Upon This Rock

At the climax of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ gave this counsel: “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matt. 7:24–27.)

My children love to go to the beach. During the warmer months of the year we spent considerable time at Port Kembla, our favourite beach. We enjoy playing games and swimming, and the girls are particularly fond of building in the sand. Typically we create a fortress. We begin to dig a hole at a point along the shoreline where the waves can just reach. As we dig the hole, we pile sand in front of it to act as a protective “breakwall” to keep the water out.

As we dig we watch for incoming waves. Those waves have varying levels of impact depending on the strength of the foundations of the breakwall. When the foundations are solid, thick, and all encompassing, the waves have little effect on the wall. When the wall is too thin, short, or when it fails to surround our hole, the water washes over it and destroys our efforts.

Interestingly, when we build a solid wall it still only lasts for a limited time. Incessant destructive efforts from the ocean eventually cause it to crumble without our ongoing work to solidify and build and strengthen the foundations of that wall.

When the Saviour spoke of building a house, he was metaphorically describing the lives we build.

It is within our power to build a house of faith, a house of righteousness, a house of salvation. We can build a happy home, full of joy and love. But to do so, when so much of life’s adversity attempts to wash over us, requires us to build upon a Sure Foundation.

So what is the rock – the sure foundation – that we should build our homes, and lives upon?

That foundation, that Rock, was identified by the Lord Himself as he spoke with His disciples. He questioned them, asking who men say that he, the Son of Man, is. (See Matt. 16:13.)

The disciples responded by stating that some say He is the Baptist whom, it was claimed, had risen from the dead. He was also being touted as Elias who should restore all things; or Elijah who should come before the great and dreadful day; or Jeremiah, of whom it was also falsely claimed would prepare the way for the Messiah.

Then Jesus asks a far more important question.

“But whom say ye that I am?” (Matt. 16:15.)

The question is more important because it cuts to the heart of the matter. It’s interesting to know what others are saying and thinking, but what do YOU think?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all answer as Simon Peter. I imagine him leaping to his feet and without the slightest hesitation exclaiming: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16.)

The critical lesson in this interaction comes from the Lord, following Peter’s assertion. “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona.” (Matt. 16:17.) Why is Peter so blessed? “For flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

It is not because Peter has witnessed miracles. He has witnessed the blind receive their sight, lepers made whole, the deaf hear, the mute talk, even the dead raised. But this is not how he knows who Jesus is. There were thousands who also saw what Peter saw, and they failed to accept Jesus as the Son of God and Saviour of the world. It is because he knows by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Lord; the Holy Spirit has confirmed the divine Sonship of this Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus continues, and this is the critical point in my talk today, by stating: “And upon this rock”—the rock of revelation—“I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18.) REVELATION MEANS TO MAKE KNOWN, OR UNCOVER.

This is a critical issue. I am what some might call an “academic”, at least in training. I balk at that suggestion, but ultimately I guess I fall loosely into the category of scholar. At the very least I am a scientific researcher. Science is held up in our community by some as the source, the gold standard, of all truth.

Yet the Lord does not say, “Upon the rock of science and empiricism will I build my church.” He doesn’t state that if we do enough studies, or investigate the galaxies, or the cells of the body, that we will find Truth. His statement is that the rock of revelation will lead us to Truth. It should be our foundation. He also promises that the gates of hell shall not prevail against that Rock.

Having established what the Rock is that we should be using as our foundation, I wish to use the remainder of our time to discuss how our church is build upon the Rock of Revelation, and how our lives, likewise can be built upon the sure foundation.

The Church

At the time of Joseph Smith, there were two dominant views of Christianity. The Catholic view, and the Protestant view. These religious parties, and those that flowed from them, essentially agreed on certain characteristics of God and what He was like.

Trinity: Father, Son, & HG of the same substance.
He can be our father by adoption—if we accept Him.
He made us out of nothing. No pre-earth existence.
He is different in kind from us.
He is unknowable, a mystery. To know Him is to diminish Him.

One of the greatest revelations in the history of the world, and certainly in the past couple of thousand years is one upon which our Church builds its foundation. Joseph Smith, aged 14, was confused by the creeds of religions in his hometown. Creeds that explained God just as I did a moment ago. After study, pondering, and seeking answers, Joseph Smith sought to know more – from God, through prayer.

In answer to Joseph’s inspired prayer, revelation came. Knowledge, Truth, and Light were made known; uncovered, as it were. Joseph spoke, in person, with God our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. What was revealed? How does it compare with the philosophies of men adopted over the past centuries?

Three separate and real Beings (physical)
He is our literal Father.
He begat our spirits. We have always lived - with Him!
We are like Him and can become more like Him.
He is our Father, Friend, Advocate
Our first duty is to know God & His character. To know Him is to be changed by Him.

Our church is built on revelation – making things known and uncovered

Common Christian views of how God leads people include:

Catholics: Through the Pope and through the debate and politicking of early councils
Protestants: Through the Bible
Protestants: Through the body of believers

The LDS view is somewhat different.

Through a living prophet (Amos 3:7)
Through the Bible and additional revelation (unlimited!)
Through message of HG in mind and heart

Our Own Lives

I will briefly highlight three ways: Obedience, reading the scriptures, and prayer.

Personal Righteousness… we must be worthy if we are to receive revelation from God. It comes from His Holy Spirit, and the Spirit does not dwell in unclean temples.

Reading the Scriptures… We are commanded to “feast upon the words of Christ, for the words of Christ will tell [us] all things [we] should do” (2 Ne. 32:3). As we obtain the words of the Lord, we receive revelations. Things are uncovered. We are made aware of His will.

Prayer... Our scriptures abound with endless examples of revelations which come to us from our Father because of faithful prayers, and righteous desires. Sections 8 and 9 identify keys we don’t have time to discuss here and now to help us comprehend the revelations we receive. Miracles are manifest, we are recipients of revelation, as we live worthy lives, study, and pray.

Elder Eyring, in a superb address on Faith in October Conference, 2005, added that when we have done these things we could sit back and say that we have built a strong foundation, upon the Rock. We might say “I have done well, and created a strong foundation “by starting early and being steady in obedience. I will store it away against the times when I will be tested in storms.” However, this may be unwise because “faith has a short shelf life.” Just like the foundations of the sand fortress we built on the beach. Instead, he counsels, we will do well if we persist in strengthening that foundation, and “Go back and drink deeply and often” from the sources of strength.

Helaman counseled his sons, Nephi and Lehi, to “remember that it is upon the Rock of our Redeemer that we must build our foundation.” This can only be done when revelation confirms that He is our Redeemer.

My life is blessed, and my foundation strengthened as I reflect and acknowledge the revelations, answers to prayers, that I have experienced. They help me know that God hears our prayers and reveals truth to help His children.

I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is built upon the Rock of Revelation in accordance with Jesus’ instruction to His disciples, with a living prophet receiving revelation from our Head, Jesus Christ, in steering our course. Joseph Smith received a great revelation to commence the complete restoration of Christ’s Gospel to the earth. And I witness that I have received revelation through the Holy Ghost, that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and my Saviour and Redeemer, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His Church, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Good Friends are God's way of Apologising for Family

This is going to be a little longer than usual… we’ve had a huge couple of weeks and some exceptional experiences.

Last time I wrote we were having a wonderful time in Brisbane. We had a superb trip. Our Sunday (which commenced after I wrote the last entry) was wonderful, visiting friends and enjoying great company. We spent the morning relaxing because Kylie was not feeling 100%. Then we left early for church. We arrived at the meetinghouse at midday, an hour early for our meetings, but on time to say hello to our old congregation, who were just concluding. We have never felt so welcome in Camp Hill! It was wonderful to see our old friends!

Church was ok, although I was a little restless, wanting to be social more than reflective. I think the children were feeling similarly. We left at the end of the sacrament meeting and visited a few more friends. Warm conversations, kind words – happy memories.

Our final day was to be Monday. We wished we could have stayed longer. I didn’t think I would ever feel like that about Brisbane. More wonderful visits with friends. Kylie caught up with a lovely lady and her children who was a friend we met through swimming lessons. As we arrived at their home, their daughter saw Chanel and came running. Chanel dived out the door and we smiled as they embraced with fervour! It was really beautiful. The kids had so much fun playing. It was an exercise in the most diplomatic and tender negotiations to get them back in the car at the end of their visit. Our day concluded with a family dinner at the park, which abruptly terminated after Adele’s little boy put his teeth through his lip. Ouch.

Tuesday (the 6th of May) we left Bris-Vegas for the ‘Gong. It was so wonderful to fly! In typical Coulson fashion we barely made it to the airport on time to catch the flight. The traffic on the Gateway was as terrible as ever – at 5.30 am! I can’t believe that so many people get up at that time. As we travelled to the airport I had my mobile phone on my lap. I had been talking to Kylie (in her mum’s car) about alternate routes because of the voluminous traffic! I jumped out of the car when we arrived, forgetting all about my phone. It bounced once on the asphalt, and splashed into the storm drain beneath my feet! I removed the grate and, ignoring the worried glances from passers-by and airport security, climbed into the drain to rescue my adventurous phone. It doesn’t rain in Brisbane, but there was still an inch of water in the bottom of the drain – enough to drown my phone and render it inoperable.

The girls looked fashionably cute walking into the terminal. They were all rugged up in their huge coats because of the cool morning, and the fact that we knew it would be 10 degrees colder in NSW than QLD. Each of them was dragging their little suitcases behind them and wearing their carry-on backpacks. They were so excited to catch the plane – but not nearly as excited as Kylie and I. And then we found that our flight had been cancelled! We were fortunate to be able to fly just an hour later on the next flight. Instead of 14 hours in the car, we were in Sydney 90 minutes later. The children were so exhausted following the 4.30 am start that they slept most of the way home. Ahhh, peace and quiet. Kylie and I savoured the silence.

Arriving Home

We had left our house key with a good friend from church while we were gone. She had told us she wanted to give us one of her old lounges, and was going to look after things while we were gone. We picked up the key from her on the way home. Our visit was brief, and concluded with her handing Kylie a letter. It was titled “The Arctic Chateau”.

As we began to read we laughed gratefully. It was so funnily written, and detailed how the “maids and room service staff” (our friends) had gone through our home from top to bottom to make it ready for our arrival. Curtains had been hung, beds remade with under-blankets, lounges installed (as well as a few other furniture items), the fridge and fruit-bowl had been stocked, flowers purchased, some odds and ends for bathrooms etc had been bought, and the house had been cleaned from top to bottom. All this while our friend was unwell!

Kindness like that is impossible to repay. We have some wonderful friends.

The following day, Wednesday 7th May, Chanel was unwell. No school for her… but she went with Kylie to drop Abbie off. Waiting at the gate was one of Chanel’s best friends with a big “Welcome Back” sign, hand-made, for our family. Paige and her mum had done it as a craft project in anticipation of our arrival. They were so sad that Chanel couldn’t stay at school.

On Thursday I rang the motorcycle shop to discuss a deal I’d been working on with them. I traded in my big black Honda. It was hard to do, because the bike looks so good. There’s a lot of status tied up with it. I traded down to a much smaller bike, but much newer. My Honda had been 11 years old and had lots of things about it that were going to cost me money. It had not been looked after well by previous owners, and I felt that it had already cost me too much. So I swapped it for a 10 month old Yamaha commuter (called a Scorpio). It only has 3,500 kms on the clock, and is still under warranty. So I’ve lost the status of the big one, but I’ve got the reliability and economy of a newer, smaller bike. Still, it was hard to say goodbye.

Little else occurred between Friday and Sunday. Of course, Sunday was Mother’s Day. Another big day in the Coulson home! We were up early, wishing Kylie a breathtaking, magnificent day. I cooked her favourite brekky. Bacon, eggs, tomato, pineapple, toast and baked beans, all washed down with fresh juice. Then reality hit as we prepared lunches and things for a long drive to Gosford.

We darted off to church, just arriving on time. At 12.30 we were on the road again, heading north. Two and a half hours later we pulled into Daleys Point. The evening wasn’t quite as “happy” as we’d have hoped. But there were several pleasant moments, including the whole family laughing around the table as we sang Disney songs. Oh, and the food was delicious – and abundant. Each of the children prepared part of the meal. We stayed far too long though, not leaving until after 9pm. So, after fighting to stay awake for far too long, we finally arrived home at 11.30 Sunday night.

I’m pleased to say that this week just gone has been much quieter than the previous couple. Routine has been re-established, and things have hummed along at a comfortable, even rate. On Wednesday evening Chanel was on the local TV news. Her classroom was featured as part of the coverage of national school testing (of which I am heavily opposed – but that’s for another conversation). It was exciting to see her, and no doubt her class talked about it with excitement all the next day!

Abbie loves talking to us about all of the good things we have in life. Every night she makes sure we discuss highlights of our day as we eat our evening meal. I had a really funny conversation with Abbie on Friday. She told me that she remembered how my mum (Nanny Coulson) had given her some pencils. She explained how grateful she was for them, and then stated, “It fills me with great joy Dad.” Priceless!

Yesterday (Saturday), little Ella had to have a blood test. We are having her comprehensively assessed by a psychologist in the coming weeks to ascertain the degree of challenge we face with her cognitive development. We’re hoping that we’ll be told that Ella is fine, just temperamentally difficult, and the main challenge she has is her speech and language. But the doctor wants to go over her physical health in detail too. Ella was so brave. She sat up on the bench and put her arm out. Then she cuddle Kylie. As the prick entered her skin she quietly said, “It’s hurting me too much mummy.” She is so precious. Kylie told her to count to ten and it would be over. They only got to 4 and it was finished. Ella savoured the lollipop the pathologist rewarded her with, and wore her little bandaid with pride.

After the needle, we took the kids to a Country Fair/School Fete where we paid too much for rides and fairy floss, but got good value in laughs and time together.

It has been a magical few weeks and we feel privileged to be able to enjoy it all so much.

Brisbane

I’m sitting in warm, sunny Queensland as I type this out. And it’s nice to be here.

Last week concluded after Kylie did a wonderful job speaking in front of over 1000 people at our Stake Conference for church. I was really sick though, and the day was uneventful. I remained in bed all day Monday and Tuesday (though I raced into uni to teach two classes on Tuesday afternoon). I also took Wednesday off. Each of those days was entirely uneventful for our family. In my time off I essentially did nothing although I spent some time helping Kylie around the house. (I didn’t realise just how big our house is until I had to clean it).

Chanel has been learning her multiplication tables and we bought some cards that turn the tables into a game. We have gone from struggling with the tables to knowing all of them inside out (including 8’s and 9’s) in 3 days. She has done amazingly well.

Thursday morning we piled into the car and drove to the airport to fly to Brisbane. The kids were full of anticipation, perhaps more for the chance to be with family than to actually fly on a plane. In typical Coulson style we arrived at the airport with moments to spare, checked in, and boarded the plane. After some confusion about seating – we weren’t given a seating allocation together! – we managed to take our place and enjoy getting to Brisbane in 90 minutes instead of 14 hours (which is what the drive would have been).

Disembarking at Brisbane saw us all express identical sentiments – “Wow it’s warm in QLD!” Jumpers and all of those warm clothes were shed in favour of t-shirts, shorts and thongs. It is an entirely different climate. We were surprised at how dry it still is up here. We have become accustomed to green surrounds in Wollongong.

Some friends were kind enough to loan their car to us, and, after picking up Kylie’s dad (who the kids were so thrilled to see again) we drove to the Gold Coast to visit with Nan & Auntie Jan. It was going to be a short visit but we had a great time and ended up staying a few hours. We ate an unexpected, but tasty, dinner on Nan’s best crockery and had a genuinely enjoyable evening. Then back to Brisbane as we fell into an exhausted slumber.

Friday was a genuine highlight for us. Chanel spent the day at her old school: Cannon Hill State School. She was invited in to her old class with her teacher and spent the day with all of her friends. She got to order lunch, and after school she went to Netball training with her old team. So much fun! Abbie enjoyed her day playing with her best friend, Elissa Thayer. They spent around 6 hours together. Abbie was satisfied, and had a contented smile as they exchanged farewells. She is beautiful. Ella also got to play with friends while Kylie spent the morning catching up with several of her best friends at a morning tea. I spent the morning finalising paperwork associated with my old Management Training job. It is now finished, and I can send in my final invoice.

The other interesting event for Friday was visiting our old house in Morningside. We wanted to check on it, and therefore have the opportunity to claim the associated portion of our trip as a tax deduction. The place looked terrific. There were more weeds than I would have liked to see but, generally speaking, we seem to have good tenants. As we toured our old home Kylie and I couldn’t believe that we ever squeezed into the place. We left there after a quick visit to our old neighbours, feeling very satisfied and confident that things will work out well there, at least for the short-medium term.

Saturday Kylie indicated that she was coming down with what I’ve had. I’m still not fully recovered, but it appears that Kylie has caught it. Oh dear. Nevertheless, Kylie enjoyed time with another good friend who gave her a gorgeous gift. A couple of years ago, this friend took Kylie out for her birthday. They had a wonderful day, and Kylie received a list of 10 things this friend loved about her. It was quite special. On Saturday, this same friend gave Kylie a gift that she has been working on for two years. It is a beautiful, ten-page foldout scrap-booked card that describes the ten things this friend loves about Kylie. Such a special gift.

Kylie also watched her sisters play soccer during Saturday afternoon which I think she really enjoyed, although I’m not sure if Kylie will be looking up the local club in Wollongong to join up.

We were supposed to have fish ‘n chips for dinner, but I suggested that it would be cheaper (and tastier) to cook a roast. We ate in style! But it took an hour longer to cook than we expected because I wasn’t used to the oven. I was quite proud of myself though. I cooked for 8 adults and 4 children: roast chicken (x2), about 30 potatoes, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, corn and broccoli. Kylie made the gravy as only she can (the best gravy comes from Kylie’s pan). Yum. Of course, since cooking a roast is messier than fish ‘n chips, I also had to clean up. But it was worth it.

So far the holiday has been terrific. We return to NSW on Tuesday morning. We’re hoping that the rats in the ceiling will have moved out…

Rainy Holidays

The children are at the conclusion of their school holidays, and it has been two solid weeks of rain. At times, heavy rain. But they have had a wonderful time. This past week my sister, Karina, brought her six children for a visit and sleepover. That meant we had ten children under the age of eight running around the house and backyard. They had so much fun! It was great to watch. They ran, played, squealed with delight, and generally had the time of their lives. Even the grown-ups managed ok.

We have been enjoying our visits with family more and more as we get older. The children play better, and my siblings (and Kylie’s siblings) are getting easier to get on with. Of course, they would probably say it’s Kylie and I that are easier to get on with! They may be rightJ. Either way, we had a terrific time. The kids laughed all afternoon, we ate “wraps” (burritos), bathed all ten of them, and put them to bed. On Wednesday morning they ran around and played some more and promised to do it all again when they see each other next time.

Karina got annoyed with one of her children at one point and asked that wonderful parenting question that has been passed on for several generations in our family, “Would you like a smack?” Before the child could respond, my 4 year-old Ella responded, “Yeah! Smack him!” It made us all laugh.

Ella has been giving us plenty of work in recent times. Her temper is volatile. We find that if we take our time with her, and work carefully with her she does very well. But when she feels rushed, pressured, or that she is not being autonomous we know about it. Ella had a special treat last night (Sat) when she got to go to a birthday party for one of her preschool friends. She had such a treat and came home really happy.

Today at church we had our Stake Conference. Around 1200 people were at the meeting, and Kylie had been invited to speak. Talk about nervous! She did a wonderful job though. In order for the rest of the family to get through the two-hour meeting, mum drove down to be with us. The meeting was at Campbelltown, an hour north of our home and 80 minutes south of mum’s. Mum looked after Ella while I nursed Annie. The big girls looked after themselves quite nicely. But whoa! Did mum have her hands full with Ella? We got through the meeting – just. She simply has too much energy and does not like sitting still.

Midweek I began to feel a little unwell. That didn’t stop me surfing on both Thursday and Friday. There were great waves and I had loads of fun. But I’ve been entirely knocked around with some kind of cough. Nasty. I can not recall the last time that I was not well. To make matters worse we have some new move-ins. It seems that an entire family of rats has decided to make our house their house. They are delighting in spending the hours from 10pm until 3am keeping Kylie and I awake as they do their thing in the ceiling directly above our heads. I’ve tried poison unsuccessfully, so tomorrow I’m off to the hardware store to get some traps. I’ve been living on 5 hours sleep or less each night for the past 3 or 4, while sick. I don’t like hurting animals, but that rat has to die.

Lastly I had a really successful meeting this past week with my supervisor at uni. I’ve done very little work over the past fortnight with the children being on holidays, but what I have done appears to have been well received. It appears that I may be heading along a very positive path. I still have some reservations and concerns, but only time can show me whether they are well-founded or whether everything will turn out fine.

School Holidays

We began this week exhausted after driving to Gosford last Sunday following church. It was Rachel & Leah’s 17th birthday and we decided, at the last minute, to go and celebrate it with them. After 2½ hours driving up the freeway we arrived. The kids had a great time and it was really nice to be with the family again. We’re enjoying it more and more. Of course, by the time we left that evening it was after 8 o’clock, so we arrived home at a very late hour.

The kids are on school holidays. Two weeks is the length of the break and we’re just at the halfway mark. They have been making the most of it and are having a ball. Chanel, in particular, has enjoyed time with her new best friend, Paige. And Abbie and Ella have been terrific too. A few days ago they decided to play a scavenger hunt kind of game. They recalled that at Easter we hid eggs for them. We have no eggs right now, so they decided that they would hide all of the clothes pegs from the washing line, and then find them again!

Each day of the holidays Abbie has begged to do schoolwork. She loves reading, and has been making terrific progress on her words. We checked her current standard against the list of proscribed words required for Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2. She has about three quarters of them, and she is only one term into her Kinder year. We have also begun tying shoelaces together. I think she’s getting it. Abbie is addicted to learning, and it’s wonderful.

Chanel and I are reading the Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Graeme. It is a beautiful book. I don’t recall reading it when I was younger, but wish I had. His writing is exceptional. Chanel loves books. I am so grateful. We went to a Lifeline book fair on Friday and Chanel bought Heidi, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Treasure Island. She says she is still looking for Moby Dick and Swiss Family Robinson.

I have had a quieter week than normal at school, given that it’s school holidays. I’ve cut my hours shorter so I can be around Kylie and the children a little more. Oh, and also because this past week we have had an amazing amount of swell. I went surfing three days in a row. It was terrific. And it was some of the biggest surf I have previously experienced. I caught some of the biggest waves I’ve caught in my life. I kinda wished that I could just surf all day – but there’s always other priorities.

I have received a green light for my proposed studies. Actually it’s more a case of being given a preliminary nod to explore my idea a little more rather than actually being told that we’ll run with it. There is still a lot to do, but it seems that we may be able to have some fun with my plan. The idea is that people approach their work in one of three general ways: they see it as a job, a career or a calling. At each level there is a different degree of interest, gratitude, and fulfillment. Those with a job have the lowest levels of satisfaction, those with a career fall in the middle, and those with a calling are completely thrilled with what they do. I am investigating the relationships between happiness, meaning, and orientation to parenting. I think that parents who see it as a “job” will have less meaning, and be fairly low on happiness. Those who see it as a “calling” will have greater meaning, and moderate happiness (because parenting is challenging). Career parents will fall in the middle somewhere. So that’s an exciting start.

I am also ecstatic about some other plans we have made. We were going to be driving to Brisbane for the first weekend of May. I decided that I didn’t want to drive… so I would fly Kylie and Annie up instead. When I got online I found $65 flights. So now the whole family is flying up. The cost is only about $100 more than it would have been to drive, but it will be bliss compared with what we would have been dealing with otherwise! Only 90 minutes of flight time compared with 14 hours in the car! I think that’s money well spent.


To finish things off for the week we went and visited some friends, Trevor & Deb, yesterday. He has just returned from three weeks in the USA and brought home two “Go-Peds”. They are motorised electrically charged scooters. Loads of fun zooming around the streets on them! They go up to 40km/h. The kids couldn’t get enough.


I’ve been listening to a new CD recently, The Holy Secret. So many new insights. I love learning.

Our Brainy Kids

It’s been a relatively quiet week, with very little to report.

Our kids love their cousins! Chanel, Abbie & Ella are in the back of my sister’s (Karina) car. They’re with their cousins Jaxson, Paris, Phoenix and Logan in Sydney when Kylie took everyone to the Entertainment Centre last week. When they get together there’s enough energy to blow up a house! In fact, if you’ve ever seen a house after they’ve been together, you’d suggest that I was understating the fact.

Each night around the dinner table our family sits together and we discuss the things we’re most grateful for from the day. The children are usually bursting with exciting stories from their adventures at school. We really enjoy the time, and the girls argue with one another about who will lead the discussion. On Monday Chanel had attended her first BIG school excursion. She went on the bus with all the other kids, and they went to Bluescope steel. They toured the steelworks and had a huge adventure.

As Chanel began to share her story we were expecting another happy account, but instead she told us that she had been crying on the bus. She missed her family and felt like she was leaving, because she was on the bus without us. She then went on to say that her experience helped her to realise how grateful she is for her family. We had a wonderful discussion about how negative/sad emotions can also be good for us. We talked about how special our family was. It was one of those moments that we will remember for years to come.

On Thursday morning Kylie and I had an interview scheduled with Chanel’s school teacher, Mrs Burton. We wanted to know how Chanel was settling in, adjusting to the curriculum in a new state, and whether we could do anything to help. Her response was unexpected. Chanel is excelling at school. She is in the top maths group and doing exceptionally well. Her spelling scores are equivalent to grade 5 or 6 rather than grade 3, where she presently learns. Fortunately her teachers are aware of Chanel’s ability and are providing her with opportunities to continue to learn. Chanel is excited about learning too, which is working very much in her favour.

The teacher positively glowed about Chanel. She also spoke extensively about how clear it was that Chanel had come from an excellent school in QLD, and how much better the QLD curriculum is compared with NSW. We have felt that, but to have it so powerfully confirmed was nice. I’d love to launch into a politically motivated diatribe, but don’t think it will make us feel better. We take great comfort that both of our school-girls are doing exceptionally well.

After the interview I was ushered into Chanel’s classroom. They have been doing a unit on music, and radio announcing was part of the study. I volunteered to spend some time talking to the class about being one. They were amazed that I had been a radio guy, and were thrilled when I told them about some of the celebrities that I’d met or interviewed. They loved knowing that I got free CD’s, concerts and movies. It was fun to talk about it with them.

Abbie has been moved up to Level 9 in her school “readers” too. Most kids take the entire kindergarten year to get to that level. But Abbie, after one term, is already there. She is excelling. For the holidays her teacher, Miss Johnston, sent home a 13 page booklet of spelling and math activities for the children to participate in if they wanted. Abbie sat down yesterday and couldn’t stop. She takes every opportunity she can to do schoolwork.

Yesterday we took the kids to the beach. The seasons are changing, but it was such a perfect day that we had to go there. It was well worth it. The water was beautiful, the surf was small, and the girls had great fun. Chanel is trying to work out whether she likes catching waves or not. She has been “dumped” several times and doesn’t like that, but she really enjoys catching waves when she doesn’t get dumped. There’s a fabulous rock outcrop at Port Kembla that we can jump off when the surf is small. That’s another favourite of hers.

Abbie and Ella prefer to splash in the shallow water, build sand castles, and cover up with a towel when they get cold.

In other news, I’m enjoying studying. It is very challenging, but I feel like I’m making progress. Things are going well.

The End of Daylight Savings!

I am so glad that daylight savings is finally over. We can put the kids to bed when it’s dark, and when we arise each morning there is that extra hour to get organised and functioning. I feel a little more normal now that we’re back on QLD time!

It has been quite a challenging week in many ways, but equally challenging and wonderful. I changed my research focus another couple of times. It has been a really challenging process as I try to clearly define precisely what I plan to research. One of the biggest challenges is trying to designate the well-being of a family as anything more than an aggregate of the well-being of the individuals within that family. But resolution appears to have arrived.

On Sat 5th I attended the First Annual Positive Psychology Conference at the University of Sydney. I caught the train there with my supervisor, Lindsay. We spent close to two hours discussing my ideas, struggles, and possible ways to effectively research how to make families happier. Eventually we settled on a few core principles. I felt relieved but still a little unsure. Lindsay joked that once we finished at the Conference that day, I would probably want to scrap everything we’d discussed. “No way” was my response. We spent so long talking about it that as far as I was concerned, it was set in cement! Until I sat through a few conference sessions.

My ideas have changed again. But this time there seems to be a very clear pathway. I’m sure there will be some issues arise, as they always do. Rather than the deeply complicated project that I was designing, my new plans and ideas seem quite simple. Yet I think they will be far more powerful. That has been a wonderful event. And the way it came about was important too. I had sat through so many sessions and absorbed so much information I thought my brain was going to explode so I left the conference centre and went outside to ponder. As I did so, thoughts began to distill. I took out my notebook and jotted down the relevant ideas. It flowed effortlessly and simply. I just had to get into a peaceful environment and it happened. It felt wonderful.

I can’t wait to get back to uni to start to really get into the detail of my plans!

Ella is really enjoying church lately. She has been assigned a teacher all to herself. No one knew until yesterday that her Sunday School teacher (Primary) is actually a trained teacher with a specialty in remedial work. She is amazing, and goes to such an incredible effort for Ella. And Ella absolutely loves her. They do wonderful activities, create super creations, and Ella is delighted. We feel relieved, and deeply grateful. Ella is her only student and she goes to so much effort.

Our little Annie is sitting up for extended periods, over ten minutes! Annie talks and talks. Of course at 8 months of age nothing is intelligible, but she interacts vocally, and laughs all the time. We’re starting to see the slightest hints of desire to crawl too. Annie is simply adorable.

Abbie May is the funniest five-year-old we have ever encountered too. Abbie loves spelling and endlessly asks us how to spell words. She saunters around the house saying the sounds of letters in different combinations, playing with the sounds and creating words. Last night after I’d tucked her into bed and cuddled for ten minutes I was convinced she was asleep. Then I heard her soft whisper, “Daddy, how do you spell sister?” I told her I’d tell her in the morning! I could not believe she was still awake – and still trying to spell! Abbie is addicted to spelling. She can now read well over 100 words (and she has only been at school for 9 weeks). She can also spell a lot of them!

Precious Chanel is starting to deal with some significant challenges related to the morality of the schoolyard. Children do not all share the same values, and Chanel is learning how to negotiate the balancing act required for her to maintain her standards while being tolerant, but not accepting, of other’s values. Swearing and bullying have been issues we’ve dealt with this past week, but Chanel has done a wonderful job. She talks to Kylie and I and we work with her. She seems to be intent on taking our advice, so we hope we’re getting it right.

Kylie is deeply involved in her new church responsibilities and going really well. Kylie also had a great experience this week. On Saturday while I was at the Conference at uni, Kylie took the children to see the “Chinese Spectacular”, an event that mum bought tickets for as a gift. It was in Sydney at the Entertainment Centre. Things didn’t go so well though, and Kylie on her own with the children meant that she couldn’t stay for the whole show. Mum was also in Sydney and met up with Kylie and the four girls in Darling Harbour. They had a wonderful time. Mum said the money for the show was not important. The show was supposed to be fun, but since it wasn’t fun for the kids it was more important to take the children outside and give them fun elsewhere. Kylie wants to have a holiday in Sydney soon and spend more time at Darling Harbour. There’s so much to do.

Sunday has been a spiritual feast. I listened to a wonderful talk on the Internet, then went to church. Our meeting was really good. Then I taught a class which went well. We cancelled the young men class which was terrific! And after church I went home teaching. My companion is a man from Sierra Leone. He is a refugee who lost his wife during the war over there 8 years ago. Since then he has continued to look for her, and two months ago he found her in the USA. She has come to visit and they are finally reunited after nearly a decade not knowing if the other was even alive. He only recently joined the church and came home teaching with me for the first time.

We visited and taught 5 families from our congregation. It was a wonderful day. We were uplifted, and everyone was grateful for our visits. And I learned so much about a man who has lost everything and had to rebuild his life. It was remarkable. It also reminded me of how unspeakably fortunate we are to live in this country. Perhaps our country could be a little more compassionate to others who have suffered so badly.