Last Day of Our Holiday

I'm back at work now, but the last day of holidays was by far our greatest adventure. We were driving along the highway to fly out of Townsville doing around 80 when something in the back of the bomb we borrowed shook. The car started backfiring and shaking quite badly, and Dave had to slow the car down to 60. Eventually the shaking got so bad that we had to pull over.

Its funny how quickly a bunch of ministers can turn into a bunch of mechanics. I got under the car. Dave popped the bonnet. Steve offered suggestions about what could be wrong. Would we make our trip back to Townsville in time? Can you feel the suspense dear reader?

We pooled our collective experience about what had gone wrong with bombs we had driven in the past. Was it the carby? The petrol line? The spark plugs? (I don't mean to boast here, but incidentally, my particular speciality is radiator overheating. This one time, on another holiday, Dave and I drove home from the Hunter in my previous car- my old Corolla, which kept overheating on us... admittedly it took us a while to get home, but since we had a set of Boules with us, while we waited for the car to cool down, we played Boules by the side of the road. But that's another story for another time. Back to the current one!)

We decided that it was the fuel line. Dave gave the petrol filter a little shake, which seemed to do the trick. There was also a bit of a problemo with the exhaust. It was hanging decidedly low...So Dave being the Macgyver that he is, sacrificed a cable connection from his mobile to allow us to cable tie the muffler to the rear bumper. Having fixed that, we were on our way again.

But we didn't get far. We called the owners of the bomb and told them the sad news. The owner graciously met us at Frosty Mango, the first northern stop outside of Townsville. And the NRMA guy (or whatever its called in Queensland) came to give the diagnosis. It turned out it was the fuel pump!!! The next problem was, the guy couldn't start the car. We had driven it into the ground. It had given up the car-ghost.

The owner graciously drove us to Townsville airport, and we made our plane. Fun times.

Rest in peace, bomb!

Mission Beach Hoons

We got to the water taxi this morning to be told that there were no trips to Dunk Island today because the weather was meh. (That's not the word they used btw).

So this was plan B....

As you can see, basically the plan was to look like something out of C.H.I.P.S.

And then after we accomplished that, we decided to fang around Mission Beach on our scooters all day.

Sweet fun.

Do you know this person??

So recently someone got hold of my camera, and left a nice picture on it. It was very kind of her, and I'm guessing she did it so I can share this special picture with you.

You just never know where your picture is going to end up!

De-bunked from going to Dunk

...because of the weather. I mean, you can hardly see the island!

So maybe tomorrow.

Meh.

Mission Beach- not meh!

Now I'm in Mission beach. The bus trip here was a little meh. It took only 3 buses to get here from Cairns. But the place where Steve, Dave and I are staying is not meh. It's a beach side apartment with 3 bedrooms. My room is an ensuite equppied with double bed, spa, TV and air con, and it faces onto the beach. So yeah, its not meh, because I fall asleep to the calming sound of the ocean. Did I mention that I have an ensuite?

Yesterday we went for a walk on the Kennedy trail. 3 hours return. The sand by the water's edge was a metallic gold. A fool's gold maybe, but gold nonetheless. PLus the beaches stretch for miles. We need more beaches like this in Sydney.

We also went snorkelling near Bingel Bay. To be honest there wasn't much to see except for a few tropical fish and dashes of coral. At one point I thought I saw a stinger's tail (they are grey with a white tip, right??) I even found myself protectign my heart with my hand in case the guy felt threatened by my presence, but come to think about it, that was pretty stupid huh? Like if a stinger's tail could go through Steve Irwin's sternum and pierce his heart, it could do the same thing to my hand and my sternum I'm sure. But one does not think about these things when you are snorkelling and see a stinger's tail poking out from under a rock.

Tomorrow we conquer Dunk Island.

Did i mention I have an ensuite?

So yeah, not meh.

More than just a trip to Cairns

OK, so here it is. Especially for Shannyn, cos I’m sure that since I haven’t been updating as regularly as I used to, my blog readership is suffering drastically. So Shannyn (and anyone else who still visits this page) ... enjoy!

So I’ve been in Cairns for the last few days. Palm Cove to be exact. The flight in was rather smooth. An air stewardess comments on my Thirsty Merc t-shirt and tells me that one of the band members had flown with Virgin Blue recently. I wonder if that’s true. And if there is any way of finding that out.

I reflect on how flying is such a strange phenomenon. To think that you can get inside this little capsule and be hurled through the sky to the other end of the country and come out and feel like it was no real distance that was travelled. I open my drink bottle at mid-flight. When the plane starts to descend, I go to open it again, and I notice that my drink bottle is all crumpled. My mind starts whirring about differences in air pressures and how there is a lower pressure in the bottle at a higher altitude, but then I wonder if cabin pressure would cancel out such altitudinal differences. I conclude apparently not.

Then I land and Chris is there. Chris used to attend my church but moved to Cairns to recover from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. We just talked on Skype the night before so it doesn’t seem like so long since I’ve seen him. We chat away about the last 24 hours and the few days ahead we have to hang out, how his chronic fatigue is going. And I start to realize I’m here and how much I’m hanging out for these next few days with my friend. And I know he will challenge my own walk with the Lord, as I trust I will refresh him.

And, can I just say, not by way of rubbing it in, but by way of thankfulness to God, that I am utterly loving it here. I could put it down to the jogs by the beach, the lazing on the sand to the sound of the waves washing up on the ocean. It might even be the coffees near the water, or the warm temperature (OK, so those things are rubbing it in…I realize that!). But I think most of all it’s the time of refreshment I get with Chris. He really does challenge me to be Christ-like. To live in the fullness of grace. To simply have faith and believe. To learn what it means to be forgiven. To realize the depth of my own sinfulness. To learn what it means to have a contrite heart. We talk about brokenness and how everyone is filled with something…and we talk about being filled with God. We talk about humility and waiting upon the Lord. We speak about loving God with all our heart. We talk about helping others to love God more, and setting others hearts on fire with the love of Christ burning deeply within them. We talk about growing in godliness and forming good habits, and trusting in God. We talk about how people love doctrine but neglect God. I’m challenged to not just love the doctrine of justification, but to love the One Who Justifies. I’m challenged yet again about my own pride and selfishness and need to believe myself dead to sin in Christ. To depend upon Him as dying to sin for me, and to look upon myself as dead to sin in Him. We talk about how we trust Him for salvation, but we trust Him for so little beyond salvation. We talk about how the Lord wounds and also heals. We talk a lot about things that are on my heart at the moment. We talk about God’s sovereignty, how He hurts us where it’s precious to us, so that we will hand over every single area of our life to Him. We talk about giving up precious dreams by faith. We talk about how we don't have to hang onto things if we are in Christ. We talk about how desiring in God actually changes our desires. We talk about how the notion of 'I feel, therefore I am' is such a lie. We talk about prayer and telling God how we feel. And handing all over to the Lord. We talk about abiding in Christ. We talk about the Puritans. And Luther. And Calvin. And Spurgeon. And Romans. And Galatians. And complacent Christians. Above all we talk about being IN CHRIST, the paradigm for my life which I keep coming back to again and again and again.

So yeah, you can see why I love spending time with Chris, and how refreshing it is to be with a brother who sees me through the eyes of Christ, warts and all. A man of God who encourages me to love God more. God bless him!

Too much info Shannyn? :)

Happiness

O LORD,
Help me never to expect any happiness from the world, but only in thee.
Let me not think that I shall be more happy living to myself,
for I can only be happy if employed for thee,
and if I desire to live in this world
only to do and suffer what thou dost allot me.
Teach me
that if I do not live a life that satisfies thee,
I shall not live a life that will satisfy myself.
Help me to desire the spirit and temper of angels
who willingly come down to this lower world to perform thy will,
though their desires are heavenly,
and not set in the least upon earthly things;
then I shall be of that temper I ought to have.
Help me not to think of living to thee in my own strength,
but always look to and rely on thee for assistance.
Teach me that there is no greater truth than this,
that I can do nothing of myself.
Lord, this is the life that no unconverted man can live,
yet it is an end that every godly should presses after;
Let it be then my concern to devote myself and all to thee.
Make me more fruitful and more spiritual,
for barrenness is my daily affliction and load.
How precious is time, and how painful to see it fly
with little done to good purpose!
I need thy help:
O may my soul sensibly depend upon thee
for all sanctification,
and every accomplishment of thy purposes
for me, for the world,
and for thy kingdom.

~A Puritan Prayer

(p168, Bennett, The Valley of Vision, 2005)