Life and money.

Thought I'd get a start on this mini-series on measuring a life. This first one is looking at this response: "Buy the money iv earnt in the last 11 years". No, I'm not planning to rage quit because of his English. :P I'm calling this the "Economic" view. Yes, they're all going to begin with E. :P

As many have said, money makes the world go round. You grow up, learning the skills you need to get a job, you get a job, you pay the bills, kaput. That's it, not anything more. Well, not quite, but that's the general idea.

In the economic view, more money is good. Not because money in itself is a good thing; I mean, sure, if you can show off a packet of $500 bills that would impress a few people, but that's not so much the point of money. More money is good because it buys more. More food, more car, more TV, more beer, more clothes, more shoes, ,more holiday, more house, and - if you're really rolling in it - maybe more boat, or more plane. More, more, more.

Now, more in itself isn't a bad thing. You may think that a bit surprising, coming from a Christian. I mean, aren't we supposed to be cutting back or something? "I have come that you may have life and have it to the full." Those were the words of Jesus. Not kinda or sorta have it. But really have it. And often the Bible talks about God wanting to really bless us with so much - "our cup runneth over" sort of thing.

The problem is more when the "more" is all that you want, rather than the God that gives you "more", or the situations in which "more" is abundant. That's where the "Economic" view falls down, in my opinion.

Next up, the Epicurean view. It might be Greek to you, but that's because...well...it's Greek. :P

Measuring a life's worth.

Recently, I put this post up on Facebook: "When you look back on your life, how do you measure its worth?" I got three replies. Here they are, exactly as written:


"Buy the money iv earnt in the last 11 years"
"You don't."
"In living faithfully to the Lord Jesus."


Each of these, obviously, represents a very different worldview. And I intend to respond to each of them in turn with subsequent posts, but firstly; a bit on measuring a life's worth, both historically and from my own head.


The idea is fairly old. The Ancient Egyptians thought that when you died, your soul/heart/actions in life would be weighed up against the feather of Ma'at - that being the Egyptian concept of truth, justice, etc etc, you get it. Apparently, as a random aside, it was an ostrich feather.


The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible (commonly thought to have been written by King Solomon) also goes a bit into this, mentioning that at the end of it all, people really only want to create some sort of legacy for themselves, something that lives on after them. I believe it also mentions that it is next to impossible, and most things you do are meaningless. Just once or twice.


And in this day and age, many people strive to get more out of their lives - they don't want to get to the end and have all their achievements just be a portfolio. People, places, events experienced and shared - this is what people are going towards now. But more than that, I reckon it's one word off that Tears for Fears song.  I reckon everybody wants to change the world. It's just what they want to change it to - or how much they want to change - that really defines them, I suppose. And I'm certainly no exception. And I'll add my two cents at the end of this mini-series of posts. I may add a couple more, if I get some more comments either here or on FB. But that's it for now.

Peace and goodwill?

This Christmas, we had an extra family come to share with us, who had been staying with my cousins. Two daughters and a son. This is where I should probably give you a very quick background on a couple of characters before launching into my story.

My cousin is very, very different to me. Just straight up. He's got a very mathematical manner to him (he does economics :P) and though I've got that too, mine's balanced out by the more "feely" side from my mum. He also likes to be very...independent. I'm being slightly picky with my word choice here as there's every chance he'll read this at some point in the future. Basically, though - yeah, independent. Sticks to his own way of doing things. I'm a bit like that too, but...well, you'll see.

My aunt (my cousin's mum) is where he gets the numbers from. They're quite similar, in a lot of ways. But she's the mum. Which can lead to a bit of friction, as I'll describe momentarily...

OK. Background out. So, essentially, this is what happened; the son of the family that came to stay with us got my cousin a bit riled, so he was already in a bad mood. The other son's attitude got my aunt a bit annoyed as well. A fraction too much friction, and, sparks flew. That's what tends to happen. Shout, shout, storm off. And my cousin going, but, it was all fine? I don't get why we can't just do it this way.. [his way]. He then decided to go out for a golf on the oval (5 minutes walk). He managed to get out without anybody seeing. Trouble was, he was rostered on for lunch (yes, we have a roster while we're here) and so my aunt got more annoyed. WHERE IS HE?! She was not happy. Very not happy. She went to take a walk with her dog to try and calm down a bit. Meanwhile, we'd decided that I'd just swap around with Tim (I was on for dinner) for now, because stuff had to get done. When she got back, she wouldn't have a bar of it. "No! Not on your life! If he's going to do that, he can just not come to the next Christmas or Easter or whatever it is, as far as I'm concerned!" She was then asking what his punishment was going to be. The scene, unfortunately, reminded me somewhat of Argus Filch after finding Harry Potter next to the petrified Mrs Norris. "I want to see some punishment!" It was decided that he would do all the work after lunch. Packing up, washing up, drying up, etc.

So much for grace.

She did eventually calm down, and it's all good now. I think it did end up getting shared around  little. But...yeah.

Let's all say together...like robots...

Something I've noticed, being a bit of a church-goer. Every now and then the preacher or person up the front will ask the congregation to read something out loud together. It happens at a few other occasions as well every now and again. And, inevitably, the result is a monotone. Robot voice ftw. So much for we are all individual, different parts of the one body and such. You can say things together while maintaining your own inflection, you know. It is actually possible.

In other news, I've written my first Christmas song. It starts off as Jingle Bells and spins off into something else. I still need to check to make sure it's not the same as something else I did, because the chords seem similar. But think it's pretty good, liking. Hope everyone else is having a good Christmas too.

My kind of Christmas.

Christmas. A time for snow, or a time for sun, depending on which side of the world you're in. The classic "white" Christmas, or the Aussie summer Christmas. Just wanted to have a bit of a look at two other sorts of Christmas, in a more symbolic kind of sense.

On the one hand, we have consumerism rampant. Oh, so much consumerism. Christmas blasted at you everywhere, shops, streets, TV, radio, cars, friends....the list continues. The "perfect" Christmas is showcased regularly, ala Away In A Manger. 10 points if you can tell me what's not quite right with it. And churches struggle madly against it all, attempting to get Jesus to win over Santa.

On the other hand, we have a time of fellowship, of unity, of coming together. Sharing with each other, friends and family, and just having a good time. Promoting kindness, joy, and peace.

And the latter one isn't restricted to Christians. Heck no. That'd just spoil it. Everyone should be free to have a good time on Christmas - to just relax a bit, not worry so much about the cares of the world.

As such, I'm going to take a leaf out of a friend's book and do a song for today. It's called "White Wine In The Sun", by Tim Minchin, and I think, personally, that it represents the latter situation I've described. Just look it up on Youtube or something. Tis good.

Anyway.

Merry Christmas. :)

Choral Carol Coral....Carl?

That was just me being silly with the words. Anyway.

Carols seem to be a very persistent - and repetitive - part of Christmas. Even if you don't watch the ones in the Domain, there will probably be ones at church if you go there, or playing in the shops, or sung in the streets.

Often, these carols have been sung a fair few times. Just once or twice, y'know. It's cool. And you tend to have a million and one remakes of them, that may be more or less worthy of the term "remake", as the case may be. Most of them fairly meh-worthy, ala TWBMJs recent review of Michael Buble's Christmas.

But what's the point of the carols? Most of them seem to be very repetitive musically, and often telling a story of some description. (Though that can be a trend with music in general, it's even more so in this case.) And many people that I know (mostly of my generation) don't have much of a fondness for the carolling.

So why do we still do them, if they're repetitive, and starting to be not-so-loved by this newer generation emerging, more apathetic to the old customs? Must new carols be made, or will carolling just fade away?

Personally, I think both will occur in part. But I think that we'll still be hearing Away In A Manger and I Saw My Mum Kissing Santa Claus right next to each other in a hundred years' time.

Breakin' it down.

There's a bit of a saying: if something's hard, break it down into smaller, manageable pieces. One step at a time sort of thing, doing it bit by bit. Makes sense. Logical. And that kind of thing.

It's like if you go to climb Mt Everest. You can't do it all at once. You go to base camp, then camp 1. Back to base camp, camp 1, camp 2, camp 1, base camp. Etc etc. It's a very long process, that takes a couple of months (I think) to do properly. And if you don't your body doesn't cope.

Though it is always important to keep the big picture in mind as well. Otherwise, though you may do a task well, it may not fit in with the overarching scheme of things. So it's good to be able to both focus in on the details and see the bigger picture.

This can also help a lot if you have no idea how to do something - just breaking it down into its smaller parts. And keep breaking it down, breakin it down - until it's at the simplest level it can be, pretty much. And then, not a problem.

Honesty + Hope(lessness)

I did my green Ps driving test today. It's a Hazard Perception Test - a sort of touchscreen computer thingy that you have to react to at the right times and such.
I didn't pass. But there was really only one that I got wrong. Others I could've done better, but I think would've been alright if I hadn't done this one. It was on turning right, so you just had to tap it when you would turn. At the lights, rainy afternoon. Completely overcast, wipers on full. A truck wanting to turn right from the other direction is partially blocking the view of oncoming traffic, but you can sort of see it before it disappears behind the truck.

I saw one car coming up, so I waited for that one and then touched the screen. A second afterwards, a motorbike whizzed on through. Now, the test does this recognition thing. It asks you whether you touched the screen or not. So I could've just said that I didn't touch the screen. But if I had been caught, I would've been fined and had to wait for a while before I can retake the test. I was honest. Not so much because of that - I more thought of that afterwards - but just because I wanted to be honest. I'm trying to be more so. It's hard. But good.

On another note, completely unrelated apart from the fact that it also happened today. Was looking at a piece - specifically, Prelude No. 6 in B minor by Chopin - with my piano teacher. And we were trying to figure out the emotion of it, as such. And we quickly realised that it was a very frightening piece, in a sense. Extreme melancholia. Because every time you had this little major figure - it was snuffed out. Quick. A quite slow, soft piece. But very mournful. And by the end, it's basically mocking. It's almost comical - in a black humour kind of way - with how much it is dreary and without hope.

Boy, am I glad it's not like that.

Yes! But, no...

OK. This is going to be a long post. Just giving you a heads-up.

Tim Minchin (comedian, songwriter, and pianist extraordinaire, for those of you unfamiliar) recently put up these series of posts via Twitter:

'Yay! The PM wants a return to Christian values! Canaanites, sodomites & sluts watch out... I'm dusting off my stoning stones.' 

'Oh, so the Old Testament is not Christian? Perhaps those books just come together as a pre-christmas 2-1 offer...' 

'Or... 'Christian values' means nothing, cos Christians choose which bits of the bible to ignore. Thus they are not God's, but OUR values.' 

'the 10 commandments aren't Christian?' 

'RT @rhysmorgan Jesus said "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law... I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." ' 

'Twitter dictates I follow up flippant comments with less flippant clarification. Then peeps don't like my "preaching". Ah well. All fun.' 

'So, I shall preach more. David Cameron appealing for Christian values is noxious because: (several tweets to come. Forgive me.)' 

'1. They don't exist. Religious folk (generally) have modern values which they reverse engineer to suit the bits of the bible that match.' 

'2. It implies that all other value systems & religions generate less good moral values. This is demonstrably untrue and basically racist.' 

'3. A supernatural source of morality implies that we would all rape, murder & steal were it not for a punishing God. This idea upsets me.' 

'4. It fails to recognise that morality is an ongoing discussion. Human values change & improve with time & are nuanced, not simplistic.' 

'5. If you believe a probably fictional 2000-yr-dead bronze-aged preacher was magic & morally perfect you shouldn't be running a country.' 

'I could go on and on (!), but I'll leave y'all alone for now. My boy has a trouser full of his own faeces. Love, peace, all that.' 

'Oh, one more thing. I gather that I'm not taking into account all Cameron said. I hate stuff taken out of context so I apologise for that...' 

'... But any appeal to Christian values in modern politics is incredibly stupid, in my opinion.'

My first reaction to this was Yes! But no... I tend to get that a lot, when hearing atheists - or just non-Christians - talk about Christians. They'll get some things right (often, more than some Christians will admit), but it can often seem like the Christians they know are living in yesterday's age. I should probably point out here; not trying to shame Mr Minchin at all here. A lot of Christians do live in yesterday's age. As always, there's a reason for the cliche. But we'd appreciate not being all heaped into the one basket.

I could do a blow-by-blow run through and critique of the above statements. But that won't achieve anything. I've found that debates and such very rarely do. Because people - on both sides - are more than often convinced that they're right, and won't yield an inch.

What I will do, however, is just put up a couple of quick points about us Christians and what we believe, that isn't so much the cliche.

1. Non-Christians can be just as moral as Christians. I know some that are more so. Saying that they "can't be moral" just because they don't believe in God is just silly. 

2. The words of the Bible are not the be all and end all. God is. The Bible is God's Word, yes. And should be respected as such. But here are some words from it: “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?” Luke Chapter 12, verse 57. There are some things that go deeper than just the words of the Bible; the values represented in it. Those of love, and compassion, among others. They've been unfortunately absent from many people's experience of Christianity, many a time. But these values are why we don't have slavery, why women are now treated as equals, and why many are so divided on the point of homosexuals, among many others. 

3. We're all different. I know that there are a fair few Christians out there - probably many that I know - that would disagree vehemently with some of the points I've made. So please, before you say "All Christians are..." think a moment.

This isn't an argument, and I hope you don't see it that way. This is just an attempt to bridge the gap a bit between what we are, and what people think we are.

"Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth."

Little Language Habits + Christmas.

I've picked up a few bits of language from various people here and there. Some of them are more sayings, some more ways of saying things. For example, I've picked up "I'm OK with this. *grin*" from one friend. Slipping a bit of German in and "Annoyink" from another. And from another, speaking in a weird roundabout way the entire, along with menergy. :P Don't use it that much, don't worry.

But I find it interesting how I'll adopt some of these habits into my own speech - and not just when I'm with them (though it's certainly more frequent on that occasion). It does seem quite strange, but there you go.


On another note, Christmas is nearly here. A week and a day, my goodness... and still so much Christmas shopping to do. With the absence of money that I have. :P

People often mention that Christmas seems to "sneak up" on them. I think part of the reason for that may be because the shops get us into holiday mode so early. They start doing it in November, for goodness sake. Funnily enough, I saw a bus with tinsel and a Christmas hatted driver the other week. You do wonder how extensive these decorations and things are going to get...

Waiting, waiting...

I've always been a fairly patient person. I'll tend to wait until someone else has finished a conversation before trying to speak. Even if my parents are trying to hurry out the door. :P But that doesn't mean that I find it particularly fun. I'm just a bit better at occupying my mind in the meantime, I guess.

But one thing that is annoying is when you've been waiting for something for a fair while. A couple of months. And you've kind of let yourself forget about it a bit, so you don't get too worked up. But then you check the day, and it's tomorrow. You get all excited. Tomorrow comes. You get a little email. It's from them. You open it up...and it says "Thank you for your patience. Due to unforseen circumstances it's going to take a little longer. We know we said it would happen today, but oh well." :P Tis annoyink.

And so now, the waiting game once more. Thumb twiddling, anyone?

When things just... work.

There was a car ad out at one point that featured what's called a Rube Goldberg. Basically, a set of chain reactions set up in an overly complicated manner to achieve a comparatively simple task. And the tag line was, "Isn't it nice when things just... work?" Partly because it took them so many tries to get it right.

And sometimes you get some moments when things just seem to work out for you. Just every now and then. At the moment, for me, that's not really one of those times. Though neither is it one of the times when things are failing tragically. It's more like a time between times, when not a lot is happening. And, of course, hoping that the next lot of times will be a winstreak and not a failstreak. Because winstreaks are cool and epicsome and stuff. But that's something that time will tell.

But if you're having more of a failstreak at the moment, or if you're feeling like you're forever doing no streaks at all, then don't fret too much about it. Things don't always stay the same, one day they'll change. Sometimes it can help to get a bit proactive, as well. I tend to fail the epic at that, and so just wait for different times to roll around. But tis cool.

Promises.

Promises are one of the harder things to keep; up there with a butterfly in your hand, an ice cube on a hot day, and your sanity. EEEAAGGGHHH! Kidding.

But they are something that we seem to make a lot of. And break a lot of. And consequently, promises don't seem to be worth as much. Some people go the route of never making promises. Other people say to never make a promise you can't keep. The problem is, of course, that there are many promises that you can keep that you won't. It's a thorny problem.

I've fallen down on my fair share of promises in my lifetime. Quite a lot of them. Partly because I regard me saying I'll do X as a promise in itself. But I haven't got a fantastic track record, you could say. So I do the best I can to keep them. Because trust - as I believe I've mentioned in one of these posts around here somewhere - is very important to me. And you're not going to gain any by breaking promises. Even if you happen to be good at saying sorry. That might just gain you a bit of goodwill, but not trust. That's going to require a bit more work.

And don't be too hard on yourself if you can't keep all of your promises all the time. You're human. We tend to stuff things up a fair bit.

Killing yourself.

Not literally, before anyone wonders if I've become suicidal.

Saw a movie last night called The Prestige. Don't know if anyone's seen/heard of it. Basically, it's about a couple of magicians who aren't too happy with each other, in the time of Edison. There's one bit that's a bit strange - one of the magicians goes to Tesla (Edison's opponent, who favours AC current) to make a machine for him, for a specific trick called "The Transported Man". Sounds like it is. Flash, bang, magician goes from A to B in an instant. Except this machine didn't do that; it actually replicated what was at A, and placed it at B. So you had object X at both A and B, identical. And so, of course, when magician stepped into it, there were two magicians. So he shot himself. And when he did the trick onstage, he actually had a trapdoor under point A going into a locked water tank, to drown the extra one. Killing himself each time he did the trick.

My question is this: how much do you have to change, before you are no longer you? Or are you always you? The magician was replicated perfectly each time; but each time, it was the copy that lived on. And so by the end, you had a copy of a copy of a copy..........of a copy, etc, etc. So was that person you ended up with really the same one you had at the beginning?

There's a test called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI. It's one of the more well-known and -used ones around. It works pretty simply; there are four axis's, each of which has two opposites. So you're either closer to one or the other. They are Introversion - Extraversion, Intuition - Sensing, Feeling - Thinking, and Judging - Perceiving. And I haven't randomly bolded the n rather than the I in Intuition - they thought we can't have two Is in a row, so just do that instead. :P Basically, whichever you're closer to, you get that letter. So if you get Extraversion, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging, you'd be an ESFJ.

Now, I've done this test a fair bit, but recently, I hadn't done it for a while. And I'd always gotten very Introverted, very Intuition, split right down the middle on Thinking/Feeling, and very Perceiving. I did it just the other day, and I got some different results. I got reasonably Introverted, still very Intuition, very Feeling, and only just Perceiving. And then when I did the multiple intelligences test, Intrapersonal - which has always been my very top - is now at number 5! Interpersonal is still the last, but it's getting a lot better.

And it made me wonder. Is this still me? Or am I someone else now? Would the me of a few years ago recognise this one? Have I even managed to kill myself, like the magician? It's a difficult question, and I probably won't figure out the question today. Whatever it is, though, I'm glad I've changed, even if it's just a bit.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

A poem I've done, based off the song. But in a more modern, honest style.


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go
Take a walk through the Woolies shop
Carols jingling as you bop
With plastic canes, look at the reindeer go

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Santas in every store
But the strangest sight to see
People not younger than me
Asking him for more

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Though it's only November
They always like to get in quick
So it gets a chance to stick
So all the sales you'll remember

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Soon the bells will toll
Nativity round every bend
It's becoming quite a trend
Dulling your mind to steal your soul

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
It's that time again
One more Carols by Candlelight
Maybe your brain will last the night
And then you've reached the end...

Just kidding! Now it IS Christmas!

CC.

This be-eth mine two hundredth posting on this here blog, aye. Hence the Roman numbers, not acronym.

A fair bit's happened in that time. I've actually been doing it for a week and a year now. 372 days, 200 posts. Not bad. I've been pretty lazy at times with the posting, and I still haven't gotten around to getting those last A to Zs up on YouTube. It will happen, it will happen...

And hopefully, since I have nothing else to do this holidays, I'll be able to really get this up and going. That is, if sloth doesn't overtake me. For a very slow animal, it seems to do a good job of overtaking you. I guess the thing is that I let it. :P

Narratives from NTE.

Continuing on from yesterday, writing about the conference today.

The main focus of it was about being "In Christ", and what that meant. It was a phrase used a fair bit by Paul to describe his fellow Christians, and it pops up reasonably frequently.

The basic explanation of it was this: imagine you went to go to Melbourne on a plane. You get to the airport, you can see the terminal from the airport. Now, would it help your goal to get to Melbourne if you decide to submit yourself to the plane, and put yourself under the plane's authority? Would it perhaps help if you become inspired by the plane, looking out of the terminal and thinking, "If only." Or would it help to follow the plane - to see which direction it goes, and start walking in that general direction?

Not particularly. No, you get in the plane. That's what helps. And then, the question of "Did you get to Melbourne?" is actually part of the larger question of "Did the plane get to Melbourne?" If you are inside the plane, the answer to both is going to be the same. It's the same for us as we're in Christ.

Also, a bit of an extension of the metaphor; imagine now that there are two people boarding the plane. One has done it a million times before for business, doesn't think anything of it, probably pops in a sleeping pill and wakes up when they get there. The other has never been in a plane before, and was given this as a holiday by their children. They've been looking it up on Wikipedia and Encylopaedia Britannica beforehand, making sure that these things actually stay up. And when they're on the plane, they're constantly asking the hostesses to make sure that everything's OK.

Which gets to Melbourne? The question is redundant. As long as the plane got to Melbourne, both of them did. It didn't matter that one had complete faith and one had barely any; what mattered was that they were in the plane. And that's the same with us, for being in Christ.

After that particular talk, by the way, I came up with a couple of things: firstly, "Christian person" is, fittingly, an anagram of "A person in Christ". Also, see if you can get this related word puzzle: ADNOTAM - CHRIBUTST. If no luck, try this: ADNOTAM - CHRIBUTST. It means "Not in Adam, but in Christ."

So yeah, the conference was good. Had some interesting discussions, met some interesting people. Twas good.

Why you trollin' me?

If you're not familiar with the concept of "trolling", look it up. The internet one. Basically, I reckon God's done it a fair bit to me. In a good way. Akin to God's speech to Job in Job 37. Basically saying, can you do this? Can you do this? Can you do this? No. Because you're not God. I'm God.

He's done something pretty similar with me a fair few times. I'll look for something everywhere, and then I give up, and it's suddenly right in front of me. It's like he's saying, "You could've just asked..." Anyway.

Recently, I missed an exam. My final exam for a unit. It was worth 60%. Thought it was a different day. Was under the impression that I'd have to do summer school or repeat the unit. Then I got this message today:

Dear Brendan,

I am aware that you had emailed Melissa relating to the process you needed to follow and unfortunately that email was missed with it being such a busy time for us.

Due to this I am prepared to offer you a deferred exam for the unit Psychology: Behavioural Science. I will get back to you this week with a specific date and time but can let you know that all deferred exams for Psychology will be held on the 19^th, 20^th & 21^st December.

Kind Regards

Danielle

So there you go. That was my big, "God, why you trollin' me?" moment for today. And yes. I'm very happy. :D

Liking.

Thought I'd do a quick post reflecting on my recent Songwriting A to Z (plus 0-3) and see how many of them I'd actually use, or which I actually like.

Here's them all (in reverse order):

The Third Zone.
Two To Tango
1:1
01101101 01100101
Zoolibye Zay.
You Never Know.
Xanadu.
The Way It Goes.
Verily, Verily I Say Unto You.
Under Oath
To Whom It Does Concern.
See It Through.
The Right Rite of Rightie Wrights.
Quickslow.
Past.
One of the Above.
Not Today.
Meet Me Here.
Long Live The Dead
Kill Me Now
Just Another Day.
Instant.
Half-Life
Go For It!
Falling/Flying
Everything Else.
Death-defying
Come In.
Be Heard!
Abacus of Doom

I would play A, C, D, maybe E, G, J, M, N, O, P, Q, maybe R, T, W, Z, 1, 3.

The ones I really like are probably most of those minus a couple of the funny ones. I probably still like Quickslow the most.

Messages from mission.

Continuing along the line of "Stories from the Stump".

I've been away from last Sunday (my birthday) until this Sunday (my mum/brother's birthday) on mission from Sunday to Friday, conference from Friday night to Sunday. The conference is basically heaps of uni students coming from all over Australia to meet up and learn and stuff. The mission is just with your uni group. In a word, it was epic. Thought this might be a bit long for one post, so one post each for conference and mission.

We went out to Nowra for the mission. Working mainly in the schools there. About 20 of us, three high school teams and one primary school/other team. We all stayed with various families from the churches there; most of us with ones from Nowra All Saints, a couple from Nowra Baptist, and a couple from Nowra Church of Christ, always at least in pairs. I got a family from Nowra Church of Christ, and they were amazing. The Dad's a muso, there was a piano in the room we were sleeping in, and they had a massive bookcase. It was a great house, and a great family. Didn't like leaving.

Anyway, I was on high school team #2. Was at Bomaderry High Monday, Shoalhaven High Tuesday/Wednesday, and Nowra High Thursday. In short; Bomaderry's teacher was crazy-scientist type but cool, and the kids were mainly just "whatever"; Shoalhaven's teacher had a bit of a harder time, but the kids were slightly less "whatever"; Nowra's teacher didn't relate to as much, but the kids were a bit more interested.

Couple of quick stories. Firstly, heard a testimony from a guy in year 10 at Bomaderry. And the guy seemed quite similar to what I was like back then. And so was his testimony, in some ways; but more like what mine could've been, if a few things had changed. Struck me a bit. Then, I met this guy at a sort of service + dinner for the "down and out" of Nowra. Blind, but saw with the eyes of God. That's how I'd put it. A man of prayer, and related so well to everyone. He was just an amazing guy, inspiring. Then a couple of guys at Nowra school were really interesting; one asked me, "When people say that God 'revealed' himself to them, what do they mean?" Told him to just ask God to show himself, it's as simple as that. Hopefully he does, and He does. Then another student was very adamant that there was no God. So the teacher said: "So you think that if you read this gospel (think it was Luke) and pray every day for three weeks, nothing will happen?" "Course not!" "Challenge you." "It's on." Love it.

That's about it for mission, I think. Got to do my testimony a couple of times, lead the sessions we did once or twice, was good. Might put my testimony up here at some point. Post for conference probably up at some point tomorrow.

All Good Things...

A quick update, quick because of the time I'm doing this at.

I've been away for this past week on a mission trip over in Nowra. Was good :) I get back Sunday arvo after a short conference as well. I've been staying with a family from the Church of Christ here, and they have been amazing. They're a really great family. (And I'm not just saying that because they have a piano and their Dad is a muso.) And I'm going to miss them a lot - the last time I see them will be tomorrow morning. Sad face.

It's been fun. But, as they say...

Endings and stuff.