Tassie!

We have finally got through all the essays, exams, & the end of year madness!! We thought it would never come but it has & we are back in the lovely State for a Christmas break!

We can now...
breath fresh air
see trees
wear shoes without getting sweaty feet
wear more of my wardrobe
have windows
sleep without hearing pigeons, trains, planes
pick & eat our food from the garden
see the sky out of the windows
drive without having to use the horn
Stand in a pantry with too many options
star gaze...

It is lovely to be home :)

oops

...I seem to have forgotten that I write a blog
...those exam didn't go to well
...probably should have studied a little bit more
...didn't watch a movie yesterday, which is not keeping with my 2 a day for the holidays :)

Forgiveness

Where did the idea of forgive and forget come from? I always assumed it was a biblical idea. But I have become more and more convinced that it really isn’t at all. In fact, the biblical teaching on forgiveness is very different to what I originally thought.

In a lecture on the Psalms a lecturer discussed biblical forgiveness…

Forgiveness is not something that should just happen within yourself. It’s not the loving thing to do, to feel hurt by someone and then just forgive them in your heart without discusses it with them. For, what happens if you have it wrong? You are actually judging them. This means that the act of forgiveness becomes just about you and yourself.

So, there is actually no need for forgiveness unless the person realizes that they have wronged you. This does not mean its ok to harbor grudges etc, but maybe forgiveness is not always the appropriate thing to do. Forgiveness is not a personal activity, but something that happens between people.

I think maybe our view of forgiveness has become self-centered. Forgiveness is not about making yourself feel better and enabling you to move on. It is about love and restoring community. Because God forgave us, we should forgive others.

Auditory and Kinesthetic

We have not only been learning about the Bible this year, but lots of other things as well! One of these is how people learn. From this we realised that Marty and I have a rather significant difference. I learn best from listening, and reading, which is an auditory learner. Marty is a kinesthetic learner, which means that he learns best by doing things. By being able to talk things out and by doing activities.

Thus, Marty and I are basically the opposite. So studying in our house, looks a bit like this:

I am glued to book, making notes in absolute silence. While Marty is walking around, using lots of hand gestures and talking about what he has just read. I think he is talking to me, so I switch gears, so I can listen. When I realise he isn’t inviting me into a conversation, I politely ask him to please be quiet so I can get back to my book. It is a vicious cycle!! :)

In Sickness & in health...

Life for us has continued on the same despite sickness, & then coming back to good health again. We have had lectures, assignments, and apparently there were some holidays within there sometime!! So we are not all that well rested - but can't stop now because we are on the home stretch towards the end of our first year!!

Just 4 more weeks & then exams! So it's a very busy time. Yet, also a really exciting time as we realise all the things we have learnt, & how it all fits into place. And if good health prevails then all should go rather smoothly :)

Lament

In studying the Psalms we have come to the laments. And our lecturer raised an interesting point – If they Psalms are an example of corporate worship, and they have laments in them, shouldn’t we also have laments in our corporate gatherings?

The Psalms show us the emotions of followers of God in all different times and situations in life. Lament is often the way we feel about life and the Psalms show that this is an appropriate emotion to have...

So, do you know any songs of lament sung in churches?
Is it appropriate to sing laments corporately?

Reality...

Well we finally have some clean air back into our lungs! Well that was once we got over the cold shock! :)

We have just come back from a very brief trip back to Tassie!! Sadly we didn’t really get to catch up with people well – but we had lots of fun with their children :)

On coming back to Sydney, we were hit with a few realities...

Firstly... we are now pretty much in the middle of second semester… deep into assessments and the content of our classes. So for example... this week I’m preaching from Ephesians 3 to the other women in my class, and we are both working on essay based on one of Paul’s letters.

Secondly... spring (which really feels like summer) is here! :)

Thirdly... We do really miss our Tassie family & friends. Going there was so great cause it felt so natural - which just makes us realise how much we miss you all!

But... now we are warm! :)

relevance vs purity

Well it seems that the Bible College Dilemma (see last post) has caused my brain to explode :)

So, thought I would just leave you with a interesting quote I heard this week:

"The contemporary church seems more concerned with relevance than with purity"

The Bible College Dilemma...

When learning from the Bible every day how much of it can you really take in? So, not just learn & know it, but really take it in & apply it to your life?

We have 10 different subjects this semester. This means each week we hear 10 lectures on different aspects of ministry & the Bible. Then we hear 3-4 sermons a week! So within a few days you could go from discussing the accuracy & authority of the Bible, to looking at the whole book of Job! Its not light stuff! It’s stuff that demands reading, thinking, & meditating upon.

Don’t get me wrong – I love studying the Bible, & learning all the things that we are. I feel so privileged to be able to do this! But how do you do it properly? How do you not allow the learning to just become knowledge & therefore leave out the heart?

Right back into it...

Well we are back from holidays and straight back into the daily grind of college.

From fishing, surfing, grazing, watching the sunrises & sunsets, to huge amounts of washing, lectures, and the constant reminder of assignments due not to far into the future...
It’s amazing how quickly life can change!

We have had a really nice restful holiday catching up with family & friends from Tassie, & also got a chance to explore more of this great country. But now, we are really excited about getting more deeply into Gods word & learning heaps of new things this semester.

Holidays!

We are finally out of the vacuum and back into the real world!!

Back to socializing and talking to people… showing family the sites of Sydney… Watching TV & relaxing!

Take today for example... we got up early, caught a train to the city, met Mel & Kochie, then had breakfast at the Lindt Cafe! :)

It’s a very nice feeling!

StuVac

So we are in StuVac at the moment. But what exactly is StuVac?

Is it study vacation? That is a bit of an oxymoron don’t you think!?! Since when has studying been associated with a vacation? Well some students seem to be taking the vacation part very seriously :)

Maybe it means study vacuum? This sounds a little bit more like me. I get up, study all day, & rest at night. This means that I am totally unable to talk to people, & am very vague (yes - even more than normal!), cause all I have been doing is reading & studying.

So, it’s definitely more like a study vacuum for me - even with only 1 day down!

Old Testament...

At the moment Marty and I are immersing ourselves within the Old Testament. I am full of disbelief over the Israelites lack of trust in Numbers, but then elated by the great story of Joshua. Marty is continually expressing anger over how stupid Moses is in Exodus, and well, 2 Samuel hasn’t quite eventuated yet! We both have to write 1000 words on an Old Testament book, describing what’s in it and its major themes.

Once you get over the nitty gritties of the assignment, it is actually a really good one. For at the end of this week, hopefully we will both be able to tell people, in one sentence, the significance of the books we have chosen and what they are all about – hopefully!

It would be great if at the end of these two years, we would be able to do that for every book of the Bible!

Maybe there is some worth in preaching a series through the whole Bible - 1 sermon on each book of the Bible, simply explaining what’s in it and why its there?!?

Settling in...

I have noticed lately that a lot of people are asking us lately how we have settled into Sydney. I suppose it has been 3 months now so it’s just the question to start asking.

Settling in to Sydney - well what can you say!

We have realised that everything in Sydney takes a lot longer & is more expensive. I think that once you embrace these two things & stop fighting against them - I reckon then you can start to relax & enjoy it a bit.

Like, enjoy the fact that you get to listen to more music in the car!
And you don’t feel guilty about not jamming heaps into your day, ‘cause realistically going grocery shopping takes all day.
That means you get more ‘nothing time’ cause you can’t just quickly ‘nip out’ anywhere!
I’m trying to think of good things about the more expensive thing, but not really getting anything :)

On a more serious side, I think we have just started to settle in. We have a routine now (I even have an exercise routine which means a lot for those who know me well!). We have also found a church to go to, which is a great blessing. Marty has started playing footy again. & I think we are finally embracing the Sydney way of life!

A Day in the Life of Marty (as told by Jess)

6:00am – Awakes suddenly to the sound of pigeons – “Ga Gaaaa, Ga Gaaaa”
6:15am – Stirs in and out of consciousness plotting ways to kill pigeons.
7:30am – Awakes suddenly & shouts: “I’m going to kill that pigeon!”
7:45am – Finally gets out of bed & gets ready for the first lecture.
8:15am – Jess yells out: “Quick Marty - we’re going to be late for class.”
8:30am – In lectures listening to how humans were made to rule & care for Gods creation.
10:40am – Has morning tea with fellow students, discussing what it really means to rule Gods creation.
11:00am – Back in lectures, but has now had enough coffee & cake to get him through the day.
12:00pm – During a coffee break he discusses with fellow students why God created pigeons.
1:00pm – Has lunch, where he discusses with a fellow student the possibilities of smuggling in ball-bearing guns from Taiwan.
2:00pm – Back in room to do reading & assignment writing, but ends of trying to kick & throw things at the pigeons.
6:00pm – Dinner time, where he discusses with fellow students why the pigeons are on our roof & not there’s.
9:30pm – Secures the room to ensure the least amount of noise will come through the window.
10:00pm – Falls asleep dreaming of a peaceful, amazing world – a world without pigeons.

Back to work

Well after a great house boat holiday on the murray with Muz and Fuz, and all the crew (Wagenaar), celebrating their 30yrs of marriage we are back into the books here at college.

We are trying to maintain our 1 week buffer for assignments, as we have something due every friday for the next 4 weeks. But so far this isn't going so well for Jess - at the moment she has a 1 day buffer! And my week is very quickly disappearing.

So, its been a bit of a challenge getting back into it. Going from relaxing on the boat, eating, fishing (do they still call it fishing when you get no bites 5 days running???), eating, swinging of ropes, and eating - to lectures, eating, reading, eating, lectures, eating, assignments, and eating.

Well eating is an important part of life! Especially when the first footy match of the season is this Saturday!

P.S Half of this post has been highjacked by Jess!

Mission

Well as my previous post suggested we have been on college mission. It was a week that went very quickly, but at the end felt like a year!

It was so encouraging to see people with such a love and passion for the people around them that they are doing whatever it takes to try and reach them – even if it means having 10 cups of lovingly brewed coffee every day :)

So, we got a quick snippet of what urban ministry in Sydney looks like. To quickly sum it up - I think it is very relationship driven with a real need to properly understand the people around you. This means it is very long term stuff.

The way churches often do things, such as door knocking and letter box dropping, may actually not at all be effective, so you have to find other ways of getting out there. The best way to do this in urban ministry seems to be to just live out your Christian life wherever you go - smiling to people on the street, talking to the shop attended, the barista etc… Its just basic stuff, but if you are intentional about it, it can be very effective.

We were reminded that the gospel never changes, but the best way to engage with the culture around you is definitely different wherever you go.

Writers Block

Well it seems as though we both have writers block after handing in our assignments! We have now handed in 2 assignments, and both of them on time!!

Next week is mission week for all college students. So, this is where we are assigned to a team which goes to a church & works with the church for a week... I think! We are going to an Anglican church in Newtown, which is close by. Marty is heading up the High School mission, other than that we dont really know what we are doing - but have been told to be prepared to give our testimony at any time...

So it should be fun :)

Columba vs Episcopacy

The race to get our first assignment (a church history essay) in on time has begun! Mine is on the sixth century Irish monk, Columba, & Marty’s is on the development of church government from 0-500AD.

1750 words on events and the people who influenced the church as we know it today!

So we have frequented facebook for research, and searched at the bottom of coffee cups - but that has surprisingly taught us very little!

We have had dreams about priests with pitchforks, although, come to think about it, that was probably more due to procrastinating on Age of Empires then our essays!

We have read and read and read endless amount of words that are meant to be helpful, but just make no sense. As Marty said last night: “another day, another million words”.

So, it definitely feels like a race – probably more like a marathon, with a 50m sprint for the finish line :)

New Church

We are going through the process of finding a new church at the moment. Neither of us have really done this before, & well let’s just say we don’t like it! It’s weird visiting churches & just checking them out. You end up analyzing what they do & therefore trying not to be to critical & judgmental. Ironically the first church we went to had a sermon on “stop dating the church”, so that was a good start in helping us approach this in a healthy way!

One good thing I suppose from this though, is that it makes me realise what it would be like for someone visiting a church.

Update

Hi guys, just a quick post to say we are going well. We have been pretty busy with study. Also I have been helping out building the new campus a little bit, making handrails.
I've slightly torn my hamstring so wont be going to footy training for a couple of weeks.
It would be great if you could pray for me as I try to do this assignment, it's taking me ages to get anywhere! And for patience as I wait for my leg to heal.
Missing you guys......

STUDY!!!!

I can't believe it, I just spent the last 2.5hrs in the library! I've never done that before, except for those times at school when we used to sneak into the library and play Doom :)

We have a church history essay due on the 5th of march so that's what we are both working on at the moment. Jess is in her element - "this is what I was made for" - were her words. I've got a head ache most of the time so might need to get some glasses if it keeps up!

Otherwise it's great fun learning about lots of different things, ie Episcopal forms of church government, and the role of Columba in the British and Irish churches.

On a more lighter note - My first footy training will be tonight, hopefully they will be nice to me :)

Our thoughts and prayers are with Dave, Evthoxia and the boys as well.

How awesome and complex is our great God!!?? It's amazing learning more about his sovereign rule of this world and a challenge to trust in him always as hard things in life come.

Missing Tas a bit - but all is going well.
Marty. :)

O Week Ends

Well for many of you the idea of O Week may evoke some very exciting images: No work, free bands, free beer, no sleep, students running around everywhere…

Well let’s just say our O Week has been very different: family BBQ’s, study skills, talks on hygiene & what is appropriate to wear, dining etiquette, dinner with the other married couples (Newtown Thai of course)…

But one thing is the same - Library tours! Which I very much enjoyed – it’s just the smell of the books, & being surrounded by so much good stuff - it’s very special & a little overwhelming :)

So it was an interesting experience & now we are straight into lectures.

O week begins!

Hey, well this week is O week, we start with a dinner tonight then the rest of the week is meeting new people, hearing the rules and going to study skills classes. (not much fun apparently)
Last Sat we went surfing down at bondi and got totally roasted! We didnt think the UV rays were that bad in syd, compared to tassie. But it was lots of fun. Sunday we went to "church by the bridge" and met Paul Dale and some other nice people. Its in kirabilli so we checked out luna park after that and found a good fishing spot for king fish! Later we had a bbq dinner back at college and watched the tennis outside on the big screen.
Well thats about it from me,
Marty.

Sydney!!

We have finally arrived in Sydney! After a very smooth sailing over the Bass Straight & a long hot drive on the Hume we are here & mostly unpacked. We were able to celebrate Australia Day in style down at the Rocks with Gluten Free pide, Ash Grunwald, & then trying to find some New Town Thai we actually ended up in Balmain (North East of the city) – oops! We will soon hopefully get our bearings, although we have got lost every time we try & go somewhere so far!

We don’t have any College stuff until Monday, so we are just going to keep settling in and resting after a very full on few weeks!

Marty & Jess

Holidays, Youth Convention, Packing...

Sorry about the silence of late… we have been very busy! In December I was tying up loose ends, then had the Christmas holidays, then we went to Adelaide for the Reformed Youth Convention, then we came home & started packing up our house to move to Sydney!

So I have now finished my ministry apprenticeship – I actually finished at the youth convention, which was a really good way to end. Clinton Berends (from Redlands Reformed Church) and Marty Ford (from Trinity College in Perth) did the talks, and they were fantastic. So besides being stuck in the middle of nowhere during Adelaide’s heat wave, with flies, dirt, & sweaty youth... it was really good!

So we are now preparing for our move up to College in Sydney. From then the blog will change a bit as Marty & I will both write about how college is going, so if you want to keep in touch with our next stage in life… keep on reading!