Today is normally the day I write my message for sunday…and spend some time with my daughter.
But…Sunday I will be off to Busselton (so no need to write a message)…and my daughter is a little bit sick, so no dancing for her today. So, I installed the little coat hanger/shelf thing she was given, and we had some vegemite sandwhiches together.

I have also been compiling some quotes for new church signs…very frustrating that is!

Apart from that, I have spent an innordinate amount of time making two fantastic coffees….mmmmmm

Days off for a pastor are a vexed issue. Everyone keeps telling me that there must be a designated day off. I am not so sure. Saturdays is normally my day off for sure…I try to make sure everything is done for Sunday. But I prefer to have a fluidity about my time. What I mean is that I dont want to restrict myself to having to take a day off. If I want to grab an our or two here and there to read the paper, have a slow coffee….I can. But if I want to focus for a few hours on something important, on a day that might be designated a day off….I will do that as well.

Its all about being a good practioner. I dont want to insist on time off, unless I need it. In that case, I wont answer my phone, nor reply to emails.

Dinner time is sacred. The phone (home and mobile) gets switched off. Our family, including the kids, know that dinner around the table is sacred. Truly sacred. I dont use that word lightly. Nothing interupts it, it is set apart for our family.

For me its about boundaries. I dont want other people setting them for me, and I dont want to not be able to set them for myself. I dont want someone saying, you must take this day off….thats the joy of being a pastor. If I want to, and can, pick up the kids from school…what a blessing! If I need to be out 3 or 4 nights a week…thats okay too…as long as its balanced.

Being a pastor is not always easy, getting the balance is not always easy….but ultimately, I am a professional, and am glad I can set those boundaries for myself. At times I will allow someone else, probably my peer group, to peer into that schedhule. Not just to make sure I am having enough time off, but also to make sure I am doing enough work! Lately, doing enough work has not been the issue.

Roll on Friday….Busselton…here we come!!

Mine is the Five Senses one…sourced by my resourceful wife….

I posted on my facebook site recently that I love Sunday Nights. I do.

People may not understand that a pastors Sunday night is like other peoples Friday Nights.
No matter how you understand it, for many Pastors, Sunday Morning is a stressful time. For me….it is enjoyable, a highlight, a emotional and invigorating time…yes. But it is also stressful.

Every time I have to get up to speak, despite the fact I have done it for years now, I am still nervous….and hopeful things will go well, but not always entirely sure they will.

So once Sunday morning is over, I pretty much shut down Sunday Afternoon….and then relax Sunday Night.

This Sunday afternoon I did a baby dedication for some good friends. It was relaxed, and enjoyable….but it is ministry. Then we had fathers day family stuff to attend.

So it was not until about 9pm Sunday Night that I got to go…..aaaaaaaah.

Tired…….

Too much…..

Glad to be home.

Headed off to Toddler Jam…..
Rushed off to Funeral, had to load up video loop on the pc at Pinnaroo, and story video for Melinda’s nan…then, because the good folk there really did not know how to operate it, had to run that, as well as sync up the music. All the technology you could want there, plasma tv, couple of pc’s, AV mixer…But its not good to them as most people dont know how to utilise it to tell their stories…and they dont really either!

Sad day…but also moving. Muriel was a beautiful Christian lady with a wide influence. Many of her paintings and banners hang in churches all over the state.

As one wizard’s career comes to a close, a star emerges from the rubble of Freo’s 2008 season.
Jeff Farmer was arguable the best small forward that Western Australia has ever produced.

Despite what ignorant people might say from the sidelines, Jeff Farmer was a team player to the very end. He was grateful to both his former clubs, Fremantle and Melbourne for the opportunity to play AFL. He played 249 games of football, at times sublime, at times wasteful, but never forgettable. From an entertainment point of view, Jeff never dissapointed.

His first game wearing a Fremantle jumper was a scratch match against Collingwood, and the excitement in the crowd at what was to come was palpable. It is fitting then that his final game was also against the Pies, in which he kicked 3 goals, two of them with a difficulty rating of 9, and passed off a few others. In total he kicked 483 goals, considerably more than any other Aboriginal player. Many respected commentators have questioned his omission from the Indigenous Team of the Century.

While many media types have sniped at Jeff behind the safety of a microphone, the true Fremantle fan knows Jeff as a team player, fiercely loyal, and always willing to sign a jumper or show a cheeky grin.

As Jeff retires, Frematle welcomes Rhy Palmer into illustrious company in winning the NAB AFL Rising Star. Palmer declared at the start of the year that he would have been to have just played 5 games.
Palmer is the sort of player that supporters love to watch. His evasion skills are incredible, and his ability to win possession is incredibly valuable.
In other good news for long suffering Fremantle supporters, Garrick Ibbotson managed to come fifth in the prestigious award.

Published in The Roar