The Beginning of the End

It is now the beginning of the end. My final semester at university (for now) has begun. In twelve weeks I will graduate with an honours degree in psychological science. For the past five years I have studied, and now there are just months until it finishes. I am SO excited. And I am more motivated than ever to work as hard as I can to finish strong.

I am reasonably pleased with the subjects I am studying, and my thesis is progressing well, although my data collection is an excruciatingly long and tiresome process. I spend one hour with each participant, asking them questions and giving them intelligence tests to complete. I have eight four participants to work through, and I've only done 11.

Kylie is getting really close to having the baby now. We only have three or four weeks left, and it is starting to show. Kylie is feeling uncomfortable, and slowing down. So we are counting the days and have begun serious preparations to ensure everything is ready. Combined with that, I am going to be putting in some extra long hours at uni over the next few weeks so that when the baby arrives I have something of a head start on all of that work. That way, hopefully, I can be more supportive at home. The baby will be born half-way through the semester, so it will be an extremely busy time in every way imaginable.

A few nights ago we decided to have a pizza and movie night with the children. We cooked home made pizza with hot hungarian salami (wow it was good), pineapple, capsicum and onion. Then we watched "Because of Winn-Dixie". It was a movie about a little girl who found a dog and made friends with it. Because of the dog, lots of lonely people were united to form strong friendships, and the little girl learned about her mother (who had left some years earlier). It was a beautiful movie. The kids loved it, as did Kylie. And I think we went through a whole box of tissues towards the end. Really sweet stuff. And good for kids and grown-ups. I give it 8 out of 10.

There are two other things that I've noticed recently too. Last Sunday as we sat in church I looked down the pew to my three little girls. Kylie had spent the morning making them look even more beautiful with hair dryers and brushes and all of that female stuff that I will never understand. I was filled with gratitude, and more than a small portion of pride. And then I noticed something: They are all the absolute image of Kylie. No wonder I feel so lucky. I have the most beautiful family.

I've also been spending quite a bit of time working with someone who wants to understand the Gospel better. He is a member of the church and have been for 10 years. He has read the scriptures religously (pardon the pun), but never really learned much. For the past couple of months I have been "coaching" and helping out. I chatted with this person in the last week. What has occurred is wonderful. He used to read a chapter every day, sometimes a couple of chapters, in order to say he had read and to get to the end. I asked if that was working for him.

"No, not really."

I suggested that what mattered more than the outcome he was chasing was the process he went through. I suggested that rather than reading a chapter a day, he read for 20 minutes. He may read one verse, one page or one chapter or more. What mattered was how he understood what he read. I showed him how to question everything, to cross-reference and use additional material to really understand. We talked about the "process".

We spoke a couple of days ago. It has taken him three weeks to get through only two chapters. Yet his understanding has improved markedly. He is feeling like he has learned more in the past three weeks than he has in the past ten years. It feels good to be part of that process, and to have helped in some small way.

Lastly, mum and dad are in QLD this weekend and it has been a real treat to spend some time with them. The girls love them and flock to them. We have enjoyed seeing them, and spent most of the day with dad yesterday. We found an incredible part at Helensvale on the northern tip of the Gold Coast. Abbie and Ella came with dad and I and played for two hours non-stop. They would have played all day if they could. The best thing was the slide. It was big, and steep, and fun. They ran up the stairs and down the slide endlessly. And they slept well last night.