The West is Ours

I'm still basking.  The Eagles' last derby win was in May 2012, when I'd just suspected I was pregnant with Rory.  It certainly has been a long time between drinks.

Down with the Dorkers!  How it tastes so sweet!

Image from here

Religion is for Fools

I've also made a conscious decision this year to not only read more Christian biographies, but more evangelistic books as well.  I have had a number of these short evangelistic books/tracts sitting unread in my bookcase for some time, which is a terrible waste.  I'd love to give them away, but it's important to actually read it first before I can confidently place it in an unbeliever's hands and know they will be reading about the true gospel.

Religion is for Fools is one of those books.  In many ways it is like your typical evangelistic book - short, written by a former sceptic is who is now a believer, covers the usual stumbling blocks to faith such as the historical reliability of the Bible, "I'm a good person," etc.

But in other ways, it's different.  Written by Australian comedian Bill Medley (who I hadn't heard of), he explains why he went from religious sceptic to follower of Christ.  It's actually a letter to his sister-in-law Rita (who is not Christian), based on discussions they'd had.  He then put his thoughts into this book which he hoped she would read and think about.  Medley's mission was to investigate the world's five major religions - Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity.  The downside for which he'd be likely to be criticised by non-Christians for is that he spends the majority of the book exploring and defending Christianity, and leaves little room for the others.  He acknowledges and defends this though by saying that in his 'journey' to faith, if he found the true and living God, he doesn't need to spend time looking at anything else.  One thing he does do though is smash the notion that many Westerners have that Buddhism is all about peace, love and meditation.  It just shows that many people make Buddhism into what they want it to be without really investigating its teachings.

The difference between this book and a lot of other evangelistic books is that it's punchy, it's humorous (obviously since it's written by a comedian), and it has some little cartoons here and there.  It would definitely be a good book to give to an Aussie man interested in investigating Christianity.  It's the kind of book I'd give to my dad if he were interested.

Bible Verse of the Day

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written:
"I will destroy the intelligence of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
Where is the wise person?  Where is the teacher of the law?  Where is the philosopher of this age?  Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those believe.  Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.  Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no-one may boast before Him.  It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord."
1 Corinthians 1:18-31

5 Things We've Been Up To Lately

1.  We went to a fantastic Christian conference in Perth in mid July.  Having a toddler in tow meant either Duncan and I had to spend time in the parenting room while the other went to the talks, but it was still a great time.  Here's Rory at a park in Fremantle while Duncan was at one of the sessions.

2.  We celebrated Duncan's 34th birthday on the 21st July.  This is the farm-themed cake I made for him (about the extent of my novelty cake-making ability).  Rory was NOT impressed that I borrowed his toys.

3.  I went away for a weekend by myself.  For the last two Mother's Days I've been telling Duncan that the best present I could receive was some time out/a mental health weekend/a 'Sarah retreat'.  So, I finally went away to Albany and housesat my parents' house while they were away.  It was a lovely time.  So quiet....but I did miss my fellows.

4.  I had my hair cut off.  I figured I'll be going through another postnatal moult soon enough and having a little bubba grab your hair while feeding is not very pleasant.

5.  We went to Dunsborough last weekend to see Duncan's family before the bubba is born.  Unfortunately Duncan had the flu so he missed out on seeing his relatives.  I took Rory out and about a bit.  He had a ball catching up with one of his 'besties', Sarah.

Calling All Theoblogians #13

It's elders' election time at my church. Each time, we are encouraged to reflect on the Bible passages that outline the requirements of an elder. I'm grateful to be part of a church that takes Scripture seriously:

Here is a trustworthy saying:

If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach , the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?). He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgement as the devil.  He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

1 Timothy 3:1-7

An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.  Since an overseer is trusted with God's work, he must be blameless - not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.  Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.  He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Titus 1:6-9

The questions I have are:

• Does an elder have to be married?  I've been part of churches where single and engaged men have been elders or nominated to be elders. Christians seem to interpret 'husband of but one wife' differently. Some see it as saying that IF an elder is married, he should only have one wife and not be a bigamist. Others see it as that an elder must be a married man with just one wife.

• Is Scripture saying that an elder's children must all be believers? I've seen instances where an elder has adult children, some who are believers and some who are not. Or is it only concerning children who still live at home? What about elders who have babies or toddlers who aren't old enough to understand the gospel yet? Can a childless man be an elder? I know some Christians who think that a man with only child should be excluded from being considered for eldership because the passage says 'children'.

Any thoughts?

Learning to Love the Child You've Got

I was cringing as I wrote the title of this blog post....it sounds so harsh!

No matter how much parents tell themselves that they're content with the child they've been given and have no expectations, sometimes disappointment still rears its ugly head.  Even if you are happy and putting no pressure on your child to be a certain way, other people and their concerns and opinions threaten to derail your contentment.

I have no secret desire for Rory to be gifted or advanced in certain areas. I just want him to be average. Average is good. But when it became apparent that he was a bit behind in some areas, people told me I should be concerned.

He walked at 16 months. This is in the range of normal, but I had a barrage of people - some older mums with grandkids, and some first-time mums, like me - express concern that he wasn't walking before age one. WHAT?!? I thought kids walking before the age of one were in the minority.

He has a speech delay. We had a few sessions with a speech pathologist earlier in the year and she's confident he's just a late talker, and that he'll start talking properly around age three. When I tell people that he has trouble with his speech, they assume he's mute. That couldn't be further from the truth (come to my house if you don't believe me). The only time Rory is quiet is when he's asleep or in an unfamiliar environment and he gets a bit shy. He chatters away all the time, just not in English. His vocabulary is limited for his age, but, praise be to God, he has started stringing words together and widening his vocabulary.

He's also been a bit nervous about climbing. At times I've shuddered about this, because I struggled so much with this sort of thing as a child, and was teased mercilessly about it in kindergarten and primary school. I don't want him to take after me in this area and face the bullying I faced. So, I don't want to be unsympathetic about his fears and push him too hard, but I still want to expose him to lots of opportunities to practise.

Being the first grandchild and nephew on both sides of the family means there have been a lot of high (and unrealistic) expectations placed upon Rory's little shoulders. He (plus me and Duncan) have had to listen to comments like, " When are you going to walk/talk?" and, "Why can't he catch that ball/climb that big rock etc. because so-and-so's kid is doing it?"  There's a lot of blame placed on parents these days if their children are below par in others' expectations, and I'm trying to learn to ignore it. It shows people's ignorance more than anything if they assume kids' weaker areas are always the result of 'bad parenting'. But, at the same time, it does bring out defensiveness in me, which I'm trying to learn to get over.

That is one of the big challenges in parenting...learning to love the child you've been given, the gift from God. Not the one who you hoped would be smarter, more social, more winsome, or more physically able, but learning to love them with all of their little quirks and interests, and walking beside them on the way.

Diary of an Incubator: 30 Weeks

The latest photo of me and my basketball.

Even the maternity clothes are starting to get too small!