYYMXrA8NjUmk7M1dDz-wa3zP1Ccpv-1zDlZE8cPmBhBWLuXX1y7NZi6NvFPwea8Obm0_M9FVf0BltioSEe51k6fAr9BIr7r4lVVJingqaLdI/s4032/IMG_9289.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyECVhyh9fmh-fojE2P7j0hDDNoUmP6bGeIteiPd1tmFP8Djwpvx8rRimLPNxTMMxqndNoybLxBHGyLkYYMXrA8NjUmk7M1dDz-wa3zP1Ccpv-1zDlZE8cPmBhBWLuXX1y7NZi6NvFPwea8Obm0_M9FVf0BltioSEe51k6fAr9BIr7r4lVVJingqaLdI/s320/IMG_9289.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cave beach</td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We packed up and left by 10, and drove a short distance to Cave Beach, where, surprise surprise, there are caves on the beach! Alas the tide was coming in and we could only just get to one of them. The winds were high and the surf pretty fierce, but we walked along the beach for a bit anyway. Then, after it started raining, we hopped back in our vehicle and drove north a short distance, in search of a walk along the shoreline and found another beach (ingeniously called "Coastal") after a short walk through bushland. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We then drove to a sheltered spot, read for a bit and made lunch in our portable home. </span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPyi9TvNgsFT2-OYOzYF5NZQZbUaUxaYKdPz9FJiaECJOAxAeneQT_OxT2-j6uIG0agmCCGQovu_EUI8FKDwXvi5T9w2NcvNKEQapil9ogfoP7tW_mvyVJw8YjLZQ-GZqe_SKd-tspBYHs-8NY_nDGv1ew5hZPIpPrP_4_wbRieEwM06z_btKkqVC17w/s4032/IMG_9301.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPyi9TvNgsFT2-OYOzYF5NZQZbUaUxaYKdPz9FJiaECJOAxAeneQT_OxT2-j6uIG0agmCCGQovu_EUI8FKDwXvi5T9w2NcvNKEQapil9ogfoP7tW_mvyVJw8YjLZQ-GZqe_SKd-tspBYHs-8NY_nDGv1ew5hZPIpPrP_4_wbRieEwM06z_btKkqVC17w/s320/IMG_9301.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long Reef Headland in Collaroy</td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span>Then it was time to face the trip to Sydney. We were surprised by the Pacific Motorway to the north of Sydney. It goes through a lot of uninhabited mountainous area, with large portions of hills blasted away to accommodate the road. I looked it up later (I get travel sick, so I only get away with a minimal amount of reading as a passenger); I think much of the blasting happened in the 1920s, presumably when tunnel technology wasn't really a thing in Australia! In any case, the middle part of our journey was prettier than we'd anticipated.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYZqFhvursbT3m1dkTXcAu7gJU9uMYLGddncb6JWdl0Iz0VgggG9W_FUnYBIFPeL1FsHTFXFdsy3_Y83n5bO0duGuJRXJYC_so-8teSLSYciAuCgLAl4ogYJZGnK-q3NLFD426uZtqKDpMt1yCfIOX_GBGOG4rTRXgYKVMLcNIy02IZ8HrPZjZRRjvtU/s3088/IMG_9295.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYZqFhvursbT3m1dkTXcAu7gJU9uMYLGddncb6JWdl0Iz0VgggG9W_FUnYBIFPeL1FsHTFXFdsy3_Y83n5bO0duGuJRXJYC_so-8teSLSYciAuCgLAl4ogYJZGnK-q3NLFD426uZtqKDpMt1yCfIOX_GBGOG4rTRXgYKVMLcNIy02IZ8HrPZjZRRjvtU/s320/IMG_9295.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch in the motorhome</td></tr></tbody></table></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Driving in big cities you don't know is never fun and doing it in a larger vehicle makes it worse. Google Maps is a huge help, but it even got a bit lost at one point and gave us information that didn't match the signs in front of us, so we ended up in a tunnel that took us too far into the city! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Around 3pm we did stop for caffeine as we got weary, but then powered onwards to the beachside suburb in northern Sydney of Collaroy. We were too early to check in, so we parked and went for a walk up the Long Reef Headland, which afforded beautiful views up and down the coastline, then walked down to the shoreline and back around to where we'd parked, touching the southern end of Fisherman's Beach. I walked a bit more than seven kilometres in the day, which is actually very good considering how tired I felt in the early part of the day!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dinner was, of course, fish and chips, and then we drove to the conference centre and checked into our room. This is OMF Australia's annual national conference, something we only get to every five years or so. But I'll write more about this next time.</span></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-31811087959777017262024-03-16T15:54:00.001+09:002024-03-16T15:54:30.749+09:00Day 2 on our way to Sydney<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgd250w746eQiVlgXjAkLGSVPIk3_kwKTVUgTuWStJvw7761obWlGP6-8U5dYCjHPtBu77E8FCPFVBN8CBiYdUX96NRAirENLKuK4r_9LtPOFhh9y3DJyYo6xzQsCkBtJ-ATmtFQ7d1TVNsBYA135f2ifXibq24Z112gDx7nxYqO3_mFU71aIqNWSm1U/s4032/IMG_9263.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgd250w746eQiVlgXjAkLGSVPIk3_kwKTVUgTuWStJvw7761obWlGP6-8U5dYCjHPtBu77E8FCPFVBN8CBiYdUX96NRAirENLKuK4r_9LtPOFhh9y3DJyYo6xzQsCkBtJ-ATmtFQ7d1TVNsBYA135f2ifXibq24Z112gDx7nxYqO3_mFU71aIqNWSm1U/s320/IMG_9263.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thunderbolts Way</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This day we travelled from Uralla to Lake Macquarie (south of Newcastle, near the coast), 355 km. I’ve never travelled in this region before and it’s been delightful.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvgl093WWbEb4fK4D_k80Vb2xZDQd0vQtd6X8CZ9OVnxCFuCwcXHz0B4AGXsUDys2tAO_oBaUBXqwOyNBsn_-z268-GTiY2YBJfjozfRGOdw1RTeVivlCtO5Ngd-y1dvO2CyeD4r2jCVSeyHV3cv8pHSSspZw4PI9Yo4h_i7jhusiwayi8lyzm7AOqGRI/s3088/IMG_9268.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvgl093WWbEb4fK4D_k80Vb2xZDQd0vQtd6X8CZ9OVnxCFuCwcXHz0B4AGXsUDys2tAO_oBaUBXqwOyNBsn_-z268-GTiY2YBJfjozfRGOdw1RTeVivlCtO5Ngd-y1dvO2CyeD4r2jCVSeyHV3cv8pHSSspZw4PI9Yo4h_i7jhusiwayi8lyzm7AOqGRI/s320/IMG_9268.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span>We took “the road less travelled” from Uralla to the coast: Thunderbolts Way and then Bucketts Way onto the Pacific Highway. It took us through and down the Great Dividing Range. This range is not “great” because it is especially high, although it presented explorers and settlers of this land considerable difficulty when they tried to go west from the east coast. It’s called great because it is so long. It stretches 3,500 km, from the very top of the east coast of Australian mainland to western Victoria on the southern coast. I grew up in Toowoomba on “the range” as it is colloquially known, but that’s only a tiny part of this huge geographical feature. It was fun to drive through a different part of it.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmlxiypjNEVuc8I2WUPRztXQH_I6jwPCEaGtyslbwlzxdJZaougYjkUY_jmkiFY1pYFSMHJ89H0lbHSuJN67GkRhdQie4yr-8qIoiVwmBWcdCGMh8Ly-RIuUd8k2I4wSV1dnIcR9eIQW4y3HDhwZ2Vi6-tEQdOzp79lzapIkQHkTwpyqPKCvfCPypUOw/s741/IMG_9310.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="741" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmlxiypjNEVuc8I2WUPRztXQH_I6jwPCEaGtyslbwlzxdJZaougYjkUY_jmkiFY1pYFSMHJ89H0lbHSuJN67GkRhdQie4yr-8qIoiVwmBWcdCGMh8Ly-RIuUd8k2I4wSV1dnIcR9eIQW4y3HDhwZ2Vi6-tEQdOzp79lzapIkQHkTwpyqPKCvfCPypUOw/w200-h188/IMG_9310.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span>The road we took went through very few towns and those it did were very small (under 3,000). At lunch we stopped at a town, Nowendoc, with 146 people, but the only ones we saw out and about were tourists passing through. We stopped next to an information booth that had some great historical information about the area. It has a long history of agriculture, logging, and even a gold rush.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The road after lunch was windy and up and down, as we made our way towards the plain from a height of over 1,000 m (Uralla). The slopes we drove past were worthy of comparison with Japanese mountains, though obviously not so high. We stopped for a photo at one designated spot (see second photo in this post).</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5vOkxdjkTa509b2S4wOfDYGTmzJNSI1p39mOa3O055jyWsBG9Gi_2OlwZI_WKwQ6MO9jL6qgaiO7Ga8ryzgq0YDUM5Fl47QSp4h1OggXZckHaAQlfgE_EkK31fCIvt9upWVwYai5dTKXtQQ4yvyUxLFh7NFtv4Dt31L4iI8NQp2Y4jPtYztVpFN_wPA/s4032/IMG_9271.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5vOkxdjkTa509b2S4wOfDYGTmzJNSI1p39mOa3O055jyWsBG9Gi_2OlwZI_WKwQ6MO9jL6qgaiO7Ga8ryzgq0YDUM5Fl47QSp4h1OggXZckHaAQlfgE_EkK31fCIvt9upWVwYai5dTKXtQQ4yvyUxLFh7NFtv4Dt31L4iI8NQp2Y4jPtYztVpFN_wPA/w200-h150/IMG_9271.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cambodian street food stall</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span>Afternoon tea was at another small town called Wards River. There were signs outside a small shop across the road that looked like ice cream signs, so we went to investigate. Turns out they were signs for Cambodian street food! The lady who runs it came out of her house next door just to serve us and we didn’t have the heart to say no. So David had a pink milky drink and I had a fried rice-potato-vegetable thingy with sweet sauce.<br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rDCJpbHzpZHROD3L_93mkbodH0ZpWWzxNQv8RguNR0H8jRJAoykdr763ncd1gJeBsUV5RRmshsz0pdlbCf-f6G8YycSV_8EFxv-ZykdvVtLqNqfVemiLMIFxMeXjx8KmYKdcTPbWQdG1cJn4erwmsH3bFz-jnTkL0o5L4Hn6y7t-4X_LGogTLYvUqKY/s4032/IMG_9270.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rDCJpbHzpZHROD3L_93mkbodH0ZpWWzxNQv8RguNR0H8jRJAoykdr763ncd1gJeBsUV5RRmshsz0pdlbCf-f6G8YycSV_8EFxv-ZykdvVtLqNqfVemiLMIFxMeXjx8KmYKdcTPbWQdG1cJn4erwmsH3bFz-jnTkL0o5L4Hn6y7t-4X_LGogTLYvUqKY/w150-h200/IMG_9270.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Probably the least interesting part of the drive was when we joined the Pacific Highway (major highway that follows the coast and links Brisbane to Sydney. They’re doing major roadwork on the highway northwest of Newcastle and we got stuck in traffic. I’ve never been to Newcastle…now I can say I’ve driven near it, but I still haven’t seen it!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUH6eO6cfhUFrhPzPUca6aQ2z8ro4tufIL5b4HUbY_FW9lSgO30cHBTa9_CBGdnT5nPF6UPv3GchEKt3h21Db1ufXW0lYfkzJQjIySC2Om6eu3llIosBZF9DOnBWasJlI2Lo6BTk-c2iAX3fAbYHZnR9vOuhvIOLf8ilJExsu7edkUUTCJF8UNN2X16I/s4032/IMG_9269.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUH6eO6cfhUFrhPzPUca6aQ2z8ro4tufIL5b4HUbY_FW9lSgO30cHBTa9_CBGdnT5nPF6UPv3GchEKt3h21Db1ufXW0lYfkzJQjIySC2Om6eu3llIosBZF9DOnBWasJlI2Lo6BTk-c2iAX3fAbYHZnR9vOuhvIOLf8ilJExsu7edkUUTCJF8UNN2X16I/w150-h200/IMG_9269.jpeg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cambodian street<br />food!</td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We’re staying in a caravan park near the shores of Lake Macquarie. We didn’t get here too long before dinner and so only got a short walk near the lake. But nearly two dozen ducks joined us as we ate bacon and eggs for dinner under our awning! At the time of writing the first draft of this blog post I was looking forward to getting to bed. It was a couple of long days and I didn’t sleep really well first night, though it was lovely and cosy with the temperature dropping to around 10 degrees early this morning.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QoAMLc7EMpSpCcsR2rWM7CTECEj0ttm9mHool99SYZtEi9Yg-tyFiCyDs42wzJLhpJ_fClFNOK7-ZyffPMpdLGyt2_VgKPIOtniFwY3Oa36xRUasFYQmiRic5VI6KDepsrAWjw5Q5HHiYS8d3uFKBpHJham8IWcYKntOtGksSJnkk_lz_31JfCrEn9Q/s4032/IMG_9285.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QoAMLc7EMpSpCcsR2rWM7CTECEj0ttm9mHool99SYZtEi9Yg-tyFiCyDs42wzJLhpJ_fClFNOK7-ZyffPMpdLGyt2_VgKPIOtniFwY3Oa36xRUasFYQmiRic5VI6KDepsrAWjw5Q5HHiYS8d3uFKBpHJham8IWcYKntOtGksSJnkk_lz_31JfCrEn9Q/s320/IMG_9285.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Macquarie</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyV1VJDxB_bPRWWkRxKUwxRKU3E7GP9wPBdS055YQt-rGlwcfqN51mpFZSKN1JXuQ1NZIL65ppRbTOpy1dGEqU3UoW9NGGYqpDmybeyPgqLIndblLrNVqYE1w_i8Y2HrFNCXhDUNIW6rBR3MDimB5Vk9DfOSU5ePyANJkCNIHn1ytr2rnGFzgruD9YzO4/s3088/IMG_9277.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyV1VJDxB_bPRWWkRxKUwxRKU3E7GP9wPBdS055YQt-rGlwcfqN51mpFZSKN1JXuQ1NZIL65ppRbTOpy1dGEqU3UoW9NGGYqpDmybeyPgqLIndblLrNVqYE1w_i8Y2HrFNCXhDUNIW6rBR3MDimB5Vk9DfOSU5ePyANJkCNIHn1ytr2rnGFzgruD9YzO4/s320/IMG_9277.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duck friends</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><p></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-90584319862871644692024-03-15T17:26:00.002+09:002024-03-15T17:26:54.055+09:00The start of a long road trip<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Warning: this blog is temporarily turning into a travel blog! Hang tight and we’ll return to normal programming in a couple of months. Meanwhile it’ll be this Aussie who sometimes feels like a visitor in Australia, travelling in her wide land to see what she can see.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I'm publishing posts with a few days delay so that you'll see our journey, but not know where we are at present (generally).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Monday and Tuesday</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We got off to a rocky start to our motor home trip. Key to the whole adventure was borrowing my parent’s small motor home, but to do that we needed to fetch it from their place, about 1 ½ hrs from us. Our plan was to do that on Monday and bring it to Ipswich to our house so we could leisurely put our stuff in it on Tuesday. But David felt very weary on Sunday and woke up late on Monday wondering if he was ill with something. So we postponed our motorhome-fetching trip and instead spent a few hours getting a medical opinion and tests. Then resting. Thankfully nothing came of any of that and by the end of Monday he was feeling better. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My parents kindly offered to meet us halfway on Tuesday, so we met them for lunch and picked up the motor home, packing our stuff into it in the afternoon.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Wednesday</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiATbzrEjw8AdTKVa1Mfwa08JKo1JhZvhW26UAud7uIbxZTmpXe5RocUkL967cVgTnf7dg9nb2QPl1dOGlLwUAlY3ZhnpRNbJFsjxidhyphenhyphenbW4MbheAR5Ts04CjxLx0uOeGg0gvFXhdDjohUpk9R2sspvDOMblqTfl5x_NroWgF-b3WNDx-AHX6n6pzqLe4A/s320/IMG_9238.jpeg" width="320" /></span>I didn’t sleep well on Tuesday night. Nerves? Excitement? Both? This big audacious plan has been percolating for well over a year. We’ve known for several years that we could take long service leave during this home assignment, and this time last year a plan started to form about what we might actually do with this lengthy time off. So, after thinking about it for that long, it felt like a lot was riding on “getting it right”. And, of course, I’m always concerned that I’ll forget something vital. Going away for eight weeks is a considerable length of time…</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We finally got away a bit before 10am, stopped close by to do a couple of last minute errands and realised I’d not packed my hat, so returned for that vital piece of equipment.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The first part of our journey is to Sydney to attend an OMF conference on the weekend, but we took our time about it. The first leg was </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ipswich to Uralla, 463 km.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Uralla is a small town of less than 3,000 people. We stayed at their showgrounds. There were only a handful of others doing the same and we were thoughtfully placed a long way apart. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYM-j7h_Kos7qbxR5RMkpJ_X1yGiW6YVLbsvfxaS5D_s7nRIZ8nV4NZgUKz1hpLNurHO0hlNGfnqGbgCIgAvviYaqa_JbUNw25FH6JMLpLHQH0OD2AWWNN0TEefnFsQjagzIk9NGX7f7-CViuknKNb5HoOs44SqNS6lrvIoqwhf1E4xaJM3gY8KN1I0w/s876/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20at%207.23.27%20pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="876" data-original-width="730" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYM-j7h_Kos7qbxR5RMkpJ_X1yGiW6YVLbsvfxaS5D_s7nRIZ8nV4NZgUKz1hpLNurHO0hlNGfnqGbgCIgAvviYaqa_JbUNw25FH6JMLpLHQH0OD2AWWNN0TEefnFsQjagzIk9NGX7f7-CViuknKNb5HoOs44SqNS6lrvIoqwhf1E4xaJM3gY8KN1I0w/w167-h200/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20at%207.23.27%20pm.png" width="167" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBq2k9xLIcr1Ztl0XLzMy7NVQyJoTpaXEvW5CjnW9xRZGYNe-uMwoXjjjhZ6iThkFYPnTDMVGxs9bIoxVAng8zsu6764WjCo7c_AvBlrhvSOx6cnRM2XIUgnVWGEpmn-pe92qRX60oU2PVz7gQXzwILhEJXKvWausoZQ6Rbruf0IA4xByoNjdC77qxRQw/s320/IMG_9245.jpeg" width="320" /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It was a tiring day and I was grateful to be carrying leftovers from earlier in the week that we could just heat up and eat. But we did pull out the Scrabble board and complete a portion of a game and I got started with this travel blog. You're going to have to be patient with me, though, as I figure out how to balance this travel and writing!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiATbzrEjw8AdTKVa1Mfwa08JKo1JhZvhW26UAud7uIbxZTmpXe5RocUkL967cVgTnf7dg9nb2QPl1dOGlLwUAlY3ZhnpRNbJFsjxidhyphenhyphenbW4MbheAR5Ts04CjxLx0uOeGg0gvFXhdDjohUpk9R2sspvDOMblqTfl5x_NroWgF-b3WNDx-AHX6n6pzqLe4A/s4032/IMG_9238.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuN_QS02cMsvbemcQdnSV3ikePICkHWy3fSgbdK3IyFJxguVzIYC_D45gVXkdbw9C0O5EbM3e4oZCAJoyaIGpNCtrT7jKu9RGaXeKV3os3WxSypgFeyG8BQVnmktury_7G1lH0aiqF8vmgQ-LcWxFp831bsphUdaJ1gofnE4h5wh3VAGCn3W3WAvNypY/s4032/IMG_9240.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p><br /></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-86831268912343923942024-03-06T15:52:00.002+09:002024-03-06T15:54:04.389+09:00An empty house, a retreat, and a long road trip<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We're walking through a little bit of metaphorical whiplash here...and it's not just that we're now suddenly alone in our home after 24+ years of sharing it with our children, though that is not a small thing.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Next week we're leaving on a two-month-long adventure in a motorhome (I mentioned it in January <a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2024/02/first-motorhome-adventure-2024.html">here</a>). So while our attention has been very much focused on our sons these last couple of months, we've now turned our minds to trip preparation in a big way. In addition to that I've got some writing and magazine-team admin work to do before we go which I've been trying to focus on yesterday and today, with patchy success!</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ppYfdDAn_D4tGKfgKqwf1xgPQvB-tUEei1QiqNC1ACQzxXu_UuNq9EnjpvCmc5pweY67GnHCGc2DHAoCHBTPldBXw_Dmhdbf7a8tM_GfKQHKBZQdeaYQrNtpYbLuuuXloMcyo_nUbuVuF0nwMk9PykXEZqhwRn7TgorT5n_WEtSFGnl5w3SiKguKVh8/s4032/IMG_9220.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ppYfdDAn_D4tGKfgKqwf1xgPQvB-tUEei1QiqNC1ACQzxXu_UuNq9EnjpvCmc5pweY67GnHCGc2DHAoCHBTPldBXw_Dmhdbf7a8tM_GfKQHKBZQdeaYQrNtpYbLuuuXloMcyo_nUbuVuF0nwMk9PykXEZqhwRn7TgorT5n_WEtSFGnl5w3SiKguKVh8/s320/IMG_9220.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I have an office space again, that isn't in the dining<br />room! We've moved our work stuff into this bedroom,<br />as well as some other things in boxes like Lego.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our house is quiet. Periodically we're reminded we have children when they text us about one issue or another. They all came over on Sunday afternoon for several hours, as is our current weekly routine. That was fun, but it was also nice when they all went home! It's actually very satisfying seeing them move on from dependence on us. We've been preparing them for this for many years and it's great to see them living it and stepping up to the challenge.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Earlier in the week we nutted out more of a skeleton for the route of our journey around south-eastern Australia and now it's down to details about booking accommodation sites and investigating things to check out while we're on the road. I'm being a little guarded about sharing where exactly we are going, because this is not a ministry trip, nor is it a "catch up with as many people as you can" trip. We're hoping to unwind and relax on our own (most of the time). People have asked me to post a lot of photos so they can enjoy it. I'm also planning to blog about our trip as we go, but with a little bit of a time-delay so you will see where we've been, not where we are. I hope to allow you to vicariously enjoy some places in Australia that you've never heard of, or perhaps you have, but haven't seen them through the eyes of an Aussie who hasn't lived most of her adult life in Australia. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As I thought about this trip I realised the trip is a little like a babymoon, but at the other end, an "empty nest moon"? It's certainly an interesting way to begin this new chapter of "coupledom". We're excited, but at the same time wondering how well we'll cope with two months in a motorhome! We've stocked up on a number of unplugged activities to relax with and are looking forward to seeing a good amount of "nature" on our travels.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0ccFPzEDFe851xVsBmiU63g4eoeX671aHdb0UfogwnceJcw8rHKxmQCIrQ5OrVvucjnD8pQOhB3FaQdkuO56N1yW5Zzw1-9vvpxlkl3b9m3BBpVWE_EuxmnijnuFB_8m2DP7caSN3ptafQSPRgyay8DScxkzlCnIdo6fKLHSJk3IpdcI75lfpZzEW8k/s4032/IMG_9204.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0ccFPzEDFe851xVsBmiU63g4eoeX671aHdb0UfogwnceJcw8rHKxmQCIrQ5OrVvucjnD8pQOhB3FaQdkuO56N1yW5Zzw1-9vvpxlkl3b9m3BBpVWE_EuxmnijnuFB_8m2DP7caSN3ptafQSPRgyay8DScxkzlCnIdo6fKLHSJk3IpdcI75lfpZzEW8k/s320/IMG_9204.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I didn't plan on waking up to see the sun rise on<br />Saturday morning at our retreat, but took advantage<br />of it when I noticed the time. This awaited me out<br />the back door!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But, before I finish this, I can't neglect to mention the other big thing that happed last week. I went on a mini-retreat with two of my closest friends. We've never done this before, and it was fun. Our families (offspring included) enjoy getting together (we holidayed for a week together in 2022), but those times are not without many interruptions. It was super for just the three "girls" to get away together and hang out for many hours. We rented a cottage through AirBnB in the countryside to the west of here for the night. But the journey to get there was all part of the time away as we travelled together, talking all the way. It was a good Aussie experience, with an evening meal at an old pub (est. 1902) as well. </span></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wz0w2lIX7Ns6kz7kV6er2ZElYw4T3zMxZM3a2BtMV6kstrgLdH-HU3a_R-StKovbqK3VVHaigSjcl0dcO68AZhhWoA4FT4zO4WlcsRgmIF5M8mRNKs83PYW-OM97LOunhRlzt_60jyJ_k9ejwcpplLgbT29nrFLT4zzc2Yxj2Vb6V9RW7MKgD_oNZMA/s4032/IMG_9210.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wz0w2lIX7Ns6kz7kV6er2ZElYw4T3zMxZM3a2BtMV6kstrgLdH-HU3a_R-StKovbqK3VVHaigSjcl0dcO68AZhhWoA4FT4zO4WlcsRgmIF5M8mRNKs83PYW-OM97LOunhRlzt_60jyJ_k9ejwcpplLgbT29nrFLT4zzc2Yxj2Vb6V9RW7MKgD_oNZMA/s320/IMG_9210.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Plenty of rain recently meant a beautiful vista<br />as we travelled some small country roads.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I'm so thankful for these two friends. We've been in touch via texting almost daily for five and a half years, though our separate friendships go back many more years than that. We've walked alongside one another through some really tough times and it's been a huge blessing. To be able to spend physical time together is amazing. So thankful to our heavenly Father for the blessings that he's showered on me recently!</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJRDHTAwOD0D8g_5dphVVYezGMYqge9JvFJ5I69J33gaXyU1SmxY3mR5Fr5lG5R-DHj0fkx1fM_X1TtQh0Ksbzx9_fACTUtMqKeFIgGc1iV0YYjgdjFLlGURKy0_Wr2uF5SSHFlMbCkJn5R7PpjGwwl7_sbSAZvfWZwLvwMpl2RTmj30F2u-Fs9GIIB4/s4032/IMG_9209.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJRDHTAwOD0D8g_5dphVVYezGMYqge9JvFJ5I69J33gaXyU1SmxY3mR5Fr5lG5R-DHj0fkx1fM_X1TtQh0Ksbzx9_fACTUtMqKeFIgGc1iV0YYjgdjFLlGURKy0_Wr2uF5SSHFlMbCkJn5R7PpjGwwl7_sbSAZvfWZwLvwMpl2RTmj30F2u-Fs9GIIB4/s320/IMG_9209.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More sunrise...</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC2WNVT7l80ow-ZmMk6bVjXXad9iw9TwwDBdrNfAhdvkWFxBhvoQAv2p0ZPOmUf41pXDr3Cf-j-OR4ONZpT-VmLNHxzypfT5X4DZoSdJF5HcwRH3m7ZkKEmgHu-4Xa6fD4joVH2Rexv-eOgxpLXLePmtr_P0EOdzAvlOrc1rEs4Q1d_ppdwr6kJhb2wiE/s4032/IMG_9197.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC2WNVT7l80ow-ZmMk6bVjXXad9iw9TwwDBdrNfAhdvkWFxBhvoQAv2p0ZPOmUf41pXDr3Cf-j-OR4ONZpT-VmLNHxzypfT5X4DZoSdJF5HcwRH3m7ZkKEmgHu-4Xa6fD4joVH2Rexv-eOgxpLXLePmtr_P0EOdzAvlOrc1rEs4Q1d_ppdwr6kJhb2wiE/s320/IMG_9197.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was a bit before sunset the night before.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But, I'd better get back to writing that editorial that I've got to finish this week...and we'll see if I get back to writing here before we leave next week, or maybe not till we're on the road (the first part of our journey is work, but then around six weeks of holidays on the road—Yay!).</span><p></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-33134778240531212832024-02-29T11:15:00.004+09:002024-02-29T11:17:07.087+09:00Moving our sons out (part two)<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Eleven days after his brother moved out, our 21 y.o. also moved into his own place. It's a shorter story than "<a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2024/02/moving-our-sons-out-part-one.html">Part one</a>".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">He's moved one suburb over, only 8 km from us, and it was a vastly more simple process than moving internationally! His new place is a mostly furnished studio apartment <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_apartment">(what's a studio apartment?)</a> that is a converted garage, attached to a home. So it only took a couple of trips on Tuesday afternoon to move him in.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The more interesting story about this move is how we found this place. Often, during the last couple of months, I've referred to us as "detectives" as we</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> followed leads in our search for the right place. Our son didn't yet have the finances to rent a place on his own and we didn't have any financial resources to help much. Plus, because of various issues I don't want to go into here for his privacy sake, our son wasn't going to fit into just any household or house-share. During our search we tried inspecting a couple of options, but it was pretty obvious that neither would work. As his mum I found it a distinctly uncomfortable emotional rollercoaster at times.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We had lots of people within our network praying: prayer partners, supporting churches, and others. We had people telling us about leads and putting notices in their church bulletins. And quite a few asking for updates.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQzHlYeaAGkhFB0eym2wUl8pSi7CqdEU84cx3dtnDa3Zcp4tw6oi7zFmlUIdlbjei0-10CVBcqi0u5RW9zv8Mj7OGa61yB8Rb7Vxli_961XMNrDr7FVqNAqvEUIwyTTt5Sr1gpzDDsl3m6Vfjya5vYJxv8LUg0utIbqSEibCh7NRViKeAPOJtscgXuSQ/s4032/IMG_9184.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQzHlYeaAGkhFB0eym2wUl8pSi7CqdEU84cx3dtnDa3Zcp4tw6oi7zFmlUIdlbjei0-10CVBcqi0u5RW9zv8Mj7OGa61yB8Rb7Vxli_961XMNrDr7FVqNAqvEUIwyTTt5Sr1gpzDDsl3m6Vfjya5vYJxv8LUg0utIbqSEibCh7NRViKeAPOJtscgXuSQ/s320/IMG_9184.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">His private verandah</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Then one Sunday in mid-January I got a message from one of our supporters whom I haven't seen in many years. She sent me a screenshot of a church bulletin advertising a studio apartment attached to the home of a young Christian family. It sounded intriguing, so we asked for more information. Which lead to lots of detailed information about this private rental that the young couple have set up, and later a visit to see it. Overall it seemed like a good option, so he indicated his interest. And as he wasn't the first in line, we </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">then waited weeks for news.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The waiting was hard, but in the midst of that we were planning for our other son's move. Then (what felt like a long time) we heard that the studio was his, if he wanted it. I can't tell you how relieved I felt.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What's intriguing to me is how we found out about it. The lady who sent us the ad doesn't go to the church where the ad was published, she knows some people there and </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">plays the piano there sometimes</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">. I don't think the owners of the apartment go to this church either. It seems to be a classic "Christian network" story. Whatever the full story is, we're thankful.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the last weeks we've found a desk and chair, a second-hand bike, and bought bits and pieces including storage containers that will fit this small space. We've had things given to us, including food, plastic containers, cutlery, a blanket, and a fan. When we arrived on Tuesday we found the owners had put a few food items in the studio as a welcome gift.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On Tuesday we loaded up our car, and the trailer we borrowed for this season of moving, and headed over (a mere 12-minute drive). It didn't take long to move everything in. The interesting part of a studio apartment is that things don't always go where you might expect, because there are only one or two rooms. This one has a door in the middle, giving a little division between the "wet area" and the bed/living area. But the kitchen is kinda split between the two rooms. I was surprised to find the apartment includes a private covered verandah, which is a good place to put his bike so it doesn't get chewed by the family's energetic dog, but also to hang laundry. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">All in all,</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> it's a nice little place, a good "starter" and I hope our son will enjoy the peace and quiet.* And that as he learns to live independent of us, that he'll grow in many ways that weren't easy to do when he was supported by us and living under our roof.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We now have no children left in our home, for the first time in nearly 25 years! It's different, but also good. It will take some adjusting to, but we're not sad. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We've discovered that we're largely moving against cultural trends here too. As you probably know, many young adults in Australia (and in many other wealthy countries) are remaining at home for many years after they graduate from high school. The idea that we're actively moving our sons out has come as a bit of a surprise to some. But, taken in the context of our occupation and where we work, it makes sense. Japan isn't home to our sons, even though they grew up there. Their language skills aren't currently at the level that would enable them to live independently there. Australia is the easiest place for them to get a start on the next chapter in their lives (cheapest place for an Aussie to do tertiary study, for example), so if you understand the bigger picture, it's the logical choice.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I'm so, so glad to finally be able to tell you the "end" of this story. Of course we're just starting another chapter, the story of our lives as parents isn't over yet, it just looks different now that they are no longer living under our roof.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">* One thing that makes it hard for him to live with other people is a sensory disorder called misophonia. It's a relatively unknown, and minimally researched problem that is barely recognised by medical professionals (or government agencies). Misophonia is an intolerance of certain sounds and associated cues. Typically repetitive aural or nasal sounds such as chewing, swallowing, sniffing, heavy breathing. It can cause people to feel uncontrollable anger. It's profoundly shaped our son's life, and, because we've lived with him for two decades, our lives and relationship with him have been impacted too.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-68227846063529549832024-02-22T11:09:00.004+09:002024-02-22T11:15:10.302+09:00Moving our sons out (part one)<span style="font-family: helvetica;">We're getting close to being able to tell you the "end of the story", the end that we've been working towards and praying about for many months. The story of how both of our boys move out of home. Here's part one.</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Last Friday our 18 y.o. moved out into a house near his university that he will share with two other students (24 km from where we're living). The house was found through a real estate agent that goes to our eldest son's church. One of his housemates also goes to that church and so does our 18 y.o. son now! We're thankful that they did most of the work finding the place, sorting out paperwork, and finding a third housemate.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzH1T0pYASEy-iWgiHAzSTLlI4CwUfKQFC7OF0UFhfJNQiurDsgOj0omeL0Ghn9vM2jTpAQXypaw6JujOgLIVYZcsOwy2GIJh1XJP5ho0XI_flzJZobmcuAmF-jR6LsV1D2RKckMaJnDbMEf5u3ZQJO53cx9xGYCWZJz4SABIeXPbUUPpu76WHgQqXxO8/s3088/IMG_9137.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzH1T0pYASEy-iWgiHAzSTLlI4CwUfKQFC7OF0UFhfJNQiurDsgOj0omeL0Ghn9vM2jTpAQXypaw6JujOgLIVYZcsOwy2GIJh1XJP5ho0XI_flzJZobmcuAmF-jR6LsV1D2RKckMaJnDbMEf5u3ZQJO53cx9xGYCWZJz4SABIeXPbUUPpu76WHgQqXxO8/s320/IMG_9137.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We did the move the cheap way using our car and a borrowed trailer, so it took longer than if we'd hired a big van. But it wasn't a simple move from one place to the other. We picked up stuff like a washing machine and microwave from several places close to his new house as well as a bed and bookshelf from the far east of Brisbane (nearly 50 km from our house). </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We got home for the final time at 10pm on Friday night after driving around all day.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Then we hopped back in the car on Saturday morning and picked up another item, then (because he doesn’t have a licence yet) picked our son up to take him to the optometrist because his glasses frames had started to break the day before. On our way back to his place we picked up one final thing: a two-seater sofa. When we finally got home on Saturday at 3pm we were very tired, but also very satisfied.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtTJDkZ4MBk5g8Gd17mVFxYJJTzI7-hOa4w_WHxMiVWmidmhGUfKj9F8syLZYFaM1Yg2oWFctgK8E12S3IIZxlQHW05XRCZUAbKaFzfYe17sKkslILlMbL1mB3vFyCvDMFyncszz6wcOebtPZrWWHspWE2vgZd5GGcFmNRqmnjsm-lanszf3bwirCVgM/s4032/IMG_9140.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtTJDkZ4MBk5g8Gd17mVFxYJJTzI7-hOa4w_WHxMiVWmidmhGUfKj9F8syLZYFaM1Yg2oWFctgK8E12S3IIZxlQHW05XRCZUAbKaFzfYe17sKkslILlMbL1mB3vFyCvDMFyncszz6wcOebtPZrWWHspWE2vgZd5GGcFmNRqmnjsm-lanszf3bwirCVgM/s320/IMG_9140.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saturday was a very different day to <br />the rain we encountered on Friday.</td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Everything seemed to take twice or three times as long as it looked like it should on paper. We encountered heavy rain, bad traffic, an ATM that wouldn't give me a $80 (no $10 in the machine, presumably), a Saturday morning market, parking difficulties, communication delays, and bad directions from Google maps. We forgot things and had to go back again, had to buy a new tarp, and had to take detours to get food.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />Along the way we met an Ecuadorian who hasn't seen her family for over five years, a Belgian who has a new baby and is returning "home" via New Zealand, and a lady who works for the RSL (Returned Services League) and is committed to not continue contributing to landfill by helping her adult kids pass on their unneeded stuff. We met people who stood by our sides 24 years ago as we left Australia the first time. And more recent acquaintances who, in 2022, housed members of our family three times (including one emergency stay when a plane got cancelled), picked us up from the airport that same year when it took us 35 hrs to get from Japan to here (usually it's an 8 hr flight), and drove two of us to the Gold Coast to catch our flight back to Japan. We had things thrust into our hands and left on the front step that would help our son set up his new place with his two new housemates. What a wonderful confluence!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It was quite a process, but we felt satisfied at the end. Not only had we achieved a major goal (raising our son to the point where he could live independently from us) but we were able to physically help him move out. So many times in the last 25 years we've been unable to help our loved ones by being physically present. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We've missed many significant family celebrations, including our eldest son's 21st. And have never helped our parents, sons, or siblings move house. We’ve even missed moving into our own house several times (when we’ve asked people to help set up our newly rented house before we arrived back in the country, so that we could settle the boys into school as quickly as possible). It was a joy to be able to help this time. It was fun to scour second hand shops and Facebook Marketplace, and to make lists of household products to add to my grocery list, all of this to help him get started in this new life.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But I can't finish this post without telling of how we're praising God for his great provision. Queensland has been experiencing a housing shortage for some time now, and people have been very fond of telling us how hard it is to find places to rent (which hasn't been very encouraging). But God's purposes for us haven't been thwarted. At least that's how it looks from our perspective. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In order for us to continue to serve God in Japan, we needed him to find places for our sons to move to, and it's happening! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We've been praying about this for years and many others have been praying in recent months. At our church on Sunday the worship leader reminded the church they've been praying for our sons' accommodation for eight months! So we're praising God for his provision and his ongoing leading. Of course he could have led us out of ministry in Japan and that would have been hard, but hopefully we would have been able to praise him for that too.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We've been watching a season of The Chosen recently and one of Jesus's disciples said, after witnessing a miracle, "I don't know why I continue to be surprised." This is how I feel. And I feel chastened regarding my lack of faith and trust in God. But also just thankful for God's provision.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Psalm 68:19 </span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour, </span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">who daily bears our burdens. (NIV)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Part 2 is planned for next week. It will look different, but you’ll have to wait to hear that story!</span></div>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-9896304502458328212024-02-15T18:12:00.007+09:002024-02-22T11:10:21.819+09:00Questions corner<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here’s one I prepared earlier. Our youngest son is moving out tomorrow and it’s been busy!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I've mentioned before that I write 11 prayer letters a year. I've been writing them since October 1998, so it's gotten to be a habit. The way that I manage to churn out so many is by using a template, and by making it in a newspaper-type format. <a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2018/12/latest-newsletter.html">Here's an example</a> from five years ago. There are "regular" sections that I just fill in each time, like a calendar; a prayer list; a "on the home front" with personal news; and CAJ corner, which David writes about the school and his work. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But when we're in Australia we change up the "CAJ corner" to something else. This time it's become "Question corner" where we answer good questions people ask us (or questions we wish people would ask us!). Here are some we've featured:</span></p><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>So, how’s Japan?</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is an impossible question to answer when it comes at the start of a conversation. It usually comes from someone who wants to engage with us, but isn’t sure where to start. In case you want to ask us a question when you see us, here are some suggestions of questions you could ask us in casual conversation:<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIl7eKa-_yZBrqBAfEAOJRgAaFLDvQgJRH2H3RpvMlnL6Bt1Lp7yMBNKBjn3f_eSZF59DJSbskmVJp-onhlY-vMOspoO4TJuBs49SILrJ8AtlhAuyGM1Kpm-6DCS42XH2h7goXNXBesXhQuAYUw0nS9mblx0s7vHDQhVTvOQ0bTqKvI8ssKfrCb5haqc/s4032/IMG_7529.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIl7eKa-_yZBrqBAfEAOJRgAaFLDvQgJRH2H3RpvMlnL6Bt1Lp7yMBNKBjn3f_eSZF59DJSbskmVJp-onhlY-vMOspoO4TJuBs49SILrJ8AtlhAuyGM1Kpm-6DCS42XH2h7goXNXBesXhQuAYUw0nS9mblx0s7vHDQhVTvOQ0bTqKvI8ssKfrCb5haqc/s320/IMG_7529.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Japanese BBQ we use while camping</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What do you miss about Japan?<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What’s something funny that happened to you in Japan?<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Tell me something you love about Japan.<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How is the Japanese church doing post-COVID?<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What’s a small thing that brings you joy in Japan?<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What’s the climate like in Tokyo?<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Tell me about a regular day for you in your work in Japan.<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Are Japanese people worried about the political situation in the region?<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What do you do to relax in Japan?<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We’ve heard you love to camp there, tell us about camping in Japan.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Is Japan’s population shrinking?</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">According to worldpopulationreview.com, “Japan’s population is projected to lose 20.7 million people between 2020 and 2050. The population is expected to shrink from 126.5 million to 105.8 million, a 16.3% decline. Japan’s population has been falling since 2011 due to very low fertility rates (1.42 births per woman) and an aging population.”</span></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Fertility rates in wealthy countries around the world are dropping. Japan’s is the fourth lowest in the world. Pair that with proportionately the oldest population in the world (29.2% over 65 years of age) and you’ve got population shrinkage.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are many cultural factors to this situation, including an education system that demands a lot of parents, especially mothers; low childcare support; and a nation that works hard and sleeps little, so there’s often little time or energy to find partners. A recent survey also revealed that around 50% of unmarried adults under 30 don’t want children. And Japan also accepts few immigrants, though there are pushes to change this, it probably won’t change quickly.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Japanese people are concerned about the future of their country. Pray that they’ll find hope in God.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Why are so few people coming to know Christ in Japan?</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is a really hard question to answer—people have written whole books on it. The truth is, we don’t know why the Holy Spirit is not moving more people to become Christians in Japan. It’s possible to discern various factors in individual stories, but the same set of factors don’t apply to every person. For example, one person might not want to let their family down by abandoning the family altar they are responsible for, another doesn’t feel the need for what appears to them as a foreign god. Many people are held back because they don’t understand grace and forgiveness, or don’t see themselves as sinners.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The pressure to conform to the group is strong in Japan and while Christianity is such a tiny minority (under 1%), it is hard for people to consider stepping outside that. Many people have never heard the gospel. Will you pray for this nation of 125.7 million people?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Why go with a mission organisation?</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 14.2px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We’ve been greatly blessed by being members of OMF International. Here are a few reasons why:</span></p><ul class="ul1"><li class="li3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">OMF has provided so much on-the-ground support in Japan and in Australia. They’ve helped us when we’ve had medical needs, provided fellowship vital to longevity, guided us in important decisions, provided professional development, admin support, and language training. They also sponsor our visas and have helped us find housing.</span></li><li class="li3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The local knowledge and experience that they’ve got as an organisation helped us get to Japan and settle there in ministry.</span></li><li class="li3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They’ve provided us with a means to get the money people have given towards our support in Japan, in a way that doesn’t look like international money laundering.</span></li><li class="li3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They’ve got a much wider platform in Australia than we have personally, enabling us to develop a wider prayer and financial support team that would otherwise be possible, but also to tell more people about the needs in Japan.</span></li><li class="li3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They’ve supported us through challenges with our sons in recent years and given us much grace to do our best to support our kids, even when that meant taking time off.</span></li><li class="li3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Possibly the most important thing to us is that being members of OMF means we feel part of a greater whole—a body that is working together to reach Japan for Christ. That sense of purpose, and of working together with others is very important to us.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div><b>Why do parents send their kids to CAJ?</b></div><div>CAJ was founded to serve the children of missionaries, and that remains its main purpose. About 40% of the students come from missionary families (it varies a little from year to year). These missionary families are seeking education for their children in English, and with a Christian emphasis.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are various reasons that these missionaries don’t use local schools. Sometimes they arrive in Japan with older children and it’s too difficult to start Japanese school at a later age when kids don’t have the language. Others try Japanese schools for a time and find the culture difficult, or maybe the students just don’t do well. CAJ provides an alternative option so that missionary families can stay in Japan.</div><div><br /></div><div>Similar reasons apply to an additional 40% of students who come from a variety of Christian backgrounds: some are local Japanese Christian families, and a good number of Christian foreigners who work in secular jobs in Japan.</div><div>The remaining 20% of students come non-Christian families who desire an education in English, but don’t mind the values that CAJ weaves into its teaching. Our prayer is that all of these students will serve Jesus in their lives.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>How can I prepare to serve in missions?</b></div><div>There are lots of things you can do. When we’re asked this question we say:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Read about mission: biographies, social media, etc.</li><li>Connect with a missionary and pray for them regularly</li><li>Find others who are like-minded about cross-cultural mission and spend time with them.</li><li>Find ways to serve others where you are: in your church, and in other ways too, like with AFES.</li></ul></div><div>OMF Japan recently shared some tips on their social media from a helpful article by an MTW (Mission to the World) missionary that also included these tips :</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Get cross-cultural (where you are, or on short-term trips overseas)</li><li>Study Scripture</li><li>Learn language/s</li><li>Evangelize</li><li>Be uncomfortable</li><li>Live with less</li><li>Pray more</li></ul></div></div></span></div></div></div>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-41524865216095823482024-02-08T12:03:00.000+09:002024-02-08T12:03:10.642+09:00Trying to keep my eyes off the problem<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our daily prayers are full of "please God, we need certain things to be in place so that we can do what we perceive you want to us to do, but we're struggling to trust that you're going to come through on this. Please help us to trust, and forgive us for our lack of faith." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Trusting God for our future is the overwhelming challenge I've got right now, and if you've been reading my blog you'll know that that tussle has been going on for some time. In fact I hesitate to write about it again, because it feels like I'm just a clanging gong, with only one topic.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I know that he's in control and that he loves me and will work out his purposes, that he will never leave us and that whatever happens is will work out for our good and his glory, but I struggle to stay in that posture of trust.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Prayer</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Which brings me to the topic of prayer. The ladies at our home church (Grace Christian Church Redbank Plains) have started working through a book called <i>A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World</i> by Paul E. Miller. Someone lent me the book late last year and with all the free time I've had, I've managed to read it all before we began discussing it. Last week's gathering, though, made me uncomfortably aware that my experience of prayer and those of many Australian Christians, is vastly different. I'm not boasting here, in fact I hesitate to write about my prayer life because Jesus told us to be quiet about our prayers (Luke 18:9–14; Matthew 6:5–6). My purpose here is just to show you what being a missionary with a Christian missionary organisation can be like.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Prayer is everywhere in our work. It's part of almost every meeting: large or small. It's not uncommon to be in the middle of a gathering and be asked to "turn to the person next to you and pray about these matters". For a few years I used to attend up to several prayer meetings each month with other parents at school (CAJ).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Additionally, I write a prayer/newsletter each month and are often asked by several different geographical (Japan, Australia, Queensland) branches of our organisation for prayer points. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We receive regular prayer letters and prayer documents from those same branches, as well as from several missionaries who we pray for in more detail.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It adds up to a lot and boils down to an overall expectation by our organisation that we'll be personally praying for a lot, including our 120+ colleagues with OMF Japan and 70+ colleagues at CAJ. Not to mention 100+ OMF Australian</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> colleagues. David and I have a system that enables us to pray for a good number of these people (though not everyone every day) and we do this before breakfast most days.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In addition to all the above, I have three friends who I can shoot a quick request: "Please pray, this is happening..., or "Please pray, I feel..." I have a few others who I sometimes will ask for specific prayer. And they do the same to me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Over the years, steeped in this prayer-full environment, one of my first reactions when something difficult happens, is to ask certain people to pray, to share the burden, even if I can't find the words or energy to pray for myself.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From what I've observed, I don't think the above is the experience is common. It makes me feel amazingly blessed. People sometimes say, I don't know how you do what you do. Well, I would say it's primarily because of all this prayer. Yes, we pray for others, but we also have hundreds of people (potentially) praying for us, many of whom we've never met.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Right now a lot of people are praying for our sons. The prayers for one of them has been answered: he's found a house in a good location and housemates, he's also got a short-term job that will bolster his bank account. But we're waiting on answers for the other son, the one who has had an especially rough road over the last few years. Our hearts ache, but we're being bolstered by many who pray for us. And wait . . . and wait . . . and wait . . . to tell you, and many others, the answers to those prayers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Like a grasshopper</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghftuhauqIJiMzk95QoAHWswU-ti9kYH-J3nQbjllleyetwzLJcYMiMvbKSnPWExpxNfF4FCDMjhFFYckUYVbCub0aaTyQabjGy1YNV2vxI_1aj0YMC8P0xcwfQ9oSCyEvVKDnfZfNg8vFajq4y4FdcN2e0En0XRwrJCnJIut3y6-9Zfxo2nhkbVxNIhU/s1280/green-grasshopper-1357241_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghftuhauqIJiMzk95QoAHWswU-ti9kYH-J3nQbjllleyetwzLJcYMiMvbKSnPWExpxNfF4FCDMjhFFYckUYVbCub0aaTyQabjGy1YNV2vxI_1aj0YMC8P0xcwfQ9oSCyEvVKDnfZfNg8vFajq4y4FdcN2e0En0XRwrJCnJIut3y6-9Zfxo2nhkbVxNIhU/w200-h150/green-grasshopper-1357241_1280.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; text-align: start;">Image by </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/users/makamuki0-1102736/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1357241" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; text-align: start;">Marc Pascual</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; text-align: start;"> from </span><a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1357241" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; text-align: start;">Pixabay</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />This morning I was reminded of a Bible story that impacted me at a camp in my last year of high school. We spent time looking at Numbers 13 and 14, the story of the 12 Israelite spies that were sent to check out the land that God was taking them to. They came back bearing amazing fruit from the land, but also stories about how impossible it would be for the Israelites to invade the land (which is what they assumed they'd have to do). They emphasised how big and strong those living in the land were. They used this metaphor: "</span><span style="background-color: white;">We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">Two of the 12 men, Caleb and Joshua, opposed the others, saying that if this was God's plan, he would do it: "T</span><span style="background-color: white;">he </span><span class="small-caps" style="background-color: white; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Lord</span><span style="background-color: white;"> is with us. Do not be afraid of them." They focused on God, not on the problem. So often I focus on the problem!</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The story continues with all the Israelites latching onto the bad report and complaining, suggesting it would be better to go back to Egypt (and, one assumes, the captivity that awaited them there). The Bible records an interesting interaction between God and Moses. God complains to Moses about the Israelites, a cites a plan to destroy the whole nation and push on with Moses and his descendants. Moses pushes back and points out that the nations would see what's happened and assume that God couldn't do what he set out to do. He appeals to God's character and asks him to show his strength by forgiving the Israelites. God relents, but his new plan is that none of those 20 or older who were counted in the census earlier on their journey would enter the Promised Land, except Caleb and Joshua, and that it would be 40 more years of wandering in the wilderness.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When Moses reported this to the people, they mourned, said they'd sinned, and decided to go to invade the Promised Land anyway, the very next day. Much like when I was a kid and tried to get out of a punishment after being caught. And yep, they went and got beaten, because God wasn't with them.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's an extraordinary story. I feel like a grasshopper just now. I did back in year 12 too, when I was facing the end of high school and all the unknowns of the following year. I rather think God prefers that we feel like grasshoppers and so rely on him for strength, rather than our own.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's a story that shows us how serious God takes grumbling against him. But also shows how a plan won't succeed if it's going against God's plans. For sure there's a lot I don't know about God and his guidance and leading, I'm no expert at all, just a lay person reading my Bible. But also a person seeking to follow God's will. I'm prone to be impatient and to grumble about God's timing, yet I'm also trying to trust God in the midst of it all. Keeping my eyes focused on God instead of the problem is probably the key, just like it was in this story as well as the story of David and Goliath!</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Are you facing a giant of a problem right now? How do you keep your eyes off the problem and fixed on God?</span></span></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-68148627047645993522024-02-01T14:53:00.003+09:002024-02-01T15:03:06.314+09:00First motorhome adventure 2024<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_qF3198Hil189SOz8wfBYZPMjwA0VHMCWJIMJJBX2Pmvb5nffOS_VSEomIAbnJ0i7o7ZF5hG5kvQPpjNjEHBJ7pWByG6S0aFdbX-VtJASnZtyxkZc85EBuu_aNlUuLKGE1rzsS8mmfgrpiQa1iCh5eCWzTLpybRU-jhRwTztcM93AvHjkQBnWtLk5nOI/s766/IMG_9093.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="750" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_qF3198Hil189SOz8wfBYZPMjwA0VHMCWJIMJJBX2Pmvb5nffOS_VSEomIAbnJ0i7o7ZF5hG5kvQPpjNjEHBJ7pWByG6S0aFdbX-VtJASnZtyxkZc85EBuu_aNlUuLKGE1rzsS8mmfgrpiQa1iCh5eCWzTLpybRU-jhRwTztcM93AvHjkQBnWtLk5nOI/w196-h200/IMG_9093.jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our journey to <br />get home on Tuesday.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you and I were sitting down at a coffee shop and you asked me about my week, I could tell you quite a tale. This is a bit long, so I've started with:<br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>TL;DR (too long didn't read) version</b>:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On Friday night we had a simple BBQ dinner on Friday night (Australia Day) with friends. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On Saturday we packed our bags and headed up to my parents' place in Toowoomba where we stopped for a short chat, then packed our stuff into their small motorhome and headed across town to spend the night with long-time friends.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We slept in the motorhome in their driveway overnight. About 1.30 a fierce storm came through the region. I didn't get much sleep! Sunday morning we had breakfast with our friends before driving to church with them. We didn't stay long afterwards as we'd been invited to a 60th birthday party down the road.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgtoUlxFulreYiNesHgY7Q8kLE7xC6299ebuBsYWDdi36nUU-mcSWYWghNy63YVlUgYVfohoMSaZqArvmuGyNg-6LC6MafyUUza8ALt9GWGKFRsgemKSWb_XuulX_8Ah7CGkotczuMIZY8MFpBhb7meBJo_MIIe4P_HoU3DT7cxbPN1DYeljfHJGZlU4/s4032/IMG_9081.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgtoUlxFulreYiNesHgY7Q8kLE7xC6299ebuBsYWDdi36nUU-mcSWYWghNy63YVlUgYVfohoMSaZqArvmuGyNg-6LC6MafyUUza8ALt9GWGKFRsgemKSWb_XuulX_8Ah7CGkotczuMIZY8MFpBhb7meBJo_MIIe4P_HoU3DT7cxbPN1DYeljfHJGZlU4/s320/IMG_9081.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free camping in the Aussie bush...with a book<br />and travel Scrabble...and several hundred mozzies.</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After the party we drove down the Toowoomba range and into the area north of the main highway between Toowoomba and Brisbane. We stopped the night in a cleared spot (that we paid a small amount for) on a private property, with no water, toilet, or shower, it was very much "free camping". It was a very hot night!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On Monday morning we packed up camp and headed into Brisbane to attend the funeral of a former colleague in Japan, and then back out again to camp north of Brisbane at a small town's show grounds.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It was wet again that night, but not with the driving rain we'd experienced early on Sunday morning. However the amount of rain that had already fallen was starting to pool on the already saturated ground.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Tuesday morning we drove the "back routes" to get the motorhome back to my parents. It was a very wet drive that took a lot longer than expected due to road conditions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We didn't stay long at my parents, because we had promised to pick our youngest son up from work in Ipswich at 3pm. However, quickly discovered that the main highway was flooded in one spot, so we spent about 40 minutes working our way around the blockage on local roads.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We finally arrived home seven hours after leaving that morning, on a journey that probably should have only taken five!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Longer version</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Friday night's dinner was preceded by an event with our son that proved to me (again) how real and how crippling anxiety can be. We learnt some things and were challenged again to double down in prayer for him. I won't go into the details here in a public space, but it wasn't an easy time. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dinner we enjoyed, however. Time spent with friends who know us well and accept us as we are is precious. It was a comfortable evening and helped me relax a bit.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Saturday was hot. In fact most days are hot and humid at the moment. We teeter on the edge of using air conditioning most days (our modus operandi is to use it as minimally as we can to keep costs low). Thankfully most nights have been cool enough with just the overhead fan on. We discovered on this trip that hot nights in a motorhome can be a little more challenging.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We arrived at our friends' house late afternoon and spent the next several hours talking and eating. Another place where we feel seen and heard and loved deeply. It was wonderful. We've walked with this couple for over 30 years, most of the time not in the same city or state, or even country, but we're grateful for a friendship that has weathered a lot, including nine kids between us!</span></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYV8xsQQpAQI-w0vJrehKaLapWifGuwmmdjPwJ2n0cmENxJuJbrSAZ56dJS_c2b4qPJ8Y1RV6KL6dyBWPFeR0QOdhSKw05eWVCsGZRVyOfVr95kXFpZTUV7uigAmsjeArOrW8cwJ8IUrMJoYWW3qQqItUQ1S48OqaMMmTUVhDHy8mAgHugj8FcKrrZ3a8/s4032/IMG_9076.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYV8xsQQpAQI-w0vJrehKaLapWifGuwmmdjPwJ2n0cmENxJuJbrSAZ56dJS_c2b4qPJ8Y1RV6KL6dyBWPFeR0QOdhSKw05eWVCsGZRVyOfVr95kXFpZTUV7uigAmsjeArOrW8cwJ8IUrMJoYWW3qQqItUQ1S48OqaMMmTUVhDHy8mAgHugj8FcKrrZ3a8/s320/IMG_9076.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We slept here.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I've already mentioned the storm. I slept very poorly: it was hot and a "new" bed, even before we got buffeted by the storm. It was a struggle to concentrate in church the next morning, but we were grateful to be back in the church where we got married in 1997 and to see a few familiar faces.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our motor home adventure ramped up once we headed off the main road on Sunday afternoon. The place David had booked was very basic. Certainly quiet and dark once the sun went down. And plenty of mozzies who got a good feed off me! But without electricity we only had a fan for part of the night, so my sleep was mostly being passed out from exhaustion from the night before.</span></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Dji2NQdOsQZskQOtOx-KiKpM3wZBh6yd-E8jK3yd60S5qBGk8sTKaOPR-tg-xl24sr_p6QMlOFoxk3rYUvMdlMDu46Z2zjTEo6PGuDEjJPoKhpS0g5Bkr3WO_fz72GGJRp5NmsHLAtjxDh85vo1g49aihZxb3NZebUi8hu-YNT4R2enOR7JB9zR8mNE/s4032/IMG_9085.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Dji2NQdOsQZskQOtOx-KiKpM3wZBh6yd-E8jK3yd60S5qBGk8sTKaOPR-tg-xl24sr_p6QMlOFoxk3rYUvMdlMDu46Z2zjTEo6PGuDEjJPoKhpS0g5Bkr3WO_fz72GGJRp5NmsHLAtjxDh85vo1g49aihZxb3NZebUi8hu-YNT4R2enOR7JB9zR8mNE/s320/IMG_9085.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Free camping, with free dogs. <br />So enthusiastically<br />keeping an eye on us!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It was delightful to have breakfast in the bush the next morning. One of the big things that struck me about camping in a motorhome is how easy it is to set-up camp, and pack up later. Last time we did this (2012) we'd only been tent camping a handful of times, but now we have a lot of tent camping under our belts and the ease of set-up in a motorhome is amazing.<br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Attending a funeral in the middle of our long weekend meant this really wasn't a relaxing adventure. But our main goal for taking this trip was to have a trial run at using the van prior to a much longer trip in March–May, so we did achieve that. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The funeral itself was pretty amazing, however. Definitely had us turning our eyes to Jesus and the various tributes gave us a good well-rounded image of the woman we were mourning. Fittingly, for someone who had spent around half her life in Japan, there were a number of short messages from people who had served with her there, most of whom we knew, so we felt quite a home. Afterwards at the "reception" we had many eclectic conversations. We met former colleagues (from Australia and Japan), Japanese expats, people who've prayed for us since we were in our 20s, someone who used to attend the same church as me when I was at uni. I met a Japanese lady who is good friends with someone I haven't seen since 7th grade! My parents were there and they introduced me to friends of theirs who we'd not met. It was intense!</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After that we hopped back in the motorhome and drove to our next campsite. This time with power and water, and a beautiful amenities block (shower and toilet). After we were set up, we ended up chatting with a lady walking her very friendly service dog past our van. It struck me that in this mobile group of people, they don't care where you are "from" they just want to know about the journey: where have you been recently and where are you going next. Unlike a hairdresser I encountered last year, they don't want to know about whether you have a day off and what your job is. In some ways that's refreshing, for people like us who have too much backstory for an easy introductory conversation.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgGTxuJ4bzeJqXNPrHaJO21MJtlMsQz6CSf3TPCUWubWlv3TYmtMWPlJN1Kv-KuEKHWjjQQcmK7c6TWnLf5tr6XkJAXS0ahv9X1n4s0XbadVEi_dQXIMoxplJPX16Gii4NJLvcNlmr7aYQy4kXC6l02U1VPWSciTfaNktgjikMDiy3T21JoQJfdSLYVs/s4032/IMG_9087.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgGTxuJ4bzeJqXNPrHaJO21MJtlMsQz6CSf3TPCUWubWlv3TYmtMWPlJN1Kv-KuEKHWjjQQcmK7c6TWnLf5tr6XkJAXS0ahv9X1n4s0XbadVEi_dQXIMoxplJPX16Gii4NJLvcNlmr7aYQy4kXC6l02U1VPWSciTfaNktgjikMDiy3T21JoQJfdSLYVs/s320/IMG_9087.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wish I'd had more time and energy to<br />take some photos in this picturesque<br /> location (Dayboro). But we were rushed and it <br />was wet most of the time we were there.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On Tuesday morning we had some difficulties trying to empty our grey and black water. First place it was pouring rain and there was a line up, and we were in a bit of a rush to get going. At the second place, it was still raining, but not as hard, and we suspect the dump point had been underwater earlier in the day and it so was tricky.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Driving in sub-optimal conditions for much of the day on Tuesday was draining. At times water was running over the road, or it was raining so hard it was difficult to see far ahead. And then, on the final leg, we ran into flooding in the Lockyer Valley. We decided to push through and see what alternative route we could find and were surprised to find a slightly complicated way through that only delayed us 40 minutes. Alternatives to this story (if the flooding had been worse) were an extra night at my parents, or a long detour of a few hours. If this had been 20 years ago, I don't know how we would have managed because finding the alternative route meant a lot of consulting of Google Maps and Qldtraffic.qld.gov.au (a webpage that shows road conditions). I drove as I am more prone to motion sickness than David. But we were both exhausted by the time we got home. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Happy to chalk this up as another adventure, but also grateful for a home base (some of our camping companions live all the time in their mobile accommodation). But now we're preparing for our "big trip" starting in just six weeks!</span></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-25092775163413117872024-01-26T11:24:00.003+09:002024-01-27T08:29:27.454+09:00Seasonal confusion<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6Z46_TLIIxYSoRIRYXylAwBc_QFLs_nntpmAv3Lox3qAEYiDlUkBkJGQ7UtSLxcQz_BGK0nddy5NwdTPbd20OyZdApLpK0b1IAGpVUZ9KR-QKAFQc-mYM5j0-AZQNZVyflspHkz1OqlRt3ia1H_UWhCT68pNqzLVE-4XN0zJgQ_gfUwlRjs85dKaIC0/s4032/IMG_9045.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6Z46_TLIIxYSoRIRYXylAwBc_QFLs_nntpmAv3Lox3qAEYiDlUkBkJGQ7UtSLxcQz_BGK0nddy5NwdTPbd20OyZdApLpK0b1IAGpVUZ9KR-QKAFQc-mYM5j0-AZQNZVyflspHkz1OqlRt3ia1H_UWhCT68pNqzLVE-4XN0zJgQ_gfUwlRjs85dKaIC0/s320/IMG_9045.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shadow of me at the beach on Saturday<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Over the years I’<span>ve mentioned that I get confused about seasons…<br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here’s an example: we’re in the middle of school starting in Australia. Everyone is posting “first/second/third/last-first day of school” photos. I didn’t think it would really be that big a deal for us, who have no one starting school (not even as a teacher), but there’s no avoiding it all around us. </span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of course I also see this on social media when I'm in Japan, but it makes less of an impact when we're there. Driving around at 3pm this week has been different to the preceding six weeks, with all the school speed zones activate again (the rule here is you have to drive 40 km/hr in designated and signed school zones between certain hours, the hours that kids are arriving and leaving school). Shops and TV ads are full of "back to school" stuff.</span></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNXbtjYGH3yySGBy4RI_H9lyGHKk0bl1eU9EhcUl1D6Y4upr66rshqzI59In6zsuLzkZ0KP11TUi-gAcmve5fvmIGQvjAg5yhtrXTHiSNoIVAehiFvBOzwsoELkgmtMCde_oPMe4WhKJHvx-nUZYSjl00yX9YeMWXutEWURAJcKZsMmP6NAMrwr4tk1k/s4032/IMG_8990.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNXbtjYGH3yySGBy4RI_H9lyGHKk0bl1eU9EhcUl1D6Y4upr66rshqzI59In6zsuLzkZ0KP11TUi-gAcmve5fvmIGQvjAg5yhtrXTHiSNoIVAehiFvBOzwsoELkgmtMCde_oPMe4WhKJHvx-nUZYSjl00yX9YeMWXutEWURAJcKZsMmP6NAMrwr4tk1k/w200-h150/IMG_8990.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At our local supermarket...one<br /> of many signs of the season</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But our youngest is starting uni next month and various preparations for that are taking place. So in some ways, we're in "starting the new education year" mode, but not as intensely as when we had kids at school.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">All of that has overflowed into my thinking. The other day</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">, I was idly pondering CAJ in Japan (where our kids went to school) and wondering about how the cross-country season was starting up—something that happens at the start of the school year there. Only trouble is that though cross-country season starts at the start of the school year, that is September! Yep, I’m confused. I'm sitting here in summer clothing, seeing many of my northern hemisphere friends in the depths of winter, and watching cricket (a summer sport). And it messes with my brain. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But to confuse things even more we watched some live wrestling the other day too, a live stream from CAJ where they were holding the Kanto finals tournament. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Something that definitely</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> happens in winter, and in January!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is all a bit like when there’s a public holiday and you’ve got no clear idea what day of the week it is and have to think carefully if you’re pressed for an answer. It's not quite as bad the mind fog between Christmas and New Year, but similar.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So, once again, I look and sound like I belong in Australia, but inside my head it isn't quite the same. The other day I mentioned to a long-term friend that, though we've here six months, I still feel only partly here and still partly there. She wasn't surprised; she thought that after 23 years of this life it was to be expected!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you encounter me in the wild . . . be gentle :-D</span></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-436816812754978112024-01-19T15:55:00.006+09:002024-01-19T17:07:13.814+09:00Figuring out what God wants me to do<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A close friend recently sent me a link to a very helpful Facebook post. It’s written by Martyn Iles, an Australia Christian who has had an unusually public profile in recent years (in Australia Christians don’t typically get much press). Who he is isn’t as important as the wise things he’s written, so I won’t write any more about him. He wrote this in a Facebook post, but sharing a Facebook post is only helpful if someone has a Facebook profile, so I’ve copied the text here (for my future reference, if nothing else):<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>How can I know what God would have me do?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When I speak to people personally, some variant of this question is possibly the most common question I am asked.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is a four principled decision making framework which has never failed me yet.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Importantly, all four principles are to be discerned in the context of sincere prayer about the decision.</span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">1. Circumstances</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Your circumstances will change (or not), without your manipulation or control, in a way that enables or reveals the right course of action. Because God is sovereign and works providentially.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">2. Scripture</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">If you are a habitual student of scripture, it is likely that your reading and study will speak into your circumstances in a way that confirms the right course of action. Because God speaks to us reliably in His word.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">3. Peace</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">It may take time - it's often the final confirmation - but ultimately you will be at peace about the right decision. That is to say, it may be hard or daunting, but your conscience will quietly confirm it. Because the Spirit of God works in our conscience.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">4. Patience</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait!!!! STOP RUSHING! The scriptures are packed full with exhortations to "wait on the Lord." There are countless examples of God's slowness in the face of our hurry. Learn the discipline of patience or you will constantly make bad decisions. And you will *never* be worse off, or miss out, because you were patient. If you do, it just means it was never meant to be.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Now, you can be mistaken on one of the above - misreading circumstances, wrongly applying scripture, etc - but it is utterly unusual to be wrong about all four at the same time, especially in the context of patience and prayer.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">When all four line up, that tends to be when I act. But often they don't, so I simply resist action, which is very hard.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Now, for matters of very great importance, I may have thought that all four principles were in alignment, yet the gravity of the decision was such that I was still reticent to make it.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">In such circumstances, you can do a Gideon. You can pray for special confirmation and clarity - a "fleece." In His grace, God is ordinarily willing to provide it.</div></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The alternative to the above is to plan your own way and make your own decisions, and expect God to catch up. That simply is not a life of faith. (End of the quote)</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">_____________</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(Very annoyed right now because I've just lost several paragraphs here that I'd written here the other day...so on to to remembering what I wrote...)</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99VGvg33ImxnkwXMV7NzRUOxDwSD7S20b0VCXBTOjXeLf-X2WKqqdaRO-aPseZZ4r_CbTOdEeflGG7b6vML_gdlBnhkf2Xy_pT8N65xci6Y97k-OIxGaee6Caes8KZI3ETX86aeFdmKSm_4AZER2hMfnnyT4671yvLDbNsXYvhD3lgHFLOgdRJXTFXBg/s4032/IMG_9005.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99VGvg33ImxnkwXMV7NzRUOxDwSD7S20b0VCXBTOjXeLf-X2WKqqdaRO-aPseZZ4r_CbTOdEeflGG7b6vML_gdlBnhkf2Xy_pT8N65xci6Y97k-OIxGaee6Caes8KZI3ETX86aeFdmKSm_4AZER2hMfnnyT4671yvLDbNsXYvhD3lgHFLOgdRJXTFXBg/s320/IMG_9005.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What we see on earth is but a poor reflection of<br />what's truly going on (a much worse image than<br />we see here in a photo of the pond in the Japanese<br />garden at Mt Coot-tha).</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I imagine that many people think that the decision of becoming a missionary must be one of the biggest we've ever made and that other decisions would be easy in comparison. While I could write much about the original decision, I will just say that there have been quite a number of times since then where decision making (and waiting for God's plan) has been hard.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A sample of times when this has seemed especially true in the last 25 years:</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When we were working towards to come to Japan and it took longer than we’d hoped</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When there was no teaching position for David in Japan for five years after we made ourselves available for that</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When my Japanese language ability never made it to a level suitable for working in it</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When I spent more time with sick kids than in doing any kind of outside ministry (or language learning) in our first term in Japan</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When our attempts to help our eldest learn Japanese language and culture by enrolling him in a Japanese primary school failed (we had to move him out after just 15 months)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When we nearly didn’t get back to Japan in a timely fashion five years ago due to financial reasons</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When one of our sons encountered difficulties significant enough to derail our plan of moving him to Australia in 2021</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Right now, as I've mentioned before, we're walking through the situation of seeking affordable rental accommodation for our younger two sons so that they can carry on their lives here while we head back to Japan. For various reasons we want to do that sooner rather than later.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What adds to the difficulty of this is not just that the rental system is under great stress here, but that our "public" lives mean that we've asked lots of people to pray about it, including our church. And people keep wanting updates. I want to jump straight to the end of the chapter and tell them a "success" story . . . but it's taking a while.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I really appreciated the wise older gentleman in our church who asked me last month, "Are you making progress?" </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This was a gentle and discerning way to ask and I could answer a wholehearted "YES". I felt encouraged, rather than needing to explain where we were up to and why we hadn't "succeeded" yet.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Back to the earlier quote, I really appreciate the emphasis on "wait". I am not naturally good at that, in general I tend to barrel ahead at considerable speed. Though I'd have to say that I have grown in this area in the decades since I became an adult. This particular waiting seems to be trying my patience and trust in God more than usual. But I'm trying hard to keep my eyes on Jesus.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I had coffee with a new friend this morning and we reflected on how we often don't know why God is doing something, or what his timing is, but we need to trust him regardless because he's so much wiser, more loving, and more powerful than us. That his thinking isn't the same as ours is clearly seen throughout the Bible, but perhaps no clearer than in the book of Job.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here are a couple of verses I found along this line:</span></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">God’s voice thunders in marvellous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. (Jobe 27:5 NIV)</span></blockquote><p></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' (Is. 55:8–9)</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So, we still await the end of this chapter of transitioning our sons to accommodation separate from us. It's going to be a good one! I can't wait to tell you about it!</span></p><p></p><p><br /></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-15526347481835800452024-01-13T16:29:00.003+09:002024-01-13T18:08:34.881+09:00Retirement planning!<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">January is turning into quite a social month, as many people have a little more free time before school and many other activities start in a week or so. I’ve struggled to find time to write this week, but do have a post I started before Christmas that didn’t seem quite festive enough at the time. So here it is:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We've been working on longer-term financial planning these last few months. We do short-term financial planning each year as our mission requires us to put together a budget, which gives a set support figure to judge how our support is going. This is a complex, but helpful process that means we're using our resources responsibly, and anticipating future (near) needs as best we can, for example the need to fly to home assignment, or to go to a conference, or buy “new” furniture or a car after home assignment, or replace our aging computer. All these things are budgeted for well in advance. Australia is more expensive than Japan these days, so we budget for our living expenses over several years preceding each home assignment.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09RcyYzM8y6lDi-1mMMiVDc9q0P-bitAAyfUzO_xzhQKMuvU7mLc6ENtrnM_0hS_SpvjyRqfjOjYX_R0l3Qw5qbf7fvC9CYrnw4TUgHUmvvdmE1V0OqZIaWPGzh2osbI2mt6pbdE17Jm6sxMYLBKIXmkN0F5VvZNy9rBcYeotj6oC9RKNqMSFF41cScc/s4032/IMG_9012.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09RcyYzM8y6lDi-1mMMiVDc9q0P-bitAAyfUzO_xzhQKMuvU7mLc6ENtrnM_0hS_SpvjyRqfjOjYX_R0l3Qw5qbf7fvC9CYrnw4TUgHUmvvdmE1V0OqZIaWPGzh2osbI2mt6pbdE17Jm6sxMYLBKIXmkN0F5VvZNy9rBcYeotj6oC9RKNqMSFF41cScc/s320/IMG_9012.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We don’t have much of a garden: in<br />many ways this is a blessing because<br />it doesn’t take much of our time, so<br />we’re freed up to devote ourselves to<br />other things. We do get to enjoy gardens<br />that other people maintain, though, also <br />known as parks!</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But as we've both entered our 50s this last term, we decided it would be good to talk to a financial planner about the longer-term future. We wanted an expert's opinion on how are things looking for a retirement in Australia sometime before we hit 70.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Well, we've been very encouraged. We found a Christian who has given us a significant discount for his assistance. And he's given us reassurance that, from what he can see and what he knows, from a worldly perspective, we'll be okay. Of course we have no idea what God will provide, but look forward to seeing that too!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's at this point that we're very thankful that God led us to be part of a mission organisation that takes long-term member care seriously. And also that we live in a country where financial planning for the future is also taken seriously. So, both of us have had the organisations we've worked for contributing to our superannuation funds (US readers: similar to 401(k)) since we started working in our early 20s, yes, even when we've been working overseas, and these funds are adding up.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This part of life not something missionaries talk about very much. Most people only hear about finance from missionaries when they are in need of more financial support for the immediate future.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But also, in mission circles there is also an understanding that God provides in amazing ways that you can't anticipate. He has been providing for us for the last 23 years, why wouldn't he provide for us in the future, and into retirement too?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's pretty obvious to us, as we come back each time, that most of our peers are doing things like buying houses, some even getting to the point of finishing paying off their mortgage. We don't own any property. The biggest thing we own is a car. We can't afford to buy real estate in Australia, partly because most of the time we can't live in a house we'd buy in Australia. But we also shy away from the anxieties that arise from owning property in a country where you don't live and from the stress of a mortgage. We've seen the stress that that can cause missionaries (maintenance issues, complex financial affairs that are hard to deal with remotely, tenant issue, etc.).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It’s easy to start to rely on the figures on a spreadsheet though, to trust in that, instead of our Heavenly Father. God has ways of reminding of us of that. But the best thing to do, when we’re distracted by all the dialogue around us (in the media as well as in conversation with friends) about real estate, mortgages, money, banks, stuff to buy, etc, is to go back to God’s word. One of the places Jesus directly addressed these things is in Matthew 6 where he said:</span></p><blockquote><p>So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.</p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We’re grateful we don’t have much stuff to take up a lot of our time to maintain, but it’s in the mental zone that we need to fight the battle not to worry (at least it is for me).</span></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-39626806346519778662024-01-06T16:22:00.003+09:002024-01-06T16:22:34.428+09:00Looking ahead to 2024<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgugAkjoOqYA7TNi5O4WPWWlbRg6VuEgnVCD0PXHQPwairhQ750D3fCdffVX1LoNJn4xCZYhvJZg_a3aMHfoRRkK_i38doCZBkHwwmSW3otFjpjsxfcPvUj5uBtVCfCc9XrEv2Fr3j4ZQjTcGTOwzfvAIuK0w88J7pAYmPvaqYcNjVMWmmyagzs7uBjiXo/s1280/calendar-8178265_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1280" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgugAkjoOqYA7TNi5O4WPWWlbRg6VuEgnVCD0PXHQPwairhQ750D3fCdffVX1LoNJn4xCZYhvJZg_a3aMHfoRRkK_i38doCZBkHwwmSW3otFjpjsxfcPvUj5uBtVCfCc9XrEv2Fr3j4ZQjTcGTOwzfvAIuK0w88J7pAYmPvaqYcNjVMWmmyagzs7uBjiXo/s320/calendar-8178265_1280.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">Image by </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/users/gdj-1086657/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=8178265" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">Gordon Johnson</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"> from </span><a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=8178265" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">Pixabay</a></td></tr></tbody></table>It is my habit at the start of January to look ahead to the next 12 months in my first blog post of the year. Of course I can't predict what will happen or how it will turn out! And what better reminder of that uncertainty when we watch Japan live through more disasters only hours after we've wished everyone a "happy new year"!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Despite that, it's useful to both look ahead and also look back. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One example of how this reflecting and anticipating can help is that when I look back at this time last year I remember that <a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2023/01/looking-ahead-to-2023.html">2023 looked like a lot of hard work</a>. Plus there were lots of things that we really didn't know how we were going to achieve and I felt anxious about. But now that the year is over I realise that we did make it through all of that, with God's help. Yes it was hard, but also there were good surprises along the way (like the house we're living in and the furniture we're using) and many of the disasters that I imagined never occurred. With this in mind I can approach 2024 knowing that, though there's hard work ahead and some things that seem impossible, time next year I'll hopefully be able to look back and have the same realisation: that God's walked with us through it all and provided all that we've needed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We see it in the Bible too: God encouraged the Israelites to look back at what he'd done for them in the past and to trust that he'll work again on their behalf in the future. This is stated very clearly in Deuteronomy 7:</span></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You may say to yourselves, ‘These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?’ But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. (vv. 17–19 NIV)</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's also a theme in the New Testament. Jesus told his disciples in the Last Supper to remember him by doing this (which is where the Lord's Supper we celebrate in churches today comes from). In the book of Hebrews we're encouraged to persevere in the faith, backed up by a lengthy list of those who have gone before us (who didn't even know the story of Jesus). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So remembering the past can help us as we face the future. Given what I reflected on last week in <a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2023/12/looking-back-at-2023.html">my end of year blog post</a>, I certainly will be trying to be more serious about not worrying.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I noticed a small thing in this passage I was listening to the other day:</span></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this <b>very little thing</b>, why do you worry about the rest?' (Luke 12:23–26 NIV UK)</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We think that by worrying we can extend our lives (or the lives of others), but that's obviously not God's perspective. From his perspective adding an hour to our lives is a "very little thing". The difference between us and God is so huge and he understands that better than we do! So, since I can't even do this very little thing, I think that giving up worrying is a worthy goal, not just for 2024, but for the rest of my life. I'm certain that I will fail again and again, but with God's help I surely can improve on what I've done up till now!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Coming months</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The coming couple of months probably includes us moving into the era of couple-dom again. I'm actively avoiding the usual term for this stage. We'll be parents of independently living adults, which is what we've been working towards for the last 24 years!</span></p><p> <span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's a stage that is worth acknowledging, but also a stage that is full of so much potential and not just "emptiness". But obviously a huge change from living with our guys and interacting with them on a daily basis, so it will be an adjustment that will take some time.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our hope and plan is to return to Japan in July to the roles we had there last year (or approximately those roles, some changes will hopefully come to pass). Before then we have some travel planned in Australia, including a big trip to take advantage of Australia's amazing long-service provision (paid leave to reward a long period of service with the same organisation). You will hear plenty about that as I hope to write an online diary of our travels like I have for our long camping journeys in the past.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As for what happens after July? When we get back to Japan we plan to move into a small apartment near the school in western Tokyo. Yes, we've already seen this apartment (first time we've seen a future place of accommodation in person since 2005)! And we are looking forward to having fun exploring all sorts of new possibilities that being a couple provides. We first arrived in Japan in 2000 with a 20-month old and have done our entire missionary journey overseas with children in our care, so this is indeed a very new chapter.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's another year that involves a long, multi-stage international move, though it's always physically easier moving out of Australia because we haven't been here so long and have less stuff. Much of the larger items we use go back to owners or find new owners. We haven't moved into a new house in Japan in 14 years, though, so that will be different, but moving without little children is definitely easier (even if we'll be missing the strength of our young adult sons).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sadly it's another year that involves many goodbyes. But there are also many who we're looking forward to seeing again in Japan. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's never easy emotionally for me to move, and saying goodbye to Australia is an act of the will, rather than an overly eager spirit.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many things I did in 2023 I will continue to do in 2024. This was my list from 12 months ago:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">regularly walk with my husband (I averaged about 2.5 km a day last year)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">study Japanese</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">read lots of books</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">listen to English sermons at least once a week</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">stay in touch with close friends regularly, and when I can, in person</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">bake</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">writing</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Much of this remains true of my intentions for 2024, I don't have as much time alone in Australia, so I listen to less podcasts and sermons (and get an English sermon in person most Sundays). I don't have a current writing project or specific writing goal for 2024, though have submitted an application to be part of a writing team for the year . . . I haven't heard back on that yet, so we'll see. I've got vague prof. dev. reading goals while I'm in Australia, but again will try to read 100 books in the year (mostly fiction for relaxation, I read fast and rely on books to help me relax before sleeping). I mentioned 12 months ago that I'd picked up cross-stitch again, and I'm still working on that, but it's a complex design and I'm finding it slow going.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That's enough. I look ahead to 2024 with this:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><blockquote><div>I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ (Psalm 91:2 NIV)</div></blockquote></span></div><p></p><p></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-18804401166653782322023-12-31T16:11:00.004+09:002023-12-31T16:11:54.154+09:00Looking back at 2023<h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-weight: normal;">Ever since I stared writing here in 2009, I’ve been using this blog to reflect on the year just lived. For the last five years I’ve been using the same set of questions. These questions push me past the surface reflections, so they aren’t easy, but it’s a good exercise that I enjoy. They aren’t about what I’ve achieved in the year. I hope they might be a springboard for you to think about your own year too.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sh8Up1CvxX0M76y4p4yEhfNaM6CcKr7brJxLFryzd36usKRdbMmGnIaAX5fziNDvohnydxEeIRPMinP46ZPMlhASKiqpQ2pwEb0s9oqQ0QTrbBguXqpwBMddTzpaAxi8cO-WRZBx3QgEKqaVT6CtqvVYXHzMxg3vCYILLAllJyTlF8CG9Cl9pWZ6Xa4/s3088/IMG_8923.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sh8Up1CvxX0M76y4p4yEhfNaM6CcKr7brJxLFryzd36usKRdbMmGnIaAX5fziNDvohnydxEeIRPMinP46ZPMlhASKiqpQ2pwEb0s9oqQ0QTrbBguXqpwBMddTzpaAxi8cO-WRZBx3QgEKqaVT6CtqvVYXHzMxg3vCYILLAllJyTlF8CG9Cl9pWZ6Xa4/w320-h240/IMG_8923.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas Day on the beach 2023</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">1. What makes this year unforgettable?</span></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some big changes this year for us mean this year will be a noteworthy year for the rest of our lives: </span></span></h4><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our youngest son finished high school, that’s a huge milestone for our family after 20 years of children at school.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We moved out of the house we’ve spent the most time in for our whole marriage, the house that our youngest son started kindergarten from.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It wasn’t just a simple move, this move included downsizing and storing stuff for our year away from Japan.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The move also marked the end of our younger two sons’ time in Japan. In July they moved to Australia with the intent of staying here, at least in the medium term, which is a huge change, considering one of them was born in Japan and the other moved there when he was less than three months old.</span></li></ul></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">2. What did I enjoy doing this year?</span></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We have just celebrated Christmas with both our birth families. It’s really different doing this with older kids, it was much calmer and more enjoyable than in times past.</span></span></h4><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It’s been enjoyable seeing our three sons, who are now all 18 and over, getting to know one another as adults. Being together in the same region for several months has been wonderful. Parenting is hard work and long work—it’s very satisfying seeing some reward for all the years of effort you’ve put into them as you watch them gain confidence and skills as they grow much more independent.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It’s been enjoyable spending more time with David these last few months. We’ve enjoyed lunches and occasionally other meals on our front deck in Ipswich (a beautiful view). Three weeks Perth without children was an interesting adventure that involved both work and play. It was fun to see glimpses of what’s not very far in our future, but that is really next week’s blog post.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I enjoyed watching my youngest son as he powered his way through the school’s wrestling season undefeated. After many years of injury interrupting his participation in this sport, I really didn’t expect him to do it at all, and then to achieve as well as he did was very satisfying. He went on from there to do really well in shot put and discus in the track and field season too. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Going to two women’s retreats—one in March in Japan and one in October in Australia—with close friends was definitely enjoyable.</span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">3. What/who is one thing/person I'm grateful for?</span></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Of course I can’t limit it to just one person or thing. I’m grateful to a handful of precious friends who’ve walked alongside me this year. It’s not been an easy year and I’ve leaned on friends, not to mentioned David, heavily to stay afloat.</span></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">4. What did I read/watch/listen to that made the most impact this year?<br /></span></span></h4><div><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I’ve read more than 100 books again this year, more in the second half of the year than the first. <i>Undeceptions</i> podcast continues to be a thought-provoking listen, though I haven’t listened to as much of that in the second half of the year with less alone time than I usually get in Japan.</span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here are some of the books that made an impact</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Trusting God</i> by Jerry Bridges</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Being Mortal</i> by Atul Gawande</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Sacred Siblings</i> by Sue Eenigenberg and Suzy Grumelot</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>When God Doesn’t Answer Your Prayer</i> by Jerry Sittser</span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">5. What did I worry about most and how did it turn out?</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></h4><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There were many things that I worried about this year, including who to hand my work over to so we could leave Japan for a year and how we would find somewhere to live in Australia (the latter being a big concern because everywhere we turned people were telling us of horror stories about the rental crisis in Australia).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I split my jobs into multiple parts and handed them over in late May and early June. That part worked so well that I ended up with extra time to do preparation for work in Australia that I hadn’t planned for. Both of the publishing projects I managed (<i>Japan Harvest </i>magazine and OMF Japan’s social media) have continued onwards, so I guess I did okay in handing them over. But I know it wasn’t easy for those who have taken extra things on in my absence. It helped to remember that we had important work to do in Australia, even if I didn’t really want to make the effort to get there.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our accommodation story is a lot easier to tell. We got a house really quickly, with the on-the-ground assistance of a lady from our home church who we’d never met in person. It’s been a really good find, with very little we can fault. Great landlords; beautiful, convenient location; and functionally just right. We also have all the furniture we need, including a large TV and fabulous fridge.</span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">6. What is my biggest regret?</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></h4><div><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is always a hard question. I think I regret all the time I spent worrying about the future. It’s a bad habit that is hard to break, and even now I’m struggling not to worry about the first half of 2024.</span></span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">7. What's something that has changed about me?</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></h4><div><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I’m no longer the parent of a school-aged kid. I’m also no longer in my 40s. I’m also on the verge of having all my kids move out of home.</span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I feel more and more that I am a writer and editor and more often when pressed will describe myself as such these days.</span></span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">8. What surprised me most this year?</span></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-weight: normal;">Probably my answer to #5 covers a good portion of this. </span></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-weight: normal;">But in addition, I’ve been surprised this last week. I’ve been surprised by how “adult” all my boys have been. In the middle of last year we did a similar “tour” without the Christmas celebrations and extra family time thrown in, and it was much harder. They’ve all grown in maturity, which is a great joy to see in what amounts to a stressful situation (travel, sharing rooms, lots of people, many unspoken expectations, lack of routine etc.). Over the years of raising our kids, visiting family in Australia has always been stressful for a few reasons: they’ve rarely seen their Australian relatives, it always involves significant travel, they aren’t in their own environment and Australia was never really “home”, and they were energetic boys (the first grandsons on both sides). Maturity has helped a lot and that meant that this time around I didn’t have to spend much time at all being their advocates or working to keep the peace.</span></span></h4><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The other big surprise was quickly finding a government-funded program that accepted our neurodiverse son which has helped him do employment readiness and help him find a job (the end of that story is yet to be written, but we’re hopeful).</span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">9. What Bible truths impacted me this year?</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></h4><div><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the latter half of the year, reading <i>Trusting God</i> has been significant<i>. </i>I dipped my toe in with some ladies from church in a Bible study (when I could get there), then read it from front to back on my own. The book takes you back to basics about God’s sovereignty and love, and confronts you about how you live in light of these truths.</span></span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">10. What meta-themes have I thought about this year? (in no particular order)</span></span></h4><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Transition</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Aging</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Women and their roles (especially within Christian circles) and non-romantic relationships between Christians (see <i>Sacred Siblings</i> book).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Whether God’s leading us to stay in Japan after 2023 (we think he is).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Life with grown kids who don’t live at home anymore.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Disability support in Australia.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Downsizing.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How <i>Japan Harvest</i> is produced and how that can be done with me less involved.</span></li></ul></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Highlights<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-weight: normal;">Our youngest finishing high school, especially his athletic achievements, but also seeing his persistence in working hard academically and the great friendships he had the privilege to be part of.</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: normal;">All-Japan OMF conference in June was both exhausting and wonderful.</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: normal;">Writing a series of six articles about the process of preparing for and going on home assignment for the US branch of our organisation, and also recording a discussion with a colleague about the same topic. All of this was published mid-year online.</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: normal;">Being able to watch a lot of cricket, especially watching Australia unexpectedly win the semi-final and final of the one day international cricket World Cup (which involved staying up way past my usual bedtime twice in one week). Making it to two cricket matches in-person.</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: normal;">Going to a symphony orchestra performance in person for my birthday.</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: normal;">Visiting Rottnest Island in WA.</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: normal;">Speaking at a women’s conference and “losing it” onstage as I tried to speak briefly about the long-term griefs that cross-cultural workers encounter. I put this as a highlight because, while it was very hard to do, it was true to myself and my desire to show others how ordinary missionaries are. But the other reason it’s a highlight is that the response was overwhelming, in a positive way. I had many conversations afterwards with women who understood (and were glad to hear someone tell this unspoken story), had their eyes opened, or who wanted to learn more.</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;">I think my blog post that got the most attention this year was “<a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2023/05/neurodivergence-and-missionary-families.html?m=0" target="_blank">Neurodivergence and missionary families”.</a> Maybe this doesn’t belong as a “highlight”?</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Camping in late March was lovely, unfortunately we’ve not be able to manage any other camping trips in 2023.</span></li></ul></span></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Lowlights</span></span></h4><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Moving—I really don’t like moving, never have. And the anticipation of moving is almost as bad as the move itself.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Watching our sons pack up their lives in the place they’ve grown up and say goodbye to friends and Japan.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Walking alongside our son as he negotiated medical and other difficulties, and then trying to figure out how to help him start to forge a life in Australia.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Exhaustion. We’ve been able to really slow down in the last couple of months of the year and have realised how much toll the past few years have taken on us (obviously culminating in a huge, stressful transition). It’s been hard to have less structure and purpose in our days, but also to realise that our energy levels weren’t what we were used to either.</span></li></ul></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Other thoughts</span></span></h4><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This category is for other things that don’t really fit anywhere else…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This year I was invited to join a couple of groups of women who are all mums of kids with various types of disability. Most of them live in Japan (or have spent significant time there) and many of them are expats. One group is mostly Christians and the other is not. I’ve only met them a handful of times, but the depth of connection is quite remarkable. I wrote a bit about this under the subheading “Being heard” in <a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2023/02/telling-stories-and-being-heard.html?m=0">this blog post</a> in February.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ultimately, I’m glad 2023 is over. It contained big highlights, but also big milestones and a lot of hard work and exhaustion. It’s encouraging to look back and see how God has sustained us and provided for us through it all.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the second blog post I wrote this year I quoted Psalm 103, and I think it’s a good place to finish. Here is some of what I wrote in January:</span></div><div><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 14.85px;">There are lots of nuggets in [Psalm 103] to ponder. Just now I'm leaning into these phrases: "Y</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 14.85px;"><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white;">our youth is renewed like the eagle’s" (v. 5 NIV) and "</span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Noto Sans, sans-serif, Arial">As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more" (vv. 13–16).</span></span></blockquote></div>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-11457008066784306702023-12-20T12:42:00.006+09:002023-12-20T12:42:45.291+09:00'Twas the week before Christmas<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I did my usual Monday grocery shop this week and was a little overwhelmed by the crowds. It was hard to get a park in the huge carpark under our local shopping centre (there are more than 3,000 car parks at the centre, the majority of them are undercover). And in the grocery store itself there were lots of people "hunting in packs" and more notable were those who looked like they'd been at it for a long time: their trolleys were full to overflowing, they held long lists, their eyes were bleary, and occasionally they could be heard on the phone consulting other important parties. It was pretty crazy.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">'Twas the week before Christmas, </span><br style="font-family: helvetica;" /><span style="font-family: helvetica;">when all through the mall, </span><br style="font-family: helvetica;" /><span style="font-family: helvetica;">shoppers descended like a mad summer squall</span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">—penned by David Marshall, Dec '23</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Because we're about to travel and be guests of our parents, I wasn't buying much, but I know our mums are probably stressed about all this, just as these (mostly) women appeared to be. I hope that we will be able to be gracious guests and not cause too much trouble!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But really, what I want for Christmas is not the "perfect" meal or decorations or presents, I just want to honour our families by spending time with them, some of whom we haven't seen for more than five years. We put so much emphasis on making this celebration "just right" that we can easily forget the more important things.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Obviously, as a woman of Christian faith, the most important thing to me is that we're remembering that this is about Jesus, the son of God, the miracle that God came to earth to be one of us. Without that event, this celebration would never have started. Unfortunately, as we all know, in many places, he's completely forgotten, overtaken by many other aspects of the season. And even those of us who are Christians can let the general fervour and busyness of the season overtake the meaning of the story that has grown a little too familiar to us.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_0_671WTYABF_ruh53ezxdIxftmuly2y0AzjsC2ne9TmCR0WSAakPmgKMfRbIp7EjTtTdPzXrCD6Xfwcq-kSu-DGzS60-l1aBJR0sLmLq7vRwFbpBCzusfZ7wntcNzTHKOqunvTFIvwaCq0wYHwhRMRwXsOwl25xM2TZiQFmHe-ztS3RkYPeBVrlZZeM/s4032/IMG_8814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_0_671WTYABF_ruh53ezxdIxftmuly2y0AzjsC2ne9TmCR0WSAakPmgKMfRbIp7EjTtTdPzXrCD6Xfwcq-kSu-DGzS60-l1aBJR0sLmLq7vRwFbpBCzusfZ7wntcNzTHKOqunvTFIvwaCq0wYHwhRMRwXsOwl25xM2TZiQFmHe-ztS3RkYPeBVrlZZeM/s320/IMG_8814.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bit of a blurry photo of the outdoor<br />carols service that our eldest son's church<br />ran for their community. He's on the guitar<br />on the left of the picture. It was fun to join in<br />this and encouraging to hear the origin <br />story of the season told clearly.</td></tr></tbody></table>But I think it's also a great time to celebrate what else God's given us. For many of us that includes family and friends. I'm thankful for being able to be physically with family this year. It's a great time to get together and be thankful (Australians, especially, without any culture of thanksgiving celebrations separate to Christmas). It's also wonderful time to gather with our communities, with "our people", and be thankful for where we get to live and the people we get to do life with. To be filled with joy at the various fun things planned for this time of year, especially when we know life can be too full of pain and drudgery. <br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's a time of year when things get magnified: bad things can seem worse and small positive things can make a huge difference. Let's take time to acknowledge the good and the joy. And let's release some of those high expectations we have of ourselves and of others, be faster to apologise and to thank, and not so fast to criticise. Let's take pleasure in the small things.</span></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-23400642437233191482023-12-14T11:14:00.004+09:002023-12-14T11:14:50.160+09:00I live in a dichotomy<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The past week has been full of things we've grown to associate with Christmas in Australia, things that we don't do or experience when we're in Japan:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Outdoor carols events</b>: we went to one run by our eldest son's church and have seen plenty others advertised. The one we went to was different to many Australia Christmas events: it was evangelistic, it didn't include Santa, and almost all the songs were related to the true story of Christmas.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Church family Christmas dinner</b>: some churches in Japan may do this, but mostly Christmas is a time for outreach events like concerts</span></p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ9KqpQvEK28PfZoe5392APaEYZhT_iRWYo24rTZBVkJDzjM1IIiJ5iv6O_8_B3TXyjDmLBWmwIqtdoGkh2H4crkZWsnmoAQSzSkZvsPV3off6NRWt77A4kU7o0PIfnsjmdiQvMp5GD_OuUSf2eRWfTNNmiHlmVrn_68luyyGYh7Hi0BffznsIbvzmas/s4032/IMG_8825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ9KqpQvEK28PfZoe5392APaEYZhT_iRWYo24rTZBVkJDzjM1IIiJ5iv6O_8_B3TXyjDmLBWmwIqtdoGkh2H4crkZWsnmoAQSzSkZvsPV3off6NRWt77A4kU7o0PIfnsjmdiQvMp5GD_OuUSf2eRWfTNNmiHlmVrn_68luyyGYh7Hi0BffznsIbvzmas/s320/IMG_8825.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An example of Australian "ugly" <br />Christmas clothing :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Christmas everywhere we go</b>: decorations, lights, packaging, Santa, events, and Australia's version of the "ugly sweater" (often matching shorts and t-shirts with some kind of repeating Christmas motif), it's all far more pervasive than we see in Japan.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Preparing for the "rellie tour"</b>: visiting our birth families around the state for Christmas, which requires two eight-hour drives and one 90-minute drive.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Cricket</b>: yep, this is a summer sport and the "sound of summer" for us is cricket on the TV in the background of life. And last week we actually went to one match live, which was a great experience after a lifetime of watching it on the tellie.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Summer</b>: of course, it's summer, even if most of the Christmas motifs deny it. It's our second descent into summer for the year. A Brisbane summer is a bit easier than a Tokyo summer, the humidity is far less oppressive, and the nights are often are not as hot. But it will be longer. We do go most places in a car, too, which makes it easier than riding a bike or walking. We also live in a house with decent insulation, and our bedroom has an air conditioner (though I really would prefer not to live in aircon all day and night).</span></p><p></p><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I remember when I first when to Japan I felt like I had to reinvent myself, like I was a completely different person in Japan than I was in Australia. To some extent that's still true. I remember meeting a life-long friend here one time for a Japanese lunch, then we went to an Asian supermarket. She remarked that she was seeing a completely different side to me than she'd ever seen before (she's never seen me outside the context of Australia). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Life in Australia is very different in many ways to life in Japan. Life in cross-cultural ministry is also different to what most people "get". And it's easy to feel sorry for myself and descend into a pity-party here. I'm glad I didn't post this when I first wrote it because I've been able to delete a couple of paragraphs of that kind of thing!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I know that I have friends who love me and try hard to understand and love the weird person that this life has made me. I am ever so grateful to them. This is a lonely life and those special friends make a huge difference. I'm trying to do my best to embrace the "Australian Wendy" for these months we're here.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I'm also grateful for the various people we meet along the way who understand. We met two just yesterday, people who we've only crossed paths with a few times, but who have a lot more in common with us than many other Aussies.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There's so much to be thankful for! Even the uncertainty about the future, because it challenges me to trust God more. What are you thankful for this week?</span></div><p></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-90397519238753454292023-12-07T13:47:00.005+09:002023-12-07T14:18:07.074+09:00Emotions and conversations<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We have reached an interesting point in our careers. A point where people saying, "Wow, 23 years is a long time to serve." But there are also younger people asking questions about their own direction in life, and asking about our own journey. Especially people who don't feel called to so called "front-line ministry", for example, church planting and evangelism, but called to the sorts of work we do: support ministry (behind the scenes helping missionaries to continue to do the work they've been called to do).</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8iOgZ0nF77Yn6NVhvzv4YtL1R4YxBeM9M4u7O6DcHHAK0-YXGP504T5HY3gd6MmUR8mkJ3yo6mt1BBX3L3IfLXTtZY6pGmiwh9HvCEBnSiIJjnfLbSiGCdl0SPFXqTDLGtTcGG8haj6OdefXzKJowhksizxWe_l_imuLWmNKgcknxSe8DtIXhox7-ko/s4032/IMG_8617.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8iOgZ0nF77Yn6NVhvzv4YtL1R4YxBeM9M4u7O6DcHHAK0-YXGP504T5HY3gd6MmUR8mkJ3yo6mt1BBX3L3IfLXTtZY6pGmiwh9HvCEBnSiIJjnfLbSiGCdl0SPFXqTDLGtTcGG8haj6OdefXzKJowhksizxWe_l_imuLWmNKgcknxSe8DtIXhox7-ko/s320/IMG_8617.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And a photo of a tree, because we all need<br />more trees!</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I've written on this topic a few times over the years, one that stands out was about four years ago (<a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2020/01/why-are-these-stereotypes-of.html">here</a>) and expressed a fair bit of frustration on how difficult it seemed to communicate to Australians about the importance of the work we do. That mission work involves a lot more than just church planting and evangelism. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">However, it feels like maybe we're making better progress this year. One way we're doing that is by using boxes, of all things! It's become a standard part of most of our up-front presentations. We get the audience involved and show them a little dramatically some of the other things missionaries have to do aside from their stated "ministry", and then show them how overwhelming that can be and how people like ourselves can work as a team to help carry the load.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> I explained this activity (with photos) towards the end of </span><a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2018/09/japan-family-fun-night.html" style="font-family: helvetica;">this blog post</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> five years ago. This single presentation has produced more conversations than most of the stories we've told.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I've had coffee on two occasions in the last week with people who wanted to know more about my story: about working in communications and also about how missions do member care. Both of these conversations were so encouraging to me. I shouldn't be amazed that God's been working through the struggles I've had to help other people (he said he would 2 Corinthians 1:4). In fact neither of these conversations would have taken place if God hadn't given me the boldness to stand up in front of strangers and admit that something in my missionary career had been (or continues to be) hard.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">. . . </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I now wish that I'd pressed "Publish" on Tuesday when I wrote this. But now it's Thursday and I've had another lengthy conversation that was quite different to the first two I mentioned. Today I'm feeling far more anxious than I had been recently. The conversation was one of those, "Please explain the situation of your kids, we wish we could provide them with accommodation but we can't, what can we do except pray?" kinds of conversations that we've had many of in the last several months.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I haven't written too much about the situation with our boys, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">partly to protect their privacy. What's been going on with them</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> has been the unwritten part of the story in what I've written here recently (e.g., struggling to trusting God). My summary is: there's a housing crisis in Australia at present and finding places to rent is hard. Both our younger sons need to find somewhere to live apart from us in order for us to go back to Japan in July. One of our sons will be studying at the University of Queensland and the other hopefully will be working. The latter was the subject of </span><a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-truth-about-journeying-with-illness.html" style="font-family: helvetica;">this blog post </a><span style="font-family: helvetica;">last year about mental illness and neurodiversity. He's had a rough run, and as his parents we've also been doing it tough at times. Getting these guys settled somewhere else is a key focus of this home assignment, but it's a difficult one. And one that we don't know the end of yet, and it's hard to wait, wondering.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But this is a rather large diversion from how I started this: encouraged by conversations. But that's life, isn't it? One interaction can be an encouragement and another quite the opposite. We're no superheroes here! Please pray for us!</span></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-56443915311774649262023-11-30T16:12:00.000+09:002023-11-30T16:12:08.016+09:00Strength comes from quietness and dependence?<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We have no more official speaking engagements now until February. That feels weird. It's six weeks since I wrote on this blog: "Last week we started to see a bit more spaciousness in our schedule" (<a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2023/10/wisdom-about-what-i-do.html">here</a>). We've definitely been working at a slower pace since mid October. And, though it still feels awkward at times, it's been good for us after what's been a pretty exhausting few years.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A friend and colleague wrote about this verse recently: "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it'" (Isaiah 30:15 NIV)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Message says it this way: "</span><span class="small-caps" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">God</span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 16px;">, the Master, The Holy of Israel, has this solemn counsel: “Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me—The very thing you’ve been unwilling to do. You’ve said, 'No way!'"</span></p><p><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 16px;">My friend wrote: "We need to stop in order to repent. Rest involves the surrender of fighting for ourselves and letting the Holy Spirit work in our lives. It is a reliance on God's promises and an utter dependence on Him. It is a recognition that we can't satisfy our own needs. . . This verse also reminds us that our strength comes from quietness and trust. When we are quiet, we remove other noise and distractions. We set our hearts on hearing God's voice and God's voice alone. A quiet heart is in a state of peace that comes from trusting in God and His sovereignty alone."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 16px;">This reminds me a bit of Psalm 23:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">He makes me lie down in green pastures,<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> he leads me beside quiet waters,<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> he refreshes my soul.<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">He guides me along the right paths<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> for his name’s sake (vs. 1–3 NIV).</span></div><p><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica;"></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> There are other verses similar, like Psalm 131:1–3:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My heart is not proud, Lord,<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> my eyes are not haughty;<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I do not concern myself with great matters<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> or things too wonderful for me.<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But I have calmed and quieted myself,<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> I am like a weaned child with its mother;<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> like a weaned child I am content.<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Israel, put your hope in the Lord<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> both now and forevermore (NIV).</span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Another a metaphor describing God's care for us in Isaiah 40 (vs 11):</span></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="text Isa-40-11" id="en-NIV-18432" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; position: relative;">He tends his flock like a shepherd:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Isa-40-11" style="position: relative;">He gathers the lambs in his arms</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="text Isa-40-11" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; position: relative;">and carries them close to his heart;</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Isa-40-11" style="position: relative;">he gently leads those that have young (NIV).</span></span></span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I don't know that I'm very good at being quiet and hearing God's voice. I'm good at filling my head with busy noise. But I hope that through this quieter period in our lives I'll get better. I have to trust that God is working in me through this time that I have many fewer responsibilities than I've had for many years.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That's not to say I've got no responsibilities. We had morning tea with three retired missionaries last week. They told many stories from their own lives, but also intentionally asked us about our sons. One of them concluded quickly that one of our main jobs this year in Australia is to help our younger two transition well to Australia. It's true and we're grateful for the time away from the busyness of our work in Japan to do that (and that we still have an income while we do this).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This week of metaphorically walking alongside our sons has included:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">sitting in on a doctor's appointment which opened the door for our son to get support from the Australian government due to his neurodiversity and mental illness,<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi23L1xZ5AXW7Tgy2KuJjGlJJDkDKQqJcqp1lFhrgftA9TTgeZiZ3nxg5Y8u7G2CywQDqSha_2zwB0FVMLF2Bj-OOSyubracoian-PhbszIviAN1gW0UUYEJHYNOd17KdE76HfRAz6kuKDT_ZEXGQosy3Sf-J8LGtJ5nSl1LTkcIObhadTdftxCSVvKhBo/s4032/IMG_8703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi23L1xZ5AXW7Tgy2KuJjGlJJDkDKQqJcqp1lFhrgftA9TTgeZiZ3nxg5Y8u7G2CywQDqSha_2zwB0FVMLF2Bj-OOSyubracoian-PhbszIviAN1gW0UUYEJHYNOd17KdE76HfRAz6kuKDT_ZEXGQosy3Sf-J8LGtJ5nSl1LTkcIObhadTdftxCSVvKhBo/s320/IMG_8703.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The blossoms of the Sydney red<br />gum. Another thing synonymous<br />with Australia.</td></tr></tbody></table></span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">helping them fill out forms for the government. Australia is also kind to university students from low income families, but you pay in the time you spend applying and reporting,</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">supervising them driving,</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">driving one of them to an appointment with the agency helping him to find (and be ready) for work, and</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">follow leads for possible future accommodation.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's been good that we've had the time to do these things in person and are not thousands of miles away, something a missionary parent can't take for granted.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Fun</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The downtime that we've had has given us plenty of time to indulge in one of our favourite pastimes, one that much easier to pursue when we're in Australia than in Japan. It's cricket!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In Japan we either have to resort to watching replays and reading match reports, or pay to watch matches. Here we can watch many matches for free.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Cricket has been part of our lives since we were kids—both our dads loved it and taught us about it. I was once jokingly accused of "taking a sickie" by guys in the pay room at a small rural hospital I worked in, after I took two consecutive sick "afternoons" on days that cricket was played (in the past many men have been a bit disbelieving that women know anything about cricket, but these guys knew I was a fan). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Summer and Christmas in Australia is synonymous with cricket on the TV. Because it's generally a lengthy sport, it often runs in the background while you get on with other things. It's like the sound of summer here and it's weird when we watch it in mid-winter in Japan, at Christmas time!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Cricket has been part of our relationship since day two. The day after our first date there was cricket on, and we sat down together to watch some of it. Having a love of cricket wasn't on his list of things he was looking for in a girlfriend, but it's turned out to be a wonderful thing for us. Cricket is a very complex sport and many hours can be spent watching and talking about it. It's often quite relaxing, and I've done many cross-stitching hours in front of the cricket, so it's good for my mental health.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Australian team has recently spent about six weeks competing in one of the cricket world cups in India (the men's One Day version). It was compelling watching, much like a long suspense drama. This long competition culminated in two matches that we stayed up long past our usual bed times to watch (3.30am and 2.30am). Yep, I guess that confirms us real fans!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We've also been keeping an eye on the domestic women's cricket franchise competition called WBBL (Women's Big Bash League), which is a different (shorter) format to the games the Australian men were playing in India. We went to one game in person a few weeks back and this week we've watched (on TV) our local team play their way into the final. As a woman, it's been wonderful to finally see women playing this sport I've loved all my life. It turns out women have been playing for a long time, but they've had little media coverage, so almost no one knew about it, thankfully that's changed.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Anyway, that's enough. Most of you probably aren't interested in cricket, but thanks for reading this far. For me, it's a bit like camping, if you introduce the topic, I can talk about it for some time!</span></div><p></p><p></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-44063134380989258792023-11-21T13:53:00.005+09:002023-11-21T14:01:09.043+09:00A couple of admissions<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I've had lots of space for thinking recently. Sometimes it feels like too much space.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UNr4LJzOp3AH-DDx2m4R1_J5c2qbvLwkZZXAGVOWBKFwtCk1JA83qOHBLKS-PdpfrUdxc02xDvmOUYFDkB36s7JJpS4L4i5-cRvezBj93xQkQFwMw0WBQlUdh9JJrJCMdBuu309Y2sSIwkIJ6LTDmaM8bjp3-JfU2GEieWSXOilUet05otP88AZyc6s/s1158/IMG_8675%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="1158" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UNr4LJzOp3AH-DDx2m4R1_J5c2qbvLwkZZXAGVOWBKFwtCk1JA83qOHBLKS-PdpfrUdxc02xDvmOUYFDkB36s7JJpS4L4i5-cRvezBj93xQkQFwMw0WBQlUdh9JJrJCMdBuu309Y2sSIwkIJ6LTDmaM8bjp3-JfU2GEieWSXOilUet05otP88AZyc6s/s320/IMG_8675%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We enjoyed the simple pleasure of catching<br />up with "old" friends on Saturday.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>A shocking truth: not trusting God</b>. Yep, that's me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After we moved here in July, I re-joined our home church's Friday morning Ladies Bible study. They had been studying <i>Trusting God</i> by Jerry Bridges. Of course, coming in more than halfway through the year was a disadvantage. (For my northern hemisphere readers: Much of Australian life runs on a calendar year. Many things, including school, start in mid or late January after the long Christmas/summer holidays and finish in November or December. So arriving in July or August often means you've missed half a year of something.) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One of the ladies gave me a copy of the book they were studying, one that I have actually owned since I was a uni student, but I think it's in storage in Japan. It's a long time since I read it, so I've gone back to read from the start of the book. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It really is basic stuff that I know, but stuff that I keep forgetting, or maybe "forgetting" is too strong a word, possibly "lose sight of" could be better? I am still not really good at applying truths I know in my head to my emotions. Emotions grab hold of me and before I know it my body is showing signs of stress. When I take a step back and think about what’s going on, more often than not I realise it's because I've stopped trusting that "God's providence is his constant care for and his absolute rule over all his creation for his own glory and the good of his people" (Trusting God, p. 13).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So, I was encouraged to read Bridges write (about his own pilgrimage of seeking to come to a place of trusting God at all times), "I am still far from the end of the journey." It is good to remember that it is a journey, and one that won’t be finished until we’re in heaven.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Entitled thinking </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Additionally I've been thinking about how easy it is for missionaries to slip into entitled thinking. A few weeks ago a close friend caught me thinking that way—my guard was down because she is such a good friend, and I was shocked to hear what came out of my mouth. I still feel ashamed as I see how easy it is to slip into thinking that because I'm a missionary I deserve certain things and deserve better things. And then complaining when I don't get them! And then I saw this quote: </span></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"You cannot possibly have a sense of entitlement—thinking you deserve only good and beautiful things–when you truly realize that you don't deserve anything good if not for God's grace, extended from his throne."—Mel Caparrow, <i>Enough is Enough</i></span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ouch!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I think "truly realize" is one thing, but always remembering it is another. The dictionary.com definition of "realize" is to "become fully aware of (something) as a fact; understand clearly". I really do understand these truths pretty clearly, but, as I wrote about earlier, applying them to my heart is another matter.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Need to be careful where I put my focus</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I need to be more thankful, and more repentant when I notice thoughts like this entering my head. I'm thankful my friend caught me in this. She didn't rebuke me directly, but what she said made me stop and think about what I'd just said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the end I think many of the issues that we deal with (anxiety, entitled thinking, anger, fear, discontent etc.) stem back to not trusting God. And this reminds me of a favourite book of mine (that’s also in storage in Tokyo), <i>Awe</i> by Paul Tripp that traces the things we struggle with back to our lack of awe of God, our forgetting how amazing and completely capable and loving he is. I wrote about another book by Jerry Bridges a few years back (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/324860522351083573/4406313438098925879?hl=en#">here</a>), which also traces what he calls “hidden sins” back to a lack of trust in God’s character:</span></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“The importance of a firm belief in the sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness of God in all the circumstances of our lives. Whether those circumstances are short-term or long-term, our ability to respond to them in a God-honoring and God-pleasing manner depends on our ability and willingness to bring these truths to bear on them. And we must do this by faith; that is, we must believe that the Bible's teaching about these attributes really is true and that God has brought or allowed these difficult circumstances in our lives for his glory and our ultimate good” (<i>Hidden Sins</i>, Bridges, p. 76).</span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“When I refocus, I take my eyes off my problems, and shift them onto the Lord — and I choose to trust him. Trust him even when my situation looks black. Trust him that he is working for my good. Trust him that he knows what is best.” (</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From <a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/embrace-the-life-you-have#:~:text=This%20counsel%20from%20John%20Piper,Trust%20God">here</a>.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Remembering this is so important: "No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the last two weeks we received disappointing news on two fronts. Not devastating news, just what felt like setbacks to our plans. But obviously our plans weren’t God’s plans and we need to continue to trust he’ll guide us as we seek to work our way through settling our younger two sons in Australia so that we can return to Japan next July. So I return to one of my favourite passages from the Bible:</span></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" (Heb. 12:1–3, NIV).</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ah, it is so easy to lose heart. I'm feeling flat today and I think it's partly a losing-heart symptom. Life is hard. God didn't promise us anything else. So the only option is to keep our eyes focused on him.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I've rambled on long enough, it's time to publish this now (I've been writing it for a couple of weeks as I tried to process the rollercoaster of emotions I've been riding).</span></p><p></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-59446644493769991642023-11-14T10:07:00.001+09:002023-11-14T10:07:37.735+09:00Fluency and a sense of home are harder to get than you think<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Whenever I'm in Australia I struggle to communicate to people that we're not completely fluent in Japanese. And the longer we're in Japan, the more people assume our fluency is a given, so it becomes a throw-away line that I struggle to ignore. It usually runs like this:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"I guess you're fluent at Japanese..."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"Ah, no, I wish I was, though."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And the awkwardness only gets worse as I seek to find a way to move on from this in a conversation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Now that our boys are older, fluency is also assumed of them. We spoke at a church on Sunday and I've lost track of how many conversations I had explaining that our boys aren't fluent in Japanese, nor do any of them see themselves moving there as adults. The angst for me is that I wish I could say that we were all fluent in Japanese. But the truth is that it's a complex, rich language that is very difficult for most foreigners. I don't know any missionaries who didn't grow up there who would admit to being fluent.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Along with this assumption of fluency seems to come the assumption that we slide in and out of each culture with ease. The same person who says something like this will often also ask "How's it feel to be home?" I'm afraid that as our comfort in living in Japanese culture has increased, the more we feel not-so-much like either place (Japan or Australia) are actually "home". Yep, I feel like I write about this topic a lot (e.g. <a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2014/11/never-completely-comfortable.html">here</a> in 2014), perhaps I sound terribly repetitious? But it's an ongoing battle to help people to understand us, and of course many of you—the readers of this blog—aren't the people who will be asking us questions like this.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I try to patiently explain to people who ask—I rarely bring this topic up myself!—that there's much we're comfortable with about life in Japan (including that I can get by in much of daily life with the language I have). But also point out that there's lots that we don't manage with ease, for example, dealing with the subtleties of a new medical diagnosis (and new specialist terms) and negotiating our way through complex bureaucratic procedures or websites. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At the same time there's stuff about Australia that we really love, like the climate, how easy communication is, that we can sit through a sermon or read the fine print without straining our brains too hard. And things that we don't feel so comfortable with: like </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">the lack of settledness that our work here involves,</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> the assumption people can make that as educated professionals we are homeowners, and answering questions like I've mentioned above</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I feel like I'm whinging, though. Thankfulness is the antidote to that! So, here are some things I'm thankful for today:<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtK9CCOw7pY5R9s5ri0Vogurt1NBJSSLztR_DqmrgcbxUNtJQ-l4ljnlGLri1_EtxMmP-R1PnmCmZybKyBsGG3Ddh0VlAT4EGdyk7230-9ZA1opQVbLZHqBhFPvrxIi0e4l5ziGaJbxC6gAJQrkoISKHaeffuUUX6BsyfRmp3zaxhsqW2DJzqKENybMk/s4032/IMG_8648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtK9CCOw7pY5R9s5ri0Vogurt1NBJSSLztR_DqmrgcbxUNtJQ-l4ljnlGLri1_EtxMmP-R1PnmCmZybKyBsGG3Ddh0VlAT4EGdyk7230-9ZA1opQVbLZHqBhFPvrxIi0e4l5ziGaJbxC6gAJQrkoISKHaeffuUUX6BsyfRmp3zaxhsqW2DJzqKENybMk/s320/IMG_8648.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm also thankful for this little plant.<br />Last week I went out and "splurged"<br />on a new pot plant, something that<br />helps me feel more "at home" here.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A good nights sleep, and a bed, and house, and food, and oxygen and so many things.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An income</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">People who love me</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The ability and opportunity to write and reflect</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Good health</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A calling</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hope and a future, and a God who loves me and has the power to secure my good.</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Which of course brings me back to the right place–the Bible. And this verse:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">"'For I know the plans I have for you,'” declares the </span><span class="small-caps" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Lord</span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you </span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">hope</span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> and a </span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">future</span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">.'" (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">And back to the theme of another blog post that is in draft stage: trusting God! But I'll leave that to another day.</span></span></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-83454664936910659712023-11-03T15:59:00.002+09:002023-11-04T09:47:04.865+09:00Rowboat, sentences, and driver's licence<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This has been an interesting week, and not as quiet as my written schedule might lead you to believe. I think I'd been settling just a little into a "quieter" life. Time to read, to go a bit slower than usual. But this week has been a little different. For starters, I've picked up my editing pen again. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">OMF Australia has given me a spot as a guest editor for one of their publications. It's been good to brush up those skills a little.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJydi3Gal-b9rAoiQWqyYxDlYlId3Q4HUYXpmUsxHIvWp-O2wYkFF4VQ5W4EImO37zWurANvEiP6fPso4r7e7_b5IYj1334JSKHIkyTGxz1Kp8UC5oQfdB0_gcTVktLxD3iN3iz9U3IrpnDowrnu7ck7PBDHORzwDnRBZo28sSwbV02frNMo7AY8Gv8TU/s4032/IMG_8264.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJydi3Gal-b9rAoiQWqyYxDlYlId3Q4HUYXpmUsxHIvWp-O2wYkFF4VQ5W4EImO37zWurANvEiP6fPso4r7e7_b5IYj1334JSKHIkyTGxz1Kp8UC5oQfdB0_gcTVktLxD3iN3iz9U3IrpnDowrnu7ck7PBDHORzwDnRBZo28sSwbV02frNMo7AY8Gv8TU/s320/IMG_8264.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A local park, a place that's helping<br />us stay a bit grounded here.</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I wrote our monthly prayer letter on Monday and sent it Tuesday. A pretty usual end-of-month activity, but one that always involves a little reflecting on the month gone and looking at what the month ahead holds. It definitely showed that October was considerably quieter than the several months that had gone before it, and I guess that has shown up in my musings on this blog.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Over the last few weeks, on quieter days, I've been trying to invest more in reading about writing, as well as taking up a few small opportunities to write. I've spent many Tuesdays mornings at our local library writing. I haven't had a huge output or a big project that I'm working on, but just setting aside time on a set day to write in a different environment has been helpful. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This week I finished a book about sentences: </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">First you write a sentence </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">by</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Joe Moran</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">. It wasn't the easiest book to read, but that kind of helped it to feel like I was doing "work" i.e. professional development, not just reading for pleasure! Here's one helpful quote:</span></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;">‘It’s necessary to write as if your sentences will be orphaned, because they will be.’ (Evelyn Kinkenborg)…Once our sentences are written and sent out into the world to be read, they are on their own. Most of us cling to a residual belief that we will still be there, hovering over the reader as she reads, to explain, when she stumbles over our words, what we really meant. We won’t…Writing a sentence is …hard because you have to arrange them in such a way that they can be deciphered in your absence” (p. 24–25 <i>First you write a sentence,</i> Joe Moran, 2018).</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Later he qualified that statement about orphans by saying that sentences really need to be read in context, that "the sentence you are reading needs the already read and still unread sentences around it" (p. 161).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Another gem from the book: "Reading a sentence should never be a grim duty. . . Most paragraphs are longer than they need to be, likewise most chapters. Most books go on for fifty pages longer than they should. We forget all this because it is less effort to speak than to listen . . at some point, sooner than we think, we should stop. no one is ever as interested as we are in what we have to say. They need to eat, or catch a train, or go to bed because they have work in the morning. The courteous actor says his lines and leaves the stage with no encore." (p.199)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Unfortunately the author didn't really take his own advice. This book could have been considerably shorter! What kept me reading, though, was the gems like I've quoted. One of the reviewers on Goodreads said "About 96% twaddle. Which is annoying because the 4% has some really good ideas and observations." Ironically, a good developmental editor would have been a big help!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Aside from reading interesting books, and writing and editing, we've been walking alongside our sons as they continue to settle into life in Australia. This week that's meant:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">helping our middle son finally get his learners licence again (he had a Japanese learners, but that journey was interrupted by a seizure nearly two years ago)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">helping facilitate communication to allow our sons and one other missionary kid to apply to take over a lease from four other young men (two of whom at least are missionary kids themselves) </span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Both the above are part of long complex journeys, and it was satisfying to complete a clear step in each one this week. Two more tangible steps towards our twin goals of them living independently as adults and us returning on our own to Japan to continue work there.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A strange thing, but I also did two things that I've been postponing. I bought three new t-shirts (as we approached downsizing and moving to Australia, I pretty much stopped buying anything that wasn't consumable or an immediate desperate need, so it's been a long time since I bought a t-shirt). I also made an appointment with a physio for a problem that's been bothering me for many months (years?). These seem like small things, but they felt big, like I was settled enough to do them?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We've also had car trouble, which has meant the first driving lesson got cut short yesterday. And more money will be paid than we want to. The car is at the mechanic and we've had to borrow a car this weekend to fulfil our ministry commitments.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This week we also started talking to our families about Christmas plans . . . this is something we only do a couple of times a decade! And noted that it's getting gradually more complex as our kids get older. Our families live a whole day's drive apart, so it is always a bit complicated to factor in everyone's needs, desires, plus the sheer practicalities of travel. On top of that we have other people (long-term friends and supporters) wondering if they can catch up with us during the Christmas holidays (roughly Dec–Jan), but we can't set dates until we've settled on dates with our families. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Yesterday evening I felt like I was a little row boat that had had a number of ripples pass underneath me: unsettled and rocked, not by any one thing, but by the various life things going on, some of which I've mentioned above. When this happens I can be quite harsh on myself, wondering where my faith in God my rock is. After all this is what King David wrote:</span></div><div><blockquote><span class="text Ps-62-5" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" id="en-NIV-14833" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; position: relative;">Yes, my soul, find rest in God;</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-62-5" style="position: relative;">my hope comes from him.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="text Ps-62-6" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" id="en-NIV-14834" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="display: inline; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; left: -4.4em; line-height: normal; position: absolute; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">6 </span>Truly he is my rock and my salvation;</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-62-6" style="position: relative;">he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="text Ps-62-7" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" id="en-NIV-14835" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="display: inline; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; left: -4.4em; line-height: normal; position: absolute; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">7 </span>My salvation and my honour depend on God;</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-62-7" style="position: relative;">he is my mighty rock, my refuge.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="text Ps-62-8" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" id="en-NIV-14836" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><span class="versenum" style="display: inline; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; left: -4.4em; line-height: normal; position: absolute; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">8 </span>Trust in him at all times, you people;</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-62-8" style="position: relative;">pour out your hearts to him,</span></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="indent-1" face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-62-8" style="position: relative;">for God is our refuge. (Ps. 62:5–8)</span></span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I will not be shaken? I'm not sure exactly of the meaning here. I know that houses in Japan are built so that they can be shaken by an earthquake, but still remain standing and undamaged. Perhaps that's it?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So, a rowboat, sentences, and a driver's licence, and a myriad of other things that have made up this week, including a really hot, but dry day of around 37C, and a much cooler, yet more humid day today (around 26C). Tomorrow we put on our "missionary" hats again and, all things going well, we will present at an OMF meeting and then have lunch with friends from uni days.</span></p></div><p></p><p></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-29233899768058295322023-10-26T14:08:00.003+09:002023-10-26T14:08:58.169+09:00An emotional speaker<p><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58);">I spent last weekend at a non-denominational Christian women's conference (retreat or convention or even “camp”...depending on your background). In many ways it was very similar to the annual retreats I go to in Japan, except more than three times the size and much less international. Also, the average age was probably a fair bit higher. The one in Japan is mostly made up of expats who are in ministry, which generally means under 70 years of age. This event I went to had a significant number of women over 70.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_OrV6X2vus_zlb09vakQV3fCQ5RBoTbG8J10l6PTys3ufAZoj-jSjYk4OijVXDR2jT0pG8Z7LveZFqG72vhsghSOItplrRbHu6vqBRkGCcklMdhSugvOBSXj4DK1oHXSkGca1VT-oOPxWowMhe7Xn1juVIlIimIjSQoWy26WSZouJpMX-ehqtr5DuMo/s4032/IMG_8616.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_OrV6X2vus_zlb09vakQV3fCQ5RBoTbG8J10l6PTys3ufAZoj-jSjYk4OijVXDR2jT0pG8Z7LveZFqG72vhsghSOItplrRbHu6vqBRkGCcklMdhSugvOBSXj4DK1oHXSkGca1VT-oOPxWowMhe7Xn1juVIlIimIjSQoWy26WSZouJpMX-ehqtr5DuMo/s320/IMG_8616.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The convention was held at a place <br />that I’ve been to many times since<br />I left school: Mt Tamborine Convention<br />Centre. A place where many Christian<br />gatherings happen every year. The<br />very place where we began seriously <br />applying to serve with OMF overseas.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58);">Another difference was that they had a focus on missionaries. They’ve traditionally invited missionaries to come and give short presentations. I was one of four invited to speak for six minutes this year. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58);">I thought that I’d gotten past the “very nervous” stage of speaking this year. August and September were full of speaking opportunities and I’d been relaxing quite a bit. But apparently not so much as I thought. I was struck with considerable nervousness about standing up in front of this large group (over 200 people). This would have been okay, except that the main story I’d planned to share was my most emotional one, the one I was most likely to cry during. Nerves + emotional story made for a very challenging period as I started telling this story.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58);">A few weeks earlier I’d had to choose what I would say so that I could give the organisers my PowerPoint slides. I was feeling pretty cynical about the value of a one-off appearance at an event where I would probably not be able to form many longer lasting partnerships. When I voiced this to two close friends (who’ve both been to this event before and one helped organise it this year) and they encouraged me to use my “is it worth it all” story, so I did. I blamed my friends for egging my on, but really it was me who chose to do it, I wanted to tell the audience something honest that they probably didn’t know about missionaries. Missionaries tend to tell “success” or “good” stories, they often don’t talk about hard personal things in public. As someone who strongly values honesty and authenticity, and telling things how they are, this was definitely in line with my values, even if I hadn’t intended to get so emotional in the delivery of it!</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58);">Emotion is a strong way to connect with audiences, but breaking down on stage with a microphone in your hand isn’t a comfortable experience. However, I ended up with many conversations (and hugs) afterwards—many ladies told me they had been touched by my tears and pain. Some even found they could identify in a small way with the pain I’d admitted, which is a definite “win”. There were plenty others who didn’t have anything to say to me, but for the rest of the weekend I saw plenty of ladies walk past who I could tell recognized me as the one who’d lost it on the stage! </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58);">It’s a lot easier to write these things at home on my computer, than say them out-loud to a group of strangers. If you’d like a glimpse of the sort of thing I was talking about, you can see something else I’ve written about grief and goodbyes <a href="https://omf.org/us/what-home-assignment-means-for-a-missionary-part-3/">here</a>. Ultimately, I don’t feel called to be a speaker! Working behind the scenes with the written word is much more my gifting.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58);">It was good to sit at the “feet” of two gifted speakers who preached though the book of Colossians. We were reminded that we are complete in Christ. That nothing we do can either make God love us less or more. God made me, he knows my weaknesses and my strengths, and he loves me anyway. My personal encouragement was that I don’t need to strive to be busy right through this home assignment time, that taking time to rest is okay too.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58);">Overall it was a great weekend. Tiring but wonderful. Another taste of heaven, really. We had great Bible teaching and rich times of singing. Also lots of fun. It was wonderful to share the weekend with two close friends and get to know a few more people that they know.</span></span></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-7779648462937716662023-10-19T13:24:00.001+09:002023-10-31T15:38:55.487+09:00An unsettled life<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I write on this blog about my fairly ordinary life doing a not-so-ordinary job. It’s good to remind myself about that goal every now and then. Right now I’m feeling rather unfocused, partly because, as opposed to most of my adult life, overall I’ve actually got more time than responsibilities. I’m really struggling with what to do with that and finding it odd. After all, isn’t this what one longs for amidst a too busy life? Not being so busy is harder than I imagined.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It’s also hard to think about making commitments to longer term things because we need to keep our schedule flexible to visit with people and groups. That means committing to something regular isn’t wise, and committing to something that requires a lot of time is also not a great idea.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So, what to do? We’ve got some ideas, but we’re also aware that we’re tireder than we realise. The clue to that is how much recovery time has been needed after events and interacting intensely with people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I’m also aware of still feeling so unsettled. Knowing that we’re probably not going to be here for long is unsettling and doesn’t encourage commitment (even to pot plants). I still feel like a bit of an alien in Australia. Not so much in one-on-one conversations, but just in general, when I’m out and about in public. I suspect that that might take longer than 12 months to settle down.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Layered on top of the temporary nature of this assignment is the transitory nature of this stage of life: we’re actively working on helping our two youngest sons to find somewhere to move out to (a complicated process that we are making progress on, pray for favour from a certain landlord, and one more housemate). Them moving out is a big life change for us all. One that’s been looming for a while, so it’s no surprise. It’s the right time for them to be moving on, but still has an emotional impact when lots of other things in our lives are also very unsettled.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Getting any traction in the midst of all this is difficult. It’s even been hard to stay on top of the many plates we still have twirling, because we’re less focused. For example, I’m usually great at promptly answering email, because I’ve usually been on my computer most days in recently years, but my email volume has dwindled down to a trickle, so I’m not on my computer every (work) day now and I fear that some things might be falling through the cracks.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ndWm8q9OJv7EUC1S66SQpd4rGvJLq_LJfxR9t2kewWAY9U57MGz2LA7v-FpwNhtANmAdwvS8EmG9m_fuc_xyzqY1UA24EI3OJSflSU96ZP0sXZh3t37N2MugE3AQPFuqjfhiz3gjsRyeZ-PtaHrWZpwHZFONu6DXSCddO1h659v96Fn0Ol3IZKtItw0/s4032/IMG_8589.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ndWm8q9OJv7EUC1S66SQpd4rGvJLq_LJfxR9t2kewWAY9U57MGz2LA7v-FpwNhtANmAdwvS8EmG9m_fuc_xyzqY1UA24EI3OJSflSU96ZP0sXZh3t37N2MugE3AQPFuqjfhiz3gjsRyeZ-PtaHrWZpwHZFONu6DXSCddO1h659v96Fn0Ol3IZKtItw0/s320/IMG_8589.jpeg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />What have I been doing with my time? On days that we’ve not been speaking, travelling, or preparing for either of these, I’ve had a lot more spare time. I’ve been reading more and continuing with my Japanese language review. We’ve been getting more sleep. I’ve pulled out my cross-stitch, something that I’ve not done for years outside of holiday times. We’re watching cricket, playing more Scrabble (and other games), and spending time with people we love. It’s a completely different pace to what we’ve lived at for years, and probably good, even if it feels like an ill-fitting coat.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After several quieter days (we even had a weekend at home last week), tomorrow we’re travelling again. David and our youngest son are driving eight hours north to see David’s mum. I’m travelling an hour away with a friend to a women’s convention for the weekend (and doing a little bit of up-front speaking). Much like I wrote about last week: the pace here keeps changing, and somehow we need to keep adjusting to it. I guess that’s making us more flexible?</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-8099242494294663912023-10-13T16:19:00.003+09:002023-10-13T16:19:52.621+09:00Wisdom and peace about what I do<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Last week we started to see a bit more spaciousness in our schedule. Finally! This year has been a fairly continuous hard slog. By God's grace we've made it through thus far, but without a clear holiday yet in view, it's really good to find that we can slow down in the midst of it all. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But as usual, I find it's a mental and emotional challenge to change pace.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTD2LjZaVMRj7PmHB_KPZi_294Yqd5fYHHPc9UAKR0zzlGyGH7uG_4RkhsqKMOaAmPlcNtVEr-6IzU77y6pOuvzWnfxYdQRyRYkvIeiR4G29ybhMoqUvUEk0UPg8qfNWvLPbgYBRu8-ptprcG_7xyQBWIUIBT73mG00MeKSp61WcYIF24pqR_QAasnlQ/s4032/IMG_8378.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTD2LjZaVMRj7PmHB_KPZi_294Yqd5fYHHPc9UAKR0zzlGyGH7uG_4RkhsqKMOaAmPlcNtVEr-6IzU77y6pOuvzWnfxYdQRyRYkvIeiR4G29ybhMoqUvUEk0UPg8qfNWvLPbgYBRu8-ptprcG_7xyQBWIUIBT73mG00MeKSp61WcYIF24pqR_QAasnlQ/s320/IMG_8378.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somewhat random photo that I took<br />in WA when we were on Rottnest Is.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Last week we had three quieter days and then headed up to the town where I was born and raised. During the four days we spent there we had two formal speaking opportunities as well as time to catch up with family and friends (including a short and furious op-shop crawl). We stayed with my parents and had lots of time to touch base with them. That was all very good, but also tiring! We drove back late Sunday afternoon and I backed up on Monday with an all-day Zoom meeting with most of our magazine team. That was also very good, but also tiring. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I slept 11 hours Monday night and spent a lot of Tuesday just sitting around (I did finish a book). On Wednesday I had more energy, enough to do some weekly household chores and more elaborate baking than I've done for months. That night I slept badly (again), but was able to sleep in on Thursday morning. Lacking much routine has good and bad points. Being able to sleep in as much as I need some mornings is one of the good points!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The mental battle for me with such a varied schedule basically runs along the lines of internal dialogue that says:<i>You're being lazy . . . that's okay, I'm being kind to myself . . . but couldn't you be using this time better . . . oh look, there's a cool thing to read or play or watch . . . a whole day has gone by and what do you have to show for it? . . . it's been hard few years, the psychologist said to aim for boredom . . . you haven't had it as hard as others . . . etc. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Yes, I need to remind myself of this blogpost from August: <a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2023/08/an-ah-ha-moment.html">An aha moment</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I also need to remind myself that I'm not defined by my schedule, I'm not defined by what I do, or how much I do, or how well I do it. That's a really hard thing to embrace. David and I are somewhat defined by the label we wear, by the calling we have: missionaries or cross-cultural workers. It's hard to combat that. What we do shapes how we live far more than if we had jobs in Australia, much like how being in the military shapes and defines people far more than civilian life. I think it's also a facet of jobs that fall more into the "calling" category.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At this point I need to stop and remember what God says about my identity. It turns out he says a lot. Here's one portion from Ephesians 2:</span></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. (vv. 7–10, The Message).</span></span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Yes, it's a different version to what many of us are used to reading, but sometimes that is helpful. In this case it reminds me that I'm not indispensable, that what I do is something God's prepared for me to do. And to balance it out, what I do is not to earn the reward of God's love. As Philip Yancey wrote, "There is nothing we can do to make God love us more and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So I needn't be afraid that I'm being lazy, but should trust that this quieter time is God's gift to us. We're in this for the long-term, so taking care of ourselves is an important part of staying the course. I know that in my head, but I still have those internal dialogue battles!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I read an article recently on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephliu/2022/10/31/dont-let-your-job-title-define-you/?sh=2631fbdf7fa8">Forbes.com</a> that talked about how we often define ourselves by our jobs, and how that can be negative, especially if we're between jobs, or if our job title doesn't interest others. The author suggested: </span></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">The next time someone asks you the question, “What do you do?” </span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-weight: 700;">share something else about who you are and what you care about that goes beyond your job title alone</span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">.</span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-weight: 700;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Doing this reinforce more dimensions of your work and identity so others can have a more complete picture of who you are and what you stand for.</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That bears some thinking upon...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At the moment our job is to talk to people about what we do and where we do it. It's actually a battle to help people understand because they feel like our lives are so different to theirs and they come to us with a lot of preconceptions about who we are and what we do. On Sunday I had someone come up to me at the church where we'd spoken who made a confession: that day, for the first time, she'd understood what I do. She'd heard us speak several times in the past couple of decades, but hadn't understood. I don't know why—she wasn't keen for a long conversation and took off as soon as she's said that. I'd love to have talked longer to discover what it was that we said on Sunday that helped.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Writing like this makes me feel nervous. I'm nervous that someone is going to point out that I'm not doing enough, that I am not enough.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Someone suggested to me recently that those negative thoughts are from the enemy, but I'm not so sure that they all are. I've been conscientious all my life, it helps me get my job done when I have little supervision or accountability. And I've also been present at plenty of Christian events where I've been told (overtly or otherwise) I need to do more—more evangelism, more discipleship, more theological study, more prayer, more family-based devotions, more and more... </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I'm just not sure I'm wise enough to discern which of these thoughts in my head are right and worth listening to, and which aren't. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What comes with the territory as a missionary is frequently being asked "What can we pray for?" (Seriously, as well as writing a monthly prayer letter, I answer at least two or three emails a month with this specific request from our organisation.) One of my most common requests is for wisdom. A thoroughly biblical prayer:</span></p><p><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"></span></p><blockquote><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">If any of you lacks </span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">wisdom</span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">, you should </span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">ask</span><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you (James 1:5 NIV).</span></blockquote><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And here I will end this meandering collection of thoughts and head into what's looking like a potentially quiet weekend!</span></p><p></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324860522351083573.post-8174920318085459522023-10-04T15:36:00.005+09:002023-10-04T15:39:26.017+09:00It's different to any home assignment we've done before<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is a different home assignment to any we've done before this. Mainly because we've got older kids who aren't in school anymore. We don't have school pickup or drop-off to take into consideration, we don't have to get them to after-school events or sport. They are pretty independent due to the location of our house and we are free to plan our schedule without them. </span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-mbnIiJ5bVoBqvfetC_0ThiZwHVsKS3Tw3cMy7NQsbr1_KfoW-ZFD4tftxA3pLUOyRux-x6DK302ouoVhbvS1y4WCaj6Df2PP4wZav0WMQVp2ihGGfzVkYI6sZ4VmnjxKByzyyC5wK4iXebCiqna5tcmldsKLvH67ipuMSIyYWQYP1K3C1kTFbeM-B5Y/s4032/IMG_8546.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-mbnIiJ5bVoBqvfetC_0ThiZwHVsKS3Tw3cMy7NQsbr1_KfoW-ZFD4tftxA3pLUOyRux-x6DK302ouoVhbvS1y4WCaj6Df2PP4wZav0WMQVp2ihGGfzVkYI6sZ4VmnjxKByzyyC5wK4iXebCiqna5tcmldsKLvH67ipuMSIyYWQYP1K3C1kTFbeM-B5Y/s320/IMG_8546.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When I'm able, I've been trying to come here to<br />write on Tuesday mornings. This library is a very <br />short ride/walk from home. I love that this time <br />we're very close to a regional city centre,<br /> it makes it feel more like Japan than when <br />we've had to drive everywhere.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">September was a prime example: going to Perth for 18 days, and then six days after returning we went to a camp for four days. The camp would have worked when our kids were younger, because it was during the school holidays, but probably not when they were teens. None of our guys are very extroverted and as teens wouldn't have appreciated four days away from home with 100 unknown peers and leaders.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This Thursday we're leaving at around 7.30 a.m. to get to Toowoomba (my home town, about 1 ½ hrs west of here) for a 9.30 prayer meeting . . . and then we're staying the night, in fact three nights. In the past we would have taken the boys to school and then dashed up to Toowoomba and planned to be back by 3 the same day to pick them up from school.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is a tiny glimpse of what last time looked like: <a href="https://mmuser.blogspot.com/2018/09/its-strange-job-that-we-have.html">It's a strange job</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's definitely easier in many ways this time. We only have to move the two of us around. And it's allowed a lot more freedom to what we choose to say yes to, in terms of opportunities to speak and serve. We did a lot more work in the evenings last month than we've done before.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The downside is that while school and our kids restricted our movements, they also provided some structure to our decisions too. In the past we've often taken school holiday times to do family-related things (for non-Aussies, we have four ten-week terms here, with three two-week vacation periods between terms, plus around six weeks at Christmas). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many people assume we spend our home assignment close to family, however that isn't the case. We both grew up in country towns and moved to Brisbane to study at university. The greater Brisbane area is where we have most of our support base as that's where we were located when we began this mission journey. So none of our immediate family is closer than Toowoomba, and all of David's family is a day's drive (eight hours) away. It's been harder this time to decide when to take a chunk of time to visit them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Part of the reason we haven't gone to see our families yet has been work-driven (the Perth trip was timed to get to a once-a-year church camp from a long-time supporting church). And partly it's because we've prioritised our sons. A number of the things we've done with them in the last 11 weeks (yes, it's 11 weeks today since we arrived in Australia) have been time sensitive. For example, getting a learners licence as early as possible was important because getting a licence here is fairly dependent on the volunteer labour of parents, as 100 hours of driving experience needs to be documented before a test can be taken!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But in October we're hoping to see most, if not all of our siblings and parents (although I won't get to see David's family until Christmas time, he's driving up there with our youngest son when I'm busy at a women's convention).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of course each home assignment is different, especially when you have children. But when you only do this every five years, things change. Other things, aside from our children, that have changed this time around (big and small):</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">some churches no longer exist or no longer want us to visit them and some of our supporters and friends are no longer with us on this earth</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">we're in a different suburb (yet again . . . we're yet to stay in the same suburb twice!)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">we're now in our 50s, I think that makes a difference to energy levels</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">deputising when you've been serving overseas for over 20 years seems different, and people are commenting on that length</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">we've also got a lot more experience and confidence than we did when we started off in 1999, before we'd even set foot in Japan</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Australia has changed, in small ways and big ways. </span></li><ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There's been a pandemic, for example. Hint: if you want to stop people asking questions about you, change the subject to the pandemic and they'll talk for a long time about their experience!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I'm pretty sure that there's been a change in what stores sell: some places that used to be more generalist (e.g. Big W, Target, KMart), are now more specialised? I've been more lost here than I am in Japan in finding some non-food things!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Australia continues to get more and more expensive, it's vastly different to when we first left in 2000 (Japan and Australia have flipped in comparison to one another in 20 years)</span></li></ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">we get to take long service leave this time!!! (for non-Aussies and Kiwis this is paid leave that you get in our countries after a certain period of working for the same organisation and you'll hear more about it from me next year as we prepare to take off in late March)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">my parents no longer live in the house I knew from the age of 15, so visiting them feels just a little bit different</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I've got two friends in south-east Queensland who I've been communicating with almost daily for the last five years, that means I'm feeling less lonely and disconnected here than in the past</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But it's time to go and pack my bag for yet another trip away. Thankfully this month we only will clock around five or six nights away, compared to September's 21!</span></div><p></p>Wendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882558757262419263noreply@blogger.com0