How much money will the Morley Galleria spend this year on Christmas decorations? Have you seen the size of their Christmas Trees? They are perfect.

Our humble tree will be erected in the next week or two, and that will be the start of the Christmas season in the Edwards house. It wont be a perfect tree, let me give you the hint. This year it will have homemade decorations, Jimmy Neutron on his spaceship, and a star made from scrap paper and masking tape. Any resemblance between it and what Centro Galleria do, will be purely coincidental. But it will be our family tree, and that’s what matters.

Can I encourage you that in the midst of Christmas, remember what is most important, your family, friends and your Lord Jesus. He is the one who decided to come to a less than perfect world, to a grubby stable, because He cares. Don’t let your family miss the true wonder of Christmas.

Also, keep in mind that Christmas isn’t always a joyous occasion for everyone. Some people will be haunted by loss, having no family, personal tragedy, not having the extra money to buy gifts for their family and other things. If you’ve ever made it through something like that yourself, remember that God wants us to encourage those who suffer at Christmas time, as it reminds them of what they don’t have. Even if you haven’t suffered a specific loss, you can still offer encouragement to others by sharing Christ.

This is a fascinating article.
Gary Ablett (senior) tells his story, and his battle with his problems.

“I have battled with bouts of depression right throughout my life and it got to a point where I was so desperate to relieve it I started to experiment with drugs.

“Most people have no idea just how debilitating and painful depression is. It’s much worse than just feeling down, it’s mental anguish.

“You can’t describe it with words, and it robs you of so much. It has so many devastating symptoms.

“I started using cocaine thinking it was the answer, and for the first time in a long time I wasn’t depressed.

“So I continued to use cocaine and then ecstasy, not realising how destructive it was until later on.

“I began to use more cocaine and got caught up in the party scene over two or three years.

“It’s only because of my relationship with Jesus, and God’s unconditional love and acceptance of me in Christ, that I’m still here today – and I don’t say that lightly.
(Rest of article)

What an amazing testimony, there is a lot more he says, and it is well worth a read, particularly if you are dealing with people and issues revolving around depression.
It makes me think also, how many parallels are there with Gary’s story and Ben Cousins.

One learning child. One connected child. One laptop at a time.
Since November 12th, OLPC has been offering a limited-time Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. During Give One Get One, you can donate the revolutionary XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one for the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. Thanks to a growing interest in the program, we are extending Give One Get One until the end of the year. Through this extension, and the increasing public interest in OLPC, we hope to give many more children the opportunity to grow, explore, learn and express themselves.

New Fremantle Dockers recruit Chris Mayne has shed light on potential draftees attitude towards the West Coast with the statement that he was glad not to be picked up by, “the other Western Australian team”. Dockers management were pleasantly suprised to be able to pick up the ready made player from the Perth Football Club at the relatively late selection at 40. Chris did not elaborate on why he was not keen to be picked up by West Coast, but speculation is rife that the Eagles have a long way to go to repair their damaged reputation.

Just heard the sad news of Matt Price’s passing. Far too young to die at 45, leaves behind a wife and family.

Matt was one the great journalists in Australia, and his Fremantle Dockers column in ‘The Australian’ was something we savoured.

The now ex Prime Minister took time out from his busy pre election schedhule to visit Matt, which shows the level of respect he had in the political community as well.

I have a signed copy of “Way to Go”, Price’s book on the Fremantle Dockers, which suddenly assumes more value in my mind.