Final Student 'Network Night' for 07

More info on our website. Like the graphic?

Getting thrashed in scrabble

I'm desperately trying to beat someone [read Guthers] in scrabble, but I just can't seem to pull it off. Ah well. 8th time lucky maybe...

Diesel is green? And cool??

Perhaps I was always mistaken, but I remember growing up and being told that diesel was a dirty fuel. It was unrefined, made lots of black smoke, and was expensive. Cars that were running on diesel were slow, poor performers, custom made for losers who deserved to be embarrassed for their dud choice.

I always knew that diesel engines did put out lots of torque - hence diesel was used in lots of trucks and buses, but that this was a necessary evil to have so many diesel engines running around, and that one day we'd pay a huge environmental cost for our large vehicle diesel use.

Then I remember a government decision to upgrade all NSW buses to 'eco-buses' powered by natural gas. We ditched the old school dirty diesel engines and paid lots of money to go green. It looked like diesel was on the way out.

But in the last 12 months, it seems that diesel has a new image. Most euro hatches and sedans are available as turbo diesels as a 'green alternative'. And not only is it a green alternative, but diesel is being pushed as a performance option! Did I miss something? When did diesel become clean? Or sporty? Or has it always been clean, and just misunderstood? Is diesel green or not?

Technology failure

Well, it must be the month of techno-failure for the Russells. So far this month, the screen on Soph's powerbook stopped working (though you can plug it into our TV still to use it - and some days you just get lucky and it works??) Then my electric razor broke earlier this week, and then to top it all off my macbook's hard drive failed last night.

Thankfully, I got warned by a mate about the macbook hard drive failure epidemic, and had pretty much all of my documents backed up (though I suspect I've lost a few hundred emails).

For someone who normally is a big fan of all things techno, I'm a little down about it of late!

New title

Craig's blog has a new title. Love the blog description: Where Craig talks about stuff that interests him...

self diagnoser

Check out this article on people who have imaginary allergies.

I’m what you may call a classic self-diagnoser. Not exactly a hypochondriac, a self-diagnoser is highly alert individual who notices when any part of the body is awry and is quick to give their own medical diagnosis – usually from a website, newspaper article or a similar condition their mum’s friend’s sister has suffered from.

Over the years, I have diagnosed myself with:

Throat cancer
Food poisoning
Heart Pulpitations
Impaired vision
Skin cancer(s) – discolouration of freckles/moles a very popular sighting with self-diagnosers
Virus – convenient, umbrella term that tends to cover any random symptom

I’ve yet to make a correct diagnosis, which is probably why the husband has banned me from visiting US online medical dictionaries (a treasure trove for self-diagnosers!). I would imagine that self-diagnosers would go on to be expert diagnosers of their children's diseases in later life.

Have you ever been wrongly convinced you had a medical condition?

new discoveries

I grew up in a Christian family, so from an early age I was brought up with stories from the Bible, particularly from the Old Testament.

My parents used to read to me from a big children's Bible. One picture and story I remember so vividly is Lot's escape from the city of Sodom (Genesis 19). The picture was of Lot's wife, frozen as a pillar of salt, her head turned back in horror towards the destroyed city.

I always thought of Lot as the hero or "righteous man" of the story and his wife as the wayward one - not because this was what the children's Bible or my parents necessarily taught; that's just how it seemed to my four-year-old mind. "How brave he was for fleeing and not turning back!" I thought. "If only Lot's wife could have done the same!"

When I was a little older and could read the Bible for myself, I discovered how Lot invited the men of Sodom to rape his daughters instead of his house-guests. I read about how Lot, drunk and living in a cave, slept with his daughters who then went on to have babies. I couldn't understand how a righteous man could have done those things. And because I was in the habit of automatically assuming that if a "righteous man" did something then God must approve, I therefore couldn't understand how God could approve of rape and incest.

This morning I listened to a sermon by Mark Driscoll on Genesis 19. For the first time, I realised that:

a) God did not approve of Lot's behaviour in the city of Sodom;
b) Just because the text doesn't say "God was angry", it doesn't mean he was fine with it;
c) Not everything the "heroes" of the Bible did was righteous and approved of by God

This may sound rather obvious to most people, but it wasn't to me! For the first time, I realised how powerful my childhood assumptions about the Old Testament are.

It could be different now, but when I was young Sunday school and children's Bibles often taught kids about the "heroes" of the Bible - i.e. David, Abraham, Moses and Sampson.

When I grew older, I realised that they weren't perfect and at times, sinned against God. But while this was obvious in the case of David and Sampson - here God clearly shows his disapproval and we see some form of repentance - there are often nuances in other accounts which don't explicitly condemn the action of the "hero".

Another example: Abraham sleeping with his maidservant. Nowhere in the account does God explicitly condemn Abraham by this, and I mean so clearly that a seven-year -old can pick it up. So for years, like the story of Lot and his wife, I couldn't understand how God could approve of a man sleeping with his maidservant. It never occurred to me that God's plans reign supreme even through sin.

Possibly you're reading this and finding my discovery rather inane and obvious (which it is, in a way), but it was totally revolutionary for me! I love learning new things about God.

Running our Youth Event.

Last Friday night, Crossfire had its first evangelistic night - "Ultimate Reality". It was part of Annandale Community Church's 'Start the Ultimate Relationship' week, and was a great night.

Here's how we planned what we did on our night:

1. First step was choosing the Bible passage for the evening. Although we had a groovy name for the event, a funky theme (Reality TV) plus great games and decoration - first up was working out what we wanted to teach from the Bible. So often, youth (and even church) events are planned the other way around. A theme is proposed and then the Bible is made to squeeze around an inflexible program, and so the 'big idea' that the kids take home is fashioned before the Bible is even opened.
We decided that more than anything, we wanted to take these kids through Luke 15, to show them that God loves them. He loves them and goes out looking for his lost children like the woman does with the coin, like the shepherd does with his lost sheep, and like the father does with his lost son. We decided that we would focus primarily on this last story - the prodigal Son.

2. With the Bible passage chosen, the rest of the night could flow from there. Next question was: What overall shape should the whole night take? As we read through the passage, it was clear that the story of the lost Son could easily be re-created into a reality TV show. There were a few other suggestions - but reality TV is something that youth get - and it looked like it could be a lot of fun.

3. We wrote a script for a TV show in 3 pre-recorded segments, which would be supplemented on the night with live interviews on a 'rove' style set. The TV show was about a son 'Nick' who was challenged by the producers of the show to demand his inheritance from his parents and leave home in order to win his freedom. Like reality TV shows, our video contained pre-recorded interviews with (fictitious) friends and family, and reflections from the protagonist on his actions - they'll be up on youtube soon.

4. These segments were broken up with games and activities and challenges - some loosely tying in with the theme, others not. We wanted to have time to meet and relate with newcomers as well as teach them about God. These were delegated to be organised and run on the night by a leader who was not required to be part of the 'TV' part of the night.

5. The video was filmed, edited and put on DVD with automated stops at the right places - to keep things technically smooth on the night.

6. The room decoration was delegated to someone who had read the script and understood what was happening. They brought in a lighting kit, big screen, couch, coffee table and posters and P.A.

7. We wrote the text for invite/postcard ad and then sent it to our graphic designer who came up with the final piece. This was letterbox dropped to the entire suburb along with the other mission advertising, as well as given to regular memebers to invite friends. We had more guests from personal invites than we had from the letterbox drop.

That was pretty much it. Any questions or comments?

thoughts on blogging

Donners has some really wise thoughts on blogging and the issue of self-disclosure.

This is something I've been thinking through lately. Is it possible to write about your life in a way that's wise and thoughtful, but honest?

The original reason I started this blog was to have somewhere to practice my writing when I have spare time, but the only thing I can write about without much research or effort is a) my opinions, or b) my life, which seems to be the two categories that most blogs fall into.

But is that helpful for people? Does it have substance?

I've read blogs that voice opinions or reveal snapshots of a person's life - and do so with grace, thoughtfulness and wisdom. I am encouraged by these writers. They are rare though, and far between.

But it's a fine line to tread. Sometimes, usually late at night when I can't sleep, I want to write about something in my life and convince myself that it's for godly reasons - that I want to encourage others - when really I just want to put myself on display. I struggled a lot with this when I was younger, not just on blogs but in what I chose to share to others. As I grow older, God is teaching me not to speak (or write!) in haste.

We talk a lot about "being real" these days, about being gritty and honest with each other. Sometimes I wonder if this is possible on a blog. No one ever reveals an unedited picture of their life on a blog; it's not like real-life when you can watch a person in action. In the blog-world, you are always reading what a person wants you to read about them, no matter how "real" they are trying to be. This is embedded in the very nature of a public diary.

The key - I think - is wisdom and self awareness. Being honest doesn't necessarily equate to being encouraging or full of substance (in fact, catharsis rarely looks to the interest of others). That takes a lot of thinking and consideration.

But...in the end, what can you do in an age where everyone's their own publisher? :)

The Child Within (10 of 40)

Today's Challenge: Create a memory today with someone you care about that will mean a lot ten years from now.

It's been a while since we've reported on our childish escapades or even attempted one, so tonight we got back in saddle and tackled challenge 10.

The 'someone you care about' bit was pretty straight forward: this was a challenge to be done together. But something that will mean a lot 10 years from now? That kind of thing is pretty hard to predict! We had notions of writing letters, or going exploring some place new, or going for a long drive somewhere, but none of these things seemed particularly 'memorable' or different for us. What we needed was a really classy night out at a restaraunt - a formal night out.

So after dinner tonight, we got all dressed up - Soph in a black skirt, boots and cute top, and me in a shirt and suit, and we headed out to a place so classy, we knew that we could probably only do dessert.

10 minutes later we pulled in to Stanmore Maccas. Yep, we decided on a Maccas formal, for dessert! We swaggered in, all dolled up and placed an order for a Mcflurry and a sundae, but alas - this 24 hour 'convenience' restaraunt, was conveniently out of ice cream! There was no way we were doing burgers, so it was back in the car and off to Five dock. It was possibly the most effort I've been to for a McFlurry and a chocolate Sundae!

Finally, some 40 minutes after setting out, we stood again at a Macca's counter and placed our order. This time success!

It was lots of fun to sit all dressed up and hang out together. If we don't remember the food, we'll certainly remember driving to a second Mcdonalds just to get dessert!

Tomorrow's Challenge: Do something your parents would never let you do as a child.

New York has bad coffee

No real suprises here.

As for good coffee, this was my flat white this afternoon!

I got some great tips from MB on Saturday on extraction. Man I love coffee...

witnessing Christ on the job

The magazine I’m currently working for ran a story last week about Christian doctors and whether they should be allowed to be open about their faith by praying for patients or placing Bible verses, prayers or Bibles in their waiting room.

The thrust of the article was “yes, so long as the religious paraphernalia and activity does not make patients from a different background feel alienated”, although one medical ethicist felt the displaying of the Serenity Prayer was inappropriate and pushing an agenda.

I think that it’s fair to expect Christian - or Buddhist and Muslim - doctors to maintain a professional distance when it comes to sharing their faith, so holding back on the “Jesus Loves You” posters in the waiting room is probably not a bad idea (in fact, it’s probably not a bad idea to hold back on these posters in any room).

However, the article did remind me about a recent experience I had with a new doctor.

I had some questions about birth control methods and I thought it would be a good chance to book an appointment with the local doctor’s surgery and check it out (I’m sick – hehe – of waiting for hours in crowded medical centers, only to be hurriedly dismissed by a busy, impatient doctor).

After five minutes with this doctor, I could tell she was different from some of the other GPs I had seen. She was not only professional and thorough, but good-natured, kind and a good listener. The clincher was when she made it very clear to me which birth control methods prevented embryos from being implanted on the uterus wall (effectively causing an abortion within the body), and which didn’t. I had to ask the last doctor I saw about this. She looked at me like I was insane and didn’t understand my question properly.

It transpired that this doctor is a Christian. While she didn’t try to push any agenda on me, she said she always made it her responsibility to equip people to make ethical decisions when it came to their bodies. Her professionalism, warm nature and upright character spoke more about her faith than any poster ever could.

Perhaps there’s something to learn here about how to be a witness for Christ in all professions.

Carnivale!

Photos from Saturday's Carnivale are up on a new website explaining how we ran our mission. Check out the new site at ultimaterelationship.net

Ultimate Reality

There are lots of things to thank God for at the moment, but one I'd like to mention is the kids who turned up for Ultimate Reality on Friday night.

We had about 12 kids attend, which doesn't sound like much except that only two were our regular Crossfire kids. One of the girls brought three friends (I'm really encouraged by her as we've been talking and praying for these friends for the past few weeks), the rest were from around the neighbourhood.

The night went off: the set looked like Rove-meets-Australian Idol; Andre, Nick and I had lots of fun up the front and Sam gave an engaging talk on the story of the Prodigal Son. The whole "show" was built around a Reality TV challenge - demand $10,000 from your parents and see how much you can spend in one day. It was quite funny to go from kids screeching and hurling frozen ice-blocks against the wall (a game we played) to the quiet murmuring of conversation, clinking wine glasses and jazz music from the photography exhibition opening next door!

Anyway, thank God that one 11-year-old boy who prayed along with Sam at the end of the talk came to Crossfire the following sunday. He has never been to church or heard about Jesus before, but seemed to really enjoy youth group. Nick and Sam were also able to have a great conversation with him about Jesus on Sunday.

Pray that he'll keep coming, and for the other teenagers and kids living in the inner-west. I'm convinced that a youth group at Annandale will work.

The curse of Martha

I decided to do mission part-time this year, partly because I just started a new round doing medical/health science news and it’s taking all my concentration to just do my job adequately (learnt a new word today – myocardial infarction, which means heart attack).

I thought a part-time commitment would be easier than full-time, but that was silly thinking. Not only am I still doing my job in the day, but I’m going to church straight after work to help run different events and going to bed late. I don’t get that afternoon rest in between or much time to pray, feed on God’s Word and be encouraged by AB’s talks.

Hmmm.

I love running these events, but I hate doing ministry like this: tired, resentful, running from one thing to the next. It reeks of guilt and is devoid of joy.

My husband Sam is really good at helping me to not feel like I need to keep relentlessly doing things in order to feel like a worthy Christian. He is constantly encouraging me to live by grace, not works.

Guilt and the desire to meet imagined expectations should never be a motivating factor to serve. Phrases like “I have to do it”, “If I don’t help, I feel selfish”, “If I don’t do it, no one will” or “I’m tired, but I’ll keep pushing through” don’t honour God.

I think I will be wiser in my choices next year. Meanwhile, please pray for the youth event Ultimate Reality tomorrow. I’m tired, but really looking forward to it – pray that kids will come and desire to follow Jesus.

Mission kick-off

Last night the Archbishop Peter Jensen came to speak at our “Ultimate Relationship” dinner. It was an excellent night and I really enjoyed myself.

I’ve never heard Peter Jensen speak having only ever read his Easter and Christmas columns in the SMH, and was pleasantly surprised to see that he speaks in the same way that he writes. What I liked about his talk was that he gently illuminated the passage of Jesus speaking to the rich, young ruler. He didn’t try to push an agenda or fit the Gospel into a tidy formula; he beautifully explained the passage, gave us insights into our own lives and revealed who Jesus is. I love this kind of preaching.

Other than that, the night was kickin’, with good music, wine, a tasty meal and cosy atmosphere. Our church presents itself nicely at night – I think it has to do with the high ceilings, wooden floors and good lighting.

Sam and I even got to meet some interesting people, which I wasn’t expecting given that we were helping with power-point and sound for the night. The only thing is that we were quite sick that night from the food, not because it was bad or undercooked (it was a nice meal), but I think because we aren’t used to eating that much meat!

fairyland

In Rome's Circo Massimo, the site of the first Roman Games, an artist has covered the ground 10,000 LED orbs. Check out the photos in the gallery; it looks really beautiful and eerie.

Does anyone know why...

...only women attend baby showers?

the picture is by Anne Geddes, called Twins.

last night

Our home phone rang at 2:15am this morning.

I woke up abruptly. Sam slept.

At first I thought I was dreaming. But when I dragged myself out of bed to check the phone, the little red light was flashing in the darkness of the living room, suggesting that someone had called and hung up without leaving a message.

Only three groups of people have our home number: my family, Sam’s family and my friend Roz. I pushed a few buttons on the phone to try and find out which number the call was from, but cordless phones are confusing, along with Excel, mobiles that also work as video recorders and our new remote control (later in the morning, Sam would inform me between mouthfuls of cereal that you can’t check unanswered caller ID from landlines).

Who calls at 2:15am in the morning? As I got back into bed, my mind raced. You only call at that hour if you’re crazy, drunk or it’s an emergency. Suddenly my musings turned to slight panic as I imagined various disasters befalling on our families. Dad’s had a heart attack! Nic’s been in a car accident! Loz had complications after giving birth to her baby! What to do? It was too late to call people’s houses. Then suddenly I had a brainwave. Our mobiles! Surely you would try the home phone, then go for the mobile next.

Sam was still asleep. Inspired by this idea but not wanting to wake him, I got out of bed and shuffled around our bedroom in the dark for five minutes, trying to locate my phone. Then I remembered that I’d hung my bag on the back of the kitchen chair when I got home from work last night, so spent five minutes shuffling in the kitchen. I found the bag, but not the phone. Phone was actually in the study on the couch, where I’d made some calls to Crossfire parents about the youth event this Friday. No missed calls. No emergency. My family was fine, but I still had to check Sam’s.

Sam was still asleep, so locating his phone would be tricky. Being the nice wife I am, I couldn’t very well wake him with hysterical story about imagined car accidents and emergency surgery (niggling fears had now turned into full-blown nightmares), so I tried all the logical places: his jean pockets, the kitchen table, finally the bookcase, where I found it next to Bill Byson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. No missed calls. So our families weren’t facing life-threatening disaster.

Except I still couldn’t sleep. Maybe it wasn’t our families. Maybe it was the police, warning us about a terror threat in our street (it was, by now, 3:30am in the morning and the mind wasn’t so perky). Maybe it was a burglar, calling to see if anyone was home. He could be breaking in this very minute!

I stared at my sleeping husband, trying to will him awake with the sheer power of my eyeballs. The desire to be a good wife gave way to jealousy. How can he sleep so soundlessly while I’m trying to figure out the quickest exit from the bedroom in case of an attack? I fight that urge to wake him until I finally give in and tentatively (in what I hope is interpreted as a loving, soothing gesture) brush his arm.

Sam?
Mmmm.
Theforag.
What did you say?
The phone rang.
Oh.
At 2am.
Oh really?
Don’t worry – I checked our mobiles and no one’s in trouble, but do you think it could be an intruder of some sort...(start to realise this sounds silly)...checking to see if we're not home
No honey.
Oh.
Please go back to sleep.

Hmm. Not really on board with the whole burglar-at-the-back-door theory. Maybe I shouldn't have watched SVU last night. I settled down under the covers and drifted to sleep, fears of emergencies and intruders left behind.

Escaping Adultitis.

This last week or so, Soph and I have not been as childish as we might have liked, but with mission happening this week, it's been hard to find the time (a very adult-like excuse, I know!). But we'll be back at it really soon! Our next challenge is to make a memory. It'll be a good read, so stay tuned!

It seems that our childishness is on the right track however! Our challenges have been noticed by the creators of the Escape Plan, Kim and Jason. We got reviewed on the escaping adultitus site - you can check out their review here.

The difference a nice venue makes.

There's been lots of talk of late in the blogosphere about growth techniques, and whether or not churches need to worry about aesthetics, or just get on with preaching the gospel. In my mind, both matter. Gospel is most important, but asthetics matter too, and shouldn't be overlooked, or dismissed as unimportant.

Our university public meeting is only small, we meet at lunch time on Tuesday. For the last 18 months (until about a month ago) our group met in a tutorial room in the media building at UTS. For that time, we've taught the Bible faithfully, and seen lots of growth in individuals who are part of the kingdom. We've even had outsiders visit, and faithfully proclaimed the gospel to them. But because of the location (on the 5th floor, not near public spaces, and in a classroom) we've struggled to attract outsiders.

Just over a month ago we ran an evangelistic event in the top floor of a campus cafe where lots of the arts and media students spend their breaks. It's a bright room, private (but not out of the way), has art hanging on the walls, lounges rather than desks and chairs, and is an easy place to hang out afterwards. We weren't sure how it would go, but decided it was worth a shot.

At the new venue we more than doubled our numbers, and made contacts with outsiders who have since begun meeting to explore the Bible one to one for the first time.

Since then we've been meeting there every week. Regular numbers are up. Students stay longer afterwards and have better gospel conversations. People drink coffee while we study the Bible which gives the meeting a relaxed and personal feel, rather than a class/lecture feel. We still teach the Bible and preach the gospel in the same way as before.

Aesthetics and gospel preaching need not be enemies. I think there is a tendency to demonise aesthetics as if by thinking carefully about them we are somehow emptying the gospel of its power. If anything, most groups need to think about aesthetics more, rather than less, while continuing to preach faithfully - for a pretty room with no gospel won't save anyone.

Getting excited about mission.

As mission gets closer I'm getting slowly more excited. I love watching the events take shape, and I'm convinced that mission is a great way (to borrow a dominicism) to "heighten the evangelistic temperature" at church. Before the mission starts, I still need to put the finishing touches on a talk for a youth outreach event on friday night (Ultimate Reality), and help put together the DVD for the short film night. Then all that's left to do is get excited about door knocking again - it's such a good way to meet people and talk to them (I'm also looking forward to making espresso on a commercial machine again on Saturday, out the front of church - Come and buy a coffee. It'll be cheap and tasty!).

Check out the full range of events here.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to watching God work, both in the team, and in the lives of people that we contact this week, who don't yet know Jesus. Please pray for these next few days.

American geography.

I am terrible at geography in general, but I have no idea where individual cities in America are. Any ideas? What cities are represented by these dots?

Funny piece on Generations in the Australian

Read it here. h/t Craig. Are you representative of your generation?

Great quote from last night's sermon

"There are many people who want Christ to speak for them, but do not want his word to speak to them."

Last night at church we looked at 1 John 1 and 2- one of my favourite parts of the word. It's a fantastic section, filled with the glorious news of the atonement, as well as some challenging words on obedience to God's commands.

These two ideas stand beside each other throughout all of Scripture. On the one hand you have the atonement, where Jesus pays for sin at the cross: "We have one who speaks to the father in our defence - Jesus Christ , the Righteous one. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world". (1 John 2:1-2)
It's this message of grace that brings us into relationship with God. It's Jesus' work on the cross that turns aside God's wrath and takes away our sins. It's one of the most wonderful doctrines in all of Scripture.

But it doesn't stand on it's own. Right after his death, Jesus rose again to new life, and those who are united to Christ, are united to him in death and resurrection. Christians have a new life in him. They are born again. Now they obey the commands of God, they walk in the light, they hate worldliness, they love their brothers, and they honour Jesus as Lord. "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him", but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is no in him." (1 John 2:3-4)

This is what I what I love about the book of 1 John. It so clearly couples the saving grace of the gospel with the new life of those who are in Christ. We are saved from sin, and into a new life where Christ is our Lord.

So often, Christians want one without the other. Some want Jesus to speak for them, but don't want Jesus to speak to them - correcting them, teaching them, rebuking them or training them in righteousness. Others want to follow in the noble footsteps of Jesus, trying to obey his commands, but not acknowledging him as the only atoning sacrifice that can bring forgiveness of sins.

Scripture holds up both as the gospel. So must we. I Praise God for a faithful sermon last night that held out this message.

The Child Within (9 out of 40)

Today's Challenge: Do one thing today to support a cause or issue you really care about.

Sam and I are passionate about lots of causes - support for readers with Harry Potter withdrawal, the "who needs barriers for APEC when you have Jack Bauer" action group, campaigns to convert Starbucks and Gloria Jeans frequenters.

However, the cause we've decided to support is summed up in a Bible passage I read this morning:

Religion that God our Father accepts is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

The "orphans and widows" were the vulnerable people in James' time. God wants us to look after the needy and weak in our world. This is what pleases Him.

One of the most vulnerable group in society is children, especially in countries where they grow up without privilege or necessities. So Sam and I have decided to sponsor a child through Compassion. His name is Bruno, he's five years old and he lives in Brazil. According to the profile we've recieved, he lives in a poor area of the country, enjoys soccer and attends local Bible classes.

This challenge was great, as we've been meaning to sponsor a child for ages but haven't yet got around to it. Sorry for the lapse in challenges - things have been busy busy busy....

Next Challenge: Create a memory today with someone you care about that will mean a lot ten years from now.

Real Busy Lately

Yep. Really busy.

one for the pile

Today I’m sad, because I read in the paper that Health Ledger and Michelle Williams have ended their short marriage.

It’s not that I particularly liked Heath Ledger or Michelle Williams, the latter I remember as the sulky girl from Dawson’s Creek (Katie Holmes’ character Joey was my favourite, although that doesn’t say much as she is now a child-bride of Tom Cruise and has a kid whose name sounds like a Japanese dish).

And it’s not that I expect celebrity unions to last, as most marriages in Hollywood are over by the two year mark.

I’m sad because it was such a nice story. She - a no-name star from a teen drama with a sweet smile. He - down-to-earth and devoid of ego or drugs. They named their daughter Matilda (nice, fitting ode to Heath’s home country), looked beautifully understated at premieres and made thoughtful movies. They looked like the kind of couple who weren’t in it for the glitter, but really loved each other and were committed for the long haul.

And now they join so many other Hollywood marriages: divorce, shared custody, flings with co-stars and boozy nights out.

As a friend wrote to me in an email, it just makes me appreciate marriage more.

Prayer Event is on tonight.

This is definitely my favourite thing on our monthly calendar. Be there tonight at 7:30.

We'll be praying through Colossians chapter 1. More info on the church website.