A Family Update

Here's a quick note on where we're up to from both of us.

The spring is wonderful here. Gone are the freezing temperatures, slippery roads and multiple layers of clothing. The temperature is steadily in the 20s (celsius) (70-80s fahrenheit) and the trees and flowers are in full bloom. If you've never experienced this kind of climate before, you've never experienced the relief and joy that a change in the season brings. Imagine the world under snow and having to stay inside one month and then bright and balmy with patches of stunning tulips in bloom the next.

Clayton has completed one academic year of his PhD and has passed some significant milestones. He has successfully defended his dissertation proposal, passed the candidacy interview (off his L Plates now), passed the German competency exam and started learning Latin, presented a conference paper in Boston and submitted his first article for publication. All in all he's on track to finish mid 2011 for a December graduation (just in time for our tenth wedding anniversary!).

Angela: Hmmm, what to report.... No doubt it's common for mothers with young children to look back on a month, a year or even longer, and wonder, "What have I done with my life?" When so much of it is consumed with the mundane; wiping bottoms, spills, sticky hands, dishes and runny noses, is that it? Is that all that it amounts to? Thankfully, there is a lot more purpose and reward in motherhood. Fortunately, the mundane is cheerfully contrasted by the joy and pleasure that one's children can and do bring. And compassionately, God meets us in the mundane. If we look for Him, He is there. 

The boys: Judah, after one year of pre-school, is getting ready to start (US) kindergarten (= AU:Prep) in the Fall (late August - the start of the school year over here) and Nathan, who has been in 3 y.o. pre-school a couple of mornings a week and absolutely loves it, is excited about the prospect of going more often as of the new (Academic) year. Both Judah and Nathan are growing in their knowledge and love for God and surely must bless the Lord with their sweet prayers heartfelt songs. Jordan has well and truly crossed over into toddler-hood and loves to be considered "one of the boys", joining in wrestling and desperate to start pre-school! All three are a continual blessing in our lives (though often a challenge). They are all so different and we're very thankful that God has made us a family.

A bit of a brag...

Nathan and Jordan still take a decent nap each afternoon, so Judah and I will sometimes get a little quality time together if I'm not preparing dinner or cleaning up after everyone. Today we were working on Judah's reading and made some great progress. After about 20 minutes, he was starting to loose focus, so we started to play a game where I would write a word that he'd not read before based on some of the concepts that we'd just learned, then he had to draw a picture of the word that he had just read. It was so wonderful to see the delight that he had each time he worked out the word. I was so proud that I had to take a photo of it to show you all. He had a bit of trouble with 'robot' as it wasn't really working with anything that we'd just learnt. But don't you just love the pictures? I was interested with how he'd do with drawing an abstract word like 'think'. I think he did pretty well.




And here's a picture of the family that Nathan drew while we were out and about. It's on the back of a bank statement that I had in my handbag - which explains the shape of the paper and the barcode. Child psychologist and loving aunty Georgie says that the presence of hands and fat little fingers, as well as a defined body shape (rather than limbs coming off a big head) are all signs of progress in his cognitive development.

A beautiful song

This is Nathan singing a song that he learnt at pre-school. It is a beautiful song of thankfulness that he likes to sing around the house - it really reflects his heart as he is a very greatful and appreciative little boy. 

Happy 1st Birthday Jordan

I can hardly believe that it has been a year since Jordan entered the world. My only sadness, is that his family back home have not been able to share our joy in watching him grow and have missed out on getting to know him. I thought that I would share a little on our lad...

Jordan Micah Coombs...

Everyday, you light up my world. You are the source of so much joy and delight, and your smile always brightens my day. You are so cute and cuddly. I find you simply delicious! 

You're a curious little boy who likes to explore. You are very independent and seem content to wander around the house playing without me following you. 

You are loving and affectionate and love to give hugs and kisses. You are thrilled when daddy comes home, and will walk as quickly as you can to greet him at the door and will hold his leg until you are picked up and hugged. You LOVE your brothers and you're not afraid to wrestle a little with them either. 

You're a contented little boy and it is a great blessing to me that you rarely fuss or cry for anything. What a wonderful thing it is to have you happy to go shopping or on walks in the stroller with me. 

You are well loved Jordan Micah, and we are so grateful to God for giving you to us.

Here are a few recent pictures from a little photo shoot we had on the Easter weekend - a week before his birthday.

Breaking Bread

I've taken up a new hobby - baking bread. I've tried a number of different recipes, each one better than the last. Most have been pretty disappointing in terms of their crust colour and texture - very dull and lifeless. Like my dad, I enjoy a good crunchy golden coloured crust and a soft, chewy inside. This weekend I struck gold. I stumbled across a new technique and the results were extremely satisfying.

Here's how it turned out:





For those of you who are interested, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting. You may use white, whole wheat or a combination of the two.
1 1/2 tsp salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature.
2. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Dust a clean dish towel with flour, and wheat bran or cornmeal if desired. Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees F. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that’s OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes.
5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Enjoy!

Jordy and George

Jordan at 11 months squeals with delight and chuckles as he plays with his toy monkey, Curious George. He is very fond of this little guy and like to hug him in bed.

Nathan's Bible Tales

You may remember two years ago, footage we took of Judah at 3 years old "reading" the bible.
Well now, here are a few snippets of Nathan telling a few bible stories at 3 and half.



Here's a reminder of Judah at 3 doing a similar thing.

"Is not fire - is only bell"

Feb 28 was Judah's birthday (well for those who remember its actually the 29th but that doesn't come around all that often). We had decided to celebrate at Chuck E Cheese's (A cross between timezone and pizza hut - always a hit with kids) with some of his friends from pre-school. We had to get away by 9.30am and while we didn't think that would be too much of a challenge, we realised that unexpected things can always pop up, so we made good preparations the night before. We had left baking the cake until the morning because Ange wanted to make a giant chocolate chip cookie for the cake and well fresh is best, but everything else was prepared and we went to bed. After a skype call to family first thing in the morning we decided it was high time to make the cookie cake, and that's where things began to go wrong...

You see, the recipe called for two cups of cookie dough, but wanting to make sure it was a winner we had bought pre-made dough in a plastic tub. A brief argument ensued as to what proportion of this tub represented two cups. I won't say who argued which position because it simply isn't important. We together decided to just dump the whole tub onto a flat baking tray and put it in the oven. What could be simpler...?

Several minutes later things were going really well. The lump of dough had spread into a nice flat and perfectly round cookie exactly as big as the (flat) tray (with no sides)...but there were still several minutes to go - it clearly wasn't yet cooked. It kept spreading. And then smoke started pouring out of the oven, because as it spread it dripped over the sides of the (flat) tray (with no sides) and down onto the base of the oven where it began to burn. Very soon the kitchen was full of smoke. The next thing to happen should not have been unexpected, but smoke alarms are designed to be shocking and this was no exception. I swished smoke vainly and visited each of the smoke alarms in turn to see if I could remove a battery or rip them off the wall or something. No luck. This is college housing and this was a college installed system and I think somebody had already thought of that. Ah - that's it. Call the college switch. I dialled the number and patiently tried to explain. "I'm really sorry, we were doing some cooking and the smoke alarms have gone off. There is no fire, but I can't turn the alarms off...(all the while I could hear Basil Fawlty in the back of my mind "Is not fire, is only bell!"). "I'll send the officer" came the curt reply. I was about to explain that we didn't want to cause any trouble and if she could only give me the clue as to how to turn the blasted things off the officer need not come - but she had hung up. Well the officer arrived (very quickly) and we patiently explained what I'd told the girl on the phone. "I'm going to have to get you to evacuate the building" he said calmly. "What?!" I said. (Now I could See Basil Fawlty in my mind's eye as well as hear him. It was all I could do to stop myself from saying "NO. Is not fire. Is only bell!") "I'm really sorry about this" the officer explained "but once those alarms go off there's nothing we can do. The fire department will be here soon and technically they own this building until they reset the alarms. Please leave the house now." I'm pretty sure he doesn't have kids. We were all in our pyjamas and it was -8 C outside. Did he want us to just go and stand in the snow on the front "lawn"? What planet was this guy on? We got into our coats and boots. I'd hate to think what would have happened had it actually been urgent. I went and started the car and turned the heater on. We evacuated the kids there. By that time the fire department had come and some very important men in very important uniforms were bustling about. Even as I picked up Jordan and took him to the car one of them brushed by me. As he did he said in a very important voice into a very important device "Confirm - cooking smoke - over." Um duh. Actually he was very nice and when they were leaving he turned and said to me. "Where are you from?" (Come on Mick bring out Croc Dundee 4 - these people are forgetting our accent!). "Australia" I answered. He brightened. "Well when I get off my shift, I'll have to go and put the wobbly boot on" he quipped with a knowing wink. You folks have a good day." And he was off. Americans, Australians - any help on that one? What the heck's the wobbly boot?!

So back to the story. The cake still wasn't cooked. Nobody was dressed and we had five minutes to leave. Incredibly we almost managed it. I say almost for two reasons. The first is that we took about ten. The second is that the last thing we had to do before we left was to grab the cake. Unfortunately, we were now in a hurry. Hastily Ange grabbed the precious cookie which wasn't quite ready to be ripped off the tray. It prompty disintegrated all over her and all over the floor. She had to change.

It could only happen to the Coombs'.

Judah's birthday was a hit by the way. He had a great time and so did his friends. Now for those who have been as puzzled about my Basil Fawlty allusions as I was about the wobbly boot - here's some context. Enjoy.

Another Jordan update

So out littlest man is almost 10 months old now. He continues to bring us so much joy and has at long last been sleeping better at night. Jordy took his first steps almost 2 months ago and has not looked back since. Although still a little wobbly, he's walking all over the place. Naturally, he's into everything - especially the things that we don't want him to be into! He's now calling me 'mama', Clayton 'dada' and is saying 'baba' when he waves goodbye.

It's been a while since I last took footage of Jordan and I realised that I hadn't captured any of him walking. Here's a little snippet I took tonight before he went to bed.

Update on Clayton's Study from Ange

Thought that the blog deserved an update on Clayton's progress on the PhD as that is the reason why we are out here in the first place!

He wrote a paper last semester for which he has been invited to speak on at a theological conference in Boston next month. This is an exciting opportunity and a real privilege. They have agreed to pay for virtually all of his expenses including accomodation, meals, registration and a large portion of travel expeneses. (He'll have to pay just $150, so that's not bad). I suppose that what he hopes to offer to this gathering of theologians is the chance for them to witness that it is possible for a Pentecostal theologian to make sense! hehe :) Actually, it works out well, as attending this conference would have certainly been worthwhile, but completely unaffordable.

Clayton taught his first lecture this week. He thinks that it went quite well, especially considering that he had only a couple of days to prepare it and that he was largely unfamiliar in the specifics of the area of study. (He found out that he would be teaching the same day that I put my back out and was left flat out in bed for days.) He was up late the night before the class madly reading. I volunteered to 'help' and stayed up reading primary documents dated back to the 300's. Fun! Actually, it was pretty interesting reading. One of the fascinating things that came up, was how the translation of scripture into different languages has led to significant divergence in doctine. The example that came up was of how the concept of 'penance' arose from the word 'repentance' being translated as such. Fascinating stuff that really helps vindicate (for want of a better word) Clayton's love for the ancient languages of Hebrew and Greek.

He seems to be doing well in his course. He has already overcome his fist hurdle of learning German (there is a lot of theology written in German). Next he has to do the same with Latin. He is getting a clearer picture of where he is going with his dissertation (thesis) and is enthralled in his research area. He's engrossed with the writings of some of the early church fathers, who in his opinion, were God fearing church leaders who upheld the authority of scripture, so he says that their work is great to read. He is really getting into it - sometimes I feel like I'm married to the character Ben that Nicholas Cage plays in National Treasure, or Indiana Jones (minus all of the action adventure hero stuff). It's exciting to see him passionately researching something historical from an angle that no one else has ever investigated, and Clayton being Clayton, is excited at it's potential relevance to us in the church today. What can I say, I married a brilliant man :)

He seems to be coping pretty well with the ongoing pressure and the never-ending piles of books that he has to read. It seems like regardless of how much work he has, he still manages to put the family first which is a real blessing.

Brutal Weather

It's FREEZING here!!!! Most of you who read this are either enduring an extremely hot summer Down Under, or are blissfully cruising through a Southern Californian 'winter'. So please spare a thought for us. Today will be our coldest day yet. As I write, it is currently minus 24 degrees Celcius, and it is expected to drop a further 3 degrees. Tonight on the weather report, the 'windchill' factor was categorised as 'brutally cold'. Brutally! So what do you do? You don't go out unless you absolutely have to. So we all stayed home today. Even Clayton worked from home. They say that in these sorts of conditions, your skin burns and any moisture freezes, so don't go out particularly if you have a runny nose!

Meal Time Praises

Selfish yet self-aware

Dad: OK boys. One story before bed and tonight its my turn to pick.
Both boys: Ohhhhhh!
(Ange reminds me that it is in fact Nathan's turn to pick)
Dad: New plan - Nathan gets to choose one story.
Judah: Ohh that's not fair!
Dad: OK then, you be the answer man. How would you make it fair? There's one story and two boys - and its gotta be fair for everyone. What would you do?
Judah: Well.....if I was a man...
Dad: yes...
Judah: If I was a man, then I'd say one boy gets to pick each night.
Dad: Exactly.
Judah: But if I was a boy, I'd say I get to pick every night!

What a great response! In the meantime Nathan has picked a story.

Dad: Now you know the difference between being a boy and being a man. Let's read...

Jordan at 7 months

Today Jordan started free standing for the first time. He had been doing it a lot, so I just had to pull out the camera to video it. I only managed to capture him standing once very briefly, but here it is. In other developments, yesterday he said his first word! No it wasn't 'mama' or 'dada', instead it was 'brother'. It happened directly after Judah affectionately said of Jordan, "I love my brother." To Clayton and Judah's shock, Jordan then responded, "bra-ba" (or something to that effect). When prompted to repeat this numerous times later, he did, and to his delight, continues to receive tremendous praise and encouragement from his cheer squad. While recording this footage, I tried to get him to say it again, but as you will see he's a little pre-occupied and makes an attempt of sorts.

Wunkle Nunkle Gedunkle

Read on - trust me. This is hilarious and very precious at the same time. No the words in the title are not from my vocab list for German!

Nathan was repeating this phrase tonight and other delightful gibberish. I wasn't paying much attention - he is the sort of person that says silly words all the time, and for what its worth...so am I. But he was trying to get my attention with his prattle. When he finally did I grinned at the words. He grinned right back at me and said "Maybe God will give ˆyouˆthose sounds next time Dad." Suddenly I understood. Several nights ago when I was putting them to bed I was praying for them and lapsed into tongues. They have often heard us pray this way but this time Nathan was particularly intrigued. He asked me about it and I explained that God gives us the words to help us pray and that maybe oneday God would help him pray the same way as he helps me.

Now that I was finally on his wavelength, Nathan begged cheekily "Say 'sugarmamadoodle' to me Dad - say 'sugarmamadoodle!'

Classic...

PS: To the non-charismatic readers of this blog I am recording this primarily because it was incredibly cute, not because I am in a hurry to conclude that my three year old is speaking in tongues!

PPS: To the charismatic readers of this blog I need to further clarify that I do not rule out this possibility nor indeed the exercise of any spiritual gift on the basis of age. The Gift of the Spirit and the Spirits gifts are for kids too! After all the kingdom of heaven belongs to "such as these."

More fun with autumn leaves

We've had some pretty chilling weather already, with our first light snow fall in late October. The past few days have brought a welcome change, with blue skies, sunshine and pleasant temperatures. This morning, after we had dropped Judah to preschool, Nathan thought that it would be a fun idea to draw outside with chalk. We've been warned that we need to make the most of the outdoors while we can - so we did. Here was our morning. Just click on the picture below.

Fall Leaves

A few more pictures.

Some cute pictures I took of Jordan with a baby pumpkin.

Nathan loves dressing up and goofing around.

Apple Pie

Every Friday is family night. I like to bake something special with the boys in the afternoon in preparation for our special night. It helps build their anticipation and it's a fun thing to do together. On this particular Friday night we baked our very first apple pie and it was really yummy.




Leftovers...

A few images of our Fall and a day at the 'farm'

Images of 'Fall' here at Wheaton. Just a few snaps I took on a walk we took last week.





The following pics were taken at a 'Pumpkin Farm'. Forgot to take pictures of all those stunning orange pumpkins.

Jordan's first pony ride. 

A few of my favourite 'Fall' things

Sure, each day holds its moments of stress and frustration, but I've been discovering how life's little simplicities can deliver great delight if you stop to let them.

Wheaton in the Fall is simply magnificent. Each time I drive my children to preschool, my heart is warmed by the gorgeous trees that line our streets. Striking red, orange and yellow leaves fall gently on well-kept lawns. The air is fresh and crisp, yet the skies are blue and the sun is shining. Today I went for a walk with my boys to collect sticks for kindling. Nathan picked up an autumn leaf from the ground and presented it to me, "A BEaUtiful flower for you mama." He knows how much I love the leaves, so in a way they are like flowers. It's just funny when he chooses the dirty brown ones.

There's something about the fall here that just makes me feel all sentimental. The autumn leaves are a big part of it, but it's truly fascinating to watch the little squirrels scampering here and there, gathering up stores of food for the winter.

Sharing a home baked pumpkin pie with my family certainly warms my heart, but it's the crackling fire, sharing a hot cuppa (and another slice of pie) with Clayton once the kids have finally gone to bed, and things like stopping to invite a lady bug to crawl on my sons hand. 


I feel like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music when she sang about her favourite things...

When the kids fight
When my sleep's broke
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favourite things
And then I don't feel, so bad.

In a chaotic and uncertain world, it's good to stop and reflect on the simple blessings that God has for us to enjoy.

Take a look at this...

A picture I snapped while on a morning walk we took today with the family through the campus. Isn't it picturesque?

Some more pictures (that I didn't take) of the lovely Blanchard Hall.

We recently made a trip to Chicago to see the city. We were fascinated by the structure and layout of the city, but more so, I was taken back by the architecture. Check out the intricacies of the neo-gothic Tribune Tower. I love it. Can't wait to head back there with a half decent camera. 

Fire Chief Jordan to the rescue.

'Toot, toot.' A sound we've come to know well. Sometimes you hear the sounds of engine drivers playing tooting games back and forth. The trains can be really long too. Some stretch for miles and you easily loose count of how many carriages they have.

Clayton had to quickly dash inside to fetch the camera for this shot. The boys were waiting on the front step for Clayton and I to join them outside (we were about to walk to the cafeteria) when they saw army cadets marching across the street. To their delight, some of them even had guns! Not exactly the sort of image you'd expect to see from your front door! Both boys had found sticks (pretending they had guns) and were running around excited to have seen the real thing. It's really hard to discourage their interest in war arms - particularly out here.

This shot was taken about a month ago of Judah leaving his classroom for the day. That is his teacher Mrs. Ledbetter behind him.

Wheaton is absolutely glorious right now. Everywhere you look, leaves are coloured red, orange and yellow. It is just so marvellous. This pic of Judah pushing Nathan on a swing was taken on Columbus Day (Monday just gone). Jude had pre-school off and it was a warm day (perhaps the last we'll have), so I headed out to a local park with the boys. 

Judah washing up. Would you believe he conquered the dishes at his own initiative! He'll make a great husband I'm sure.

The Wheaton Thunder Football Team stretching before a big game. To me they looked more like an army than a football team. There's a hundred of them! And just look at them, all lined up stretching in unison.

Nathan pretending to talk to his family in Australia. Here he is talking to grandpa See. He talks about you ALL often and loves to reminisce about his happy memories that you all helped create when we last were there.

These photos were taken today of my irresistibly huggable Jordy in his new dino pjs. He's so cute and cuddly.

Look mum, I'm crawling!

It's been less than a week since the last footage was taken, so you can see the progress that Jordy has made. If you're not one of Jordan's grandparents, I do apologise that it is a little boring. I've only just started with tinkering with home video editing. I'm sure that it will get better. Meanwhile, I think I've found a new hobby and way of keeping friends and family up to date with our family.

Judah

I can't believe how big my boy has grown. Just last week I had to buy him new clothes (again) because he has had another growth spurt. His wrists, ankles and waist were poking out. But Judah is growing in more ways than one. He's proving to me more and more responsible and generally very helpful and considerate. He continues to surprise me with how grown-up he is becoming.

He's loving pre-school. It seems like he's making lots of friends too. As I walk him from the car to his classroom each morning, class mates cheerfully greet him by name, "Hi Judah." Now he just needs to learn all of their names! He has a lovely teacher too Mrs. Ledbetter who just adores his cute little Aussie accent.

Here's a song that Judah came home with today.

Learning to crawl before I can walk

As I was watching Jordan learn to crawl today I had an epiphany. I approach my work the same way that he is approaching crawling. I'll look at the goal, then rock backwards and forwards some, not really getting anywhere, then I'll have a burst of energy and try my best often falling on my face. Then I'll get back up and rock some more at times inching forwards. Nearly there.....nup, need a rest. But one way or another the goal is inevitably reached. So you go Jordan - you'll get there, and remember, crawling is not the ultimate goal but yet another preparation for something greater.

Here some footage of the little guy in action:

Nathan's birthday

Having been here only a few weeks, we didn't feel that we had any kid friends to invite for the party, and so fretted that it wouldn't seem enough like a birthday for him, so we did all that we could to make it special. In the morning we took the boys out for a progressive breakfast. Bagels at the bagel shop followed by donuts at the donut shop across the road followed by a play time in the McDonald's play area almost a block up the road. Unfortunately, the 13th of September was THE downpour day. There was six inches of rain and most of it fell before lunchtime (this is the highest recorded daily rainfall in Illinois' history - lucky us). As you can imagine, walking from bagels to donuts to McDonald's was more than a little problematic and despite bringing a large umbrella we were all pretty drenched...

When we came home, I distracted Nathan by taking him along with Judah to the post office. The postage situation is kind of funny here. I have a student mailbox which is also where I receive addressed mail. But if a package is delivered which is larger than the mailbox, then I get a slip in my mailbox with the details. This I have to take to the undergraduate (ie main) post office at the other end of the campus in order to claim the package. We're very grateful to the family who posted Nathan gifts. I'd been getting slips all week, but asked the post office if I could keep the packages until saturday. So I gave Nathan the slips and we went to the undergrad post office together to pick up his gifts.

Ange had organized all the "friends" (teddies, dogs, Shamu the whale, Remi etc) downstairs in the play room at a little table which had the cake on it. Nathan was delighted when he came in and we embarked on around six hours of family fun together - eating cake, opening gifts and playing together.



Again thank you to the family for making this day special for Nathan with the gifts you sent. Stay tuned for photos from Ange.

Clayton

"I'll never leave you or forsake you."

Ever wondered about that story in Exodus 33 where God decides to leave the Israelites to go on ahead without his presence? Its one of those classic theological dilemmas because after Moses pleads with God, God apparently changes his mind and decides to go with them after all. I personally have struggled with this story and with its implications, however tonight I saw it in a new light. It was one of those parenting low points - or so I thought. We had gone out for a late night shop at ALDI since the cupboards were bare. We finished shopping at about eight-thirty and while the kids had been pretty good, they were starting to lose it. Nathan in particular when he is tired cannot tolerate the restriction of being in his car seat. Two minutes from home he started agitating and crying saying he wanted to get out. In a moment of frustration (Jordan also was crying) I pulled a classic "Daddy move" and drove the car into a car-park and stopped. "Go on then." I said. "Off you go." I unbuckled his belt and opened his door expecting repentance, but humorously (with the benefit of hindsight certainly) he called my bluff and hopped out looking back at me defiantly. What to do? I did what any dad would have done. I put the car into drive and started to pull away. He ran beside the car for a little bit. In the end I'm not sure who "won" the standoff, but he did agree that he wanted to come home with us and got back into his seat.

After I got home I had a moment alone to be disgusted with myself. I began to repent for being so impetuous and said to God "see, I'm not a good dad. You wouldn't do that." Almost immediately I was reminded of the story in Exodus 33. Actually, God would and did do something very similar. Now I run a grave risk of over simplifying what has been for ages past a perplexing theological question in comparing my experience tonight to this passage. So let me not claim to have solved it, but I certainly feel like I identified with what God seems to have been feeling in this story - absolute frustration at the obstinate disobedience of his children. Yes sure, in my case it was certainly more than half our own fault for having them out so late, but work with me... Could it be that God was pulling a "Daddy move" to illicit exactly the reaction which he got - tears of repentance and pleas for his presence?

Well who knows. But Exodus 33 was certainly an encouragement to this imperfect earthly father tonight.


Clayton

P.S. and don't worry, he wasn't emotionally damaged. We had a good father-son talk, where I reassured him that I loved him and that I would NEVER leave him.

We are responsible! (Response to Mike Guggliemucci and Todd Bentley)

The night before we flew out the news began to break about Ps. Mike Gugliemucci's two year deception. I do not know Mike personally and indeed have never seen him in the flesh, but I knew of him during my ministry at CityLife since more than once he preached for our youth group. As a fellow young minister I was delighted during those years to hear of his success in ministry just as I was devastated to hear about his public fall from grace a few short days ago. What a terrible coincidence that this news followed hot on the heals of another sad story of yet another high profile charismatic leader who was struggling, Todd Bentley.

Now that we've settled in, I've had a chance to think about it all wanted to get my thoughts down in writing.

Great crowds followed Jesus because they were awed by his miraculous signs, yet few were prepared to actually be his disciples (Jn 6). The disciples laid down their lives to follow him because in Peter's words, "You have the words of eternal life." But the crowd just hung around hoping to see another spectacular display. When I was thinking about this the other day I was frustrated to the point of tears that we have cultivated a kind of crowd Christianity where people flock to see the spine tingling and the sensational rather than laying down their life to follow Jesus. It is the environment created by this kind of 'christianity' which forces a charismatic and passionate young man with promising talent into the spotlight long before his character foundations have been tested. It is this kind of of sick sign based consumerism that applauds such a mans public success without ever caring to question his private world.

Jesus said "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." The crowds (and in the case of this quote, the Pharisees) demanded from Jesus the spectacle - the big meeting, the riveting preaching, the miraculous display, yet he continually pointed them to the purpose of his life on earth and to what would become the core of the Christian message - his death, burial and resurrection. It is wickedness and an adulteration of the gospel for us to shun a cross based Christianity while demanding performance and entertainment of our leaders. As an aside, it is an ironic reversal of the principle of Mark 16:15-18 for us to expect that the true gospel will somehow accomany a message which centers on signs (not as I understand the case with Ps. Mike, but worth saying in this context) rather than signs accompanying a proclamation of the gospel.

I'm sure that there are many good and wholesome reasons why people flocked to Toronto and to Brownsville and to Florida and why people flocked to hear Pastor Mike and why people flock to large churches to consume well promoted events. However, I'm convinced that one reason people do this is because "chasing the action" is more fun and considerably easier than sorting out one's own walk with God - and it feels better too. The only problem is that it creates enormous pressure on those who are thrust into the limelight. Mike Gugliemucci is one of a long line of unfortunate casualties of this pressure.

One additional thought. I wonder if there is a reason why Pentecostal/Charismatic leaders are over-represented in this category? I'm sure that there are many self congratulatory reasons that we could come up with, some of which may at least be partially valid - but this is not a time for self congratulation. Is it possible that we Pentecostal types are more likely to go after signs and spectacles than we are to go after God's heart? (I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying "is it?") Is it possible we are more likely to gather crowds rather than make disciples (I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying "is it?" Read the brochure for the last conference you attended before you answer). Of the many possible reactions to Mike G and Todd Bentley, I suggest that repentance ought to feature for we, more than we care to realise are responsible.

Where is my treasure?

Since we've arrived here with little more than our suitcases of clothes we've had a bit of 'hunting and gathering' to do - otherwise known as shopping. I'll be the first to admit that I love shopping. I just enjoy buying things! Perhaps it's a girly thing, but it's just as well that every other member of my family (including Jordan) loathes it, otherwise I'd probably end up spending a lot more. Our home came furnished, so it has just been a matter of setting up with kitchenware, bed linen, towels and appliances.

It has been a huge blessing to have discovered the Wheaton College co-op - a place where college students donate their unwanted, or no longer needed clothes and household items. Students are then welcome to help themselves to the goods at no charge. I have been encouraged that our Heavenly Father really does know our needs before we even ask and that we don't have to worry about His provision.

We've also discovered that the good citizens of Wheaton host marvellous yard sales, and we've picked up some tremendous like-new bargains. We've picked up kids clothes - including a pristine Nathan-sized Ralph Lauren polo shirt for $2, beautiful toys, books and even a Sony television. It's been like God has known our needs (and even our wants) and has supplied everything for loose pocket change. A perfect example of this was when Clayton had only just been saying that he'd really like to buy for the boys an air-hockey/games table. Then what do you know? - we happen on a fabulous kid-sized games table complete with fuze-ball, air-hockey, snooker, table tennis and a myriad of other games all in perfect condition. The owners even sold it to us for less than they wanted when they heard that we were from Australia, studying at Wheaton. The aquisition of this games table was a beautiful reminder that God loves to give His kids good gifts. 

Last weekend, there was an 'Estate' sale, where there were agents contracted to sell everything from the linen and appliances, to the house and car! We ventured out to this stately home, where I had to slip on booties over my shoes to protect the floor from being scratched. It was an impressive home and the owners had obviously had an eye for finer things. Everything was in like-mint condition and it was ALL for sale! What a comfortable life these people had lived however, there was a tangible sadness over the premises. Sympathy quickly set in when I ventured upstairs and saw the clean, pressed clothes of a middle-aged gentleman all neatly laid out for sale. Turns out that the owner of the home had fallen from a ladder and although 'lucky' to be alive, was now living bed-ridden in a care facility.

Not to say that bad things don't happen to good people, (the owner was probably highly regarded, probably even Christian); and not to say that there is anything inherently wrong in living in a beautiful home... it's just that the whole experience served as a harsh reminder that money can not buy happiness - not even health. I wondered how he had spent the best years of his life. Had he worried about storing up the earthly treasures that were now being sold to help pay for his health care? I was again reminded of that passage in Matthew chapter 6, where Jesus talks about not storing up treasures on earth, but instead, seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness.

I know that many people are struggling with the rising costs of living, but I hope that our story can be an encouragement to you that God we do not have to worry. Here's an excerpt from Matthew 6.

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Parents: Australian, award winning author Pamela Allen has a picture book called 'Herbert and Harry' (also published under the title, 'Hidden Treasure') which perfectly communicates this message to children.



"Allen's book presents a discerning look into the meaning of "treasure." Herbert and Harry are brothers who enjoy being together until they discover a treasure chest while fishing. The ensuing rift over ownership leaves Harry swimming for shore and Herbert escaping with the treasure. Herbert's concern over the treasurethat Harry or someone else will find it turns the find into a lifelong burden as he searches for an impenetrable hideout so he can sleep without worry. His is a life of constant vigilance, while Harry, who "had no treasure," is surrounded by plump grandchildren and is "always able to sleep soundly." Allen's vibrant line-and-wash color illustrations show page after page of Herbert's burgeoning problems and then, with one revelatory picture of Harry, shows how the brother's paths have drastically diverged. "

Thank you Lord!

Just a quick update...

Judah and Nathan LOVE pre-school. I had been dreading and feeling very overwhelmed at the prospect of having one boy in a morning class, and the other in the afternoon. I really had no idea how I was going to manage. Well, God answered our prayers, with a place opening up for Judah in the morning, only in a Pre-K class (that is essentially a 5-year-old pre-school class) that meets 5 mornings a week for 2.5 hours. What a relief to have both boys dropped off and picked up at the same time! To add to the blessing of our answered prayer, Judah gets to be in a more challenging class (as he is the youngest) and gets to enjoy a more structured class (which is perfectly suited to his personality). I was a little nervous for him, wanting him to have a positive first start - nervous that he had missed the first 3 days and didn't know any of the other children. His teacher reported that he did beautifully and fit right in. Nathan loved his class too and in fact, he cried about leaving!

Feeling more and more settled and set up. Loving Wheaton - it is truly a beautiful place. Clayton and I are still feeling very tired and physically stretched as Jordan's sleep cycle is still all over the place and he is not sleeping through again.

Thank you for your prayers.

We made it!

Firstly, let me apologise to those of you who have emailed, that I have not been able to personally respond to yet. We have been here for less than a week, and have been insanely busy setting up and have been in survival mode.

As you can imagine, we've been super busy and extremely exhausted. Jet lag has been a real bummer with a baby and two young boys. For the first half of the week they were up and ready to start the day around 3am and ready to collapse and sleep for the night in the afternoon! - not very helpful when you have so much setting up to do. So most days I have been falling asleep (sitting up) while Jordan has his afternoon feed and both Clayton and I have been dropping to sleep for the night around 7:30pm.

The flight went reasonably well. We missed our flight to Brisbane, so were put on a direct flight to L.A instead. This was a wonderful blessing. When Clayton rang up to check, Qantas had told us that we only had to come in an hour early to check in. Turns out we were ill informed and should have been there 2 hours early. The flight was soooo long, but the boys did well. It really helped that the boys had their own tvs to watch kids shows on. There was enough to keep them going. They also managed to sleep which was a relief. I even managed to steel half an hour of sleep for myself. Jordan was a little unsettled from time to time, but nothing we couldn't manage.


We love our new home. It is big and charming. The boys are happy here which is the main thing. There are 5 split levels- the basement, then a floor with what we will make a playroom and separate bathroom, next up there's the ground floor which has the kitchen and living areas, then followed by our bedroom and the main bathroom, then the boys room, study and attic. So we have more than enough space! (A huge contrast to our 2 bedroom apartment in Pasadena.) The other awesome thing is that we have loads of storage room. Yippee! We are really grateful to God for this house. We have had hot humid weather, so the central A/C has been helpful. The weather is 'muggy', but there is often a gentle breeze which helps.

Wheaton is just lovely. A very charming place to live. The streets are lined with gorgeous trees and the homes are like something out of a story book. The people seem friendly too.

The college is amazing! The facilities make Melbourne Univeristy look like backyard institution and needless to say Fuller is certainly dwarfed. They have fabulous facilities here and beautiful buildings. We've already started to make use of the sports and recreation facilities. Clayton and I have used the gym and the boys had their first 'swimming lesson' with dad a couple of nights ago. We've been eating at the cafeteria for dinner too. It works out cheaper than eating out, but more expensive than eating at home - certainly an excellent solution when you have not yet bought any kitchenware and the pantry is empty!

We took the boys to see their preschool and to meet their teachers yesterday. They are both looking forward to having preschool in their lives. I'm still a little overwhelmed by the prospect of all of the taxiing, but we are on the top of the list - should a morning position become available for Judah - so please pray for this.

Oh yeah, we bought the van that we had settled on - a Honda Odyssey. We managed to find a lovely sliver 2002 van with tinted windows and leather seats. A real answer to prayer. It had only had one owner and was well looked after so it seems like it is brand new - all except for the miles! We think that we did okay on the price too. Thanks God.

This weekend we hit Ikea and attend our first church service here. Still have no idea which one we'll go to. We really need to pray through this very important decision. We've decided that the most important element will be that the children's ministry is just that - a ministry and not simply a child minding service. Really just want to find a healthy church that ALL of us can be a part of and grow in.


Update on Jordan: He's 4.5 months old now and clearly indicated that he was more than ready to start on solids. Boy can that kid eat! He loves it and cries if I stop and he hasn't had enough.