The First Day

Barb wanted before and after pictures of Peter's first day as chaplain. What do you think? Does Peter look like a chaplain? The 'after' shot seems to show some degree of tiredness but that disguises the feelings Peter has about the job. When God calls you into something, though it may be hard and challenging, there is a feeling of joy in the heart that you never new was possible.

These were the people who collected on the day of Peter's 58th birthday. It was serendipitous in many ways. Simon was in. Dan was not working till later in the afternoon. Barb was on a late and Peter wasn't starting till the following day. And the Funks we on their way back after dropping Gord's family members at the airport. We think that is amazing timing to overlap a lunch with everyone like that. Everyone's presence was a great gift and a great enrichment to us all.

Birthday Memories

Peter's birthday fell the day before his first day on the job. He received very special gifts to mark the occasion as shown above: an abacus, bees wax candles with hand coloured wax designs (one with the new school badge), a beautiful model fishing trawler and a new shirt for the first day. Thank you all. You know who you are.

The greatest gift of all was God's... the chaplaincy position on offer at Whittlesea Primary School... and Peter was expected there the very next day. Words alone cannot describe the feelings about that gift.

Seeds of Life

Since the movie Avatar came out, Peter has a new respect for the seed puffs that float about in the summer. They represent continuing life, new life passed on in abundance from the mature trees to one day grow again in a new place. This is true also for animals. A seed of life is passed on to the next generation through mating and birth. The movie Avatar took the idea into a spiritual dimension. The floating seeds were part of an overall 'knowing'. They communicated life and brought salvation to the unsuspecting.

Sisters Together

We have just had the pleasure of visiting Bec and Gord at Gembrook and having some time with Gord's sister Sharon and his sister-in-law Erlene. They are on a visit from Canada and this was our one real opportunity to welcome them to Australia.

The grandkids were very excited to have so many extended family popping in. Peter occasionally had three hanging off him. It was a perfect late summer afternoon the sun keeping us warm.

Sharon gave us a show and tell of all the stuff she had bought to take back to Canada. Bec in her turn showed the wig she bought at the same market. Expect a new Bec at parties.

As the sun set, Barb and the grandkids made sure the chickens were bedded for the night. We don't want any more chicken mortalities if we can help it. We drove back in the night. The short visit was worth all the effort. It was very good to catch up with Sharon and Erlene who had made the greater effort by travelling from the other side of the world to be there.

Our Summer Garden

Because of all the good rains we have had our first real success at producing a Summer crop of cherry tomatoes, spinach and carrot. We are pretty happy about that. A few weeks ago, the tomato plants coped a nasty hit from a strong hot north wind, but fortunately a cool change came just in time. We are challenged to keep the water up in the dry spells because we are sometimes "flat-chat" with too much to do.

Model Trains

Some people in our church last Sunday prepared a very different attraction for the kids. It was a games Sunday and it included a model train display. This was a chance for a few model train buffs to share their hobby with the kids.

Great Bunch of Guys

Peter and friend Tony lead a men's Bible study group. On 7 February they got going again with a barbecue and a talk about prayer. A special highlight for the evening was the musical squeeze-box playing by Gordon. He is one of our most remarkable group members. He is over eighty years old and we know that his father fought in the Great War. They shared a good start to the year and have grown to about twelve members.

Gas Cooking

When our electrical stove reduced itself to one working element we decided the time was right to switch to gas. We contacted our trusted supplier who had installed our hot water change-over and later our ducted heating. This installation took just three hours from go to wo. We cooked with our old "round based" wok for the first time in about sixteen years. You just never know when something like that will be useful again. :)

The central cooker has two gas rings so we bring things to boil in half the time. This is about everything getting done in their proper time and being patient.

Protected Flyover

Last week Dan was riding back from work on his bike and was speeding downhill through a roundabout when a car suddenly appeared crossing the intersection in front of him. His front wheel crashed into the car's side and lost its shape and Dan flew over the bonnet landing on the road and against the curb on the other side of the car. He was glad he had a helmet on. The driver was very concerned for him for a while. Dan now wonders just how he could not have seen the car approaching. We were amazed that all he got out of it were cuts and grazes and we are so grateful to God for real flyover protection. God's gift to us.