My first car was a 1973 Corolla Ke 26 not disimilar to this one. It was not in great nick. In fact there was a rusted out hole where the drivers feet go, that was covered up with some carpet. When you had some orange peel to throw out the window (to the birds of course!) you just lifted the carpet up, and dropped the peel through the whole. Eventually we sold it for $200 to some guy who said he was going to use it for parts.
I had some good times in that car, learnt that wet roads and gravel tracks and underpowered rear wheel drive Corollas went hand in hand for learning what a car does when its sliding.
It used to get driven to Scarborough High most school days, when I could afford fuel and prise it off mum.

In the midst of a very interesting topic on Andrews blog, I have been reading in my devotions Psalm 77.

1 I cry out to God without holding back. Oh, that God would listen to me!
2 When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I pray, with hands lifted toward heaven, pleading. There can be no joy for me until he acts.
3 I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help

Life sucks sometimes, and we get mad and angry at God. I love how the NLT puts this.
Without holding back I tell God exactly how I am feeling. As a father, even when my son is mad, I love to hear what he is thinking and feeling. I know he feels a lot better about telling me. The anger somehow is validated, and yet also some of the sting is released.
If ever I am frustrated, angry, upset, depressed about something, I plan to tell God all about it. And you know what? I reckon He can take it. Sometimes he must think I am acting like a young boy again, but I reckon that level of honesty is what He craves in His relationship with me.

Well Duff has been named.
Channel Ten News, that most reliable news service (cough cough) reckon that Medhurst wont be playing. We will see Gossage.

Good to see Paul in anyhow, a tall skilled quick running defender. Just what we need to skirt around an injured Gehrig who will hopefully keep his “bible basher’ comments to himself this weekend. (Don’t you just loooove the yellow St kilda Jumpers??)

Today was a day I designated to spend with the family. Anzac Day was not a holiday for me, I spent most it working on some things for church.

What a beautiful wonderful day.
Morning tea at Sturt Park, a beautiful playground filled park in Kalamunda.
Then a leisurely drive through the hills to Mundaring weir. On the way we stopped into a couple of places for some bush walking with the kids, as much as their little feet, and my shoulders, would allow.

Then onto Mundaring Weir where a whole heap of beautiful parrots decided to share our lunch with us. The two kids hand fed them some left over bread.
On the way home we stopped off at ‘Sticky Hands Lolly Shop’ which made for a pleasant and relatively quiet ride home!

Some of you from North Beach days might remember this bloke Dave Fallon
An old mate (not that he’s old, just haven’t seen him since the 80’s) now living in London, and a passionate Freo man, which automatically means he is a good bloke!
Check out his thoughtful and humorous blog.

Actually I want to add a little bit more thought to this post.
Reading through David’s blog reminded me that time does not stand still, even if we intersect various points in people’s lives. What I mean is this. Last time I remember David he was a humorous great guy, a good friend to spend some time with. But we were both about 12 or 13!
I remember riding our bokes home at about 9.30pm at night across Charles Riley oval, riding home from youth group.

The last time I remember seeing him was back in the early 80’s. Now as I am reading through his blog it is obvious he is an intelligent, well read person living a great life half way around the world. He has changed enormously, so my perception of him, while accurate for a time, is no longer relevant.

It is a reminder to me of how time really does move. What are we doing with our lives? While it is important to enjoy the pleasures of the day, it is also really important to me that I find significance in my life. Is this an ego thing? Or is it a God given desire?

Animals dont seem to care ‘two hoots’ about significance, all they care about it their next meal, and maybe reproducing. Maybe that is their quest for significance, reproduction. In fact I wonder if our quest for significance is somehow tied in with our spiritual dimension. Maybe God desires us to crave more than just the ‘base’. I suppose what I am arguing for is this.
Desiring significance in the spiritual part of our lives is not a sin. Desiring to be used of God for great things is not a sin.

The difficulty comes when the desire for self promotion is mixed in with the valid desire for spiritual significance.
But I dont want to be afraid of doing something ‘big’ for and with God, just because someone might tell me I am doing it for the purpose of building my own kingdom.

This quote interested me,

“Healthy things grow. Healthy churches grow. If a church isn’t growing, it isn’t healthy. This lack of health could be due to an overall unhealthiness caused by former or present hurts, that we as the leaders are not healthy and are holding the church back or by some other kind of past problems that exists in the church. Or the lack of health could come from a simple imbalance in the 5 purposes. “

Anzac Day has become, over the last 15 years or so, our Countries most spiritual day.
We go to services, at dawn, willingly. Men and women cry, children are taught spiritual lessons. We want to have a link with our past, remember those who have given their lives.

How is the church doing with being a part of this special day?
At Bedford we spent some time in prayer, remembering and thanking.
We have had veterans in our church in the past, but they have all gone now.
Now we have some widows.
Next year we will honour them and hear their story.

As Australia’s most spiritual day, somehow we need to connect with it, and be a greater part of it.