Late again on this post...
I’ve struggled to find the motivation to write in recent weeks. I have managed to jot down a few thoughts, and can certainly describe blessings and gifts for which I’m grateful. I simply haven’t had the heightened motivation levels that I’m used to enjoying. I think the lack of progress on my PhD work is a likely cause. Hopefully this will change over the coming week as I get through the mountains of marking and consulting I’m doing in order to focus on my number one study priority.
The last week began in a pretty rough way. I had not come home from a choir practice for the youth until 11pm Sunday night. Annie determined that sleep was not on her late night agenda. And my alarm awoke me at 4am in order to drive to Sydney International Airport. Some friends were returning from the USA and I had agreed to pick them up. I arrived too early and tried to sleep, uncomfortably, in the driver’s seat. No luck. I drove laps around the International terminal for 40 minutes. Finally we spotted each other and, relieved, we drove back to Wollongong.
Monday also saw the marking begin. We’re into the final weeks of the semester now and reports are due. Marking is a painful way to live life. I experienced some joy Monday evening when, over dinner, we explored Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” Over the course of one week Chanel and Abbie have entirely memorised the poem and can explain what it is about. Ella is also doing remarkably well and can recite most of it with occasional prompts.
Tuesday saw us make progress at uni with my honours student. She is an extremely emotional girl who has had a roller coaster ride. Her other supervisor makes her uncomfortable and she cries at a comment or glance. But she is comfortable with me and we work well together. Her work is looking good, and progressing on schedule.
Tuesday night we had Family Home Evening. We talked about Justice and Mercy. I used the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears as we examined the character of Goldilocks. The children agreed that she was lawfully guilty of break and enter, trespass, and theft! They also agreed that justice demanded a price be paid. Of course, they recognised that if Goldilocks sought forgiveness and made restitution that mercy might be applied. It was a successful and fun night.
Wednesday saw me marking more. Aaaargh! I arrived home and Chanel explained that two boys had fought over her in the playground. I was not overly concerned but wondered what I had in store in the coming decade or more with FOUR girls! I raced out the door to get the youth back to Campbelltown for yet another choir practice.
Thursday we took the car in for a repairman to look at the stereo. It would not turn off and had already cost us a new battery early in the week. He discovered that Annie had inserted a 10c coin into the CD player and short-circuited the unit. This meant that it could not be repaired and a new one would need to be purchased. Ouch. While in the store Kylie inquired about the price of an in-car DVD player. She liked what she heard and bought it! Hmmm. So a 10c coin cost us $1200. We purchased the DVD player for those long drives up to Gosford and Queensland. And of course we also needed to get a CD player. I chose the cheapest one I could that had a certain few luxuries I felt I could not live without in the year 2009. I like my new stereo.
Friday was a difficult day for Chanel. We discovered more about the playground fight. Apparently the boys wanted to be her boyfriend. Chanel had been involved in a small way in the instigation of the violence. We have had ongoing concerns about things for Chanel at school. This incident seems to be one in a long line of challenges. We hope to speak to her teacher in the coming week.
Saturday I raced – poorly. The race was fast and hard and it hurt. Chanel attended a birthday party and went ice-skating. I was proud of her. One of the parents reported that Chanel fell down again and again but continually demonstrated determination. She told someone that all she had to do was keep on practicing and she would develop the skill to be able to skate competently. Maybe some of the things we say do rub off after all.
Sunday was a special day. We drove to Campbelltown again! This time it was to sit at the feet of an apostle and listen to his words.
We arrived 45 minutes early. There was barely a seat left! The chapel was full and so was the spill-over. The basketball court behind the chapel was opened up to half way and that was full. The other half of the court was opened and we sat halfway to the back of that! By the time the meeting began at 10am the place was packed! The meeting was quite nice. Our children were remarkably reverent. But we were so far back, and the sound was so poor, that we struggled to hear.
Halfway through the meeting the alarm bells began to ring. We knew it couldn’t be a fire drill. But the siren was screaming! No one left their seats. I gathered my family together and we left the building. Of more than 1000 people in the building only around 20 of us moved! Some called it faithful. I am pragmatic in my faith. I think it was stubborn and irresponsible that people did not heed a warning signal. Nonetheless we discovered that someone’s little child had hit the fire alarm and it was indeed a false alarm.
Jeffrey R. Holland spoke for a little over 30 minutes. His comments were powerful and it was worth the drive, the sitting, the occasional frustration with the children, and the headache from the screaming alarm. He spoke with conviction and assurance. He told us that “there is nothing anyone on this earth can show me or say to me that will strengthen me in my testimony. My knowledge that God lives and this is His church is perfect.” He then spoke to the youth and begged them to give the Lord a tithe on their life. He suggested ten years would be about right and implored them to give the ten years from age 12-22. He promised them if they lived right then, the rest of their life would be looked after. It was a good experience to be there for it.
We drove home Sunday afternoon and cooked roast chicken. The missionaries helped us eat it. There might have been left-overs but the missionaries helped to eat them too! In fact the missionaries ate about three or four plates of food. It was a heavenly roast.
Friday, 29 May 2009
Sunday 17th May 2009
I'm a little late in getting this up online...
A few busy weekends puts me well behind in keeping things up to date. But they’ve been weekends full of goodness and happiness for our whole family! I’ll summarise briefly…
April concluded in the week following our Mt. Kosciuszko hike. We were so excited to have hiked that terrific hill. Because of the cold, Kylie lost her voice. My poor wife. I missed being able to talk with her. After a few days it finally came back to her relief, and mine.
We have created a new favourite game with the children. With the weather being colder than we’re used to I’ve been wearing my slippers. When I wrestle with the children they try to steal them. They think it’s terrific. And I like it because I can control how long the game goes! It gets pretty crazy. The girls are amazingly energetic.
Abbie was wobbling her teeth and I suggested that I rip it out for her. She thought it was a bad idea, but wanted some extra time to think about it before bed. We read a story and I promptly forgot about my offer. When the story was over Abbie decided I should pull it out. I grabbed it and tugged. She never flinched and the tooth popped straight out! She amazed me!
Tuesday night I took the Young Men from church out to ride the billy-carts we built over the previous Tuesday evenings. They were full of confidence. Some wobbles made me wary and when we arrived at the hill I suggested starting at the half-way mark. They were hard to persuade. Eventually they came most of the way to me but insisted on starting higher up the hill than I had indicated. The first riders began their descent. One boy went about twenty metres before swerving wildly and crashing heavily into a parked car. He flew out of the cart and sprawled across the road. As I ran to him the other boy reached the bottom with the death wobbles. He hit the gutter at full speed and was catapulted out of the cart. No one else wanted to ride the carts after everyone saw the blood! We learned a lot about billy carts that night – and first-aid.
My bike ride on the Saturday was a thrilling ride. I came 5th and rode very strong the entire race. Super exciting. I love racing and riding hard. And being on the bike so much is making me feel increasingly healthy and invigorated. I love it.
Church on Sunday (May 3rd) was difficult. Between Kylie and I we barely got any time at all in any meetings due to cranky children. Annie would not go to her nursery class and Ella played up a lot in Sunday School. Hard work and not an uplifting day. But we were there, and it feels good to have spent that time. I went home-teaching all afternoon but I wonder whether it makes any difference sometimes. These visits were not as inspiring as I would have liked.
Monday May 4th I had a student approach me. She is in her early 50’s and has had a very difficult life living with an abusive husband. In recent years she left him but had to go to court for settlement. This had set off a series of traumatic memories for her and her schooling has suffered. As I worked with her on possible solutions to her schooling challenges (she sought me in reference to study, not counselling) I felt so grateful to have been born into a family where my parents treated us kindly. I felt so blessed to live in a home where abuse is a foreign concept. I hope that lady and her family can recover somehow.
During the week I completed my paper for the 6th time. I received negative feedback again. Still more work to do. This is a challenging process! I am learning a great deal and am grateful for people who are willing to work with me despite my slow learning. With prayer, fasting, and hard work I’m sure I’ll get it to publication standard with not too much more time getting away.
Friday night was a thrill for us. We had wanted to visit Nan & Pop Bunt but time got the better of us. However we met mum at the temple so that she could watch the children while Kylie and I enjoyed the privilege of attending a temple session for the first time together in 18 months. We are committed to going once a month from now on. I hope we can make it happen. Mum took the children to Gosford while we were in the temple. Kylie and I ate delicious Italian food and then drove north as well. The children were still awake at 9pm when we arrived home but they were happy and went straight to bed when we arrived.
Saturday was great! I went for an 80km ride around the Cental Coast from one end to the other. Then Kylie and I went shopping so she could spend some money on new clothes for Mother’s Day. It took a long time – but finally she bought some terrific clothing. And looked superb!
Mother’s Day was excellent. Tim, Alisa, and I gave mum, Kylie (and everyone else) a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, top shelf muesli, yoghurt, and fruit. Delicious. Then we shared gifts. Mum felt our love and we did the best we could to make her feel great. Next year I really want to do more for Kylie though. After breakfast Mum, Tim, and I jumped into the van and drove to visit Nan Bunt for Mother’s Day. We had a WONDERFUL visit and enjoyed her company so much. It was funny to hear Nan and Mum argue with each other… and they wonder where Karina gets her temper! I loved watching Nan and Pop. Such great examples to me of a loving relationship after so many years. We missed church which was disappointing. Time had beaten us. I cooked a roast for about 20 people for Sunday dinner. Then we drove, exhausted, back to Wollongong.
This past week has been busy but with little out of the ordinary. A couple of brief highlights:
- I have been working to bring LDS musician Kenneth Cope out from the USA for a visit. Approval was granted and airfares booked. Major victory!
- I attended a “happiness” conference on Thursday in Sydney. The morning began poorly. I nearly left at the mid-morning session. But I was pleasantly surprised by what came after. I was inspired by Marva Collins who reminded me about important things I can teach my children. She teaches the poorest children and prepares them for Harvard, Yale, and so on. Brilliant and uplifting. I was moved to tears by Geraldine Cox, who described the traumatic lives of Cambodian children who are sold by their parents to begging rings, ending up as orphans. She runs several orphanages in Cambodia and her stories touched me. I was uplifted by Ingrid Paulson (?) who described resilience by telling us how she deals with living without her father and two children who were murdered by her then-husband who also killed himself. I was intrigued by Norman Doidge who discussed the neuroplasticity of the brain. Brilliant. Check out his book “The Brain that Changes Itself”.
- I have begun to teach the children Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Travelled” and they love it! They have memorised half of the poem already. I hope they’ll finish it by next week.
A few busy weekends puts me well behind in keeping things up to date. But they’ve been weekends full of goodness and happiness for our whole family! I’ll summarise briefly…
April concluded in the week following our Mt. Kosciuszko hike. We were so excited to have hiked that terrific hill. Because of the cold, Kylie lost her voice. My poor wife. I missed being able to talk with her. After a few days it finally came back to her relief, and mine.
We have created a new favourite game with the children. With the weather being colder than we’re used to I’ve been wearing my slippers. When I wrestle with the children they try to steal them. They think it’s terrific. And I like it because I can control how long the game goes! It gets pretty crazy. The girls are amazingly energetic.
Abbie was wobbling her teeth and I suggested that I rip it out for her. She thought it was a bad idea, but wanted some extra time to think about it before bed. We read a story and I promptly forgot about my offer. When the story was over Abbie decided I should pull it out. I grabbed it and tugged. She never flinched and the tooth popped straight out! She amazed me!
Tuesday night I took the Young Men from church out to ride the billy-carts we built over the previous Tuesday evenings. They were full of confidence. Some wobbles made me wary and when we arrived at the hill I suggested starting at the half-way mark. They were hard to persuade. Eventually they came most of the way to me but insisted on starting higher up the hill than I had indicated. The first riders began their descent. One boy went about twenty metres before swerving wildly and crashing heavily into a parked car. He flew out of the cart and sprawled across the road. As I ran to him the other boy reached the bottom with the death wobbles. He hit the gutter at full speed and was catapulted out of the cart. No one else wanted to ride the carts after everyone saw the blood! We learned a lot about billy carts that night – and first-aid.
My bike ride on the Saturday was a thrilling ride. I came 5th and rode very strong the entire race. Super exciting. I love racing and riding hard. And being on the bike so much is making me feel increasingly healthy and invigorated. I love it.
Church on Sunday (May 3rd) was difficult. Between Kylie and I we barely got any time at all in any meetings due to cranky children. Annie would not go to her nursery class and Ella played up a lot in Sunday School. Hard work and not an uplifting day. But we were there, and it feels good to have spent that time. I went home-teaching all afternoon but I wonder whether it makes any difference sometimes. These visits were not as inspiring as I would have liked.
Monday May 4th I had a student approach me. She is in her early 50’s and has had a very difficult life living with an abusive husband. In recent years she left him but had to go to court for settlement. This had set off a series of traumatic memories for her and her schooling has suffered. As I worked with her on possible solutions to her schooling challenges (she sought me in reference to study, not counselling) I felt so grateful to have been born into a family where my parents treated us kindly. I felt so blessed to live in a home where abuse is a foreign concept. I hope that lady and her family can recover somehow.
During the week I completed my paper for the 6th time. I received negative feedback again. Still more work to do. This is a challenging process! I am learning a great deal and am grateful for people who are willing to work with me despite my slow learning. With prayer, fasting, and hard work I’m sure I’ll get it to publication standard with not too much more time getting away.
Friday night was a thrill for us. We had wanted to visit Nan & Pop Bunt but time got the better of us. However we met mum at the temple so that she could watch the children while Kylie and I enjoyed the privilege of attending a temple session for the first time together in 18 months. We are committed to going once a month from now on. I hope we can make it happen. Mum took the children to Gosford while we were in the temple. Kylie and I ate delicious Italian food and then drove north as well. The children were still awake at 9pm when we arrived home but they were happy and went straight to bed when we arrived.
Saturday was great! I went for an 80km ride around the Cental Coast from one end to the other. Then Kylie and I went shopping so she could spend some money on new clothes for Mother’s Day. It took a long time – but finally she bought some terrific clothing. And looked superb!
Mother’s Day was excellent. Tim, Alisa, and I gave mum, Kylie (and everyone else) a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, top shelf muesli, yoghurt, and fruit. Delicious. Then we shared gifts. Mum felt our love and we did the best we could to make her feel great. Next year I really want to do more for Kylie though. After breakfast Mum, Tim, and I jumped into the van and drove to visit Nan Bunt for Mother’s Day. We had a WONDERFUL visit and enjoyed her company so much. It was funny to hear Nan and Mum argue with each other… and they wonder where Karina gets her temper! I loved watching Nan and Pop. Such great examples to me of a loving relationship after so many years. We missed church which was disappointing. Time had beaten us. I cooked a roast for about 20 people for Sunday dinner. Then we drove, exhausted, back to Wollongong.
This past week has been busy but with little out of the ordinary. A couple of brief highlights:
- I have been working to bring LDS musician Kenneth Cope out from the USA for a visit. Approval was granted and airfares booked. Major victory!
- I attended a “happiness” conference on Thursday in Sydney. The morning began poorly. I nearly left at the mid-morning session. But I was pleasantly surprised by what came after. I was inspired by Marva Collins who reminded me about important things I can teach my children. She teaches the poorest children and prepares them for Harvard, Yale, and so on. Brilliant and uplifting. I was moved to tears by Geraldine Cox, who described the traumatic lives of Cambodian children who are sold by their parents to begging rings, ending up as orphans. She runs several orphanages in Cambodia and her stories touched me. I was uplifted by Ingrid Paulson (?) who described resilience by telling us how she deals with living without her father and two children who were murdered by her then-husband who also killed himself. I was intrigued by Norman Doidge who discussed the neuroplasticity of the brain. Brilliant. Check out his book “The Brain that Changes Itself”.
- I have begun to teach the children Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Travelled” and they love it! They have memorised half of the poem already. I hope they’ll finish it by next week.
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