Family

A rare sighting of Dave, brother-in-law Simon, Grandad and Dad!

the Harbour

I had the pleasure of being taken on a Harbour cruise recently: thanks Spriggles!

Flame trees

We share some history, this town and I
And I can't stop that long forgotten feeling of her...

Oh the flame trees will blind the weary driver
And there's nothing else could set fire to this town
There's no change, there's no pace
Everything within its place
Just makes it harder to believe that she won't be around...



This song had no soul until Sarah Blasko took it over...

Tagged

It seems I’ve been ‘tagged’ to list 5 things you probably don’t know about me.
… thanks Cheryl!

1. When I was a kid I had a praying mantis as a pet for a day. Mum made me let it go in the garden and I cried for hours.
2. I have a deep seated dislike/distaste/fear/phobia/aversion to LAMB (the kind you eat, not the music)
3. My Great Great Grandfather was William Henry Brown Patterson, who introduced “Patterson’s Curse” to Australia (otherwise known as Salvation Jane: the purple flowering weed…)
4. I recently fell out of a shopping trolley. I was riding in it with an unnamed Wollongong friend through the carpark...
5. I have a gorgeous name sake: Sara Joy Packer (her twin is named after my sister).
   

I tag Jules, Meags, Jared and Mel

It gives me hope

If you haven't already, check out Cheryl's reflection here

I'm hesitant to say what it's about because that really is open to the interpreter, but enough to say that it's moving and brilliant - and yet again, Cheryl speaks to the heart for all of us...

Home

What does it mean to be home?

Uganda

I was really moved by a friend of mine today, hearing about the situation in Uganda...of which we hear nothing about in our mainstream media. All we hear about are things and places that the West has interest in. Uganda offers us nothing and therefore we close our eyes and ears to it.

I did some research. The picture on the right and article below is found on the IRC site (International Rescue Committee). Make sure you have a look. Apparently these kids are being stolen, and some have been made to bite each other to death, and forced to become child soldiers. It's horrific. It's particularly horrific that humans even have the capacity to do this to children...



"Forced to Flee: Uganda's Young "Night Commuters"

Each night in northern Uganda, tens of thousands of terrified children leave their villages at dusk and walk to town to avoid being kidnapped by the Lord's Resistance Army—a brutal rebel force that has abducted more than 30,000 children to serve as soldiers and slaves in its 20-year war against the Ugandan government.

Once in captivity, boys are forced to loot and burn villages and torture and kill neighbors. Abducted girls are routinely raped and become sex slaves or “wives” of rebel commanders. All witness unimaginable atrocities and many do not survive.

The International Rescue Committee and its local partners provide counseling, emotional support, food and medical care for the children who are able to flee, while working to locate their parents and arrange family reunions.

But the war continues to take a horrific toll. “Those who live here are witness to a slow genocide, a holocaust of children,” said one IRC staff member assisting former child soldiers. “And we wonder when the world will start paying attention.”

How to Help
Help children uprooted by violence in Uganda. You can donate on the IRC site or become involved. Have a look!

Waiting

As Sarah waited…

40 years for a son to fulfil God’s promise

We wait in hope for what we thought had been promised to us.

As Moses waited…

40 years in the desert being prepared by God to lead his people

We wait for emptiness and humility; for bravado to wither

As Israel waited….

40 years in the desert, hungry, depressed, thirsting, unsure

We wait for things to move on and generations to pass

As the prophets waited…

1000 years of promises that God would raise up a Saviour

We wait for things to change.

As Mary waited…

9 months of her 14 years for the child of God

We feel the birth pangs yet fear for the child.

As John the Baptist waited…

Scanning the crowds for the one whose sandals he would not be worthy to untie

We long for an experience of the Divine.

As Jesus waited…

30 years of creeping time

40 days in the desert of temptation

3 years in the midst of misunderstanding

3 days in the depths of hell

So we wait for God’s time

Preparing the way

Our turn to toil on levelling mountains and straightening paths

Our turn to watch the time horizon

Our turn to pass on the hope –

The one who promised is faithful

And will come back.

Alternative Worship, compiled by Jonny Baker and Doug Gay p 36