Closing my Cumbo blog for a good reason!

Somewhat late, but I am closing my Cumbo blog. You can read the last post here, or you can hear it here. ;-)

The spur to finally closing the Cumbo blog is to avoid any confusion. In the grace of God, I've begun support raising for a new job, hopefully beginning in early 2012, working two days a week with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students, still at Sydney University but this time with the Conservatorium Christian Group.

Really excited about joining this team in what Fifi and I are already affectionately referring to as 'the Con job'.

School lunch season begins.

Matilda's back to school on Friday, Ruby and Lily Violet on Monday.

Found Lunchbox Treats—Twenty ideas for Wrap Fillings from a link on Nicole Starling's blog.

This year I have to get Matilda out the door by 7 am, so need to decide on whether lunch gets made earlier that morning, the night before, or on the Sunday before and then pulled out of the freezer.

Still inclined towards early morning, but perhaps I will experiment with Sundays. Thoughts welcome, here and on facebook.

Getting organized—Dropbox

One of the things I'm doing while on leave is just trying to take a few baby steps towards getting organized. Anyone who has worked with me or had to live with me will be quietly applauding right about now.

Along these lines one of the things that has caused me the greatest joy during the last week or two has been the discovery of this extremely nifty site called Dropbox, which I got onto via Productivity501, which I think I got onto via Unclutterer, which I got onto because I am (half) Swedish and am constitutionally attracted to neatness and order, even if I am not personally capable of achieving it.

Dropbox is totally excellent (so far), and has allowed me to sync *all* my important files (and many unimportant ones) between my laptop and my desktop—and then keep them synched without my needing to pay any attention whatsoever, as well as giving me 2.2+ gig of storage on the internet for free. As far as I can tell they make their profit by me, or people like me deciding that it is too valuable to do without, and so wanting to buy extra storage space. I'm not there yet, but if I decide to get serious about photo and video storage I can see the day coming.

What's more, the other day I was around at my Dad's doing a bit of work for him and realized that I'd forgotten the powercord to my laptop. No problem! I logged onto his computer, found my Dropbox files and was able to work on them over the internet. When I got home and powered up my desktop and laptop, they synched the files I'd been working on with no difficulty whatsoever.

It's a pretty teensy-weensy thing to get excited about in the big scheme of things, but excited I am. Give it a shot yourself, here.

Today's 'do' list

5. Write Sunday’s kids’ talk, including phoning Gary.


The apostrophes. I ask you. I even amazed myself.

Oddly disappointed

A longstanding family friend gave up smoking.

He's in his 70s.

Always used to enjoy our smoke-wreathed conversations at family BBQs.

My goodness again.

My goodness I say some stupid things.

Frequently, and regularly.

No, no need to ask, if you do I'll just say it again in which case we'll have tears before bedtime.

Busy busy busy

But doing what I love! In this case, having a day off. Might go out with Fifi. Might stay home with Fifi. Might go out.

I've got to think!

OK so we're off to the S Coast

of NSW, during which time we will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, DV, and I will read lots including Luke's gospel, in Greek where possible and in ESV where not, a biography of Don Carson's dad Tom, the second instalment of Michael Palin's diaries, and who knows what else. Apart from spending time with the most beautiful wife in the world and the 3 most delightful girls under the age of 12.

For all you members of Cumbo ECU reading this, don't forget that the person who has read Luke's gospel 10 times by the time kick-on camp happens (Feb 19-21) gets a gold star.

And if you are not in Cumbo ECU, but still want the gold star, then befriend me on facebook and read Luke's gospel 10 times between now and Feb 18 (my birthday by the way) and we'll see what we can do.

Reading the whole Bible

I started a blog post and realized that I need to read the whole Bible to establish whatever it is I'm trying to establish.

So I've read up to Numbers 13 and looked at all of the Psalms, but now I need to go and move a refrigerator from Rhodes to Lidcombe.

Ah well, slow and steady.

UPDATE: Refrigerator moved.

Off to the doctor

The legs weren't broken, so how about a slow, careful walk along the road, right and up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, left and along for quite a bit to the traffic lights, across the road and left into the surgery.

I could catch a bus some of the way.

I've got to think!

Scripture in schools

My letter in today's SMH:

A number of letter writers seem to think scripture in schools is all about ethics. I have been helping teach school scripture for five years, and I can confidently say there is almost no ethical instruction involved. What we teach is that when we fail ethically - as we all do - forgiveness and change are possible through the power of the risen Lord Jesus. That is a far more potent message than any ethical instruction can give.

But if the community decides ethical instruction in schools is necessary, there is a problem. If that instruction is given at the same time as scripture, children in scripture classes will miss out on something people seem to think is important. That is hardly fair, as even someone with my limited command of ethics can see.

Reverend Gordon Cheng

Gladesville

See more letters here.

For sure there will be more letters on this tomorrow. So if you feel like writing, then write!

The purpose of suffering

My girls get to do great memory verses at church. At the moment, Ruby and Lily are starting on Romans 8:28, which says

"28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Blogging a bit unpredictable for the next few days due to wrist surgery today.

Fell off a bike

Thursday, while talking on a mobile phone. Wrist has 8 breaks, so typing will be slow for a while.

Words of Matilda

First heard Tom Waits sing this live in Sydney 1979.

Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did
I've got what I paid for now
see ya tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow
a couple of bucks from you, to go
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing
Matilda with me


I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
and I'm tired of all these soldiers here
no one speaks English, and everything's broken
and my Stacys are soaking wet
to go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me


now the dogs are barking
and the taxi cab's parking
a lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me
you tore my shirt open
and I'm down on my knees tonight
Old Bushmill's I staggered, you buried the dagger in
your silhouette window light to go
waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing
Matilda with me


now I lost my Saint Christopher now that I've kissed her and the one-armed bandit knows, and the maverick Chinamen, and the cold-blooded signs
and the girls down by the strip-tease shows go
waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me


no, I don't want your sympathy, the fugitives say that the streets aren't for dreaming now
manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories
they want a piece of the action anyhow go
waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me


and you can ask any sailor, and the keys from the jailor
and the old men in wheelchairs know
that Matilda's the defendant, she killed about a hundred
and she follows wherever you may go
waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing
Matilda with me


and it's a battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace
and a wound that will never heal
no prima donna, the perfume is on
an old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey
and goodnight to the street sweepers
the night watchman flame keepers
and goodnight to Matilda too

48

Hard to get excited about that age. Thankful, of course. God has sustained me for another year, to him be all glory.

But it's not middle aged, and it doesn't even class as mid-life crisis, because that must have been passed some time ago. It's not 50, which is a time for celebrating the clicking over of digits on the odometer. I remember being in the Datsun 180B when it clicked over from 99999 to 100000 and that was a moment, quite an exciting moment, in a torrential downpour going up the hill of it might have been Yass. Or 'Jass', as my Swedish mum used to say in a moment of over-correction, because Swedes when they see a 'J' at the beginning of a word change it to 'Y'. But they are not incapable of saying 'J', so sometimes when a 'Y' is called for, they will say 'J' instead. It all averages out, but it is quite funny, jew are yust not allowed to laugh.

PS It's not my birthday, it's just a thought.

Forgotten—but remember March 5, 12.

If I'd ever forgotten how full the life of an AFES (Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students) worker is, especially in February, I'm now being reminded. Every day is currently full of planning and administration for the university year, which begins in earnest with Orientation next week.

Soon I'll be launching a new blog that deals more directly with my work at Cumberland. In the meantime, if you are in Sydney and would like to support the work in some way, please put March 5 OR March 12 in your diaries. I'm planning 2 suppers, both of which will involve me explaining the work, and informing you about how you can support what is going on prayerfully and/or financially.

More detail soon, on the new blog (oh, and this blog will continue too! See, I'll be twice as busy!)

Fiona

tells me I'm brilliant at some things, and really quite ordinary, shading into bad, at everything else.

You can tell me if that is bad or not, however, I talk in my sleep unassisted by anything, says Raj with whom I shared a dormitory over the last couple of days, and he was a bit coy when questioned, except that he said it's nice to know that I was devoted to my wife. So I am assuming that sleeptalking is one of the things I'm brilliant at, but others may know better.

Actually do it

From Tony, here.

The advice applies across the board.

The car

2 cupholders in front. One in back, with another odd squarish shaped cavity that if you shoved newspaper into it, could be a fourth cupholder. I ask you. How good does it get?

Two of the gels and I got in the train at Central and went down to Dapto (near Port Kembula and Wollongong Wollongong Wollongong Wollongong, not to mention Unanderra), then we drove the new (second hand) Hyundai back via Figtree Muckdonalds, then to Austinmer to pick up the DVD I'd hired and left in the DVD player, then back home.

If you flip up the two back cupholders into the seat, there is room for a third person. Hmm, hard choice there, another person, or two cups? I've got to think! The front cupholders remove the 'person instead of cupholder' option by being unflappably unflippable, not to mention that the gearstick would make life uncomfortable all round for both the middle person and the driver, unless you could all agree on a gear (probably second) and just stay with that one for the vast majority of the trip.

The interior of the car is undeniably beige, whereas the outside colour adds a hint of metal to lift the tone into something the manufacturer refers to as 'mushroom'.

There, I think I've covered all the important features.

New car

I need to pick it up tomorrow. It will be useful for getting to my new job.

Quite a story behind the way God has provided it and other things, which when I have time, I'll tell you.