God's compensations

If all my days were summer, how could I know

What my Lord means by His, "whiter than the snow"?

If all my days were sunny, could I say

In his fair land He wipes all tears away?

If I were never weary, could I keep

Close to my heart, "He gives His loved ones sleep"?

Were no graves mine, might I not come to deem

The life eternal but a baseless dream?

My winter and my tears and weariness,

Even my graves may be His way to bless.

I call them ills, yet that can surely be

Nothing but love that shows my Lord to me.

Desert Trek 2010

Desert Trek was great. I really enjoyed the time to reflect and spend unhurried time talking and listening to God. It has been hard to replicate this in my life at home, especially as I have been sick. We were blessed by great weather. The camping, company and walking was fantastic.

In the end we had 27 participants, which was far beyond my expectations, and logistically much bigger than expected. I think that everything came together well though.

There were 3 themes to the trek; solitude, silence and prayer. Solitude being not retreating from life but connecting with God, silence as listening to God and prayer being praying from the heart. It has been a real highlight of the year so far. If we had 27 this year, how many will we have next year?

Desert Trek 2010

In July we are going to be running a desert trek. A desert trek is a chance to get out into some of the landscape of Broken Hill, to do some walking, camping and reflecting. It is in the spirit of the desert fathers who stepped away from the demands of life in order to connect with God. There will be times of silence, solitude, teaching, reflecting, sharing, walking, sitting around the campfire and enjoying the outback. We will be roughing it a bit, there will be no plush accommodation. We will visit a property "Sturt's Meadows" where we usually run our desert camps as well as the Mutawintji National Park.

The Trek is for anyone who wants to walk closer with God. It is for those who have been connected in with The Broken Hill centre before and would love to tune in again and it is for those who would like to do so for the first time. It is for those who love to walk in the bush and know that God can be found in a deeper way in those rugged high places.

The dates of the Trek are 5th-9th July. Yes it will be cold, but great for camping and sitting around the fire at night.

More details will follow, but I wanted to give people a chance to pencil it into their diaries now. 

I especially encourage the Broken Hill alumni to come along and bring someone with them who they have been wanting to get to Broken Hill but needed an excuse. I will need a couple of helpers too, so if you are wanting to serve in some way that would be great.

Here are some picks of some of the places. Yes, there is sometimes water, but too cold during July.

Reflections from Colossians

There is tremendous power in the gospel to transform. It has the power to undo us and then reform us into something knew. The gospel message is what this world needs more than any other. It is the only one that can set us free and freedom is something that we desperately need.

To be free

to see the morning light

the day reborn aright

all my hopes and dreams

rewoven at the seams.

Essentially the gospel boils down to three truths 1. That there is a God who is in charge, that he is loving and caring and desires what is best for us and his creation. The world is not here by accident or chance but created by an intelligent being who has a purpose and a plan 2. That there is a problem with people. We are lost. There is both good and evil in all of us. Essentially we are in the darkness. We are our own gods deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong and it is not going well. 3. Jesus is the light of the world. It is in him that the solutions are found. He is the only one who can deal with the problem of evil and somehow this happened through the cross. He can lead us out of darkness and into the light. It is in him that we can start again, to be renewed.
This message is very powerful and has the capacity to change people forever. It did so with me.
do you believe it?
do you speak it?
are you proud of it?
are you living it?

knowing

I feel the wind of change blow through me as if I was not there,
watching the sun set from behind through deep set eyes
wishing for a better point of view.
To question things that have no answer
to feel the melancholy of the long dark night
where hope is just rationality that brings no comfort to my soul.
Who am I to feel this way?
What is my place and what is my name?

There is only one who knows and sees what cannot be seen,
whose breath itself is behind the wind.
He who flung the sun and stars into space
and gave them names that no one knows.
There is a light that penetrates the darkest day
with a question that needs no answer
where a song beyond explanation soothes a troubled mind
Who am I that he should notice?
who whispers quietly my name and guides me to where I am to be.

Committed Company 2010

What will be the shape of the committed company in Broken Hill this year? We will be a little smaller with the Wagstaffe's moving on to Dubbo to work at the Burrabadine school. At the core there will be the Skinner's and the Walkers. Connected in with us will be Kate Bain coming from Newcastle where she has been on team. Kate is a music teacher and a friend of the Walker family.
David Rozali and David Orozco will arrive at the end of February. They are coming to be mentored in leadership by myself this year. Dave Rozali has been on team at Strathalbyn and comes from West Timor. David Orozco has just finished first year in Swan Hill and comes from Mexico.
Still not sure what the year will look like yet, but that is part of the beauty of what we are doing. To follow the threads that God unravels in people's lives. Not through ability, but availability "for without me you can do nothing" Jn 15.

School

School starts tomorrow and there will be a few changes for the kids this year. Lachlan starts high school and will be going to Willyama High School. He is looking forward to it and has a few friends that he will be walking to school with tomorrow. He is in one of the 2 top classes.
We are still a bit undecided about Isaac. We have been thinking that we will home school him, but have recently been rethinking that and may end up sending him to school. Trying to weigh up what is best for him and what is best for us. Not sure that our reasons for keeping him at home are valid anymore.
Ethan starts his first day of school next Monday. I think he is a little nervous, but he is definitely ready. Grace also starts a new school, Morgan street. We weren't happy with some things at the old school so we decided to change. If Isaac goes to school he will go there. One downer is that we will have to drive the kids to school, but the change will be worth it I think.